Texas A&M on Sunday fired football coach Jimbo Fisher, triggering a contract buyout of more than $77 million, the largest in college football history.

After rumors of the firing trickled in on social media throughout the morning, indicating the decision was made after a four-hour Texas A&M board of regents meeting Thursday, athletic director Ross Bjork released a statement.

‘After very careful analysis of all the components related to Texas A&M football, I recommended to President (Mark A.) Welsh and then Chancellor (John) Sharp that a change in the leadership of the program was necessary in order for Aggie football to reach our full potential and they accepted my decision,’ Bjork wrote. ‘We appreciate Coach Fisher’s time here at Texas A&M and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.’

Welsh also released a statement, saying that the decision ‘is the result of a thorough evaluation of the football program’s performance and what’s in the best interest of the overall program and Texas A&M University.’

Welsh added that Bjork has his ‘full support’ as he begins a national search for a new head coach.

Fisher went to College Station with great fanfare seven years ago after a stellar tenure at Florida State that included a BCS national championship in 2013. He led the Aggies to a 9-1 record and an Orange Bowl victory in 2020, earning him a fully guaranteed $94 million extension through the 2031 season.

However, his teams have underachieved the past three seasons – with last year’s 5-7 mark his first losing record as a college head coach.

This year, the Aggies are 6-4, but have lost all three of their games against ranked opponents.

Biggest buyout for a football coach in history

Before Fisher, the highest buyout from a public school was Gus Malzahn at Auburn, which was on the hook to buy out Malzahn for $21 million after firing him in late 2020. Half of that was due to him within 30 days of his termination, with the rest due in installments over four years. The contract didn’t even require him to offset that amount with future pay at a new job.

Fisher will be owed $77,562,500, according to USA TODAY Sports’ college football coaches salary database. Twenty-five percent of the total buyout is due to Fisher in a lump sum within 60 days of his termination. The remaining balance must then be paid in equal annual payments beginning 120 days after the date of termination, and continuing through the end of the contract (Dec. 31, 2031).

Despite the enormous amount Fisher is owed, there appears to be no shortage of cash at Texas A&M’s disposal to buy him out. The university’s  fundraising arm, the 12th Man Foundation, reported $239.5 million in net assets on its federal tax forms for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. Of the total assets, $112.2 million was reported as being endowment funds. The foundation reported $135.2 million in contributions for the fiscal year.

Fisher compiled a record of 83-23 in eight seasons at Florida State. Overall, his teams have a mark of 128-48 (.727).

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. − They came to the resort full of energy, elated by the perfect weather, mesmerized by the views and palm trees swaying in the breeze. 

Three days later, they departed dehydrated, nauseous, pale, and warning visitors not to come anywhere near them. 

The annual Major League Baseball GM meetings were cut a half-day short when more than 10% of the executives became ill with what originally believed to food poisoning, but was likely a stomach virus going around. 

There wasn’t a single team that didn’t have at least one executive spending at least 24 hours battling diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting. 

It even prompted the Players Association’s annual meeting to be conducted over Zoom instead of gathering at their Scottsdale office, leaving several agents traveling into town only to conduct business without leaving the airport. 

FOLLOW THE MONEY: MLB player salaries and payrolls for every major league team

But, at least for a few days, GMs were able to share their agenda, agents were able to tell 30 teams that their free-agent clients will turn them into World Series champions, and reporters were able to stand around and ask what’s the latest they heard on Shohei Ohtani. 

There was precious little news, outside four managerial hirings, but certainly enough entertainment to provide awards for their performances while juggling emergency bathroom visits. 

Best bluff 

≻ Craig Counsell, Chicago Cubs new manager 

Counsell was never, ever going to take the New York Mets’ job. He would have rather sat out a year than move 1,000 miles away from his family in Wisconsin. 

But he used the Mets’ lucrative offer to get a historic five-year, $40 million deal with the Cubs where he can sleep at home most nights, working just 90 miles away. 

And never again will he have to worry about budgetary cuts or having his clubhouse go ballistic by trading away a beloved All-Star closer. 

The hardest move was telephoning Cubs manager David Ross and explaining why he took his job. 

Shrewdest decision 

≻ Nez Balelo, agent for Shohei Ohtani. 

Balelo stayed at a different hotel from the GM Meetings resort, avoiding not only about 150 credentialed media who would have hounded him, but still allowed him to meet with teams off site.

The meetings ended without a team ever admitting to even talking with Balelo. 

Most honest assessment  

≻ Chris Getz, Chicago White Sox GM 

‘I don’t like my team,’ Getz said. ‘We have a talented group, there is no question, but it’s not a well-rounded club right now.’ 

Preach. 

The rest of the White Sox fanbase will readily concur. 

This is why the White Sox cut ties with shortstop Tim Anderson and are making everyone available in trades except center fielder Luis Robert – including ace Dylan Cease – as they lower their payroll. 

Most reflective executive 

≻ John Mozeliak, St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations

‘We know we have to find guys who can give us some innings,’ Mozeliak said. ‘We like our everyday position player club. From that standpoint, when you look back at what happened in 2023, for us we know there are areas that we have to get better at. For a team that always focused on doing the little things, I think we got away from that a little bit. 

‘Those little things ended up being big things, and those big things ended up creating the disaster.’ 

Most productive meal 

≻ Perry Minasian, Los Angeles Angels GM

Minasian took Ron Washington to Steak 44 for dinner on Tuesday evening with no reservation, stood outside and kept talking after Washington’s two-hour meeting with owner Arte Moreno. 

Before they finished their steaks, Washington was the clear-cut choice to be manager, which was approved by Moreno the next morning. 

Most colorful exchange 

≻ Brian Cashman, Yankees GM with New York beat writers 

Cashman has listened to the criticism of his team and their analytics department all year as the Yankees sat home in October, and at the first chance to confront his local writers in the offseason, unloaded. 

‘There’s a lot of stuff that’s not accurate that’s floating around about [how] analytics took us offline,’ Cashman said. ‘Last year, obviously is the first year in a long time we took a dip, and it happens, but the same people that were responsible for us having a lot of success are somehow being focused as the blame game for the reason the 2023 season went south. 

‘There’s a lot of narratives that got carried away in my opinion, and a lot of people that have been unfairly portrayed in my opinion. … No one’s doing their deep dives. They’re just throwing ammunition and bull (expletive), and accusing us of being run analytically. Analytics is an important spoke in our wheel, but it should be in everybody’s wheel, and it really is. It’s an important spoke in every operation that’s having success. There’s not one team that’s not using it. We’re no different. But to say we are guided by analytics as a driver, it’s a lie.’ 

Cashman said Yankees have the smallest analytics department in the American League East and the largest pro scouting department in the majors, only to have veteran Newsday beat writer Erik Boland point out two days later that the Yankees have the second-largest analytics department in baseball – behind only the Tampa Bay Rays. 

‘I think we have good people,’ Cashman said. ‘I’m getting permission requests all over the place. We just lost our bench coach [Carlos Mendoza] to the Mets as a manager. I’ve got analytics guys trying to be poached to other clubs right now. 

‘I’m proud of our people and I’m proud of our process. It doesn’t mean we’re firing on all cylinders. It doesn’t mean we’re the best in class. I think we’re pretty [expletive] good, personally, and I’m proud of our people.’ 

Cashman spent an hour firing away on those criticizing the Yankees, whether it was reporters, disgruntled employees or former prospects like Ben Ruta, who was called “Bitter Boy’’ by Cashman for his criticism of the organization’s use of analytics. 

‘You guys gave him a platform, this organizational player that’s in all the papers ripping away on what’s wrong with our player development department as he flushed out with us and wound up in another organization,’ Cashman said. ‘He’s getting a platform and everybody sings about what ails the Yankees, and it’s like, ‘How is this even happening?’ It’s embarrassing to have stuff like that play out.’ 

Best quip 

≻ David Stearns, Mets baseball president, addressing the New York media a day after Cashman: 

‘I don’t think I have the tenure in this to start dropping F-bombs in press conferences,’ Stearns said. ‘But I appreciate Cash’s enthusiasm for his team and his operation.” 

