Quick Hitters
Oklahoma fires defensive coordinator Mike Stoops
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma fired defensive coordinator Mike Stoops on Monday after the Sooners struggled to stop Texas during their first loss of the season.
Ruffin McNeill, the assistant head coach and defensive tackles coach, will be the defensive coordinator for the rest of the season.
The No. 11 Sooners (5-1) lost 48-45 on Saturday, allowing 501 yards to the Longhorns in Dallas.
“At the end of the day, I felt like we needed a new voice,” coach Lincoln Riley said Monday. “We needed just a little bit of a spark. I thought that making the change was right for that reason, and also because I felt good about the guys we have in this room and a plan for the rest of this season. This team’s got a lot in front of them. This team could make a run here. I think we all feel that.”
McNeill was defensive coordinator at UNLV from 1997 to 1998 and at Fresno State in 1999. He later served in that same role with Texas Tech from 2008 to 2009 before taking over as coach at East Carolina from 2010 to 2015.
Riley’s confidence in McNeill played a role in the decision to fire Stoops, the brother of former Sooners coach Bob Stoops.
NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees became the NFL’s alltime leader in yards passing — and he did it with a certain panache and precision that made the 39-yearold quarterback look far from finished.
Brees eclipsed Peyton Manning’s previous record of 71,940 yards with a 62-yard touchdown pass to rookie Tre’Quan Smith during the second quarter of a 43-19 victory over the Washington Redskins on Monday night.
NEW YORK — Brock Holt put the finishing touch on Boston’s blowout by etching his name in the record book.
The part-time utilityman became the first player to hit for the cycle in a postseason game and the Red Sox routed the New York Yankees 16-1 on Monday night to grab a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five AL Division
“Just so grateful for the opportunity to play this game and to have played it so long and to have the teammates that I have, and the New Orleans Saints organization, and this great city and this great fan base. It’s just truly been a dream come true,” Brees said. “I’ll be able to reflect on it maybe a little bit more when my career is done. I still feel like there’s work to be done.”
After the record-breaking completion, officials stopped the game and the game ball was handed Series.
“It was a fun night. We were clicking on all cylinders,” said Holt, unaware of his achievement until told by a television reporter right after the game. “Tonight’s a night I’ll remember for a long time.”
Andrew Benintendi lined a three-run double and Holt tripled home two more in a seven-run fourth inning that quickly turned the latest playoff matchup between these longtime rivals
NO: 4-1 overall WSH: 2-2 overall
over to Pro Football Hall of Fame officials on the sideline while the Superdome crowd offered a standing ovation. Brees removed his helmet, held out his arm to salute the crowd and into a laugher. Handed a big early lead, Nathan Eovaldi shut down his former team during New York’s most lopsided defeat in 396 postseason games.
Boston battered an ineffective Luis Severino and silenced a charged-up Yankee Stadium crowd that emptied out fast on a night when Red Sox rookie manager Alex Cora made all the right moves.
By the ninth, backup hugged his wife, Brittany, and children on the sideline.
“I love you guys so much,” Brees said while hugging his three boys as Brittany held their daughter nearby. “You can accomplish anything in life if you’re willing to work for it.”
Brees entered the game needing 201 yards for the record. He had 250 by halftime. Brees, who already holds the single-season record for completion rate at 72 percent last season, finished the game a remarkable 26 of 29 for 363 yards, no interceptions and three touchdowns — two of them going to Smith, a thirdround draft choice out of Central Florida has played just five NFL games and is now immortalized because of his role in Brees’ recordbreaking pass.
“Congrats on the achievement/milestone. Sheesh that’s a lot of passing yards!!” LeBron James tweeted.
In a victory at Atlanta earlier this season, Brees broke Brett Favre’s career