Tennessee's Iamaleava, Oklahoma's Arnold to meet in battle of top 2023 QB recruits

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Tennessee's Iamaleava, Oklahoma's Arnold to meet in battle of top 2023 QB recruits

2024-09-21 01:54 Last Updated At：02:01

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — A pair of five-star quarterbacks from the 2023 class will face off when Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava and Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold lead their teams on Saturday night.

Iamaleava was ranked No. 1 in the On3 quarterback rankings and No. 2 in the 247Sports quarterback rankings. Arnold was the 2022-23 Gatorade National Player of the Year. He was the Elite 11 MVP, and ESPN ranked him the No. 1 quarterback in his class.

Both will be in the spotlight against stout defenses when No. 6 Tennessee (3-0) visits No. 15 Oklahoma (3-0) in the first career Southeastern Conference game for both players and the league opener for both teams.

Iamaleava is 4-0 to start his career, including a win over a ranked Iowa squad in the Citrus Bowl last season in his first start. This season, he led the Vols to a blowout victory over another ranked team, N.C. State, in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte.

Tennessee center Cooper Mays can’t wait to see how his quarterback handles his first true road game.

“He’s super consistent in who he is day in and day out,” Mays said. “He’s laid back and calm, cool, and collected. That’s him every day, no matter the environment. Super excited to protect him and help him do all of the things he wants to do on Saturday.”

Iamaleava has been so effective in Heupel’s offense that he’s played only eight quarters so far this season with Tennessee blowing out opponents 191-13 to start this season. That’s why Iamaleava has thrown for a mere 698 yards with six TDs and two interceptions, averaging 232.7 yards per game.

“He’s fun to watch,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “He’s incredibly talented, strong arm, great runner. The things he’s been able to do in a short amount of time. He’s completed 72% of his passes and he’s just been fantastic. He’s got a great presence to him, he’s got a great supporting cast and a great defense."

Iamaleava is a freshman because he didn’t play enough games last season to lose any eligibility. This season, he became the first freshman quarterback to start an opener for Tennessee since 2004.

Arnold is a sophomore because he played in seven games last season. Like Iamaleava, Arnold got his first start in a bowl game last season. He passed for 361 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions in a loss to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.

Arnold has passed for 484 yards and seven touchdowns this season and rushed for 159 yards and two more scores in three games. He has had big moments this season — he threw four touchdown passes in the season opener against Temple and ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Tulane.

He struggled to get the team moving in a 16-12 win over Houston in Week 2, prompting some concern. He then threw an interception against Tulane that was returned for a touchdown that pulled the Green Wave to within 24-19 before Oklahoma pulled away for a 34-19 win.

“You throw the ball away or just run the ball,” Venables said. “I loved how he responded. Did a great job obviously in the fourth quarter. We scored 10 points, he does a great job of … doing a lot of things right, putting it behind him, learning from it. There’s growth in that. That’s how you get better.”

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Arnold has several good qualities that concern him.

“In general, he takes great care of the football,” Heupel said. “I think he has great command and presence in what they are doing offensively. He has the ability to use his feet to make things right. That can be when the pocket breaks down, designed quarterback run or read game. He is a really talented young player.”

AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.

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Gucci constructs looks of casual grandeur as Tod's focuses on Artisanal Intelligence

2024-09-21 01:56 Last Updated At：02:01

MILAN (AP) — The fashion palate cleanser of the season: white. Milan fashion houses, more often than not this season, are opening their runway preview shows for next spring and summer with all-white looks.

Tod’s put the emphasis on white with tables of artisans constructing white driving shoes inside the showroom, and followed by opening the show with a crisp white look, as did a host of other fashion houses this week, including Moschino, Alberta Ferretti, Del Core and Cavalli.

The fashion crowd arriving at the highly anticipated Gucci show passed through a white tunnel that burst into the colors of a sunset.

Highlights from mostly womenswear previews for next spring and summer on the fourth day of Milan Fashion Week on Friday:

Sabato De Sarno starts a new fashion cycle a year after debuting his first Gucci collection, focusing on some of his self-described obsessions: tailoring, lingerie, leather and a 1960s silhouette.

In its simplest form, a white tank with Gucci-stripe piping was paired with dark trousers with a hemline slit over sneakers, referencing menswear. In its most elaborate, Gucci-monogram overcoats dragged imperially on the runway, and lingerie peeked out of glossy, textured leather.

A blouse slinked insouciantly off the shoulder. Sequined dresses rustled. Crepe dresses were anchored with bamboo-shaped hardware. Mini-skirts bubbled slightly. Floral headscarves or big sunhats finished the looks.

De Sarno dubbed the collection “casual grandeur.”

“Moment after moment, I have built my ideas for Gucci,'' he said in notes. ”A casual grandeur that takes shape through my obsessions ... and always with an irreverent attitude."

Gucci's front-row glistened with Jessica Chastain, Kirsten Dunst, Nicola Coughlan — who stopped to take a selfie with fans — and Italy's own tennis hero, Jannick Sinner, a Gucci ambassador. A crowd of K-pop fans chanted in anticipation of the arrival of Jin from BTS, another brand ambassador.

In a world abuzz over artificial intelligence, Tod’s highlighted artisanal intelligence.

Dozens of craftspeople flanked the showroom, hand-stitching the brand’s trademark Gommino driving shoe. Models emerged from beneath a pair of sculptor Lorenzo Quinn’s oversized white hands, grasping a spiral of leather.

“Artisanal intelligence goes against what everyone is talking about,’’ creative director Matteo Tamburini said before the show. “The focus is on a very elevated product, which is the cornerstone of Made in Italy.”

The Spring-Summer 2025 collection started with crisp cotton pairings: trousers or skirts with oversized shirts. The looks were reproduced in a soft leather, intentionally fluid for the warmer months, while a leather overcoat was more sturdily vintage. Asymmetrical cuts and wraps gave the collection a touch of casual elegance. Looks were finished with barely there criss-cross sandals, the new Gommino in glove leather or a clog version.

Tamburini said the only thing he uses AI for is to craft talking points for journalists. “I am not a writer,’’ he said, laughing.

The Sunnei fashion brand marked its 10th anniversary questioning the very notion of “growing up,” and casting aspersions on the idea of “maturing.”

With a dose of irony and fob for diversity, brand founders Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina, both in their mid-30s, cast only older models, mostly graying, and most probably falling into a demographic of over 65s that the show notes say make up a quarter of Milan’s population.

The pace of the show, spanning two floors, was kept slow, which the notes suggested was due to the stairs, but could also have been in consideration of the colorful platform flip-flops the brand has created in collaboration with Camper.

In any case, the collection retained the brand’s winning, youthful jubilance, depicted in oversized garb like billowing bubble tops gathered at the waist, a striped T-shirt so big it became a tunic, and a blouse that tented over an A-line pleated leather skirt.

The trouser of the season for men and women gathered at the ankle with fanning pleats. A more simply tailored pant has a built-in apron, over which to layer a utility belt full of zippered pockets.

The designers candidly acknowledged an Artificial Intelligence fail, falling back on the human design team for the collection's prints of six faces that appeared on dresses and tops, and which were available for purchase immediately after the show on Sunnei’s website.

Backstage, brand founders Rizzo and Messina celebrated their team with hugs, tears and shouts of, “Bravissimi!"

Tennessee's Iamaleava, Oklahoma's Arnold to meet in battle of top 2023 QB recruits

Sport

Tennessee's Iamaleava, Oklahoma's Arnold to meet in battle of top 2023 QB recruits

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