Most compelling news 

≻ Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies slugger

Phillies boss Dave Dombrowski announced that Harper will be their everyday first baseman, which almost certainly means cutting ties with veteran first baseman Rhys Hoskins, their longest-tenured player. 

‘We think he’ll develop into a Gold Glove first baseman,’ Dombrowski said. ‘He’s committed to doing that. He’d be glad to go to the outfield, but he’s committed to being that type of guy over there at first base. We like the way it sets our infield up. We think it makes us more athletic. It opens up one of the outfield spots. It really puts us in a position for the future that we’re in a good spot.’ 

And no, just because Harper has been everything the Phillies have envisioned when they signed him to a 13-year, $330 million contract, it doesn’t mean they’ll agree to agent Scott Boras’ hopes that Harper is granted an extension taking Harper into his 40s. 

Best homecoming possibility 

≻ Joey Votto, free agent first baseman

With his contract over with the Cincinnati Reds, Votto could sign with the Toronto Blue Jays. 

‘Incredible player, remarkable career, just a massive impact in the community if he were to be a Toronto Blue Jay,’ GM Ross Atkins said. ‘So it’s definitely something that we would have to consider if that was something he wanted to pursue.’ 

Votto would likely replace Brandon Belt in the lineup. 

‘In today’s game with the DH being available to all teams, he has a really compelling track record I would imagine all contending teams would have some interest in,’ Atkins said. ‘He’s a Torontonian, too. It’s not just Canadian. He has an incredible reputation, really dynamic personality, he’s really bright, (qualities) I know our team would embrace.’ 

Saddest memory 

≻ Remembering the 2016 GM Meetings and Kevin Towers. 

It was at this same spot, seven years ago at the GM Meetings, when Towers revealed to close friends that he was not feeling well, and planned to undergo testing. 

He was diagnosed with cancer a couple of weeks later. 

He died in 2018. 

‘We’ve all been thinking about that,’ Yankees advisor Brian Sabean. ‘How can you not? He was loved by everyone. God, I miss him. We all do.’

Towers was the one who gave Sabean the tip that Bochy, who was managing the Padres, could be available because of a conflict with president Sandy Alderson. 

They wound up winning three World Series together in San Francisco. 

Around the basepaths 

≻ If Ohtani does not sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers or Angels, some executives predict that he’ll end up signing with either the Chicago Cubs or Texas Rangers, while the San Francisco Giants will offer the most money. 

≻ The New York Yankees, Giants and Cubs are the favorites for free-agent center fielder Cody Bellinger. 

≻ The New York Mets have their eyes on Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, believing they have no realistic chance to land Ohtani. 

≻ The Houston Astros are expected to promote Joe Espada to be their manager on Monday. 

≻ The Milwaukee Brewers, who are strongly considering promoting bench coach Pat Murphy, also have their eyes on Mike Shildt if he’s not hired by the San Diego Padres. 

≻ The Angels are expressing strong interest in shortstop Tim Anderson, who was cut loose by the White Sox, and could convert him to second base. 

≻ Free agent starter Blake Snell would love to sign with his hometown team, the Seattle Mariners, but they don’t have a need for starting pitching. The Philadelphia Phillies are the favorite to sign him while letting Aaron Nola walk away. 

≻ Yankees GM Brian Cashman on the close relationship owner Hal Steinbrenner has with stars Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. 

‘I don’t think that it’s a problem at all,’ Cashman said. ‘And when you partner with somebody for that kind of money, he’s going to have some seat at the table, as he should. But this is a player’s game, no doubt about it, and they’ve got some good information that they can provide. We’re not going to ignore it.’ 

≻ Padres GM AJ Preller is trying to persuade ownership to keep Juan Soto until at least the trade deadline, but teams continue to inquire, believing he will be moved this winter. 

≻ The Cincinnati Reds are expected to non-tender Nick Senzel and trade Jonathan India this winter while strongly pursuing a veteran starter like Michael Wacha or Wade Miley. 

≻ New Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt talked about his nervousness while awaiting a call to see if he would get the job and decided to go clean the barn with his wife, Alyssa. They loaded the trailer, and were headed to the barn in Olympia, Wash., when he got the news. 

