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
Rory McIlroy in familiar — and winning — territory at Quail Hollow
May 18, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Rory McIlroy tees off on the 14th hole during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images Few places on earth must feel more comfortable to Rory McIlroy than Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.
And with Scottie Scheffler taking the week off, the Northern Irishman is favored to win the Truist Championship for a record fifth time when the signature event field tees off Thursday.
“I really feel like this tournament … got my career going, especially on the PGA Tour,” McIlroy said this week. “Getting my first win on Tour in 2010. Then it’s been a pretty fruitful place since then.”
McIlroy prevailed at the tournament at Quail Hollow, previously called the Wells Fargo Championship and the Quail Hollow Championship, in 2010, 2015, 2021 and 2024. Sepp Straka is the defending champion this week, but the Austrian won the 2025 Truist at Philadelphia Cricket Club, a one-year relocation as Quail Hollow hosted the PGA Championship instead.
It’s the final week before players head to Aronimink Golf Club for the PGA, and while Scheffler is preparing for the second major of the year at home, most of the rest of the top 10 in the world are in Charlotte. McIlroy is hungry to add to his six major titles after repeating as Masters champion earlier this spring.
“I’ve spoke about this a lot, I felt like winning the Grand Slam (in 2025) was like this — was going to be this life-changing thing and in some ways it was, but in other ways I had to remember like, ‘No, I still have a lot of my career left and I want to keep playing and keep competing,'” McIlroy said.
“I’m excited for the road ahead. I’m excited for this week, I’m excited for Aronimink next week.”
While McIlroy has shown top form this season, there may be no hotter players in the sport than the duo of Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young.
Fitzpatrick has won three of his past four starts and two straight at the RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the latter a team event he played with his brother Alex. The Englishman could become the first player to win three PGA Tour starts in a row since Dustin Johnson in 2017.
Young won The Players Championship in March and doubled his win total for the year at last week’s Cadillac Championship, also a signature event.
“For me at the moment, I think it’s just trying to maintain the same approach each week,” Young said, noting how he took three weeks off between The Players and the Masters. “… I feel like I just picked up where I left off after The Players in terms of mindset and physically I had had time to practice at home. I think it’s a good thing to learn for me that, you know, I can take a couple weeks off and just come back and keep beating the same process.”
Golfers are trading in Trump National Doral’s “Blue Monster” for Quail Hollow’s “Green Mile,” a brutally challenging three-hole finish with two long par-4s and a precarious par-3 17th with water surrounding more than half the green.
“I think with the weather we had last year for the PGA the greens were a little bit softer, the rough was a little bit higher,” Fitzpatrick said. “This week it’s actually the opposite. The greens seem to be very, very firm and the rough’s a little shorter, which is nice. Yeah, I’m really kind of shocked at how firm the greens are right now and that’s definitely going to make it a great test.”
Seventy-two golfers will play in the no-cut, $20 million event. If the winner is not already qualified for the PGA Championship, he will be added to next week’s field.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Max Holloway would 'love' Conor McGregor rematch; no contract offer yet
Aug 17, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Max Holloway (left) throws a punch at Conor McGregor (right) during a UFC featherweight match at the TD Garden. McGregor won after three rounds by judges decision. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Max Holloway is working out in preparation for a fight that might never occur, but as he sees it, there’s really no other choice.
“I mean, it’s just, it sucks,” Hollway said in an interview with Paramount+. “I would just like to get one back.”
The former UFC featherweight champion is in training camp for a potential rematch with double title winner Conor McGregor in Las Vegas this July at UFC 329, but without a signed contract in hand.
The uncertainty is due in part to questions over when or if McGregor wants to step back into the Octagon, especially considering the Irishman hasn’t fought since July 2021. McGregor was rumored to be on the card scheduled for the White House this summer, but his purported opponent, Michael Chandler, instead will oppose Mauricio Ruffy.
Still, Holloway is expressing unfailing interest in trying to secure a deal to face off against McGregor again. The two squared off in 2013 and McGregor won by unanimous decision, though McGregor left the match with a torn ACL.
“My head space is good, it’s straight,” Holloway said. “I kinda know when I fight. We kinda know where we want to fight, why we want to fight, so just getting in the gym, getting there, getting it done.
“It’s a huge fight. Anything with Conor McGregor is huge, but having history with the dude, being able to get one back would be cool.”
Holloway is eager to erase the poor impression left by a one-sided loss to Charles Oliveira last time out, a March 7 unanimous-decision defeat that cost him the symbolic BMF title that rests with the UFC’s “baddest” competitor.
“You’re only as good as your last fight, they say, and we’re going to get everybody forgetting about that last fight as soon as possible,” Holloway said.
For McGregor, the biggest draw in the sport and the first athlete in the sport to hold two weight class titles simultaneously (featherweight and lightweight), it would mark a return from a devastating broken tibia and ensuing drug suspension that have sidelined “Notorious” for the better part of five years.
Holloway, a 34-year-old Honolulu native, projects as a heavy favorite over McGregor, 37, due to the latter’s long layoff.
–Field Level Media
Sports
CJ Abrams (5 RBIs), Nationals slam Twins
May 6, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) hits an RBI double against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images CJ Abrams had three hits including a grand slam, Miles Mikolas pitched into the sixth inning and the host Washington Nationals routed the Minnesota Twins 15-2 on Wednesday night.
Brady House, Drew Millas and Jose Tena each had two hits including a home run for the Nationals, who collected 14 hits. Abrams also had two doubles and five RBIs, and James Wood and Jacob Young each had two hits.
Mikolas (1-3), signed as a free agent in the offseason, began the game with an 8.23 ERA. The right-hander pitched a season-high 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits. Mikolas retired 16 of the 19 batters he faced to earn his first Washington win.
Three Washington pitchers held Minnesota to three hits. Matt Wallner had two hits including a home run for Minnesota, which had won two straight.
Twins starter Bailey Ober (3-2) went five-plus innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the third when Luke Keaschall doubled and scored on a Wallner single.
Washington did not get a baserunner against Ober until Wood singled leading off the fourth. Wood stole second with one out and Curtis Mead walked. Abrams followed with a double to score Wood.
Wallner homered off Mikolas in the fifth to put Twins up 2-1.
Young singled leading off the bottom half and Millas homered to center to give Washington a 3-2 lead.
In the sixth, back-to-back doubles by Abrams and House ended Ober’s night. Tena greeted reliever Andrew Morris with Washington’s third straight double to make it 5-2. With two outs, Nasim Nunez tripled to right and the lead was 6-2.
Daylen Lile walked leading off the bottom of the seventh and, with two outs, House homered to center to make it 8-2.
Young singled, Millas doubled and Wood singled them both home in the eighth. Washington loaded the bases and Abrams smacked a grand slam to right-center, the second of his career. Tena followed with a homer to make it 15-2.
–Field Level Media
Rory McIlroy in familiar — and winning — territory at Quail Hollow
Max Holloway would 'love' Conor McGregor rematch; no contract offer yet
