Sports
Texas State, North Texas face off in First Responder Bowl
Nov 9, 2024; Denton, Texas, USA; North Texas Mean Green head coach Eric Morris greets Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken after Army’s 14-3 win during the second half at DATCU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images There will be a Lone Star State flair on display when North Texas battles Texas State on Friday afternoon in the First Responder Bowl at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
It will be the 15th rendition of the bowl and the second consecutive appearance in the game for Texas State, which beat Rice 45-21 in last year’s contest.
North Texas also has played in the bowl, losing to Army 38-31 in overtime in 2016 after beating UNLV in the 2013 season.
Both head coaches in this year’s game — Eric Morris of the Mean Green and GJ Kinne for the Bobcats — are native Texans, and more than three-fourths of the players on the combined rosters are from the Lone Star State.
In the lead-up to the game, both squads were hit hard by the transfer portal, with 11 players leaving from Texas State and 16 from North Texas.
The Mean Green (6-6) had to capture their season finale against Temple to earn the bowl appearance.
North Texas will be without quarterback Chandler Morris for the game. Morris, who earned third-team All-American Athletic Conference honors this season, bolted for Virginia after the regular season. Drew Mestemaker, who threw five passes while appearing in three games as a freshman this season, is expected to start behind center. He completed four passes for 69 yards.
Despite all the assumed familiarity between the teams because of their Texas-centric rosters and coaching staff, there’s little for the Bobcats to glean on Mestemaker when studying tape of North Texas.
“We want to find (Mestemaker) skill sets and the things he does well and really try to force-feed him some of those things,” Morris said about his quarterback. “That’s the cool thing. There’s no tape on Drew Mestemaker for anybody to go study right now.”
Kinne wants to make sure that Texas State won’t overlook the potent North Texas attack, which ranks third in the nation in total offense at 488.7 yards a game.
“Coach Morris is one of the best offensive minds in the country,” Kinne said. “… It doesn’t matter who is back there playing quarterback.”
The Bobcats (7-5) head to Dallas after winning three of their final four games, including 45-38 at South Alabama in their final regular-season contest.
Quarterback Jordan McCloud leads the Bobcats, who rank fifth in FBS in total offense at 474.3 yards per game. McCloud has passed for 2,920 yards and 29 touchdowns with 12 interceptions, and has completed 69.6 percent of his throws.
Texas State saw five starters — running back Ismail Mahdi, wide receiver Kole Wilson, defensive tackle Dominique Ratcliff, defensive end Ben Bell and cornerback Joshua Eaton — declare for the transfer portal.
“You have some of the depth pieces,” Kinne explained about the losses in the portal. “A lot of your walk-ons and a lot of guys that are looking maybe to get on scholarship somewhere. “We just did a little bit more good on good (in practice), but that’s part of it.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Giants planning to release LB Bobby Okereke
Nov 9, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke (58) leaves the field after losing to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images The New York Giants are planning to cut inside linebacker Bobby Okereke in a cost-saving move, The Athletic reported Saturday.
Releasing the seven-year NFL veteran, who turns 30 in July, will save the Giants $9 million against the 2026 salary cap.
Okereke has led New York in tackles in two of his three seasons with the team, including 143 stops in 2025 and 149 in 2023.
Okereke added one sack, two interceptions and one fumble recovery in 17 games (all starts) for the Giants in 2025.
He has recorded 805 tackles, 7.5 sacks, seven interceptions and 11 forced fumbles in 110 career games (95 starts) with the Colts (2019-22) and Giants. Indianapolis drafted him in the third round in 2019.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Feb 22, 2026; Hampton, Georgia, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick rounds the track at EchoPark Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images AUSTIN, Texas — One of the few things that wasn’t startling about Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas was Tyler Reddick’s run for the pole position.
Negotiating the 2.4-mile road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) in the second qualifying group, Reddick claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award in six attempts at the track. He will lead the field to green in Sunday’s DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by Reladyne (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Of course, there’s more at stake for Reddick than simply a victory at COTA. In winning at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta last Sunday, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota became the sixth Cup competitor to start a season with two consecutive wins. No driver has ever won three straight to open a season.
The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that the pole position, the 12th of his career, is a positive first step toward that goal.
“It helps the chances, certainly,” said Reddick, whose series-best average finish of 4.6 at COTA includes a victory in 2023. “I think starting up front is huge.”
Michael McDowell led the first qualifying group of 19 drivers with a lap at 88.031 mph but fell to sixth soon after the second group took to the track. Ultimately, Ross Chastain posted the second-fastest lap at 88.256 mph (97.897 seconds) and will start on the front row beside Reddick.
The shocker was not that Chastain, the 2022 COTA winner, fashioned an excellent lap. What was surprising was that his two Trackhouse Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — both vaunted road course racers — failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.
Van Gisbergen was 13th fastest on his third lap. Zilisch could do no better than 25th. Van Gisbergen is seeking his sixth straight road course victory in the Cup Series, a mark that would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most consecutive road course wins.
Chase Briscoe (88.242 mph) will start third, followed by Ryan Blaney (88.179 mph) and Chase Elliott (88.161 mph). Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories.
Behind McDowell in sixth, AJ Allmendinger qualified seventh, followed by defending race winner Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
“We’ll see how it gets going,” Reddick said. “Certainly, Ross, Shane, Ryan Blaney-there’s a number of good drivers who were really strong in practice today. We’ll try to understand what that all looks like and make our best decisions on the car and everything.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
Feb 25, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) passes the ball as Memphis Grizzlies guard Javon Small (10) defends during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday.
Specific terms were not disclosed by the Warriors. However, ESPN reported it was a three-year, $15 million contract extension with a player option in 2028-29. Santos was in line to become a restricted free agent prior to this extension.
Santos, 23, is posting career-best averages in points (6.6), rebounds (3.2) and assists (1.7) in 48 games (13 starts) this season.
He is contributing 4.9 points, 3.0 boards and 1.4 assists in 127 career games (15 starts) since being selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
Report: Giants planning to release LB Bobby Okereke
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
