SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No quarterback since Tony Rice has delivered the goods Notre Dame’s fanatical following has longed for since 1988 — a national championship.

Not Rick Mirer, not Kevin McDougal, not Ron Powlus, not Brady Quinn, not Tommy Rees, not Everett Golson, and not the winningest Irish starting quarterback of them all — Ian Book, who twice led coach Brian Kelly’s team to the College Football Playoff..

When No. 9 Notre Dame opens its season Sept. 5 at Florida State, Book’s successor — Jack Coan, a graduate transfer from Wisconsin — will be asked to end the drought.

“Going into our opener, (Coan) gives us the best chance for success,” said Kelly, who begins his 12th season four victories short of passing Knute Rockne’s 105 wins at the school.

The 22-year-old Coan, who beat out sophomore Drew Pyne and true freshman Tyler Buchner, is eager for his chance at Notre Dame, where he once was offered a lacrosse scholarship.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d end up here after going to Wisconsin,” said the 6-foot-3 1/4 , 223-pound former prep star from Sayville, New York.

In 2019 as a junior, Coan completed nearly 70% of his passes for 2,727 yards and 18 touchdowns against five interceptions during a 10-4 season for Paul Chryst’s Badgers that ended with competitive losses to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship and Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

Coan was expected to be the starting quarterback last season, but suffered a right foot injury in early October that required season-ending surgery. He transferred to Notre Dame in January.

“It’s just a dream come true,” Coan said. “It’s not something I’m going to take lightly.”

Rees, now Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, believes Coan won’t.

“He came here for a reason,” Rees said. “He’s put in the work; he’s done everything we’ve asked from him and more. But Jack keeps it pretty close to the chest. He’s a guy that’s very poised, very thoughtful in how he reacts. And he’s excited – he’s eager for his opportunity.”

His teammates are eager for Coan to lead them.

“You wouldn’t think Jack coming from Wisconsin would step in and be the leader he is,” said running back Kyren Williams, who rushed for 1,125 yards and 13 touchdowns and had 35 receptions for 313 yards. “I’m excited to go to work with him every day.”

UP FRONT

With four-fifths of last year’s starting offensive line now working in NFL camps, senior Jarrett Patterson returns as center after speculation had him possibly moving elsewhere. A preseason All-American, the 6-foot-4 1/2 , 307-pound Patterson missed the end of 2020 season and all of spring recovering from foot surgery and is being reacquainted with his teammates who include 6-foot-2 1/2 , 310-pound grad transfer guard Cain Madden.

OFFENSIVE WEAPONS

Williams will be spelled in the backfield by sophomore Chris Tyree, senior C’Bo Flemister, and true freshmen Audric Estime and Logan Diggs, who have been impressive. Sophomore Michael Mayer returns after a breakout year to head a deep tight end group.

The wideouts will be led by Avery Davis, seniors Joe Wilkins Jr. and Lawrence Keys III, impressive freshman Deion Colzie and two seniors returning from injury-plagued 2020 seasons – speedsters Braden Lenzy and Kevin Austin Jr.

DEFENSIVE DUDE

Despite the loss of several starters including Butkus Award winner and rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman has several players with plenty of experience. The best of them is the 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior free safety Kyle Hamilton, who missed the spring after ankle surgery following a 2020 season during which he led the team in tackles.

“I remember last season (cornerback coach Mike) Mickens (who played and coached at Cincinnati) called me and said ‘We’ve got dude. We’ve got a dude that’s special here,'” Freeman said. “The things (Hamilton) does makes him look effortless. We can use him in so many different ways.”

CAPTAINS GALORE

There are seven team captains, including defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. When Kelly made the announcement to his players, they were wearing leis to honor Tagovailoa-Amosa, who was in Hawaii for the funeral of his father and joined his teammates virtually.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to serve my brothers,” tweeted Tagovailoa-Amosa, who wiped away tears.

