| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker ·Oct 11, 2021 | | 👋 Good morning! What a weekend of sports, huh? I'm exhausted and exhilarated — a beautiful combination. Today's word count: 1,714 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🏈 A Saturday for the ages |  Data: AP; Table: Will Chase/Axios Every year, college football has a day when absolute pandemonium ensues. Saturday was that day. What happened: Texas A&M upset top-ranked Alabama, 41-38, shaking up the playoff picture and opening the door for several programs to reach rare heights. - No. 1 Georgia sits atop the regular-season rankings for the first time since 1982. The Bulldogs have allowed 33 points in six games.
- No. 2 Iowa has its best ranking since 1985 after rallying to beat Penn State. The Hawkeyes have no ranked teams left on their schedule.
- No. 3 Cincinnati has its best ranking ever. The Bearcats have one ranked team left on their schedule: No. 23 SMU (Nov. 20).
- No. 4 Oklahoma moved up two spots after a thrilling comeback against Texas. The Sooners' 14-game win streak is the nation's longest.
- No. 5 Alabama fell outside the top three for the first time since 2019. The Tide had won 100 straight games against unranked teams.
The intrigue: The Big Ten has five top-10 teams for the first time in AP poll history (since 1936) — and No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Michigan and No. 10 Michigan State all still have to play each other. Iowa fans stormed the field after beating Penn State. Photo: Matthew Holst/Getty Images By the numbers: Just how awesome was Saturday? The Athletic ranked the 25 greatest days in college football history, and it came in at No. 10 (subscription). - 106 straight: AP No. 1 teams had won 106 straight games against unranked opponents, dating back to 2008 (Oregon State over USC).
- 103 points: Oklahoma's 55-48 win was the highest-scoring game in Red River Showdown history, surpassing last year's 53-48 (4OT) shootout.
- 70+ years: Kentucky is 6-0 for the first time since 1950, when Paul "Bear" Bryant was head coach. ... Wake Forest is 6-0 for the first time since 1944, when FDR was president.
📆 Next Saturday: No. 1 Georgia hosts No. 11 Kentucky in the de facto SEC East championship, while No. 25 Texas hosts No. 12 Oklahoma State. 🎥 Watch: |     | | | | | | 2. ⚾️ MLB playoffs: The Sox take Sunday |  | | | Christian Vazquez celebrates his walk-off home run. Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Image | | | | Christian Vázquez hit a 13th-inning walk-off Sunday night to give the Red Sox a 2-1 series lead, while the White Sox staved off elimination, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. State of play: There are four games on tap for today — your last chance to binge on back-to-back-to-back-to-back baseball until next spring. - 1:07pm ET: Brewers at Braves (tied 1-1)
- 3:37pm: Astros at White Sox (HOU leads 2-1)
- 7:07pm: Rays at Red Sox (BOS leads 2-1)
- 9:37pm: Giants at Dodgers (tied 1-1)
Weekend stars: - Red Sox CF Kiké Hernández went 8-for-12 with 2 HR, 3 doubles and 5 RBI. At one point, he had hits in seven straight plate appearances, tying the postseason record.
- White Sox SS Tim Anderson has 16 hits through six career playoff games, the most in any six-game stretch in postseason history.
- Giants C Buster Posey has now caught a record 13 postseason shutouts — in just 53 postseason starts (so 24.5% of the time).
🎥 ICYMI ... Hunter Renfroe saved a run by accidentally hip-checking the ball over the Fenway fence. Never seen that happen before. | | | | | | | | 3. 👟 6 marathons in 6 weeks |  | | | Shalane Flanagan and her son Jack after last month's Berlin Marathon. Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images | | | | With a condensed schedule this year due to COVID-19, Shalane Flanagan set an epic goal: Run the six major marathons in six weeks, all in under three hours (~6:50 mile pace). Where it stands: Three down, three to go. But now comes the hardest part: After running the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, she's running the Boston Marathon today. Two marathons in 28 hours. - Berlin (Sept. 26): 2 hours, 38 minutes
- London (Oct. 4): 2 hours, 35 minutes
- Chicago (Oct. 10): 2 hours, 46 minutes
- Boston (Oct. 11): Flanagan, 40, grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, northeast of the city. Coverage begins at 7:30am ET on NBCSN/Peacock.
