INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward stood one podium apart Friday, each making his case to be the first quarterback selected in this year’s NFL draft at the same moment.

They couldn’t have taken more different approaches.

Sanders arrived in a sparkly necklace and spoke with the same brash confidence that defined the career of his longtime coach and Hall of Fame father, Deion Sanders. Ward delivered a blue-collar message, describing his six-year journey from overlooked Texas prep player to Heisman Trophy finalist and now, perhaps, to being the first pick in April.

And yet, these two college stars managed to cast aside the playful, public verbal barbs to show a mutual respect on one of the most crucial stages in football.

“We’ll both end up being one of the best quarterbacks in the league,” Ward said. “We play around, we joke around with it (who will be first), but it really doesn’t mean nothing. At the end of the day, you’ve got to show you can improve each and every Sunday. You can’t just do it one year. You’ve got to do it each and every time you step on the field.”

League scouts will have to wait until the players’ college pro days to get an actual glimpse of this year’s top two quarterbacks because Ward and Sanders reiterated they would not work out Saturday with the quarterbacks, running backs and receivers in Indianapolis.

Instead, these two added their names to a long list of top prospects opting to wait to show their stuff on familiar turf while throwing to college teammates. The list includes Caleb Williams, Bryce Young and Joe Burrow, all quarterbacks who were chosen No. 1 overall.

There’s no telling yet if Ward or Sanders will be next, but each has plenty of tape for scouts to pore through since both started 50 or more games while playing at multiple colleges.

Sanders and his father used their flashy style to help revive programs at Jackson State in Mississippi before repeating the feat at Colorado. Ward threw an NCAA record 158 TD passes as he ascended from FCS star at Incarnate Word in Texas to became Washington State’s starter before nearly leading Miami to the CFP playoffs.

This week, though, Sanders and Ward seem virtually inseparable as they stroll through the Indianapolis Convention Center hallways, part of the same quarterback group as they ponder their futures and how to sell themselves to coaches and general managers.

“If you ain’t trying to change the franchise then don’t get me,” Sanders said. “You should know history repeats itself over and over and over, and I’ve done it over and over and over, so there should be no question why an NFL franchise should pick me.”

While there’s little debate over their productivity or penchant for winning, there are plenty of questions to answer.

At 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Sanders possesses good size, a solid arm, mobility in the pocket and the kind of strong personality needed from a locker room leader. Still, he must show the throws he made into tight windows in college will not become interceptions in the NFL and he needs to eliminate his propensity for taking sacks. Others wonder if his father’s influence might become a problem.

Sanders shrugged off any such doubts.

“You think I’m worried about what critics say or what people got to say? You know who my dad is? They hated on him, too,” Shedeur Sanders said. “So it’s almost normal. Without people hating, it’s not normal for us. We like the adversity. We like everything that comes with the name. That’s why we are who we are.”

Ward is slightly bigger at 6-2, 223 pounds, has a stronger arm, a quicker release and throws with more velocity. But he can struggle with accuracy and his ability to read coverages.

And while he’s more reserved as a public speaker than Sanders, those who have played with Ward insist he has a different personality in the locker room.

“Everybody sees what he does on the field, his confidence and everything, but the biggest thing I would say is the type of leader he is,” former Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo said Thursday. “He’s not afraid to hold people accountable. He wants to win, and he holds the team to a certain standard and he doesn’t care how he’s going to get his point across.

But with no clear-cut favorite entering or leaving combine week, the debate over who’s better will only continue to rage as they hold campus workouts and fly around the country for team interviews.

They just believe one thing: Both will be successful, wherever they land.

“I just think the work me and him are willing to put in, the relationship we have to constantly compete each and every day to better our craft and ourselves,” Ward said, “I just think it’s going to end up paying off for us in the long run.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

 The Bulls learned the course they will chart in the 2025 South Florida Football Season presented by Tampa General Hospital, its third under Head Coach Alex Golesh, on Friday when the American Athletic Conference released the 2025 schedules for member schools.

