Irish suspend tight end for bowl

No. 14 Notre Dame has suspended a third player for the Citrus Bowl against No. 16 LSU.

Junior tight end Alize Mack, who saw considerable playing time this year after missing the 2016 season because of academic issues, will miss the Jan. 1 game against the Tigers (9-3) because of “an internal team matter,” coach Brian Kelly said Thursday. He did not disclose details but said the punishment is limited to the game in Orlando, Florida.

Already indefinitely suspended for the Fighting Irish (9-3) are sophomore wide receiver Kevin Stepherson and freshman running back C.J. Holmes, who were arrested on shoplifting charges last week.

Kelly said he was still considering the length of the suspensions for Holmes, who saw limited action in eight games, and Stepherson, who caught 19 passes for 359 yards and five touchdowns after missing the first four games as punishment for off-field issues.

Kent State: Former Syracuse assistant Sean Lewis was introduced as Kent State’s new football coach on Thursday and charged with turning around a program that has won just 14 games in the past five seasons and slipped way back in the Mid-American Conference.

The 31-year-old Lewis was Syracuse’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the past two seasons. He’s also worked on staffs at Bowling Green and Eastern Illiniois. In taking over at Kent State, Lewis becomes the youngest Football Bowl Subdivision coach. That distinction previously belonged to Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who is 34.

North Carolina: The NCAA has granted additional eligibility for Allen Artis, who missed most of the 2016 season amid charges of sexual battery and assault on a female student. Those misdemeanor charges were dismissed and attorney Kerry Sutton told The Associated Press on Thursday that the NCAA granted an appeal this week allowing Artis to play the 2018 season. The senior reserve safety must sit two games because he played in two games in 2016 before being indefinitely suspended following his arrest on the charges brought by the student.