In Brief: OSU faces Texas in Cotton Bowl
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Texas will be a whole lot closer to home than Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
The Buckeyes appear to be a whole lot closer to Atlanta.
That’s where the winner of the Cotton Bowl, which doubles as a College Football Playoff semifinal this year, will be heading next for the national championship game. But first, two powerhouse college football programs meet Jan. 10 at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.
Ohio State has rebounded from two regular-season losses to rout a pair of elite opponents by a combined 45 points, while Texas has survived two difficult tests on its CFP journey.
GOLF HEADS INSIDE ON PRIME TIME
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Golf is moving indoors like never before. Xander Schauffele is among those making the debut of the TMRW Golf League next Tuesday night on ESPN.
It features six teams of four players competing against each other in a tech-infused arena the size of a football field.
Players will hit from 35 yards away off real grass or sand to an enormous simulator screen.
Shots from 50 yards or closer will be actual shots hit to a green that can rotate 360 degrees to create different angles and slopes.
AGNES KELETI DIES AT AGE 103
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Agnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic medal winner, has died at age 103. Hungary’s state news agency says Keleti died Thursday morning in Budapest.
She was hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia on Dec. 25.
She won a total of 10 Olympic medals in gymnastics, including five golds, for Hungary in 1952 and 1956. She overcame the loss of her father and several relatives in the Holocaust to become one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes.
Forced off her gymnastics team in 1941 because of her Jewish ancestry, Keleti went into hiding in the Hungarian countryside, where she survived the Holocaust by assuming a false identity and working as a maid.
NOTRE DAME WINS SUGAR BOWL
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Riley Leonard passed for a touchdown, Jayden Harrison returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score, and Notre Dame’s defense made it hold up in a 23-10 victory over No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl that sends the third-ranked Fighting Irish into the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
In a game that was delayed by a day because of a deadly terror attack in the host city, Notre Dame made enough big plays and got some help from a clever move by coach Marcus Freeman.
He sent out the punt team deep in his own territory before running all 11 players off the field, and an offside penalty gave the Irish a critical first down.