UW’s DeBoer expects ‘smooth’ jump to Big Ten
-
Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Writer
The College Football Playoff national championship game between No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Washington will be a sneak preview of two future Big Ten opponents, as the Huskies will join the 18-team superconference in August, and Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said on Wednesday there’s already plenty of familiarity with their new home.
Washington and Oregon will join the Big Ten in 2024 along with USC and UCLA, which will make the conference the biggest in the country.
“Our staff has a lot of ties and connections, both to the Midwest and the Big Ten, whether it be coaching there in the Big Ten, or just from that region of the country,” DeBoer said when asked on a CFP teleconference about recruiting for the Big Ten. “I think it will be a transition that will be pretty smooth for us that way. We have lot of familiarity with the type of football they play, the different styles of each program.
“We still have to keep our footprint in the West Coast, but we won’t be afraid to venture off and find the right fit, the guys we have contacts with, head coaches, and we’re very familiar recruiting already,” he said. “There’s certainly a lot that we already feel we have in this program that fits well with what can compete well in the Big Ten.”
In 2019, DeBoer was on Indiana‘s staff as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, where he met quarterback Michael Penix Jr. They helped guide the Hoosiers to an 8-5 record and a berth in the Gator Bowl. IU’s eight wins that season matched their highest win total in 26 seasons, and the Hoosiers ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten in total offense.
In 2020, after DeBoer left IU to become the head coach at Fresno State, Penix Jr. beat Michigan during the COVID-19-ravaged season. He threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the Hoosiers’ 38-21 win against the Wolverines, but he said it won’t be a factor in his preparation or mindset heading into the national title game.
“I don’t remember much, I just remember winning, really,” Penix Jr. said. “It’s a totally different ball game. But I’m always confident in myself and this team and the preparation that our coaches give going into each game.”
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh hasn’t forgotten how good Penix Jr. is.
“He’s a super great player,” Harbaugh said. “My impressions of him when he played at Indiana were the same. Big-time arm talent, tremendous presence in the pocket, sees the field really well. He is so polished. Watching him and his accuracy, his decision-making, timing. He has really just continued to have this tremendous presence of going through progression, feels pressure, will drop it off to a checkdown. Yeah, it’s at an elite level.”
That’s why Harbaugh said he’s thinking “more about the here and now” than playing Washington more regularly as a future conference opponent. The two teams will play again on Oct. 5 this fall in Seattle.
“They’re an outstanding football team,” Harbaugh said, “just a very one-track mind of today, getting our team prepared, get them back moving around, but also schematically onto what Washington does and preliminary plans for putting in our game plan.”
In addition to establishing itself as the best team in the country on Monday night, Washington also has a chance to set the bar for preseason expectations as a member of the Big Ten by knocking off the undefeated conference champs.
“Physically, you get to this point in a playoff, you’re facing the best of the best,” DeBoer said. “Obviously we’ll learn more about that when we step on the football field against them and where we match up as far as being the best in the Big Ten as well.”
NEW YORK — Dan Iassogna will be the umpire crew chief and work the plate during Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Atlanta’s Truist Park.
His crew will include Marvin Hudson at first, Chris Segal at second, Jansen Visconti at third, Jeremie Rehak in left and Erich Bacchus in right, Major League Baseball said Thursday.
Iassogna, 56, will work his second All-Star Game. He was at third base for the 2011 game at Arizona.
He worked his first big league game in 1999, was hired to the major league staff in 2004 and appointed a crew chief ahead of the 2020 season. Iassogna umpired the World Series in 2012, ’17 and ’22 along with eight League Championship Series and seven Division Series.
Segal, Visconti, Rehak and Bacchus will work their first All-Star Games and Hudson his second after being in left field in 2004 at Houston.
Tony Randazzo will be the replay umpire in New York.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Athletics slugger Brent Rooker is adding his name to the list of Home Run Derby participants.
Rooker announced Thursday that he’s participating in the event, which takes place Monday in Atlanta. He will become the first Athletics player in the Home Run Derby since Matt Olson in 2021.
“Competing in the Home Run Derby has always been a dream of mine,” Rooker said in an Instagram post. “Can’t wait to make it happen next week in Atlanta! See ya there!”
Rooker, 30, entered Thursday with a .270 batting average, 19 homers and 50 RBIs, putting him on pace for a third straight season of at least 30 homers. He went deep 30 times in 2023 and had 39 homers in 2024.
His 58 homers since the start of the 2024 season rank him third among all American League players.
The only A’s to win the Derby were Mark McGwire in 1992 and Yoenis Céspedes in 2013 and 2014.
Other announced participants include Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and Washington’s James Wood.
BALTIMORE — The Orioles traded right-handed reliever Bryan Baker to AL East rival Tampa Bay on Thursday in exchange for the 37th overall pick in the 2025 MLB amateur draft, a sign that one of baseball’s most disappointing clubs could be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline.
Orioles general manager Mike Elias wouldn’t completely commit to that idea. Speaking to reporters before Thursday’s split doubleheader against the New York Mets, he cited the 2024 Detroit Tigers, who traded players off their major league roster but held on to ace Tarik Skubal and then surged into a playoff spot.
Elias did, however, acknowledge the possibility of selling on a day that began with last-place Baltimore (40-50) sitting 12½ games behind the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays and seven out of the final AL wild-card spot.
“I think it’s a step in that direction,” said Elias three weeks before the July 31 deadline. “There’s no way around that. The timing of the draft, and when you have draft picks involved in the trades, kind of front-loads these decisions, and it’s earlier than my comfort level. But we thought it was a really good return and a good trade for everyone. So, we did it.”
The draft begins Sunday. In a corresponding move, the Orioles selected the contract of catcher David Bañuelos from Triple-A Norfolk.
After a dreadful start that brought the May dismissal of manager Brandon Hyde, the Orioles have steadied under interim skipper Tony Mansolino, playing to a 21-14 record since a loss to St. Louis on May 28.
Baker was a solid part of that, posting a 3.52 ERA, striking out 49 batters and posting a 1.096 WHIP in 38⅓ innings as the setup man for closer Felix Bautista.
“This is a team that is moving in the right direction, and we still have a lot of time left before the deadline, but this was a trade with the draft coming up in a couple days that we had to make a decision on,” Elias said. “We didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity. Hopefully, we can use the pick wisely, bring a lot of value back, and Bryan’s going to a good place.”
Mansolino is also hoping his team will get replenishments in the form of players eventually returning from the injured list. That sizable group includes several possible starting pitchers: Grayson Rodriguez (shoulder), Albert Suarez (shoulder), Tyler Wells (elbow) and Kyle Bradish (Tommy John surgery).
Meanwhile, Baltimore will now have four of the first 37 and seven of the first 93 draft picks.
“All the drafts are important, but when you have this amount of picks, it becomes more important, there’s no question about it,” Elias said. “There’s just a much bigger opportunity ahead of us, and the draft is a lifeblood for our franchise.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike