In brief: Clemson dominates first half in victory over Georgia Tech
NCAA: Deshaun Watson and No. 5 Clemson finally turned in the performance everyone was expecting, totally dominating Georgia Tech in the first half on the way to a 26-7 victory Thursday night in Atlanta.
After sluggish wins over Auburn and Troy, and a practice-like rout of FCS school South Carolina State that meant nothing, the Tigers (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won at Georgia Tech for the first time since 2003 to set up a huge showdown with No. 3 Louisville.
Watson was 32 of 48 for 304 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams and a 9-yarder to Jordan Leggett with just 4 seconds left before halftime to complete a stunningly lopsided showing that wasn’t entirely reflected in the 23-0 lead. Wayne Gallman added a 1-yard TD run.
Clemson finished with a 442-124 lead in total yards.
Georgia Tech (3-1, 1-1) didn’t get into positive yards until early in the second quarter and the halftime stats were almost comical: Clemson held a 347-22 lead in yards, was up 19-3 in first downs, and ran 56 plays to only 21 for the home team.
Browns’ Coleman out with broken hand
NFL: Rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman does not need surgery on his broken hand, a small but sorely needed positive for the Browns.
Coleman, who scored two touchdowns last weekend, will miss at least one month after breaking his hand during practice on Wednesday, the latest setback to a team reeling from injuries to two starting quarterbacks in the season’s first two weeks.
With that timetable, he could be back as early as Cleveland’s game on Oct. 23 at Cincinnati.
St. Louis seat-license holders have rights in LA: A federal judge has ruled that the NFL’s Rams must grant season tickets to some people who bought personal seat licenses while the team was still in St. Louis, even though the team is now in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. also said that the Rams must refund deposits for other people who bought PSLs in St. Louis. About 46,000 fans had PSLs, which give the holder the right to purchase season tickets, for the St. Louis Rams, some at a cost of up to $1,000.
Dustin Johnson rolls at East Lake
Golf: Dustin Johnson hit out of a bunker to 2 feet for birdie on his first hole and kept right on rolling to a 4-under 66 for a three-way tie of the lead at the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake.
Hideki Matsuyama had six birdies and Kevin Chappell played bogey-free to join Johnson at 66 on a tough day for scoring .
Johnson only has to win the Tour Championship to capture the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus.
Jason Day, who withdrew from the final round of the BMW Championship two weeks ago with back pain, was among those at 67.
Port wins third US Senior Women’s Amateur: Ellen Port won her third U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur title and seventh USGA championship, beating Andrea Kraus 3 and 2 at the Country Club in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
The 55-year-old Port, from St. Louis, also won the event for players 50-and-over in 2012 and 2013 and the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in 1995, 1996, 2000 and 2011. With seven USGA women’s titles, she’s tied for second place with Carol Semple Thompson and Anne Quast Sander, one behind JoAnne Gunderson Carner.
Ryan wins U.S. Senior Amatuer: Dave Ryan won the U.S. Senior Amateur for his first USGA championship, holding off Matthew Sughrue 2 up at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis.
The 62-year-old Ryan, from Taylorville, Illinois, beat two-time Senior Amateur champion Paul Simson in the round of 16 and two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Tim Jackson in the semifinals in the event for players 55-and-older . Against Simson, Ryan had the third known hole-in-one on a par-4 hole in a USGA championship, acing the 270-yard 14th.
US goes winless at World Cup
Hockey: The United States wrapped up a disappointing, winless performance at the World Cup of Hockey with a 4-3 loss to the Czech Republic in Toronto.
Previous losses to Team Europe and Canada eliminated the U.S. from contention, and its round-robin finale had no meaning for either team. With an 0-3-0 record and a minus-6 goal differential, the U.S. finished seventh among eight teams, ahead of only Finland.
Russia advances to semifinals: Vladimir Tarasenko and Ivan Telegin scored 1:19 apart in the second period and Russia beat Finland 3-0 in Toronto, to set up a World Cup of Hockey semifinal against Canada – and knock out Team North America.
Evgeni Malkin scored in the third period for Russia (2-1-0), and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.
Tuukka Rask made 19 saves for Finland (0-3-3). Finland was winless for the first time in a senior tournament, scoring only one goal in three games.
L.A. adds 3 venues to bid for Olympics
Miscellany: Three existing venues have been added to Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Olympics, including Long Beach as one of four main sports clusters.
LA2024 announced the additional venues, emphasizing its use of existing venues to avoid costly construction and cost overruns that have plagued Olympic hosts in recent years.
Sabres’ Kane addresses legal woes: Saying his recent off-ice legal problems “come with the territory” of being a professional athlete, Sabres forward Evander Kane acknowledged that he needs to be more careful when putting himself in potentially troublesome situations.
Kane is being investigated after allegedly grabbing three women by the hair and neck in separate instances during an altercation at a downtown Buffalo bar.
NBA announces new deal for stats: The NBA will have a new distributor for its statistical information and its player tracking data starting in the 2017-18 season under a deal that will also spread real-time statistics to legal betting houses around the world.
The league announced the deals with Sportradar and Second Spectrum.
Hansen not giving up on Sonics: Entrepreneur Chris Hansen isn’t giving up his lengthy drive to bring the Sonics back to Seattle.
Hansen spent $32 million to buy two Sodo parcels that total 4.88 acres just south of his proposed NBA arena, according to King County public records.
Hansen still has an understanding with the city and King County that calls for up to $200 million in public-bond funds to help build the 18,000-seat arena if Hansen is able to buy an NBA franchise.