The Bulls are slated to play four weeknights on the year in showcase games, including three in Raymond James Stadium. Kickoff times and television arrangements will be announced at a later date.

The Bulls already knew they would face possibly the toughest non-conference schedule in program history with three games slated against teams in The Athletics’ “Way to Early Top 25”, including No. 11 Florida, No. 15 Miami and No. 21 Boise State. The Bulls have never faced three Associated Press Poll-ranked teams in the non-conference slate. USF has only faced two twice, doing so last year in taking on No. 4 Alabama and No. 8 Miami and in 2022. If preseason rankings hold, it could mark the sixth straight season the Bulls have faced at least one ranked opponent in the non-conference slate and 17 of the last 20.

The gauntlet will get off to a rousing start. It was announced that the Bulls will face Boise State on Thurs., Aug. 28, in Raymond James Stadium in a showcase game to kick off Week 1. It will be the first-ever meeting with the Broncos, who went 12-2 last year, won the Mountain West Championship, and earned a spot in the first 12-team College Football Playoff.

The Bulls’ other non-conference games were previously announced. USF will travel to play at Florida on Sat., Sept. 6, and at Miami on Sat., Sept. 13, before returning to Tampa to face South Carolina State on Sat., Sept. 20, in Raymond James Stadium.

The Bulls get the first of two open weeks on the season before beginning American Athletic Conference play with back-to-back Friday night, showcase games. USF will open play in The American vs. Charlotte on Fri., Oct. 3 in Raymond James Stadium. The Bulls downed the 49ers 59-24 last year in Charlotte to move to 2-0 in the series.

USF’s first conference road game will be another Friday night kick at North Texas on Fri., Oct. 10. It will be the first meeting between the programs since 2002, with USF owning a 2-0 series lead.

The Bulls will return to Raymond James Stadium for a Homecoming clash vs. FAU on Sat., Oct. 18. The Bulls won 44-21 in Boca Raton, Fla. last year to take a 4-2 series lead.

USF will play at Memphis on Sat. Oct. 25 as the Bulls look to end a four-game losing skid to the Tigers who claimed a 21-3 victory in Orlando last year in a game moved due to Hurricane Milton. Memphis leads the series 9-4.

The Bulls will get their second open week before returning to Tampa to face UTSA on Thurs., Nov. 6 in their third weeknight, showcase game in Raymond James Stadium of the year. The Roadrunners won the only previous meeting in San Antonio, Texas in 2023, 49-21.

USF will close the conference slate with two road games and one home match-up. The Bulls travel to Annapolis, Md. to take on Navy on Sat., Nov. 15, and Birmingham, Ala. to face UAB on Sat., Nov. 22. USF fell to Navy, 28-7, and downed UAB, 35-25, both in Raymond James Stadium last year. Navy leads the series 3-2, while the UAB series is tied 2-2.

The Bulls complete the regular season with a Senior Day home date vs. Rice on Sat., Nov. 29. The Bulls fell to the Owls, 35-28, last year in Houston tying the series at 1-1.

Each of the 14 teams in The American will play eight conference games in 2025. The top two teams in the final single-division regular-season standings will meet in the American Athletic Conference Football Championship, which will be played either Fri., Dec. 5, or Sat., Dec. 6.

Up Next:

The Bulls open spring practice on March 25 with the annual USF Pro Day following on March 26. The USF Spring Game is set for April 26 at Corbett Stadium on the USF campus.

Tickets:

Deposits for new 2025 USF football season tickets are being accepted now and may be placed by calling 1-800-GoBulls or visiting this LINK.

Follow us:

To stay up-to-date on the latest USF Football news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).

Paul Kelly

INDYCAR Staff Writer

One of the big questions for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES field entering the 2025 season was how to halt the title march of three-time and two-time defending series champion Alex Palou.

