The NCAA has made an unprecedented decision. They have announced that there will be no fans in attendance for NCAA Championship games.
This includes the upcoming Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. These will begin later this month.
Coronavirus (Stock Photo)
The NCAA was forced to make this decision following the coronavirus outbreak.
“The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel,” NCAA President Mark Emmett said. “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes.
“We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.”
Previously, Amherst and Middlebury suspended their entire spring seasons. The Ivy League has made that tough decision, as well.
The New England Small College Athletic Conference also made the decision to cancel their spring seasons.
More colleges have prohibited travel out of their resale five states.
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The NCAA ruled on Tuesday that they are beginning the process to allow players to monetize their name, image, and likeness. The NCAA’s governing board voted unanimously to allow this to happen.
For years, the NCAA was against players from profiting off of their name and image. Now, I’m the future, it will happen.
Michael Drake, the chair of the board and president of The Ohio State University, said that all three Divisions need to “immediately consider updates to relevant bylaws and policies for the 21st century.”
“We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes,” Drake said. “Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education. This modernization for the future is a natural extension of the numerous steps NCAA members have taken in recent years to improve support for student-athletes, including full cost of attendance and guaranteed scholarships.”
Michigan State University needs to receive the death penalty from the NCAA. If all these allegations are true — and we believe they are true — the Spartans need to be punished to the fullest extent.
Even the NCAA reportedly knew of these allegations. If Mark Emmert, the NCAA President, knew of the allegations, like it is to be believed that he did, he needs to resign and be punished for not doing anything.
Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo (Getty Images)
This culture of sexual assault at the school is sickening. It is even worse than the Jerry Sandusky case that happened several years ago to Penn State.
Sandusky, a sicko, and former Penn State assistant coach molested young children, was arrested and sentenced to the rest of his life in jail.
A few Penn State officials, including Joe Paterno, who had his legendary stature tarnished after not telling the school of the allegations. However, like the Michigan State case, they refused to do anything about this because they did not want to ruin their reputation as a prominent athletic department that makes millions yearly.
Several Penn State officials were charged with perjury in that case. They were initially suspended or dismissed for covering up incidents for failing to notify the authorities.
Former school president Graham Spanier was forced to resign over the allegations. Paterno was fired by the school despite Sandusky maintaining his innocence, he said.
Louis Freeh, a former FBI Director, was commissioned to investigate the program. He found, “total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims.”
In July 2012, the NCAA sanctions were $60 million in a fine, a four-year postseason ban, scholarship reductions, and vacated all wins from 1998 through 2011. The sanctions were considered the most severe ever to an NCAA affiliated school.
Two years later, the NCAA changed its mind and rescinded its postseason ban. They also restored scholarships and gave the school back its wins from 1998 through 2011.
The abuse at Michigan State has reportedly been going on for more than two decades. Not only does it include those allegations against former team doctor Larry Nassar, who was recently sentenced to likely the rest of his life in jail, but allegations against the football and basketball programs.
There were reportedly 14 different people at Michigan State, who hid allegations of Nassar abuse. Plus, there were more than 100 complaints against him.
According to Outside the Lines, “[they] found a pattern of widespread denial, inaction, and information suppression of such allegations by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department, whose top leader, Mark Hollis, announced his retirement on Friday. The actions go well beyond the highly-publicized case of former MSU athletic physician Larry Nassar.”
The ESPN report said that the school fought three-times in court, which were all unsuccessful, to withhold names of athletes in campus police records. The Outside the Lines report also deleted information in several records to make them unreadable.
At least 16 Michigan State football players have been accused of sexual assault, or violence against women since head football coach Mark D’Antonio took over in 2007. He was even reportedly in charge of discipline in one of the cases, according to the Outside the Lines report.
They also brought to the table new allegations in never-published reports involving Tom Izzo’s basketball program.
Travis Walton, who has since been suspended by the Los Angeles Clippers organization, was not identified in the Outside the Lines online report, but was identified on the Outside the Lines TV story, was allowed to continue to be a student coach after he was charged with punching a female MSU student in 2010 at a bar. Then, months later, he was accused of sexually assaulting a different female student.
Michigan State reportedly knew of allegations against Nassar dating back to 1997. They also did not report to federal officials in 2014, according to the Outside the Lines report, that the school had several Title IX and campus investigations ongoing against Nassar.