SCHEDULE

Notre Dame, which played an Atlantic Coast Conference schedule last season and ended up 10-2, returns to its treasured independent status. This year’s schedule features five ACC foes, including No. 10 North Carolina (Oct. 30). There is also a game against Coan’s old team, No. 12 Wisconsin, at Soldier Field (Sept. 25), a home game Oct. 2 against Freeman’s old team, No. 8 Cincinnati, and a visit to Virginia Tech (Oct. 9). Longtime rival No. 15 Southern California visits on Oct. 23.

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LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska announced Wednesday that the NCAA is looking into its football program after a report said Cornhuskers staff improperly used analysts and consultants with the knowledge of coach Scott Frost and even moved workouts off campus last year when such activities were banned during the pandemic.

“The University of Nebraska Athletic Department has been working collaboratively with the NCAA to review a matter concerning our football program,” athletic director Trev Alberts said in a prepared statement. “We appreciate the dialogue we have had with the NCAA and cannot comment further on specifics of this matter.”

Citing unidentified sources, The Action Network report said Nebraska has “significant video footage” confirming practice violations occurred in the presence of Frost and other assistants.

The NCAA has interviewed Frost, current and former staff members, administrators and football players, and Frost has hired an attorney. The alleged violations occurred in the last 12 months.

The report comes less than two weeks before the Huskers open Frost’s fourth season with a game at Illinois. Frost, who quarterbacked the Huskers to the 1997 national championship, returned to his alma mater after being named national coach of the year for leading Central Florida to a 13-0 record in 2017.

Frost has struggled at Nebraska, going 12-20 in his first three years and never finishing higher than fifth in the Big Ten West. The program has had four straight losing seasons, its most in a row since the late 1950s.

Frost is under contract through 2026, and his current buyout is $20 million.

The NCAA investigation includes Nebraska’s impermissible use of experts running special teams drills, according to The Action Network. Analysts are not among the 10 full-time on-field assistants and are not allowed to speak with players.

A year ago, the NCAA disallowed organized workouts because of the pandemic. According to the report, Nebraska allegedly relocated its strength workouts to an undisclosed off-campus location to avoid detection at the direction of Nebraska’s strength and conditioning staff.

Frost and former Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos had been vocal in wanting to play in 2020 after the Big Ten initially canceled its season. The Big Ten reversed course and set up an eight-game conference-only schedule starting in late October.

The special teams analyst, Jonathan Rutledge, was fired in January. Moos unexpectedly announced his retirement in June. Gerrod Lambrecht, Frost’s chief of staff, resigned two weeks ago.

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NEW YORK — R&B star R. Kelly is a predator who lured girls, boys and young women with his fame and dominated them physically, sexually and psychologically, a prosecutor said Wednesday, while a defense lawyer warned jurors they’ll have to sift through lies from accusers with agendas to find the truth.

The differing perspectives came as the long-anticipated trial began unfolding in a Brooklyn courtroom where several accusers were expected to testify in the next month about the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer whose career has been derailed by charges that have left him jailed as he goes broke.

“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez told the Brooklyn jury as she explained the evidence to be revealed at his federal trial. “This case is about a predator.”

She said he distributed backstage passes to entice children and women to join him, sometimes at his home or studio, where he then “dominated and controlled them physically, sexually and psychologically.”

The prosecutor said Kelly would often record sex acts with minors as he controlled a racketeering enterprise of individuals who were loyal and devoted to him, eager to “fulfill each and everyone one of the defendant’s wishes and demands.”

“What his success and popularity brought him was access, access to girls, boys and young women,” she said.

But Kelly’s attorney, Nicole Blank Becker, portrayed her client as a victim of women, some of whom enjoyed the “notoriety of being able to tell their friends that they were with a superstar.”

“He didn’t recruit them. They were fans. They came to Mr. Kelly,” she said, urging jurors to closely scrutinize the testimony. “They knew exactly what they were getting into. It was no secret Mr. Kelly had multiple girlfriends. He was quite transparent.”

