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Ole Miss and coach Lane Kiffin scored a big win Saturday as four-star defensive end Kamarion Franklin became the latest to join the fold by deciding to stay home.

Franklin (No. 27 overall in the 2024 ESPN 300), from Lake Cormorant High School (Mississippi), becomes the highest-ranked recruit in the Rebels’ class.

He’s the third in-state defensive linemen part of the class — joining Pascagoula High School defensive end Jeffery Rush (No. 134 overall), who committed in March, and defensive tackle Kamron Beavers (No. 204 overall), who committed in May out of Bay Springs High School.

“I think I’d fit in pretty good, like with the staff, the players,” Franklin told ESPN. “I got to get around them. I mean, I’m [from] Hardy, Mississippi. So I fit in pretty good with the other Mississippi people.”

He also considered Miami, Tennessee, Auburn and Florida State. Along with taking a pair of unofficial visits to Auburn — one in June and one in July — he took official visits in June to both Miami and Tennessee.

Franklin and Rush are the second- and third-best players from Mississippi in this cycle, according to ESPN’s rankings.

“[There wasn’t] really a lot of stress and pressure to stay in state,” Franklin said. “You know, I did whatever [was] the best situation for me.”

In 10 games, the 6-foot-6, 270-pound Franklin set Lake Cormorant’s single-season school record with 19 sacks to go with 93 tackles and 22 tackles for loss during a stellar junior season.

“It’s nice,” he said. “It’s a stepping stone to what (I hope to do at the next level), It’s a statement saying what I can do. Obviously my 19 sacks [are] a big factor in my play style. So it just says a lot about my pass-rush ability.”

Mississippi finished ninth in the SEC in pass defense (218 YPG) last season while its 33 sacks were behind only Arkansas, Missouri and Alabama inside the conference.

The Rebels have four ESPN 300 prospects in their upcoming class: Franklin, Rush, cornerback Travaris Banks and Beavers. Mississippi’s 2024 class is 27th in ESPN’s latest team rankings.

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Blue Devils win ACC crown, ‘deserve’ CFP berth

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Blue Devils win ACC crown, 'deserve' CFP berth

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke won its first outright Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1962 and threw the College Football Playoff into chaos on Saturday night when Darian Mensah connected with Jeremiah Hasley for a 1-yard touchdown on a fourth-down play in overtime, and the unranked Blue Devils held on to beat No. 16 Virginia 27-20.

The Blue Devils (8-5) are unlikely to make the playoff field, opening the door for a second Group of Five team — likely James Madison — to make it.

Duke last won a share of the ACC regular-season title in 1989, sharing it with Virginia in Steve Spurrier’s final season as the Blue Devils’ coach. The conference championship game was created in 2005, and Duke got there this year thanks to a five-team tiebreaker.

“So proud of this team,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said in his postgame, on-field interview on ABC. “Their mental toughness, their resilience, wow. These guys, they never give up. … They are ACC champions, and they deserve to be here.”

Virginia (10-3), the ACC regular-season champion, would have reached the CFP for the first time in school history with a victory but fell short when Chandler Morris was intercepted by Luke Mergott on the Cavaliers’ first offensive play in OT.

Mensah threw for 196 yards and two scores — both to Hasley — while Nate Sheppard ran for 97 yards and a score for Duke.

“These guys deserve to be in,” Diaz said of his Blue Devils and the CFP.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Indiana prevails over Ohio State for Big Ten title

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Indiana prevails over Ohio State for Big Ten title

INDIANAPOLIS — Fernando Mendoza‘s 17-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt gave No. 2 Indiana the lead midway through the third quarter, and the Hoosiers’ stingy defense shut down No. 1 Ohio State the rest of the way in a 13-10 victory Saturday night for their first Big Ten championship since 1967.

Indiana likely locked up the top seed in the College Football Playoff while extending the best record in school history to 13-0. The Hoosiers are also poised to claim the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time.

They did it by snapping a 30-game losing streak against the Buckeyes that stretched to 1988. Indiana also ended major college football’s longest winning streak at 16 games, sealing the win with a 33-yard pass from Mendoza to Charlie Becker on third down, a play that took the clock down to the two-minute timeout.

Ohio State fell to 12-1 overall, though its quest to win back-to-back national championships for the first time will likely begin as the No. 2 seed in the CFP and a first-round bye.

The Buckeyes had a chance to retake the lead on fourth-and-1 from the Indiana 5-yard line late in the third quarter. But a replay review overturned the call on the field, determining Julian Sayin came up short. They also had a chance to tie the score with 2:48 to play, but Jayden Fielding missed a 29-yard field goal wide left.

The two quarterbacks dueling for the Heisman Trophy essentially played to a draw.

Mendoza was injured on the first offensive play of the game but returned after missing one play and finished 15-of-23 for 222 yards, with 1 TD and 1 interception. Sayin was 21-of-29 for 258 yards, with 1 TD and 1 interception.

But when the big plays were needed, Mendoza usually got the job done

Indiana took a 3-0 lead after Sayin’s pass was picked off in the first quarter, but the Buckeyes turned Mendoza’s miscue into a 17-yard TD pass to Carnell Tate for a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter.

The teams traded second-quarter field goals as the Buckeyes took a 10-6 lead, but Mendoza threw a TD pass to Sarratt near the sideline on Indiana’s first possession of the third quarter, and that was all the Hoosiers needed.

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Jets to host Canadiens in 2026 Heritage Classic

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Jets to host Canadiens in 2026 Heritage Classic

NEW YORK — The Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens will play an outdoor game next season.

The NHL announced Saturday the teams will face off in the Heritage Classic at Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium. The event set for Oct. 25 will be the league’s eighth Heritage Classic and first since 2023.

Winnipeg will host its second outdoor showcase after falling to the Edmonton Oilers at the home of the CFL’s Blue Bombers in October 2016 before a crowd of 33,240. Montreal will skate in its fifth outdoor game and first in nine years.

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