College Football
SHREVEPORT, La. – Jaylen Samuels caught three touchdown passes from Ryan Finley, Nyheim Hines returned a kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown and North Carolina State beat Vanderbilt 41-17 on Monday night in the Independence Bowl.
North Carolina State (7-6) won three of its final four games to finish with a winning record. The Wolfpack built a 28-3 lead by midway through the third quarter – largely thanks to Samuels’ touchdown catches of 9, 55 and 17 yards – and then held off a brief Vanderbilt rally.
Finley completed 19 of 30 passes for 235 yards. Samuels’ three touchdown catches were an Independence Bowl record.
Vanderbilt (6-7) had a lot of momentum going into the game thanks to surprising wins over Mississippi and Tennessee to end the regular season. But the Commodores’ offense – which scored a combined 83 points against the Rebels and Volunteers – struggled for most of the night.
MLB
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Police and family members say former Texas Rangers pitcher John Barfield has died in a shooting in Little Rock. He was 52.
Little Rock police say Barfield was fatally shot Dec. 24 after an altercation with an acquaintance in downtown Little Rock.
Barfield, a left-hander, pitched three seasons for the Rangers beginning in 1989.
Fifty-nine-year-old William Goodman of Pine Bluff is being held in the Pulaski County jail on preliminary charges of first-degree murder.
NFL
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dez Bryant threw his first career touchdown pass between a pair of scoring catches, Ezekiel Elliott ran for two TDs and the Dallas Cowboys kept Detroit from clinching a playoff spot with a 42-21 win over the Lions on Monday night.
With home-field advantage already wrapped up, the Cowboys didn’t let up in their seventh straight home win while matching their franchise record in victories, reached two other times.
The biggest sign they were serious about this one came late in the third quarter, when Bryant took a reverse pitch from Dak Prescott and tucked the ball as if planning to run before pulling up and tossing a lefty lob to Jason Witten for an easy 10-yard score and a 35-21 lead.
While the Lions (9-6) missed a chance to clinch a playoff berth with their second straight loss following five consecutive wins, they still control their postseason fate. Detroit plays Green Bay (9-6) for the NFC North title in the finale Sunday.
Skiing
SANTA CATERINA VALFURVA, Italy — Christof Innerhofer of Italy led the only training session for a World Cup downhill on the Deborah Compagnoni course by a huge margin on Monday.
Innerhofer led Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria by 1.32 seconds and ahead of Hannes Reichelt by 1.44.
Thomas Biesemeyer of the United States was fourth.
Innerhofer also dominated training last year in Santa Caterina but finished fourth in the race after getting a gate attached to his racing suit that impaired his vision, forcing him to ski practically blindfolded.
Travis Ganong, the American whose only career win came in Santa Caterina two years ago, caught an edge and almost did the splits but appeared to avoid major injury. He did not finish.
A super-G is scheduled for Tuesday, the downhill Wednesday and an Alpine combined on Thursday. The super-G was originally scheduled for Lake Louise, Alberta, earlier this season but was moved due to a lack of snow in the Canadian resort.
Associated Press