It would be a stretch to believe he orchestrated an elaborate criminal enterprise, like a mob boss, the lawyer said.

Becker warned jurors they’ll have to sort through “a mess of lies” from women with an agenda.

“Don’t assume everybody’s telling the truth,” she said.

Defense lawyers have maintained in court papers prior to the trial that Kelly’s alleged victims were groupies who turned up at his shows and made it known they “were dying to be with him.” The women only started accusing him of abuse years later when public sentiment shifted against him, they said.

Kelly, 54, is perhaps best known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly,” a 1996 song that became an inspirational anthem played at school graduations, weddings, advertisements and elsewhere.

The openings came more than a decade after Kelly was acquitted in a 2008 child pornography case in Chicago. It was a reprieve that allowed his music career to continue until the #MeToo era caught up with him, emboldening alleged victims to come forward.

The women’s stories got wide exposure with the Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.” The series explored how an entourage of supporters protected Kelly and silenced his victims for decades, foreshadowing the federal racketeering conspiracy case that landed Kelly in jail in 2019.

Prosecutors in Brooklyn have lined up multiple female accusers — mostly referred to in court as “Jane Does” — and cooperating former associates who have never spoken publicly before about their experiences with Kelly.

They’re expected to offer testimony about how Kelly’s managers, bodyguards and other employees helped him recruit women and girls — and sometimes boys — for sexual exploitation. They say the group selected victims at concerts and other venues and arranged for them to travel to see Kelly in the New York City area and elsewhere, in violation of the Mann Act, the 1910 law that made it illegal to “transport any woman or girl” across state lines “for any immoral purpose.”

When the women and girls arrived at their lodgings, a member of Kelly’s entourage would set down rules about not speaking to each other, how they should dress and how they needed permission from Kelly before eating or going to the bathroom, prosecutors say. Also, they allegedly were required to call him “Daddy.”

An anonymous jury made up of seven men and five women was sworn in to hear the case. The trial, coming after several delays due mostly to the pandemic, unfolds under coronavirus precautions restricting the press and the public to overflow courtrooms with video feeds.

The New York case is only part of the legal peril facing the singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly. He also has pleaded not guilty to sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota.

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You might have already seen the video below. @BarstoolChicago relinked this video of a guy that buried a bottle of Tito’s in Grant Park, three weeks before Lolla and dug it up.

Do you really have to respect it, though?

This guy buried a bottle of Tito’s in Grant Park 3 weeks ago and dug it up during Lolla. Have to respect it pic.twitter.com/yd6T1Q2nnb

— Barstool Chicago (@barstoolchicago) August 1, 2021

One reason I do not respect this video is due to the fact it’s merely a bottle of Tito’s. Sure, Tito’s is an absolutely great bang for your buck. Quality vodka at a non-ridiculous price. But if you’re going to bury booze, how about a 4.5 liter of Grey Goose? Now that would be special.

The real reason I am not impressed is that people have impressed me more. More specifically, at Rebelution’s 2014 Lollapalooza set. You can watch a video sample below, but honestly this was one of the most righteous times I’ve ever had.

During the middle of the set—and my ex-girlfriend, aunt & uncle, brother, and friends I was with can all attest to this—some kid started holding a full-sized weed plant above his head. Not like a fake plant, or something he ripped off the mother plant. This was the mother plant, in a pot that I would imagine anybody under 100lbs wouldn’t be able to pick up on their own.

Although awesome, I was dumbfounded. HOW did he get that in there? Did he bring that in just for the Rebelution show? How did he carry it around all day?

These questions went unanswered for years. Then, I saw the video that Barstool posted. Which, by the way, was not exclusive to Lollapalooza 2021. Except now, the dots have been connected. The Lolla ’14 weed pot mystery had been solved.

How did that kid get a garden-sized pot, with a 5-foot (at-the-time) illegal pot plant, through Lollapalooza security? He didn’t….he planted it in the park weeks before.

I wouldn’t say this mystery has been fully solved, but we’re getting there. If you or somebody you know has any information on this crucial, developing story…please email me.

