DETROIT — The Detroit Lions trailed by 10. The opposing third-string quarterback had just scored a 33-yard receiving touchdown. It felt like the season — let alone the game — was on the verge of spiraling out of control.

And then Jahmyr Gibbs happened.

With 11:01 left in the fourth quarter Sunday, Gibbs took a handoff from quarterback Jared Goff, hurdled over some feet near the line of scrimmage, and broke three tackles before winning a race to the end zone for a 49-yard touchdown run that kept the game — and maybe the season — from spiraling out of control.

After the Lions got a stop near their own goal line to get the ball back down 27-24 with 2:54 remaining, he made a handful of big receptions to move the chains, keeping the Lions afloat just long enough for Jake Bates to deliver a 59-yard field goal that tied the game, 27-27, with 28 seconds remaining.

In overtime, Gibbs took the opening handoff for a 69-yard touchdown, helping the Lions seal a 34-27 comeback victory over the New York Giants at Ford Field after the defense shut the door with a fourth-down sack on Jameis Winston on the ensuing possession.

For the second time in three weeks, Gibbs set a career high in rushing yards (219) on just 15 carries (14.6 yards per attempt), and scored three total touchdowns with 45 receiving yards. Gibbs’ 264 yards from scrimmage are the most for a running back in Lions history.

Gibbs also pulled the Lions out of a funk in the first half, too. His first big carry also went for 49 yards, with the Lions trailing 17-7 in the late stages of the second quarter. After getting Detroit to the 3-yard line, Gibbs caught a pass in the flat for his first score of the afternoon.

While he can’t solve all of the Lions’ offensive problems, he sure does appear to be Mr. Fix-It right now. The offensive line’s woes haven’t seemed to matter when he’s had the ball in his hands in recent weeks.

And on Sunday afternoon at Ford Field, it saved the Lions from being in a mighty uncomfortable spot heading into Thursday’s pivotal NFC North showdown with the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving.

The Giants ambushed Detroit on their opening drive. After Aidan Hutchinson was flagged for being offside on a failed third-and-7, the Giants hit a double pass to Wan’Dale Robinson for a 39-yard touchdown. The defense bit on an outside toss play, leaving Robinson running free through the Lions’ secondary as Winston got the ball back and chucked it deep.

Winston kept the Lions on their heels all game. While he only completed 50% of his passes, it seemed like every one of his completions was an explosive one, and rarely did he miss in a gotta-have-it situation. He finished 18-for-36 for 366 yards with two passing touchdowns and one receiving.

The Giants, which finished with 517 yards of offense, added to their lead on the final play of the first quarter, reaching the red zone after a trio of completions to Robinson (12 yards, 40, 15), the last of which was aided by a personal foul call on Brian Branch that set New York up with first-and-goal at the 8. The Lions’ defense stood tall to limit the Giants to a field goal and a 10-0 lead.

Detroit finally got on the board with 11:41 left in the second quarter. After dropping a critical pass on the previous drive, Amon-Ra St. Brown ripped off a gain of 18 yards and then drew a defensive pass interference call — the first on a Lions’ opponent all season — in the end zone to get it to first-and-goal at the 1.

After an intentional grounding penalty on Jared Goff made it third-and-goal from the 11, St. Brown overcame some poor blocking on a wide receiver screen to barrel his way into the end zone, cutting the deficit to 10-7.

St. Brown had two big drops, including one that was collected by a defender for an interception, but got off the mat following a quiet night in Philadelphia by hauling in nine catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. Goff was 28-for-42 passing for 279 yards and a touchdown.

But after his touchdown, the Giants wasted no time in extending the lead to 10 once again. Running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. broke out for a 42-yard gain on the opening play of New York’s ensuing possession, and with the Lions hoping to get off the field on third-and-8 later in the series, Winston fired a touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins in the back of the end zone for a 17-7 lead.

Photo gallery from the Lions’ overtime win over the Giants

After both offenses had a failed drive, the Lions took over with 4:10 left in the second quarter, down 10. And then the Gibbs Show arrived.

He ripped off a 49-yard run to get Detroit to the 3-yard line of New York, then caught a pass in the flat for his first touchdown of the afternoon, cutting the Giants’ lead to 17-14.

The Giants used another explosive catch by Robinson to reach Lions territory and add a 44-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo with 38 seconds left in the half.

But a pair of big-time plays by veteran receiver Kalif Raymond helped the Lions erase the points added. He returned the kickoff 44 yards, his longest kick return of the season, and then caught a 30-yard pass, leading to a 37-yard field goal from Bates to make it 20-17.

Takeaways as the Detroit Lions avoid upset, defeat New York Giants in overtime

The Lions’ offense finally got rolling toward the end of the third quarter after a quiet start to the half. A couple of big catches by St. Brown got Detroit into the red zone, but a third-down throw from Goff bounced off St. Brown’s hands and was intercepted by Giants safety Jevón Holland, erasing the opportunity for a game-tying field goal on fourth down.

The Giants used the momentum to add insult to injury. After marching right back downfield, the Giants scored on a 33-yard reverse pass from wide receiver Gunner Olszewski to Winston, taking a 27-17 lead.

Gibbs motored the Lions back into the contest, breaking free on a 49-yard rushing touchdown in which he broke three tackles to bring the Lions within a field goal, 27-24, with 10:50 to go in the game.

The Detroit Lions kicked off a three-game stretch in the next 11 days with a home matchup against the New York Giants.

Even though the Giants were dealing with their own issues, Dan Campbell’s squad was seeking to get back on track, following a tough loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, especially on offense.

“Listen, this is step number one in getting back in the win column,” Campbell said in a pregame interview with Dan Miller. “We’ve got them at home, our crowd, our place. Just take it one game at a time, and take each play one at a time. Give it your full attention, and let’s get back to playing winning football.”

While many expected the game to be a blowout, it remained competitive all throughout the four quarters of action.

The Giants had a chance to ice the game late, but a failed fourth-down try in the red zone gave the Lions an opportunity to march down the field to tie the game.

After 60 minutes, the game was tied, 27-27, when Jake Bates drilled a 59-yard field goal, sending the game to overtime.

Here are several takeaways from the Lions’ 34-27 victory, which improved their record to 7-4.

 

Giants give Lions taste of their own medicine

The Lions and their aggressive head coach have become synonymous with trick plays over the years.

After winning the opening coin toss and deferring, Kelvin Sheppard’s defensive unit took the field first. The Giants, with really nothing to lose in the Week 12 contest, were willing to try a trick play of their own.

After an explosive 23-yard reception by wideout Darius Slayton and a couple of rushing attempts, the Giants caught the Lions’ defense and successfully ran a trick play of their own at Ford Field.

Running back Devin Singleton tossed the football back to quarterback Jameis Winston, who was then able to find Wan’Dale Robinson wide open for a 39-yard touchdown reception.

The Giants quickly took an early 7-0 lead on a four-play drive that spanned 70 yards.

Again in the fourth quarter, the Giants dialed up a trick play that extended their lead to 27-17. Wideout Gunner Olszewski tossed the football to Winston for a 33-yard highlight score.

