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QBs grab spotlight as Sooners visit LSU

Syndication: The Daily AdvertiserTigers Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier 13 throws a pass as the LSU Tigers take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. Nov 23, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; at Tiger Stadium.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recalls the two toughest road games he’s ever coached sharing a common denominator. They were against LSU.

Neither, though, were in Baton Rouge.

Venables was the Sooners’ defensive coordinator in the 2003 national championship game in the Sugar Bowl and was in the same position at Clemson for the College Football Playoff National Championship to end the 2019 season.

“It was deafening,” Venables said. “Could not hear on the headsets.”

Saturday, Venables and the Sooners get their first experience in Baton Rouge when Oklahoma takes on the Tigers in the regular-season finale.

The Sooners (6-5, 2-5 SEC) are riding high, coming off a stunning 24-3 home win over Alabama that gave them bowl eligibility for the 26th consecutive season.

LSU (7-4, 4-3) is coming off a 24-17 home win over Vanderbilt to snap a three-game losing streak.

The quarterbacks figure to be front and center.

For the Sooners, it’s a much different challenge than they faced with Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.

Oklahoma held Milroe to 164 yards passing with no touchdowns and three interceptions and just 7 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Garrett Nussmeier isn’t much of a runner, but is seventh nationally with 3,458 passing yards.

“He moves around really well, so they’re taking advantage of that,” Venables said. “They boot him, they roll him out, they dash him, they sprint him, so he can do a great job keeping his eyes down the field and throws the ball really, really well on the move.

“I love his toughness, the guts he plays with. Everything goes through him.”

Tigers coach Brian Kelly wasn’t quite as effusive about Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold.

Arnold has struggled at times with ball security, but is coming off a game where he ran for a career-high 131 yards on 25 carries.

“I think everyone here knows our history with the quarterbacks that run the football,” Kelly said. “That will be a challenge for us.”

Milroe ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns against LSU on Nov. 9, while Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed ran for 62 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers on Oct. 26. LSU lost both those games.

–Field Level Media

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Tundra Esports advances to grand final of DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs

Tundra Esports swept Team Liquid in the upper-bracket final on Saturday to advance to the grand final of the DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs.

The grand final on Sunday will pit Tundra Esports against the winner of the lower-bracket final earlier in the day between Team Liquid and Aurora Gaming in the double-elimination format.

The $1 million Dota 2 event began with 16 teams competing in a round-robin stage split into two groups of eight teams. All series consisted of two games, and the top four teams from each group advanced to Group Stage 2, a single round robin featuring best-of-three matches that ran through Friday.

The playoffs feature best-of-three matches until the grand final, which will be best-of-five.

The championship team will receive $250,000 in prize money and a $40,000 club reward. The runner-up side will get $100,000 and a $30,000 club reward.

Aurora Gaming opened play on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Xtreme Gaming in the lower-bracket semifinal. Xtreme Gaming opened with a win in 40 minutes on red before Aurora Gaming rallied to wins in 47 and 29 minutes, both on red.

Russia’s Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko logged a 21-4-28 kill-death-assist ratio for Aurora Gaming, while teammate Artem “Lorenof” Melnyk of Ukraine post a 23-8-30 K-D-A over three games. Wang “Ame” Chunyu of China had a 23-9-13 K-D-A ratio for Xtreme Gaming, which finished fourth in the tournament.

Tundra Esports dispatched Team Liquid 2-0 in the upper-bracket final, winning in 46 minutes on red and 39 minutes on green.

Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko of Russia posted a 32-2-19 K-D-A ratio for Tundra Esports and teammate Neta “33” Shapira of Israel had a 24-5-30. Michael “MiCKe” Vu of Sweden posted a 13-10-6 ratio for Team Liquid.

Dream League Season 28 prize pool, with prize money and club reward

1. $250,000, $40,000

2. $125,000, $30,000

3. $80,000, $25,000

4. $60,000, $20,000 — Xtreme Gaming

5. $45,000, $15,000 — Team Falcons

6. $35,000, $15,000 — PARIVISION

7. $30,000, $12,500 — BetBoom Team

8. $25,000, $12,500 — MOUZ

9-10. $20,000, $10,000 — OG, Natus Vincere

11-12. $17,500, $10,000 — Team Yandex, Team Spirit

13-14. $15,000, $10,000 — paiN Gaming, GamerLegion

15-16. $10,000, $10,000 — Yakult Brothers, Execration

–Field Level Media

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LYON, Cloud9 in LCS Lock-In grand final

Syndication: Arizona RepublicA backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.

