Category: Sport

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s rocky first season as the Minnesota Vikings’ starter appears to have ended early. The 22-year-old McCarthy is questionable to return against the Green Bay Packers in Week 18 after taking himself out of the contest with a right hand injury.

McCarthy appeared to take himself out of Sunday’s game after throwing a screen pass in the third quarter. After the play, McCarthy motioned to the sideline that he needed to come out of the game.

While it was initially unclear why McCarthy needed to leave the contest, the Vikings later ruled him questionable to return due to a right hand injury.

Advertisement

McCarthy missed the team’s Week 17 game after sustaining a hairline fracture in his right hand in Week 16. Despite the injury, McCarthy returned to practice ahead of Week 18. After being limited in practice Wednesday, McCarthy turned in a full practice Thursday, and was deemed healthy enough to start the contest.

[Get more Vikings news: Minnesota team feed]

After leaving the game in the third quarter, McCarthy was replaced by rookie Max Brosmer, who took a sack on his second passing attempt of the day.

Brosmer remained in the game on the Vikings’ next offensive drive, a sign McCarthy could be done for the day.

Advertisement

If that’s it for McCarthy, it ends a roller-coaster season for the first-year starter. After being selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, McCarthy missed his entire rookie season while recovering from knee surgery.

Despite a successful season with Sam Darnold under center in 2024, the Vikings allowed Darnold to leave in free agency, paving the way for McCarthy to open the season as the team’s unquestioned starter.

That decision backfired. Darnold led the Seattle Seahawks to the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season, while McCarthy struggled to find his footing as an NFL starter. McCarthy also battled injuries again, limiting his time under center.

Advertisement

In his nine starts prior to Week 18, McCarthy completed 57.3 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. McCarthy did not throw a touchdown or an interception before leaving in Week 18. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 182 yards before exiting Sunday’s game.

The Vikings went on to win the contest 16-3 after the Packers’ offense couldn’t get much traction with third-string quarterback Clayton Tune getting the start.

The Vikings will be forced to make a tough decision in the offseason. McCarthy had moments of brilliance during the season — a Week 1 comeback win over the Chicago Bears and a three-touchdown performance against the Washington Commanders in Week 14 stand out — but too often failed to elevate his game enough to lift the offense to its previous heights under Darnold. After ranking ninth in points per game last season, the Vikings fell to 26th in the metric in 2025.

Advertisement

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell will need to decide whether McCarthy showed enough in his first healthy season to warrant another shot as a starer or whether the team needs an upgrade at the position.

The Vikings still has a strong defense and multiple offensive playmakers, so an upgrade at quarterback could go a long way toward the team getting back into contention as early as next season.

Indianapolis Colts wideout Alec Pierce was well on his way to shattering a handful of career-highs Sunday before being forced out of the game early. After nearly catching his third touchdown of the day, Pierce was ejected after making contact with an official.

The incident occurred with under two minutes to play in the third quarter. Pierce attempted to haul in a pass in the back of the end zone, but was pushed out of bounds by a Houston Texans defender. Pierce, looking for a flag, got up to talk to an official about the play. As Pierce extended his arm out behind the official, his shoulder bumped the official’s arm. The ref immediately threw a flag, and disqualified Pierce from the rest of the game.

The broadcast seemingly disagreed with the penalty, with J.J. Watt calling it “harsh.” Play-by-play man Ian Eagle threw it to former NFL ref Gene Steratore who noted, “It’s not a lot of contact.”

Advertisement

The ejection ended a career-day for Pierce, who hauled in four passes for 132 yards and two scores earlier in the contest. That was only two yards off his previous career-high and marked just the second time in his career Pierce scored multiple touchdowns in a game. Had he been allowed to keep playing, there’s a decent chance Pierce would have exceeded his previous career-high of 134 receiving yards.

There’s also a chance he could have helped the Colts win the game. After leading most of the way, the team coughed up a late lead, eventually losing the contest 38-30.

