Sports in Brief: Texas tops Cal in Holiday Bowl

David Ash

threw for one touchdown and caught a TD pass to lead Texas to a 21-10 victory over California in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday night in San Diego.

The Longhorns (8-5) had five takeaways and sacked Cal's Zach Maynard six times.

The Golden Bears (7-6) are winless in five games against the Longhorns dating from 1959.

Ash caught a 4-yard pass from wide receiver Jaxon Shipley in the second quarter to join BYU's Steve Young, Texas A&M's Bucky Richardson, and Oregon's Joey Harrington as quarterbacks who have caught scoring passes in the Holiday Bowl.

Toledo 42, Air Force 41 - Air Force's attempt at a two-point conversion went awry with 52 seconds to play, giving the Rockets the Military Bowl win in Washington.

Air Force lined up to kick the extra point after Zach Kauth's 33-yard touchdown catch pulled the Falcons within a point. But holder David Baska ran the option instead, and his pitch to kicker Parker Herrington ended up going out of bounds in the end zone.

Bernard Reedy's third touchdown of the game gave Toledo a 42-35 lead with 5 minutes, 1 second remaining. Reedy finished with a career-high 126 yards on four catches.

Toledo, from the Mid-American Conference, finished 9-4. The Rockets scored 40 or more points in each of their last six games.

Air Force, of the Mountain West, ended up 7-6.

The Terry Bowden era is officially under way at the University of Akron.

Bowden was introduced Wednesday to restore a program with a rich tradition and state-of-the-art stadium but a woeful record in recent years. He was hired as the 27th coach in school history on Dec. 22.

The son of former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden replaces Rob Ianello, who was fired in November after going 2-22 in two seasons. One of Bowden's immediate priorities will be to recruit players in talent-laden Northeast Ohio.

BASEBALL: The Oakland Athletics traded all-star closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Josh Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantara.

Billionaire hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen is bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to a person familiar with the effort, his second try this year to buy at least a piece of a major-league baseball team.

The New York Yankees said star third baseman Alex Rodriguez is totally fine after having special treatment on his right knee and left shoulder in Germany earlier this month.

R.A. Dickey is planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next month for charity. The Mets sent a letter to Dickey's agent warning him that the team can void the final year of his contract if Dickey is hurt on the climb, a Mets spokesman confirmed.

TENNIS: James Blake has withdrawn from the Australian Open. Tournament director Craig Tiley announced the move in a Twitter post, saying: "Just got word that James Blake has withdrawn from the AO and Brisbane. Sorry to hear this and we wish James all the best." Tiley didn't say why the American pulled out of the event. The Australian Open begins Jan. 16.

SOCCER: Diego Maradona says he would be open to coaching the United Arab Emirates national team. The Argentine great, who since May has coached the UAE professional side Al Wasl, has been mentioned as a potential candidate in the local media after Srecko Katanec of Slovenia was fired following the team's 3-1 loss to Lebanon in September.

SKIING: Anna Fenninger of Austria skied a nearly flawless second run in Lienz, Austria, to capture a giant slalom for her first World Cup victory, while Lindsey Vonn extended her lead in the overall standings.

- Inquirer wire services