They’re still searching for that answer, even after the first race of the season Sunday on the sunny streets of St. Petersburg.

SEE: Race Results

Palou opened his quest for a third consecutive Astor Challenge Cup as series champion in the best way possible, winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding in a master class of strategy, speed and patience. He drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 2.8669-second victory over teammate and six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who said afterward he contested the last 90 laps of the 100-lap race without radio communication in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“What an amazing job by everybody,” Palou said. “They gave me everything we needed this weekend to win. I told you yesterday we had a really, really fast car.

“Our strategy changed a lot during that first yellow, but I’m so glad we got that No. 10 in Victory Lane. It’s been 138 days since Nashville (2024 season finale), and I’ve been dreaming about this every single night.”

Spaniard Palou, who started eighth, earned his 12th career victory in the series. The Ganassi team secured its first 1-2 finish since July 2023 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden rounded out the podium finishers in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet after Dixon passed him for second on the final lap.

NTT P1 Award winner Scott McLaughlin finished fourth in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet, as Team Penske joined Chip Ganassi Racing with two drivers in the top four. McLaughlin was one of seven drivers out front today, leading a race-high 40 laps.

Florida native and resident Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top five finishers at his home race in the No. 27 Chili’s Honda fielded by Andretti Global.

Palou took the lead for good on Lap 75 when Felix Rosenqvist made his final pit stop in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing. It was the culmination of a race of split strategies, as drivers who started on the grippier, less durable Firestone Firehawk alternate tires – including Palou, Dixon and Newgarden – jumped into the pits on Lap 3 during the only caution period to shed the alternates for Firestone primary tires.

That proved decisive, yet Palou didn’t just inherit the lead at the race’s three-quarter mark and cruise to Victory Lane. He produced blazing in and out laps surrounding his final pit stop at the end of Lap 72, undercutting his teammate Dixon, who couldn’t discuss strategy with his team and reacted to Palou’s pit move by stopping one lap later after being slowed by thick traffic.

After his final stop, Dixon exited the pits behind a charging Palou.

“We were just kind of flying blind out there,” Dixon said of his radio problems. “Ultimately, I think they were trying to call me in because on that last lap we had before we pitted, there was just so much traffic, and we lost two or three seconds. That’s where the 10 car got us.”

Said Palou: “I think he (Dixon) got trapped in traffic a little bit. That’s why the 10 stand decided to pit a little bit early. We had a really clean out lap, could run fast and just opened a gap from there.”

Palou was 4.502 seconds ahead of Newgarden on Lap 75, but that gap didn’t last. Newgarden sliced that margin to 2.4 seconds by Lap 88 as Palou coped with turbulent air from the car ahead of him, the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Sting Ray Robb, who was racing to stay on the lead lap.

Newgarden took advantage and continued to stalk Palou, pulling to within .8186 of a second after Lap 95. Dixon also was gaining ground in third.

But a potential logjam of three cars battling for the checkered flag was scattered when Palou finally lapped Robb in Turn 1 on Lap 96. Newgarden and Dixon squirted past Robb on the same lap, but the traffic-free clean air allowed Palou to pull away immediately.

Palou expanded his gap to 1.1959 seconds after Lap 97 and 1.6938 seconds at the white flag at the end of Lap 99. His lead grew even more during the final trip around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street circuit as Dixon and Newgarden dueled for second. Dixon got past fellow Indianapolis 500 winner and series champion Newgarden in Turn 10 on the final lap.

“I felt like our car today certainly was capable of winning,” Newgarden said. “Just didn’t quite get there for a couple of reasons. Pit cycles, obviously, we needed to go longer, and we had a shift at the end that we didn’t realize, so we kind of had to give up that second place.”

2024 St. Petersburg winner Pato O’Ward used a mix of strategy and speed to climb from the 23rd starting spot to finish 11th in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. That was the biggest climb from start to finish by any of the 27 drivers in the field.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix on Sunday, March 23 at Thermal, California (3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).