The Associated Press national player of the week in college football for Week 4 of the season:
The Dukes' quarterback had a hand in a program-record seven touchdowns and amassed 487 yards of total offense in his team's 70-50 win over North Carolina.
The third-year player from Whitsett, North Carolina, was 22 of 34 for 388 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions. He ran 13 times for 99 yards and two more TDs.
Barnett, who was making his fourth career start, was off target with five of his first six passes and then connected with Omarion Dollison for a 69-yard touchdown. He had completions of 42, 48 and 50 yards and a streak of 12 straight completions. He broke runs of 38, 27 and 24 yards and averaged 7.6 per carry.
Michigan RB Kalel Mullings rushed for over 150 yards in a second straight game, with nearly half the total coming on the decisive drive in the Wolverines' 27-24 win over Southern California.
Mullings carried eight times for 77 yards on the 10-play march that ended with his 1-yard run with 37 seconds left. He had a 63-yard burst on the drive, his second run of over 50 yards in the game. Mullings finished with 161 of the team’s 322 total yards on 18 touches and added a pair of touchdown runs.
WR/DB Travis Hunter had seven catches for 130 yards in Colorado's 38-31 overtime win over Baylor, his fifth straight 100-yard receiving game. He also recorded three tackles and forced the fumble that went out of the end zone on the final play to secure the victory. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw a 43-yard Hail Mary touchdown to LaJohntay Wester as time ran out in regulation to force overtime. Sanders’ 58-yard TD pass started the Buffaloes’ comeback from a 14-point deficit late in the second quarter. Navy QB Blake Horvath rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns and threw for 192 yards and two TDs in a 56-44 win over Memphis.
— The three highest-scoring games of the season occurred in Week 4: James Madison-North Carolina (120 points); SMU 66, TCU 42 (108); and Washington State 54, San Jose State 52 (106).
— Maryland's Tai Felton, who caught 14 balls for 157 yards against Villanova, is the third Big Ten player since 1996 to start a season with four straight 100-yard receiving games. He joined Garrett Wilson of Ohio State in 2020 and Charles Rogers of Michigan State in 2002.
— Brayden Schager became the first Hawaii QB since Colt Brennan in 2007 to complete at least 35 passes and have an accuracy rate of 80% or better. Schager was 35 of 43 for 374 yards against Northern Iowa.
— Toledo's Tucker Gleason, who had committed no turnovers through three games, fumbled twice and threw two interceptions in the second half of the Rockets' 26-21 loss to Western Kentucky. No player had committed so many turnovers in a half since Virginia's Anthony Colandrea had four in the second half against Maryland last season.
— Tennessee's 25-15 win at then-No. 15 Oklahoma marked the Volunteers' first road victory over an AP top-15 opponent since it beat No. 10 Georgia in Athens in 2006.
— Illinois and Indiana are 4-0 in the same season for the first time since 1910.
AP voters: Aaron Beard, Tim Booth, Pat Graham, Stephen Hawkins, Pete Iacobelli, John Marshall, Eric Olson, Ralph D. Russo, John Zenor.
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James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III (14) celebrates after running in a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Daniel Lin/Daily News-Record via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday as tensions remained high with the United States over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
The closure ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key East-West flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m.
Around midday, Iranian state television carried a statement from the country's Civil Aviation Authority saying that the nation's “skies are hosting incoming and outgoing flights, and airports are providing services to passengers.” It did not acknowledge the closure.
Iran previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. However, there were no signs of current hostilities though the closure immediately rippled through global aviation.
“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”
Iran in the past has misidentified a commercial aircraft as a hostile target. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board. Iran for days adamantly dismissed allegations of downing the plane as Western propaganda before finally acknowledging it.
The airspace closure came as some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” going to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the United States on Thursday afternoon.
U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of vague statements Wednesday that left unclear what American action, if any, would take place against Iran.
In comments to reporters, Trump said he had been told that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details. The shift comes a day after Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sought to tone down the rhetoric, urging the U.S. to find a solution through negotiation.
Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”
The change in tone by the U.S. and Iran came hours after the chief of the Iranian judiciary said the government must act quickly to punish the thousands who have been detained.
Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon. The security forces’ crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A man looks at books which are placed for sale on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man walks on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Women cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Demonstrators burn a poster depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, in Holon, Israel Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A woman mourns next to the flag-draped coffins of a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, during their funeral ceremony, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man hands out posters of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a funeral ceremony for a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People take part in a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, Berlin Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Policemen protect the British Embassy during a protest by hardline supporters of the Iranian government, as people ride on their motorbike in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
