McCoy injured, adds to O-line woes
AUTO RACING: Matt Kenseth won for the first time this season in what might have been the second-to-last Cup race of his NASCAR career. Kenseth does not have a job lined up for next year and said he’ll take a break at the start of the season. Kenseth passed Chase Elliott with 10 laps remaining at Phoenix Raceway to deny Elliott the final berth in next week’s championship race. Brad Keselowski earned the final spot in the championship on points because a playoff-eligible driver did not win the race. Keselowski will race Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick for the championship next Sunday at Homestead. Jimmie Johnson’s bid for a record eighth NASCAR championship ended when a blown tire sent his No. 48 Chevrolet into the wall with one lap remaining in the second stage . ... Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand Prix to solidify his hold on second place after Lewis Hamilton clinched the season title two weeks ago in Mexico City. It was Vettel’s 47th career win and his fifth this season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Miami moved up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 behind Alabama after its 41-8 win Saturday over Notre Dame. Oklahoma, Clemson and Wisconsin rounded out the top five while Georgia dropped to No. 7 following its lopsided loss to Auburn . ... Tennessee fired coach Butch Jones with two games left in a regular season in which the Volunteers started ranked but are now still winless in the SEC. Defensive line coach Brady Hoke, former coach at Michigan, will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season . ... Arkansas QB Cole Kelley was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, careless driving and other offenses in Fayetteville, Ark. Bond for Kelly was set at $935, and records indicate Kelly was released from the Washington County Jail. The police report says Kelley refused to take a breath test.
GOLF: Patton Kizzire won his first PGA Tour title by beating Rickie Fowler over 36 holes on the final day of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Kizzire closed with rounds of 66-67 for a one-shot victory over Fowler . ... Kevin Sutherland won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship — and topped the yearlong competition, too. Sutherland closed a 5-under 66 for a one-shot victory over Vijay Singh at Phoenix Country Club . ... Branden Grace’s 30-foot putt for birdie on No. 16 set up his one-shot victory over Scott Jamieson at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa.
SOCCER: Switzerland earned a spot at the World Cup by holding Northern Ireland to a 0-0 draw for a 1-0 aggregate win. In the final minutes on a muddy field in Basel, Switzerland, defender Ricardo Rodriguez knocked a goal-bound header from Northern Ireland’s Jonny Evans off the line after a corner kick . ... Croatia qualified after a 0-0 draw in the second leg against Greece, winning on aggregate 4-1.
TENNIS: The U.S. ended a 17-year drought when it defeated Belarus 3-2 in Minsk to won the Fed Cup title for the first time since 2000. CoCo Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers defeated Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the deciding doubles match.
GAINESVILLE – University of Florida center T.J. McCoy sustained an injury to his left foot Saturday at South Carolina to leave the team’s offensive line searching for more answers entering the final two games.
A week earlier, left guard Brett Heggie suffered a season-ending knee injury at Missouri, forcing the Gators to turn to inexperienced redshirt junior Kavaris Harkless. In just his second appearance this season and second career start, Harkless was beaten several times by Gamecocks’ defenders.
Even prior to McCoy and Heggie’s injuries, former coach Jim McElwain’s claim the Gators would be muchimproved up front did not pan out.
McElwain and his staff have improved the number of offensive linemen, but not the quality. Outside of Heggie and McCoy, tackles Martez Ivey and Jawaan Taylor are the only SEC-caliber linemen on the team.
Junior Fred Johnson and Tyler Jordan have been serviceable, at best. Jordan now will replace McCoy.
Reserve defensive lineman Elijah Conliffe also was injured at South Carolina and like McCoy had to be helped off the field.
On Sunday, coach Mike White’s Gators announced a third member of the 2018 basketball recruiting class — 6-foot-6, 195-pound Keyontae Johnson of prestigious Oak Hill (Va.) Academy.
A native of Norfolk, Va., Johnson is a four-star prospect who excels in transition and on the defensive end of the floor. He posted a 41-inch vertical leap last summer at Peach Jam.
Next game: UAB at UF,
Edgar Thompson Saturday, 4:30 p.m., SEC Network