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FORT WORTH, Texas — The first year of the Sonny Dykes era at TCU is off to a hot start, with Saturday’s 43-40 double-overtime win over No. 8 Oklahoma State marking the first time in school history that the Horned Frogs have beaten three consecutive ranked opponents.

After previously beating then-No. 18 Oklahoma at home and No. 19 Kansas on the road, No. 13 TCU is the last remaining undefeated team in the Big 12 at 6-0 and 3-0 in the conference. The Frogs were picked to finish seventh in the preseason Big 12 media poll.

TCU had lost 20 straight games when trailing by two touchdowns entering the fourth quarter, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. But the Horned Frogs’ defense, which had given up 30 points in the first three quarters, shut out the Cowboys in the fourth quarter, holding them to just 32 yards in that period.

After Kendre Miller scored on a two-yard touchdown run in the second overtime to seal the win, the Amon G. Carter stadium crowd spilled onto the field in celebration.

“You grow up your whole life and you see that stuff and you think maybe someday I’d like to be a part of something like that,” Dykes said. “So it’s fun. It’s a great win for our program and for our players.”

TCU was 5-7 last season with much of the team returning this year, including starting quarterback Max Duggan. Dykes was asked what this win means for his first year at the school.

“It means we have a bunch of good players,” Dykes said. “It means that guys are doing what we asked them to do and they’re talented guys. We talked about this, this way of climbing up the ladder. As you have success, then more is expected of you. And you’ve got to be able to carry that load.”

Duggan continued his career resurgence after beginning the season as a backup to Chandler Morris, completing 23 of 40 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while rushing for 57 yards on 11 carries. Wide receiver Quentin Johnston had eight catches for 180 yards and a touchdown, a week after catching 14 passes for 206 yards against Kansas.

“He makes my job easy,” Duggan said. “I’ve just got to do whatever I can to get him the ball and he does the rest. I mean, you throw him a five-yard slant route, a five-yard hitch route, he can take it 50. He makes one guy miss and he’s off. He’s a special player. He’s a special kid.”

Dykes addressed a history of his teams starting hot before losing key games late. His 2012 Louisiana Tech team was 9-1 before dropping its last two games and his 2015 Cal team got off to a 5-0 start and finished 8-5. SMU started 8-0 in 2019 but finished 10-3, started 7-1 in 2020 before losing its last two and started 7-0 again in 2021 then lost four of its last five as rumors swirled about Dykes’ job status after TCU fired Gary Patterson.

Dykes told ESPN this week he hasn’t always been at places that had a lot of depth, which was a factor late in the season, as well as maybe winning some early games they possibly shouldn’t have. But he said he’s been evaluating all the factors he can control, including if he wore the team down too much, and acknowledges it is a concerning pattern.

“Historically, our team has gotten off to good starts and not finished very well,” Dykes said after Saturday’s game. “So it’s going to be a challenge for us to finish down the stretch. We know that. This is a different team. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past here or where I’ve been. We’re going to write a different story.”

TCU faces a 5-1 Kansas State team that is also 3-0 in conference play at 8 p.m. ET next Saturday as the topsy-turvy Big 12 continues to take shape.

“Our reward for winning this game is we get to play Kansas State here coming off a bye,” Dykes joked. “So congratulations.”

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LSU’s Lacy facing charges related to fatal crash

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LSU's Lacy facing charges related to fatal crash

Louisiana State Police have issued an arrest warrant for former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy, who is accused of causing a fatal crash that killed a 78-year-old man on Dec. 17 and then fleeing the scene without rendering aid or calling authorities.

Louisiana State Police said on Friday that Lacy will be charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run and reckless operation of a vehicle.

Police said they have been in contact with Lacy and his attorney to turn himself in.

According to a news release from state police, Lacy was allegedly driving a 2023 Dodge Charger on Louisiana Highway 20 and “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated no-passing zone.”

“As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge,” a Louisiana State Police news release said.

“Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza whose driver swerved left to avoid the oncoming Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza took evasive action to avoid impact with the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.”

Police alleged that Lacy, 24, drove around the crash scene and fled “without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.”

Herman Hall, 78, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, who was a passenger in the Kia Sorrento, later died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to state police.

The drivers of the Cadenza and Sorento also sustained moderate injuries, according to police.

Lacy played two seasons at Louisiana before transferring to LSU in 2022. This past season, he had 58 catches for 866 yards with nine touchdowns and declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 19, two days after the crash.

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Effort to unionize college athletes hits road block

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Effort to unionize college athletes hits road block

The legal efforts to unionize college athletes appear to be running out of steam this month as a new Republican-led administration gets set to take over the federal agency in charge of ruling on employment cases.

A players’ advocacy group who filed charges against the NCAA, Pac-12 and USC that would have potentially opened the door for college players to form a union decided Friday to withdraw its complaint. Their case – which was first filed in February 2022 – was one of two battles against the NCAA taken up by the National Labor Relations Board in recent years. Earlier this week, an administrative law judge closed the other case, which was filed by men’s basketball players at Dartmouth.

The National College Players Association, which filed its complaint on behalf of USC athletes, said the recent changes in state law and NCAA rules that are on track to allow schools to directly pay their players starting this summer caused them to reconsider their complaint.