‘After I accepted the job I proceeded to move a big pile of horse manure,’ Vogt said. ‘I’ll never forget that day and that moment. What a beautiful, beautiful thing to go do right after you find out you’re going to be (the Guardians’ manager).’

≻ The Kansas City Royals are attempting to sign All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt to a long-term extension after his 30-30 season. 

≻ Texas Rangers GM Chris Young said that rebuilding their bullpen is their biggest priority after yielding a 4.77 ERA and blowing 33 save opportunities. 

So, yes, free agent closer Josh Hader is the ideal fit. 

– Mets owner Steve Cohen on his $8 billion plans to build an entertainment complex and casino around Citi Field: 

‘It’s time the world’s greatest city got the sports and entertainment park it deserves,’ Cohen said in a release. ‘When I bought this team, fans and the community kept saying we needed to do better. Metropolitan Park delivers on the promise of a shared space that people will not only want to come to and enjoy, but can be truly proud of.’ 

So why does he believe an entertainment complex is needed? 

‘There’s nothing going on at Citi Field,’ he said at Sportico’s conference. ‘The only thing you can do at Citi Field is get your hubcap changed or maybe get back your catalytic converter… It’s 50 acres of cement.’

≻ While agent Scott Boras says that the Astros have yet to approach him about contract extensions for All-Star infielders Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, who are free agents after the 2024 season, a high-ranking Astros executive said their intention is to keep Altuve for the duration of his career but are highly skeptical they can also retain Bregman. 

≻ Fabulous move by Giants manager Bob Melvin hiring Pat Burrell, who was on the Giants’ 2010 World Series team, as his hitting coach. Melvin was also allowed to bring in Matt Williams and Ryan Christenson from his coaching staff in San Diego. 

≻ Early congratulations to MVP winners Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani; Cy Young winners Blake Snell and Gerrit Cole; and Rookie of the Year winners Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson. 

Their prestigious BBWAA awards will be officially announced this week. 

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

Once upon a time, the whole point of hiring Chip Kelly was acquiring whatever X’s and O’s were floating around in his supposedly brilliant offensive mind. And at a certain moment in college football history, that mind was not just brilliant, it was revolutionary and disruptive to the point where he almost won a national championship at Oregon.

But now? Now, football is different. And maybe Kelly is different. Or just not as good as he used to be. Or perhaps he’s completely out of ideas. 

Whatever the reason, can Kelly still be considered an offensive genius if it’s a rare occurrence for him to put together an elite offense? 

In his first four years at UCLA, Kelly’s offenses finished 75th, 65th, 21st and 30th nationally. Last year, the Bruins popped up to No. 4, averaging 503 yards per game behind terrific production from quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and running back Zach Charbonnet. 

That wasn’t a trend, though. It was an outlier. Before this weekend, UCLA ranked 45th in yards per play and badly needed its defense to dominate just to be competitive against solid opponents. 

But as bad as UCLA’s offense looked at times earlier in the season with highly-regarded but mistake-prone freshman quarterback Dante Moore at the helm, it has completely cratered without him. Moore was benched for a stretch in October and got hurt early last week against Arizona. Since then, UCLA has scored just 17 points in nearly two full games. That has translated to a pair of losses, including Saturday’s 17-7 embarrassment in the Rose Bowl against Arizona State. 

Yes, it was a major problem for UCLA that Moore and backup Ethan Garbers were out with injuries. But Arizona State was 2-7 coming into this game and didn’t show up at all last week in a 55-3 loss to Utah. You’d think UCLA would have enough depth by this point in Kelly’s tenure to just out-talent a team like Arizona State with a first-year coach in Kenny Dillingham. But you’d be wrong. UCLA’s defense held the Sun Devils to 250 yards but the offense fumbled on ASU’s 26, didn’t convert a fourth-and-goal from 1 yard out and missed on another fourth-and-1 inside the 10. That’s a classic recipe for losing to a bad team. 

So UCLA is now 6-4 and will be fortunate to eke out seven or eight wins, which now kind of seems like equilibrium for Kelly in Westwood. But is it also the ceiling on UCLA, which has long been one of college football’s biggest underachievers? 

