Like every team in postseason play, Iowa suffered defections to the transfer portal or NFL draft preparations, like star running back Kaleb Johnson deciding to turn pro. But the Hawkeyes (8-4) got quarterback Brendan Sullivan back from injury for their Music City Bowl matchup with No. 19 Missouri (9-3) on Monday in Nashville, Tenn. Sullivan hasn't played since he suffered a sprained ankle on Nov. 8 in a 20-17 loss to UCLA. "He feels fully confident," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "The injury is in the history now, it's passed. Just getting caught up because he missed a couple weeks there. This has been a good period where he's getting some work." Sullivan, who became starter after Cade McNamara suffered a concussion against Northwestern, has completed 24 of 35 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns. He will be backed up by Jackson Stratton, who led the Hawkeyes to victories over Maryland and Nebraska while both McNamara and Sullivan were injured. McNamara subsequently entered the transfer portal. Running backs Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson figure to step up in Johnson's absence. Moulton ran for 377 yards and two touchdowns on 70 carries this season while Patterson rushed for 235 yards on 54 carries. The Hawkeyes of the Big Ten earned this bowl invitation by winning four of their last five games. "Midseason we were teetering a little bit," Ferentz said. "The guys came back, really rallied." Missouri's offense will be missing several contributors. Wide receiver Luther Burden III opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL draft while tight end Brett Norfleet and receiver Mookie Cooper underwent season-ending surgeries. But quarterback Brady Cook will be healthier after suffering a high ankle sprain and a hand injury this season. The latter injury happened against Southeastern Conference foe Alabama and caused him to sit out against Oklahoma. He has completed 183 of 289 passes for 2,248 yards and nine touchdowns against two interceptions. Cook also ran for 169 yards and five TDs. With Burden gone, receiver Theo Wease Jr. (55 catches, 809 yards, three touchdowns) will be even more important for the passing attack. "They have some veteran players where it really counts," Ferentz said. "The quarterback is an outstanding player." Running backs Nate Noel (804 yards, three touchdowns on 157 carries), Marcus Carroll (578 yards, 12 touchdowns on 134 carries) and Jamal Roberts (214 yards, three touchdowns on 52 rushes) lead a ground game that is back to full strength. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz expects Iowa to present a stiff defensive challenge under coordinator Phil Parker. "Their defensive coordinator, we were joking, he's been there since 1998, that's older than most of our team, most of our players," Drinkwitz said. "(Parker) runs the same system, very disciplined, very, very detailed on the defensive side of the ball." In the chaotic college football landscape, Iowa has maintained an enduring identity. Since 2001, the Hawkeyes have failed to earn a bowl game invitation just twice. "Coach Ferentz, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he's done with the Hawkeye program," Drinkwitz said. "I think he's done 26 years as the head coach. Model of consistency and development. Does an excellent job with player identification and development." This game gained a bit more spice when Missouri beat out Iowa for transfer quarterback Beau Pribula from Penn State during the leadup to this bowl game. --Field Level MediaGiants face challenge in hosting Ravens, trying to end 8-game skid
Family Blames Elon Musk For Son's Tesla Autopilot Death: 'Deceptive Claims'ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons with the school. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the move, which will see Malzahn to leave to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Malzahn previously worked with FSU coach Mike Norvell during their time at Tulsa under then-coach Todd Graham from 2007-08. The Knights ended a disappointing 4-8 season in which they lost eight of their last nine games, the longest losing streak since 2015. Malzahn, 59, was in the fourth year of a contract through 2028. His buyout, it is reported, would have been $13.75 million. He finished 27-25 at UCF but lost 16 of his last 22 games and was a dismal 4-14 in two seasons in the Big 12. After back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2021-22, the Knights went 6-7 in 2023 and 4-8 in 2024. This season started with high expectations as Malzahn made sweeping changes to the program. He retooled the strength and conditioning department and hired Ted Roof and Tim Harris Jr. as defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively. He also added nearly 50 new players to the roster, leaning heavily on the transfer market. UCF started by winning its first three games against New Hampshire, Sam Houston and a thrilling comeback at TCU, but offensive struggles saw the Knights tumble through a TBD-game losing streak to finish the season. Terry Mohajir hired Malzahn on Feb. 15, 2021, six days after he was hired to replace Danny White. The move came eight weeks after Malzahn had been fired at Auburn after eight seasons of coaching the Tigers. The two briefly worked together at Arkansas State in 2012 before Malzahn left for the Auburn job. “When he [Mohajir] offered the job, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ There wasn’t thinking about or talking about ...,” Malzahn said during his introductory press conference. “This will be one of the best programs in college football in a short time. This is a job that I plan on being here and building it.” UCF opened the 2021 season with non-conference wins over Boise State and Bethune-Cookman before traveling to