Tag: sweep

Sean Payton moved to Denver and still owns the NFC South

Sean Payton swept the NFC South, proving nothing’s changed but his address. Unfortunately, his dominance now includes the Saints:

The Atlanta Falcons were painfully reminded of something that has been true for nearly 20 years. Sean Payton has partial ownership in the Atlanta Falcons. Maybe they hoped things changed since Payton was no longer leading the New Orleans Saints.

However, when the Falcons visited the Denver Broncos, Payton showed the new emblem on the hat doesn’t lessen his dominance over the Falcons. Payton improved his record to 22-9 against the Falcons with a dominating 38-6 victory.

Atlanta wasn’t the only team to get this reminder. Payton swept the NFC South this year and showed them why they all felt relieved by his temporary retirement. This included Payton’s first career victory over the Saints.

The games haven’t been too close either. The Carolina Panthers kept it the closest, and they lost by 14 points. At the end of that game, Payton flat out said Carolina isn’t a good team. Maybe that was the jolt Carolina needed because they haven’t lost a game since those comments.

During his 16-year run with New Orleans, Payton had a winning record against every team in the division. As the coach of the Denver Broncos, he’s undefeated against his former division.

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Gators complete the sweep against Mississippi State

This one was for the moms. The Gators rallied in the ninth once again to finish off the sweep of Mississippi State on Mother’s Day.

Florida baseball completed its second sweep of the season on Sunday with a 6-1 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The last sweep came against Georgia State in the final days of February and it’s the first against a Southeastern Conference opponent since the Missouri series last April. The Gators now improve to 29-18 overall and 11-13 against the conference. Winning both upcoming series against the Mizzou and South Carolina would allow UF to finish the season even against SEC foes.

After putting up eight or more runs in each of the first two games this weekend, it seemed like Florida had settled down in game three of this series. The Gators found their groove in the ninth inning once again (UF scored six in the ninth on Saturday) and put things out of reach.

The first run came during the top of the second courtesy of a [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] groundout that brought in [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag]. Then, the game stayed tied 1-1 until [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] launched a dinger to right field in the eighth to take the late lead.

Once again, the floodgates opened up. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] added two more insurance runs in the ninth with a double and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] brought in another pair with a single through the right side.

The final score makes it seem like the Gators had this one in the bag, but this was a very competitive game for eight innings. For once, it was Florida’s pitching that kept them in a Sunday game.[autotag] Nick Pogue[/autotag] made his sixth start of the year and lasted five innings, his longest outing of the season. He tied a season-high with four strikeouts and gave up just one run on five hits and a walk. [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] made his third appearance of the month in relief and threw four innings of one-run ball to close it out.

That one run came in the ninth on a homer with one out, and there was a little more drama in the last frame with an error that allowed another baserunner. Jameson got the third out on a pop fly to right, though, and the Gators left town with the brooms out.

UF is back at it on Tuesday with a home game against Bethune-Cookman before heading to Columbia, Missouri. The Wildcats hung around for a 3-2 loss last time they were in Gainesville, so the Gators can’t afford to take them too lightly.

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Gators fall in extras to give Tennessee the series sweep

This one hurt. At least, the Gators have their Sunday starter locked in with Brandon Neely.

Florida’s starting pitcher on Sunday, [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag], did everything he could to give the Gators a shot at avoiding the sweep from Tennessee on Sunday, but a ninth-inning collapse sent the game into extras and allowed the Volunteers to secure the best start against conference opponents in Southeastern Conference history.

Designated hitter Christian Moore delivered the final blow in the form of a two-run home run on a full count with one out in the top of the 11th inning. Vols up, 6-4. To say that Florida looked deflated after the ball cleared the fence would be an understatement. The Gators were one strike away from a much-needed win in the ninth, and their best reliever, [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag], couldn’t get the job done. Now, they needed to mount a comeback of their own.

Florida went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eleventh, and the final out was, perhaps fittingly, a robbed [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] home run that was sure to clear the left-field fence. The Volunteers skipped off the field with their metaphorical brooms in hand, and the Gators are once again left wondering if they’ll be able to turn things around in time for the NCAA Tournament (assuming they make it in the first place).

[autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] said that there’s not much he can do to right the ship after Saturday’s game, and it will be hard for him to come up with a better answer after this loss. He’s figured out the No. 3 spot in the starting rotation with Neely and made the right call by giving [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] his first collegiate start.

Caglianone drove in two of Florida’s runs with a big fly in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. He was removed from the game in the bottom of the ninth after being hit by a pitch in favor of pinch-runner [autotag]Corey Robinson[/autotag].

Neely has taken over the Sunday spot in the rotation and is settling into the role nicely. After holding Vanderbilt to one run through 6 1/3 innings last weekend, he carried Florida through seven innings of one-hit, one-run baseball while racking up eight strikeouts and walking two. In other words, he was brilliant against the best team in the country when Florida desperately needed a win.

Unfortunately, the Gators couldn’t finish things off and now need a strong close to the regular season to have any hope of a playoff run. Florida has the whole week to regroup before hosting Kentucky, a far more manageable team than Vanderbilt or Tennessee.

Next weekend is now a must-win series for the Gators and they’ll have to do it without their ace, [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag]. [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and Neely have been robbed of a few wins in recent weeks, so all eyes are on the offense.

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Saints beat the Panthers, sweep the NFC South for the first time in division history

The New Orleans Saints took care of business against the Carolina Panthers, sweeping the NFC South for the first time in division history.

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They’ve done it: the New Orleans Saints improved to 12-4 on the 2020 season with a win over the Carolina Panthers, who lost at home 33-7. Even without offensive superstars Michael Thomas (on injured reserve) and Alvin Kamara (on COVID-19 reserve), Drew Brees and his supporting cast racked up over 300 yards of offense, averaging nearly six yards per carry as a team.

The performance was powered by a big day from the Saints defense, which intercepted the Panthers quarterbacks five times while allowing just one conversion on third down. It was an impressive day all around after they knocked off some rust early on.

But here’s what’s most impressive: the Saints have now gone 6-0 against their NFC South rivals, sweeping the division for the first time since its founding way back in 2002. No other team has pulled that off: not the Panthers, not the Atlanta Falcons, and not the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Each team has come close before with 5-1 records against their divisional opponents:

  • Atlanta Falcons: 2010 and 2016
  • Carolina Panthers: 2003, 2013, and 2015
  • New Orleans Saints: 2011 and 2019
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2005 and 2007

But they’ve got bigger fish to fry. The Saints are advancing to the playoffs as NFC South champions, while the Buccaneers control the top wild-card seed. Carolina and Atlanta are faced with a long offseason of retooling and introspection before they’ll get a chance to compete again.

Here’s how the NFC South standings finalized for the 2020 season:

  1. 12-4 New Orleans Saints
  2. 11-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  3. 5-11 Carolina Panthers
  4. 4-12 Atlanta Falcons

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Saints can be the first division rival to sweep Tom Brady in his NFL career

If Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose in Week 9, the New Orleans Saints will become the first division rival to ever sweep him.

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If the New Orleans Saints can upset the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night, they will become the first NFL team to sweep Tom Brady in his decades-long career as a starting quarterback.

Brady has started 19 full seasons, having thrown just three passes in one game way back in 2000 and exiting with a season-ending injury in 2008’s Week 1 opener. And he feasted on a series of bumbling opponents in the AFC East during that time, outplaying nominal rivals like the Buffalo Bills (Brady’s record against them: 32-3), Miami Dolphins (23-12), and New York Jets (29-7).

None of those squads swept Brady with back-to-back victories during all of those years. His New England Patriots won the division title every season he was the starter, except for 2002 (Jets) and 2008 (Dolphins, after he was injured). But things are a little different in 2020.

He’s now facing stronger competition in the NFC South, and the Saints are in position to be first team to hand him two losses in the same season. Of course that’s easier said than done, but a win would give the Saints a tie-breaking hold on the top spot in the division. They certainly won’t be lacking for motivation at kickoff.

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Texas Baseball: USA Today’s Coaches Poll has Longhorns ranked No 22

The USA Today/Coaches poll has been released and the Texas Longhorns are currently ranked 22nd in the nation.

The Texas Longhorns baseball team has started off hot winning 13 of their first 16 games. In the Shriners Hospital for Children College Classic, the Longhorns beat the number six ranked Arkansas Razorbacks 8-7 and dropped a game to the 11th ranked LSU Tigers 4-3. The Longhorns have also played three weekend series going a perfect 9-0.

