mption, validation and history. If he does the same on S

PITTSBURGH -- There was a time when Ejuan Price wondered if his college career would ever end.Now that its fast approaching after six seasons, three different head coaches, a position change, one college degree earned and another on the way, the Pittsburgh defensive end almost doesnt want to cross the finish line.Almost.I look at it like, a lot of unfortunate things that happened to me were kind of like a blessing in disguise, Price said. I feel me being here right now is where Im supposed to be.Thats understandable. The Panthers are competitive, his NFL draft stock is rising and the 23-year-old is seventh in the country in tackles for loss and 12th in sacks.But he isnt the only late bloomer making an impact across the Atlantic Coast Conference.Well-traveled Syracuse wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo has turned out to be a perfect fit in head coach Dino Babers uptempo offense. The Maryland graduate transfer leads the ACC and ranks in the top 10 nationally in receiving yards (1,246), receiving yards per game (124.6) and receptions per game (7.9). Hes also second in the league with eight TD receptions and his 79 catches are tied for fifth in the country and he most among Power 5 receivers.Amba has been outstanding, Babers said. Hes been a pleasant surprise. Obviously, we had no idea hed be able to do the things that hes done.North Carolina senior receiver Bug Howard is suddenly in a much larger role since top deep threat Mack Hollins was lost for the season with a broken collarbone. Howard has had some good moments as part of four-receiver sets in 2015 and caught the winning touchdown with 2 seconds left to cap a wild comeback win against Price and Pitt in September.Howard -- now wearing Hollins No. 13 in his teammates honor -- was just getting started. He had 10 catches for 156 yards at Miami in the game Hollins was injured, had seven catches for 109 yards with a score against Virginia then had six catches for 120 yards and another TD against Georgia Tech. His streak of 100-yard receiving games ended at three in last weeks loss at Duke, though he still had a TD catch there, too.The 6-foot-5 target whose pet peeve is being mistaken for a player on the Tar Heel basketball team is finally living up to his massive potential. He already has a career-best 45 receptions with at least three games left to play. The NFL isnt out of reach either. The way Howard boxed out Pitts Ryan Lewis for the clinching score on Sept. 24 showcased the kind of ball skills that would translate well at the next level.Its a destination that might be in reach for Price too, one he doubted would materialize at times during his star-crossed career at Pitt. Hes been around so long he originally signed at Ohio State when Jim Tressel was the Buckeyes coach before flipping to the hometown Panthers when Tressel stepped down that spring.Price is one of the emotional leaders for the surprising Panthers (6-4, 3-3 ACC) heading into their game against Duke on Saturday.Price made an immediate splash with the Panthers, collecting four sacks as a true freshman for Todd Graham in 2011. Then Graham left and a pectoral injury in 2012 forced Price to take a medical redshirt. New coach Paul Chryst moved Price to defensive end in 2013, intrigued by the explosiveness in Prices 6-foot, 255-pound frame. The experiment lasted all of six games before a back issue shelved Price yet again and he didnt play a snap in 2014 after tearing a left pectoral muscle during the offseason that required surgery.He tried to keep his spirits up during the long layoff, it wasnt easy when he was unsure about the payoff at the end.Its easy to be motivated for a couple days, Price said. But do it over and over and over and over, youve got to find a reason to stick with it.So the player teammate Brian ONeill likened to a Steady Eddie because of his relentlessness learned to train his mind as well as his body. Price knew he could be a force if he stuck with it. The reprieve came last fall. Finally healthy and emboldened by new coach Pat Narduzzi -- the programs third coach in four years -- to get to the quarterback, Price picked up 11.5 sacks while earning first-team All-ACC honors even though he hardly fits the mold of prototypical defensive end.He can bull rush you, ONeill said. Hes so low. You see how low he can get, how he gets leverage. Thats how he uses his height to his advantage.In February the NCAA granted Price a rare sixth year of eligibility. He picked up his degree in communications last spring and is currently working on one in administration of justice, fitting for a player whose long journey appears headed for a happy ending.All the blemishes in my past that got kind of looked down upon, Price said, Im thanking god for putting me in that position.---AP Sports Writers John Kekis in Syracuse, New York and Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina contributed to this report.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org Brent Suter Jersey . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. Yasmani Grandal Jersey . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. 