“Whatever protocol or policy was in place, whatever frontline staff might normally be involved in response or investigation, it all got kind of swept away and it was handled more by administration [and] athletic department officials,” former MSU sexual assault counselor Lauren Allswede, who worked for the school for seven-years, said to Outside the Lines. “It was all happening behind closed doors. …. None of it was transparent or included people, who would normally be involved in certain decisions.
Nassar, according to Outside the Lines, did not officially get investigated until 2014. He was still employed by the school until September 2016.
Lou Anna Simon, who reportedly kept her job because she was a ‘good fundraiser,’ resigned as president this week. Hollis also resigned. Izzo and D’Antonio need to resign. The athletic departments’ senior leaders also need to resign.
They need to start fresh. They also need to suffer penalties to their athletic department, as well as the football and basketball teams. The 2018 football season and 2018-19 basketball season needs to be canceled immediately. This will hit them where it hurts.
The NCAA needs to give the Spartans the sixth death penalty of all-time and cancel their seasons. The last-time one was levied was against the Southern Methodist University football team in 1987.
When they received the death penalty, their 1987 season was canceled. All the home games for the following season was also canceled. They were allowed to play their away games in 1988, though.
The probation for the program through the death penalty ran through 1990. Their bowl ban lasted three seasons through 1989.
They lost 55 scholarships in a four-year span. They also banned several boosters. The program was only allowed to hire five football assistant coaches instead of the NCAA-regulated nine assistants at the time.
The school was not allowed to have off-campus recruiting visits until August 1988.
The NCAA last handed out the death penalty in the MacMurray College case when they were hit with the death penalty for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons for men’s tennis. They also gave out another death penalty to a school outside of Division I when they hit Morehouse College, a Division II school, received the death penalty in men’s soccer in 2004 and 2005.
The NCAA has the power to ban any institution from competing in a sport. In 1985, the NCAA Council passed a “repeat violator” rule. The rule, which stipulates, that if a second major violation occurs at any institution within five years of being on probation in the same sport or another sport, that institution can be barred from competing in the sport involving the second violation for either one or two seasons.
The school can also be stripped of its right to vote at NCAA Conventions for four years. The NCAA ‘has the power to ban a school from competing in a sport without any preliminaries in cases of particularly egregious violations.’
If they did not want to hit Penn State with the death penalty, Michigan State’s lack of institutional control of its entire athletic department deserves to be hit with the death penalty in multiple sports.
Ewing, New Jersey — The College of New Jersey Lions women’s soccer team pulled forward to the Elite Four round after beating Messiah College in penalty kicks 4-1. The game was tied at one-all in regulation. The game ultimately came down to an emotionally charged penalty kick round at the end.
Coming into the game, only two other opponents had scored on the Lions this season. Messiah managed to score in the 24th minute of the game on a header crossed in from the corner. Lions goalie Nicole DiPasquale jumped up to clear the ball but just missed it, allowing for Messiah defender Lydia Eichorn the opportunity to head the ball in.
DiPasquale lays out for a block in penalty kicks (Photo by TCNJ Sports Information Desk)
After the header, the team gathered around Eichorn and celebrated. The goal would stand for 35 minutes before the Lions were able to answer with a score of their own.
Midfielder Jessica Goldman took a corner kick in the 40th minute. The ball came off her football with power as it bent toward the back post of the goal. A Messiah defender was able to get to the ball, but it deflected off of her into the goal.
“The wind was really frustrating,” Goldman said recalling the wind. “On the corner that became a goal, coach T actually to take a look at it and try to get it in goal. To be truthfully honest, I thought that’s really hard. I aimed for the six because the wind was just blowing that hard. So that was my mindset, aim extremely far out and the wind would take it into where I wanted to kick it.”
Just a few minutes later, Lions midfielder Taylor Nolan, had a breakaway opportunity. She nailed a kick headed toward the lower left of the goal, but the Messiah goalie was able to get there in time, just barely getting fingertips on it.
Messiah led an offensive attack of their own immediately afterward. The forwards managed to get behind the Lions defenders, who for most of the day managed to deflect any kind of offensive onslaught.
Messiah forward Brooke Firestone managed to get one-on-one DiPasquale. Firestone beamed a ball to the outer corner of the net, but it hit DiPasquale’s fingertips, then the post and out. The Lions would live to fight on.
“It was all a blur,” DiPaquale said. “I barely remember it.”