While he didn’t get to realize that dream Sunday, he picked a tremendous time to post his best-ever game. Pierce is set to hit the free-agent market in the offseason, and stands to make quite a bit of money there. Though he’s never had a 1,000-yard season as a receiver, Pierce has proven to be one of the game’s best deep threats. He’s led the NFL in yards per reception in each of the past two seasons.

Given Pierce’s ability to get open deep, there’s bound to be some teams that are convinced he could take a huge step forward in a good offense. Pierce hasn’t had many opportunities to play with elite quarterbacks over his career, and could really benefit from joining a team with an accurate, deep-ball passer.

Advertisement

But that will have to wait until the offseason. Following Pierce’s early exit in Week 18, the next time he’ll take the field could come with a new team next year. If he can build off his career day — and his strong second half — Pierce could wind up being one of biggest free-agent additions of the offseason.

The Indianapolis Colts didn’t have anything to play for on Sunday afternoon, but Riley Leonard sure made the most of his first start with the franchise.

The former Notre Dame star went off in the Colts’ 38-30 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday, which officially ended their season. Leonard went 21 of 34 for 270 yards with three total touchdowns in the loss, and repeatedly kept the Colts in it at NRG Stadium.

Advertisement

Leonard’s first touchdown of the day was a long one. He found a wide-open Alec Pierce for a 66-yard score just three plays into their opening drive of the game.

Leonard found Pierce again in the corner of the end zone just before halftime, too, which cut the Texans’ lead back to just three points.

Leonard came out of halftime and kept it himself for a touchdown right away. That score put the Colts back in front.

In the end, it was the Texans who pulled out the narrow win. Ka’imi Fairbairn drilled a 43-yard field goal in the final seconds and then Tommy Togiai ran back a fumble for a touchdown on the Colts’ last-ditch attempt. The win pushed the Texans to 12-5 on the season, which gave them the No. 5 seed in the AFC.

Advertisement

DJ Giddens led the Colts on the ground with 30 yards on eight carries, and Jonathan Taylor had 26 yards on 14 carries. Pierce had 132 yards on four catches. He had a third touchdown later in the game, this time on the ground, but he was actually ejected for bumping into an official.

Leonard’s day wasn’t perfect. He threw an interception early in the fourth quarter and lost a fumble on a sack in the first half. And, the Colts couldn’t quite grab the win. Still, Leonard more than held his own.

Why didn’t the Colts do this earlier?

Instead of turning the offense over to Leonard a few weeks ago, when they were still in contention for a playoff spot, the Colts’ front office opted to make a shocking call to 44-year-old retired quarterback Philip Rivers — a man who, while undoubtedly has a strong case for Hall of Fame enshrinement, hadn’t played in the league for five years.

Advertisement

Rivers did just fine in his three games starting for the Colts. He threw for 544 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions over that span, and completed 63% of his passes. Considering the circumstances, it was about all the Colts could have hoped for.

But, most importantly, he couldn’t lead them to a single win.

Rivers went 0-3 as a starter for the Colts, who quickly fell out of playoff contention despite starting the season 8-2. After last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, which marked the team’s sixth straight, Rivers insisted he was done playing in the league for good this time.

So with nothing left to play for, the Colts finally went to Leonard, the player they selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft last spring.

Advertisement

So, what do the Colts do from here?

The good part for the Colts is that they have months to figure this question out. But there is no real easy answer for them at quarterback.

Daniel Jones is recovering from a brutal Achilles injury he suffered earlier this season, and he’s set to become a free agent. There is belief that the Colts are going to try to sign him again, which could solve their problems fairly quickly. That is dependent on several things, though, including both Jones’ desire to return to Indianapolis and his health.

The Colts do have Anthony Richardson, the former Florida quarterback they selected with the No. 4 overall pick in 2023. But Richardson went down with a scary injury after a workout band snapped and hit him in the right eye earlier this season. It marked just the latest injury for Richardson, who has largely struggled to stay on the field during his time in the NFL.

