Karan Veer Mehra: When the underdog takes centre-stage [Opinion]Flames bring 3-game losing streak into matchup with the PenguinsABILENE, Texas (AP) — Sam Hicks scored on a 53-yard run in the fourth quarter and finished with 171 yards on the ground to lead Abilene Christian to a 24-0 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday in the first round of the FCS playoffs. The Wildcats (9-4), ranked No. 15 in the FCS coaches poll and seeded 15th, qualified for the playoffs for the first time and will travel to play No. 2 seed and nine-time champion North Dakota State (10-2) on Saturday at the Fargo Dome. The Bison had a first-round bye. Abilene Christian grabbed a 7-0 lead on its second possession when Carson Haggard connected with Trey Cleveland for a 37-yard touchdown that capped a 10-play 97-yard drive. Northern Arizona (8-5), ranked 17th but unseeded for the playoffs after winning five straight to get in, picked off Haggard on the Wildcats' next two possessions but could not turn them into points. NAU went for it on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 9:30 left before halftime, but Jordan Mukes tackled Ty Pennington for a 4-yard loss. That led to a 46-yard field goal by Ritse Vaes and a 10-0 lead at halftime. The score remained the same until Hicks' big run with 10:16 left to play. Haggard passed 6 yards to Blayne Taylor for the final score with 2:16 to go. Haggard completed 23 of 29 passes for 244 yards with three interceptions. Abilene Christian's defense allowed at least 20 points in every game during the regular season and yielded at least 30 six times. The Wildcats lost their season opener to FBS member Texas Tech 52-51 in overtime. Abilene Christian's last shutout came in a 56-0 victory over Lamar on Sept. 25, 2021. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
NoneDave Portnoy didn't hold back on Ryan Day after Michigan's upset win over Ohio State — the Wolverines' fourth straight against the Buckeyes. Michigan limited Ohio State to just 252 yards in the 13-10 upset, stymying an offense that averaged 37.8 points per game this season and better than 42 points at home. The rivalry was on full display after the game when the Wolverines attempted to plant their flag at midfield. The Buckeyes didn't take kindly to that and an extended brawl between the historic rivals ignited. Day attempted to defend his team's actions after the game. "I don't know all the details of it, but I know those guys are looking to put a flag on our field, and our guys weren't going to let that happen," Day said. "I'll find out exactly what happened but this is our field." Portnoy — founder of Barstool Sports and Michigan alumnus — fired back at Day on social media. © Eric Rueb/Providence Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK "Umm no it’s not. It’s ours," Portnoy said with some crying laughing emojis, alluding to Michigan's streak against Ohio State. Portnoy had a field day on social media, trolling Ohio State fans after the win. "I did a Twitter Spaces to console Ohio fans because that’s what type of guy I am," Portnoy wrote on X . "I want this rivalry to matter again." It's been an underwhelming season for Michigan, now sitting at 7-5 despite the rivalry win. However, the victory over Ohio State provides a silver lining to an otherwise disappointing campaign. The loss likely means watching the Big Ten championship from the sidelines for the Buckeyes. Related: Chip Kelly Faces Harsh Backlash for Offensive Play-Calling Against Michigan
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Elon Musk, the world's richest person and one of Donald Trump's closest allies, met with US lawmakers Thursday on his plans for overseeing radical government spending cuts under the incoming administration. President-elect Trump rewarded the Tesla, X and SpaceX chief for his support during the White House campaign by naming him head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, along with another wealthy ally, Vivek Ramaswamy. Although the office, dubbed DOGE, has a purely advisory role, Musk's star power and intense influence in Trump's inner circle bring political clout. As Musk and Ramaswamy strode into the Capitol for meetings with lawmakers, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson touted "a new day in America." "There's an enormous amount of waste, fraud and abuse," he told reporters. "Government is too big, it does too many things, and it does almost nothing well." Musk and Ramaswamy have said they can identify billions of dollars of cuts in spending, sparking questions about whether Republicans will even try to slash politically popular social security programs. Writing in the Wall Street Journal last month, the two businessmen laid out plans for the White House to cut staff, trim government programs and reduce federal regulations, even if it means bypassing Congress, which holds budgetary power. "The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote. "We're doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. During Trump's election campaign, Musk vowed to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion. This would represent cutting