The hope in hiring Kelly was that he could break that ceiling and regularly get the Bruins into the upper echelon. But after three losing seasons to start his tenure, he’s only made a small leap to the fringe of the Top 25. UCLA is going to be solid or even good at times under Kelly. But if it’s going to be a true contender, the Bruins need Kelly to be the elite offensive force he was more than a decade ago.

The way they’ve looked the last couple weeks, it’s fair to wonder if that’s even possible anymore. And that’s why UCLA is No. 1 in the Misery Index, a weekly measurement of which fan bases are feeling the most angst. 

Four more in misery

Duke: There’s a segment of fans (albeit in a different sport) that will note the irony in Duke having a referee grievance. But that’s a very legitimate takeaway for Blue Devils fans after a 47-45 loss to hated North Carolina in the second overtime. Though every game will have its 50/50 officiating moments or flat-out bad calls, you can truly zero in on something that happened with 2:32 remaining in this game. With Duke holding a 29-26 lead, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye threw a ball just short of the end zone that ended up smack in between one player from each team, the players wrestling for it on the ground. Duke’s defenders immediately signaled for an interception, as their guy had ultimately pried the ball away. But after a short conversation, the officiating crew determined that receiver Bryson Nesbit had possession on the ground before the ball came loose. 

It was a tight call, but replay appeared to show that Duke had in fact come down with an interception. One problem: The ACC officiating crew never stopped the game to have the replay booth take a look that was worthy of how close that play was. Even if it wouldn’t have been ultimately overturned, that kind of play is precisely why college football’s replay system exists. At minimum, it had to be reviewed. 

But it wasn’t, so North Carolina maintained possession despite the protests of Duke coach Mike Elko and ultimately scored a touchdown. If an interception had been awarded, Duke likely would have won. Instead, it lost a heartbreaker to the rival it wants to beat most and a grievance that will last for years. 

Washington State: The final year of the Pac-12 as we knew it was supposed to be bittersweet for the Cougars. As angry as their fan base and administration was about getting left behind in a league whose future is still uncertain, the 2023 season projected as a great opportunity to shove it in their faces on the field and maybe even get in conference title contention. Instead, it has been a massive disappointment. A veteran, talented Wazzu team with an electric quarterback in Cameron Ward is now 4-6 after a 42-39 loss at Cal. Unless the Cougars beat Colorado and then win at Washington in what promises to be an emotional Apple Cup, they won’t be going to the postseason. Meanwhile, coach Jake Dickert earlier this week told reporters Wazzu was “not even competitive in some aspects of NIL,” and said it would be open season for other programs to poach his players once the transfer portal opens.

On one hand, the appropriate response to that is, “That’s life.” If you want to be a better program, get the money together to make it happen. On the other, the entire situation is already sad enough for Washington State’s passionate fan base. A bad season, a crumbling conference with no appealing place to land and potentially a roster exodus? Yikes.  

Minnesota: If you can’t be good in this Big Ten, and specifically this Big Ten West, your odds of being good once USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are imported into the league next year aren’t too great. But it’s not like PJ Fleck is a newcomer or is trying to rebuild a broken program. This is Year 7. And if you set aside the funky 2020 COVID season, it’s likely to be Fleck’s worst record since 2018 and certainly his least fun campaign since arriving in the Twin Cities. Minnesota was actually in good shape at 5-3 just a couple weeks ago, but consecutive losses to Illinois at home (27-26) and on the road to Purdue (49-30) have exposed the Gophers as a team going nowhere and a program with some real questions to ask itself going into the offseason. 

‘Bad game, not a bad life, not a bad program, not a bad team, just a bad game,’ Fleck told reporters after the beatdown at Purdue. At least on social media, the fans didn’t seem too impressed with that assessment. Because it’s not just one bad game − it’s about four of them this year. And it may not be a bad program, but it’s not a compelling one right now. And it’s not far enough above the bad line to be comfortable. 

Oklahoma State: What would you do the week after you said goodbye to a 120-year-old rivalry with one of the best wins in the modern history of the school? You’d probably be inclined to spend more of it celebrating than preparing for the next opponent. That appears to be what happened in Stillwater, as the Cowboys followed up their epic win in the final Bedlam with a 45-3 nap at UCF. Mike Gundy basically blamed the performance on bad coaching and 50/50 plays, but it looks like a classic letdown after a big win. But it’s also a really bad time to lay an egg since Oklahoma State previously had the inside track to make the Big 12 championship game. It’s still a good season for the Cowboys, but it’s a frustrating result to not build on the momentum from beating Oklahoma the week before.

Miserable, but not miserable enough

Nebraska: A couple weeks ago, we were toasting the job Matt Rhule had done to so quickly rinse the stench of the Scott Frost misadventure of the last several years. Now, we’re wondering what the heck happened to bring the incompetent vibe back to Lincoln. At 5-3 with a very soft finishing schedule, it looked like Nebraska was a lock for a bowl game and maybe a decent one. Instead, the Huskers failed to show up last week at Michigan State and regressed even further in a 13-10 loss to Maryland. Ultimately, Nebraska’s quarterback play is what it is — and it’s not even close to good enough. But with the way Nebraska had been playing in other areas, Michigan State and Maryland were very winnable games. Instead, the Huskers lost both and are running out of chances to set 2023 in concrete as a positive season. They’ll probably be able to eke it out next week at Wisconsin, which is struggling badly with everything right now. But if not? Good luck trying to score against Iowa in the season finale.

Vanderbilt: Fans of this program have seen many moments over the years that looked like the bottom, but there’s always a deeper abyss in Nashville. Decade after decade, coach after coach, Vanderbilt finds new ways to test the loyalty of the few thousand who still really care about whether this program can compete consistently in the SEC. But right now, with Clark Lea at the helm, relevance seems as far away as ever. The Commodores’ 47-6 loss to South Carolina was their ninth straight this season, and Lea’s 21st SEC loss in 23 attempts. Vanderbilt has had lots of really bad years, but it usually finds a way to sneak in a conference win or two. Unless Vandy beats Tennessee, Lea will own two of Vanderbilt’s seven winless SEC seasons this century. 

Louisiana Tech: Sonny Cumbie, the second-year coach, appears very much in over his head here. Not only is he 6-17 at a school that previously had a decent amount of success in Conference USA, he decided this week was a good time to revoke the access of one of the few reporters who care at all about Louisiana Tech. Ben Carlisle, the publisher of a website that follows the team, wrote Tuesday that Cumbie called him over during the open part of practice, berated him in front of the team for not being supportive enough and told him he wasn’t welcome there anymore. A few days later, Cumbie proceeded to lose at home 42-27 to previously 1-8 Sam Houston State. Advantage, Carlisle. 

UAB: There were no shortage of skeptics about UAB’s decision to hire former NFL quarterback and broadcaster Trent Dilfer, who had no coaching experience other than four years at a private high school in Nashville. And the thing about skeptics is … sometimes they are correct. UAB, a program that had gone to six consecutive bowl games, now sits at 3-7 after a brutal 31-6 loss at Navy. And hilariously, the game ended with Dilfer calling a timeout with 11 seconds left in an attempt to score one last touchdown from the 10-yard line only to get stuffed on the next three plays. Maybe Dilfer will figure it out in the long run, but the early returns have been awful. UAB had a good program going under Bill Clark, who walked away in the summer of 2022 to deal with back surgery and a subsequent long recovery. The Blazers didn’t need to go outside the box, but they did. If the results don’t improve quickly, it will look like a bad bet.

Welcome to the college football Week 11 grades. We can’t say if there was any spying, but there was crying, and the national title picture got a little clearer during another wild Saturday.

The same thing goes as far as grading from last season: High marks will be only for the spectacular, and failing grades have no chance of being reversed.

Here is the Week 11 analysis of how fans, teams, players and coaches fared: 

Michigan football being overdramatic? Bet

Give it up to the Michigan Wolverines. They went into a hostile environment at Penn State, in front of 110,856 mostly white-shirted fans, and came away with a 24-15 victory to keep their playoff hopes intact. If you have been living under a rock, this comes amid the backdrop of the Big Ten Conference suspending Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh while it investigates allegations of illicit sign-stealing by the program.

