Newspaper Page Text
2B Wednesday, November 7, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL | CFP rankings
TONY DING I Associated Press
Michigan defensive back Brandon Watson (28) celebrates with defensive lineman Kwity
Paye, right, after returning an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter of a game
against Penn State on Saturday, Nov. 3, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan won 42-7.
Wolverines still in
the hunt for playoff
Michigan up to 4th behind Bama, Clemson, ND
NFL
Roethlisberger
skips practice,
but expects to
face Panthers
Pittsburgh Steelers quar
terback Ben Roethlisberger
sat out practice on Tues
day to give his broken left
index finger a rest but he is
expected to play on Thurs
day night when
Carolina visits Heinz
Field.
Roethlisberger
said the finger was
“fine” after he
threw the ball 47
times in last Sun
day’s victory over
Baltimore.
He did leave the
game briefly in the third
quarter after getting the
wind knocked out of him, but
he returned after missing
just one snap.
The 36-year-old is on pace
to top 5,000 yards passing for
the first time in his career.
He came close in 2014 when
he tied Drew Brees for
the league lead with 4,952.
Roethlisberger said reach
ing the 5,000-yard plateau
“is still a pretty big deal” but
he is keeping his focus on the
team.
The Steelers (5-2-1) have
ripped off four straight wins
to climb into first in the
AFC North. The short week
means they won’t have much
time to prepare for the surg
ing Panthers (6-2), which
might not be a bad thing.
Roethlisberger expects to
rely a little more heavily
on the no-huddle offense, a
setup in which he thrives.
The Steelers often turn to
the no-huddle in an effort
to snap them out of a funk
early in games, but Roeth
lisberger isn’t using it as a
method of trying to get the
ball downfield.
While he’s on track to set
a career high in yards, his
production has dipped a
bit during Pittsburgh’s win
ning streak. He’s gone over
300 yards just once in Pitts
burgh’s past five games after
going over 330 yards in each
of the first three weeks.
Basketball/college
Men’s Top 25 Schedule
All Times EST
Today’s Games
No. 20 TCU vs. Cal State Bakersfield, 9 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
No games scheduled
Friday’s Games
No. 2 Kentucky vs. Southern Illinois, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Tennessee vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, 7
p.m.
No. 7 Nevada vs. Pacific, 10 p.m.
No. 8 North Carolina at Elon, 7 p.m.
No. 11 Auburn vs. No. 25 Washington, 9:30
p.m.
No. 12 Kansas State vs. Kennesaw State,
8 p.m.
No. 13 West Virginia vs. Buffalo, 9 p.m.
No. 14 Oregon vs. Eastern Washington, 9 p.m.
No. 15 Virginia Tech vs. Gardner-Webb, 7 p.m.
No. 18 Mississippi State vs. Austin Peay,
7:30 p.m.
No. 21 UCLA vs. Long Beach State, 11 p.m.
No. 22 Clemson vs. N.C. Central, 7 p.m.
No. 23 LSU vs. UNC Greensboro, 8 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
No. 3 Gonzaga vs. Texas Southern, 10 p.m.
No. 9 Villanova vs. Quinnipiac at the Wells
Fargo Center, 8 p.m.
No. 16 Syracuse vs. Morehead State, 7 p.m.
No. 19 Michigan vs. Holy Cross, 7:30 p.m.
No. 24 Purdue vs. Ball State, 8 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
No. 4 Duke vs. Army, 1 p.m.
No. 5 Virginia vs. George Washington, 2 p.m.
No. 10 Michigan State vs. Florida Gulf Coast,
6 p.m.
No. 17 Florida State atTulane, 7 p.m.
No. 18 Mississippi State vs. Hartford, 5 p.m.
No. 20 TCU vs. Oral Roberts, 5 p.m.
Women’s Top 25 Schedule
All Times EST
Today’s Games
No. 7 Stanford vs. UC Davis, 10 p.m.
No. 17 N.C. State vs. Belmont, 7 p.m.
No. 20 Texas A&M vs. Rice, 7 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
No. 4 Baylor vs. Saint Francis (Pa.), 8 p.m.
No. 11 Texas vs. Duquesne, 8 p.m.
Friday’s Games
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. Harvard, 4 p.m.
No. 5 Louisville at Chattanooga, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Mississippi State at Virginia, 7 p.m.
No. 8 Oregon State vs. Cal Poly, 10 p.m.
No. 9 Maryland vs. Coppin State, 7 p.m.
No. 13 Iowa vs. Oral Roberts, 8 p.m.
No. 14 Georgia vs. St. Bonaventure, 6 p.m.
No. 15 DePaul vs. Green Bay, 8 p.m.
No. 19 Marquette vs. Montana State, 8 p.m.
No. 22 South Florida vs. Albany, 7 p.m.
No. 25 Miami vs. Stephen F. Austin, 11 a.m.
Saturday’s Game
No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 18 Syracuse, 5 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
No. 2 UConn vs. Ohio State, Noon
No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 23 Arizona State at Bee
Holdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center, Fort
Defiance, Ariz., 7:30 p.m.
No. 7 Stanford vs. Idaho, 5 p.m.
No. 9 Maryland vs. Dayton, 2 p.m.
No. 10 South Carolina at Alabama State,
4 p.m.
No. 11 Tennessee vs. Presbyterian, 2 p.m.
No. 14 Georgia vs. Winthrop, 2 p.m.
No. 17 N.C. State vs. Kent State, 2 p.m.
No. 19 Marquette vs. Delaware or Northern
Iowa, 5 p.m.
No. 20 Texas A&M vs. Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
No. 21 Duke at Northwestern, 2 p.m.
No. 24 California at Penn State, 2 p.m.
No. 25 Miami vs. Hartford or Morgan State,
1 p.m.
Basketball
■ College basketball: Ohio
State at Cincinnati,
6 p.m., ESPN2
■ College basketball:
Bethune-Cookman at DePaul,
7:30 p.m., FS1
■ 76ers at Pacers, 8 p.m.,
ESPN
■ College basketball: Toledo
at Northern Illinois, 8 p.m.,
ESPN2
■ Timberwolves at Lakers,
10:30 p.m., ESPN
An improved defense has
helped. Roethlisberger lit up
scoreboards early because
the Steelers were trying to
keep up with opponents who
had little trouble getting to
the end zone.
That’s not happening
much anymore. Now that
Roethlisberger isn’t tasked
with trying to play catch up,
the Steelers have taken a
more balanced approach.
Second-year running back
James Conner is second in
the NFL in yards
from scrimmage
and Roethlisberger
is content to keep
throwing the ball
underneath to move
the chains and
keep Pittsburgh’s
defense off the field.
And just like that,
Pittsburgh’s slug
gish 1-2-1 start has
become a distant memory.
Jerry Jones:
Cowboys ‘not in
anything’ without
improved play
Even if the Dallas Cow
boys were better than 3-5,
Jerry Jones says he would
have plenty of cause for
concern based on what he
saw in a damaging loss to
Tennessee.
And the normally upbeat
owner and general manager
doesn’t care to discuss the
NFC East standings, even
though the Cowboys can pull
even with defending Super
Bowl champion Philadelphia
by getting their first road win
of the season at the Eagles on
Sunday.
“We’re not in anything if
we don’t play better,” Jones
said after a 28-14 loss to the
Titans that looked like it
could be a blowout win for
Dallas midway through the
first quarter. “What I recog
nize is not so much the three
wins and five losses but the
way we lost this game and
the way we played in the
game.”
The Cowboys traded for a
new No. 1 receiver in Amari
Cooper and fired offensive
line coach Paul Alexander
during a surprisingly busy
open week. The changes
Football/college
2018 College Football Playoff Rankings
Record
1. Alabama
9-0
2. Clemson
9-0
3. Notre Dame
9-0
4. Michigan
8-1
5. Georgia
8-1
6. Oklahoma
8-1
7. LSU
7-2
8. Washington St.
8-1
9. West Virginia
7-1
10. Ohio St.
8-1
11. Kentucky
7-2
12. UCF
8-0
13. Syracuse
7-2
14. NC State
6-2
15. Florida
6-3
16. Mississippi St.
6-3
17. Boston College
7-2
18. Michiagn St.
6-3
19. Texas
6-3
20. Penn St.
6-3
21. Iowa
6-3
22. Iowa St.
5-3
23. Fresno St.
8-1
24. Auburn
6-3
25. Washington
7-3
The playoff semifinals match the No. 1 seed
vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3.
The semifinals will be hosted at the Cotton Bowl
and Orange Bowl on Dec. 29. The championship
game will be played on Jan. 7, 2019 at Santa
Clara, Calif.
Golf
World Golf Ranking
Through Nov. 4
1. Justin Rose
ENG
10.29
2. Brooks Koepka
USA
10.24
3. Dustin Johnson
USA
9.56
4. Justin Thomas
USA
9.10
5. Bryson DeChambeau
USA
7.42
6. Rory Mcllroy
NIR
6.83
7. Francesco Molinari
ITA
6.62
8. Jon Rahm
ESP
6.27
9. Rickie Fowler
USA
6.25
10. Tommy Fleetwood
ENG
6.07
11. Jason Day
AUS
6.06
12. Xander Schauffele
USA
5.81
13. Tiger Woods
USA
5.67
14. Jordan Spieth
USA
5.56
15. Tony Finau
USA
5.46
16. Bubba Watson
USA
5.13
17. Patrick Reed
USA
4.97
18. Patrick Cantlay
USA
4.77
19. Marc Leishman
AUS
4.71
20. Webb Simpson
USA
4.67
21. Alex Noren
SWE
4.66
22. Paul Casey
ENG
4.59
23. Hideki Matsuyama
JPN
4.29
24. Tyrrell Hatton
ENG
4.02
25. Rafa Cabrera Bello
ESP
3.78
26. Phil Mickelson
USA
3.77
27. Sergio Garcia
ESP
3.75
28. Kyle Stanley
USA
3.66
29. Henrik Stenson
SWE
3.60
30. Keegan Bradley
USA
3.57
31. Gary Woodland
USA
3.56
32. Kevin Kisner
USA
3.40
33. Cameron Smith
AUS
3.39
34. Eddie Pepperrell
ENG
3.27
35. Billy Horschel
USA
3.19
36. Ian Poulter
ENG
3.17
37. Kiradech Aphibarnrat
THA
3.13
38. Adam Scott
AUS
2.99
39. Louis Oosthuizen
SAF
2.97
40. Matt Kuchar
USA
2.90
41. Thorbjorn Olesen
DEN
2.84
42. Haotong Li
CHN
2.84
Hockey
■ Penguins at
Capitals, 7:30 p.m.,
NBCSN
■ Predators at
Avalanche, 10 p.m.,
NBCSN
looked good early, with Coo
per scoring the first Dallas
touchdown and star running
back Ezekiel Elliott having
75 yards from scrimmage in
the first quarter.
Everything changed with
Dak Prescott’s throw to Coo
per in double coverage in
the end zone with a 7-0 lead.
Kevin Byard intercepted,
Tennessee drove 80 yards in
15 plays for the tie and the
Titans never trailed again.
Now the Cowboys are look
ing at a second straight year
of missing the playoffs since
the remarkable rookie sea
sons for Prescott and Elliott,
who powered Dallas to an
NFC-best 13 wins before
a divisional round loss to
Green Bay.
Since a franchise-record
11-game winning streak for
an 11-1 record two years
ago, the Cowboys are 14-15,
including the loss to the
Packers.
QB Nick Mullens
to get 2nd start for
49ers this week
The San Francisco 49ers
(2-7) are sticking with Nick
Mullens as their starting
quarterback after his spec
tacular debut performance.
Mullens said coach Kyle
Shanahan told him Tues
day that he will remain the
starter for the upcoming
game against the New York
Giants.
“We discussed it. Obvi
ously the situation is what it
is,” Mullens said. “The team
is ready to get to work and
treat it like any other week.
My preparation doesn’t
change and this team’s prep
aration doesn’t change.”
Mullens was sharp in his
debut, after spending his
first year-plus in the NFL
on the practice squad as an
undrafted free agent out of
Southern Mississippi.
Mullens completed 16 of
22 passes for 262 yards, three
touchdowns and no intercep
tions for a 151.9 passer rat
ing in a 34-3 victory over the
Oakland Raiders. That’s the
highest since the merger for
a player in his debut with at
least 20 attempts.
Transactions
BASEBALL
American League
SEATTLE MARINERS — Named Paul Davis
pitching coach.
National League
CINCINNATI REDS — Named Turner Ward
hitting coach.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Named Paco
Figueroa outfield/baserunning coach.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association
NBA — Fined Boston G Kyrie Irving $25,000
for throwing the ball into the spectator stands.
FOOTBALL
National Football League
BUFFALO BILLS — Released CB Phillip
Gaines. Signed CB Levi Wallace from the prac
tice squad.
DETROIT LIONS — Released RB Ameer
Abdullah. Signed RB Zach Zenner and WR
Bruce Ellington.
GREEN BAY PACKERS — Placed WR Geronimo
Allison on injured reserve. Released S Jermaine
Whitehead. Signed CB Will Redmond from the
practice squad and LB Brady Sheldon to the
practice squad.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Signed 0T Storm
Norton to the practice squad.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Released OL
Cole Croston and DL Geneo Grissom. Placed OL
Brian Schwenke on injured reserve. Released
RB Kenneth Farrow from the practice squad.
Signed LB Albert McClellan and DB Obi
Melifonwu.
WASHINGTON REDSKINS — Activated DL
Stacy McGee from the Active/Physically Unable
to Perform list. Waived DB Kenny Ladler. Signed
T Jarron Jones to the practice squad. Released
T Justinb Evans from the practice squad.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
ARIZONA COYOTES — Recalled D Dakota
Mermis from Tucson (AHL).
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS — Fired coach
Joel Quenneville and assistant coaches Kevin
Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson. Named Jeremy
Colliton coach and Barry Smith assistant coach.
DALLAS STARS — Assigned G Colton Point
and F Tony Calderone from Texas (AHL) to
Idaho (ECHL).
DETROIT RED WINGS — Recalled C
Christoffer Ehn from Grand Rapids (AHL).
EDMONTON OILERS — Assigned G Stuart
Skinner from Bakersfield (AHL) to Wichita
(ECHL).
WINNIPEG JETS—Assigned G Mikhail Berdin
from Manitoba (AHL) to Jacksonville (ECHL).
American Hockey League
BAKERSFIELD CONDORS — Recalled F John
McFarland from Wichita (ECHL).
CLEVELAND MONSTERS — Assigned Fs Dan
DeSalvo and F Nikita Korostelev to Jacksonville
(ECHL).
GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS — Assigned D
Trevor Hamilton to Toledo (ECHL). Recalled
C Trevor Yates from Toledo. Named Ashley
Oostindie director of digital marketing and
Paige Sliney digital media production manager.
SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS — Assigned G
Chris Driedger to Manchester (ECHL).
SOCCER
Major League Soccer
LA GALAXY — Fired vice president of soccer
operations Pete Vagenas.
United Soccer League
NEW MEXICO UNITED — Signed F Devon
Sandoval, G Cody Mizell, Ms Juan Guzman and
Toni Soler and Ds Joshua Suggs and Austin
Yearwood.
COLLEGE
WOFFORD — Fired women’s lacrosse coach
Ceri Miller.
FOOTBALL
■ College football:
Ohio at Miami (Ohio),
7 p.m., ESPNU
I
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
Michigan moved into the
fourth spot of the College
Football Playoff rankings
Tuesday night, behind Ala
bama, Clemson and Notre
Dame.
Georgia was next at five,
followed by Oklahoma.
The playoff picture
cleared up after a weekend
where several contenders
asserted themselves. The
top-four teams in the final
rankings Dec. 2 will play in
the national semifinals.
The Crimson Tide easily
dispatched LSU from the
top four, beating the Tigers
29-0. LSU, though, only
dropped to No. 7 after its
second loss, ahead of Wash
ington State, West Virginia
and Ohio State — all with
only one loss.
Unbeaten Notre Dame
moved up one spot to No.
3, and Michigan jumped
a spot after a 42-7 victory
against Penn State.
With four weeks left in
the season, nine of the top
10 teams are serious con
tenders. LSU is basically
out, because the Tigers
have no chance to win a
conference title.
Assuming the top three
unbeaten teams would get
in by winning out, here are
the paths to the playoff.
No. 1 Alabama (9-0)
The Tide is already
locked into the SEC cham
pionship game and has
built up enough equity
that even a regular-season
loss to Mississippi State or
Auburn won’t keep Tua
Tagovailoa and Co. out of
the playoff. Now if they lost
twice ... yeah, that’s proba
bly not happening. The only
intrigue involving Alabama
is whether the Tide could
lose the SEC championship
game, finish 12-1 and still
get in? The chances are
probably decent.
No. 2 Clemson (9-0)
Like Alabama, the Tigers
have some room for a reg
ular-season misstep, but
their position is not a strong
as the Tide’s. With a loss
to ACC Atlantic rival Bos
ton College on Saturday,
Clemson would be at risk of
being shut out of the confer
ence title game. Ohio State
GEORGIA
■ Continued from 1B
team, and when they get
going in a groove it can
hurt a lot of teams,” Led
better said. “People get
tired, and they’ve got a lot
of defenses that aren’t lined
up. They’ve got guys like
that. You have to be able
to stay ready and sustain in
moments like that.”
Defensive back JR Reed
added that Auburn’s com
plex offensive schemes is
oftentimes hard to follow.
The Tigers use plenty of
what Smart referred to as
“window dressing” — for
mation disguises and pre
snap motions designed to
keep defensive players
constantly on their toes.
“They like to run a lot
of tricky formations,”
Reed said. “A lot of shifts
and motions and get your
defense thinking. Commu
nication is going to be a big
and Alabama both made
the playoff at 11-1, without
even playing for a league
title the last two seasons.
The Tigers could, too, but it
is no slam dunk.
No. 3 Notre Dame (9-0)
The Irish finish with
three winnable games, but
no locks. Notre Dame fans
believe their team holds a
trump card against Michi
gan, with that season-open
ing victory in South Bend.
That could buffer the Irish
against one loss in their
final three games, but with
no conference title and
some struggling marquee
teams on their schedule
such as Virginia Tech and
Stanford, Notre Dame is
not a lock if it gets into a
resume contest with other
one-loss teams. Even one
it beat.
No. 4 Michigan (8-1)
The Wolverines have to
feel good about control
ling their path to the play
off. Winning out, including
at Ohio State, puts Jim
Harbaugh’s team at 12-1
with a Big Ten title. That’s
a resume with victories
against Michigan State,
Wisconsin and Penn State,
and a seven-point road loss
to Notre Dame. One loss
and Michigan is out, right?
Not so fast. Take a quick
glance at the rankings and
notice how many highly
ranked teams still have to
play each other. It won’t
take more than one or two
mild upsets to have the
selection committee sifting
through a bunch of two-loss
teams to fill the final play
off spot. Figure the ones
with conference champion
ships will have the edge.
No. 5 Georgia (8-1)
Simple: Win out, get in.
Oh, and beat Alabama. The
good news for the Bulldogs
is beating Alabama to win
the SEC championship
would almost certainly
make up for a second regu
lar-season loss. Georgia has
got a little leeway when it
faces Auburn and Georgia
Tech.
