AP, GLENDALE, Arizona
West Virginia made light of the loss of coach Rich Rodriguez, pulling off a surprise victory in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday, beating Oklahoma 48-28.
Quarterback Pat White ran for 150 yards and threw for 176 and two touchdowns as Oklahoma conceded 349 rushing yards -- the most they have allowed in a bowl game.
The Mountaineers bonded behind interim coach Bill Stewart, who took over when Rodriguez bolted for Michigan in the middle of last month.
The Mountaineers overcame the loss of star tailback Steve Slaton to a first-quarter leg injury. Noel Devine replaced Slaton and ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns -- including the 65-yarder that clinched the game in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma endured another disappointment on the same field where the Sooners lost a classic Fiesta Bowl to Boise State one year ago.
The Sooners had no answer for White, whose 79-yard touchdown pass to Tito Gonzales in the fourth quarter was the longest in Mountaineers bowl history.
The Mountaineers harassed Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, sacking the nation's top-rated passer four times and intercepting him in the end zone. Bradford completed 21 of 33 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
■ TOILET BOWL
AP, HUSTISFORD, WISCONSIN
It might lack the pageantry of the Rose Bowl, but for some residents of this small community northwest of Milwaukee, their annual "Toilet Bowl" is the biggest game of the year.
"This is the biggest thing in Hustisford," said Phil Nehls, one of the event's founders. It was held on Tuesday for the 43rd time.
Begun as a pickup game of tackle football among friends to work off their New Year's hangovers, the event has grown into a fundraiser for the fire department.
As they presided over Tuesday's parade, King Justin Perschke and Queen Bobbi Niemuth ducked toilet paper rolls lobbed at them along the route by spectators.
An ancient John Deere tractor with toilet paper draped on it dragged a case of beer along the parade route.
The crowd eventually made its way to Fireman's Park, where two teams played football on a snow-covered field without the benefit of helmets or pads.
Randy Peplinski scored the winning touchdown for the blue team, but not before nearly losing his pants in an earlier tackle.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB