Quick Hitters
Florida St. fires coach Willie Taggart after 21 games
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State fired second-year football coach Willie Taggart on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the Seminoles lost to rival Miami and with the team in danger of missing a bowl game for the second consecutive season.
Taggart was 9-12 at Florida State, which won the national title in 2013 and has been in a freefall for the last three seasons. The Seminoles have not been ranked this season, are 0-5 against rivals Miami, Florida and Clemson under Taggart and attendance for games at Doak Campbell Stadium has plummeted.
“We had no choice but to make a change,” Florida State President John Thrasher said.
Taggart will receive a large payday as Florida State owes him a $17 million buyout as part of the letter of agreement he signed in Dec. 2017.
Hamilton clinches F1 title No. 6 at US Grand Prix
AUSTIN, Texas — Lewis Hamilton secured his sixth Formula One championship with a second-place finish Sunday at the U.S. Grand Prix, a race won by his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The British driver now ranks second in F1 history behind German Michael Schumacher’s record seven titles. Hamilton has won the last three season championships and secured this one with two races left.
Jepkosgei wins NYC in 1st marathon, Kamworor takes men’s
NEW YORK — Joyciline Jepkosgei powered away from four-time winner Mary Keitany to win the women’s title at the New York City Marathon in her first race ever at 26.2 miles.
Jepkosgei crossed the finish line in Central Park in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 38 seconds Sunday, seven seconds off the course record.
The 25-year-old Jepkosgei holds the world record in the half-marathon but had never run this distance. The Kenyan pulled away from countrymate Keitany with about three miles to go. Keitany collapsed after finishing 53 seconds later.
Jepkosgei is the youngest winner in New York since 25-year-old Margaret Okayo in 2001. She also won the New York City HalfMarathon in March and is the first runner to win both events.
Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya won the men’s event for the second time in three years.
Defending champ Korda wins LPGA Swinging Skirts in playoff
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Defending champion Nelly Korda birdied the first hole of a three-way playoff on Sunday to win the LPGA Swinging Skirts.
Korda and Minjee Lee both birdied the final hole of regulation to finish at 18-under 270 and force a playoff with Caroline Masson, who shot a 68.
BALTIMORE — The New England Patriots’ unbeaten season crashed to an end under the weight of their own mistakes and inability to contain Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who ripped apart the NFL’s stingiest defense with his arm and legs in a 37-20 victory Sunday night.
Baltimore (6-2) zipped to an early 17-0 lead and let the Patriots (8-1) creep within striking distance before quelling the comeback with a 70-yard fumble return by Marlon Humphrey and a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Nick Boyle early in the fourth quarter.
That made it 30-20, and not even six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady could bring New England out of the hole. Brady, who went 30 for 46 for 285 yards, threw an interception with 12:47 left.
Jackson then led a methodical 9 1/2-minute drive that ended with his thrust into the end zone from the 1.
Jackson, the slick second-year quarterback, ran for 61 yards and two touchdowns and went 17 for 23 for 163 yards and a score. Mark Ingram ran for 115 yards, and the NFL’s leading rushing attack amassed 210 yards on the ground.
New England mixed up their coverages and blitz packages, and the Ravens responded accordingly.
“Nobody does it better than they do, and I thought our guys handled it really well, starting with the quarterback,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.
The Patriots came in with a defense that had allowed only 7.6 points per game and forced 25 turnovers for a plus-17 differential. The defending Super Bowl champions picked up two fumbles, but they had two turnovers themselves and committed a costly penalty that contributed to Baltimore’s first touchdown.
New England was penalized seven times for 48 yards.
“We didn’t do anything well enough to deserve to win,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We’ve all just got to do a better job.”
Baltimore’s defense played a role, too. Patrick Onwuasor stripped the ball from Julian Edelman in the third quarter and Humphrey took it the other way for a score. Although Brady answered with a touchdown of this own to make it 24-20, the Patriots would not get closer.
And so ended New England’s 12-game winning streak, dating to last season and including the playoffs.
“We did a lot of things we need to do better,” Belichick
said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
The Ravens opened with a crisp 75-yard drive in which Jackson went 4 for 4 for 41 yards and New England extended the march with an uncharacteristic mistake. As Baltimore lined up for a field goal try, Shilique Calhoun jumped into the neutral zone to give the Ravens a first down.
On the next play, Jackson skirted around left end for an easy 3-yard score.