Defense allows too many explosives

Making his second start of the season, Winston looked far too comfortable at times against a Lions’ defense that has had success pressuring passers throughout the year. In addition to his touchdown to Robinson on the first drive, Winston had multiple other explosive passes throughout the first half.

Winston and Robinson connected for a 40-yard gain on the Giants’ third possession, then again for 15 yards that would turn into an even bigger gain thanks to a helmet-to-helmet hit by Brian Branch. The Lions’ safety could face a fine for this for a second straight week.

After the Lions cut New York’s lead to 10-7, Winston rolled out and hit a wide open Tyrone Tracy for a 42-yard catch and run. On the play, cornerback Amik Robertson ran with the vertical route and the flat was completely vacated, leading to Tracy having plenty of running room.

Winston would throw his second touchdown pass of the game to Isaiah Hodgins in the second quarter. He finished the first half completing 9-of-14 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns.

Safety Thomas Harper was able to intercept Winston in the fourth-quarter, but Detroit’s offense was not able to take advantage, as the Giants defense clamped down and forced a Jack Fox punt.

Lions’ offense picks up pace in second quarter

After falling behind 10-0, the Lions’ offense was able to get on the scoreboard early in the second quarter.

To start the game, Detroit’s offense punted on their first two possessions. On Detroit’s second possession, Amon-Ra St. Brown had another drop and causing supporters at Ford Field to get quite restless.

Detroit’s offensive line had some early struggles with the Giants defensive line.

Tight end Brock Wright, who is now tasked with leading the unit after Sam Laporta injured his back, kicked off the team’s third drive with a 20-yard reception.

St. Brown was also able to draw a rare defensive pass interference call on Detroit’s first scoring drive.

The former fourth-round pick capped off the seven-play, 65-yard drive with an 11-yard reception, cutting the Giants lead to 10-7.

Jahmyr Gibbs breaks free, rescues Lions in overtime win vs. Giants

After drop, Amon-Ra St. Brown gives offense needed boost

Following an uncharacteristic drop in the fist half, the talented wideout found his groove, especially in second half.

St. Brown was able to recover from the mishap to be the key playmaker on offense, along with Gibbs.

Trailing 20-17 midway through the third-quarter, St. Brown gave the offensive a boost with a 30-yard reception that took the Lions from their own 10-yard Lions to the 40-yard line.

On the brink of taking a lead or at least tying the game, Goff’s pass to St. Brown went off his hands and into the arms of safety Jevon Holland, halting the offensive momentum Detroit had gained in the third-quarter.

Goff, who was pressured all afternoon, led his team on a 13-play, 53-yard drive late in the game, leading to Bates most crucial kick of the season.

Photo gallery from the Lions’ overtime win over the Giants

Gibbs takes advantage of poor Giants rush defense

Trailing early in the fourth-quarter by 10, Detroit again struck quickly. It only took three plays for the Lions to trim the lead to 27-24.

Gibbs exploded for a 49-yard touchdown rush that gave Detroit’s offense momentum.

Campbell continues to lean on the speedy running back, as he continued to earn more carries than David Montgomery.

Jahmyr Gibbs again sparked the offense, as a 49-yard scamper was integral in a three-play drive that cut the Giants lead to 17-4. Gibbs caught a short three-yard toss to cap off the quick scoring drive late in the second-quarter.

In overtime, the former first-round pick took a Goff handoff and scampered 69-yards to give Detroit the lead in the extra period.

The former Alabama Crimson Tide running back secured 219 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He also added 11 receptions for 45 yards and a receiving touchdown.

This article was produced by the staff at Detroit Lions On SI. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions

The Lions needed overtime — and a career day from Jahmyr Gibbs — to get past the cellar-dwelling New York Giants, 34-27, on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.

Here are the sights from Ford Field:

Jahmyr Gibbs breaks free, rescues Lions in overtime win vs. Giants

Takeaways as the Detroit Lions avoid upset, defeat New York Giants in overtime

Jahmyr Gibbs ran for a 69-yard touchdown on the first snap of overtime after Jake Bates matched a career high with a 59-yard field goal in the final minute of regulation, lifting the Detroit Lions to a 34-27 win over the New York Giants on Sunday.

New York had a chance to extend the game, but turned it over on downs at the Detroit 31 when Aidan Hutchinson sacked Jameis Winston.

The Lions (7-4) entered the game out of the playoff picture, trailed by double digits multiple times and rallied to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time in more than three years.

They wouldn't have pulled it off without Gibbs, who had a career-high 264 yards from scrimmage and three scores.

The dual-threat running back had a career-high 219 yards rushing the third-highest total in team history and two touchdowns along with 45 yards receiving and another score.

Filling in for injured rookie Jaxson Dart, Winston had a 33-yard touchdown reception and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass on trick plays in regulation.

The Giants (2-10) lost their sixth straight game and fifth this season after leading in the fourth quarter.

In his second game as New York's interim coach, Mike Kafka made a risky decision late that ended up working in Detroit's favor.

With the Giants leading 27-24, Devin Singletary was stopped for a 4-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 2. Instead of kicking a short field goal, Kafka went for it, and Winston's pass to Theo Johnson was incomplete, ending a 14-play, 86-yard drive with no points.

Detroit took advantage. Bates connected on his long field goal with 28 seconds left, giving Jared Goff another opportunity to put the ball in Gibbs' hands.

Goff was 28 of 42 for 279 yards with two touchdowns: an 11-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown and a 3-yard pass to Gibbs in the first half. He had a deflected pass picked off.

St. Brown had nine catches for 149 yards.

Making his second start for the Giants, Winston was 18 of 36 for 366 yards becoming the first to throw for at least 300 yards against Detroit this season with two touchdowns and an interception.

WanDale Robinson set career highs with nine receptions for 156 yards and had a 12-yard touchdown in the second quarter that gave the Giants one of their three 10-point leads.

The Giants have lost an NFL-high five games after leading in the fourth. Last month at Denver, they became the first team since at least 1970 to lead by 18-plus points with six minutes remaining and lose in regulation.

Injuries

Giants: Dart (concussion) and edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux (shoulder) each missed a second straight game and CB Paulson Adebo (knee) was out for the fifth game in a row. ... LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (neck) left in the second quarter.

Lions: CB Terrion Arnold (concussion) and S Kerby Joseph (knee) were inactive. ... WR/PR Kalif Raymond (ankle) was injured in the third quarter and didnt return.

Up next

Giants: At New England on Monday, Dec. 1.

Lions: Host Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

A disabled veteran was killed after being struck by a vehicle in Oak Park early Saturday morning, police tell us.

Police responded to the report of a man down in the roadway at West Nine Mile Road near Harding Street just after 5 a.m. on Nov. 22.

After lifesaving measures were attempted, the 71-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators told us that the veteran, who was in a wheelchair, was struck by the driver of a dark colored sedan, likely a Kia or Hyundai, heading east. The driver proceeded to flee the scene, and police are looking for them.

Police say that after looking at nearby surveillance footage, the incident happened around 1:30 a.m., but police weren't notified of it until 5:20 a.m.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Oak Park Police Department at (248) 691-7447.

