AP National Sports

By JOHN FINERAN Associated Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — After a short rest and some film review following an early-morning arrival back from Sunday night’s 41-38 overtime victory at Florida State, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly knows his No. 9 Irish need to improve in several areas for their home opener Saturday against Toledo

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Lions have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL, and they’ll have their hands full in Week 1 against a San Francisco offense that promises to be unpredictable. One of the biggest challenges facing first-time head coach Dan Campbell is preparing for San Francisco’s possible quarterback rotation

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos stumbled through another difficult season in 2020 when they lost a bevy of defensive backs to injuries and a suspension. Job No. 1 for new general manager George Paton was fixing his scrambled secondary. Paton bolstered the group both through free

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer The Indiana Hoosiers took soaring hopes into their season opener. At No. 17, they had their highest preseason ranking in more than half a century. They routinely spoke about the goal of winning a Big Ten Conference title. Now, after getting blown out 34-6 at No. 18 Iowa, the

By PATRICK STEVENS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Carter Kieboom and Andrew Stevenson hit RBI singles in the ninth inning off Edwin Díaz and the Washington Nationals rallied once again, edging the New York Mets 4-3 in the finale of a five-game series. The Nationals, who had lost eight of their last nine, were 1

By TERESA M. WALKER AP Pro Football Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans’ COVID-19 outbreak is nearing an end even with two starting offensive linemen still on the reserve list. Not everyone around the NFL may be as healthy to kick off this season with COVID-19 proving to be an issue hovering over

By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer It’s almost as if the NFL is emulating college football heading into the 2021 season. Yes, the Buccaneers are the defending champions and the Packers deservedly have title aspirations. The rest of the NFC, well, it looks more like Conference USA in comparison to the AFC, the professional

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Fans of away teams are set to travel again for games when the Champions League resumes next week. UEFA has cleared the way for away team fans to attend games internationally citing vaccine programs across Europe for relaxing its rules. Local public officials will retain final approval. The opening Champions League

By TODD KARPOVICH Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Andrew Benintendi hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, then reached above the left field wall to take away a potential tying home run in the ninth, sending the Kansas City Royals over the Baltimore Orioles 3-2. Hanser Alberto homered against his former team to help

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer SEATTLE (AP) — Washington coach Jimmy Lake was apologetic. It was the tone he had to take just two days after arguably the most embarrassing loss in the history of the Washington program. Ranked No. 20 in the country, Washington was stunned at home Saturday in a 13-7 loss

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer The pitch intruders claimed to have very good reason to be confronting players only seven minutes into Brazil’s World Cup qualifier against Argentina. The game was halted on Sunday and chaos ensued as Argentina great Lionel Messi and Brazil star Neymar watched on. Four Argentina players from English

By LARRY FLEISHER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 40th homer, Marcus Semien went deep twice and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 8-0 for their fifth straight win. Hyun Jin Ryu pitched six effective innings as the Blue Jays won for the eighth time in nine

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have been trying to keep their window for championship contention pried open as long as possible. They’re committed for at least another season to lean on many of the same standouts they’ve had on defense for years. They even turned the

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves have locked up another key player for next season, announcing a $20 million, one-year deal for pitcher Charlie Morton. The contract includes a $20 million club option for 2023 with no buyout. The 37-year-old right-hander has gone 13-5 with a 3.47 ERA for

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer AUSTN, Texas (AP) — Hudson Card did everything Texas hoped he would in his first career start at quarterback for the Longhorns. He passed and ran well in a comfortable home victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. Going on the road to Arkansas could be much harder to do. A hostile, sellout

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance showed signs of progress in returning from a finger injury but there are still questions about whether he will be able to play in the season opener. Lance no longer needed a splint on the index

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer BEREA, Ohio (AP) — After a couple setbacks, Browns rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah says he’s ready for his first NFL game. He’d better be. Cleveland will open the season Sunday against the two-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, who eliminated the Browns in last year’s playoffs. The second-round pick

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic has extended his pursuit of the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969 by beating the last U.S. singles player at the U.S. Open. Djokovic’s 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 20-year-old Californian Jenson Brooksby on Monday night means there are

PETE IACOBELLI AP Sports Writer COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott isn’t throwing everything out after his team’s poor performance in a 10-3 loss to No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night. The third-ranked Tigers didn’t score a touchdown in a game for the first time since falling 24-6 to Alabama in the