State

Jacksonville State floors Florida State on Hail Mary

By Elsie A. Dotson 6 days ago

Florida State football isn’t close to what it used to be. Still, there is no excuse for what happened Saturday against Jacksonville State in Tallahassee.

The Seminoles, who lost Sunday to Notre Dame in overtime, were up three points against the Gamecocks, who are based in Alabama not the Sunshine State.

The fact Florida State only had a three-point lead over Jacksonville State after 59 minutes and 54 seconds is troubling. The Seminoles came into their home game a 27-point favorite.

What happened next is stunning:

The final play of the game was good for 59 yards and it went from quarterback Zerrick Cooper to Damond Philyaw-Johnson to give the Gamecocks a 20-17 victory.

Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

The Gamecocks were full of themselves after the upset, planting their flag on the Seminole logo at Doak Campbell Stadium.

The Seminoles led 17-7 in the fourth quarter only to see the

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Game Day: Hawaii vs. Oregon State

By Elsie A. Dotson 1 week ago

Sep. 10—RAINBOW WARRIORS OFFENSE Four-back Calvin Turner made the “SportsCenter ” Top 10 highlights last week when he caught a lateral on the right side, pirouetted off two defenders’ radar, then raced around the left side for a 36-yard TD. It was a spectacular but familiar path for Turner—and UH’s offense. In the run-and-gun, receivers jet across the formation or orbit behind quarterback Chevan Cordeiro to rattle defenses. Turner often will align wide right, then arc to the left, running 40 yards to catch a 5-yard bubble screen. Mountain West teams, notably Boise State, have been realigning formations for a generation. The difference is the Warriors are trying to accelerate their shifts as part of quick-tempo offense, a pace head coach Todd Graham ran successfully at Tulsa and Arizona State. In the first half against Portland State, UH ran a play every 22.6 seconds in racing to a 35-7 lead.

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College World Series: Mississippi State beats Vanderbilt

By Elsie A. Dotson 3 months ago
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 30: Kellum Clark #11 of the Mississippi St. Bulldogs celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the seventh inning during the Division I Men's Baseball Championship held at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha on June 30, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

143 years after its founding, Mississippi State has its first team championship. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The Mississippi State baseball team fell 1.2 innings short of a historic combined no-hitter. They’ll settle for the first NCAA team championship in Bulldogs history.

Riding a dominant showing on both offense and defense, Mississippi State defeated Vanderbilt 9-0 in Game 3 of the 2021 College World Series to capture the school’s first baseball title, and the school’s first title in any team sport overall. 

By the first inning, the Bulldogs were in the lead. By seventh inning, the only question remaining was if they would celebrate their win with or without the first combined no-hitter in College World Series history.

That was eventually answered in the eighth inning, when Vanderbilt shortstop Carter Young hit a one-out single to at least get the Commodores in the hit column. The score

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James Madison pitcher Odicci Alexander makes stunning fielding play to beat Oklahoma State

By Elsie A. Dotson 4 months ago

OKLAHOMA CITY – Exhausted and with tears in her eyes, Odicci Alexander paused to take a moment and recover.

The James Madison pitcher had just made an incredible diving tag at home plate against Oklahoma State on Friday night and her Dukes were just one out away from becoming the first unseeded team in NCAA softball history to reach the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series.

OSU’s squeeze play with one out with one out and runners on second and third was thwarted when Alexander fielded a bunt and extended her body toward home plate, tagging out a sliding Scotland David. The JMU ace got a popup for the final out a batter later to seal a 2-1 win.

“If that’s not Top 10 SportsCenter, I don’t know what is,” JMU head coach Loren LaPorte said, “because that’s probably the best play I’ve ever seen in my career by

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