Falcons hold off Bucs comeback

Devonta Freeman rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown to help the Atlanta Falcons stay close in the tight NFC South race with a 24-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

Freeman scored on a 32yard run midway through the fourth quarter, restoring a 10-point lead for the Falcons (8-5), who then barely hung on to win for the fifth time in six games and remain one game behind New Orleans and Carolina in the division standings.

Freeman also caught five passes for a team-high 68 yards and had a firsthalf fumble recovered in the end zone by teammate Levine Toilolo for a touchdown. Matt Ryan threw an early TD pass to Justin Hardy and finished 17 of 31 passing for 212 yards and no interceptions.

Jameis Winston threw for 299 yards and three TDs for the Bucs (4-10), including a 16-yarder to Adam Humphries that trimmed Atlanta’s lead to 24-21 with 3:51 remaining.

Winston also threw TD passes of 30 yards to O.J. Howard and 42 yards to Mike Evans.

College football

FROST NAMED AP COACH OF THE YEAR » Scott Frost is The Associated Press coach of the year after leading UCF to an unbeaten season and a spot in the Peach Bowl.

Frost has already accepted the Nebraska head coaching job, but plans to complete the season with UCF and coach the 10thranked Knights against No. 7 Auburn.

Frost received 21 firstplace votes and 100 points from 57 Top 25 poll voters who submitted ballots.

Kirby Smart of Georgia finished second with seven first-place votes and 55 points. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney finished third with seven votes and 38 points.

Sports media

ESPN PRESIDENT STEPS DOWN» John Skipper, president of the sprawling ESPN sports network, said Monday that he is resigning to treat a substance abuse problem.

Skipper’s sudden announcement will force the Walt Disney Co.-owned network to search for new leadership at a time of retrenchment, with the company losing subscribers due to cord-cutters and working to boost its digital output to follow the migration of young sports fans to their smartphones.

The 61-year-old executive, who has worked at ESPN since 1997 and has led the company since 2012, said he’s struggled for many years with substance addiction but gave no details of his specific problem.

He said he had concluded that now is the time to deal with it.

“I come to this public disclosure with embarrassment, trepidation and a feeling of having let others I care about down,” he said. “As I deal with this issue and what it means to me and my family, I ask for appropriate privacy and a little understanding.”

The sports network said Skipper’s predecessor, George Bodenheimer, has agreed to serve as acting head of the company for the next 90 days.

There was no public indication that this was coming.

Earlier this year, Skipper signed a contract extension to keep him at ESPN through 2021 and last week spoke about the company’s plans in New York at the Sports Video Group Summit.

He told the group of industry experts that ESPN’s growing digital audience is making up for the loss of television viewers.

He also called hundreds of ESPN’s on-air talent to a summit last week at company headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, to talk about the business.

ESPN has laid off personnel this year to deal with new economic realities.

Disney’s proposed purchase of several of 21st Century Fox’s assets, if approved, is likely to add the 22 Foxowned regional sports networks to ESPN’s portfolio.