Furman storms back for OT win
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Ryan Miller scored the tying touchdown with 2:53 left in the fourth quarter, and Furman rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Samford 44-37 in overtime on Saturday. Hamp Sisson rolled right and threw it back across the field to Miller, who split the defense with a burst up the left hash marks, going 73 yards for the score. Miller finished with three catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns for the Paladins (2-1, 2-1 Southern Conference), who are ranked 17th in the Football Championship Subdivision but trailed 37-23 in the middle of the fourth quarter. Furman went on offense first in overtime, and
Devin Wynn gave the Paladins the lead with a 9-yard touchdown run. The Bulldogs (1-2, 1-2) got to the 2 before Furman’s Matt Sochovka forced a fumble by Jay Stanton and Cally Chizik recovered it to secure the win for the Paladins. In other SoCon football action Saturday, Virginia Military Institute improved to 2-0 overall and in the league with a 30-7 win at Western Carolina (0-6, 0-3).
› The University of Kansas placed football coach Les Miles on administrative leave Friday night, hours after a report released by LSU revealed school officials there considered firing him in 2013 because of his behavior with female student workers. That information became public when LSU released a law firm’s 148-page review of how the university has handled sexual misconduct complaints. The 67-year-old Miles is entering his third season as coach of the Jayhawks and is 3-18 in two years, including a winless 2020. He was coach at LSU for 11-plus years, winning a national championship in the 2007 season and reaching a second BCS title game with the Tigers four years later before being fired four games into the 2016 schedule after a .500 start. “Even though the allegations against him occurred at LSU, we take these matters very seriously at KU,” Kansas athletic director Jeff Long said in a released statement. “Now that we have access to this information, we will take the coming days to fully review the material and to see if any additional information is available. I do not want to speculate on a timeline for our review because it is imperative we do our due diligence.”
BASEBALL
› Freddie Freeman’s first spring training game of 2021 provided a preview of how the Atlanta Braves’ lineup will be constructed to start the season. Facing the visiting Minnesota Twins on Friday in North Port, Florida, the 2020 National League MVP hit third behind outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and second baseman Ozzie Albies. In the cleanup spot was Marcell Ozuna — the veteran outfielder who had great success as a designated hitter with Atlanta in 2020 — followed by catcher Travis d’Arnaud. The Braves were productive with Freeman batting second last year, when the DH was in place in the NL as one of the alterations for the 60-game schedule due to the COVID19 pandemic. Now that it appears certain this season won’t include the universal DH, Freeman is back to batting third; the 31-year-old first baseman confirmed being told by manager Brian Snitker that will be the plan to open the season. “Putting me second with the pitcher hitting ninth, it just doesn’t really make sense for us,” said Freeman, who did not have a hit in two at-bats but noted: “I felt good. I swung at strikes. I got hitter’s counts. I hit the ball where it was pitched. All in all, it was a good day.” Freeman was given the OK to report about a week late to spring training after the addition of two baby boys to his family.
HOCKEY
› NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Florida forward Noel Acciari scored three goals Saturday at Nashville, with the 29-yearold forward’s third hat trick of his NHL career leading the Panthers past the Predators, 6-2, for their second straight victory. Acciari, who began the day with no points in 14 games this season, scored twice in a three-goal second period as the Panthers took the lead for good; he completed the trick with 3:02 left in the game. Aaron Ekblad and Frank Vatrano each added a goal and an assist for the Panthers, Jonathan Huberdeau also scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves. Viktor Arvidsson and Eeli Tolvanen scored for Nashville, which lost for the third straight game and dropped to 1-9 combined against the Central Division’s top three teams. Filip Forsberg had two assists for the Predators, including the 200th of his NHL career.