December 4, 2019 3:46 am
UNDATED (AP) – Ohio State goes into championship weekend as the top team in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings, followed by LSU, Clemson and Georgia. The Buckeyes take on Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game on Saturday, while the Tigers battle the Bulldogs for the SEC crown. Clemson is preparing for an ACC title game matchup with Virginia. Utah is fifth in the CFP rankings, followed by Oklahoma, Baylor, Wisconsin, Florida and Penn State. The Sooners and Bears square off for Big 12 bragging rights. Alabama has dropped to 12th, its lowest ranking in the six years the committee has been doing a weekly top 25 over the final third of the season. The final rankings that set the pairings for the national semifinals come out Sunday.
December 4, 2019 3:43 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – It’s still officially Duck season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Mike Tomlin says quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges will make his second straight start when the Steelers visit the Arizona Cardinals. Hodges is 2-0 as a starter this season and passed for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a victory over Cleveland. Tomlin said he likes what he’s seen from Hodges on the road. Hodges played a major role in road wins over the Chargers and Bengals earlier this season.
December 2, 2019 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Baltimore Ravens are 10-2 after winning a matchup of two of the NFL’s best teams. Justin Tucker drilled a 49-yard field goal as time expired to give the Ravens their eighth consecutive win, 20-17 over the San Francisco 49ers. Lamar Jackson prolonged the winning drive with a three-yard run on fourth-and-one and finished with 101 yards under miserable conditions in Baltimore. Baltimore relied on its running game for points while Jackson completed just 14 of 23 passes for 105 yards and a lost fumble. Raheem Mostert ran for a career-high 146 yards and a touchdown for the 10-2 49ers, who are tied with New Orleans for the best record in the NFC. Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went 15 of 21 for 165 yards.
Baltimore now shares the AFC’s best record with New England following the Patriots’ 28-22 loss to the Texans. Deshaun Watson had 234 yards passing and threw touchdown passes of 14, 13, and 35 yards as Houston built a 21-3 lead against New England’s vaunted defense. Watson also had a TD catch on a short flip from receiver DeAndre Hopkins on a trick play from the 6-yard line to help the Texans improve to 8-4. Tom Brady completed two of his three TD passes in the final 4 minutes to pull the Pats within six.
December 1, 2019 6:47 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Justin Faulk and Nathan Walker each scored for the first time with the Blues, and St. Louis beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2. Jaden Schwartz had a goal and an assist and Ivan Barbashev and Mackenzie MacEachern also scored for the Blues, who won their third straight game and have points in their last four. Jordan Binnington made 28 saves and improved to 13-4-4. Sam Lafferty and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins, who lost their second straight game.
December 1, 2019 2:21 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — If this was Steve Addazio’s last stand at Boston College, he went out with a bang. AJ Dillon ran for 178 yards and a touchdown, Aaron Boumerhi booted four field goals and the Atlantic Coast Conference’s worst defense forced four turnovers as the Eagles beat sloppy Pittsburgh 26-19 on Saturday to become bowl eligible and perhaps give their embattled coach a lifeline. Boston College (6-6, 4-4 ACC) reached bowl eligibility for the sixth time in seven seasons under Addazio by beating the Panthers in Pittsburgh for the first time in 21 years. Dillon’s ever-churning legs played a major role as the Eagles rolled up 264 yards on the ground against a team that entered ranked sixth in the country in run defense, allowing just 92.6 yards per game. Dillon surpassed that total on his own, including a 61-yard dash to the end zone in the third quarter that put Boston College ahead to stay shortly after Pitt went in front on a 39-yard sprint by Vincent Davis. Dennis Grosel passed for 123 yards and a touchdown and added 51 yards rushing for the Eagles. Kenny Pickett threw for 323 yards for the Panthers (7-5, 4-4) but Pitt drives regularly bogged down in Boston College territory. A week after getting shut out on the road at Virginia Tech, the Panthers managed just a single touchdown against a team that ranked next to last in the ACC in points allowed and last in yards allowed. Alex Kessman hit four field goals for Pitt, including a 43-yard field goal with 5:26 to go that pulled the Panthers within a touchdown. Pitt never got the ball back. Boston College chugged 40 yards on 11 plays — all runs — to drain the clock.
November 29, 2019 3:46 am
UNDATED (AP) – The New Orleans Saints are NFC South champions for the third consecutive year following a victory over the Falcons in Atlanta. Taysom Hill and the New Orleans defense highlighted a 26-18 victory against the Falcons. Hill blocked a punt to set up his 3-yard touchdown catch, and he later scored on a 30-yard run to put New Orleans ahead, 17-6 late in the first half.
