Sports
Task for No. 5 Texas: Stop the receivers for No. 8 Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) throws to wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) during the first half of the College Football Playoff first round game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Dec. 21, 2024. There are plenty of storylines heading into this year’s Cotton Bowl, where two of the winningest programs in college football history will face off for a chance to play for the College Football Playoff national championship.
Still, when No. 5 Texas (13-2) and No. 8 Ohio State (12-2) meet in a semifinal matchup on Friday night in Arlington, Texas, the attention will be focused on the quarterbacks.
Ohio State’s Will Howard played against Texas when he was at Kansas State, but the Wildcats went 0-4 versus the Longhorns in those years. Texas’ Quinn Ewers, meanwhile, started his college career with the Buckeyes before transferring to his home state’s school.
“That was the only team I didn’t beat when I was in the Big 12,” Howard said. “There’s definitely a little extra motivation because I never got the chance to beat these guys, played them for four years. They’re always a good team, but I don’t think — none of those games were unwinnable. Last year we lost in overtime. So, definitely excited to get another chance at these guys.”
Ewers, who went to high school about 20 miles from AT&T Stadium at Southlake Carroll, has never faced his former team and only had positive things to say about his one semester with the Buckeyes.
“I don’t regret any decision I’ve made on going or anything like that, but the main reason I went was I felt like I had a great relationship with the coaching staff,” Ewers said of his time at Ohio State. “And they were winning a lot of games, and I wanted to go be a part of something like that.
“The reason that I came back to Texas was, one, to be closer to where I’m from and just closer to the resources that I have and the relationships that I’ve built over time just being from Texas.”
Despite the neutral site, this is a home game for Texas. Still, the Buckeyes have a 3-1 record at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, including a 42-20 win over Oregon in January 2015 to win the first College Football Playoff national championship.
Ten years later, Texas will need to contain Ohio State’s dynamic receiving corps led by Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, who combined for 2,120 yards and 24 touchdown receptions. Each made 70 catches.
“Yeah, they’ve got an impressive group out at receiver,” Texas defensive back Michael Taaffe said. “They’ve got four or five guys that are really dangerous. Obviously, Jeremiah is really good. Obviously, Emeka, No. 2, is elite. … They’ve got guys you’ve got to respect out there.”
In Ohio State’s 41-21 shellacking of No. 1 Oregon in the CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, Howard threw for 319 yards, with Smith hauling in seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
Another question is whether Texas can get its running game going after averaging just 1.8 yards in its 39-31 double-overtime victory over Arizona State in the quarterfinal at the Peach Bowl. The Longhorns’ season average is 4.5 yards per attempt.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian addressed the running game issues this week.
“We’re at our best when we can run it,” he said. “That gives us balance. So, I’m hard-pressed not to kind of just walk away from it and abandon it. We’ve got to do a great job as a staff of putting together a good game plan and making sure that our players can execute it at a high level.”
Ohio State undoubtedly will be looking to get off to another fast start. The Buckeyes took a 34-8 lead into halftime against Ohio State and were up 21-0 after one quarter in their 42-17 win over No. 9 Tennessee in their first-round playoff game.
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said the only motivation his team needs is simply staying alive in the championship race.
“One thing that does motivate our team is an opportunity for the team to play for another week together,” he said. “And this is a great group of guys that cares a lot about each other, have fun with each other. They love competing with each other. You can see the passion on the field when they get on the field. The way that this format is and the way the playoffs are set now, it allows us an opportunity to grow as a team and to learn and to get better and to peak late in the season.”
The winner will meet the winner of Thursday night’s Orange Bowl between No. 6 Penn State and No. 7 Notre Dame in the CFP championship on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
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