Louisville on Sept. 17, where quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a fractured collarbone in the final minute of a 42-35 loss. Backup Mikey Keene would finish out the season as Gabriel announced his intention to transfer. The Knights would finish the season on the plus side by accepting a bid to join the Big 12 Conference in September and then by defeating Florida 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. Malzahn struck transfer portal gold in the offseason when he signed former Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. Plumlee, a two-sport star with the Rebels, helped guide UCF to the American Athletic Conference Championship in its final season. However, Plumlee’s injury forced the Knights to go with Keene and freshman Thomas Castellanos. The team finished with losses to Tulane in the conference championship and Duke in the Military Bowl. Plumlee would return in 2023 as UCF transitioned to the Big 12 but would go down with a knee injury in the final minute of the Knights’ 18-16 win at Boise State on Sept. 9. He would miss the next four games as backup Timmy McClain took over the team. Even on his return, Plumlee couldn’t help UCF, on a five-game losing streak to open conference play. The Knights got their first Big 12 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and upset No. 15 Oklahoma State the following week, but the team still needed a win over Houston in the regular-season finale to secure a bowl bid for the eighth straight season. From the moment Malzahn stepped on campus, he prioritized recruiting, particularly in Central Florida. “We’re going to recruit like our hair’s on fire,” Malzahn said at the time. “We’re going to go after the best players in America and we’re not backing down to anybody.” From 2007 to 2020, UCF signed 10 four-star high school and junior college prospects. Eight four-star prospects were in the three recruiting classes signed under Malzahn. The 2024 recruiting class earned a composite ranking of 39 from 247Sports, the highest-ranked class in school history. The 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 41 and has commitments from three four-star prospects. Malzahn has always leaned on the transfer market, signing 60 players over the past three seasons. Some have paid huge dividends, such as Javon Baker, Lee Hunter, Kobe Hudson, Tylan Grable, Bula Schmidt, Amari Kight, Marcellus Marshall, Trent Whittemore, Gage King, Ethan Barr, Deshawn Pace and Plumlee. Others haven’t been as successful, such as quarterback KJ Jefferson, who started the first five games of this season before being benched for poor performance. Jefferson’s struggles forced the Knights to play musical chairs at quarterback, with true freshman EJ Colson, redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown and redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk all seeing action at one point or another this season. This season’s struggles led to several players utilizing the NCAA’s redshirt rule after four games, including starting slot receiver Xavier Townsend and kicker Colton Boomer, who have also entered the transfer portal. Defensive end Kaven Call posted a letter to Malzahn on Twitter in which he accused the UCF coaching staff of recently kicking him off the team when he requested to be redshirted. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
The Green Party is set to suffer significant losses in the Irish General Election, with its leader expecting just a handful of parliamentarians to be returned. Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections. He said they expected to retain two to three seats out of the 12 they had won in the 2020 election on the back of a worldwide “Green wave”. “Undoubtedly it’s a disappointing result for our party today,” Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Ongar, Dublin. “It’s hard for a smaller party in government, that’s long been the tradition, the history in Ireland. We hoped going into the election to buck that but we haven’t been able to buck that today.” Mr O’Gorman, a candidate in Dublin West, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs in a battle to retain their seats. Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain a Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown, said it was a “very tight” race in her four-seat constituency. “We go in (to government) not afraid of that because the issue of the climate and biodiversity crisis is (greater) than our survival,” she said on RTE Radio. “I stand over and am proud of our track record of delivery.” Green candidate in Waterford Marc O Cathasaigh said he would not be “in the shake-up” to retain his seat in that constituency, while junior minister Ossian Smyth looks at risk of losing his seat in Dun Laoghaire. Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Neasa Hourigan is at risk in Dublin Central, while Wicklow’s Steven Matthews garnered just 4% of first preferences. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had a good day. Arriving at the count centre at the RDS in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you accept that, but you come back stronger and you learn lessons, and we’ve done that in the past and we will do that again.” He added: “No matter what the results today there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it’s a very distinct political philosophy and I think there is still space for that in Irish politics, for sure.” Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to retire, and the timing of his announcement, had affected the party’s showing. “Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes,” he said. He added: “We’ll look back and see what are the lessons, and what can we learn and what can we do differently. “It’s just one of those days when we didn’t have a good day.