Jordan Woodruff

LYON knocked out Sentinels to earn a meeting on Sunday with Cloud9 in the grand final of the League Championship Series 2026 Lock-In at Los Angeles.

LYON won 3-1 on Saturday in the lower-bracket final, taking the first map in 31 minutes as Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol of South Korea posted a 7-0-1 kill-death-assist ratio. LYON won again in 37 minutes as Niship “Dhokla” Doshi, an American/Indian player, had a 7-3-6 K-D-A and Berserker a 5-0-6.

Sentinels stayed alive with a victory in 34 minutes in the third game as Ham “HamBak” Yoo-jin of South Korea recorded a 5-0-8 K-D-A.

But LYON wrapped up the match by winning the fourth game in 39 minutes on red. Berserker contributed a 6-3-7 K-D-A.

Following the eight-team Swiss stage in the League of Legends event, six teams competed in the double-elimination playoffs, with all matches best-of-five. The overall winner qualifies for the First Stand Tournament, while the second- and third-place teams will head to the Americas Cup.

Both of the latter two events will be contested in Sao Paulo.

Cloud9, which finished atop the Swiss stage standings with a 3-0 record, has moved through the playoffs by beating FlyQuest 3-0 in the upper-bracket semifinal and Sentinels 3-0 in the upper-bracket final.

LYON, who finished fifth in the Swiss stage, eliminated FlyQuest with a 3-0 victory in the lower-bracket quarterfinals, then a 3-1 triumph over Team Liquid in the bracket’s semifinal before Saturday’s victory.

2026 League Championship Series Lock-In at Los Angeles prize pool

1. TBD, qualifies for First Stand Tournament

2. TBD, qualifies for America’s Cup

3. Sentinels, qualifies for America’s Cup

4. Team Liquid

5-6. FlyQuest, Disguised

7. Dignitas

8. Shopify Rebellion

–Field Level Media

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OpTic Texas moves into first place in CDL Major 2 qualifying

Syndication: Democrat and ChronicleYMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year.

OpTic Texas defeated Los Angeles Thieves in a battle of 4-0 teams to move to the top of the standings in qualifying for the Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major on Saturday.

In other second-day action of Week 3 competition, G2 Minnesota edged Riyadh Falcons, Toronto KOI beat Miami Heretics and Carolina Royal Ravens defeated Vancouver Surge.

The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the second major of the season, to be held March 27-29 in Marston Green, England, as part of the DreamHack Birmingham event.

The top six teams in qualifying head straight into the Stage 2 Major playoffs, while the teams in seventh through 10th place will compete in a play-in round.

The Stage 2 Major champion will receive $150,000 and 100 Call of Duty League points, while the runner-up will get $90,000 and 75 CDL points.

After Los Angeles Thieves claimed an opening 250-238 Den Hardpoint victory, OpTic Texas won the next three to claim a 3-1 victory. A 6-2 Exposure Search and Destroy triumph was followed by a 4-2 Den Overload win before the result was clinched with a 250-173 Colossus Hardpoint triumph.

In Saturday’s first match, G2 Minnesota won the final two games to come away with a 3-2 win. Riyadh opened with a 250-229 Scar Hardpoint victory and took a 2-1 lead with a 5-0 Scar Overload win. G2 leveled it at 1 with a 6-1 Raid Search and Destroy win, tied it at 2 with a convincing 250-134 Colossus Hardpoint victory and won the deciding Colossus Search and Destroy game 6-3.

Toronto finished a sweep of Miami with 250-182 Hardpoint, 6-4 Search and Destroy and 4-2 Overload victories, all on the Den map.

Carolina also swept Vancouver for its second victory in as many days after a 1-3 start. After opening with a 250-186 Blackheart Hardpoint win and following with a 6-2 Den Search and Destroy victory, the team closed out the win with an 8-2 Exposure Overload win.

The weekend schedule:

Sunday

–Toronto KOI vs. Paris Gentle Mates

–FaZe Vegas vs. Boston Breach

–Miami Heretics vs. Cloud9 New York

–Vancouver Surge vs. OpTic Texas

Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifiers standings (match record, map differential)

1. OpTic Texas, 5-0, +11

2. Los Angeles Thieves, 4-1, +8

3. Paris Gentle Mates, 3-1, +5

4. G2 Minnesota, 3-2, +1

5. Riyadh Falcons, 3-3, +2

6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 3-3, -1

7. FaZe Vegas, 2-3, 0

8. Toronto KOI, 2-3, -2

9. Miami Heretics, 1-3, -4

10.. Vancouver Surge, 1-3, -6

11. Cloud9 New York, 1-3, -7

12. Boston Breach, 1-4, -7

–Field Level Media

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