Advertisement

While the Colts could turn elsewhere to bolster their quarterbacks room, be that in the draft or in free agency, Leonard may have played his way into the conversation on Sunday afternoon. With his rookie season now complete, and Jones recovering from a serious injury before free agency, there is a window for him to make a move and take over the starting job in Indianapolis.

The question, however, is whether the Colts want that. Considering they didn’t give him the opportunity a few weeks ago with meaningful football left on their schedule, he may have a lot more work to do.

The transfer portal is open and chaos is already ensuing. The portal opened on January 2nd and by midday there were over 4,500 Division I athletes in the portal. Andy Staples and Steven Godfrey explain the importance of the portal and how fans should view it. They also look at programs like Kentucky and Penn State and discuss what fans should expect from their teams in the transfer portal. Plus, they discuss the three different ways teams attack the transfer portal and what version works best.

Advertisement

Then, they look at a team whose coaches are caught between the CFP and the transfer portal for a rival school. Andy and Godfrey discuss the on-going drama at Ole Miss and if they expect all of the assistant coaches to continue coaching through the CFP. Will some of them just stay recruiting with Lane Kiffin at LSU rather than going back to Ole Miss? The guys discuss how, although Ole Miss is a unique situation, the concept of CFP coaches pulling double-duty between game prep and recruiting is consistent across all four playoff teams. Plus, Andy and Godfrey take a look at the SEC’s poor performance in the postseason. They discuss if the depth in the league is overrated and how the conference should be viewed going forward.

Later, the guys take a look at Tulsa’s innovative approach to transfer portal recruiting. Tulsa has launched the Portal House. A house they rented out, revamped and are having their coaches live in to use exclusively for recruits. They are also creating their own reality show from it. Godfrey and Andy discuss this intriguing approach.

Get prepped for the transfer portal madness with College Football Enquirer.

0:00:00 – Understanding the transfer portal

Advertisement

4:23 – Can Will Stein revamp Kentucky in the portal?

9:33 – What should be expected from Indiana in the portal?

14:13 – Three kinds of ways teams recruit

16:52 – Penn State’s portal expectations

23:47 – Difference of O-Line in the portal

33:11 – Ole Miss coaches returning for CFP semi?

37:51 – Portal distracting CFP coaches

43:48 – SEC overrated?

58:00 – Tulsa Portal House

Check out all the episodes of the College Football Enquirer and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

If, before this season, you had asked either of the long-suffering fanbases of the Atlanta Falcons or the New Orleans Saints if they’d like to see their team playing in a Week 18 game with the NFC South title on the line, they’d have said yes, yes, please yes, without even bothering to clarify any further. But in one of those careful-what-you-wish-for moments, yes, the NFC South title was on the line, but no, neither the Saints nor the Falcons were involved.

Because both the Buccaneers and the Panthers finished the season 8-9, a series of tiebreakers made the Saints-Falcons game a proxy battle for the NFC South crown. Atlanta hung on to win a messy 19-17 game, sending Carolina to the playoffs and Tampa Bay home for the season. Carolina now plays in the postseason for the first time since 2017, and claims its first division crown since 2015, and the Panthers have the Falcons to thank for the final touches.

Advertisement

The Falcons-Saints rivalry is one of the weirder in the NFL, full of hate and disrespect, though also notably free of large-scale success. Sunday’s game marked the 113th regular-season meeting between the two, and naturally, the two teams came into the game with 56 wins apiece. In all those games, though, there’s never been one quite this strange, with playoff implications that didn’t involve either team.

Both Atlanta and New Orleans entered this game on unexpected, irrelevant late-season runs — New Orleans has won its last four games, Atlanta its last three. And both teams played the first quarter like they’d forgotten how the game of football works. A fumble, an interception, two sacks, a blocked punt, a touchdown called back by penalty … the opening quarter was ugly and, for the Panthers and Bucs, maddening.

