Connect with us

Published

on

Oklahoma leading wide receiver Deion Burks is not expected to play against No. 1 Texas due to a soft tissue injury, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Thursday.

Burks was listed as questionable in Oklahoma’s SEC player availability report ahead of Saturdays’ Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (TV: 3:30 p.m., ABC). He suffered the injury during the Sooners’ loss to Tennessee on Sept. 21 and sat out their victory against Auburn the following week.

Burks, a transfer from Purdue, has produced a team-high 26 catches for 201 yards in four games. He scored all three of his touchdowns in the Sooners’ rout of Temple in the season opener.

Oklahoma will once again be missing five of its top wide receivers when it takes on its rival on Saturday. Injured receivers Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony and Jayden Gibson had already been ruled out for the game.

In their absence, J.J. Hester has emerged as the top receiver for true freshman starting quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., catching three passes for 86 yards in the road comeback win at Auburn. Jaquaize Pettaway replaced Burks at slot receiver for that game, and Brenen Thompson and Zion Ragins earned starts.

Hawkins, who graduated up the road from the Cotton Bowl at Frisco Emerson, will be the Sooners’ first true freshman quarterback to start against the Longhorns in the 120th edition of the rivalry. He got his first start two weeks ago against Auburn.

The Sooners have also moved cornerback Jacobe Johnson to receiver for added depth.

Oklahoma running back Taylor Tatum was not included in the availability report and is expected to play against the Longhorns after missing the Auburn game. Defensive backs Kendel Dolby and Gentry Williams have been ruled out for Saturday’s game, while backup tight end Kade McIntyre is listed as questionable.

Texas and Oklahoma are both coming off open dates, marking the first time since they started playing annually in 1929 that both were off the previous week.

This is the 44th time both teams will be ranked heading into the game, which is second only to the Ohio StateMichigan rivalry (49). It’s the fifth time Texas will enter the game at the Cotton Bowl ranked No. 1; Texas is 3-0-1 in the previous four.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Journalism opens as 8-5 favorite for Preakness

Published

on

By

Journalism opens as 8-5 favorite for Preakness

HALETHORPE, Md. — Journalism is the morning line favorite for the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes.

The Kentucky Derby runner-up to Sovereignty opened at odds of 8-5 on Monday night when post positions were drawn for the middle leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Journalism is again set to be ridden by jockey Umberto Rispoli and leave the starting gate from the No. 2 post.

Post time is set for 7:01 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

No. 7 Sandman is the 4-1 second choice in the field of nine, which does not include Sovereignty after his owners and trainer decided not to run the Derby winner two weeks after his triumph at Churchill Downs. The Preakness goes on without a true shot at a Triple Crown winner for a fifth time in seven years since Justify swept all three races in 2018.

Bob Baffert, who trained Justify and 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, is entering Goal Oriented looking for a record-extending ninth victory in the race. Fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas can tie Baffert if he wins the Preakness back-to-back, this time with American Promise a year after Seize the Grey ended Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown bid.

There are three Derby horses running in the $2 million Preakness at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore: Journalism, American Promise and Sandman, the latter of whom will be ridden by John Velazquez for trainer Mark Casse. American Promise drew the No. 3 post and opened at odds of 15-1.

New to the Triple Crown trail, along with No. 1 Goal Oriented (6-1), are No. 4 Heart of Honor (12-1), No. 5 Pay Billy (20-1), No. 6 River Thames (9-2), No. 8 Clever Again (5-1) and No. 9 Gosger (20-1).

Continue Reading

Sports

U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

Published

on

By

U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

HERNING, Denmark — Switzerland, last year’s runner-up, shut out the United States 3-0 and handed the Americans their first loss at the ice hockey world championship Monday.

Damien Riat, Jonas Siegenthaler and Dean Kukan scored in the Group B game in Herning. Netminder Leonardo Genoni stopped 23 shots for the shutout.

“Give credit to Switzerland,” U.S. coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “But I know our group has a lot more in them. We’ll regroup and get ready to play Norway.”

Riat put Switzerland ahead with 7:14 remaining in the first period, redirecting the puck into the goal from the air. It was the first goal the U.S. conceded at the tournament.

The second followed 3:13 later by Siegenthaler from the blue line. Kukan’s came halfway through the final period from the top of the left circle.

“After the first goal we did a better job,” Swiss forward Kevin Fiala said. “We got into it more and more, and shut them out.”

Fiala recorded an assist in his first game at the worlds. He joined the Swiss late after his Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the NHL playoffs in the first round.

U.S. goalie Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

The U.S., which beat Denmark 5-0 and Hungary 6-0 in its first two games, will next face Norway on Wednesday.

In other games, Martin Necas had two goals and David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists as the defending champion Czech Republic used a four-goal middle period to ease past Denmark 7-2.

Nick Olesen also had a goal and an assist for Denmark.

In Stockholm, Sweden topped archrival Finland 2-1 on goals from Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin for a third victory in regulation from three games.

Austria defeated Slovakia 3-2 in a penalty shootout.

Continue Reading

Sports

Leafs’ Domi fined $5K for hit to Panthers’ Barkov

Published

on

By

Leafs' Domi fined K for hit to Panthers' Barkov

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi was fined $5,000 — the maximum amount allowed by the league’s collective bargaining agreement — for boarding Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov as time expired in Game 4 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series Sunday.

Toronto was trailing 2-0 when the final buzzer sounded, and Domi hit Barkov from behind, sending him headfirst into the boards. Domi was given a minor penalty for boarding at the time while several other scrums broke out before officials moved players off the ice.

Florida’s victory evened the best-of-seven series at 2-all. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Toronto.

Toronto coach Craig Berube didn’t comment on the Domi hit directly Monday, but he did say he thought Dmitry Kulikov‘s hit on Mitch Marner “was way worse”

On that play, the Panthers defenseman caught Marner up high with an elbow, leaving the Leafs forward momentarily dazed. No penalty was called on Kulikov.

It wasn’t the first elbowing incident to draw attention in the series.

In Game 1, Panthers forward Sam Bennett sent an elbow to the head of Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz shortly before Stolarz left the game. He was later hospitalized for further evaluation and hasn’t been able to resume skating since. There is currently no timeline for his return.

The physical intensity of the series might continue to rise now that it’s down to being a best-of-three. Based on how Game 4 played out, the Leafs are prepared to push back when they host Florida on Wednesday.

“We expected [the physicality], and I think we’re fine with it,” Berube said. “We’re handling it. We’re physical. I thought we were the more physical team [in Game 4].”

Continue Reading

Trending