To emphasize their season-long delusion of being disrespected, team members wore ‘Michigan vs. Everybody’ shirts for the flight to Happy Valley. The ‘everyone’ in this case is the Big Ten, or whoever is complaining about Michigan’s alleged cheating.

But nothing tops the absurd comments made after the win, headlined by this bit of eloquence from interim head coach Sherrone Moore:

‘I want to thank the Lord, I want to thank Coach Harbaugh,’ Moore said. ‘(Expletive) love you, man. I love the (expletive) out of you, man. Did this for you. For this university, the president, our AD. We got the best players, best university, best alumni in the country.

‘Love you guys. These (expletive) guys right here,’ Moore continued. ‘These guys right here, man. These guys did it. These guys did it, man.’

(You can watch the expletive-filled interview below.)

Uh, OK. Be emotional. Fine. But remind us, again, why Harbaugh wasn’t on the sideline for this game?

So, please, go somewhere else with the ‘everyone is against us’ nonsense. Better yet, if you are that pissed off about a lack of ‘due process,’ take your ball and go home and leave the Big Ten.

96 Tears: F

LSU becomes newest member of the 700 (yard) club

LSU had 701 yards of total offense (372 passing, 329 rushing) in a 52-35 victory against Florida.

The Tigers are the sixth FBS team to gain more than 700 yards in a game this season;

The other five:

UCF (723) vs. Kent StateOregon (719) vs. Portland StateWashington State (718) vs. Northern ColoradoWashington (713) vs. Michigan StateOle Miss (706) vs. LSU

Run it up; A+

The worst and best of the rest

That’s what you get:

This week’s OBJ tributes:

Garrett Shrader: Olympic hopeful:

A Benjamin to the house:

Just like they drew it up:

Keep on truckin’:

Head without a swivel:

Stats for you

1: Wins for head coach James Franklin against Top 5 opponents while at Penn State.

8: Total touchdowns for Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel against West Virginia (5 passing, 3 rushing).

14: Consecutive road games lost by Northwestern before the Wildcats beat Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium.

32: Rushing attempts in a row in the second half by Michigan against Penn State.

507: Passing yards by Illinois quarterback John Paddock in a 48-45 overtime win over Indiana. Paddock’s passing total is the second-highest in FBS this season.

606: Total yards for LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels became the first player in FBS history to throw for at least 350 yards and rush for 200 yards in a single game. Malik Cunningham of Louisville in 2021 and Washington’s Marques Tuiasosopo in 1999 both accomplished the 300/200 feat.

The Dog of the Week

Oklahoma State at UCF

Now to the game:

Because going to Iowa City for another embarrassing display of football would have been too easy (Iowa did beat Rutgers 22-0), the hounds took their chew toys and treats to Orlando for a day in the rain to watch Oklahoma State and Central Florida.

Usually, when a game is featured in this space, one team shows up to play and dominates and the other doesn’t bother getting off the bus to compete. The latter applies to the No. 17 Cowboys, who did all their talking and goalpost snatching after the Bedlam victory over Oklahoma last week only to muddle up the race for a Big 12 title game berth by getting blown out 45-3.

The nation’s leading rusher, Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon, was held to 25 yards on 12 carries and got relegated to decoy duty after the result was well in hand. The pups got a little wet, but are pleased to witness another blowout in a season filled with them.

Bradley has suspended women’s basketball coach Kate Popovec-Goss for at least 10 games, according to a release from the school.

The school said the second-year coach is suspended through the rest of the nonconference season, which is 10 games, starting Sunday with a scheduled game against Central Michigan. Assistant Armelia Horton will serve as interim coach for the Braves (0-1), who lost their season opener on Nov. 6 at Kansas City.

‘This decision has been made in accordance with the university’s commitment to upholding the values and standards expected of its staff,’ the school said in a release. ‘Further details will not be disclosed at this time, as the university respects the confidentiality of personnel matters.’

Cody Roskens, the school’s assistant director of athletic communications, had no additional comment when asked Saturday during Bradley’s men’s basketball game.