The Falcons struck first, Kirk Cousins finding a wide-open Drake London in the end zone late in the first quarter:

But despite the quarterback mismatch — Cousins, the 14-year veteran matched against rookie Tyler Shough — the game ground down into a defensive war of attrition and field goals. Both teams had touchdowns called back because of offensive penalties. After Shough scrambled his way to a second-quarter touchdown to close the score to 10-7, the game remained within one possession for most of the rest of the way.

As the game rolled on, the teams with the most interest in the outcome watched nervously. Bucs QB Baker Mayfield, for one, was locked in:

The Saints managed to hang around despite the absence of notables like Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara and the in-game loss of Taysom Hill. Shough, who has grown more comfortable throughout the season, nonetheless struggled to move the ball on a consistent basis. And just when New Orleans appeared to be driving toward a potential game-winning score with only a handful of minutes remaining, Shough floated a pass that Atlanta’s Dee Alford plucked out of the air and returned for 59 yards and an eventual field goal.

Given one more last-ditch drive, Shough orchestrated a 65-yard touchdown in just 1:41, capped by a beautiful one-handed touchdown grab by Ronnie Bell that closed the score to within two points. But the Saints failed to convert the onside kick, and Atlanta ran out the clock and Tampa Bay’s season. Shough finished the day 23-of-35 for 259 yards, one touchdown and that crucial interception. Cousins, in what may or may not be his last game as a Falcon, was 18-of-32 for 180 yards, plus a touchdown and an interception.

Advertisement

Although the specifics of this game were largely unimportant in the grand scheme of the season, both teams have elements to build on for 2026. Both defenses far outplayed their offensive counterparts, with New Orleans recording four sacks on Cousins and Atlanta’s young defense shutting down Shough and the beleaguered Saints.

The Saints might have found at least a stopgap solution in Shough, who — that late interception notwithstanding — has developed into a serviceable quarterback in the final games of this season. Atlanta, on the other hand, has more consequential decisions at the quarterback position. And given the fact that Atlanta finished 8-9 alongside the division leaders, but managed to eliminate itself from the postseason weeks ago, the Falcons have a lot to regret from this lost season. But they should at least get a nice thank-you gift basket from the Panthers.

If he hadn’t already done it, Cam Little would have broken the record for the NFL’s longest field goal on Sunday.

Instead, the Jacksonville Jaguars kicker now owns the two longest field goals in NFL history.

Advertisement

With three seconds remaining in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Titans, the Jaguars took over on downs at the Tennessee 49-yard line after the Titans failed to convert on a fourth-down pass. When you’re the Jaguars with Little on your roster, that makes for an easy decision: Send out the kicking unit.

That’s exactly what the Jaguars did. And Little paid off the decision with a 67-yard field goal that split the uprights with room to spare.

The kick gave the Jaguars a 31-7 halftime lead and sent the home crowd in Jacksonville into a frenzy. The Jaguars cruised to a 41-7 victory to secure the AFC South title.

Advertisement

The field goal was the second-longest in NFL history. The longest? Little hit a 68-yarder in a Week 9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

[Get more Jaguars news: Jacksonville team feed]

That kick came in the climate-controlled confines of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Sunday’s 67-yarder took place outside. And Little stands alone with the two longest kicks in league history. Both are longer than the previous record of 66 yards by former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

And with the playoffs looming, the Jaguars can confidently look to Little if they need to kick from even longer. Little hit a 70-yarder in the preseason that would have obliterated Tucker’s previous record.

It didn’t count in the record book, of course. But Little’s capable. And the Jaguars will go into the postseason with one of the league’s most valuable weapons in the kicking game.

Rocco Becht is following Matt Campbell to Penn State.

According to ESPN, Becht will play his final season of college football in State College. Penn State hired Campbell, the longtime Iowa State coach, after a 54-day coaching search that concluded at the end of the regular season.

Advertisement

Becht has been Campbell’s starting quarterback for the past three seasons. The son of former NFL tight end Anthony Becht has appeared in 42 games across four seasons at Iowa State. In 2025, he was 205-of-339 passing for 2,584 yards and 16 TDs with nine interceptions.