total US spending by a third, almost certainly meaning devastation of social support programs -- something that has never garnered strong political backing. Musk's emphasis on firing large numbers of government employees, however, echoes Republican talking points about the need to take on an overbearing state and may garner more support. Musk says he is seeking "mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy." Musk suggested banning government employees from working at home as an opening tactic. "Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome." Cuts will also target subsidies to public broadcasters and groups such as Planned Parenthood, which campaigns for abortion access and offers an array of reproductive health services. But DOGE is unlikely, at least initially, to go after welfare programs such as Social Security or health insurance for the poor and seniors, Ramaswamy said in an interview with Axios on Wednesday. Such cuts should be "a policy decision that belongs to the voters" and their representatives in Congress, Ramaswamy said. A reduction in military spending, which climbed to $820 billion in 2023, is also unlikely to be on the table. Musk's new role raises the question of potential conflicts of interest, since he could be issuing policy recommendations that impact directly on his own business empire. Underlining the close connection to DOGE, Musk's favorite cryptocurrency is called Dogecoin. rle/ev/md/sms/md
Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 373,835 Shares of CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA)CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Luke Richardson on Thursday, signaling their frustration with the state of the franchise’s rebuilding project. Chicago has dropped four in a row to fall to an NHL-worst 8-16-2 on the season. It was outscored 41-27 while going 3-9-1 in its last 13 games. Anders Sorensen was elevated to interim coach. Sorensen had been coaching the team’s top minor league affiliate in Rockford. “Today I made the difficult decision to move on from Luke as our head coach,” general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. “We thank him for his efforts and contributions to the organization and our community. As we have begun to take steps forward in our rebuilding process, we felt that the results did not match our expectations for a higher level of execution this season and ultimately came to the decision that a change was necessary.” Chicago had expected to be more competitive in Richardson’s third season. It signed Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Alec Martinez and Craig Smith this summer. It also had coming back for his second season after winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. But Bertuzzi and Teravainen have struggled, and Martinez has been hampered by injuries. Bertuzzi has five goals and five assists in 26 games going into Saturday’s matchup with Winnipeg. Teravainen has three goals and two assists in his last 21 games. Of course, the most important player for Chicago is the 19-year-old Bedard — and it’s his lack of production that likely led to Richardson’s dismissal. While the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft has shown some positive developmental signs, the young center has struggled offensively. Bedard stopped a 12-game drought when he scored in a 6-2 victory against Dallas on Nov. 27. He has five goals and 14 assists in 26 games after he had 11 goals and 10 assists at the same point last season. “We’re not happy with the record, for sure,” Richardson said after his last game, to Boston on Wednesday night. “The guys are trying to work within the system and the right way and unfortunately, like I said before, we don’t seem to have one kind of Achilles’ heel. There’s not one problem with our team. “It’s like one night there’s one area — maybe our defense or our forward or one player — and the next night it’s another area, like a different player.” While Chicago has been plagued by a variety of problems, it’s clear that offense is its biggest issue. It is averaging 2.42 goals per game, ranked No. 31 in the NHL ahead of only Nashville going into Thursday night’s games. The Blackhawks finished with a league-low 178 goals last season. Richardson, 55, had a 57-118-15 record in Chicago. The former NHL defenseman was an assistant on Montreal’s coaching staff when he was hired by the Blackhawks . When Dominique Ducharme was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the 2021 playoffs, Richardson took over as coach for six games and helped lead the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1993. The move comes with Chicago set to host the Winter Classic on Dec. 31 against the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field. Shortly before the coaching change was announced, the NHL of what the rink will look like at the home of baseball’s Chicago Cubs. Sorensen, 49, is a familiar face for many of the Blackhawks. He was originally hired by the organization as a development coach ahead of the 2013-14 season. He has a 117-89-16-7 record in 229 career AHL games as a head coach, all with Rockford. ___ AP NHL: