It didn’t take long after Paul McCartney took the stage Friday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, that the 83-year-old proved why he can still pull a crowd.

He opened with his trademark violin-shaped Hofner bass strapped across his chest, barking out the lyrics to the Beatles’ “Help,” a song mainly written by John Lennon. While he maintains that Dick Clark-like eternal boyishness, McCartney’s voice has definitely weakened since we last saw him, at a two-night stand at Target Center in 2016.

But after tearing through his solo smash “Coming Up” and two more Beatles songs, “Got to Get You Into My Life” and “Drive My Car,” McCartney’s voice started to warm up. Even if he sometimes yelped, McCartney remains a compelling performer.

“Well, we got some old songs, some new songs and some in-between songs for you,” he announced to the sold-out crowd. One of the new ones, 2018’s rowdy rocker “Come On to Me,” paved the way for a ferocious “Let Me Roll It” that ended with a nod to Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.” He switched to an electric guitar for the Wings album cut that’s been a staple of his shows since its 1974 release.

McCartney kicked off a run of songs at the piano with a lively take on “Let ‘Em In.” Another “new” one followed, 2011’s “My Valentine,” a love song he wrote for his third wife, Nancy Shevell, who was in the crowd Friday night. (For those wondering why the track was accompanied by Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp performing the song in sign language, it’s footage from its original music video.)

Between numbers, McCartney often chatted up the fans. At one point, he read off a pair of signs from the audience: “100 shows since 1976” and “Paul, sign my butt,” which earned a chuckle from the Cute Beatle. But he also got serious, too. After “Blackbird,” McCartney told a story about a Beatles concert in Florida when the band refused to play a racially segregated concert and convinced the promoter to allow for an integrated audience.

He followed with a solo acoustic take on “Here Today,” a song he wrote after Lennon’s assassination in 1980. While touching, it also featured his worst vocals of the evening. But he perked up yet again for 2023’s “Now and Then,” the final Beatles single that McCartney and Ringo Starr produced using tracks recorded by Lennon in 1977 and George Harrison in 1995.

Throughout the show, McCartney continued to swap instruments, pulling out a mandolin for 2007’s sunny “Dance Tonight” and a ukulele for a new arrangement of George Harrison’s late-period Beatles classic “Something.”

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Speaking of late-period Beatles, McCartney drew heavily from that era in the last stretch of the concert, which ran more than two hours and 40 minutes. He wrapped the main set with “Get Back,” “Let it Be” and “Hey Jude” as well as Wings’ two biggest hits, “Band on the Run” and “Hey Jude.”

He kicked off the encore with “I’ve Got a Feeling,” which he performed as a virtual duet with Lennon, using footage from the Beatles’ final concert in 1969, which was held on the roof of the band’s Apple Corps building. From there, he played “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise),” “Helter Skelter,” “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight.”

To wrap things up, McCartney ended with — what else? — “The End.” It felt even more poignant than usual given that this will likely stand as McCartney’s final performance in the Twin Cities. Thanks for the memories, Paul.

Legendary Gophers running back David Cobb took to social media on Friday to troll ex-Nebraska Cornhuskers Ameer Abdullah and Josh Mitchell.

“Nebraska has lost to MN 5 straight times & counting,” Cobb wrote on X. “I didn’t know that.”

Oh, he knew, and make it six.

Behind a dominant pass rush and a rejuvenated running game, Minnesota ran over No. 25 Nebraska 24-6 on Friday at Huntington Bank Stadium.

The Gophers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) remained unbeaten against Nebraska since 2018 and head coach P.J. Fleck knocked off a ranked opponent. The Gophers’ previous ranked win came at No. 24 Illinois last November.

The Cornhuskers (5-2, 2-2) was coming off two straight wins, but was playing its second road game across six days and weren’t as physical as Minnesota.

Minnesota strained the Nebraska defense with a 14-play, 98-yard drive that sucked nearly nine minutes off the clock. After the 10th play, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule called a timeout, much to the delight of the U offense and sideline.

To cap the drive off, Drake Lindsey threw a pinpoint touchdown pass to Le’Meke Brockington for a 20-yard score.

Minnesota amassed nine sacks, a new program record since 1977 — when the stat was first kept. Defensive coordinator Danny Collins’ unit has had it in them, after putting up seven in the Rutgers win Sept. 27.

The Gophers running game was stuck in the much for weeks, but Running back Darius Taylor got loose with 145 yards on 21 carries and his first rushing touchdown

The Gophers led 7-6 at the half on the back of five sacks of Raiola. Edge rushers Anthony Smith and Karter Menz each had two, with tackle Devon Eastern contributing one.

But for a third straight Big Ten home game, the Gophers fell 3-0. Nebraska put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive but had to settle for a 33-yard field goal. The lead was short-lived.

Less than two minutes later, Gophers running back Darius Taylor broke free for a 71-yard gain to Nebraska’s 1-yard line. Before that enormous gain, Taylor’s season long was all of 18 yards.

On the next play, Drake Lindsey scored on a tush push to take a 7-3 lead. The Cornhuskers put together a nine-play, 69-yard drive but a targeting call on left tackle Elijah Pritchett set back a drive that had reached the red zone and Nebraska had to settle for a 30-yard field to make it 7-6 at the break.

During the first quarter, Taylor eclipsed 2,000 career yards and was the third fastest to do it in program history. He did it in 22 games, behind Laurence Maroney (21) and Darrell Thomson (18) and one quicker than Mo Ibrahim (23).