[Get more Nittany Lions football news: Penn State team feed]

His numbers were down from 2024, when Iowa State had current Houston Texans wide receivers Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins on the roster. A season ago, Becht was 271-of-456 passing across two more games for 3,505 yards, 25 TDs and 9 interceptions.

Penn State was entering the 2026 season needing a starting quarterback as Drew Allar returned to school in 2025 for his final season of eligibility. However, Allar suffered a season-ending injury midway through the season and Ethan Grunkemeyer took over as the starter.

Advertisement

Grunkemeyer entered the transfer portal himself after the Nittany Lions’ Pinstripe Bowl win over Clemson.

Becht will be a bridge starter for Campbell at PSU with one season of eligibility remaining. He’s also not the only quarterback coming over from Iowa State, either. Alex Manske, a three-star recruit in the class of 2025, is also transferring to Penn State.

Additionally, tight ends Gabe Burkle and Benjamin Brahmer have committed to Penn State from ISU. Brahmer was the team’s leading receiver with 37 catches for 446 yards and six scores, while Burkle had 26 catches for 302 yards over nine games.

Advertisement

Iowa State went 8-4 in 2025 as Campbell completed a decade with the Cyclones. He’s the winningest coach in school history with a career record of 72-55 since coming over from Toledo after the 2015 season. Penn State hired Campbell to replace current Virginia Tech coach James Franklin after Franklin was fired following a three-game losing streak that dropped the Nittany Lions to 3-3 halfway through the season.

With all due respect to Saturday’s high-stakes action, for Sunday night’s regular-season finale there was only one choice.

The historical footage of the Ravens-Steelers rivalry isn’t particularly grainy, having begun just before the turn of the millennium, but Baltimore and Pittsburgh’s two battles per year are loaded with lore. A wacky AFC North season had to come down to an on-field, win-or-go-home primetime installment that the football world will be watching.

Advertisement

Since our attention will be captured, we might as well have a wager a few on the game, just to see if we can’t make some memories for when we look back at this particularly intense chapter between these modern-classic foes.

Odds courtesy of BetMGM.

Baltimore Ravens (-3.5, 41) at Pittsburgh Steelers

Lamar Jackson is back practicing in full, something the market expected in opening this line at a field goal or more last Sunday night.

While Baltimore got a big win with Tyler Huntley at the helm in Green Bay last Saturday, the Ravens’ average expected play level is obviously higher with Jackson, and it changes the projected point spread from around a pick’em to where you’re having to lay points with the Ravens on the road. What complicates things is the level of reliance on the version of Jackson we’ll get — and how long we’ll get it for.

Advertisement

Even at the best of times for Jackson, the Steelers have been able to slow the Ravens’ offense during his MVP-caliber seasons:

• Jackson’s career averages:

  • 56.6 rushing yards per game

  • 35 rushing TDs in 115 games

  • Fewer than 2.0 sacks per game

• Jackson’s averages against Pittsburgh:

  • Almost 3.0 sacks per game

While the Steelers’ defense has left something to be desired this season, at 21st in Expected Points Added per Play (EPA/Play), in the Week 14 matchup in Baltimore, Pittsburgh’s was third-best, forcing -0.15 EPA/Play, while limiting the damage from Derrick Henry to 94 yards on 25 carries and no touchdowns.

While a few judgment calls went against the Ravens at home, it was clear that a point spread of -5.5 gave Baltimore too much credit. Four weeks later, and there’s been only a two-point adjustment to the line for the shift in home field.

Advertisement

Part of that may be stemming from the absence of DK Metcalf — the field-stretcher for Aaron Rodgers — which was felt last week in a loss at Cleveland, and Metcalf had his best game as a Steeler in Week 14. He’s also averaged just 50 yards in his other 14 games this season, and where the Steelers were able to gash the Ravens was when the veteran quarterback was able to check Pittsburgh into plays that left the defense confused, leaving wide-open options.

[Check out all of Yahoo’s sports betting content here in our new betting hub]

All season long, the assumption has been made that the Ravens would eventually flip a switch and match their output to their power rating in the market, but even at their healthiest that hasn’t been the case against other playoff-caliber opponents.

