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WATCH: Spectacular TD catch helps Ark. St. end longest losing streak in over a decade

By John TaylorOct 6, 2016, 9:33 AM EDT

Literally, Arkansas State tried to hand Georgia Southern a win, but neither GSU nor Omar Bayless were having any of it.

Trailing 26-20 with eight seconds remaining and no timeouts in Wednesday night Fun Belt action, ASU was set up at the GSU eight-yard line with at least two shots at, with a successful point after, a game-winning touchdown. As it turned out, thanks to Bayless and quarterback Justice Hansen — he of the key fourth-and-16 pickup earlier in the drive — the Red Wolves needed just one shot.

The Red Wolves were able to stun the Eagles (3-2, 2-1) despite committing five turnovers, including lost fumbles on each of their first three possessions. The win, which included a comeback from a 23-10 deficit, extended one streak for the football program while snapping another.

Entering the Sun Belt matchup, ASU had lost five games in a row, tied with Georgia State, Miami of Ohio and Rice as the nation’s longest. It had been the program’s longest such streak since losing five in a row in 2003-04. They narrowly averted a six-game losing streak for the first time since 2001-02.

Conversely, the Red Wolves have now won 10 straight games in SBC play. ASU’s lost loss in a league matchup came in November of 2014 on the road against Texas State.

Colorado dismises LB N.J. Falo

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Texas transfer Brandon Hodges uses Twitter to commit to Pitt

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Urban Meyer: Greg Schiano ‘will be head coach’ again after turning down two ‘significant’ jobs this offseason

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By John TaylorJul 25, 2017, 2:03 PM EDT

It won’t be this year, but Urban Meyer could be forced to replace his defensive coordinator in short order.

In December of last year, Greg Schiano‘s name was attached to head coach openings at Oregon (HERE) and USF (HERE), although those jobs ultimately went to Willie Taggart and Charlie Strong, respectively. At the Big Ten Media Days Tuesday, Schiano’s boss stated that his coordinator had turned down two “significant” opportunities this offseason to again become a head coach.

While the Ohio State head coach declined to divulge the names of the jobs Schiano decided against, or even what level of the sport was involved, Meyer emphatically stated that it’s a matter of when, not if, Schiano becomes a head coach again.

“He will be a head coach (again),” Meyer said by way of ElevenWarriors.com. “I’m going to keep him as long as I can. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around.”

Schiano, who was the head coach at Rutgers from 2001-11, is entering his second season leading the Buckeyes’ defense. In his first, OSU was third nationally in points per game (14.2) and tied for fourth in yards per game (282).

New medical study finds CTE in brains of 48 of 53 deceased college football players

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By John TaylorJul 25, 2017, 1:16 PM EDT

As the sport at all levels continues to aggressively address the issue of safety for its players, another report has surfaced that shines a harsh light on the potential brutality of the game.

In a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Tuesday, the Associated Press reports, researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System examined the brains of 202 deceased men who had played football at various levels. Of those, 53 played college football; 48 of them were diagnosed postmortem with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE as it’s more commonly known.

Even more startling, 110 of the 111 brains of former NFL players studied had CTE. Conversely, three of 14 brains of individuals whose highest level of football was high school were diagnosed with it.

From the AP:

There are many questions that remain unanswered,” said lead author Dr. Ann McKee, a Boston University neuroscientist. “How common is this” in the general population and all football players?

“How many years of football is too many?” and “What is the genetic risk? Some players do not have evidence of this disease despite long playing years,” she noted.

It’s also uncertain if some players’ lifestyle habits — alcohol, drugs, steroids, diet — might somehow contribute, McKee said.

Dr. Munro Cullum, a neuropsychologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, emphasized that the report is based on a selective sample of men who were not necessarily representative of all football players. He said problems other than CTE might explain some of their most common symptoms before death — depression, impulsivity and behavior changes. He was not involved in the report.

CTE is a degenerative disease found in people who have suffered repeated blows to the head, particularly in sports such as boxing hockey, rugby and, of course, football. At this time, CTE can only be diagnosed after death, although there are experimental tests being studied that may work on the living.

In that vein, the AP writes that “McKee said research from the brain bank may lead to answers and an understanding of how to detect the disease in life, “while there’s still a chance to do something about it.”

Among those who donated their brains and were part of the new study included Ken Stabler (Alabama), Bubba Smith (Michigan State), Junior Seau (USC), Dave Duerson (Notre Dame) and Frank Wainright (Northern Colorado). All of those went on to lengthy careers in the NFL.