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Now, finally, it is time for Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano to get on with the business of one of those four actually winning that championship.Exactly what that title will mean depends on which one of the four Cup hopefuls youre speaking of -- a spectrum of outcomes that ranges from redemption to validation to history, both the rewriting of the record book and the next step toward possibly rewriting it again years down the road.Weve all known each other for a long time now, Carl Edwards explained Thursday during the foursomes final formal media obligation before getting to Homestead-Miami Speedway for Sundays 400-mile season finale. Our stories are similar because were all racers, but really they are completely different. Were from different places. Weve had really different NASCAR careers. So, we all want to win the championship, but for each of us it might mean something a little different.For Edwards, its the redemption. In 2011 at this track in this event, he missed out on a Sprint Cup title in a manner befitting the victim of a Hitchcock film. He finished a nine-month season by leading the most laps and finishing second in a race twisted by rain, tying Tony Stewart in the point standings but losing the title via a tiebreaker of wins. The onetime wunderkind, now 37, is arguably the best current driver not to win a championship, with 28 Cup wins and a pair of runner-up championship finishes.But, if NASCAR brass is being honest, an Edwards title, while surely overwhelmingly well-received in the garage, wont provide the kind electricity the sanctioning body seeks heading into a crucial offseason.Sorry, Cuz, but thats the truth.If Edwards was once viewed as a wunderkind, then Loganos earmarking was more along the lines of savior. The Sliced Bread title bolted to him as a preteen short tracker served its purpose of providing the spotlight that moved him up the racing ladder in a hurry. He was in a Cup ride at 18 -- the first driver born in the 1990s to hold a steering wheel in NASCARs top division. But when the wins didnt come quickly enough, that spotlight turned into a heat lamp and he nearly withered. At 22, he was labeled by many as washed up.A Cup title would finally fulfill the Sliced Bread promise, the at-long-last christening of the now 26-year-old king of the suddenly large Cup contingent of 20-somethings. And though he politely deflects talk of validation bordering on revenge, the mention of it does spark a smile.I dont really think about that, he said. But I do know who has stuck with me through thick or thin and I know they will be sticking with me Sunday night whether we win the championship or not.NASCAR no doubt will stick by Logano, too. But again, apologies to the kid, because he isnt the driver the suits are likely rooting for.No, to generate headlinnes here in the depths of the football season, the fine folks in Daytona and Charlotte no doubt have their eyes on the No.dddddddddddd 48 Chevrolet. Thats the ride of Jimmie Johnson, the only member of the Championship 4 racing for immortality. A Cup would be his seventh, equaling one of NASCARs two most coveted career records. The only other racers with that many titles are the two greatest in the history of the sport, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.Yes, there are those who still try to discount Johnsons championship success to a Chase postseason format that The King and The Intimidator never used. Yes, there are those who continue to paint Johnson as vanilla, a starched-shirt corporate clone.Those people are wrong.They are being handed a chance to see motorsports history achieved by one of the greatest racers ever born. But even if they dont appreciate it now, one day they will. Sometimes thats how history works.I think when he won five [Cups] in a row, he was winning a lot of races and a lot of championships and maybe people got tired of it, his boss, team owner Rick Hendrick, said Friday. I still say that Jimmie is going to get more credit when hes done than hell get when hes driving.That brings us to Kyle Busch. He is a former teammate to Johnson and Logano and a current teammate to Edwards. Like Logano, he was perhaps thrown into a Cup car too soon and, though more successful quicker than his friends, Busch also struggled with the spotlight. Like Edwards, the story of Buschs career was written with lots of individual race wins (38) but dogged by the inability to win a Sprint Cup championship.That changed one year ago. In the four-man, run-for-your-life, beat-the-other-three, win-and-in Chase finale format, he did all of the above. It was a night that included redemption, validation and history. If he does the same on Sunday night, it will further amplify what he did one year ago.A second Cup for Busch, still only 31 years old, would also perhaps signify the start of something much larger. It might very well be the first step toward one day, years from now, running alongside Johnson, Petty and Earnhardt, perhaps even passing them. And thats why, though we -- and NASCAR -- might not realize it now, a Kyle Busch championship might be the most intriguing Sunday night outcome of them all.I think about last year at Homestead racing Jeff Gordon for the championship and all the history that came with his retirement and then Jimmie this year going for seven, Busch said Thursday. Our goal when we all started as racers wasnt to make history. But if youre fortunate enough to have a chance, or even have a chance to see it, thats pretty cool.Well all have that chance Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Now we just have to wait and see whos going to write it. And what it ultimately means as the sport rolls over the horizon ahead. ' ' '