One win, where the already-clinched Packers weren’t able to match the Ravens’ desperation and aggression, doesn’t confirm the high regard that Baltimore carries here, considering the Ravens have blown fourth-quarter leads to the Bills early and the Patriots late.

Advertisement

Even if the Ravens do manage a 10-point lead on the road, there’s always room for Rodgers to make this game close late, but it’s more likely that we’re in for the usual tightly-contested game that John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin have found themselves in for almost two decades.

Pick: Steelers +3.5

Player props

Lamar Jackson under 232.5 passing and rushing yards (-115)

We’ve cited the historical numbers for Jackson against the Steelers, and while the names may change on Pittsburgh, the general game plan shouldn’t. While a sore Jackson may give Baltimore a better chance to win than Huntley, it doesn’t mean he’ll be freely running, since he hasn’t done as much of that this season anyway. Plus, there’s always the chance that Jackson can’t make it through all 60 minutes.

Advertisement

Jonnu Smith over 2.5 receptions (+100)

Pat Freiermuth was the leading receiver for the Steelers with Metcalf unavailable last week, but he was used as a field-stretcher up the middle, catching three of five Rodgers’ passes. The other big change in personnel for Pittsburgh is the season-ending injury to fellow tight end Darnell Washington. Once he went out, Smith became Rodgers’ outlet, catching all five targets but for just 12 yards.

Marques Valdes-Scantling longest reception over 16.5 yards (-118)

Throwing conditions are never any good in Cleveland in December, but Rodgers tried to get the ball deep down the field to Valdes-Scantling anyway. Despite catching three passes for no more than nine yards, MVS had an average depth of target of 13.0 yards from his team-high nine targets in the absence of Metcalf. Against the Ravens’ secondary, prone to coverage breakdowns, there could be some more success if Rodgers keeps looking to stretch the field with his former Packers teammate.

Advertisement

Anytime touchdown

Zay Flowers (+160)

After seven total touchdowns in his rookie season, it had been a frustrating stretch of more than a season and a half for anyone invested in Flowers to score, as he found the end zone just five times in 30 games despite 210 targets and 19 carries, while other lesser-talents were scoring at an unusually high rate relative to their overall usage. However, Flowers has scored in three consecutive games, including an 18-yard rushing touchdown, and a mathematically improbable stat line might be starting to correct itself.

With so much attention expected to be paid on Henry after his scoring splurge last week, and the Steelers’ reputation for spying well on Jackson, Flowers should find some single-coverage opportunities against the Steelers’ aging secondary.

Advertisement

Kenneth Gainwell (+195)

While Jaylen Warren is the likely goal-line option each week, Gainwell can score in a variety of ways (four times on the ground and three through air), as he’s turned into a key security blanket for Rodgers. From a matchup perspective, Gainwell had eight touches/targets in the red zone in Week 14 to just two for Warren, scoring on one of four carries, while being a main character in the passing game with seven targets.

Jonnu Smith (+450)

The Steelers have started handing the ball off to Smith, and while I’m not sure what the football reason is for this, we don’t argue with the strategy — we just bet it. That evident desire to get Smith the ball alone might be enough to make them a valuable long-shot bet, but the injuries mentioned above also moves Smith up the hierarchy for a big-bodied scoring option for Pittsburgh.

Advertisement

You can find more valuable betting analysis from Yahoo Sports betting contributor, Matt Russell, at THE WINDOW.

Can Josh Hoover be the third transfer QB to lead Indiana to the College Football Playoff in 2026?

According to ESPN, the TCU QB has signed with the Hoosiers out of the transfer portal. Hoover’s impending arrival likely means that current Indiana QB and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza will declare for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Advertisement

Mendoza’s declaration would not be a surprise in the slightest. He’s the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in April. The Las Vegas Raiders — a team in desperate need of a QB — clinched the top pick on Sunday.