Featured Image Credit: WGNTV

For additional Lollapalooza coverage and interviews with up-and-coming acts, check out all of our coverage here.

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LINCOLN, Neb. — The NCAA is investigating Nebraska coach Scott Frost and his program for several suspected violations, including analysts working in improper roles during games and practices and unauthorized off-campus workouts, according to a report by The Action Network.

Citing unidentified sources, the report said Nebraska has “significant video footage” confirming practice violations occurred in the presence of Frost and other assistants.

The NCAA has interviewed Frost, current and former staff members, administrators and football players, and Frost has hired an attorney. The alleged violations occurred in the last 12 months.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts said he would “comment soon.” Alberts was hired as athletic director in July after Bill Moos unexpectedly announced his retirement.

The report comes less than two weeks before the Cornhuskers open Frost’s fourth season with a game at Illinois. Frost, who quarterbacked the Huskers to the 1997 national championship, returned to his alma mater after being named national coach of the year for leading Central Florida to a 13-0 record in 2017.

Frost has struggled at Nebraska, going 12-20 in his first three years and never finishing higher than fifth in the Big Ten West. The program has had four straight losing seasons, its most in a row since the late 1950s.

Frost is under contract through 2026, and his current buyout is $20 million.

The NCAA investigation includes Nebraska’s impermissible use of analysts and consultants running special teams drills, according to The Action Network. Analysts are not among the 10 full-time on-field assistants and are not allowed to speak with players.

A year ago, the NCAA disallowed organized workouts because of the pandemic. According to the report, Nebraska allegedly relocated its strength workouts to an undisclosed off-campus location to avoid detection at the direction of NU’s strength and conditioning staff.

The special teams analyst, Jonathan Rutledge, was fired in January. Gerrod Lambrecht, Frost’s chief of staff, resigned two weeks ago.

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NEW YORK — A prosecutor described sex abuse claims against R&B star R. Kelly Wednesday, saying the long-anticipated trial now underway was “about a predator” who used his fame to entice girls, boys and young women before dominating and controlling them physically, sexually and psychologically.

“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez told the Brooklyn jury as she explained the evidence to be revealed at his federal trial.

“This case is about a predator,” she said.

She said he invited children and women to join him after shows by distributing backstage passes.

Once he had them alone, Melendez said, he “dominated and controlled them physically, sexually and psychologically.”

The prosecutor said Kelly would often record sex acts with minors as he controlled a racketeering enterprise of individuals who were loyal and devoted to him, eager to “fulfill each and everyone one of the defendant’s wishes and demands.”

“What his success and popularity brought him was access, access to girls, boys and young women,” she said.

A lawyer for Kelly was expected to deliver an opening statement after Melendez completed hers.

The openings came more than a decade after Kelly was acquitted in a 2008 child pornography case in Chicago. It was a reprieve that allowed his music career to continue until the #MeToo era caught up with him, emboldening alleged victims to come forward.

The women’s stories got wide exposure with the Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.” The series explored how an entourage of supporters protected Kelly and silenced his victims for decades, foreshadowing a federal racketeering conspiracy case that landed in Kelly in jail in 2019.

Prosecutors in Brooklyn have lined up multiple female accusers — mostly referred to in court as “Jane Does” — and cooperating former associates who have never spoken publicly before about their experiences with Kelly.

They’re expected to offer testimony about how Kelly’s managers, bodyguards and other employees helped him recruit women and girls — and sometimes boys — for sexual exploitation. They say the group selected victims at concerts and other venues and arranged for them to travel to see Kelly in the New York City area and elsewhere, in violation of the Mann Act, the 1910 law that made it illegal to “transport any woman or girl” across state lines “for any immoral purpose.”

When the women and girls arrived at their lodgings, a member of Kelly’s entourage would set down rules about not speaking to each other, how they should dress and how they needed permission from Kelly before eating or going to the bathroom, prosecutors say. Also, they allegedly were required to call him “Daddy.”