The Lions offensive push was far more fierce and sustained in the second half. In the second half, the Lions took 12 shots, six of which were saved by the Messiah goalie.
In the final minutes of regulation, both defenses clamped down. Most of the action as took place in the middle of the field as time came to an end.
“They were defiantly the best offensive team we’ve played,” defender Kelly Wieczerzak said after the game. “Having the wind against us was a little bit of a challenge. I think we responded very well to it. This game it was the most pressure we faced in the back end, but once we settled down, we did a good job taking care of what we needed to do and settle into our type of play. Once we did that we were composed and took care of business.”
Ultimately, with both teams efforts defensively, the game went into overtime, where both teams were only able to muster one shot apiece, forcing the game into penalty kicks.
Up first for the Lions in the penalty kick lineup was their all-time scoring leader, Christine Levering. Until this point, Messiah freshman goalie Lydia Ewing played a specular game. She had nine saves in the game and had contested every attack with grace and ferocity.
Levering took a few deeps breaths, lined up her kick and beamed a ball right past Ewing. The ball flew by at lightning speed. Ewing dove for it but even fully outstretched, she had no shot to block the kick.
“I just think the first one (penalty kick) is really important because it gets the momentum going,” Levering said. “So, I just knew that I had to get the first one. I knew that Nicole would do her thing and everyone on the team would do their thing. We have been taking them for weeks, so are pretty confident in them. I knew if Nicole made a few saves, nothing would stop us.”
DiPasquale did do here job. She made three amazing saves to win the game for her team. She almost made three straight, but the third shot she defended, hit her on both hands, but the velocity carried the ball into the net. She bounced back quickly and shut down Messiah on the next kick.
“It’s all about composure,” DiPasquale said. “Before I came up I had to calm myself down. I took a few deep breaths. I knew I just had to trust my instincts and go with my gut.”
Her instincts served her well. Her teammates helped her out, too scoring four straight penalty kicks, ruining Ewing’s day. Among the penalty kick scores was midfielder Haley Bodden. Bodden had not played at all in the game, yet came off the bench to score the winning goal for her team.
After Bodden scored her kick, she turned to her teammates and jumped up and down with sheer happiness. They all rushed to her in celebration. They had won another one, maintaining their perfect season.
“Nicole has been exceptional all year,” head coach Joe Russo said. “I thought she was magnificent with those PK’s. I thought the kids that took the PK’s were assertive, confident. I thought they did very well. For Haley to sit here for 110 minutes and gets up and knocks it in is just special. It feels good.”
The Lions will move on to their 13th Elite Four appearance. Under Russo, the Lions have made 28 straight NCAA tournament appearances. The Lions will face the University of Chicago next. Chicago was No.1 in the country until they suffered a loss just before the NCAA tournament. The game will be played in Greensboro, North Carolina on Dec. 1st, the time has not yet been announced.
The Centre College Colonels and MIT Engineers field hockey teams duked it out in Lions Stadium, fighting for the right to battle it’s owners in today’s game shortly after the Lions earned their own ticket. Ultimately, the Colonels emerged victorious, besting the Engineers by a score of 2-1.
The emotions on the field were overwhelming as the benched Colonels rushed to meet their teammates. Colonel midfielder Natascha Loeb, who scored the first and only goal of the first half, could vividly remember the emotions of the team at the time.
Centre College Photo (Photo by Centre College Sports Information Department)
“[It was] complete amazement,” Loeb said. “Like our coach cried on the sidelines, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen her cry before. It was just the happiest feeling ever, I feel warm on the inside. Even in the cold, I felt warm.”
Confirming what her player said with a laugh, Colonels head coach Janelle Anthony echoed the sentiment of her player’s statement.
“Yes, it was very, very emotional,” said Anthony. “It’s just incredible, but I think it’s a true testament to how hard we’ve worked. Our journey started in August and we said that we were gonna take this season one week at a time… we just wanted to win every week and it just kept adding up, and adding up, and adding up, and we put all the pieces together and it was just a true, full team effort.”
For the Colonels, this win was momentous. Not only did it secure their continued place in the tournament, but as forward Hayley Barker would reveal, it secured this team a place in their record books.
“Making it to elite eight was a goal in itself because that’s history for our school,” said Barker. “This is the first time we’ve ever made it so this is a huge deal for us.”
