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Oct. 31 at Cleveland, 8:15 p.m.

Oct. 22 at SMU, TBA

Oct. 29 at UCF, TBA

Nov. 5 vs. Navy, TBA

Oct. 29 at Tennessee, TBA

Nov. 5 at Missouri, TBA

Nov. 12 vs. Vanderbilt, TBA

Oct. 22 vs. Pitt, TBA

Oct. 29 vs. Wake Forest, TBA

Nov. 5 vs. James Madison, TBA

Kurt Busch to step away from NASCAR

LAS VEGAS – NASCAR champion

Kurt Busch will miss the rest of this season with a concussion and will not compete full-time in 2023.

The 44-year-old made his announcement Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track and where he launched his career on the bullring as a child. He choked up when he said doctors told him “it is best for me to ‘shut it down.’”

“I know I am not 100% in my ability to go out and race at the top level in the NASCAR Cup Series,” Busch said. “These are the best of the best drivers, and lately, I haven’t felt my best.”

Busch said Tyler Reddick will replace him in the No. 45 Toyota at 23XI Racing next season. Reddick was signed to the team for the 2024 season, but is no longer needed to complete his contract at Richard Childress Racing because RCR signed Kyle Busch, Kurt’s younger brother and a two-time Cup champion, for next season.

“If I’m cleared, maybe you’ll see me at a few select races” next season, Busch said.

Buschwasinjuredinaroutinecrash in July that exposed a design flaw in NASCAR’s new Next Gen car.

Source: Tagovailoa, Bridgewater out of protocols coach Pat Noonan said the club would enjoy and take stock of its historic victory before turning its full attention to the opponent so many members of the Cincinnati organization are connected to.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Miami quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater have completed all of the return-to-play steps required by the NFL and are no longer in the league’s recently revised concussion protocols, a person with knowledge of the decisions said Saturday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the moves were not announced publicly by the Dolphins.

Skylar Thompson will be the starter for Sunday’s game against Minnesota. But Tagovailoa getting cleared puts him on track to return for Miami’s Oct. 22 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers –the game where the Dolphins will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of their 1972 perfect season. Tagovailoa returned to practice on a limited basis earlier this week. He had been in the protocols since getting hurt and needing to be taken off the field on a stretcher against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 29.

That was four days after he was allowed to return to a game against the Buffalo Bills after hitting the back of his headontheturf,gettingbackonhisfeet, then wobbling. The Dolphins later said the wobble was caused by a back injury.

“Choppy match, I think, (and), in a lot of ways to be expected with it being a playoff game and our opponent,” Noonan said in his post-match remarks. “But we got through 45 minutes where, not a whole lot either way. In a strange way, I think the (Red Bulls) goal helped us to play a little bit and try to attack with the ball on the ground ... Just really proud of the group and their ability to go down on the road, you know, against a team that does really good to get pressure to the ball, and find a way to get back into it.

“Overall, it’s a big win for our group and a big day for our club and hopefully we can continue moving forward like this.”

How FC Cincinnati won its first playoff game in MLS

New York’s Lewis Morgan, who led his club in scoring during the regular season (14 goals), broke the first-round playoff match in suburban New York City wide open in the 48th minute. He thumped home a well-hit goal from the top of FC Cincinnati’s penalty area to ignite Red Bull Arena and put his team ahead.

FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano made six saves in the contest but said afterward he was partially screened on the Morgan goal.

“We were slow to get pressure on it so he gets the shot off,” Celentano said. “When he takes the shot, I see him go to hit it but I don’t see the ball but I don’t see the ball coming through. I reacted too late. At the end of the day, Lewis Morgan’s a class player and he has the ability to do what he wants with the ball.”

FC Cincinnati responded well to the setback, though. Junior Moreno scored a goal in the 60th minute and even as the tally was waived off after a videoassistant referee (VAR) review, FCC continued pushing forward.