- Tokyo (Oct. 17): The in-person event was canceled this year, so she'll run a virtual version at her Oregon home.
- New York (Nov. 7): Flanagan won here in 2017, becoming the first American to win the women's open division in 40 years.
🎧 Listen: The women who changed running (Legendary Bites) | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Keep up with your home team with Axios Local | | |  | | | | Get a daily digest of what's happening in your hometown with Axios Local newsletters. Local reporters will deliver the latest news and insights on sports, politics, and more. Subscribe for free. | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Courtesy: Real Salt Lake Academy | | | | ⚽️ 13 years old: Axel Kei, 13, debuted for USL club Real Monarchs (one level below MLS) on Friday, making him the youngest player ever to appear for a professional American sports team. He was born in 2007! ⛳️ Tiger sighting: Tiger Woods was spotted on a Florida golf course watching his son compete in a junior event. You love to see it. 🏈 Gruden fallout: Jon Gruden apologized Sunday for making a racist comment in a 2011 email. He could still face discipline from the league, WSJ reports (subscription). 🏀 Kyrie update: Steve Nash says the Nets expect Kyrie Irving to miss games due to New York's vaccine mandate. "We recognize he's not playing home games." 💵 Good read: At the George Washington Bridge casino, your bets are a bike ride away (David Waldstein, NYT) "You can't gamble online in New York, but you can in New Jersey. For a group of frustrated NFL bettors, that means a 15-minute trek via bicycle that saves them a $16 toll." | | | | | | | | 5. 🏈 NFL Sunday: Away teams keep winning |  | | | Josh Allen outdueled Patrick Mahomes on Sunday night. Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images | | | | The Bills dismantled the Chiefs, 38-20, on a rain-soaked night in Kansas City, handing Patrick Mahomes his second straight primetime loss after winning his first eight, Jeff writes. - The Bills have the NFL's No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense. They've outscored their opponents by 108 points.
- The Chiefs have 11 turnovers through five weeks, tied with the Jaguars for most in the NFL.
More from Sunday: - Instant classic: The Chargers' 47-42 win over the Browns featured over 1,000 yards of offense, seven lead changes and 41 fourth-quarter points. The Browns are the first team in the Super Bowl era to score 40+ points with no turnovers and lose.
- Kicking woes: Kickers have missed 12 FG and 12 PAT in Week 5 — the first week since the extra point was moved back in 2015 to feature double-digit misses of both kicks. Packers-Bengals was a disaster.
- King Henry: Derrick Henry (29 car, 130 yds, 3 TD) has rushed for 4,792 yards over his past 40 games, an NFL record for a 40-game span.
- QB record books: Tom Brady carved up the Dolphins for his ninth career 5 TD game, which trails only Drew Brees ... Matt Ryan became the seventh QB to surpass 5,000 completions.
- Mr. INT: Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs picked off a pass for the fifth straight game. That gives him an NFL-leading six on the season, two more than he had in his entire Alabama career.
Pause to admire Jerry World... Photo: Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images Scoreboard: Away teams went 7-6 on Sunday, continuing their road warrior trend and improving to 41-35 on the season. - Home team won: Vikings 19, Lions 17; Steelers 27, Broncos 19; Buccaneers 45, Dolphins 17; Chargers 47, Browns 42; Cardinals 17, 49ers 10; Cowboys 44, Giants 20
- Away team won: Saints 33, Washington 22; Packers 25, Bengals 22; Eagles 21, Panthers 18; Titans 37, Jaguars 19; Patriots 25, Texans 22; Bears 20, Raiders 9; Bills 38, Chiefs 20
- Neutral site (London): Falcons 27, Jets 20
📆 Tonight: Colts at Ravens (-7) | | | | | | | | 6. 🏀 WNBA Finals: Chicago takes 1-0 lead |  | | | Courtney Vandersloot drives against Brianna Turner. Photo: Mike Mattina/Getty Images | | | | Courtney Vandersloot (12-11-5) led the Sky past the Mercury, 91-77, in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Sunday afternoon in Phoenix. The intrigue: This star-studded series over-indexes on excellent passers, with three players who rank in the top 10 all-time for assists. - Vandersloot (4th): The Gonzaga legend owns the five best single-season marks for assists per game.
