Sports briefs
In college football
The Nebraska athletic department acknowledged Friday that it explored the possibility of backing out of this fall’s game at Oklahoma before ultimately deciding to go ahead with it.
The game is Sept. 18 in Norman, Oklahoma, and will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Game of the Century, Nebraska’s 35-31 win over the Sooners in a clash of the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the nation.
According to unidentified sources who spoke to Stadium, the Huskers contacted teams in the Mid-American Conference and Old Dominion about playing in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sept. 18. The Lincoln Journal Star also reported Nebraska officials explored the feasibility of not playing the Sooners.
The news created a firestorm among Cornhuskers fans, many of whom railed on social media about the Huskers being afraid to play the game against their old rival. Johnny Rodgers, the 1972 Heisman Trophy winner who starred in the ’71 game, said, “We can’t really afford to have a reputation like that, trying to get out of playing top teams.”
- The NCAA Football Rules Committee recommended a slight change to overtime rules that would require a team to try a two-point conversion after a touchdown when a game reaches the second overtime instead of the third.
The committee also addressed the problem of teams faking injuries to slow an opponent’s momentum and blocking below the waist, among other areas.
Changes must be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to discuss football rules recommendations April 22.
In baseball
Outfielder Nick Markakis has retired after 15-year career with the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles.
The 37-year-od Markakis, who was a free agent, told The Athletic in a story published Friday that he was done playing after accumulating 2,388 hits, earning his lone All-Star selection in 2018 and coming within one win of reaching the World Series in his final season.