FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Marcus Jones had an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown, Drake Maye added two touchdown passes and ran for another, and the New England Patriots rolled to a 42-13 win over the Carolina Panthers. TreVeyon Henderson and Antonio Gibson added touchdown runs and Jones had a 61-yard punt return that set up another TD to help the Patriots avoid their fifth straight 1-3 start. The Patriots were turnover-free while going 4 for 4 in the red zone.… Continue Reading
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — The New York fans gave Europe a stronger challenge than the American players. Team Europe handled both beautifully and are on the verge of winning the Ryder Cup again. Europe won six of the eight matches Saturday and set a Ryder Cup record with an 11 1/2-4 1/2 lead going into the Sunday singles. Rory McIlroy caught the brunt of the verbal abuse. He answered with an expletive and great golf. McIlroy has won all four of his matches. Scottie Scheffler made the wrong kind of history by becoming the first player to go 0-4 in the team matches.… Continue Reading
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Bryson DeChambeau delivered a rousing start to the Ryder Cup. Turns out that’s all it was during an opening session bathed in European blue. Jon Rahm won his fifth straight foursomes match and Europe had a 3-1 lead after the opening session. The notorious Bethpage Black crowd has been mostly silent because the scoreboard has been filled with European blue points. The Europeans won the first three matches with ease. None reached the 16th hole. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele saved the Americans from another opening session shutout when they won the anchor match just as President Donald Trump was arriving.… Continue Reading
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Ben Griffin is a Ryder Cup rookie with a path unlike any other American at Bethpage Black. It was only four summers ago when Griffin was working as a mortgage loan officer. He was a good junior and college player. The developmental tours wore him down so he quit to work a 9-5 job. And through a chain of events he never saw coming, Griffin got back in the game. Four years later, he’s No. 11 in the world and a two-time PGA Tour winner. And this week he tees it up against Europe in the Ryder Cup.… Continue Reading
No. 8 Florida State and No. 16 Georgia Tech are hitting the road in Atlantic Coast Conference play this week. The Seminoles visit high-scoring Virginia on Friday to open their league slate. The Yellow Jackets beat Clemson in their ACC opener. They travel to face a Wake Forest team led by first-year coach Jake Dickert. This week’s schedule includes Duke visiting Syracuse. The Blue Devils are coming off an instate win against N.C. State. The Orange are coming off a win at Clemson. Louisville’s trip to Pittsburgh is another game to watch on the schedule.… Continue Reading
Football Bowl Subdivision teams are averaging 3.82 punts per game through Week 4 of the season. That figure on track to be the lowest since the NCAA began keeping the statistic in 1937. Punt attempts have decreased eight straight seasons, and the 2024 average of 4.06 was one full punt per game less than in 2015. The sport’s growing reliance on analytics has encouraged coaches to be aggressive on fourth down. Also, field goals from long distances are on the rise.… Continue Reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee has approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026. Human umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game. Challenges must be made by a pitcher, catcher or batter. A team retains its challenge if successful. Reviews will be shown as digital graphics on outfield videoboards. Adding robot umps could reduce ejections, as most are related to balls and strikes. The Automated Ball/Strike System has been tested in the minor leagues since 2019. The challenge system allows for ABS without eliminating pitch framing, a skill for catchers. This is MLB’s first major rule change since 2024.… Continue Reading
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference is moving to a nine-game league schedule for football while having teams play at least 10 games against power-conference opponents, though there will be variables due to the league’s odd number of football-playing member schools. Going from an eight- to a nine-game model would align the ACC with its power-conference peers in the Big 12, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences. The ACC would join the SEC in playing 10 games against Power Four opponents. The SEC announced its plans for a nine-game schedule last month.… Continue Reading
Kara Lawson helped the U.S. women’s basketball team win an Olympic gold medal as a player 17 years ago. Now she’ll have a chance to lead it to another as the coach in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Lawson was announced as the head coach for the women’s team for the next four years by USA Basketball on Monday. Naming Lawson as the coach was the first official move made by Sue Bird, who started as the U.S. national team director earlier this year. In the past, a committee would decide on the coach and roster. Lawson also coaches Duke’s women’s basketball team.… Continue Reading
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have earned their first win of the season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 30-0 on Sunday. Bryce Young ran for a touchdown, while Chau Smith-Wade returned an interception for a score. Rookie Ryan Fitzgerald contributed with three field goals. Young completed 16 of 24 passes for 121 yards, avoiding turnovers after struggling in previous games. The Panthers intercepted Michael Penix Jr. twice and forced three turnovers. The Falcons struggled offensively, with Bijan Robinson being the lone standout with 111 yards from scrimmage. It was Carolina’s first shutout since 2020.… Continue Reading