Sports
No. 8 Miami, QB Cam Ward bring prolific offense against South Florida
Sep 14, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) passes the football against the Ball State Cardinals during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The eighth-ranked Miami Hurricanes have already scored 159 points – a program record for the first three games of a season.
Miami (3-0) will now travel to Tampa to challenge the host South Florida Bulls (2-1) on Saturday. Miami is a 16.5-point favorite.
After all, the Hurricanes are coming off a 62-0 win over Ball State. That marked Miami’s biggest shutout win ever over an FBS program. With the Ball State game essentially locked up, Miami quarterback Cam Ward was pulled three minutes into the third quarter. But even with such a short stint, Ward still passed for 346 yards and a career-high five touchdowns.
Ward, a transfer from Washington State who is completing 73 percent of his passes this season, is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, according to FanDuel. He has passed for 11 touchdowns, and he is averaging 345 passing yards per game. Even better, Ward has no fumbles and just one interception.
“He is laser-focused,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “He has the right mentality.”
Defensively, the Hurricanes are allowing just 8.7 points per game. Miami’s best defensive player has been defensive end Tyler Baron, who tops the team in tackles for loss (seven) and sacks (4 1/2).
On the other side, South Florida’s defense has impressed Cristobal.
“Their speed, their physicality, their intensity, their ability to tackle in space,” Cristobal said. “There’s a lot to (USF) that made them successful.”
Outside linebacker Mac Harris leads USF in total tackles (19) and stops for loss (3 1/2).
Offensively, the stars are quarterback Byrum Brown, running backs Nay’Quan Wright and Kelley Joiner Jr., and wide receivers Sean Atkins and Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen.
Brown tops USF in passing yards (448) and rushing yards (254). He has two TD passes and two running TDs, as well as zero interceptions.
At running back, Wright – a Miami native – and Joiner are both sixth-year seniors.
Wright has rushed for 188 yards, a 5.7 average and two TDs. Joiner has rushed for 220 yards, a 7.3 average and four TDs.
Atkins, another sixth-year senior, arrived at USF as a walk-on in 2019. Yet he has played 50 games. Last year, he set USF season records for catches (92) and yards (1,054).
Yaseen, who arrived at USF this year as a Purdue transfer, has nine catches and a 13.0 average this season. He’s a fifth-year player.
In its season opener, USF beat heavy underdog Bethune-Cookman 48-3. USF then lost 42-16 at Alabama, although the Bulls trailed just 21-16 with less than six minutes left in that game.
Last Saturday, USF trailed 14-0 midway through the first quarter before rallying for a 49-24 win over Southern Mississippi.
In that game, Joiner had TD runs of 43 and 50 yards, and Wright scored on a 33-yarder.
Joiner and Wright both rushed for over 100 yards.
“I really don’t care about the stats,” said Joiner, who is 26 years old. “I really care about the win.”
This will be the first time Miami and USF have met since 2013, when the Hurricanes won 49-21 in Tampa.
USF coach Alex Golesh said Saturday’s game will be one of the biggest in the 28-season history of Bulls football, and he’s looking for a crowd in excess of 70,000.
“It’s going to a huge night in Tampa,” Golesh said. “We’ve got to get ourselves ready against a really good football team.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: RB David Montgomery 'wants out' of Detroit
Dec 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) looks on before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Lions running back David Montgomery “wants out” of Detroit after three seasons, ESPN reported on Sunday.
Montgomery, however, immediately appeared to refute the report on X, posting: “Damn, Dmo told you that?”
The ESPN report claims the Lions would want “a decent Day 3 pick (possibly a fifth-rounder)” in the 2026 NFL Draft in return for Montgomery, who turns 29 in June and is owed $6 million next season.
The report follows general manager Brad Holmes’ remarks after the season about Montgomery being unhappy with his playing time in 2025. Sharing a backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs, Montgomery rushed for a career-low 716 yards and eight touchdowns in 17 games (no starts).
“Those are conversations that we’re going to have to have because I’ve got a lot of respect for that player,” Holmes said of Montgomery in January. “He deserves to be in a situation where his skillset can be utilized, and so yeah would love for it to be here, but if it can’t be here then you’d just love to see where could work out best for him.”
At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Holmes said the situation with Montgomery is “fluid.” He signed a two-year extension during the 2024 season that runs through the end of the 2027 campaign.
“Yeah, I have been in touch with David’s agent, and his representation,” Holmes revealed. “Obviously, we love David, he’s a great player, we love to have him, you know, kind of want to put last year in the rear view, and just move forward. But, obviously, a player has to want to be at a certain place as well. The conversations are still fluid, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Montgomery has rushed for 2,506 yards and 33 touchdowns in 45 games (28 starts) in three seasons with Detroit (2023-25). He has 76 catches for 650 yards in that span.
He began his career with the NFC North rival Chicago Bears, who drafted him in the third round in 2019. Montgomery rushed for 3,609 yards and 26 scores in 60 games (51 starts) with the Bears (2019-22).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees LHP Ryan Yarbrough joins U.S. roster for WBC
Jun 18, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Ryan Yarbrough (33) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images New York Yankees left-hander Ryan Yarbrough was added to the Team USA roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic on Sunday.
The 34-year-old reliever replaces Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan, who is dealing with low back tightness. Ryan moves into the designated pitcher pool, meaning he is eligible for a call-up after each round of the WBC.
Yarbrough went 3-1 with a 4.36 ERA and one save in 19 games (eight starts) during his first season with the Yankees in 2025, striking out 55 batters and walking 19 in 64 innings.
Ryan Yarbrough has been added to our roster for the World Baseball Classic!#ForGlory???? pic.twitter.com/RrtKJQ20gz
— USA Baseball (@USABaseball) March 1, 2026
Team USA will play its first game of the 2026 WBC on Friday night, meeting Brazil in a Pool B contest in Houston.
Yarbrough has a career record of 56-41 with a 4.22 ERA and four saves in 215 games (76 starts) with the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-22), Kansas City Royals (2023), Los Angeles Dodgers (2023-24), Toronto Blue Jays (2024) and Yankees. The side-arming southpaw signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal in November to return to New York in 2026.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ex-pitcher Dan Serafini gets life sentence for '21 murder
Dan Serafini (file photo) pitched in MLB with seven teams. He was convited of first-degree murder. Former major league pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday for the 2021 shootings of his in-laws in North Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Serafini, 52, was convicted in July of the first-degree murder of father-in-law Gary Spohr and the attempted first-degree murder of mother-in-law Wendy Wood during a burglary. Spohr, 70, died from a single gunshot and Wood, then 68, survived but died by suicide the following year.
In the courtroom on Friday in Auburn, Calif., Placer County prosecutor Morgan Gire described Spohr and Wood as loving grandparents.
“The impact of this attack has extended far beyond the immediate victims, deeply affecting family members and the broader community, and highlighting the lasting harm caused by deliberate violence,” Gire said.
Serafini, who pitched for six MLB teams from 1996 to 2007, addressed the court and maintained his innocence. He said he was out partying with his wife, Erin Spohr, at the time of the shooting and referred to himself as a “broken, imperfect man that makes mistakes,” according to MyNews4.
The Minnesota Twins selected Serafini, a native of the San Francisco area, with the No. 26 overall pick in the 1992 MLB Draft. He made his debut in 1996 and went on to appear in 104 games (33 starts) with the Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies before his retirement in 2007.
He had a 15-16 record with a 6.04 ERA and one save. He threw 263 2/3 innings and struck out 127 batters.
–Field Level Media
Report: RB David Montgomery 'wants out' of Detroit
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