Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL Nutt to be paid off

Mississippi has agreed to pay former Coach Houston Nutt a lump sum of $4.35 million to complete his contract buyout. Nutt was fired after the 2011 season with about $6 million remaining on his contract.Ole Miss Athletic Director Ross Bjork said Saturday in a statement that the school’s agreement with Nutt, who coached Arkansas before heading to Ole Miss, happened last month, and the one-time payment would save the athletic department about $550,000. Bjork said the agreement was a “win-win for everyone and both of us can now move ahead.” He said the money came from the school’s private athletic foundation. Nutt coached for four seasons at Ole Miss, leading the program to back to-back Cotton Bowl victories in 2008 and 2009 before slumping to a 2-10 record in his final season.

Former Tennessee Coach Derek Dooley is headed to the Dallas Cowboys as wide receivers coach. The Cowboys reported the move on their website Saturday night. Dooley will replace Jimmy Robinson, who could stay with Dallas in another capacity. Dooley was fired at Tennessee in November after posting the longest run of consecutive losing seasons at the school in over a century. He was 15-21 in three seasons but just 4-19 in the SEC and 0-15 against Associated Press Top 25 teams. Dallas Coach Jason Garrett and Dooley were on the same staff with the Miami Dolphins in 2005-06. Garrett was quarterbacks coach, and Dooley coached tight ends. Those are Dooley’s only two years of pro experience.

BASEBALL

Villanueva deal complete

Pitcher Carlos Villanueva and the Chicago Cubs have completed a $10 million, two-year contract. Villanueva will earn $5 million annually as part of Saturday’s deal. The sides had agreed to the contract in mid-December, pending a successful physical. The 29-year-old right hander spent the past two seasons with Toronto and went 7-7 with a 4.16 ERA last year in 16 starts and 22 relief appearances. He slid to 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA in five September starts. Villanueva spent the previous five seasons with Milwaukee. He has a 33-35 career record with 6 saves and a 4.26 ERA.

A person familiar with the negotiations said pitcher Jhoulys Chacin and the Colorado Rockies have agreed to a $6.5 million, twoyear contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because agreement is subject to a physical. Chacin had asked for $2.6 million in arbitration and had been offered $1.7 million by the Rockies. The 25-year-old right-hander was eligible for arbitration for the first time after going 3-5 with a 4.43 ERA in 14 starts last year, when he missed more than three months because of right shoulder inflammation.

FIGURE SKATING

Davis-White match record

Meryl Davis and Charlie White won their fifth consecutive ice dance crown at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday in Omaha, Neb., matching a record held by four other couples. The Olympic silver medalists and 2011 world champions had such a big lead after the short dance they had to do little more than step on the ice to win. But they still set personal bests for both overall score (197.44 points) and free dance (118.42). They finished more than 20 points ahead of Madison Chock and Evan Bates (175.91). Maia and Alex Shibutani were docked a point for an extended lift and finished third (174.21). Earlier Saturday, Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir won their first pairs title. Ashley Wagner became the first woman since Michelle Kwan in 2005 to win back-to-back women’s titles, managing to hold off up-and-comer Gracie Gold despite three major mistakes. Wagner finished with 188.84 points, about two ahead of Gold.

Javier Fernandez became the first Spaniard to win the European figure skating title, doing it with three quadruple jumps in his free skate Saturday in Zagreb, Croatia, for a personal-best 186.07 points, giving him 274.87 overall. Florent Amodio of France, who led after Thursday’s short skate, had to settle for silver after finishing third in the free skate. Czech skater Michal Brezina was second to Fernandez in the free skate, and claimed the bronze medal. Three-time world champion and 2006 Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko dropped out Thursday after aggravating a chronic back condition. Carolina Kostner of Italy successfully defended the women’s title, edging 16-year-old Russian Adelina Sotnikova by less than a point to claim her fifth European crown.

HORSE RACING Dominguez out of ICU

Jockey Ramon Dominguez has made enough progress in his recovery from a fractured skull that he was transferred out of intensive care. Dominguez was injured when his mount Convocation stumbled and fell in a race Jan. 18 at Aqueduct in New York, pitching the rider onto the winterized inner track. He was moved Thursday from the neurological ICU at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center to a medical step-down unit, an intermediate location between the ICU and a regular inpatient room. There are no target dates for when Dominguez will be released from the hospital, nor a career-resumption timetable for the three time defending Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s leading jockey. Dominguez set the North American record last year when his mounts earned $25.5 million.

SPEED SKATING Nesbitt wins 1,000

Reigning Olympic gold medalist Christine Nesbitt of Canada won the first 1,000-meter women’s event at the World Sprint Championships on Saturday in Kearns, Utah. Nesbitt finished in 1 minute, 12.91 seconds at the Utah Olympic Oval. American Heather Richardson claimed another podium position Saturday, yetit was another third-place finish, behind teammate Brittany Bowe in the 1,000. Bowe clocked another personal best, finishing in 1:13.68 to edge Richardson (1:13.74). Richardson (37.31) took bronze earlier Saturday in the women’s 500, coming in behind China’s Jing Yu (37.21) and South Korea’s Lee Sang-hwa (37.28). Reigning Olympic bronze medalist Joji Kato of Japan won the men’s 500 in a personal-best 34.21. Teammate Ryohei Haga tied for second with Canada’s Jamie Gregg in 34.43 seconds. Mitchell Whitmore was the top American finisher in 34.76. Hein Otterspeer (1:07.46) of the Netherlands edged Latvia’s Haralds Silovs (1:07.47) in the men’s 1,000. Dutch teammate Michel Mulder took bronze in 1:07.49.

BOBSLED Humphries defends

Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries of Canada successfully defended her bobsled world championship Saturday in St. Moritz, Switzerland, teaming with brakeman Chelsea Valois to finish the four-run competition in 4 minutes, 30.31 seconds - 0.68 seconds faster than Americans Elana Meyers and Katie Eberling, who had been third after the first two runs Friday. Meyers, who drove her way to the bronze at worlds last year, edged 2006 Olympic champion Sandra Kiriasis of Germany and brakeman Franziska Bertels by 0.02 seconds. Jazmine Fenlator and Aja Evans took the USA-2 women’s sled to an eighth-place finish, and Jamie Greubel and Olympic veteran Emily Azevedo finished in 15th place in USA-3.

HOCKEY Pacioretty out

Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty will miss three to four weeks after having an emergency appendectomy. He has four assists and a team-high 10 shots on goal in three games this season. Pacioretty, drafted 22nd overall by Montreal in 2007, has 53 goals and 65 assists in 205 games with the Canadiens.