- Diana Taurasi (5th): Longevity plus excellence equals greatness. It's no surprise fans just voted her the WNBA's GOAT.
- Candace Parker (10th): One of just six players with multiple league MVPs, Parker has her hometown team two wins away from its first title.
Fun fact: Chicago has a chance to join Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., as the only cities to win the grand sextet (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS and WNBA titles). Go deeper: Brittney Griner tells her coming out story (ESPN) | | | | | | | | 7. 🌎 The world in photos | | Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images LAS VEGAS — Tyson Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) knocked out Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) in the 11th round of an action-packed slugfest, retaining his WBC heavyweight title and completing their trilogy. Fight of the year. Photo: Eliecer Aizprúa Banfield/Getty Images CIUDAD DE PANAMA, Panama — Panama upset the USMNT, 1-0, in Sunday's World Cup qualifying match. Gregg Berhalter started mostly second-stringers amid a stretch of three games in seven days. Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images MILAN, Italy — France beat Spain, 2-1, in the Nations League final, as the world champions added another trophy to their collection. | | | | | | | | 8. 📆 Oct. 11, 1972: The WHA debuts | | Gordie Howe (L) and Bobby Hull. Photo: Focus On Sport/Getty Images 49 years ago today, the World Hockey Association debuted. The backdrop: The NHL's "Original Six" era had ended just five years earlier, and the league was hesitant to grow too quickly. Seeing an opportunity, the men who'd founded the ABA tried their hand at hockey. - The WHA promised larger salaries, helping lure 67 NHL players — including Blackhawks great Bobby Hull with a record 10-year, $2.75 million contract — for its inaugural season.
- Founding teams: Alberta Oilers, Ottawa Nationals, New England Whalers, Cleveland Crusaders, Philadelphia Blazers, Quebec Nordiques, New York Raiders, Winnipeg Jets, Houston Aeros, Los Angeles Sharks, Minnesota Fighting Saints, Chicago Cougars.
The big picture: The WHA was "the vanguard that drove hockey into the modern age," writes Ed Willes in his book, "Rebel League." - "It ended the NHL's monopoly ... moved the game into the Sun Belt, and put European players on the ice in numbers previously unimagined."
- Four all-time greats played in the upstart league: Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier at the dawn of their careers, and Gordie Howe and Hull at the end of theirs.
Legacy: The WHA folded in 1979, but four teams joined the NHL: the Edmonton Oilers, Nordiques (now Avalanche), Whalers (now Hurricanes) and Jets (now Coyotes). Go deeper: A look back at the WHA (The Hockey Writers) | | | | | | | | 9. 🏈 NFL trivia |  | | | Rough start to the season for Urban Meyer, to say the least. Photo: Don Juan Moore/Getty Images | | | | The Jaguars have lost 20 straight games, the second-longest skid since the 1970 merger. - Question: Which franchise has a longer losing streak?
- Hint: They've won multiple Super Bowls.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 🎥 Top plays: Weekend edition |  | | | Marvin Mims made the catch of his life on Saturday. Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images | | | - 🏈 Marvin Mims!!!
- 🏈 Rondale Moore!!!
- ⚾️ Don't run on Mookie
- ⚾️ Baseball is beautiful
- ⚽️ Bend it like Benzema
- ⚾️ What a grab
- 🏈 Wake's walk-off
- 🏈 How'd he hang on?
- ⛳️ Ace for Chase
- 🏈 Hail Mary
Watch all 10. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Keep up with your home team with Axios Local | | | | | | | | Get a daily digest of what's happening in your hometown with Axios Local newsletters. Local reporters will deliver the latest news and insights on sports, politics, and more. Subscribe for free. | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "0 marathons in 30 years" Baker Trivia answer: Buccaneers (26 straight losses from 1976-77) 🙏 Thanks for reading. We're on Twitter: @kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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