EAST LANSING (AP) — Kennedy Blair scored 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting and No. 22 Michigan State coasted to a 102-41 win over Oakland on Sunday.

Grace VanSlooten added 14 points and Theryn Hallock scored 10 for the Spartans (6-0), who forced 33 turnovers and turned those into 43 points. Rashunda Jones had nine points, eight assists and five steals.

Layla Gold had 13 points for the Golden Grizzlies (2-4), Oakland shot 28% (15 for 53).

Michigan State shot 54% (39 of 72) with 11 3-pointers.

Blair had 19 points in the first half on 8-of-9 shooting as the Spartans turned 22 turnovers into 27 points.

Emma Shumate hit a 3-pointer and Blair scored eight quick points to close the first quarter with an 11-0 run for a 22-8 lead.

Blair started and ended another 11-0 run starting midway in the second quarter that turned into a 27-4 burst to take a 53-22 halftime lead.

The Spartans continued to roll in the third quarter with 9-0 and 19-0 runs, pushing their lead to 49 at 83-35 when Blair drilled a 3 at the buzzer.

For good measure MSU had a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to close its season-opening homestand.

Up next

Oakland plays St. Thomas of Nebraska on Tuesday.

Michigan State heads to the Bahamas to play Temple in Baha Mar Hoops on Friday.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Te’Yala Delfosse came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points and No. 6 Michigan rolled past Syracuse 81-55 on Sunday in the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Olivia Olson finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Michigan (5-1), which had 20 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Orange 46-32.

Delfosse scored five consecutive points as Michigan had the final 11 points in the first quarter. Syracuse pulled within 12 after a basket by Shy Hawkins. Syla Swords answered with a 3-pointer and assisted on a Delfosse basket to give the Wolverines a 38-21 lead at halftime.

Olson scored to give Michigan its first 20-point lead with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter. Mila Holloway followed with a 3-pointer. Syracuse had 13 offensive rebounds in the second half but couldn’t keep Michigan from pulling away and improving to 6-0 against Syracuse.

Syracuse’s Laila Phelia, who led the Orange with 13 points, played her first three seasons at Michigan. She was the leading scorer for the Wolverines during the 2023-24 season and averaged 14.1 points in 88 career games at Michigan.

Uche Izoje had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Dominique Darius added 10 points for Syracuse (5-1).

Syracuse was ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounds per game coming into the game, but Michigan held a 14-3 advantage in the first half.

Michigan, which on Friday played with the highest ranking in program history, threw a scare into top-ranked UConn before falling 72-69 despite 29 points and eight 3-pointers from Swords.

Up next

Syracuse hosts Howard on Sunday.

Michigan plays Detroit Mercy on Wednesday.

— By JIM FULLER, Associated Press

A gunman who killed a Florida deputy earlier this week died on Saturday from injuries received in the confrontation, authorities say.

Michael Halberstam, 37, shot two Indian River County deputies and a locksmith on Friday when they were serving an eviction notice at a home near Vero Beach where Halberstam's mother was trying to evict him, officials said. Officers returned fire, striking Halberstam multiple times and he succumbed to his injuries Saturday afternoon, the county's sheriff's department said in a post online.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Florida deputy killed, others injured in shooting while trying to serve eviction

One of the deputies, Terri Sweeting-Mashkow, was killed and another is recovering from a shoulder injury. The locksmith was in critical condition after the shooting and underwent surgery, Alexander Hagan, a spokesman for HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital, said Friday. The locksmith wasn't identified.

Over the past month, the sheriffs office had received seven calls from the home, almost all of which were from the mother calling about her son, Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said Friday at a news conference. Still, he said, deputies werent expecting any trouble when they arrived to carry out the eviction.

This was a standard call for service, the sheriff said, adding there was nothing in Halberstam's record that would have precluded him from having a weapon.

Sweeting-Mashkow was a 25-year-veteran of the sheriffs office, Flowers said, growing emotional as he praised the deputy and described working alongside him his entire career.

I can tell you that our team will feel this forever, Flowers said.

Sweeting-Mashkow was posthumously promoted to sergeant in the sheriff's office on Saturday.

In downtown Rochester, one local marketplace is buzzing with creativity, community, and causes.

The building was built in the 1890s. One of the originals, by the way. It's got a specialty store called the Bizzy Buzz Artisanal Market.

Watch Faraz's report in the video player below Creativity and community take center stage at Rochester's Bizzy Buzz Artisan Market

From handmade jewelry to vibrant paintings, every shelf here is bursting with colors and customization options. Pamela Walther calls herself the VIP owner of Bizzy Buzz, which opened in 2018.

"It's all local artists. We've got about 100 artists. It's all their product, so they are constantly bringing in new things every day," Walther said.

Besides having a platform to showcase products, vendors here also highlight their stories.

"Over here we've got from our blooming artists, these are all 18 and under kids, jewelry and roses made from recycled pop cans. And we've got all the 3D printed stuff. We've got all the superhero characters," Walther said.

There are also non-profit brands that give back to the community. Grace Serra-Boldman started Worthy Turtle back in 2023.

"We've given six scholarships. The profits that we make are all rolled back into the mission," Serra-Boldman said.

"One of the beauties of Worthy Turtle is that you have inspiring and uplifting messages, which is right here, I believe in you is one," I mentioned.

"I believe in you. Be the gift. I have, just keep going. It's possible. For the holidays, all I want for Christmas is more love for you, me, and every living thing," she replied.

For Grace, this is deeply personal.

"I have a daughter who has these kinds of disabilities. She has a hand that she kind of holds like this. And in OT, she would always call it my turtle hand. And I have to use my turtle hand. And this is-- and so we thought, that's really been like a metaphor for her. And this idea of worthiness, of course, belongs to all human beings. We're all worthy," Serra-Boldman said.

Just like Worthy Turtle, there are several other brands here on a similar mission, like The Workplace Program, a non-profit organization that employs persons with disabilities.

"So they make all these cards and they're super fun and super cute," Walther said. "Whenever you purchase one of these key chains, you're also helping dogs that have health issues."

I asked Walther what it means to vendors, to have a space like this.

"You know, there's not a lot of places for them to get their stuff out there to the general public," she replied.

"Pam, you own this entire building. You could have easily leased the space to a big store or whatever, but you chose not to. Instead, you opened Busy Buzz. Why?" I followed up with.

"Yeah, you're gonna make me cry," Walther said through tears. "It would be a lot easier to just rent it out, but I don't want to do that. I want this to be a place for the community. I want this to be a place for the artists. We've seen a lot of artist markets close down. We've seen a lot of the big-box stores close. You know, we've seen a lot of small businesses close. So I just hope that people, you know, come out and support their small businesses, because, you know, we need you guys."

If you would like to apply to be a vendor at Bizzy Buzz, you can do that at this link.

Where Your Voice Matters

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The special teams play that handed Michigan State its loss to Iowa wasn’t the field goal that senior Drew Stevens nailed from 44 yards out to walk the Spartans off at Kinnick Stadium. It was the 40-yard punt return from Kaden Wetjen that set up the game-tying touchdown to begin with.

Michigan State intended to kick the ball out of bounds so as not to let Iowa’s explosive return man from getting a crack at a big return. But punter Ryan Eckley didn’t get the ball out of bounds. Wetjen fielded the punt and returned it 40 yards to key up Jacob Gill’s game-tying touchdown on a 13-yard reception.

“Kaden Wetjen single-handedly kept us in this game today in a lot of ways just with his returns,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a player like that, that electric, that much juice.”

Wetjen proved every bit the nation’s leading return man — one who holds two Iowa and Big Ten return records — in Michigan State’s 20-17 loss at Iowa on Saturday. The graduate senior who started his career at Iowa Western Community College returned three punts for a combined 147 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

“We went into it knowing their returner is a good player,” MSU coach Jonathan Smith said. “We decided to challenge him to start the game. After that we made some adjustments to get away from that.”

Wetjen’s 147 return yards matched quarterback Mark Gronowski’s passing yards for Iowa, and only seven short of the rushing total of 154. It was those hidden yards that put Michigan State’s defense in short-field situations late in the game, and also influenced the decision-making behind a handful of game-changing decisions.

Early on, Wetjen showed Michigan State (3-8, 0-8 Big Ten) any sort of “challenge” it could throw at him wouldn’t be much of a hurdle. A 45-yard punt return in the first quarter could’ve been a touchdown if only Eckley hadn’t tackled him through a blocker. The very next punt, after a stalled drive deep in Michigan State’s territory, Wetjen returned that for his 62-yard touchdown.

“We got chances to get him on the ground,” Smith said. “It wasn’t like we didn’t.”

That’s part of the reason quarterback Alessio Milivojevic punted three times in the game. Smith had repped his quarterbacks through punts every Thursday since fall camp. All those reps proved useful to Milivojevic. Keeping a quarterback on the field kept Wetjen off the field, and the redshirt freshman from Illinois showed a competent leg, for a non-punter, in his reps. None of those looks were meant to test the Iowa (7-4, 5-3) defense, Milivojevic and Smith both said after the game.

“It kind of angered me when they started doing the QB quick kick,” Wetjen said.

In the fourth quarter, though, Eckley took the field. And despite having a leg that has attracted NFL attention since last year, the redshirt junior who’s likely destined for the NFL Draft instead made a series of gaffes.

Eckley started off strong, kicking a 42-yard punt with 10 minutes to play that had plenty of hang time, his punt coverage forcing Wetjen to wave for a fair catch. The next time Eckley took the field, he shanked it wide right for just 11 yards before it went out of bounds.

On his final punt, Eckley was supposed to punt the ball out of bounds, but it stayed well inside the white lines and fell to Wetjen’s hands well before the coverage team got to him. With a juke, Wetjen beat long snapper Jack Wills. Then he jaunted up the right side for his big return before edge rusher David Santiago and a pursuing Wills wrestled him down.

“The last two punts (by Eckley) did not get executed how we wanted,” Smith said. “And that gets turned into a three-point loss.”

Eckley punted six times for 257 yards and a long of 58, including a 44-yard punt downed at the Iowa 1-yard line by gunner Keshawn Williams.

Meanwhile, earlier decisions to keep Eckley — and Wetjen — off the field proved costly late. At the end of the first half facing fourth-and-3 from the 49-yard line, Michigan State kept the offense on the field. On a rub-route to running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver, Milivojevic threw a pick into double coverage that nearly spotted Iowa a field goal — Stevens hit a 53-yard try on an iced attempt, then missed the next one that counted for real.

So, after advancing to his own 45 in a tied game with 41 seconds to play, Milivojevic took the field on fourth-and-2. But instead of calling an aggressive shot to try and win the game, he booted it 34 yards, down to Iowa’s 21-yard line, to avoid a return and hope to force overtime.

“I was just trying to get it off fast,” Milivojevic said. “I didn’t want any opportunity for them to come and block it and make things worse.”

Gronowski found two big passes for 19 yards to DJ Vonnahme and 29 yards to Reece Vander Zee to set up Stevens’ walk-off field goal. Wetjen took the field one more time for a sweep to line up the kick. And Stevens handed Michigan State its eighth straight loss.

“Thank God he’s on our team today,” Ferentz said, “because we would have been in trouble, for sure.”

Universal Pictures two-part Wicked gamble continues to defy gravity at the box office. Just a year after part one brought droves of audiences to movie theaters around the country, even more people bought opening weekend tickets to see the epic conclusion, Wicked: For Good. According to studio estimates on Sunday, Wicked: For Good earned $150 million from North American theaters in its first days in theaters and $226 million globally.

Not only is it the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, unseating the record set by the first films $112 million launch, its also the second biggest debut of the year behind A Minecraft Movies $162 million.

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Universal began rolling out Wicked: For Good in theaters earlier this week, with previews on Monday ($6.1 million from 1,050 theaters) and Wednesday ($6.5 million from 2,300 theaters). By Friday it was playing in 4,115 North American locations and had raked in $68.6 million. IMAX showings accounted for $15.5 million, or 11%, of its domestic haul a November record for the company.

IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that the strong market share shows, our momentum carries into demos and genres beyond our traditional core, including families.

As with the first film, women powered opening weekend, making up around 71% of ticket buyers according to PostTrak exit polls. Critics were somewhat mixed on the final chapter, but audiences werent: An overwhelming 83% of audiences said it was one they would definitely recommend to friends.

Jon M. Chu directed both Wicked films, starring Cynthia Ervio and Ariana Grande. The first film made over $758.7 million worldwide and received 10 Oscar nominations (winning two, for costume and production design. The question is how high Wicked: For Good can soar. Combined, the two films cost around $300 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.

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Two other films also opened in wide release this weekend, but further down on the charts behind a buffet of holdovers. Searchlight Pictures opened its Brendan Fraser film Rental Family in 1,925 theaters. The Finnish action film Sisu: Road to Revenge," a Sony release, also played in 2,222 theaters.

Although this weekend the box office was more of a winner takes all scenario, Wicked: For Goods success is vitally important for the exhibition industry as a whole as it enters the final weeks of the year. After the slow fall season, the Thanksgiving blockbusters could not arrive soon enough. Early next week, Zootopia 2 enters the mix and is also expected to drive big crowds to the cineplex over the holiday break.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Michigan likes to talk about the waves of defensive linemen the Wolverines can throw at teams, but not to be overlooked on offense are the waves of running backs the team has been able to rely on this season.

First, Justice Haynes took over as lead back and was among the nation’s best until he was sidelined with a foot injury. Then Jordan Marshall took on the workload with great success and became the team’s leading rusher. He suffered a shoulder injury against Northwestern last week and was on the sideline in uniform for Saturday’s game at Maryland, but he was able to rest while former walk-on Bryson Kuzdzal, who entered the Northwestern game after Marshall was hurt and had 53 yards on 15 carries, took over.

“Jordan could have (played against Maryland) if we needed him,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said.

But the Wolverines didn’t need him and allowed him to rest before next week’s important game against Ohio State. In Michigan’s 45-20 victory over the Terps, Kuzdzal rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. In the six games he had played before Maryland, Kuzdzal had 106 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown.

