Ex-Terps OC Bell to call plays at Florida State
Florida State needed to shake things up, so football coach Willie Taggart has turned over the play-calling duties to his offensive coordinator, a former Maryland assistant. Taggart said “he’s not a big ego guy” and after a rocky start in his first season as the Seminoles (4-5, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) head coach, he opted to let offensive coordinator Walt Bell call plays in the 47-28 loss at North Carolina State. Despite losing, Bell will call the shots against this week against third-ranked Notre Dame (9-0). It’s a major change for Taggart, who called the plays in 2015-16 when he was at South Florida and in 2017 at Oregon. Bell is considered a rising star in the coaching profession because of his dynamic offenses as a play-caller at Arkansas State (2014-2015) and Maryland (20162017). WOMEN’S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: Johns Hopkins will face Eastern in the opening round of the NCAA tournament Friday at Babson University in Wellesley, Mass., at 5 p.m. ... McDaniel earned the No. 2 overall seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III tournament and will face the winner of Wednesday’s Penn State Behrend-Wilkes first-round match on Saturday at Cabrini at 8 p.m. WOMEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER: Johns Hopkins will host the opening two rounds of the NCAA tournament this weekend. Hopkins and Cabrini will play at 5 p.m. Saturday, followed by Misericordia vs. Rowan at 7:30 p.m. MEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER: Johns Hopkins has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and will face Washington & Lee on Saturday at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa. WOMEN’S COLLEGE RUGBY: Mount St. Mary’s advanced to the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association Tier II championship for the first time in program history. Coach Farrah Douglas will lead the Mountaineers (5-3) against Sacred Heart (5-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m. NBA G LEAGUE: The Capital City Go- Go acquired Oleksandr Kobets, a 6-6, 205 pound shooting guard from Ukraine. The 22-year old has played every season since 2012-13 with the SK Cherkasy Monkeys of the Ukrainian Superleague. In a corresponding roster move, the Go- Go waived forward Mike Davis. — ris is averaging 6.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game during his career. ... Ohio State forward Micah Potter is transferring two days before Buckeyes’ season opener. Potter dealt with ankle injuries his first two years and has not met expectations that he would become a dominant inside player. MMA: Floyd Mayweather is planning on fighting Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa on Dec. 31 in Saitama, north of Tokyo. The 41-year-old Mayweather is 50-0 in his boxing career but has never fought professionally under MMA rules. The RIZIN Fighting Federation, the Japanese promoter, said rules and the weight class for the bout have not been set. TENNIS: Novak Djokovic returned to No. 1 after a two-year absence and is assured of becoming the first man to finish a season at the top of the ATP rankings after being outside the top 20 during that season. That’s because the man he overtook, Rafael Nadal, is done for 2018. Nadal withdrew from the ATP Finals in London and announced he was having arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle. ALSO: The New York City Marathon set a record for the most finishers of any marathon worldwide with 52,812. Organizers said the total topped the 51,394 from the 2016 NYC Marathon. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and Mary Keitany of Kenya were the men’s and women’s winners. ... Ludacris, Migos and Lil Jon will represent Atlanta and hip-hop culture when they perform at the EA SPORTS BOWL days before the Super Bowl. Electronic Arts Inc. and OnLocation Experiences announced Monday that Lil Yachty, Metro Boomin and Lil Baby will also hit the stage at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Jan. 31, 2019, for the concert celebrating rappers from Atlanta.