The Bradley women are scheduled to open the Missouri Valley Conference season on Dec. 30.

Popovec-Goss was hired in April 2022 after time as associate head coach and recruiting director at Northwestern. She took over for Andrea Gorski, who retired in late March after 25 years of coaching.

Popovec played at Pittsburgh and Northwestern, then returned to her alma mater as an assistant in 2017. In the spring of 2018, she was named Northwestern’s recruiting and defensive coordinator. The up-and-coming coach was named associate head coach under Joe McKeown at Northwestern in August of 2021 before landing with Bradley for the 2022-23 season.

Bradley went 4-28 in its first season under Popovec-Goss, including 1-19 in the MVC.

Jonathan Michel contributed to this story.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark became Iowa’s all-time career scoring leader and finished with the 12th triple-double of her career as the No. 3 Hawkeyes beat Northern Iowa 94-53 on Sunday.

Clark had 24 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, joining Sabrina Ionescu as the only NCAA Division I players to record triple-doubles in four different seasons.

Gabbie Marshall had 17 points and Hannah Stuelke added 16 for the Hawkeyes (3-0), who were coming off an 80-76 win over No. 8 Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

The Hawkeyes could be No. 1 in the Associated Press poll on Monday, with the losses by No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Connecticut this week, but they didn’t want to think about that after this win.

“We’ll see,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “It really doesn’t matter if we are or not. It’s a long year. What are we this week? Three? That’s darn good too.”

“I think it was a good (week), it gets you off on the right note,” Clark said. “But our group is mature enough to know this is just the starting block.”

Clark, the reigning national player of the year and a unanimous Associated Press preseason All-American, now has 2,813 career points, passing Megan Gustafson, who scored 2,804 points from 2015-19. Luka Garza is the school’s men’s leader in scoring at 2,306 points.

Clark said she got a text message from Gustafson on Saturday night, encouraging her to break the record.

“Megan’s been our biggest fan on this whole journey,” Clark said. “Megan reached out to me last night and said, ‘You’re very, very deserving of this. Go out there and do it.’ It’s not the first time she’s reached out and texted me. She’s always there. And that’s not fake — Megan is one of the best people of all time.”

Clark said the record “never crossed my mind” during the game.

“It was like 15 or 16 (points) I needed, and once I crossed 16 I didn’t even know,” Clark said.

Clark was 6 of 13 from the field, 2 of 5 in 3-pointers.

“Caitlin Clark is the best player in the country,” Northern Iowa coach Tanya Warren said. “No ifs, ands or buts about it. You’re not going to stop her, you’re not going to contain her. You just want to make things tough for her.”

Northern Iowa (1-1), picked the preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference, made just 7 of 35 field goals in the first half as Iowa built a 40-25 halftime lead.

The Panthers shot just 25 percent from the field for the game, making just 2 of 19 3-pointers.

“I thought we defended well in the first half,” Warren said. “But when you can’t put the ball in the hole, it wears on your defense.”

The Hawkeyes, who were 18 of 28 from the field in the second half, led by as much as 44 points in the fourth quarter.

Riley Wright had 14 points and Grace Boffeli added 11 for the Panthers.

Clark has the rest of this season to add to her record, and hasn’t decided if she’ll use the fifth year of eligibility granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Records are meant to be broken,” she said. “So I hope Iowa has a really great player one day who can break mine, too.”

BIG PICTURE

Iowa: It took a little while for the Hawkeyes to get going from the perimeter after struggling in Thursday’s game against Virginia Tech. Iowa, which went 6 of 26 in 3-pointers against the Hokies, opened this game by going 3 of 16 from behind the arc in the first half. But the Hawkeyes were 6 of 7 in threes in the third quarter.

Northern Iowa: The Panthers’ shooting struggles didn’t allow them to get into any sort of first-half rhythm. Boffeli, the Missouri Valley Conference’s preseason player of the year, played just six first-half minutes after picking up two early fouls, then got her third foul early in the third quarter.

UP NEXT

Iowa: Hosts Kansas State on Thursday. The Wildcats handed the Hawkeyes their first loss last season.

Northern Iowa: At Ball State on Saturday.