Haynes, Marshall and Kuzdzal each have three-touchdown games this season. Kuzdzal’s 100-yard performance was Michigan’s 12th this season – Haynes had six, Marshall, four, and freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, one. The last time U-M had four different players each with at least one 100-plus-yard rushing game was in 1998.

Kuzdzal said he had an idea this week he would get the bulk of carries.

“Because with next week’s game (against Ohio State) and everything else going on, you don’t know if you want to put them in the game,” Kuzdzal said, referring to Marshall. “But either way, I just want to prepare the same way as I can and do the best I can.”

Moore said he was pleased with the way Kuzdzal stepped up in the start.

“Doesn’t matter who’s in the game, there’s a standard of being a running back at Michigan,” Moore said. “There’s a standard being a Michigan football player that you’ve got to play with, and (Kuzdzal) played to that standard today. Ran hard, ran physical, ran tough. And that a true credit to him, to his family, being a walk on. The trust level, the trust factor we have with him is so big, and he just played a really high level for us.”

Kuzdzal said Haynes and Marshall have been in his “corner” and advised him simply to trust himself. He said he learned more about taking practice and applying it to a game.

“It’s just a lot of experience learning to settle myself down and do what I’ve been coached to do,” Kuzdzal said. “I was able to do that today.”

Injury updates

Marshall is nursing a right shoulder injury but could have played if needed against Maryland, Moore said.

“I said, I guess you’re not gonna play next week (against Ohio State),” Moore said to Marshall, who played for Cincinnati Moeller. “And he just laughed at me. He said, is that really a question?”

Two-time captain Max Bredeson, a fullback/tight end, was injured in the game but returned in the second half to the sideline with his right foot in a boot and on crutches.

“We will get further evaluation when we get home and see what happens,” Moore said.

Linebacker Ernest Hausmann, the team’s leading tackler, and receiver Semaj Morgan did not make the trip to Maryland.

“They’re just working to some things, not long-term things. Yeah, we’ll see as we go through the week.”

Marsh has solid game

Freshman receiver Andrew Marsh finished with 147 all-purpose yards — 76 receiving, including a 12-yard touchdown, 48 kickoff and 23 punt return yards.

“Andrew Marsh just kind of doing what Andrew Marsh does, making plays as a punt returner, as a kick returner,” Moore said. “He just continues to make plays so just keep putting him in different places to do it.”

Williams gets his first sack

Defensive tackle Tre Williams had one of Michigan’s three sacks of Malik Washington.

“Getting this was real special,” Williams said. “I talked to my dad this morning, and he was telling me, ‘Don’t do too much. Just be you and do your job, and the play’s gonna come to you,’ so that’s kind of what happened. Shout out my dad.”

Washington had taken three sacks all season.

“We knew that he only had got sacked three times, but I don’t think they had saw a complete defensive line that has waves like us,” Williams said. “We send waves at people. It’s not just a couple guys. We send waves and waves and waves and waves at people, and that gets really overwhelming at times for teams. I’m not surprised that we sacked him three times today. Wish we could have had more.”

By JESSICA DAMIANO

We tend to think that fall is when the garden winds down, and spring is when the work begins. But there are several chores that, if completed now, will make your spring job much easier.

For starters, pulling up weeds by their roots in the fall will dramatically reduce their reappearance when the weather warms up again. I’m practically addicted to a long-handled tool called Grampa’s Weeder, which makes easy work of the task.

While you’re at it, thoroughly rake beds and borders where fungus, black spot or mildew diseases emerged this year. This will help prevent the pathogens from taking hold in the soil and infecting next year’s plants. Dispose of the leaves and debris in the trash.

Other disease-preventing measures include removing shriveled, “mummified” fruit from tree branches, and disinfecting tomato cages and plant stakes before storing (use a solution made of 1 part bleach and 9 parts water, or spray with a household disinfectant spray and allow to air dry.)

Clean, sharpen and oil tools now so they’ll be ready when you are. There’s little worse than heading out to plant your new seedlings only to find your spade has rusted over the winter.

Protect your trees and property

If you planted new fruit trees this year, install protective guards around them to prevent mouse and rabbit damage. I’m partial to coiled-plastic trunk wraps, but mesh, wire and higher-end metal tree surrounds are also highly effective.

For safety’s sake, examine tree branches now, and remove any that are split, dead or broken, lest they rip off during winter storms and threaten people and property.

Prepare for new beds

If you’re planning to start new beds next year, save yourself the back-breaking labor of digging up the lawn (or the money spent on renting a sod cutter) by smothering the grass over winter.

Define the future bed and cover the area with large pieces of cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, using landscape staples or rocks to hold it in place. Then, cover it with a few inches of mulch or compost.

The cardboard may be entirely decomposed by spring, but if not, just leave it in place and dig planting holes right through it.

Clear out the old beds

Clear out spent vegetable beds, then lightly turn the soil, incorporating compost, well-rotted manure and, if indicated by a low pH test result, lime. The amendments will work their way deeply into the soil by spring, enriching the root zone to give next year’s crops a natural, nutritional boost.

And for an early-spring gift to yourself, don’t forget to get flower bulbs (and garlic!) into the ground. The longer you wait, the bigger the risk of delayed blooms, but you can keep planting them as long as the soil is soft enough to dig.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

By Robbie Sequeira, Stateline.org

When six Southern public university systems this summer formed a new accreditation agency, the move shook the national evaluation model that higher education has relied on for decades.

The news wasn’t unexpected: It arrived a few months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April overhauling the nation’s accreditation system by, among other things, barring accreditors from using college diversity mandates. It also came after U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in May made it easier for universities to switch accreditors.

The accreditation process, often bureaucratic, cumbersome and time consuming, is critical to the survival of institutions of higher education. Colleges and their individual departments must undergo outside reviews — usually every few years — to prove that they meet certain educational and financial standards. If a school is not accredited, its students cannot receive federal aid such as Pell grants and student loans.

Some accreditation agencies acknowledge the process needs to evolve. But critics say the Trump administration is reshaping accreditation for political reasons, and risks undermining the legitimacy of the degrees colleges and universities award to students.

Trump said during his campaign that he would wield college accreditation as a “secret weapon” to root out DEI and other “woke” ideas from higher education. He has made good on that pledge.

Over the summer, for example, the administration sent letters to the accreditors of both Columbia and Harvard universities, alleging that the schools had violated federal civil rights law, and thus their accreditation rules, by failing to prevent the harassment of Jewish students after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.

The administration’s antipathy toward DEI has prompted some accreditors to remove diversity requirements. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, for instance, removed diversity and inclusion language from its guiding principles earlier this year. Under White House pressure, the American Bar Association this year suspended enforcement of its DEI standards for its accreditation of law schools and has extended that suspension into next year.

But state legislatures laid the groundwork for public university accreditation changes even before Trump returned to the White House.

In 2022, Florida enacted a law requiring the state’s public institutions to switch accreditors every cycle — usually every few years — forcing them to move away from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, known as SACSCOC.

