Hall of Fame coach Welsh dies at 85

George Welsh, who coached football at Virginia for 19 years and retired as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s career victories leader, has died. The school made the announcement in a release Friday, saying Welsh’s family says he died peacefully in Charlottesville on Wednesday. He was 85.

Welsh compiled a 134-86-3 record at Virginia from 19822000. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and the school named its indoor practice facility for him when it was completed in 2013.

A former quarterback at Navy who finished third in the Heisman Trophy ballot- ing as a senior, Welsh took over a Cavaliers program that was sometimes derided as “Cadavaliers” because it had just two winning seasons in 29 years. He guided Virginia to an 8-2-2 record in his third season, which ended with the school’s first appearance in a bowl game. The Cavaliers faced Purdue in the Peach Bowl, winning 27-24.

Welsh guided Virginia to bowl games 11 more times during his tenure and, in 1990, their only No. 1 ranking.

■ West Virginia and Troy’s Neal Brown are complet- ing a deal to make him the next coach of the Mountain- eers, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Friday. Brown would replace Dana Holgorsen, who this week left West Virginia to become Houston’s coach.

The 38-year-old Brown has coached Troy since 2015 and is 35-16 at the Sun Belt Conference school. His teams have produced impressive performances against Power Five competition, winning at Nebraska this season and at LSU in 2017. The Trojans also lost 30-24 at Clemson in 2016, the season the Tigers won the national title.

Brown was offensive coor- dinator at Kentucky for two years before being hired at Troy as one of the youngest head coaches in FBS.

■ South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley is returning for his senior season with the Gamecocks, he announced on Twitter. The 6-foot-4, 224pound passer has been South Carolina’s starter since the middle of his freshman season in 2016. Bentley threw for 3,171 yards, 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in an up-and-down 2018 season.

■ Ohio State will lose experience and leadership on the offensive line with center Michael Jordan’s decision to leave early for the NFL. The 6-foot-7, 312-pounder announced he would forgo his senior season in a tweet, saying that “in my heart, I know I am ready for the NFL, largely because I have been coached by the very best.”

■ Stanford receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside will skip his senior season to declare for the NFL draft. Arcega-Wh- iteside caught 63 passes for 1,059 yards and 14 touchdowns this se a son. T he 6-foot-3 wideout is danger- ous in the red zone with his size and jumping ability and is projected as a second-day selection in the draft.

■ Eastern Washington (122) will attempt to keep North Dakota State (15-0) from winning a record seventh con- secutive FCS championship today in Frisco, Texas.