Trevor Lawrence threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 2 Clemson Tigers to its second national title in three years with a 44-16 rout of No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Lawrence threw TD passes to Travis Etienne, Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross to help undefeated Clemson become the first team in the AP poll era starting in 1936 to win 15 games in a season.
Coach Dabo Swinney‘s squad beat Nick Saban’s and Alabama Crimson Tide (14-1) for the second time in three meetings in the CFP title game.
Clemson finishes the season as the number one team in America in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Alabama is second, Ohio State is 3rd after winning the Rose Bowl. Oklahoma is 4th and Notre Dame is 5th, even though both schools lost their College Football Playoff semifinals. LSU is 6th after defeating Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. In an odd twist of fate, the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators are tied at 7th in the AP Poll, despite the Bulldogs losing to the 9th ranked Texas Longhorns.
After firing Dirk Koetter Dec. 30, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were considering offering their vacant head coach job to current Georgia Bulldogs Head Coach Kirby Smart, according to many reports. However, Tampa has named former Arizona Cardinals Head Coach and current CBS Sports commentator, Bruce Arians their new head coach.
This news was first reported by Sheena Quick of Quick Out The Blocks. Arians became the front-runner for the job and will be tasked to resuscitate the career of quarterback Jameis Winston. Arians interviewed with general manager Jason Licht in Tampa Saturday and underwent a complete physical at a local hospital as part of the process. Preliminary terms of Arians’s contract is a four-year deal with an option for a 5th.
Former New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles will join Arians as his defensive coordinator.
Morehouse Basketball is still strong this season! Head Coach Grady Brewer has the Maroon Tigers 12-1 on the campaign and 2-0 in conference play. After two road games against this Saturday against Paine College in Augusta and Benedict in Columbia, SC on Jan. 14th, Morehouse will return to Atlanta for three games starting Jan. 19th against Fort Valley State, Jan. 21 against Albany State and their first showdown against Clark Atlanta, Saturday Jan. 26th.
The Georgia State Panthers are first in the Sun Belt Conference with a 2-0 record. They are 11-4 overall and Coach Ron Hunter has his young men playing well. They have a home game this Saturday versus Louisiana-Monroe, with tip-off at 1:00PM. The Panthers are 5-0 at Georgia State Sports Arena.
Year three of Atlanta United will begin with training camp in six weeks as they prepare for matches in the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament that features the best clubs in each nation. Aside from that, the 2019 Major League Soccer schedule was released Monday.
Due to the popularity of the team around Major League Soccer and their growing cache around the world, the Five Stripes will be featured 17 times on national television. FOX Sports, ESPN, and Univision will feature Atlanta United prominently in 2019. March 10th will be the home opener as they face FC Cincinnati at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Atlanta United will play seven matches in May, including a road trip that’ll take them to Vancouver, New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake in one week.
Atlanta United has capped attendance for 45,000 at most home matches by not opening up the upper deck. However, six home matches will be opened up to full capacity at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Those dates have not been announced.