Cameron Jordan recorded four of the Saints’ nine sacks of Matt Ryan, the last coming on fourth down in New Orleans territory with 38 seconds to play. Drew Brees passed for 184 yards and a TD to help the 10-2 Saints avenge their Nov. 10 loss to the Falcons in New Orleans. Ryan was picked off twice while completing 32 of his 50 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns for the 3-9 Falcons. The Buffalo Bills have fortified their postseason chances by earning their first Thanksgiving Day victory in 44 years. Josh Allen threw for a touchdown and ran for another as the Bills knocked off the Dallas Cowboys, 26-15. Allen also turned a fourth-down fumble into a first down before John Brown became the first Buffalo receiver to throw a touchdown pass. Brown’s 28-yard scoring pass to Devin Singletary put Buffalo ahead to stay just after the two-minute warning in the first half. Cole Beasley had 110 yards receiving and a touchdown in his first game against his former team, helping the Bills improve to 9-3. It was Buffalo’s first Thanksgiving Day appearance in 25 years. Dak Prescott threw a TD pass on the Cowboys’ opening drive, but Dallas didn’t score again until Prescott found Ventell Bryant for a touchdown with 4:01 remaining. Dallas is 6-6 following its sixth loss in nine games. The Eagles can catch the Cowboys for first place in the NFL East by defeating the Dolphins in Miami on Sunday. In Detroit, the Chicago Bears have given their fading playoff hopes a big boost with a second-half comeback against the Lions. Mitchell Trubisky tossed a three-yard scoring pass to David Montgomery with 2:17 remaining to send the Bears to their third win in four games, 24-20 over the Lions. The nine-play, 90-yard drive left the Bears 6-6 and allowed Trubisky to finish with 338 yards and three touchdowns. The Lions got to the Chicago 26 on their final drive before Eddie Jackson intercepted a pass on fourth down in the closing seconds. David Blough didn’t look bad in his first NFL start. The undrafted rookie from Purdue was 22 of 38 for 280 yards with two TDs and an interception for Detroit. The Lions are 3-8-1 following their fifth straight loss, eliminating them from postseason contention.
November 28, 2019 4:01 am
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Justin Champagnie had 21 points to lead Pittsburgh to a 72-59 victory over Northwestern in the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship game on Wednesday night. Eric Hamilton added 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Panthers (6-2) prevailed in a game that featured former Duke teammates and assistant coaches Jeff Capel and Chris Collins. Pat Spencer had 18 points and Bob Buie 13 for Northwestern (3-3). Champagnie hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half to push Pitt’s lead to 56-43 with 5 1/2 minutes to play. The Wildcats cut the deficit back to six with just under three minutes left but a 9-0 surge, with Champagnie hitting another 3, sealed the deal. After a slow start, the Panthers made 7 of 25 treys. At one point, the Panthers were 2 of 33 behind the arc in the tournament. A 13-4 run by Pitt gave it a 17-8 lead in the first half, which ended with the Panthers on top 25-23.
November 28, 2019 4:00 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday announced that Derek Shelton has been named the 41st Manager in the history of the organization. The announcement was made by Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington. The 49-year-old Shelton has 15 years of coaching experience at the Major League level. He spent the last two seasons as the Bench Coach with the Minnesota Twins, after having served as Quality Control Coach for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2017 season. Prior to his time in Toronto, Shelton spent seven seasons as the Hitting Coach for the Tampa Bay Rays and remains the longest tenured hitting coach in Tampa Bay’s history. Shelton began his big league coaching career with the Cleveland Indians, serving as Hitting Coach from 2005-09. “I have known Derek for more than 15 years and have great admiration for his passion for the game and players, work ethic, curiosity, and desire to learn,” Cherington said. “He has worked and learned from some of the best in the game, and in turn has helped players and colleagues learn and improve during his 20 years of coaching and managing. We are confident Derek will help lead an elite playing and coaching environment at the Major League level and be a true partner to all of baseball operations as we challenge each other to get better every day. I want to thank our entire baseball operations group for their tireless work over the past several weeks of this search. We are thrilled to get to work with Derek and continue building toward a winning team in Pittsburgh.” “My family and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Pittsburgh community and are humbled to be a part of this storied franchise,” Shelton said. “One of the most exciting things for me during the interview process was just how evident the passion for Pittsburgh and the desire to succeed was with everyone I interacted with. Shelton spent three seasons (2000-2002) as a manager in the New York Yankees’ farm system and captured two league championships. He led the GCL Yankees to first-place finishes in 2000 (38-22 record) and 2001 (35-25), with the team winning the title in 2001 after losing in the finals in 2000. Shelton also led the Staten Island club to a league-best record (48-26) and a New York-Penn League championship in 2002.
November 27, 2019 3:46 am
UNDATED (AP) – Ohio State jumped LSU to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings with two weeks to go before selection Sunday. LSU slipped to two and Clemson remained No. 3 while Georgia held on at four. If playoff history holds form, three of those top four teams will reach the semifinals. Alabama remained No. 5 with Utah moving up a spot to No. 6. The Utes are the only Pac-12 team in the top 10 after Oregon dropped eight spots to 14th. Oklahoma is seventh followed by Minnesota, Baylor and Penn State. In each of the first five years of the playoff, three of the top four teams in the rankings heading into rivalry weekend reached the semifinals, including the No. 1 team every time.
November 26, 2019 3:47 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Lamar Jackson has made another case for the NFL’s most valuable player award. Jackson tied a career high with five touchdown passes while completing 15 of 20 throws for 169 yards in leading the Baltimore Ravens to a 45-6 blowout over the Rams in Los Angeles. Marquise Brown and Willie Snead each grabbed two scoring passes from Jackson, who also ran for 95 yards on just eight carries. Mark Ingram rushed for 111 yards and a TD and caught a scoring pass. Ingram helped the 9-2 Ravens get their seventh straight win and become the fourth team in this century to score touchdowns on its first six drives in a game. Baltimore consistently shredded the Rams’ defense, racking up 480 yards and controlling the ball for almost 40 minutes. Jerod Goff threw for 212 yards and was picked off twice as Los Angeles fell to 6-5.