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WASHINGTON — A truism in the NHL for the past 20 years or so held true on the Washington Capitals’ home rink again Friday night:

You can contain Alex Ovechkin but only for so long. The greatest goal scorer in the history of this league will eventually find a way.

Held without a goal in the season’s first four games, Ovechkin moved one step closer to becoming the NHL’s first 900-goal scorer during the Minnesota Wild’s only regular-season visit to the District of Columbia. Ovechkin set up a first-period goal, and scored No. 898 of his career in the third period of Washington’s 5-1 win.

Marcus Johansson got a second-period goal for the Wild on a night where offense, and even shots on goal, were in short supply. Filip Gustavsson had 40 saves as Minnesota fell to 2-3-0 on the season and 0-2 in the first 40% of their current five-game road trip.

Trailing by a goal and making a push to tie early in the third, the Wild were instead victimized by the quick release of Ovechkin that has been fooling goalies since he was a rookie in 2005. Dylan Strome, who had scored in the opening period off a setup from Ovechkin, won a faceoff to the left of Gustavsson, and Ovechkin’s shot hit the back of the net before the goalie could react, putting Washington up by a pair of goals.

The goal and assist gave Ovechkin 40 points in 26 career games versus Minnesota. Strome added a second goal late in the third and Tom Wilson added a garbage time, power-play goal as the Capitals pulled away.

Defensively sound for the first 15 minutes, the Wild inexplicably got loose late in the first, and ended up in a deficit when Strome capped off a 2-on-1 rush with a tap-in after a cross-ice pass from Ovechkin. Minnesota’s NHL-best power play had the only man-advantage chance in the opening 20 minutes, only to see the Capitals do an exemplary job of getting in the way of the Wild’s shot attempts, and limiting the visitors to just one shot during the two minutes.

The penalty killers got a notable workload early in the middle frame when Jake Middleton was whistled for a four-minute high sticking penalty. Washington controlled the play and tested Gustavsson, but the Wild penalty killers were able to ice the puck at key moments and emerged unscathed.

But, in a refrain that is becoming standard early this season, the special teams success did not lead to five-on-five momentum. The Wild went more than 17 minutes without a shot on goal, testing Capitals goalie Logan Thompson just four times in the game’s first 36 minutes.

Minnesota finally solved Thompson — and scored five-on-five for the first time since the season opener — when Johansson plucked the puck out of the air with his glove, set it down, and ripped a rising shot through a crowd in front of the Washington net.

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It was the first goal of the season from Johansson, who started the game at left wing on the Wild’s second line, with Joel Eriksson Ek at center and Vladimir Tarasenko on the other wing.

But the home crowd wasn’t quiet for long, as Washington took the lead back on the next shift, just 31 seconds later. Wild defender Jonas Brodin sprawled out to take away the cross-ice pass in front of Gustavsson. Instead, the puck fired by Aliaksei Protas deflected off Brodin’s leg, and off the inside of Gustavsson’s left skate, ending up in the net.

Thompson finished with 14 saves for Washington, which improved to 4-1-0 this season. The Capitals make their lone visit to Minnesota this season on Dec. 16.

The Wild’s road trip continues with a 6 p.m. CT game in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

A former Minnesota Teacher of the Year was sentenced to 14 years in prison Friday for repeatedly sexually assaulting his eighth-grade student at a Minneapolis charter school nearly a decade ago.

The victim came forward with the allegations against Harvest Best Academy teacher Abdul Jameel Wright in May 2024 when she was 21 years old. She said the assaults began in 2017, when she was 14, and occurred for nearly a year in school classrooms, his car and elsewhere in Hennepin County.

Wright, 39, of Brooklyn Park, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with first-degree criminal sexual conduct by a person in a position of authority. He opted for a court trial, and Judge Sarah West found him guilty of the charge in September.

State sentencing guidelines called for a presumptive sentence of 12 years in prison. The prosecution asked for a 14-year, three-month sentence, which West handed down.

After incarceration, Wright will be required to register as a predatory offender and be on conditional release for 10 years.

Abdul Jameel Wright (Courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)

“Mr. Wright abused his authority and engaged in grossly inappropriate behavior,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement following his sentence. “My thoughts are with the victim in this case, who exhibited incredible courage in providing her testimony to help secure a conviction.”

Wright was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in September 2016, becoming the first charter school teacher to receive the honor. He joined the North Minneapolis school in 2012, with a bachelor’s degree from Concordia University in St. Paul.

According to court documents:

The woman reported that Wright, her former English teacher, began “grooming” her by singling her out. She described eating lunch with Wright in his classroom and him playing music for her.

Wright eventually started calling the girl every day and developed a relationship with her mother. He would pick the girl up for school and drop her off at home after she stayed after school to babysit his children.

The sexual contact began in January 2017 with Wright kissing and fondling her during a ride home, she reported, adding that after that he would do “a little more.” She said he put cushions on the floor of a classroom before the assaults, one of which happened while his children were in the next room watching a movie.

She reported the assaults ended around the time she entered ninth grade.

The woman testified during Wright’s court trial that she was in college when she began to fully understand what Wright had done to her, according to Judge West’s Sept. 19 written verdict.

“As she learned about grooming in a psychology course,” the document read, “as she reflected on how it felt to be alone processing it, and as she experienced the stress from the experiences with Mr. Wright, she realized she needed to release it.”

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