North Carolina followed suit in 2023, with a law prohibiting the 16 universities within the University of North Carolina system and the state’s community colleges from receiving accreditation from the same agency for consecutive cycles.

Then, the consortium of six Southern university systems this summer launched its new accreditation agency, called the Commission for Public Higher Education. The participating states include Florida and North Carolina, along with Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news release that the commission will “break the ideological stronghold” that other accreditation agencies have on higher education. Speaking at Florida Atlantic University, he said the new organization will “upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels.”

“We care about student achievement; we care about measurable outcomes; we care about efficiency; we care about pursuing truth; we care about preparing our students to be citizens of our republic,” DeSantis said.

Jan Friis, senior vice president for government affairs at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, which represents accrediting agencies, said the century-old system is in the midst of its most significant changes since the federal government tied accreditation to student aid after World War II.

“If the student picks a school that’s not accredited by a recognized accreditor, they can’t spend any federal aid there,” Friis said. “Accreditation has become the ‘good housekeeping seal of approval.’”

What’s next for the new accreditor

Dan Harrison, who is leading the startup phase of the Commission for Public Higher Education, described accreditation as “the plumbing of the whole higher ed infrastructure.”

“It’s not dramatic. It’s not meant to be partisan. But it’s critical to how schools function,” said Harrison, who is the University of North Carolina System’s vice president for academic affairs.

Though the founding schools of the new commission are all in the South, Harrison said, he expects accreditation to shift away from the long-standing geography-based model. In the past, universities in the South were accredited by SACSCOC simply because of location. In the future, he said, public universities across the country might instead be grouped together because they share similar governance structures, funding constraints and oversight.

“In 2025, if you were designing accreditation from scratch, you wouldn’t build it around geography,” Harrison said. “Public universities have more in common with each other across states than they do with private or for-profit institutions in their own backyard.”

The Commission for Public Higher Education opened with an initial cohort capped at 10 institutions within the first six states. Harrison said that based on the interest, the group could have accepted 15 to 20.

“I thought we’d be at six or seven. We reached 10 quickly and across a wider range of institutions than expected,” he said. “We already have an applicant outside the founding systems. That’s well ahead of where I thought we would be.”

That early interest, he said, reflects frustration among public institutions around finances. In particular, public universities are mandated to undergo audits from the state, but also feel burdened by audits required by accreditors.

“Public universities already undergo multiple audits and state budget oversight,” he said. “Then accreditation requires them to do the same work again. It feels like reinventing the wheel and it pulls faculty and staff away from teaching and research.”

Harrison estimates it will take five to seven years for the new accreditor to be fully up and running, and that institutions will need to maintain dual accreditation to avoid risking Pell Grants and federal loans.

The commission is busy assembling peer review teams made up primarily of current and former public university leaders such as governing board members, system chancellors, provosts, chief financial officers, deans and faculty. In contrast to regional accreditors, which typically draw reviewers from both public and private institutions, the new commission is prioritizing reviewers from public universities.

“Ultimately, we want to be a true nationwide accreditor,” Harrison said. “Not a regional one. Not a partisan one. Just one that is organized around sector and peer expertise.”

While the creation of a public university accreditor is new, the concept of sector-specific accreditation exists in other parts of higher education, including for two-year colleges.

Mac Powell, president of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, said that tailoring accreditation to a sector can make the peer-review model more meaningful, because reviewers can identify with similar challenges. He said reviewers have been moving away from measuring resources and bureaucratic compliance toward assessing what students actually get out of their education.

“The big shift was moving from counting inputs to asking, ‘Did students actually learn what we said they would learn?’” said Powell, whose organization accredits 138 colleges across Arizona, California, New York and the Pacific.

The most important metric all accreditation models should value is how they transition their students into the workforce, he said.

“Every accreditor today is paying much more attention to retention, persistence, transfer, career outcomes and return on investment,” Powell said. “It’s becoming less about how many books are in the library and more about whether students can find a pathway to the middle class.”

The institution evolves

Stephen Pruitt is in his first year as the president of SACSCOC, the accreditation organization that the half-dozen Southern state university systems just left. Pruitt, a Georgia native, jokes that his “Southern accent and front-porch style” has helped him break down the importance of accreditation to just about anyone.

In simple terms, he said, accreditation is the system that makes college degrees real. But he feels he has to clarify a misconception about the role of accreditation agencies like SACSCOC.

“There’s this myth that I’m sitting in Atlanta deciding if institutions are good or not,” he said. “That’s not how American accreditation works. Your peers evaluate you. People who do the same work you do.”

At the same time, Pruitt isn’t dismissing the concerns that prompted states such as Florida and North Carolina to explore alternatives to SACSCOC. According to Pruitt, institutions have long raised concerns about slow turnaround times, redundant paperwork and standards that have not always adapted quickly to the evolving landscape in higher education.

“Some of the frustration is real. Institutions want less redundancy and more responsiveness. Competition isn’t something we’re afraid of,” he said. “We’re doing a full audit of our processes. We have to be more contemporary. Faster approvals, more flexibility, more transparency. Accreditation shouldn’t just be the stick. It should be the carrot too.”

©2025 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Miriam Fauzia, The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — The saying goes that you should stay out of the kitchen if you can’t take the heat, but new research suggests otherwise — for the sake of your blood pressure.

In a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers at UNT Health Fort Worth found at-home heat therapy may hold the key to lowering blood pressure. A group of older adults wore heated pants for an hour a day, four days a week. After eight weeks, their blood flow improved and their systolic blood pressure, which measures blood flow when the heart beats, dropped by around 5 points.

The study comes at a time when nearly 120 million American adults have high blood pressure, but only one in four of those adults has it under control. In Texas, about 32% of adults report being told by a health care professional they have high blood pressure. And in 2023, high blood pressure was a primary or contributing cause in over 664,000 deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Exploring ways to reduce the risks of high blood pressure — like stroke and heart attack — is crucial, and “this is an important proof-of-concept study,” said Dr. Amit Khera, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who was not involved in the research.

Khera doesn’t see heat therapy “as a replacement for blood pressure medicine,” he said, but he does find it intriguing. “It could be a potential adjunctive treatment for other heart diseases and problems.”

Crank up the heat

Anyone who’s stepped out of a sauna or settled into a hot tub knows heat can feel good. Research backs that up: A 2025 study found soaking in hot water can lower blood pressure, stimulate the immune system and, over time, improve how the body handles heat stress.

Other studies similarly found heat therapy can improve cardiovascular function in middle-aged and older adults — whether or not they have chronic diseases — and that its benefits can be comparable to aerobic exercise, said Scott Romero, an associate professor of physiology and anatomy at UNT Health, who led the study.

“The crazy thing is, the cardiovascular responses to heat exposure are almost identical to exercise,” Romero said. “Heart rate changes, blood flow changes, muscle changes. It’s almost identical, which is one of the reasons why we think that heat therapy is efficacious, especially in a clinical population, because it almost mimics exercise.”

Raising your core temperature with heat therapy usually means regular time in a sauna or hot tub — tough if you don’t have either. To make heat therapy more accessible, Romero and Ysabella Ruiz, the study’s first author and a graduate student in Romero’s lab, tested whether pants lined with tubes that circulate hot water could deliver similar cardiovascular benefits. (The pants, Romero said, were adapted from suits developed by NASA to study cardiovascular function during heat stress.)

The researchers recruited 19 adults, aged 55 to 80, without a diagnosed condition of high blood pressure and split them into two similarly aged groups. One wore heated pants circulating water at nearly 124 degrees Fahrenheit, which raised skin temperature to about 104 degrees. (Romero and Ruiz chose that setting based on earlier work showing it nudged up core body temperature by about one to two degrees Fahrenheit over an hour in older adults.) The other group wore pants that were mildly warm, with the water heated near 88 degrees Fahrenheit and skin temperatures just over 90 degrees. Romero said these pants would feel pleasant but wouldn’t make people sweat like in the heat therapy group.

Participants had their blood pressure checked three ways: at the start of the study, during the day while active and after eight weeks. The researchers also used ultrasound before and after the treatment to see how well it helps widen the endothelium, or inner lining, of a blood vessel to let blood flow. Problems with this lining are among the earliest signs of aging in the circulatory system and can appear even without the usual risk factors for heart disease. When the lining stops functioning normally, the risk of clogged arteries, cardiovascular disease and complications such as stroke or death goes up.

The participants kept their normal routines, setting aside an hour a day, four days a week, to wear the pants. After eight weeks, when they returned to the lab for final tests, the results stood out: systolic blood pressure was about 5 points lower for the heat therapy group, and on ultrasound, the inner lining of the blood vessels among those group members seemed much improved, dilating better than before.

Further studies needed

Romero and Ruiz aren’t sure why the heated pants led to these results. One possibility, Romero said, is that the brain adjusts how tense or springy blood vessels are in response to heat. Another is that the vessels change and improve with repeated heat exposure.

“We think that some of those things are actually changing long term,” Romero said. “We didn’t actually measure the mechanisms,” since the study focused on whether the therapy would be effective in this population.

Khera is curious how the results would translate to people with diagnosed hypertension. There’s also a question of the clinical significance of a modest drop in blood pressure when treating patients one on one.

“On a population level, if you treated 100,000 people, 5 points help,” Khera said. “But on an individual level, [blood pressure] pills are much stronger than that. … If your blood pressure is modestly high and you want to start with this as a feasible first step, as they continue to do more studies, this could be a potential treatment.”

Khera added it’s unclear how long the benefits of heat therapy last. Romero and Ruiz acknowledged that’s something they hope to determine as they investigate the underlying biology behind the results.

The researchers’ longer-term goal with at-home heat therapy is to create an accessible way for older adults to acclimate to heat.

“We know that older folks are most at risk for heat-related illnesses, especially in Texas, where we have really hot summers,” Romero said. “Those older folks are the ones who are getting sick and the ones that are dying during heat waves. Our idea is to be proactive about these heat waves and have individuals heat acclimate themselves at home.”

Romero said preliminary data from his lab suggests that at-home heat therapy can help older adults build better resilience to heat stress. That matters because heat-related deaths disproportionately affect older adults, and research from 2024 projects that as many as 246 million more people in this demographic will face dangerous levels of heat by 2050.

Miriam Fauzia is a science reporting fellow at The Dallas Morning News. Her fellowship is supported by the University of Texas at Dallas. The News makes all editorial decisions.

©2025 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Drew Stevens kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give Iowa a 20-17 win over Michigan State on Saturday.

The kick capped a 13-point fourth-quarter comeback for the Hawkeyes (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten), who snapped a two-game losing streak.

The win brought some emotions from Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz after the game.

I guess as you get older, the highs get a little higher and the lows get a little lower, said Ferentz, his voice breaking as he spoke. My thought today we might be in one of those lowers.

Stevens, a senior playing his final home game, said after the game he had been thinking about his senior day in high school.

Believe it or not, I had missed one of those before, Stevens said. My senior game in high school, the last time I played at home, I missed a game-tying field goal. I put all the blame on me, that we lost the game because of me. I just immediately went back to that moment, and I'm grateful that I got the chance to do it, make it right.

Stevens had missed a 53-yard field goal at the end of the first half, but Ferentz knew what he had in his kicker at the end of the game.

I think all of us had faith Drew would get it done, Ferentz said.

Iowa trailed 17-7 after Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to Chrishon McCray. But the Hawkeyes held the Spartans (3-8, 0-8) to just 26 yards on four possessions in the fourth quarter, sending Michigan State to its eighth consecutive loss and extending the Spartans Big Ten losing streak to nine games.

We didnt play great in the first three quarters, Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski said. But you have to stay in the present moment.

In that fourth quarter, we started looking like an offense, Ferentz said.

The Hawkeyes got to within 17-10 on Stevens 26-yard field goal with 11:27 left in the fourth quarter, then tied the game when Gronowski threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Gill with 1:29 to play. That drive was set up by a 40-yard punt return by Kaden Wetjen, who had returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter for Iowas first score and becoming the program's all-time leader in returns for touchdowns.

Iowa got the ball back on its own 21-yard line and drove 53 yards in five plays, setting up Stevens for his game winner.

With his leg, we knew we only had to get to the 40-yard line, Gronowski said. But we did better than that.

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith described the loss as painful.

It's tough, he said. There's no other way to say it.

The Spartans seemed in control of the game after the third quarter. Milivojevic threw a 45-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to McCray with 8:58 left in the quarter to give Michigan State a 10-7 lead, then threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to McCray near the end of the quarter to boost the lead to 17-7.

The Spartans had a 335-301 edge in offensive yards. Milivojevic threw for 255 yards.

The takeaway

Michigan State: The Spartans looked ready to break their long losing skid then lost control in the fourth quarter when Iowas defense finally responded. Punting to Wetjen, one of the best returners in the nation, proved to be unwise, especially late in the game. Special teams hurt us, Smith said.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes were lifeless on offense until the fourth quarter. Gronowski didnt complete a pass until the second quarter and finished with 147 yards passing. Iowas defense also responded by shutting down the Spartans in the fourth quarter. We fought back and we were able to finish it, Gronowski said.

Up next

Michigan State: Hosts Maryland in Detroit on Saturday

Iowa: At Nebraska on Friday

By ADRIANA MORGA

NEW YORK (AP) — Maybe your car broke down, your computer was stolen, or you had a surprise visit to urgent care. Emergencies are inevitable, but you can prepare to deal with them by building an emergency fund.

“There are so many things that happen in our lives that we don’t expect and most of them require financial means to overcome,” said Miklos Ringbauer, a certified public accountant.

The industry standard is to save three to six months of expenses in an emergency fund. However, this can feel daunting if you live paycheck to paycheck or if you have debt. But if you’re in either of these situations, it’s even more crucial to build a financial safety net that can help you in times of crisis.

“Emergency funds allow you to prevent further debt,” said Jaime Eckels, certified financial planner and wealth management leader for Plante Moran Financial Advisors.

Suppose you’re paying multiple credit cards and other loans. In that case, Rachel Lawrence, head of advice and planning for Monarch Money, a financial planning and budgeting app, recommends that you make the minimum payments while you build your emergency fund. Once you’ve hit an amount that feels right for your lifestyle, you can go back and continue tackling your debt more aggressively.