Not to be lost in the big picture were the details of the actual game. Loeb scored the first goal in an up-tempo, shot heavy first half, which would then be followed by Barker in the second. The Engineers managed to make it a one-point game in the second half after a goal from midfielder Katie Notarangelo, but there wasn’t enough time for them to try and make the comeback.
“It was just really thrilling,” said Barker. “I haven’t been shooting the ball very much because I suffered a knee injury earlier in the season, so it was really awesome for me to get that shot off and it just kind of trickled through the goalies’ pads and I couldn’t have been happier.”
When asked about the details of her knee injury, Barker was blunt.
“I tore my ACL,” she said.
As stunning as it sounds, the game-deciding goal was scored by a player with a completely torn ACL. Playing on a torn ACL is one of the most difficult things a player can do in any sport, the pain of the injury and potential for further damage to the cartilage in the knee scaring most players off of the field. Anthony talked in great detail how Barker got to the point where she could accomplish such a feat.
“She actually tore her ACL back in the beginning of October,” said Anthony. “After one week, she had the full range of motion, could do a full squat, and didn’t need to use crutches, and she’s a senior. So we spoke with her parents and her doctor at home, and they said that if she felt up to it, she could wear a stabilizing brace and get in and play.”
“Since then,” said Anthony, a ghost of a smile on her face. “I believe she’s accumulated 7-to-8 goals and she’s been playing in every game since the beginning of October with a fully torn ACL.”
As amazing as that is, Anthony didn’t reserve her praise for just Barker. It’s easy to point to Barker as a great story of success among the team, but Anthony wanted to stress how the team operated as a unit throughout the game.
“I have to give a shoutout to my entire team, especially Hayley, she’s the true definition of resilience and resilience is one of the words we use in one of the pillars of our program,” said Anthony. “I think the whole team really embraced her after it happened and it gave us added motivation that you can’t give up any opportunity that you have to play. You have to live every moment and play every moment as if it’s your last, because it could be.”
Stories like this show that the Colonels’ resilience is not to be doubted, but will resilience be enough to defeat the Lions? Their head coach Sharon Pfluger, has 20 combined field hockey and lacrosse championships over 33 years, and Anthony is rightfully wary of her.
“I’m from Pennsylvania and I played against TCNJ in college, I also coached against them when I was a GA, I know they’re a great program,” said Anthony. “Sharon Pfluger is a legend within the field hockey and lacrosse community, when I’ve read books on Championship culture, her paragraphs are all over it. So I really admire her, I look up to her.”
The players are similarly wary of the Lions. Barker had a lot to say about her opponents heading into today’s game, set to kick off at 1 PM in Lions Stadium, noting the difference in ranking between the two teams.
“We know they’re a very tough team, we know they’re obviously higher ranked than us, but at this point, I think rankings are kind of out of the play,” said Barker. “It’s just whoever wants I more, and if we came out [today] wanting it more anything can happen.”
Loeb was similarly fired up, offering up what she thought they would need to do to try and beat this Goliath in Lion form.
“We’re gonna need the same fire that we had [on Saturday],” said Loeb. “I think that if we come out with nothing to lose and play our hearts out, we have a fighting chance.”
This quarter-final match-up is set up to be an intense battle of will and skill, and the talk of dedication and resilience rings true with their performance on the field. The Colonels will be a tough opponent for the Lions, scrappy and fighting to the bitter end, and the final words of their coach support this belief.
“TCNJ is a phenomenal opponent,” said Anthony. “And I just can’t wait to come out and show them who we are. And that, you know, we may be in the South, but we’re a very fierce and aggressive team.”
The game between the TCNJ Lions and Suny Cortland Red Dragons ended in a truly cinematic fashion. With 45 seconds left on the clock and a 1-1 score threatening to send them into overtime, Lions forward Cayla Andrews made the goal, bringing them up 2-1 and propelling the Lions into the Elite Eight.
“We were so excited,” said forward Elizabeth Morrison. “There were only 45 seconds left on the clock, so we knew that, as long as we didn’t let them pass our 25, and didn’t let them get a corner or a shot off, we were gonna win that game.”
Cayla Andrews (Photo by the TCNJ Sports Information Department)
Contrary to the cinematic end; however, the first half of the game was a slow burn. There were very few shots made, with a lot of defensive and midfield play from both sides. Lions goalie Christina Fabiano was particularly impressed with her team, lavishing praise on her teammates for their defensive play throughout the game.
