Jackson takes blame for Browns’ goal-line failure
Cleveland coach Hue Jackson refused Monday to discuss details a goal-line sequence that cost the winless Browns points in a 38-24 loss to the Detroit Lions — or lay blame on anyone but himself.
“I take responsibility for it,” Jackson said. “It is on me. It is not on DeShone (Kizer, rookie quarterback). It is not on the offensive unit. I coach the offensive unit. I coach the quarterback. As I said yesterday, I am not going to back off that. Totally on me. Not on him. Whatever we think he should have done or could have done stems from my teaching of him. I take full responsibility for it.”
With the Browns at the Lions 2-yard line with 15 seconds left and out of timeouts, Kizer tried a sneak but was stopped well short of the goal line. The Browns rushed to run another play but failed to line up in time — the Lions did all they could to prevent Kizer and lineman Shon Coleman from getting up — before time expired.
Guard Joel Bitonio and tight end Seth DeValve had said Kizer changed the play from Jackson’s call to a QB sneak.
Also Monday, the Browns announced that starting linebacker Jamie Collins is done for the season because of a sprained right knee ligament.
Cam Newton threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns, rookie Christian McCaffrey scored touchdowns rushing and receiving, and host Carolina (7-3) crushed Miami (4-5) for its third straight victory. Jonathan Stewart ran for a season-high 110 yards and Newton rushed for 95, including a 69-yard jaunt on a read option, as the Panthers gained 294 yards on the ground. It was the Dolphins’ third straight loss.
49ers’ Goodwin played after son’s death
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said receiver Marquise Goodwin decided on his own to play Sunday against the New York Giants, hours after his wife prematurely gave birth to their son, who then died of complications.
“By the time I was able to talk to Marquise, he was hurting but he was adamant he wanted to play,” Shanahan said. “For a guy to go through that, to have those emotions, to go the whole night before and really not sleeping very much and come out there and have some very pivotal plays in that game, and make a huge difference, it says a lot about the guy. Regardless of whether he played good or bad, the fact that he was out there and trying his hardest and trying to help was the most important.”
Notable
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict won’t be suspended for the contact with an official that got him ejected from a 24-20 loss at Tennessee. A league spokesman said Burfict faces a fine only. … Ben McAdoo will coach the New York Giants through the end of the season, team co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said in a statement.
The Oklahoma Sooners are trying to snag one of four spots in the College Football Playoff, and it’s stunning to find out that one of the leading men was working at a gas station and factory five years ago because no four-year colleges wanted him.
Emmanuel Beal, a senior linebacker from Reynoldsburg, at one point appeared to be destined for Michigan State until poor grades chased away teams.
“I took the year off to work, but I was getting information on junior colleges,” Beal said. “I heard about Lackawanna, followed the coaches on Twitter, got some information and filled out the paperwork.”
Beal was nothing more than another face on the Lackawanna team as a freshman.
That’s what happens when you are a walk-on and a 195-pound defensive end.
Lackawanna College, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is a destination for recruiters. The team’s website says more than 370 players have gone on to Division I teams and 15 have signed with NFL teams since the program started in 1993.
Beal was converted to linebacker and didn’t start to draw attention until his sophomore season, when he had 31 tackles, including 9½ tackles for losses, in seven games.
“I remember that Michigan State recruiter looking me in the eyes and said they couldn’t offer me, and my focus was on grades,” he said. “Before, it was all football. I talked to people about how to get my grades up.”
Penn State, TCU, Arizona and New Mexico, among others, started to pay attention.
Oklahoma noticed Beal almost by accident while recruiting Lackawanna offensive lineman Ashton Julious.
At 6 feet and 218 pounds, Beal has the size of a safety rather than a weak-side linebacker. Last season, though, he started 10 of 13 games and ranked second on the team in tackles with 81.
This season, he has a team-leading 68 tackles.
“I’ve been undersized my whole career, but these legs can run and I’m athletic,” he said. “I’ve been timed at 4.4 for the 40. I do like to play in the box, but I cover a lot of skill guys in space.”
One of Beal’s best games came on Sept. 9 during a 31-16 victory against Ohio State in Ohio Stadium.
He led the team with nine tackles.
“That was the best game ever playing in the Horseshoe,” he said. “My family was there watching. Ohio State fans are rowdy and there were a lot of nerves. A lot was going through my head. But we stepped on to that field and took it one play at a time.”
Don’t mention playoffs to Beal.
“We can’t overstep our boundaries — we have to get there first,” he said. “I don’t listen or watch any of that stuff. A teammate told me where we were ranked the other week. I didn’t know and I didn’t care.”
Burke, a senior from Northridge, has run for 1,072 yards and 17 touchdowns for a team that is 10-0 and ranked 16th and will play Illinois Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Crow, a senior defensive lineman from Big Walnut, finished the season with 55 tackles. He started 36 of 40 games in his career.