ACC MOVES TITLE GAME FROM NORTH CAROLINA TO ORLANDO
orlando, fla.» The Atlantic Coast Conference is moving its 2016 football championship to Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.
The conference made the announcement Thursday about the Dec. 3 game.
Orlando emerged as a possible location after the ACC joined other sports leagues in pulling out of North Carolina amid backlash over controversial state House Bill 2.
The law requires transgender people to use restrooms at schools and government buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. It also excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from local and statewide antidiscrimination protections.
The ACC Championship had been scheduled for Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, where it had been held since 2010. The announcement came 15 days after the conference decided to pull 10 neutral-site championships from North Carolina. That decision came days after the NCAA said it would relocate its championship events from the state.
B houston» Greg Ward Jr. threw for a career-high 389 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in just more than three quarters to help sixth-ranked Houston beat Connecticut 42-14.
The victory was a bit of redemption for the Cougars, whose only loss last season came when they were 10-0 in a 20-17 defeat by the Huskies.
No. 6 Houston cruises
B tuscaloosa, ala.» Alabama linebacker Tim Williams has been charged with carrying a pistol without a permit.
Campus police arrested Williams on the misdemeanor charge at about 1 a.m. Thursday in his vehicle in a grocery store parking lot two days before the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s game with Kentucky.
Court documents show that officers smelled marijuana coming from Williams’ parked car, and found a bag containing the drug in the center console and a Glock 41 pistol under the driver’s seat.
Passenger Tykheem Dunaway said he was holding the marijuana for another man, according to the court filings. Williams told police he bought the gun while at home in Louisiana three weeks earlier and was given a temporary permit. He didn’t have the permit with him but did produce a receipt. Williams was released on $300 bond.
“This kind of behavior is not condoned in our program,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a statement. “We are currently in the process of reviewing all of the information. Once we have a complete understanding of the situation, we will determine what we need to do in terms of the appropriate discipline.”
Dunaway and Leon Brown Jr. were both charged with second-degree possession of marijuana.
• Alabama redshirt freshman quarterback Blake Barnett has left the program and withdrawn from school.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban announced Barnett’s departure in a statement. The former five-star recruit from Corona, Calif., started the opener against Southern California for No. 1 Alabama. Since then, freshman Jalen Hurts has claimed the starting job.
Alabama player arrested