[Get more Hoosiers football news: Indiana team feed]

But we won’t officially know Mendoza’s draft intentions for a while. No. 1 Indiana plays No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Friday night and a win puts the Hoosiers in the national title game on Jan. 19.

Hoover has played in 35 games over the past three seasons at TCU. In 2025, he was 272-of-413 passing for 3,472 yards and 29 TDs with 13 interceptions. Hoover has thrown 71 TDs over the past three years and averaged 8.4 yards an attempt in both 2024 and 2025.

Advertisement

After Indiana hired coach Curt Cignetti ahead of the 2024 season, the Hoosiers signed Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke out of the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility. The former MAC Player of the Year threw for over 3,000 yards and 29 TDs as Indiana made the College Football Playoff for the first time.

Mendoza then arrived from Cal after the 2024 season as the Hoosiers continued their ascent. Indiana won the Big Ten in 2025 and is the only undefeated team at the top level of college football. Mendoza has thrown 36 TDs over 14 games so far this season and is averaging 9.6 yards a pass. He easily won the Heisman Trophy ahead of Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love.

Advertisement

Like both Rourke and Mendoza, Hoover will have one season of eligibility remaining. The Texas native was a four-star recruit in the class of 2022 and the No. 15 quarterback in the nation out of high school, according to Rivals.

Myles Garrett made NFL history on Sunday with his 23rd sack of the season, breaking the league’s coveted record for most sacks in a single season.

When it happened, game officials allowed a stoppage in play of roughly a minute for Garrett to celebrate with his Browns teammates. The delay occurred at a critical juncture late in the fourth quarter of the game between Garrett’s Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals that Cleveland won, 20-18.

Advertisement

For this, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor was not pleased. Neither was All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Taylor told reporters in his postgame news conference that the delay interfered with the Bengals’ hurry-up offense as they attempted to rally from a 17-12 deficit in the game’s final five minutes. The sack put the Bengals at second-and-16 near midfield.

[Get more Bengals news: Cincinnati team feed]

Taylor: ‘The umpire just held the ball’

“There’s five minutes left in our season,” Taylor said. “We’re playing for our lives here, and I was never told that we’re gonna stop the game. And in a critical moment like that. And the refs just said that they made a decision that they were gonna stop the game. And they said they tried to do it as quickly as possible. I didn’t feel that.

Advertisement

“We didn’t sub. We’re trying to be on the ball and go and play with tempo, and the umpire just held the ball so that we couldn’t do anything.”

During the game, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who was on the receiving end of Garrett’s sack, raised both arms in frustration after the play as officials held on to the game ball instead of placing it for the next play. Garrett, meanwhile, was swarmed by his teammates to celebrate the achievement.

Why did officials allow game to be delayed?

Taylor told reporters that he approached officials to try to get an answer for why gameplay was paused to allow the Browns to celebrate.

Advertisement

“Trying to get an answer was not easy,” Taylor said. “They just said that they made a decision as a crew to stop the game when that happened. I guess it didn’t matter when it happened. They were gonna stop the game and let it happen.

“I was never informed of that. They didn’t say one word.”

Ja’Marr Chase: Where’s the flag?

Chase, meanwhile, wanted to know why officials didn’t throw a flag for the celebration as players left the Cleveland bench to congratulate Garrett on the field.

“I don’t think they could do that,” Chase said. “I never knew you could let the whole team get on your field — that’s like me catching my 10th pass and the whole team running on the field. People get flagged. You can’t do that.

Advertisement

“Congrats to him and everything. But they’ve gotta call a flag on that play.”

When informed that Taylor said that officials had planned all along to stop play to allow a celebration, Chase said that he expects the same treatment for any of his career achievements.

“Well,” Chase said, “they better stop the game when I do something on my back end.”

What should officials have done?

Few individual records in football carry as much weight as the single-season sack record. It’s a monumental achievement worthy of celebration.

At the same time, there’s plenty of time and opportunity for the Browns to celebrate. And the Bengals have a legitimate gripe about the game not being allowed to play out by the normal rules of gameplay.