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HOUSTON — As Jim Harbaugh exited the platform where he hoisted the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy, celebrating the culmination of a 15-0 season, he broke into a huge smile when he saw a familiar face.

Kevin Edwards Sr., the father of running back Donovan Edwards, wrapped Harbaugh in a big hug. The two men talked about how proud they were of Edwards. Then they told each other they loved them.

It wasn’t a surprise that Michigan tried to use its ground game to reduce Washington to a pulp in its 34-13 win. And that it did, running for 303 yards — Washington had 301 total yards — but Blake Corum had been the pace-setter all season for the Wolverines. On Monday night, it was Edwards who started off the game by electrifying NRG Stadium with 41- and 46-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter, becoming the first player since the BCS launched in 1998 to have multiple 40-yard touchdown runs in a championship game. He finished the game with 104 yards on just six carries.

Edwards and Corum (21 carries for 134 yards and 2 TDs) became the first pair of teammates with 100 rushing yards and two TDs each since Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson did the same against Texas in the 2010 BCS Championship game.

“I was so excited for Donovan because I just felt like he needed that,” Corum said. “He’s back. Dono is back.”

Back to a star turn in a massive game, after months of waiting, which so far has been the story of Edwards’ Michigan career.

Edwards averaged just 28.1 yards in 14 games this year before Monday night’s performance. He had only three touchdowns, tying the three he had two years ago as a freshman when he had just 35 carries all season. He reached the 50-yard mark just twice this season, with exactly 50 yards on nine carries against Bowling Green and 52 yards on 10 attempts against Penn State. His longest carry of the season was 22 yards.

Then he doubled that twice in the first quarter.

“It’s a beautiful feeling,” Edwards said on the field after the game. “Everything is just relief right now.”

Relief from a self-imposed burden he’d placed on himself to live up to his own massive expectations. That’s what happens when you’re a star from the time you’re in pee-wee football. Edwards said after the game that he had just reconnected with his therapist to deal with some of the pressure.

“I was stressing myself,” Edwards said, as streamers and confetti fell around him. “I was putting pressure on myself that I shouldn’t. I just let everything be free.”

He spoke to the crowds of reporters at media day Saturday about the importance of mental health. And he admits that his frustrations this seasons had hindered him.

“It’s up to you to be able to rise to the occasion and remember the down times,” he said. “Of course I have the feeling of being flustered, frustrated, and I definitely have been working on that. I just feel like this year has been a blessing for me. I’m in a national championship game. I have three Big Ten championship rings. I just feel like regardless of how this year has gone for me, there has been a lot more blessings in what I’ve been going through beyond football. Even though I know I’m still going to be great at football.”

And that he was Monday night, showcasing the vision and speed that made him the No. 68 player in the 2021 ESPN 300, a Michigan high school star from West Bloomfield Township, about 40 miles from Ann Arbor who chose Michigan over Georgia, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, among others. He waited his turn as a freshman, then surged last season, particularly in big games.

In 2022, Edwards fought through nagging injuries to play in 11 games with three starts, starring in wins over No. 9 Penn State (16 carries, 173 rushing yards) and No. 4 Ohio State.

In that game against the Buckeyes, Edwards filled in for the ailing Corum under the searing lights of The Game, playing with a cast on his right hand but ripping off 85- and 75-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to polish off a 45-23 win at Ohio Stadium, finishing with 216 yards on 22 carries.

He looked like a breakout star, adding 185 yards and a touchdown against Purdue in the Big Ten Championship game and another 119 yards in the CFP semifinal loss to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.

That loss left the Wolverines with a bad taste in their mouths. Corum decided to return for another chance at hoisting the trophy, and Edwards once again took a back seat.

Edwards sat and watched as Corum ran for 27 touchdowns, a Michigan single-season record and third-best total in Big Ten history. And he watched as Corum ran for 1,265 yards to his 511 (including the 104 in the win over the Huskies).

But he predicted he would have his big moment eventually in November, on the Michigan athletic department’s podcast, “In the Trenches.”

“It’s not how I envisioned it to be, but it’s OK, because I’m going to keep chipping,” Edwards said. “My game is going to come.”

That big game wasn’t Dec. 2, when he made just his fourth career start in the Big Ten Championship game against Iowa, but had four carries for 28 yards. It wasn’t in the Rose Bowl, when he had four carries for 11 yards in Michigan’s 27-20 CFP semifinal win over Alabama. Instead, it came in the biggest of games.

Afterward, his father embraced Harbaugh, then pondered the path that brought them all together in this moment.

“Don lost his mom when he was 2 years old [to cancer],” Kevin Edwards Sr. said. “It was hard for all of us. I have another son, too. Three boys in the house, no mom. I had to do nature, and I had to do nurturing. We had to do counseling. I had to do counseling. Nothing wrong with it.”

On both long touchdowns, Edwards ran into a pack in the line, made a move and raced through the Washington secondary. On the first one, he took a quick step to the left, accelerating out of traffic for a 41-yard run with 10:14 left in the first quarter. About eight minutes later, he took another handoff up the middle, bounced it off the right tackle, then sprinted 46 yards for a second score. His 87 rushing yards were the most by any player in the first quarter of a CFP game. His teammates couldn’t have been prouder.

“That’s my guy,” Corum said. “I’m glad I got to share the backfield with Donovan. … If he ever needed anything, best believe I’d be there for him.”

