O’BRIEN SAYS SAVAGE WILL START SATURDAY AGAINST BENGALS

houston» Tom Savage will start at quarterback for the Houston Texans on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Coach Bill O’Brien announced the decision Monday, a day after Savage took over in the second quarter when Brock Osweiler was benched against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“We make decisions on what we think is the best way to help the team, what helps the team win,” O’Brien said.

“And I think that yesterday and this week I feel like Tom Savage gives us the best chance to win. I’m going to give him a week to prepare as a starter and see what he can do for us on Saturday night against the Bengals.”

Savage threw for 260 yards to help Houston rally from a 13-point deficit for a 21-20 win in his first regular-season action since 2014.

O’Brien wouldn’t say if he planned to start Savage for the rest of the season, saying the team is focused on the Bengals.

Osweiler has struggled in his first season in Houston after signing a $72 million contract to join the Texans from Denver.

He threw two interceptions before he was benched Sunday to give him 16 interceptions and just 14 touchdowns this season.

After the game on Sunday, O’Brien said: “We don’t make decisions on how much a guy gets paid. We make decisions on what’s the best way to win a game.”

Fisher gets two-year extension

B tallahassee, fla.» Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the school through the 2024 season.

Fisher has been at the university since 2006, when he was hired as the offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting. He took over as coach in 2010 after Bobby Bowden retired.

• Dane Evans passed for 304 yards and five touchdowns, three of those scoring throws going to Keevan Lucas, and Tulsa rolled past Central Michigan 55-10 in the Miami Beach Bowl.

Evans completed 28-of-38 passes for the Golden Hurricane, which scored on its first nine possessions and finished with six wins in the season’s final seven games.

Pirates build ’pen with Hudson

B pittsburgh» The Pirates bolstered their bullpen, agreeing to an $11 million, two-year contract with reliever Daniel Hudson.

Hudson, 29, will make $5.5 million annually in 2017 and 2018. The contract includes $1.5 million annually in performance bonuses based on games finished starting at 30 and ending at 60. Hudson went 3-2 with a 5.22 ERA in 70 appearances for the Diamondbacks in 2016.

Wyoming band bus in accident

B rawlins, wyo.» The Wyoming Highway Patrol said a charter bus carrying University of Wyoming marching band members to the Poinsettia Bowl was involved in a crash on an icy stretch of Interstate 80 near Rawlins. The patrol also said no students were hurt thanks to the bus driver not losing complete control of the bus during the crash.

Former UConn player suing

B hartford, conn.» A former UConn soccer player who lost her scholarship after giving the middle finger to a television camera plans to sue the school, alleging her punishment was excessive.

Noriana Radwan, who now plays for Hofstra, alleges that after the publicity died down, she was stripped of her scholarship midway through the school year without due process for what the coach described as “serious misconduct.”

Footnote.

NASCAR’s top series will be called the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series beginning next year. The change of name from the Sprint Cup Series comes with Monster Energy’s new deal to be the title sponsor of NASCAR’s top division.