CLEVELAND, Ohio – Just weeks after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announcing it was seeking a buyer, LL Flooring says it will close all of its stores and cease operations.

The Richmond, Virginia-based company (NYSE: LL), which was formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, said it was unable to find a buyer with necessary financing after discussions with multiple bidders.

It said in a regulatory filing that it will close all of its stores nationwide. The company lists 424 stores on its website; it had previously announced the closure of 94 stores when it filed for Chapter 11 in early August.

Read the full story on cleveland.com’s sister site, Cleveland Business Journal.

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NOTRE DAME VS NORTHERN ILLINOIS PREVIEW | Final thoughts, observations and predictions

Notre Dame offensive lineman Tosh Baker has been ruled out for Saturday’s game against Northern Illinois, the program announced. He is dealing with a shoulder injury.

Baker is the only player on this week’s depth chart to miss the game. That means freshman Guerby Lambert could be the first offensive tackle off the bench for Notre Dame, as Blue and Gold’s Jack Soble noted.

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Baker was listed behind Anthonie Knapp at left tackle on the depth chart after last week’s season-opening victory against Texas A&M. They’re part of the plan to replace Charles Jagusah at the position after his season-ending injury suffered during training camp.

Notre Dame started the season strong with a big-time road win over Texas A&M. The Fighting Irish went into halftime tied with the Aggies 6-6. But Marcus Freeman’s group found its stride after the break, totaling 217 yards to eventually come away with the 23-13 victory.

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It was a signature win for Freeman, who’s starting his third season at the helm. In the eyes of Urban Meyer, the victory spoke to what he’s been building in South Bend and how he’s grown as a head coach since taking over after the 2021 season.

“That’s a different man right now than it was two or three years ago when he took over the job,” Meyer said on The Triple Option. “That was not fake. When you walk into A&M, there’s over 100,000 people there. That’s a real environment against a real team. You know where the players were looking at? … Him. You are the leader of the team. And he did not have that confident look that he has now.

“When you saw – I think they lost to Marshall or something like that several years ago. He’s got a real look. And you want to know something? They nutted up and they got it done in the fourth quarter. I can’t say enough about Marcus Freeman. That’s a real team – a very young team. Offensive line is very young.”

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For a second straight week, Indiana’s defense put together a near-perfect performance.

The offense may get more of the plaudits after Friday’s 77-3 win over Western Illinois because it set the program’s all-time single-game scoring and total yardage (701) records. But including last week’s 31-7 win over Florida International, Indiana’s defense has kept pace with its counterpart.

Defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ unit allowed just 182 total yards and 3.1 yards per play against FIU, and it was even more stifling on Friday night, giving up 121 total yards and 2.3 yards per play to Western Illinois. 

But in both games, the defense’s lone letdown came in the same moment. Indiana allowed a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive against FIU, which concluded with just 52 seconds left in the first half. On Friday, Western Illinois’ drove 69 yards across 12 plays and settled for a field goal with 30 seconds left in the first half.

Despite the lopsided scores in both games, those end-of-half drives left something to be desired.

“That was pretty bad, I’ll be completely honest,” Indiana defensive end Mikail Kamara said Friday. “That was pretty bad. The same thing happened last week, so we gotta end the halves a lot better. That’s something we’re definitely going to be focusing on, especially that middle eight. That’s something we gotta do better going forward.”

The reason behind those drives?

“Maybe just a little bit of complacency,” Kamara said. “Guys just kind of settling down, getting ready for halftime instead of keeping their foot on the pedal.”

And the solution?

“Communicating whenever we see some of the guys get a little too happy, not happy, but when they get a little too fat and happy, we just gotta bring ‘em down a little bit,” Kamara said. “But little things like this, them scoring at halftime, things like that should humble us down.”

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said postgame there were a few defensive mistakes and substitutions during Western Illinois’ scoring drive, though he didn’t want to give a full evaluation until watching the film. But in general, he knows from 14 years of head coaching that the beginning and end of halves are crucial to sustained success.

“We’ve been starting the third quarter well, but we haven’t finished the half well,” Cignetti said. “We’ve been starting the game well and finishing the game well too. There’s a lot more positives, but just like 98 percent of the teams in the country, we have a couple things to work on and improve on.”

Outside of those two drives, Indiana’s defense has mimicked what made James Madison successful in 2023. Kamara and five other first-year Hoosiers played on that James Madison defense, which led the nation in tackles for loss and run defense. 

Indiana totaled four sacks and eight tackles for loss against FIU, followed by six sacks and eight tackles for loss against Western Illinois. Neither team was able to run the ball, with FIU gaining 53 yards on 30 carries and Western Illinois rushing for just 12 yards on 26 attempts. 

Kamara said nothing is really new from last season for him, it’s just a matter of proving it at the Big Ten level. That begins next week at UCLA, and he’s confident defensive success in the first two games will carry over.

“We feel good, but teams like [Western Illinois], we gotta keep a foot on their jugular,” Kamara said. “That’s what good teams do, and that’s how we view ourselves as. That’s something – obviously a win’s a win and it’s hard to win in college football, but this is something that should not happen.”

“I don’t know what you guys think of our defense right now, but I expect us to blow all that out the water. I expect us to really show everyone what this defense is about.”