“I’ve been honored to be his roommate for two years,” quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. “Just knowing everything he goes through behind the scenes and just the man he is on a day-to-day basis, this couldn’t have been a better moment for him to show out and show the world who he really is. I’m just so frickin’ happy for the guy.”

Kevin Edwards Sr. said he’s got a great relationship with Harbaugh, who he calls “the best coach in the world.”

Corum said he hoped Edwards could continue to hold strong, saying he hopes he can just celebrate the moment and not think about any decisions about his future at Michigan. His dad certainly was taking in the moment.

“He’s been very, very patient, but look what we got,” the elder Edwards said. “Look what we have. I mean, come on now. We have a national championship. I’m sure any kid would want to be here right now. So just wait your turn and just keep the faith and be patient.”

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Ovechkin, Capitals finish off Canadiens in Game 5

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Ovechkin, Capitals finish off Canadiens in Game 5

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored on a laser of a shot off a faceoff, Logan Thompson made some spectacular saves among his 28, and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in Game 5 of their first-round series Wednesday night to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It’s the Capitals’ first series win since capturing the Stanley Cup in 2018, and they clinched at home for the first time since 2015. They face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round with a spot in the Eastern Conference finals at stake.

Ovechkin led the way with his power-play goal 11 minutes in, setting off chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” from the juiced-up crowd. Pierre-Luc Dubois delivered a perfect pass to Jakob Chychrun, who beat Jakub Dobes just over two minutes later. Tom Wilson provided a valuable insurance goal late in the second period.

Fans expressed their appreciation for Thompson with chants of “LT! LT!” when he turned aside Kaiden Guhle on a 3-on-1 rush and with under two minutes left when he flashed his glove to rob Nick Suzuki with Dobes pulled for an extra attacker. Brandon Duhaime sealed it with an empty-netter with 25.6 seconds left.

Thompson was at his best at the start, when the Canadiens came out with the desperation expected from a team facing elimination, and in the third period, when they pressed and tilted the ice toward him. Much like the final minutes of Game 2, Washington’s No. 1 goaltender kept the puck out of the net in crucial situations to pave the way to a victory — sometimes getting his masked head in the way of shots.

The Capitals asserted their dominance in the East’s 1 versus 8 series a year after getting swept as the underdog in it by the New York Rangers. Banged up and without top goalie Sam Montembeault and scoring winger Patrik Laine, the Canadiens got a goal from Emil Heineman but ultimately ran out of steam after going on a tear down the stretch late in the regular season to be the last team to qualify for the playoffs.

Carolina and Washington will meet in the playoffs for the first time since 2019. The Hurricanes won that series in seven games on a goal in double overtime.

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Panthers oust Lightning, win battle of Fla. again

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Panthers oust Lightning, win battle of Fla. again

TAMPA, Fla. — Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists to lead the Panthers to a 6-3 Game 5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning as Florida moved into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves as the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers defeated their in-state rival in five games in the first round for the second consecutive season.

The Panthers will play the winner of the Maple LeafsSenators series, which Toronto currently leads 3-2.

Nick Paul, Gage Goncalves and Jake Guentzel scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves. Since advancing to three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances from 2020-22, the Lightning have lost in the first round for the past three seasons. Tampa Bay fell to 1-9 in the past 10 home playoff games.

Bennett scored with 4:47 left in the second period just six seconds after he came out of the penalty box, finishing off a 2-on-1 chance and beating Vasilevskiy to the far post on the stick side to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 lead. The Panthers have now won 22 straight playoff games when leading after two periods.

Tampa Bay scored the opening goal for the first time in the series when Goncalves scored 2:33 into the game. But Florida answered with a power-play goal from Verhaeghe at 5:21 and Lundell redirected a Brad Marchand pass at 10:06.

Paul pulled the Lightning even at 12:16 of the first with his second goal of the series.

Barkov tipped a Gustav Forsling shot 52 seconds into the second to put Florida back in front before Guentzel snapped an 0-for-16 power play slump for Tampa Bay at 9:57.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Fan hospitalized after fall from 21-foot wall at PNC

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Fan hospitalized after fall from 21-foot wall at PNC

PITTSBURGH — An unidentified male fan fell from the 21-foot Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park during Wednesday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs.

Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track.

The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates’ and Cubs’ training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart.

The team issued a statement shortly after the game ended, saying the man was transported to Allegheny General Hospital. No further details were given.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton and Cubs manager Craig Counsell both alerted the umpire crew of the situation immediately after the play.

“Even though it’s 350 feet away or whatever it is, I mean the fact of how it went down and then laying motionless while the play is going on, I mean Craig saw it, I saw it. We both got out there,” Shelton said. “I think the umpires saw it because of the way it kicked. It’s extremely unfortunate. That’s an understatement.”

Players from both teams could be seen praying, and McCutchen held a cross that hung from his neck while the fan was taken off the field. The game was paused for several minutes while the man was tended to but there was no official stoppage in play.

Fans have died from steep falls at baseball stadiums.

In 2015, Atlanta Braves season-ticket holder Gregory K. Murrey flipped over guard rails from the upper deck at Turner Field. That was four years after Shannon Stone, a firefighter attending a game with his 6-year-old son, fell about 20 feet after reaching out for a foul ball tossed into the stands at the Texas Rangers‘ former stadium.

Both incidents prompted scrutiny over the height of guard rails at stadiums. The Rangers raised theirs, and the Braves settled a lawsuit with Murrey’s family.

A spectator at a 2022 NFL game at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium died after a fall on an escalator.

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