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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.orgCheap Pirates Jerseys .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Fake Pirates Jerseys . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Wholesale Pirates Jerseys . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Stitched Pirates Jerseys . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie.Modern-day horseracing is a global game. From trainers in one part of the world plotting an assault on races in another, to the breeding barn where the good life of a shuttle stallion can be interrupted by flights to and from various points of the compass at any time of the year. Jockeys, too, can ride on one continent today and another the next.While BMW Caulfield Cup contender Scottish has had the prospect of fatherhood deprived him, to preserve his form on the track, hell be stepping out in Saturdays headline feature demonstrative of just how international horseracing is.Scottish was bred in Ireland, his trainer is English, his owner is a Dubai Sheikh, and his jockey is an Aussie. It is quite a mix.Kerrin McEvoy is no stranger to just how big that world has become, and he will ride Scottish in the 2400 metres feature hoping for his second win in one the biggest and resonant jewels in the Australian racing crown.Its a bit of a variety there, McEvoy quipped about the gelding rated the $7.50 second favourite with UBET.?Trained by Charlie Appleby out of Englands famous Newmarket racing centre, Scottishs Irish sire, Teofilo, was undefeated in a five-start racing career across the UK and Ireland. McEvoy will wear the royal blue colours of Godolphin, the global racing and breeding empire of Sheikh Mohammad, Ruler of Dubai.[Scottish] has settled in really well since arriving in Melbourne, McEvoy noted of the geldings two-and-a-half week southern stay so far, quick also to respond to questions over whether his mount would be strong enough over the cup trip despite having not yet won over the distance in 11 starts.European horses with good 2000 metres form [three wins] can often produce good performances over 2400 metres here.Plus, Scottish ran second to Highland Reel over the distance last year, he said referring to the second-placed runner in the Group 1 Prix de lArc de Triomphe (2400m) in France earlier this month.That certainly isnt a bad formline, either, as Highland Reel also ran third the 2015 Cox Plate [2040m]. Though Appleby is the latest of Godolphins trainers to fly their charges -- literally a score of them -- across the world over the past two decades to compete for Melbournes biggest prizes, McEvoy was first successful in the $Aus3 million feature in 2008 aboard All The Good at 40-1 for Godolphin and Saeed bin Suroor.Add that to his success on Brew [14-1] in the Melbourne Cup of 2000, which was followed by an six-year association with Godolphin in Europe as their retained No. 2 jockey based in England, behind Frankie Dettori, before returning to Australia in 2008 as Godolphin opened up a local operation in Sydney.It was really something to win the Melbourne Cup at such a young age, McEvoy said of that day that he saluted the judge at Flemington while still a teenager.It set me up to be noticed and also the confidence to take on the challenge of racing on the other side of the world.Hailing from Streaky Bay in South Australia, then to the big stage of racing in Melbourne, the centuries-old tradition of Royal Ascoot, Longchamp and Cologne would at the time have seemed light years away.ddddddddddddThere were Group 1 wins at Doncaster in England, Baden-Baden in Germany and top-line successes in the UAE let alone victory in the 2004 English St Leger -- one of the true classic races. Phone calls from royalty arent the norm for most, but there were the few occasions when Sheikh Mohammad called up McEvoy in his contacts list and dialed the number.Ive spoken to him a couple of times on the phone, McEvoy told ESPN. It was special to get a call from him after the English Derby and the Caulfield Cup.I spoken with the Sheikh often at the races, too. Theyre very good at Godolphin. They really understand horses and everything that goes into their preparation.McEvoy would rarely the loudest person in the room. Despite riding among the top rank of jockeys and races for the best part of two decades, he is still one of the quiet achievers; he lets his skill in the saddle be the dominant conversation.Experience in different parts of the world is important, but local knowledge carries just as much favour in major races.Kerrin will be a real asset for Scottish, says Jim McGrath, the Melbourne-born British broadcasting legend who called more than 20 English Derbies and Grand Nationals for the BBC and watched as his fellow countryman embark on his northern hemisphere sojourn.Hes very experienced riding European stayers and is a man with expert knowledge of riding around Melbourne tracks. Hes riding at the top of his form.He was one of the most popular overseas visitors [to compete in England] over the last 20 years. He very quickly won the respect of not only punters but also owners and trainers.Even though he was a retained rider for Godolphin, he rode for an enormous number of other stables. One year he rode for well over 50 other stables, which is indicative of just how popular he was and perceived by other professionals.Hes a man that speaks so well after each race, too, and can give a good report to trainers. Hes a first-class jockey.First class or not, the risk of a serious fall hangs over a jockeys head every day they take to the track. Extreme sports are increasingly the thing for the leisure-time thrill seeker nowadays, but the act of riding a 500kg animal at speeds of up to 60km/h, often with 15 or more other horses and riders in close proximity, is also extreme and theres a lot to consider in a jockeys mind in some very short spaces of time.McEvoy suffered serious back injuries in a fall at Gosford, NSW, in 2010, that resulted in months laid up and out of action. Tenacity was the winner, however, as he steered Sepoy to victory in the 2011 Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) in Sydney.Now nudging 30 Group 1 winners and, at 35 years-of-age, still in his race-riding prime, theres a lot more in store from Kerrin McEvoy; and this Saturday may just see another special moment in an exceptional globetrotting career. ' ' '