“[T]he NCPA believes that it is best to provide adequate time for the college sports industry to transition into this new era before football and basketball players employee status is ruled upon,” the organization’s founder Ramogi Huma wrote in the motion to withdraw.

The NCAA and its four power conferences agreed to the terms of a legal settlement this summer that will allow schools to spend up to roughly $20.5 million on direct payments to their athletes starting next academic year. The deal is scheduled to be finalized in April.

College sports leaders, including NCAA President Charlie Baker, have remained steadfast in their belief that athletes should not be considered employees of their schools during a period when college sports have moved closer to a professionalized model.

Some industry stakeholders believe that the richest schools in college sports will need to collectively bargain with athletes to put an end to the current onslaught of legal challenges facing the industry. Currently, any collective bargaining would have to happen with a formal union to provide sufficient legal protection. Some members of Congress say they are discussing the possibility of creating a special status for college sports that would allow collective bargaining without employment. However, Congressional aides familiar with ongoing negotiations told ESPN that influential Republican leaders in Congress are firmly against the idea.

The NLRB’s national board previously declined to make a ruling on whether college athletes should be employees in 2015 when a group of football players at Northwestern attempted to unionize. Jennifer Abruzzo, the agency’s leader during the Biden administration, signaled an interest in taking up the athletes’ fight to unionize early in her tenure. Abruzzo is not expected to remain as the NLRB’s general counsel during Donald Trump’s presidency.

Under Abruzzo, the agency’s regional offices pushed both the Dartmouth and USC cases forward in the past year. Dartmouth players got far enough to vote in favor of forming a union in March 2024, but were still in the appeals process when they decided to end their effort last month.

The only remaining legal fight over employee status in college sports is a federal lawsuit known as Johnson v. NCAA. That case claims the association is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, which does not guarantee the right to unionize but instead would give athletes some basic employee rights such as minimum wage and overtime pay. That case is currently working its way through the legal process in the Third Circuit federal court.

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Ex-Georgia QB Carson Beck commits to Miami

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Ex-Georgia QB Carson Beck commits to Miami

Georgia transfer quarterback Carson Beck has committed to Miami, with Beck posting the news on Instagram.

Beck is expected to visit Miami this weekend, and his commitment comes within 24 hours of his surprise decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal Thursday. After declaring for the 2025 NFL draft on Dec. 28, Beck will instead join Miami for his final season of eligibility.

Beck, a two-year starter for the Bulldogs with a 24-3 career record, will succeed Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward and attempt to lead Miami into the College Football Playoff after the Hurricanes came up short in 2024.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound redshirt senior is currently recovering from a season-ending elbow injury, a setback that forced him to reconsider his plans to go pro. Per sources, he’s unlikely to be healthy enough for spring practice at Miami because of the recovery from the injury.

Beck became the No. 2 player in ESPN’s transfer rankings and a significant recruiting win for coach Mario Cristobal and a Hurricanes team that lacked a proven quarterback entering 2025.

Beck underwent surgery on Dec. 23 to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow after injuring it on the final play of the first half in Georgia’s SEC championship victory over Texas on Dec. 7.

Beck will not be able to throw until March, sources told ESPN, and he received feedback that he could be selected anywhere between the first and third round, with much of that uncertainty due to the fact he wouldn’t be able to throw for teams in pre-draft workouts. Based on the feedback and advice he received, Beck changed his mind and entered the portal as a graduate transfer.

After backing up Stetson Bennett during Georgia’s run to back-to-back national titles, Beck threw for 7,426 yards over his two seasons as Georgia’s starter, fifth most among all FBS passers since 2023, with 57 total touchdowns and 23 turnovers.

He led the Bulldogs to nine wins over top-25 opponents and back-to-back appearances in the SEC title game. Beck received second-team All-SEC honors in 2023 and has twice been named a finalist for the Manning Award as one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the country.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. considered Beck the No. 5 quarterback in his draft rankings. Beck was viewed as a potential first-round pick entering his senior season and will now look to boost his draft stock just as Ward did with a big season in Coral Gables.

Ward, a former Washington State transfer, declared for the 2024 NFL draft last January but changed his mind upon learning he’d be at best a second- or third-round draft pick, opting to join Miami.

After producing 4,313 passing yards and 43 total touchdowns with the Hurricanes and finishing fourth in Heisman Trophy voting, Ward is now a projected top-10 pick and was the No. 1 pick in Jordan Reid’s latest mock draft.

Ward led the Hurricanes to a 9-0 start and a rise to No. 4 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, but November losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse knocked the team out of the ACC title race.

Miami finished No. 13 in the final CFP rankings and closed its season with a 42-41 loss to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Miami had not picked up a quarterback via the transfer portal this offseason to replace Ward and returned only one passer, sophomore Emory Williams, who has playing experience. Williams started two games as a freshman in 2023.

After Beck’s elbow injury, Georgia turned to backup Gunner Stockton to lead the team in the postseason. The redshirt sophomore threw for a combined 305 yards with one touchdown and one interception in Georgia’s overtime victory over Texas and its 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, ending the season with 440 total yards.

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