‘We didn’t have a good day’: Greens set to suffer significant election lossesLucknow: Countering Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath 's claim that Congress always disrespected Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar , UPCC chief Ajay Rai on Tuesday condemned the "lies being peddled by Yogi and other members of his cabinet". "What Yogi Ji said is nothing but a blatant lie. This outright falsehood is strongly condemned and countered by the Congress," Rai told reporters, besides putting up his side of the story. "Dr Ambedkar was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the Bengal Legislative Assembly but lost his seat when it went to East Pakistan. Blaming Congress and its leaders for this is propaganda," said Rai. Regarding the inclusion of Ambedkar in the drafting committee for the Constituent Assembly, Rai said: "After independence, when the drafting committee was to be formed, Nehru and Sardar Patel consulted Gandhiji, who agreed to the inclusion of Ambedkar. In fact, it was Nehruji who convinced MR Jayakar to resign from his seat and make way for Ambedkar." He further said that later, when the chairperson of the Constituent Assembly was to be finalised, Nehru proposed the name of Ambedkar. "The BJP and its leaders, including Yogi, Amit Shah, and others, are playing politics," Rai claimed. The Congress also issued a point-wise rebuttal of BJP leaders' remarks, besides calling them anti-Dalit. "Yogi claims to be a well-wisher of the Dalits, but figures from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that he failed to safeguard the basic survival interests of the community," he said, asking what keeps Yogi away when it comes to acting against upper-caste persons who insult Dalits. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , Location Guesser and Mini Crossword . Spread love this holiday season with these Christmas wishes , messages , and quotes .Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse
NoneIn 1989, U.S. forces invaded, conquered, and occupied Panama, replacing its pet dictator, Manuel Noriega, with a new regime. Then-president George H.W. Bush’s justifications for the invasion included protecting U.S. citizens in Panama and prosecuting the ill-conceived and ill-fated U.S. war on drugs. The more likely reason is that Noriega, after many years of obedient service to his U.S. masters, had increasingly become his own man (not necessarily in good ways, but that wasn’t the issue — he was plenty bad before, too). In 2025, president-elect Donald Trump proposes that the U.S. regime regain control of the Panama Canal, ceded to Panama in 1999 pursuant to a 1977 treaty proposed by then-president Jimmy Carter and ratified by the U.S. Senate. Implementing Trump’s proposal would likely require another invasion, another conquest, another occupation, and imposition of another regime change. Trump’s justifications for his proposal include his expressed opinion that the U.S. acted “foolishly” when it ceded the canal to Panama, that the transit fees charged to move ships across it are “ridiculous,” and that the Chinese regime’s influence in Panama is strategically dangerous to the canal in particular and U.S. interests in general. Unmentioned, but worth wondering about: According to the Panamanian courts, the Trump Organization evaded, and owes, millions of dollars in taxes to the Panamanian regime. The case is currently in the U.S. federal court system. Presumably any Trump-installed new regime would take a more forgiving attitude. Personally, I don’t care if someone avoids taxes — of any kind, in any amount, in any way, or to any regime. But neither do the other supposed justifications hold water, if for no other reason than that attempting to re-take the canal, even if successful, would likely end up with it shut down for a significant period of time, costing U.S. consumers far more than the “ridiculous” transit fees Trump complains of and increasing rather than decreasing Chinese influence in Central America as the region’s regimes start looking for help with their own prospective defense from U.S. predation. And frankly, this one is personal to me. I won’t name names because I think it would be disrespectful in the context of making a political argument, but if you care to look, you can find the name of the only Marine who was killed in the 1989 invasion. I knew that Marine. I went to boot camp with him. Because the first letter of his name was close to the first letter of my name, he slept one bunk down from me, and we sometimes stood fire watch and other details together. I won’t pretend we were best friends, but he was one of the recruits I got to know better than most during a formative life experience. I’ve not always been anti-war, and wouldn’t have considered myself anti-war in 1989. But never, at any time, did I consider the U.S. objectives in Panama worth his loss. If Trump follows through with this ambition, people — American and Panamanian alike — will die. And, again, the results won’t be worth that cost.
Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections. He said they expected to retain two to three seats out of the 12 they had won in the 2020 election on the back of a worldwide “Green wave”. “Undoubtedly it’s a disappointing result for our party today,” Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Ongar, Dublin. “It’s hard for a smaller party in government, that’s long been the tradition, the history in Ireland. We hoped going into the election to buck that but we haven’t been able to buck that today.” Mr O’Gorman, a candidate in Dublin West, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs in a battle to retain their seats. Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain a Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown, said it was a “very tight” race in her four-seat constituency. “We go in (to government) not afraid of that because the issue of the climate and biodiversity crisis is (greater) than our survival,” she said on RTE Radio. “I stand over and am proud of our track record of delivery.” Green candidate in Waterford Marc O Cathasaigh said he would not be “in the shake-up” to retain his seat in that constituency, while junior minister Ossian Smyth looks at risk of losing his seat in Dun Laoghaire. Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Neasa Hourigan is at risk in Dublin Central, while Wicklow’s Steven Matthews garnered just 4% of first preferences. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had a good day. Arriving at the count centre at the RDS in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you accept that, but you come back stronger and you learn lessons, and we’ve done that in the past and we will do that again.” He added: “No matter what the results today there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it’s a very distinct political philosophy and I think there is still space for that in Irish politics, for sure.” Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to retire, and the timing of his announcement, had affected the party’s showing. “Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes,” he said. He added: “We’ll look back and see what are the lessons, and what can we learn and what can we do differently. “It’s just one of those days when we didn’t have a good day.Man United coach Amorim says argument between Hojlund and Diallo a 'very good sign'EPL: Martin Keown picks player to replace Saka in Arsenal squad