In the latest USA Today Coaches Poll that was released on March 9th, the Longhorns came in at number 22 in the poll. They are just two points based on votes behind the number 21 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Texas finished seven points ahead of Texas A&M who comes in at 23rd. The Aggies and Longhorns will have a one-game duel in College Station on March 31st.

Big 12 Teams in the top 25:

  • Texas Tech (3)
  • Oklahoma (13)

Following the five games left on their nine-game homestead, the Longhorns will travel to Frisco, Texas for a matchup with UT-Arlington. The team then starts Big 12 play with a trip to Norman for a three-game set with Oklahoma.

Texas Baseball: Longhorns finish off sweep 8-4

In the final game of the three-game series between the Longhorns and Cal State Fullerton Titans, Texas showed off their power.

The Texas Longhorns and Cal State Fullerton Titans met for the third game of the weekend series. Texas took the first two games, looking for their third sweep of the season. Coy Cobb took the mound looking for his first win on the year.

After the scoreless top of the first inning, the Longhorns got the bats going early. A Trey Faltine double brought home a run on the legs of leadoff hitter Austin Todd to give Texas a 1-0 lead. With runners on second and third, Eric Kennedy came to the plate with an opportunity to give Texas a nice cushion to start off the game.

Cobb would take the mound again in the top of the second inning but he would be pulled and Tristan Stevens would come on in relief as the Titans would tie it up before Stevens could retire the side. with the game now all tied at three, Austin Todd would come to bat to break the tie in the bottom of the second inning.

That gave Todd his first home run on the season and Texas led 5-3 after two. In the third Faltine would score again on a Murphy Stehly RBI ground out to short. It would be a throwing error by Faltine in the top of the next inning that would plate another Titan in Miguel Ortiz that brought them within two runs at 6-4.

The big cat Zach Zubia would drive home Todd in the bottom of the inning to get their three-run cushion back on the sacrifice fly to right field. That would give Zubia 20 RBI’s on the season. On the mound it would be four innings from Dawson Merryman that would allow Texas to take control. He gave up one unearned run and that would do it for the Titans offense.

Peyton Powell would give Texas their eighth run on the day with his first career home run in the sixth inning. To close it out, Andre Duplantier II would come in from third base to pitch the final frame. He faced the minimum with one strikeout to secure the sweep for Texas.

They will face Abilene Christian at DischFalk Field on Wednesday night before hosting another three-game weekend series against the New Mexico Lobos. Merryman improved to 3-0 on the year, picking up his second win of the series and lowering his ERA to 1.74.

Texas loses on the road, Kansas sweeps season series

After taking a lead into halftime against KU, it was a poor second half from UT. The main struggles for the UT were on the offensive side.

After taking a lead into halftime against Kansas, it was a poor second half from Texas, dropping another conference game, 69-58. The main struggles for the Longhorns were on the offensive side, as they struggled to shoot, especially from behind the three-point line.

As a team, they were 4-24 from behind the arc, a horrid 16.7%. Matt Coleman led the team in made three-pointers with two, but missed his other five attempts, going 2-7. The rest of the Texas starters went 1-9 from deep, with Andrew Jones’ first-half buzzer-beater being the only three-pointer made off the bench.

The good news about the Longhorns’ effort from the free-throw line is that they made 80% of them. The bad news is that they only attempted 10 shots. Going into tonight’s game, Texas had attempted and made the fewest amount of free-throws in the entire country. It continues to kill them in games as they are not getting enough points from the charity strike to win them games.

As usual for Kansas, it was Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike leading the way. Combining for 33 points, they were the two leading scorers for the Jayhawks, shooting 13-20 from the floor. Azubuike also dominated on the glass, recording his ninth double-double of the season, going for 17 points and 12 rebounds.

In the series history between the two schools, Texas has been dominated, losing 21 out of the last 25 matchups. Since hiring Shaka Smart in 2015, Texas is 1-12 against Kansas, with the one win coming last season in Austin.

After being at .500 in Big 12 play for one day, the Longhorns are back to a losing conference record. Sitting at 4-5, they now become one of four teams with a losing record in the conference. A win tonight would have gone a long way with Texas’ slim NCAA Tournament hopes, but day by day, the door is shutting.

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