The visitors’ fight paid off in the 74th minute when Alvaro Barreal won a penalty kick, which captain Luciano Acosta converted to knot the match at one. The goal was Acosta’s 11th in 2022 and the first playoff goal in Cincinnati history. With the match deadlocked at two and the Red Bulls trying to find a way back into the match offensively, FC Cincinnati’s Brandon Vazquez drilled home the decisive score in the 86th minute.

The key moment in the goal was Sergio Santos’ centering feed after he used his speed to burn two defenders down the left flank.

“Very happy to come in, to help the team be able to score that goal,” Santos said via a team interpreter. “I ran down the line. I beat my man. I beat him with speed and I looked to the middle and saw Brandon there. I just had to play a good ball and he had a good finish.”

The assist was the first for Santos since his midseason acquisition by FCC from the Philadelphia Union via a trade for moments like the one he was a part of in the 86th minute Saturday.

Thegame“certainlywasn’tprettybut I do think the winning goal was a nice sequence,” Noonan said. “We needed somebody to make a play. Obviously, (Acosta) stepped up with the ‘PK’to give us some momemtum. But, at halftime, it was gonna come down to one play and who could make a quality soccer play.

That’s a credit to Sergio and him being able to find some space and some separation and, you know, a great pass in front of goal to Brandon, who was really committed to that run.”

From there, Cincinnati had to weather the rest of the 90 minutes, as well as 12 minutes of stoppage time tacked on to the end of regulation.

Next up: A familiar foe in Philadelphia Union

Remember all the talk of the new FC Cincinnati regime’s Philly connections? You’ll be hearing a lot of that in the days tocome,inadditiontoplentyofanalysis of how FCC bested the Union in their two-match regular season series.

Ray Gaddis. Alvas Powell. Noonan. GM Chris Albright. Santos. All of them contributed to helping make Philadelphia one of the most successful clubs in MLS in recent years, and they’ll all have a chance to help upset a Union team they already tied with in come-from-behind fashion on the road and hammered, 3-1, at TQL Stadium on Aug. 6

“It’s neat. I think this is a cool story in terms of my last job and our group and getting to this point and having not been here before,” Noonan said. “A very good opponent that we get to match up against. This should be fun. I said before today, ‘we’ve got to find a way to enjoy this moment.’ This is not going to be easy, it’s not always going to look pretty but you can still have fun going out there and playing the game and trying to move on, so it’ll be no different in terms of how we approach Philly.

“I do think it’s pretty cool that we get togoandfacethetopteamintheconference, on the road, in what will be a very hostile environment and see what we’re about. It’s neat, because it’s no surprise on (Philadelphia’s) end that they’re in this position and I think our guys will be excited for the opportunity and wellaware of the challenges our opponent will pose for us.”

Philadelphia Union went19-5-10 during the regular season, earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 4-0victoryagainstTorontoFConOct.9. The Union also fell just short of the Supporters Shield, which is awarded to the league’s regular-season champion.

The Union were highly effective attacking and defending. The were the top-scoring team in MLS and recorded the best season defensively in MLS history with only 26 goals allowed in 34 matches.

Philadelphia’s MLS club also has playoff pedigree. In 2020, it won the Supporters Shield during the pandemic-shorted season but lost in stunning fashion to New England Revolution in its playoff opener. In 2021, the Union were the top-seeded team in the east again, but it narrowly fell short of advancing to the MLS Cup final.

Philadelphia lost the Eastern Conference final in penalty-kick shootout to New York City FC while many of the Union’s star players were barred from playing in the match due to COVID-19 protocols.

Needless to say, and considering its last two playoff runs, the Union’s veteran players will be highly motivated to push past FC Cincinnati.

“I think as soon as we get out of this locker room, all eyes are on Philly,” Vazquez said. “It’s a quick turnaround ... We’re gonna go out with the same mentality we come out with every game. Doesn’t matter who we play. We’ve gotta play our same style and I believe that, with the group we have, anything is possible. We’ve done it before and we can do it again.”

Thursday’s match is scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff. It will be broadcast on FS1.