No. 6 Oklahoma (8-1)
UCLA did the Sooners
no favor by being terrible
and depriving Oklahoma
of a quality nonconference
victory. Still, the Sooners
are probably the Big 12’s
key this week.”
Reed said he hadn’t yet
started looking at tape
of Stidham, by Georgia’s
Monday press conference,
but he still has plenty of
familiarity with the upcom
ing opponent. Saturday’s
matchup will be the third
meeting of Georgia and
Auburn in the last calendar
year.
And while the Bulldogs
and Tigers split the previ
ous two — with Auburn
winning at home on Nov.
11 of last year and Georgia
taking the rematch a month
later in the SEC Champi
onship Game — Georgia
will have an advantage
they didn’t enjoy in either
of those games: the home
field advantage.
“It seems like it’s been
forever (since we’ve played
at home), honestly,” Reed
said. “I’m glad it’s a night
game so we can light up
Sanford. It’s going to be a
good time.”
Reed, who was in the
best bet to win an argument
against a one-loss Big Ten
champion or Notre Dame
with one loss. Maybe.
No. 8 Washington State
(8-1)
The Cougars could fin
ish as 12-1 champions of
the weakest Power Five
conference and no notable
nonconference victories.
The most realistic scenario
to put Mike Leach’s Wash
ington State team in the
playoff involves Big Ten
and Big 12 implosions.
No. 9 West Virginia (7-1)
The weather did the
Mountaineers no favor by
forcing the cancellation
of West Virginia’s game at
North Carolina State in Sep
tember. The Mountaineers
do have a victory against
Tennessee on a neutral
field. Not terrible. To get to
11-1 and a Big 12 title could
mean two victories over
Oklahoma in consecutive
weekends.
No. 10 Ohio State (8-1)
The Buckeyes found
out last season that getting
hammered by a team that
finished the regular sea
son 7-5 is a deal-breaker
with the committee when
it comes time to make a
tough choice. Ohio State
could win out — beating
Michigan State and Michi
gan along the way — and
get in. But that’s a long way
from certain considering
the Buckeyes are the lowest
ranked one-loss team.
No. 12 UCF (8-0)
The Knights stayed at
No. 12 after beating Tem
ple 52-40 last week. Athletic
director Danny White and
the Knights fans certainly
don’t want to hear this,
but another perfect season
probably won’t even get
UCF seriously considered
for a spot in the semifinal
— unless things get really
weird.
So let’s think weird:
Northwestern wins the Big
Ten, Arizona State wins the
Pac-12, Iowa State wins the
Big 12, Pitt wins the ACC,
Notre Dame loses two of
its final three and Georgia
losses to both Auburn and
Alabama. That’s extreme,
but if three of those six
things happen, UCF prob
ably gets a look.
stands as a spectator the
game the last time Auburn
came to Sanford Stadium,
said the crowd played a
major role in that contest,
which he called the second-
loudest game he’s ever
been to (first being Geor
gia’s matchup against Ten
nessee earlier that year).
Georgia won that time
— a 13-7 upset over the
Tigers — and Reed said he
thinks the crowd played a
major role then. Playing
at home will certainly be
a factor for the Bulldogs
once again this week, but
in a rivalry series that has
been as unpredictable as it
has been tightly contested
over the past few seasons,
Reed said he’s not taking
anything for granted.
“Anything can happen in
this game,” he said.
“Predictions don’t mat
ter. What they’ve done this
season doesn’t matter, and
what we’ve done this sea
son doesn’t matter. All that
matters is Saturday.”
Other
■ LPGA Tour Golf: Blue Bay LPGA, 9 a.m., Golf
Channel
■ UEFA Champions League Soccer: CSKA
Moscow vs. AS Roma, 12:55 p.m., TNT
■ UEFA Champions League Soccer; Juventus vs.
Manchester United, 3 p.m. TNT
Roethlisberger
Associated Press
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