SPORTS
Saturday, November 26, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3B
NFL
Buccaneers focused on Seahawks, not playoff prospects
By FRED GOODALL
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay’s
Dirk Koetter wants no part of a
discussion about playoff prospects
or aspirations.
The Buccaneers (5-5) have
won two straight to climb back
into contention for what would be
their first berth in nearly a decade.
However, the coach says his team
can’t afford to think about anything
other than what’s staring them in
the face right now. And, that’s a
matchup against the first-place
Seattle Seahawks (7-2-1).
Koetter bristled when he was
asked if he detected a “playoff
intensity” from the Bucs in prac-
tice this week.
“I want to feel a Seattle
Seahawk-type of intensity because
it’s going to take the most intensity
we’ve got to be with Seattle on
Sunday,” the first-year coach said.
“That’s all that really matters right
now.”
Jameis Winston also shrugged
off questions about the playoff race
“We’ve got to get a ‘W’ before
we even talk about a ‘P,” the
second-year quarterback said,
mindful that the Bucs were in a
similar position a year ago, when
they started 6-6 only to lose their
final four games.
Winston had one of the best
performances of his career in last
week’s
confidence-bolstering
19-17 road win at Kansas City. The
Seahawks have won three straight,
Seattle
Tampa Bay
Seahawks
Buccaneers
(7-2-1)
(5-5)
• Sunday, 1:05 p.m.
• at Raymond James Stadium
• TV: FOX
AP Photo/Stephen Brashear
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane (20) and free safety Earl
Thomas, center, break up a pass during a game, Sunday, Nov. 20,
2016, in Seattle. Thomas will miss Seattle’s game at Tampa Bay on
Sunday due to injury.
including beating New England on
the road, but figure to be far from
full strength health-wise.
Nine players on Seattle’s injury
report, including safety Earl
Thomas and cornerback DeShawn
Shead , missed at least two days
of practice in preparation for the
Bucs.
Russell Wilson wasn’t one of
them, though. He’s played through
a string of injuries and has been
one of the hottest quarterbacks in
the league during the Seahawks’
winning streak with 902 passing
yards, six touchdowns and zero
interceptions in victories over the
Bills, Patriots and Eagles the past
three weeks.
“There’s been some significant
injuries to a lot of the guys, and
we’ve been able to overcome those
situations and those injuries and
still find ways to win, still find ways
to play in the game and play at a
high level,” Wilson said, adding
the focus in on doing “whatever it
takes to win and continue to play
Women’s College Basketball
College Football
Mississippi State hands Oregon first loss
By KALANI TAKASE
Associated Press
Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman via AP
Boise State tight end Chase Blakley (86) starts to get
up slowly after the Air Force defense recovers a fumble
at the line of scrimmage late in the fourth quarter of
Friday’s game.
Goal-line stand lifts Air
Force over Boise State
By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
AIR FORCE ACADEMY,
Colo. — Jeremy McNichols,
one of the nation’s leading
rushers, was stuffed, stymied
and stood up on three cracks
from inside the 5. A quar-
terback sneak didn’t work,
either.
Wyoming
certainly
appreciated it.
Air Force had a late goal-
line stand, Tyler Weaver
returned a blocked punt 11
yards for a first-half touch-
down and the Falcons beat
No. 20 Boise State 27-20 on
Friday, ending the Broncos’
bid for the Mountain West
title.
Wyoming will face San
Diego State in the conference
championship game Dec. 3.
Haji Dunn Jr. recovered
quarterback Brett Rypien’s
fumble on fourth-and-goal
from the 1 with just under
2 minutes remaining to
help the Falcons (9-3, 5-3
Mountain West) knock
off Boise State for a third
straight season. They join
Idaho (1982-93) and Nevada
(1996-98) as the only teams
to beat the Broncos in at least
three straight years.
“Thank goodness they
didn’t run wide,” said senior
safety Brodie Hicks, who
forced the fumble. “We put
all our marbles inside.”
The Broncos (10-2, 6-2,
No. 19 CFP) needed a win
at Air Force and for New
Mexico to upset Mountain
Division-leading Wyoming
on Saturday to earn a spot in
the conference’s title game.
No reason to watch now.
“”It’s like an empty
feeling,” Boise State receiver
Cedrick Wilson said. “We
wish we could have pulled
through like we practiced but
sometimes you fall short.”
McNichols rushed for 60
yards — and a score — on
his opening two carries, but
was held to 28 yards the rest
of the way. He had three
carries at the goal line on
Boise State’s last possession,
but couldn’t get in.
great football.”
Some things to know heading
into the 13th meeting between
franchises that entered the NFL as
expansion mates in 1976:
THANKS,
RUSSELL:
Winston and Wilson had a long
conversation at last season’s Pro
Bowl, and Tampa Bay’s young
quarterback came away impressed
with his Seattle counterpart and
Minnesota’s Teddy Bridgewater.
“Russell is a true professional, and
he does his job the right way. I
learned so much from him as far as
what to eat, what a Pro Bowl quar-
terback should be like,” Winston
said.
DEPLETED DEFENSE: The
Seahawks will be without defen-
sive end Michael Bennett for the
fifth straight game, unable to get
him back from minor knee surgery
in time to face his former team.
Losses in the secondary likely will
be more impactful. The Seahawks
will be without Thomas and are
expected to be without Shead, after
both suffered hamstring injuries in
last week’s win over Philadelphia.
It will be the first game Thomas
has missed in his career, snapping
a streak of 106 consecutive starts.
Steven Terrell likely will fill in
for Thomas at free safety, while
the combo of Neiko Thorpe and
Jeremy Lane would take Shead’s
role opposite Richard Sherman.
BACK ON TRACK: Tampa
Bay rookie PK Roberto Aguayo
has rebounded from a shaky start
to his pro career to begin show why
the Bucs drafted him in the second
round. Since misfiring on four
of his first eight field goal tries,
Aguayo has made nine of his last
10, including going 4-for-4 in last
week’s win at Kansas City. “This
is what I do best. I’ve done it for
a long time. Sometimes you’ve got
to realize that,” Aguayo said. “With
the transition into the NFL, you try
not to put an excuse on anything.
You’ve just got to get through it.
People can say, ‘Was it this? Was it
that?’ At the end of the day, you’ve
got to grind through it.”
FOLLOW ME: Don’t be
surprised to see Mike Evans added
to the list of wide receivers shad-
owed by Sherman. With the inju-
ries in Seattle’s secondary and how
often Winston looks toward Evans,
it makes sense for the Seahawks to
put Sherman on Evans. Already
this season, Sherman has followed
the likes of Brandon Marshall,
Julio Jones and Jordan Matthews
for long stretches. “It gets you
more action,” Sherman said. “You
get more targets. You get a chance
to be more involved in the game.
You get a chance to get into a
rhythm.”
Mtn. West
Boise State
Air Force
20
27
On fourth down, Rypien
tried to sneak it in only to
have the ball knocked free
by Hicks. Dunn was there to
recover it.
“It’s a game I thought we
prepared well for and our
guys were looking forward
to coming in here and
playing our best football,”
Boise State coach Bryan
Harsin said. “We didn’t
do that tonight, so a lot of
disappointment in the locker
room.”
Off target most of the
day, Rypien found his touch
in the fourth quarter and led
a spirited Broncos rally. He
hit Wilson for a 75-yard TD
pass to pull Boise State to
27-20 with 8:50 remaining.
He wound up a yard shy of
possibly tying the game.
Brett Baldwin gave the
Falcons a big boost when he
broke through and blocked a
punt by Sean Wale just before
halftime. Weaver caught the
ball out of the air and ran it
in to give the Falcons a 17-7
lead.
Air Force took advantage
of a Boise State defense that
was missing several starters
by running it up the middle.
Falcon
fullbacks
D.J.
Johnson and Shayne Davern
combined for 25 carries and
111 yards up the middle.
Johnson scored on a 1-yard
plunge in the first quarter
and Davern on an 8-yard run
in the third.
“You don’t know how
much it meant to go out and
win this way,” Hicks said.
“We as seniors had to leave
behind something to be
remembered for.”
RANKED TEAMS
This was Air Force’s first
win over a ranked team since
defeating No. 21 Colorado
State 27-24 on Nov. 29,
2014, at Falcon Stadium.
“We like being the
underdog,” Johnson said.
HONOLULU — Missis-
sippi State is getting used to
a new role these days.
Just five days after
notching their biggest win
under fifth-year coach
Vic Schaefer, the seventh-
ranked Bulldogs held off
a pesky Oregon team,
75-63, in the first day of the
Rainbow Wahine Show-
down on Friday.
Victoria Vivians scored
17 points and Morgan
William added 14 to pace
Mississippi State (5-0).
Vivians, a 6-foot-1
junior guard and a first team
preseason All-SEC selec-
tion, made 7 of 13 shots
from the field despite being
in foul trouble for much of
the second half.
Oregon cut the Missis-
sippi State lead from 39-30
at halftime to just two points
following Sabrina Ionescu’s
3-pointer from the right
corner with 5:57 left in the
third quarter.
However,
Vivians
drained a deep 3-pointer
from the left wing on the
Bulldogs’ next possession
and added a 10-foot pull-up
to stretch their lead back to
Rainbow Showdown
Miss. State
Oregon
75
63
49-42.
She picked up her fourth
foul with 1:55 left in the
third quarter and played just
10 minutes after halftime.
Mississippi State coach
Vic Schaefer praised the
play of reserve guards Blair
Schaefer and Roshuna
Johnson, who combined for
24 minutes of game time
while relieving Vivians.
“I was real proud of
Blair and Roshuna coming
off the bench and giving
us those quality minutes at
that spot,” said Schaefer,
whose team posted a 79-68
win over then-No. 7 Texas
Sunday.
“We’re learning that
we’re the hunted now.
We’ve been the hunters for a
long time, (but) we are now
the hunted and that’s a new
role for this team, so we’re
learning how to accept
that night in, night out,”
Schaefer said. “I thought
tonight we took their best
shot in the third quarter and
came back and answered it
with my best player in foul
trouble.”
Mississippi State (5-0)
shot 51.9 percent from the
field.
Lexi Bando and Sabrina
Ionescu each scored 14
points for the Ducks (4-1).
“In the second half we
got back to what we like to
do, which is get the ball side,
top, side,” Oregon coach
Kelly Graves said. “We
had a little bit more motion
and flow to our game and
that helped, but then we
got away from it at the end.
They clamped down and
they’re a good team.”
Oregon was called for 27
fouls to 19 for Mississippi
State and had three players
finish with four fouls.
BIG
PICTURE:
Oregon: shot just 39.3
percent from the field in the
first half, but kept it close
by shooting 50 percent (12
of 24) after halftime. The
Ducks were playing their
first game away from home.
HIGHLIGHT REEL:
Oregon got within six
points of Mississippi State
following a free throw by
Morgan William that made
it 53-47. The Ducks looked
to cut the deficit even further
when Jayde Woods broke
free for a transition lay-up,
but Breanna Richardson
soared from behind and
blocked her shot with just
seconds remaining in the
period. The big defensive
play was a four-point swing
for the Bulldogs and helped
them regain momentum
heading into the final
quarter.
INFLUX OF YOUTH:
Of the 14 players that saw
court time for Oregon, half
of them are freshmen. The
Ducks recruiting class,
which is ranked third
nationally behind Maryland
and Baylor, features four
players that were Gatorade
state players of the year
in high school, including
Ionescu, last year’s national
player of the year.
“We grew up a lot tonight,
there’s no doubt,” Graves
said. “That’s a senior-laden
Mississippi State team.
Those are veterans and a
couple of times we had
four freshmen on the floor
for long stretches. They’re
just learning how to play
the game. They’re really
talented, but physically,
we’re not ready for this yet.
That being said, we hung
with them for a long time.”
Men’s College Basketball
Taylor leads Fresno State past Oregon State
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — Jahmel
Taylor had missed three
shots in a row, but he
stayed focused and found
open spaces on the floor.
Then he made his next five
shots from beyond the arc.
“Once I hit the first one,
I was ready to hit the next
one. It felt good and my
teammates were getting me
in the right spots,” said the
junior guard.
Taylor had 21 points,
shooting
6-for-10
on
3-pointers, and three steals
as Fresno State held on to
beat Oregon State 63-58 on
Friday night.
Fresno State coach
Rodney Terry called Taylor
a “marksman” who kept the
team afloat when they were
struggling early.
“He can really shoot the
basketball. We don’t win
the Mountain West a year
ago if he’s not making big
shots for us,” he added.
Paul Watson added 13
points and nine rebounds
and Jaron Hopkins had
10 points for the Bulldogs
(3-2).
Tres Tinkle scored a
career-high 31 points with
10 rebounds and six steals
for the Beavers (2-4), who
lost their fourth in a row.
JaQuori McLaughlin added
12 points.
“We’re not very united.
Oregon
State’s
Kendal
Manuel
drives
past
Fresno
State’s
Sam
Bittner
during
the
first
half of
Friday’s
game
at Gill
Colise-
um in
Corval-
lis.
Andy Cripe/
Corvallis
Gazette-
Times via
AP
We’ve got a lot of indi-
viduals out there right
now,” said Oregon State
coach Wayne Tinkle, Tres
Tinkle’s father.
“We’re just not playing
hard enough. We’re playing
soft,” he added.
The Beavers led 21-10
early, but Fresno State
closed the half on a 17-5
surge, fueled by Taylor’s
four 3-pointers in the final
three minutes. The Bull-
dogs led 27-26 at the break.
Fresno
State
took
control with a 17-2 run in
the second half, capped by
a Watson 3-pointer with
10:30 left.
Cullen
Russo
was
fouled with 35.7 seconds
left and he made both free
throws to give Fresno State
a 61-55 lead. On Oregon
State’s next possession,
McLaughlin
made
a
3-pointer but Watson was
fouled and made both free
throws to seal it.
BIG PICTURE
Fresno State: Entering
Friday, the Bulldogs were
tied for ninth in the nation
in steals, forcing 10.5 per
game. They had 10 against
Oregon State.
Oregon State: Stephen
Fresno State Oregon State
63
58
Thompson Jr. missed his
fifth game in a row with a
foot injury. Wayne Tinkle
said Thompson, last year’s
third-leading scorer, could
be out another week. . Drew
Eubanks had five blocks for
the Beavers.
AFTER A LOSS
Fresno
State
has
responded to a loss with a
win 10 straight times, and
Taylor said Thursday’s
practice, which came after
Tuesday’s loss to Cal State
Bakersfield, was “very
intense.” “After a loss,
we make sure we buckle
down,” he added.
PRESSURE
Terry said the Bulldogs
had to bring defensive
pressure up the court
against the Beavers to try
and neutralize Oregon
State’s height. “They had
a great size advantage and
they had some really good
players on the interior that
we weren’t going to be able
to match up with consis-
tently,” Terry said.
UP NEXT
Oregon State hosts
NAIA Division II foe
Southern
Oregon
on
Monday.