AP National Sports

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer Alabama looked beatable. Ohio State’s defense still looked discombobulated. Clemson’s offense still looked limp. Oklahoma was far less than elite again. Maybe the season of the super team won’t be such a forgone conclusion after all. The top-ranked Crimson Tide faced its first serious challenge, but managed

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Malik Willis threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more as Liberty shut out Old Dominion in the second half to earn a 45-17 in a non-conference game. Liberty had three third-quarter sacks and held the Monarchs to minus-1 yard of offense in the period. Kendy Charles had a career-high

By The Associated Press Saturday’s best: Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson broke Archie Griffin’s 49-year-old freshman rushing record, running for 277 yards and three touchdowns as the No. 9 Buckeyes pulled away late to beat Tulsa 41-20. Eastern Washington’s Eric Barriere also set the FCS record for passing yards in a half with 487 in a

SPARTANBURG Xavier Shepherd threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran 56 yards for a fourth-quarter score as Kennesaw State breezed to a 31-10 road victory over Wofford in nonconference play. Nathan Robertson staked the Owls (2-1) to a 3-0 lead with a 24-yard field goal at the 5:11 mark of the second quarter. Shepherd

RUSTON, La. (AP) — Tanner Mordecai threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Roberson Jr. on the final play to give SMU a 39-37 win at Louisiana Tech in a non-conference game. Austin Kendall fired an 11-yard strike to Marcus Williams Jr. with 5:07 left, then set up a 38-yard field goal by Cesar Barajas

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — Bailey Fisher had a touchdown pass and ran for two of Gardner-Webb’s six rushing TDs as the Bulldogs handled Division II-member Lincoln (PA) 56-0. Fisher hit Narii Gaither for an 11-yard score to open the scoring in the first quarter and Gardner-Webb (1-2) never looked back. Fisher had two 4-yard

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Gyasi Zardes scored in the 58th minute, Eloy Room had six saves and the Columbus Crew tied 1-1 with the New England Revolution. Room was obviously favoring his right leg late in the closing minutes but managed to knock away back-to-back shots by Buksa. Room deflected the first with his lower

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Jaylan Adams accounted for two touchdowns, and The Citadel beat Division II-member North Greenville 45-13. Adams threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Raleigh Webb on The Citadel’s second play from scrimmage. Destin Mack’s interception return of 92 yards set up Adams’ 3-yard TD run late in the third quarter that stretched

LEWISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rory Starkey Jr. had 113 yards receiving and a score and Ryan Cragun added 110 receiving yards with a touchdown and Pennsylvania smoked Bucknell 30-6 in its season opener. John Quinnelly threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns and his 44-yard scoring pass to Cragun with 8:37 before halftime broke a

By PETE IACOBELLI AP Sports Writer CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Will Shipley ran for two touchdowns and No. 6 Clemson survived a wild finish to escape Georgia Tech with a 14-8 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday night. Shipley had two scoring runs of 3 yards, the last coming midway through the fourth quarter as

By The Associated Press Shohei Ohtani is set to pitch for the Angels against Oakland on Sunday a few days after manager Joe Maddon contemplated shutting down the two-way star with arm soreness. Ohtani was scratched from a scheduled start Friday because of the discomfort but threw a 30-pitch bullpen instead and came out feeling

CULLOWHEE, N.C. (AP) — DeMarcus Ware ran for 118 yards and three touchdowns, including the deciding score with 6:28 left in the game as Samford held off a second-half comeback by Western Carolina to earn a 42-37 victory in the Southern Conference opener for both teams. Ware ran 44 yards for the game’s first score,

By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A person with direct knowledge of Jack Eichel’s plans tells The Associated Press the Sabres captain will travel to Buffalo for his pre-training camp physical this week amid questions of whether he’ll be cleared to play, and his future with the team in limbo. The

TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Quincy Patterson passed and ran for touchdowns and the North Dakota State defense smothered Towson in a 35-7 victory. The Bison, a top-five ranked FCS team, outgained the Tigers 339-48 in the first half when North Dakota State took a 21-0 lead following three drives covering 82 yards or more. Will

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Davis Alexander threw a pair of touchdown passes as Portland State knocked off Division II Western Oregon 21-7. Alexander engineered a nine-play, 90-yard drive in the first quarter, hitting Beau Kelly from nine-yards out for the game’s first score. The pair combined on the Vikings’ third touchdown, an 18-yard strike to

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Thomas Pannunzio returned a punt 70 yards for the game’s only touchdown and Cayden Camper kicked five field goals as Colorado State surprised Toledo 22-6. Pannunzio fielded the punt at his 30-yard line, started to his left, then broke to his right. After slipping through several arm tackles, he went the

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — Colton Herta will attempt to defend his 2019 victory at Laguna Seca from the pole on Sunday. Should he win the race, he’d match his father Bryan Herta as two-time winners on the rolling California road course. Colton would also pass his father for

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) — Matt McDonald threw for a touchdown and ran for another and Bowling Green ended a 10-game losing streak with a 27-10 win over FCS-level Murray State. The Falcons (1-2), who went 0-5 in the pandemic shortened 2020 season, dominated the second half behind McDonald, outscoring the Racers 17-0. Bowling Green

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — John Force topped Funny Car qualifying for the 163rd time in his career Saturday in the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. The 72-year-old Force’s run of 3.860 seconds at 332.18 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro on Friday held up, for his third No. 1 qualifier of the season. His

By CLAY BAILEY Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Calvin Austin scored three second-half touchdowns including a questionable 94-yard punt return in the fourth quarter as Memphis rallied for a 31-29 victory over Mississippi State. The victory and Austin’s punt return culminated a wild final six minutes that included onside kicks, penalties and reviews such