Northwestern

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — James Franklin is out at Penn State.

The school fired the longtime head coach on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a 22-21 home loss to Northwestern all but ended whatever remote chance the preseason No. 2 team had of reaching the College Football Playoff.

Terry Smith will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the season for the Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten), who began the year with hopes of winning the national title only to have those hopes evaporate by early October with three consecutive losses, each one more stinging than the last.

Penn State, which reached the CFP semifinals 10 months ago, fell at home to Oregon in overtime in late September. A road loss at previously winless UCLA followed. The final straw came on Saturday at Beaver Stadium, where the Nittany Lions let Northwestern escape with a victory and lost quarterback Drew Allar to injury for the rest of the season.

Franklin went 104-45 during his 11-plus seasons at Penn State. Yet the Nittany Lions often stumbled against top-tier opponents, going 4-21 against teams ranked in the top 10 during his tenure.

Hired in 2014 in the wake of Bill O’Brien’s departure for the NFL, Franklin inherited a team still feeling the effects of unprecedented NCAA sanctions in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Armed with relentless optimism and an ability to recruit, Franklin’s program regularly churned out NFL-level talent, from Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons. Franklin guided the Nittany Lions to the 2016 Big Ten title and a seemingly permanent spot in the rankings.

There was hope this fall might be the one when Penn State would finally break through and win its third national championship and first since 1986. Yet after three easy wins during a light nonconference schedule, the Nittany Lions crumbled.

Athletic director Pat Kraft said the school owes Franklin — who is due nearly $50 million in a buyout — an “enormous amount of gratitude” for leading the Nittany Lions back to relevance but felt it was time to make a change.

“We hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships,” Kraft said.

Smith now will be tasked with trying to stop the bleeding on what has become a disastrous season. He will have his work cut out for him: Penn State’s next three games are at Iowa on Saturday, at No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1 and home against No. 3 Indiana on Nov. 8.

The matchups with the Buckeyes and Hoosiers were expected to be a chance for the Nittany Lions to bolster their CFP credentials. In the span of a handful of weeks, Penn State will instead find itself in the role of spoiler.

Johnson writes for the Associated Press. AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

They’re still together … for now.

UCLA’s football team appeared to have a full roster of players at its disposal Monday after the Bruins reached the four-game threshold for redshirting and the halfway point of the 30-day window for entering the transfer portal following the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster.

Interim coach Tim Skipper said no player had informed him of an intention to redshirt or transfer, though there’s still time to mull those decisions before the Bruins (0-4 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) face No. 7 Penn State (3-1, 0-1) on Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl.

Once a player participates in a fifth game, he can no longer redshirt.

Giving any player considering such a move pause might be the situation at Virginia Tech. An attorney tweeted that he was representing a redshirting Hokies player whose decision, in the eyes of the school, constituted “ ‘opting out’ and fraudulent misrepresentation under the NCAA’s bylaws, justifying immediate termination of scholarships and revenue-sharing payments under the House settlement. Redshirting is a standard practice to preserve eligibility, not voluntary withdrawal from a program, and schools cannot void revenue-sharing payments on pay-for-play grounds.”

As of last weekend, three Virginia Tech players had reportedly entered the transfer portal and two had decided to redshirt.

What fate might await the Bruins in the coming days and weeks?

“It’s going to be fluid through the rest of the season,” Skipper said. “You know, as far as when you get to your fourth game, you decide [whether] to keep going. But my whole thing on that is that’s the rules, and if guys decide to do that, we’re not holding them hostage. They can go ahead and do that.

“We’re coaching them hard. We’re showing them a blueprint to go win games, and that’s what we’re going to do. And people that want to be a part of it stay, and then guys that choose to go the other way, they go the other way. But right now that’s not been a big emphasis in anything that we’re doing day to day. It’s getting better and trying to get us a win.”

Another fluid situation

UCLA didn’t just change the coach running its defense, it also changed the defense. The in-season overhaul led to only a portion of the playbook being installed in the first game under Kevin Coyle.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the full playbook will be installed in a matter of weeks.

“Northwestern compared to Penn State, as far as what they do schematically, is totally different,” Skipper said, referring to last week’s opponent versus the next one. “So we’re going to have to have a different plan and do different things. Probably how we are right now, we’ll never just have the whole playbook in. We’re going to game-plan as we go week to week because we’re going to play so many different offenses, so many different looks.”

Penn State uses more pre-snap motion than Northwestern, presenting different challenges. The Nittany Lions also are a lot more potent than the Wildcats, averaging 39 points per game.

Skipper said he was pleased with Coyle’s playcalling debut during UCLA’s 17-14 loss to the Wildcats, noting that the team had given up an average of 36 points during its first three defeats. The Bruins also allowed 314 yards of offense, well below the average of 431 they had given up previously.

Etc.

UCLA moved Garrett DiGiorgio to right guard against Northwestern while using Reuben Unije and Courtland Ford at tackle before Unije went down because of an unspecified injury. The Bruins then put DiGiorgio back at right tackle and used Julian Armella at right guard. The extent of Unije’s injury was not immediately known. … Freshman linebacker Scott Taylor made his first career tackle against the Wildcats while enjoying more extensive playing time. “Scott’s a guy that’s flashed,” Skipper said. “He makes plays every day, whether it’s special teams or on defense, and I think he’s getting better and better and better. I think he can definitely be a guy that will keep having major contributions to the team.”

Former UCLA quarterback Dante Moore warmed up amid windy conditions when Oregon played at Northwestern on Sept. 1 in Evanston, Ill.

(Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

Northwestern’s lakeside stadium might qualify Evanston, Ill., as the Windy City given the strong gusts that have changed the trajectory of passes.

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, who spent his freshman season with the Bruins, compared the experience to his high school stadium in Detroit, which also bordered the Great Lakes.

“Coming out in warm-up was like, ‘Holy s—, it’s windy,’ ” said Moore, who completed 16 of 20 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown with one interception during the Ducks’ 34-14 victory over the Wildcats earlier this month. “I am looking at Coach [Dan] Lanning, and Coach Lanning said, ‘It’s time to let it rip today.’ ”

So what’s a Southern California native like Iamaleava supposed to do to get ready?

“I don’t really think you can do anything to prepare for it when you’re out here,” cracked Iamaleava, alluding to warm temperatures and calm winds. “I played in a lot of windy games, for sure, and making sure to leave about ball speed and making sure that spiral is right, you know, to spin through the wind.”

Rescue teams searched for the missing after deadly incidents in Equateur province this week.

Two separate boat accidents this week in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have killed at least 193 people and left dozens missing, authorities and state media said.

The accidents happened on Wednesday and Thursday, about 150km (93 miles) apart in the Equateur province.

One boat with nearly 500 passengers caught fire and capsized on Thursday evening along the Congo River in the province’s Lukolela territory, killing 107 people, DRC’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report.

The report said 209 survivors were rescued following the accident, involving a whaleboat near the village of Malange in Lukolela territory.

A memo from the Ministry of Social Affairs, seen by the Reuters news agency, said 146 people were missing.

A day earlier, in a separate accident, a motorised boat capsized in the Basankusu territory of the province, killing at least 86 people, most of them students, state media reported.

Several people were missing, but the reports did not give a figure for how many.

It was not immediately clear what caused either accident or whether rescue operations were continuing on Friday evening.

State media attributed Wednesday’s accident to “improper loading and night navigation”, citing reports from the scene. Images that appeared to be from the scene showed villagers gathered around bodies as they mourned.

A local civil society group blamed Wednesday’s accident on the government and claimed the toll was higher.

Search operations took place after the accidents, with naval personnel and community volunteers combing the banks while authorities pledged medical care for the injured, assistance to bereaved families and the repatriation of survivors to their places of origin and destination.

River transport is a lifeline in DRC’s vast rainforest regions, where old, wooden vessels are the main form of transport between villages. It is also often cheaper than travelling on the few available roads.

However, the vessels are poorly maintained and crumbling under the weight of passengers and their goods, and accidents are frequent.

On such trips, life jackets are rare, and the vessels are usually overloaded.

Many of the boats also travel at night, complicating rescue efforts during accidents and leaving many bodies often unaccounted for.

Rescue operations are also often hampered by limited resources and the remote locations of accidents.

A new wave of flooding has swept through villages in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Officials say at least 20 people were killed when fresh monsoon rains added to the ongoing flood emergency in the region.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into an army convoy in Khbyer Pakhtunkhwa province, officials say.

More than a dozen soldiers have been killed and dozens of people were wounded in a suicide attack in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.

Saturday’s attack was carried out in Khadi Market, Mir Ali, North Waziristan, according to a local media outlet, Khyber Chronicles, which quoted security sources.

Security officials said the attacker detonated explosives near a bomb disposal unit vehicle, killing 13 people.

At least 24 personnel, including 14 civilians, were also injured in the attack, the report said.

“A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy,” a local government official in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province told the AFP news agency separately.

Children among the injured

“The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children,” a police officer posted in the district told AFP.

It was one of the deadliest single-day attacks on security forces in recent months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

There was no immediate comment from the Pakistani military.

The attack was claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban, or TPP.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan – a claim the Taliban denies.

About 290 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.

People asked to avoid swarms of stinging insects after truck hauling 250 million bees rolls over near the Canadian border.

A truck carrying millions of honeybees has overturned in the northwestern United States, prompting emergency warnings from local authorities.

The truck, carrying approximately 31,751kg (70,000 pounds) of active beehives, overturned on Friday in Washington state’s Whatcom County – a rural area near the Canadian border, about 48km (30 miles) south of Vancouver.

“250 million bees are now loose,” the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) announced on its official social media page. “Avoid the area due to the potential of bee escaping and swarming.”

Authorities sealed off parts of the area and urged the public to keep a safe distance of at least 200 yards (182 metres) as officials and bee experts helped recover, restore and reset the hives, according to the sheriff’s office.

The goal, officials said, is to safely re-hive the bees and help them locate their queens, a process that could take up to 48 hours.

While some beekeepers focus solely on honey production, many others lease their hives to farmers who rely on bees to pollinate their crops. The loss of millions of bees, even temporarily, could threaten the productivity of nearby farms during the growing season.

“While there is no general health risk to the public, anyone who is allergic to bee stings or has concerns should check the State Department of Health webpage on bees and wasps,” WCSO said.

Honeybees are crucial to the food supply, pollinating more than 100 crops including nuts, vegetables, berries, citrus and melons. Bees and other pollinators have been declining for years, and experts blame insecticides, parasites, disease, climate change and lack of a diverse food supply.

In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly sponsored the first “World Bee Day” on May 20 to bring attention to the bees’ plight.

Beekeepers often transport millions of bees from one location to another because leaving them in one location for too long can deplete resources for other pollinators, The Seattle Times newspaper reported.

In 2015, 14 million bees escaped a truck north of Seattle on Interstate 5 and started stinging people, the newspaper reported at the time.