LOCAL
Savannah’s Lanier on
Chargers’ active roster
The Los Angeles Chargers made a switch at defensive end last Thursday, signing Savannah’s Anthony Lanier, 25, from the practice squad to the active roster while waiving Chris Landrum.
Lanier, a Jenkins High School graduate, joined the Chargers’ practice squad on Nov. 7 after being waived-injured by the Washington Redskins in September. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound edge rusher first got his feet wet two years ago as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama A&M in Washington. In 2017, he totaled 14 tackles, 5.0 sacks, six passes defensed and one forced fumble in 11 games with two starts. Lanier came on strong down the stretch as all five of his sacks came in the team’s final seven games.
Meanwhile, Landrum totaled seven tackles in seven games for the Bolts this year. He was inactive for seven others.
NATIONAL
Clemson DT Lawrence,
2 others, face ban
for failed PED test
ARLINGTON, Texas — Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and two other players failed NCAA tests for performance enhancing drugs and might not play in the Cotton Bowl against No. 3 Notre Dame.
Swinney said at a news conference Monday at AT&T Stadium that the NCAA informed Clemson trace amounts of ostarine were found in samples given by Lawrence, reserve offensive tackle Zach Giella and freshman tight end Braden Galloway. Ostarine, also known as enobosarm, is used to treat osteoporosis, but can also act like an anabolic steroid.
Swinney said the players told him they had not intentionally taken the substance. Clemson is awaiting results of a second sample from each player. The NCAA ban for failing a PED test is one calendar year.
Saban: 3 Alabama players
suspended for Orange Bowl
MIAMI — Alabama has suspended starting left guard Deonte Brown and two other players from the Orange Bowl for violating unspecified team rules.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said in a statement that Brown, tight end Kedrick James and offensive lineman Elliot Baker didn’t make the trip to Miami on Monday.
Top-ranked Alabama faces Oklahoma Saturday night in the College Football Playoff semifinal game.
Saban didn’t indicate the duration of the suspensions or whether they might extend to the national championship game if Alabama wins.
Brown replaced Lester Cotton as the starter in midseason. Brown has been dealing with a turf toe injury.
Cardinals sign Swearinger
after release by Redskins
TEMPE, Ariz. — Safety D.J. Swearinger, released by Washington after he criticized the team, was signed Tuesday by the Arizona Cardinals.
Swearinger said Monday, when he was cut by the Redskins, that he received no explanation for the move. A day later, the Cardinals claimed him off waivers and placed offensive lineman Korey Cunningham (foot) on injured reserve.
Washington lost 25-16 at Tennessee on Saturday night. Swearinger was reportedly critical of the lack of aggressive play calling in the loss. He also was critical of the team earlier this season.
Swearinger was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate this season with Washington after making a team-leading four interceptions to go along with 64 tackles (52 solo), two sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 14 passes defensed while starting all 15 games. He rejoins the Cardinals after playing 20 regular-season games for them in 2015-16.
He spent his first two pro season with Houston, then played seven games in 2015 for Tampa Bay.
Arizona also released safety Fish Smithson from the practice squad.
UConn still No. 1
in AP women’s poll
NEW YORK — After a week off for exams, UConn faced two stiff tests on the court and passed both of them.
The top-ranked Huskies rallied to beat Oklahoma and topped No. 14 California to remain unbeaten this season. UConn won both games by fewer than 10 points — the first time in 10 years the team had back-to-back victories by fewer than 10.
UConn was followed in the AP Top 25 on Monday by Notre Dame, Louisville, Maryland and Oregon. The Ducks knocked off previously undefeated Mississippi State last Tuesday to move up two spots in the poll voted on by a 31-member national media panel.
Stanford, Baylor, Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Tennessee round out the first 10. The Lady Bulldogs dropped four spots after suffering a loss to the Ducks.
Every team is off until Thursday, with Top 25 games returning on Friday.
Here are a few other tidbits from the poll:
PAC-12 POWER: The Pac-12 has gotten off to a great start this season with not only the expected top teams like Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State and Cal doing well, but some of the other programs have gotten off to strong starts. Utah is 11-0 while Southern Cal, Arizona and Colorado are all 10-1.
“It’s going to be a dogfight to win this thing,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “It’s been really impressive as the teams that are supposed to be pretty good have delivered and they are good. The other teams are doing really well and that’s what cool. That’s what’s going to make the conference so much tougher is that everyone’s good.”
899 and COUNTING: Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw earned her 899th career victory on Saturday by beating Marquette. The Hall of Fame coach has her first chance at No. 900 against Lehigh — the school where she began her illustrious head coaching career. She won 88 games there.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News