Defense lawyers have countered by saying Kelly’s alleged victims were groupies who turned up at his shows and made it known they “were dying to be with him.” The women only started accusing him of abuse years later when public sentiment shifted against him, they said.

Kelly, 54, is perhaps best known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly,” a 1996 song that became an inspirational anthem played at school graduations, weddings, advertisements and elsewhere.

An anonymous jury made up of seven men and five women was sworn in to hear the case. The trial, coming after several delays due mostly to the pandemic, unfolds under coronavirus precautions restricting the press and the public to overflow courtrooms with video feeds.

The New York case is only part of the legal peril facing the singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly. He also has pleaded not guilty to sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota.

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KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban violently broke up a protest in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least one person as they quashed a rare public show of dissent. The militant group meanwhile met with former officials from the toppled Western-backed government.

As officials work to shape a future government, the United Arab Emirates acknowledged that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the Taliban advance, and his family were in that country.

The Taliban’s every action in their sudden sweep to power is being watched closely. They insist they have changed and won’t impose the same draconian restrictions they did when they last ruled Afghanistan, all but eliminating women’s rights, carrying out public executions and harboring al-Qaida in the years before the 9/11 attacks.

But many Afghans remain deeply skeptical, and the violent response to Wednesday’s protest could only fuel their fears. Thousands are racing to the airport and borders to flee the country. Many others are hiding inside their homes, fearful after prisons and armories were emptied during the insurgents’ blitz across the country.

Dozens of people gathered in the eastern city of Jalalabad to raise the national flag a day before Afghanistan’s Independence Day, which commemorates the end of British rule in 1919. They lowered the Taliban flag — a white banner with an Islamic inscription — that the militants have raised in the areas they captured.

Video footage later showed the Taliban firing into the air and attacking people with batons to disperse the crowd. Babrak Amirzada, a reporter for a local news agency, said he and a TV cameraman from another agency were beaten by the Taliban as they tried to cover the unrest.

A local health official said at least one person was killed and six wounded. The official was not authorized to speak to media and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, videos from the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, a stronghold of the Northern Alliance militias that allied with the U.S. against the Taliban in 2001, appear to show potential opposition figures gathering there. It’s in the only province that hasn’t yet fallen to the Taliban.

Those figures include members of the deposed government — Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who asserted on Twitter that he is the country’s rightful president and Defense Minister Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi — as well as Ahmad Massoud, the son of the slain Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. It’s unclear if they intend to challenge to the Taliban, who seized most of the country in a matter of days last week.

The Taliban, meanwhile, pressed ahead with their efforts to form an “inclusive, Islamic government.” They have been holding talks with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official in the ousted government. Mohammad Yusof Saha, a spokesman for Karzai, said preliminary meetings with Taliban officials would facilitate eventual negotiations with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the top Taliban political leader, who returned to the country this week.

Karzai and Abdullah met Wednesday with Anas Haqqani, a senior leader in a powerful Taliban faction. The U.S. branded the Haqqani network a terrorist group in 2012, and its involvement in a future government could trigger international sanctions.

Meanwhile, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged in a one-sentence statement that Ghani and his family were in the country for “humanitarian considerations.” The president fled the Taliban advance on Sunday and disappeared amid widespread anger from Afghans over the collapse of the country’s security forces.

The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was unclear if he’d received any other assistance. The UAE is a close U.S. ally.

Amid the uncertainty, thousands of Afghans have tried to flee the country in recent days, and the U.S. and its allies have struggled to manage a chaotic withdrawal from the country.

Hundreds of people were outside the airport early Wednesday. The Taliban demanded to see documents before allowing the rare passenger inside. Many of the people outside did not appear to have passports, and each time the gate opened even an inch, dozens tried to push through. The Taliban fired occasional warning shots to disperse them.

In Kabul, groups of Taliban fighters carrying long guns patrolled a well-to-do neighborhood that is home to many embassies as well as mansions of the Afghan elite.