“Our defense held really steady for the whole game, it’s just a testament to how our defense can play,” said Fabiano. “I got shots, but it wasn’t too many. This was one of our best defensive games… yeah there were shots, but I can’t even stress how well our defense played tonight.”
The second half was a bit of a different beast. Both teams were demonstrating more aggressive play, especially from the Lions end. The 0-0 tie was broken by Morrison shortly afterward, bumping her to 16 goals on the season.
“We played great defense this game and I think in the first half that’s why we didn’t let them have any shots,” said Morrison. “I was very happy to get us on the board, especially because there wasn’t too much time, so I was hoping that, if possible, we could just win 1-0 if it came down to that.”
Unfortunately for the Lions, they would have to make another play when Jessica Walsh managed to tie up the game with just under fifteen minutes left.
“In the second half, our defense broke down a little bit, which is what let them come back and get that goal to tie the game,” said Morrison. “So you can see how important defense is, and they always say defense wins championships. That’s what really helped us get our momentum going in this game.”
There was, even more, to worry about when a near goal happened that would have sent the Lions trailing. Fortunately, Kayla Peters was there to make the save, and the relief, among her teammates.
“That was awesome,” said Fabiano. “I think it was off a corner, I’m pretty sure it was off a corner. They shot the ball and it got behind me and I was just thinking ‘oh no’ and then I just see KP there — we call her KP — just with a big stick and just cleared it out, it was really relieving.”
The Lions still needed to score, which would come from Andrews in the last minute of the game. For her part, Andrews was very humble about her role, and highlighted how the entire team would need to come together to win their next game.
“It’s up to us to determine our fate,” said Andrews. “It’s all on us, whether or not, we want to win or not, it just depends on how we play tomorrow.”
Lions Coach Sharon Pfluger, who has earned 20 national championships in field hockey and lacrosse in her 33 years at TCNJ, was immensely proud of her team for securing the win. In particular, she highlighted the cohesion of the team and how the girls worked together.
“It’s all about the team, I mean field hockey’s a game where you need to maneuver the game down the field with your teammates,” said Pfluger. “You work defensively together, you work offensively together, so that’s something that we work on every single day. We respected SUNY Cortland all the way through, it’s a good program, they have very athletic field hockey players and skillful field hockey players so we had to make sure that we played together.”
With this win, the Lions will play in today’s quarter-finals against the Centre College Colonels, who secured their spot in the 2:00 game against the MIT Engineers. When asked about her hopes for tomorrow’s game, Pfluger kept up her infectious positivity.
“We’re just gonna take it one game at a time,” said Pfluger. “The goal is to see them happy after the game, and that’s my goal every day. Fingers crossed that we play well in our game [today] so that I can see them happy. We have to earn everything, so that’s the focus.”
However, the two were previously investigated by the school for ties to a local luxury rental car agency. The school wouldn’t say what they found in their case besides saying that they’ll continue the players’ financial aid through graduation.
Al-Quadin Muhammad tries to tackle Virginia Tech’s Brenden Motley (Getty Images)
“As no staff members or boosters were involved in the violations, the program will not be subject to sanctions and, at this time, the University deems this matter closed,” the school’s statement said.
Muhammad, a redshirt junior, had problems during former head coach Al Golden’s area. He served a suspension for an off-campus fight in 2014.
He was also suspended for the season opener last year.
Grace, a senior, started 10 games last season under Golden. He also had 79 tackles, which was third on the team.
Any Corrections?. You can contact Anthony at publisher@thecapitalsportsreport.com.
There’s only three games left in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. While the teams will dwindle down to one on Monday night as the eventual champion, this tournament has hopefully shown college basketball recruits that you don’t have to go to a big-name school to make the Big Dance.
Nor do you have to have a good seeding in the tournament to get a shot at pulling the upset. This tournament was riddled with 10 or higher-seeded teams pulling the upset over lower-seeded teams.
This event since nearly its inception has been known for its upsets, where the first weekend, everyone is on an equaling playing field, except for possibly the No. 1 and No. 16 match-ups since those No. 1 seeds never lose in this game.
If you’re a college basketball recruit, you have to ask yourself: Do I want to sit on the bench and ride the pine for a while, or play right away? Most would want to play right away if they had the opportunity to do so.
If you don’t want to go to a big-name school, you’re likely going to get playing time sooner. Plus, you’re still likely getting a scholarship to play the sport that you love.
