SPORTS HEADLINES

No. 5 Penn State bottles up Jeanty, beats No. 8 Boise State 31-14 in Fiesta Bowl

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Drew Allar threw three touchdown passes and No. 5 Penn State bottled up Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty for a 31-14 win over No. 8 Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The Nittany Lions opened their first CFP berth with a blowout win over SMU and appeared headed toward the latest lopsided victory in the new 12-team format by jumping out to a 14-0 lead against the Broncos. Boise State fought back, pulling to 17-14 on Matt Lauter’s 53-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter. Penn State shut down the Broncos from there, earning a spot in the Jan. 9 Orange Bowl. Jeanty had 104 yards on 30 carries, leaving him 27 yards short of Barry Sanders’ single-season NCAA record.

Jeanty falls short of record as dream season gets stuffed by Penn State defense in CFP loss

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Ashton Jeanty took the handoff on Boise State’s first play and made it just a few steps before being greeted by a wall of dark blue Penn State jerseys that swallowed him up and shoved him backward for no gain. A dream season was about to end with a rough night for the Broncos star. Jeanty — the Heisman Trophy runner-up — ran for a season-low 104 yards on 30 carries as No. 6 seed Penn State beat No. 3 seed Boise State 31-14 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. He finished with 2,601 yards rushing this season, falling 27 short of the Football Bowl Subdivision record set by Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988. Sanders accomplished his mark in just 11 games, while Jeanty played 14.

Dominant season for the NFC North will leave a 14-win team as a wild card

This weekend’s NFC North matchup between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings will make for a playoff situation like never before in the NFL. Both teams are 14-2 and the winner will get the division title while the loser will drop to the fifth seed in the playoffs and become the first 14-2 wild-card team in NFL history. The previous high came in 1999 when Tennessee went 13-3 and lost the AFC Central to Jacksonville. The NFC North is set to be the winningest division since the NFL realigned to eight divisions of four teams each in 2002, with 43 wins for the four division teams with two head-to-head games remaining.

Gauff and Fritz put U.S. in United Cup tennis semis. Kazakhstan also through after ousting Germany

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz have powered the U.S. into the semifinals of the United Cup mixed teams tennis event. Gauff got the ball rolling for her team with a gritty 7-6, 6-2 win over China’s Zhang Shuai in Perth, Australia. Fritz then made sure of victory by edging a tight contest with Zhang Zhizhen 6-4 6-4. The U.S. also won the mixed doubles encounter. Kazakhstan advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 win over a Germany team playing without the injured world No. 2-ranked Alexander Zverev. Zverev was a late scratch due to a biceps injury.

Blues have all the fun in convincing victory over the Blackhawks in the Winter Classic

CHICAGO (AP) — St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery walked around before the Winter Classic. He looked at the growing crowd soaking in the festive atmosphere. He thought about all the famous ballplayers who played at Wrigley Field. He called the experience “just really cool.” The Winter Classic returned to Wrigley on the final day of 2024, and the Chicago Blackhawks threw quite a party. Fireworks streaked through the night sky at the home of baseball’s Chicago Cubs. It was a very Chicago party, and St. Louis had all the fun. The Blues rolled to a 6-2 victory over the Blackhawks in front of a crowd of 40,933.

Michigan defense pressures Milroe all day, Wolverines beat No. 11 Alabama 19-13 in ReliaQuest Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Michigan’s defense sacked Jalen Milroe five times and forced three turnovers by the Alabama quarterback to lead the Wolverines to a 19-13 victory over the 11th-ranked Crimson Tide in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Dominic Zvada kicked four field goals and Davis Warren threw a first-half touchdown pass to Fredrick Moore for Michigan, which finished the season on a three-game winning streak that included back-to-back upsets of rival Ohio State and Alabama. Alabama’s season ended with a loss to Michigan for the second year in a row. The Wolverines and the Crimson Tide met in a College Football Playoff semifinal at last season’s Rose Bowl, with Michigan winning on the way to capturing the national championship.

Dartmouth basketball players end their unionization attempt in anticipation of shifting NLRB

BOSTON (AP) — The Dartmouth men’s basketball team has dropped its attempt to form a union. The team is ending a push to become the first college sports team to unionize in order to avoid a potentially damaging precedent from a National Labor Relations Board that soon will be controlled by Republicans. The Service Employees International Union Local 560 filed a request to withdraw the NLRB petition on Tuesday rather than take its chances with an unfriendly labor board likely to take over in the new presidential administration. The request was approved later Tuesday. The Dartmouth case threatened to upend the NCAA’s amateur model.

Resting or playing running back Saquon Barkley is a tougher decision than it seems for Eagles

Saquon Barkley’s pursuit of Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old rushing record could get grounded by his coach. Nick Sirianni’s decision is more difficult than it seems. Barkley needs 101 yards rushing against his former team on Sunday to set the NFL’s single-season record. But the Philadelphia Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC so the outcome of their game won’t affect the standings. Win, lose or tie against the New York Giants, the Eagles will host the Green Bay Packers or Washington Commanders in a wild-card playoff game. They don’t have a bye so this game is an opportunity for Sirianni to rest most of his starters ahead of the playoffs and avoid risking injuries to key players.

Arizona State extends coach Kenny Dillingham 5 more years, AP source says

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham has agreed to a five-year contract extension on the eve of the Sun Devils’ College Football Playoff quarterfinal game, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. Dillingham will receive a pay increase and substantial bonus increases, the person said on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced. The contract extension was first reported by ESPN’. The 34-year-old Dillingham orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in recent college football history, taking the No. 10 Sun Devils from three wins a year ago to the New Year’s Day Peach Bowl against No. 4 Texas.

Schauffele says Ryder Cup pay for Americans is going to charity and ‘we’re going to take crap’

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Xander Schauffele says the plan is for Americans to give their Ryder Cup compensation to charity. The PGA of America is paying players for the first time. They will get $300,000 for charity and a $200,000 stipend for the September matches at Bethpage Black. Schauffele says all that means is more money going to charity and the Americans are “going to take crap” for perceived greed. He says captain Keegan Bradley had a plan for players to pool the stipend for a local charity. Bradley says the timetable of announcing the plan was moved up because of a British newspaper report.