Whether you want to start an emergency fund or create better habits while you save, here are some expert recommendations:

Start with small milestones

The idea of saving for three to six months’ worth of expenses can be daunting, so it’s best to start with a smaller milestone. Lawrence recommends starting with a goal of saving $1,000, then moving on to save one, three, and six months of expenses.

The way you approach this goal can vary depending on your income and your budget. But starting with small, attainable goals can help you build an emergency fund without feeling financially strained.

“Starting small is okay. Even if it’s $20 right out of your paycheck, those small things can add up,” Eckels said.

She recommends building your emergency fund in a separate account from your regular savings account, ideally a high-yield savings account, which offers a higher interest rate than a traditional savings account.

Decide on the appropriate amount for your life

Knowing how much to save for your emergency fund depends on your life situation. Lawrence suggests you gauge your own financial responsibilities to estimate how much your ideal emergency fund should be.

For single professionals with no significant financial responsibilities, such as a mortgage or a car, the amount might be $2,000 to $3,000. At the same time, people with children and several pets might aim to save for six months’ expenses.

“There’s no one-shoe-fits-all solution. Everybody is different, especially if you have variable expenses on a monthly basis,” Ringbauer said.

Lawrence recommends that self-employed people maintain two emergency funds: one to buffer low-income months and another for true emergencies. To build your buffer account, Lawrence recommends setting aside some money during high-earning months.

“You set that amount aside in your buffer account until you have two or three months of the amount that you want, she said. “Because that way any month where you have less money, you go pull from the buffer and it’s no big deal.”

Automate your savings

Eckels recommends setting up automatic savings as a low-effort way to build your emergency fund.

Scheduling your savings to be withdrawn from your bank account as soon as your paycheck arrives is an effective way to build a savings habit without having to transfer the money manually.

“I always tell people if it was never in your bank account, you never had it, right?” Eckels added.

She also recommends that her clients open a separate account, one that isn’t at the same bank as their checking account, so they aren’t tempted to transfer the money in a non-emergency.

Make it visual

As you’re making progress towards your emergency fund goal, making it visual can help you stay motivated, according to Lawrence.

She recommends getting creative with how you track your progress, ideally with a method that brings you joy.

“You want your brain to get rewarded as often as possible when you’re seeing a bunch of progress,” she said.

Some options to make your progress visual include drawing a thermometer-like tracker and keeping it updated as you advance toward your goal, documenting your progress on a habit-building tracker on your phone, or using a budgeting app with a tracking tool.

Save windfalls

If your budget is really tight and you don’t have much wiggle room to set aside money for an emergency fund, Lawrence recommends saving windfalls.

“Unexpected chunks of money that maybe you weren’t expecting, like tax refunds or getting a third paycheck when you normally get paid twice a month, or a bonus, those are your best ways to make progress when you’re tight otherwise,” said Lawrence.

In general, Lawrence recommends that people keep 10% of their windfall for themselves and the rest for their emergency fund. With that breakdown, you can both save and feel rewarded by the unexpected income.

If you use it, don’t feel guilty

Chances are that an emergency will happen, and when it does, you don’t need to feel guilty for using your emergency fund, Lawrence said. Instead, it’s best to think about how you’ve achieved your goal of building a financial safety net for yourself.

“You wouldn’t feel bad about using your down payment to buy a house, you wouldn’t feel bad about saving for retirement, actually to retire,” Lawrence said.

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigerias Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, bringing relief to some distraught families after one of the largest school abductions in Nigeria's history.

The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the school. A total of 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers are still held by the kidnappers, he said in a statement.

We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents, Yohanna said.

The pupils and students were seized together with their teachers by gunmen who attacked the St. Marys School, a Catholic institution in Niger states remote Papiri community, on Friday. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and authorities have said tactical squads have been deployed alongside local hunters to rescue the children.

It was not immediately clear where the Niger state children were being held or how they managed to return home. Nigerias military and police did not immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry.

As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims, the Yohanna said.

The Niger state attack happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi states Maga town, which is 106 miles away.

Both states are in a northern region of Nigeria where dozens of armed gangs have used kidnapping for ransom as one way of dominating remote communities with little government and security presence.

Satellite image shows that the Niger state school compound is attached to an adjoining primary school, with more than 50 classroom and dormitory buildings. Its located near a major road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa.

School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africas most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as strategic targets to draw more attention.

Niger state hurriedly closed down all schools after Fridays attack, while some federal colleges in conflict hotspots across the region were also closed by the Nigerian government.

Bryson Kuzdzal ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 18 Michigan to a 45-20 victory over Maryland on Saturday, a week before the Wolverines host top-ranked Ohio State.

Michigan (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten, No. 18 CFP) was without injured running backs Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall, but the Wolverines were still superior on the ground, and Michigan finished with its highest scoring output in conference play this season.

Proud of this team, Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore said. How they prepared and how they never looked forward the whole week. It's so easy to be able to do that with that game on the horizon.

Bryce Underwood defeated Malik Washington in a matchup of two impressive freshman quarterbacks. Maryland (4-7, 1-7) scored on the game's first drive but could not avoid a seventh straight loss. Underwood threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns for Michigan, while Washington passed for 210 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

With the score tied at 7 in the first quarter, Underwood's pass probably should have been intercepted by Lavain Scruggs, but the defensive back couldn't hold onto the ball. The Wolverines eventually took the lead on a 2-yard TD run by Kuzdzal. After an interception by Michigan's Mason Curtis gave the offense a short field, Underwood's 22-yard scoring pass to Donaven McCulley made it 21-7.

Kuzdzal added touchdown runs of 19 and 1 yards in the third quarter, and Jasper Parker scored on a 6-yarder in the fourth that made it 42-13.

We held their run pretty good until later in the third and into the fourth quarter, Maryland defensive back Jalen Huskey said. That's something we can build on.

Michigan will try for its fifth straight win over Ohio State next week. Underwood heads into that game on a high note, but the injuries in the backfield could be a significant concern. In addition to Haynes and Marshall, the Wolverines also have to worry about fullback Max Bredeson, who was on crutches on the sideline during the second half Saturday.

After Washington opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Dorian Fleming, Maryland tried a surprise onside kick, but Michigan recovered and quickly tied it on Underwood's 12-yard scoring toss to Andrew Marsh.

The takeaway

Michigan: The Wolverines avoided the mistakes that plagued them a week earlier, when they had five turnovers in a tight win over Northwestern. It hasn't always been pretty, but Michigan can now make a compelling playoff case if it can knock off the Buckeyes.

Maryland: The Terrapins will finish with a losing record for a second consecutive year. The future might be brighter thanks to Washington, but Maryland needs to improve its running game and its ability to defend the run.

Keeping drives going

Michigan converted its first seven third downs and finished 12 of 14. The Wolverines did not have a single punt their only scoreless drives were a missed field goal and the end of both halves.

Up next

Michigan: Hosts Ohio State on Saturday.

Maryland: Faces Michigan State in Detroit on Saturday.

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