This way, it’s like a win-win situation if you choose the lesser known schools. In addition, if you pull an upset like 15-seeded Middle Tennessee State did against second-seeded Michigan State, you’ll have a memory that you can cherish for the rest of your life.
There’s a chance that you can pull a George Mason or Butler and shock the brackets all the way to the Final Four, or possibly the Championship game, like Butler did years back. The odds are very favorable that there’s going to be more upsets in the tournament in the years to come.
Also, if you’re able to pull an upset, your institution would garner more money from the $11 billion pot that CBS and Turner Sports pays to the NCAA every year to televise this event. On Saturday night, in the Final Four, 10th-seeded Syracuse Orange will play against the only No.1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, but they’re not considered a “small school” since they come from the dominant Atlantic Coast Conference in the All-ACC Final Four match-up on Saturday night.
So, guys, the decision is yours. Do you want to sit the bench? Most would say no.
The Michigan Wolverines showed the world that the Florida Gators desperately needs a quarterback. Treon Harris, who was put into the starting quarterback position back in October, is clearly not the answer.
He had a 4-4 record, including a blowout loss to the Wolverines in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, since replacing Will Grier, who was suspended for one calendar year following the Missouri Tigers game due to taking an illegal performance-enhancing drug. He would later transfer out of the program with his new destination yet-to-be determined.
Harris, who just completed his sophomore season, went 8-of-21 for 146 yards and an interception against the Wolverines. He made several costly mistakes that hurt the Gators, who dropped to 10-4 with the 41-7 loss.
He’s expected to be back with the team for his junior season in 2016. However, since he replaced Grier, the offense has drastically declined in head coach Jim McElwain‘s first season.
In the past six games, including the bowl game, the offense averaged 13 points per game – which included three games with less than 10 points and 24 points in the final three contests. In the first two games after Harris took over, the Gators scored 55 points in a loss to the LSU Tigers and a win against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Harris is not the best fit for the offensive system that McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier runs with the Gators. They use a pro-style offense, which is better for a quarterback more like Grier than Harris, who is more of an option-based quarterback.
“You need to look a little bit at me and what I’m asking him to do, and trying to push the envelope a little bit,” McElwain said about Harris before the SEC Championship game, a 29-15 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, according to the Palm Beach Post. “That’s how we’re going to be offensively as we continue to grow. (Treon has) probably handled and done as good a job with his skill set.”
There’s already speculation that Harris may transition to a new position in 2016 if he’s not the a quarterback. Running back and safety are the two positions being mentioned that he could switch to, or even transfer to another school – like Grier.
Del Rio has already impressed the Gators coaching staff. He’s also the son of Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio.
He applied to the NCAA about getting immediate eligibility, but they declined his request. He worked with the Gators coaching staff during the summer, before the collegiate governing body made the decision.
The 6-foot-1, 216-pounder is the best fit right now to be the team’s quarterback moving forward. He’ll just be buying time for the Gators until he’ll be replaced by either Feleipe Franks or Kyle Trask, two incoming freshman, down the road.
Del Rio has been well traveled before arriving in Gainesville, Florida. He began his journey has a walk-on with the Crimson Tide, before transferring to the Beavers.
During the 2014 season, he was the back-up to Sean Mannion. He completed 8-o-f-18 for 141 yards when he saw action.
Del Rio, who was the 2nd overall quarterback rated by ESPN out of Colorado, when he was in high school. With the Valor Christian High School Eagles, he threw for 2,275 yards with 28 touchdowns to four interceptions.
Both Franks and Trask, who are both enrolling at the University of Florida this month, will need some time to develop. Depending on how long that’ll be, Del Rio should be leading the shots as the Gators look to compete for a National Championship next season.
Ohio State Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott is playing in his final collegiate game. Yet, he had one message for the NCAA before his final game was over.
With 4:55 left in the first half, Elliott scored on a one-yard rushing touchdown. Shortly after his touchdown, he pulled up his jersey into his signature crop-top.
However, the NCAA previously banned this, so this was Elliott’s way of protesting their decision.
The NCAA announced in March of 2015 that players would no longer be able to wear crop-top jerseys during games. This decision was targeted at Elliott, who did it the previous two years at Ohio State.
The NCAA ruled officials will treat illegal equipment issues – such as jerseys tucked under the shoulder pads or exposed back pads – by making the player leave the field for at least one play. The equipment must be corrected for the player to return to the game. The play may remain in the game if his team takes a timeout to correct the equipment issue.
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