Football

BYU wins Poinsettia Bowl — Linebacker Kyle Van Noy forced a fumble in the end zone and recovered it for a touchdown, and scored on a 17-yard interception return, both in the fourth quarter, to lead BYU to a 23-6 victory over San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl on Thursday night in San Diego. The big plays swung the momentum for the Cougars (8-5) in what had been a tedious defensive struggle. San Diego State (9-4), playing in the hometown bowl for the second time in three years, missed the chance for its first 10-win season since 1977 and had its seven-game winning streak snapped.

Utah State promotes coordinator — Utah State promoted offensive coordinator Matt Wells to head coach Thursday, replacing Wisconsin-bound Gary Anderson. Anderson took the Wisconsin job Thursday, taking over for Bret Bielema. Bielema left to take the Arkansas job. Utah State President Stan Albrecht and athletic director Scott Barnes said hiring the 39-year-old Wells allows the football program to continue to build on the tremendous progress made by Anderson over the past four years.

Jets could trade QBs Sanchez, Tebow — Mark Sanchez is no longer the face of the New York Jets. He could soon be a former member of the team. And Tim Tebow might even beat him out the door. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Jets will consider all of their options regarding the two quarterbacks during the offseason. That means both Sanchez and Tebow are in limbo and trades cannot be ruled out. The Jets could be hard-pressed to trade or cut Sanchez, who is due $8.25 million in guarantees next season after having his contract extended last offseason.

Skiing

American teen wins first event — American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin won her first World Cup event on Thursday in Are, Sweden, putting down a perfect second run to win a night slalom ahead of home favorite Frida Hansdotter. Under the floodlights on Are’s Olympia course, the 17-year-old Shiffrin finished with a combined time of 1 minute, 45.36 seconds. Hansdotter led after the first run but lost time toward the end of her second and finished 0.29 seconds behind for second place. Overall World Cup leader Tina Maze of Slovenia was third, 0.52 behind.

Hockey

NHL cancels more games — The NHL has wiped out all games through Jan. 14, and if it needs to make any more cancellations, the entire season could be the next thing to go. So far, 625 regular-season games have been canceled, including nearly 200 in the announcement made Thursday — the 96th day of the NHL’s lockout. The league had previously scratched all games through Dec. 30. If a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association isn’t reached quickly, another full season might soon be lost. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a radio interview on Wednesday that mid-January is likely the latest the sides could go to make a deal to save the season. However, Daly says he expects the season to be played.

Basketball

Top prospect chooses Duke — Prized prospect Jabari Parker of Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy, one of the most highly touted recruits in years, is headed to Duke. With a national TV audience watching, he announced his decision at a news conference Thursday at his high school. Parker can’t sign his letter of intent until April 17, but he made his intentions clear with one highly anticipated oral commitment. Michigan State, Florida, Stanford and Brigham Young also made his top five, but he chose to play for Mike Krzyzewski for at least a year before making what many believe will ultimately be a jump to the NBA.

Running

NYC Marathon runners can get refund — New York City Marathon runners can receive a refund of their entry fee after this year’s race was canceled because of Superstorm Sandy. Officials said when the event was called off last month they had a no-refund policy but had not made a final decision on whether to make an exception. Organizer New York Road Runners informed entrants Thursday that they had three options to choose from — one of them a refund. Runners can also go for a guaranteed spot in the 2013, 2014 or 2015 marathon. They would have to pay the entry fee again, but at the 2012 rate. Or they can accept a spot in March’s NYC half-marathon, paying the entry fee for that race — though availability is limited.

Olympics

Probst re-elected as USOC chair — Once considered a reluctant conscript to the U.S. Olympic Committee, Larry Probst now embraces his role. So much, in fact, that he’s staying on for another four years. The USOC board unanimously voted in Probst for a second term as chairman, a position the 62-year-old chairman of the Electronic Arts video game empire has used to try to shore up America’s standing in the international Olympic community. CEO Scott Blackmun said he welcomed another four years with Probst, whom he called “the ideal partner for me.”

USOC keeps hosting idea alive — The U.S. Olympic Committee will hold meetings with cities interested in bidding for a future Olympics and is promising to streamline the domestic selection process if the federation does, in fact, decide to try to host the Games in 2024 or 2026. At its quarterly meeting Thursday, the USOC board voted to move forward in exploring a possible bid but stopped short of committing to one. The 2024 bidding process doesn’t begin in earnest until 2015.

— From wire reports