The Taliban have promised to maintain security, but residents say groups of armed men have been going door to door inquiring about Afghans who worked with the Americans or the deposed government. It’s unclear if the gunmen are Taliban or criminals posing as militants.

Another Taliban promise being closely watched is their vow to prevent Afghanistan from again being used as a base for planning terrorist attacks. That was enshrined in a 2020 peace deal with the Trump administration that paved the way for the drawdown of American troops, the last of whom are supposed to leave at the end of the month.

When the Taliban were last in power they sheltered Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida group, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. U.S. officials fear al-Qaida and other groups could reconstitute themselves in Afghanistan now that the Taliban are back in power.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban blew up a statue depicting Abdul Ali Mazari, a militia leader killed by the Taliban in 1996, when the Islamic militants seized power from rival warlords. Mazari was a champion of Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazara minority, Shiites who were persecuted under the Sunni Taliban’s earlier rule. That further raised concerns about whether they would make good on their promises, including not seeking revenge on those who have opposed them.

In a sign of the difficulties any future Afghan government will face, the head of Afghanistan’s Central Bank said the country’s supply of physical U.S. dollars is “close to zero.” Afghanistan has some $9 billion in reserves, Ajmal Ahmady tweeted, but most is held outside the country, with some $7 billion held in U.S. Federal Reserve bonds, assets and gold.

Ahmady said the country did not receive a planned cash shipment amid the Taliban offensive.

“The next shipment never arrived,” he wrote. “Seems like our partners had good intelligence as to what was going to happen.”

He said the lack of U.S. dollars will likely lead to a depreciation of the local currency, the afghani, hurting the country’s poor. Afghans have been lining up outside ATM machines for days, with many pulling out their life savings.

Ahmady said the Taliban will struggle to access the country’s reserves because of international sanctions.

The “Taliban won militarily — but now have to govern,” he wrote. “It is not easy.”

___

Faiez reported from Istanbul, Gannon from Guelph, Canada, and Krauss from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Sylvia Hui in London and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

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The Donut Experiment is coming to Lombard! If you’re not familiar with what this is, then you’re in for a real treat. You know us, we’re always looking for the best sweet treats around the Chicagoland area. That’s why we’re so damn excited for this one. The Donut Experiment began life in 2012 as Anna Maria Donuts in Anna Maria, FL. The original mad scientists are the husband-and-wife team of Shawn and Cecilia Wampole. Hailing from the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, the couple was surprised to find that there was not a donut shop on Anna Maria Island when they vacationed there. What originally started out as a joke about opening a donut shop, eventually led to, after some number crunching and careful planning, the couple quitting their jobs, selling their house, and moving to Florida.

Shawn and Cecilia always liked boutique-style donut shops and wanted their shop to be more of an experience. So they decided to create a shop where the donuts were made right in front of the customers, and the customers were able to decide what THEY wanted on THEIR donuts. Following in the wake of their local success, Shawn and Cecilia have decided to try and bring their concept to a larger audience. Hence, The Donut Experiment was born.

The Donut Experiment is currently being enjoyed in Anna Maria, FL, St. Augustine, FL, St.Charles, MO, and Alvaton, KY. But, they are to expand into Lombard very soon! Unfortunately there is no opening date soon, but we will keep you updated. And if you’re still not sure what this is? I will break it down. 

You choose your donut flavor, you choose your icing, you choose your topping, and you choose your drizzle. That’s it! Unlike Dunkin’ or the other chain donut shops, you have full control over what kind of donut you want! And if you’re not sure what to pick, they can give you a selection of their most popular combinations. They also feature their ‘Special Donuts.’ These are Key Lime, Sriracha, and Daily Special. The Key Lime Donut features Vanilla Icing, Graham Cracker, and their homemade Key Lime Drizzle. The Sriracha Donut features Peanut Butter, Peanuts, and a Sriracha Drizzle. Their Daily Specials change, so reach out to your location to find out what they are serving! 

You can view they’re menu process here! 

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