ATLANTA (AP) — It initially looked as if Ta'Quon Graham had saved the day for the Atlanta Falcons, returning his first career fumble recovery 19 yards in the closing minute of a 20-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Instead, Graham dropped the ball, and the Chargers recovered and kicked a game-ending field goal. Graham wasn't the only Falcon to make a mistake Sunday, but his was the most glaring.

ATLANTA (AP) — Cameron Dicker kicked a game-ending field goal three days after being signed as a free agent, hitting a 37-yarder that lifted the Los Angeles Chargers over the Atlanta Falcons 20-17. Dicker also made a 31-yard field goal with 5:27 left, tying the game at 17. The rookie from Texas was signed to the practice squad Thursday and activated Sunday in place of injured Dustin Hopkins.

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Joey Logano won his second NASCAR championship to give Roger Penske two titles in the same season with a victory in Sunday’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway. It was the fourth win of the season for Logano. Will Power added the IndyCar championship to the Team Penske trophy case in September and Logano’s dominating run Sunday marked the first time Penske has won both the NASCAR and IndyCar championship in the same season.

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Coy Gibbs, the vice chairman at Joe Gibbs Racing for his NFL and NASCAR Hall of Fame father, died Sunday morning. He was 49. His death came just hour after his son Ty won the Xfinity Series championship. JGR says in a statement that Gibbs died in his sleep. Joe Gibbs has now lost both of his sons in the last three years.

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — American gymnast Brody Malone has won the first gold medal for the United States on the high bar at the world championships in 43 years. The 22-year-old Malone topped an eight-man final that included reigning Olympic and world champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan. The medal was the first gold by an American on the event since 1979.

HOUSTON (AP) — For now and forever, Dusty Baker, the epic storyteller, first-class name-dropper, toothpick chewer and baseball lifer will bear a most distinguished title. World Series champion manager.

HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez hit a towering go-ahead homer and the Houston Astros clinched their second World Series title in six seasons and got Dusty Baker his first crown as a manager with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 on Saturday night.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and No. 1 Georgia shut down No. 2 Tennessee’s high-powered offense in dominating the Vols 27-13 in an SEC showdown of the nation’s top-ranked teams. The defending national champion Bulldogs led 27-6 before Tennessee scored its first touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — In his first career start, Zach Pyron threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score to lift Georgia Tech to a 28-27 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday. Pyron’s 9-yard touchdown run with 3:30 remaining was the game winner, as the Yellow Jackets 4-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied from a 27-16 deficit to snap a two-game losing streak.

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was voted player of the year and the American League outstanding player by fellow major leaguers in the annual Players Choice Awards from the Major League Baseball Players Association. St. Louis first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was voted National League outstanding player. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was selected Marvin Miller man of the year, given to a player whose leadership inspires others.

MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) — Xavier Shepherd accounted for five touchdowns as Kennesaw State battled back from a 10-point deficit early in the third quarter to post a 44-27 win over No. 15 UT Martin in the first-ever meeting between the schools. Kennesaw State is now 6-0 against teams from the Ohio Valley Conference and 26-14 when playing a team for the first time.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Marcus Carroll ran for 163 yards and three touchdowns to lead Georgia State to a 42-14 rout of Southern Miss. Georgia State (4-5, 3-2 Sun Belt Conference) has won four of its last five games while Southern Miss (5-4, 3-2) ended a three-game win streak. Carroll scored on an 18-yard run and twice more from short yardage. Darren Grainger threw for 133 yards and two touchdown passes and added 143 yards on the ground on 13 carries.

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Sophomore La’Damian Webb rushed for a school-record 247 yards and four touchdowns to rally South Alabama to a 38-31 victory over Georgia Southern. Webb carried 35 times to post his record total for South Alabama (7-2, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference), surpassing the previous mark of 203 set by Tra Minter in 2018 against Coastal Carolina. Webb scored the final three touchdowns of the game.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have one of the NFL's biggest surprises in the first half of the season. They'll try to retain their hold on first place in the NFC South when they play the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. The Falcons are 4-4. The Chargers, coming off their bye week, are 4-3. Chargers coach Brandon Staley says the Falcons are winning with offense. The Falcons rank fifth in the league in rushing and have enjoyed a recent surge in explosive passing plays.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia football has made a transformation over the last seven years. The school was no longer satisfied with being an occasional national championship contender and futilely chasing Alabama in the Southeastern Conference. School officials decided to go all-in in a way Georgia had never done before. It wasn’t just about hiring a new coach. Though Georgia alumnus Kirby Smart, a former Nick Saban assistant at Alabama, was the perfect person for the job.

Justin Verlander overcame an early jolt to grit out the World Series win that long eluded him, rookie Jeremy Peña hit a go-ahead home run and the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 to …

Houston Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña put on quite an all-around performance Thursday night in Game 5 of the World Series. He became the first rookie shortstop to homer in the World Series, …

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Ray Guy, the first punter to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has died, He was 72. Southern Mississippi, where Guy starred before a long NFL career says he died following a lengthy illness. Guy played 14 seasons with the Raiders and was a three-time All-Pro selection. In 2014, he became the first player to make be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame exclusively for his punting. A native of Thomson, Georgia, Guy is also a member of the College Football Football Hall of Fame.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — There will be Southeastern Conference and national championship hopes on the line when No. 1 Georgia faces No. 2 Tennessee. The Vols were No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff ranking the season this week while Georgia, the defending national champion, was No. 3. The showdown between undefeated teams could rest on the matchup of Tennessee's offense, which leads the nation in scoring and total yards, against Georgia's defense, which ranks second in points allowed per game.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cristian Javier and Houston’s bullpen combined on just the second no-hitter in World Series history, silencing a booming lineup and boisterous ballpark as the Astros blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 Wednesday night to even the matchup at two games each. The only previous no-hitter in the World Series was a perfect game by Don Larsen of the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — Before he became the Heisman frontrunner leading the most feared offense in college football for one of the nation’s top teams, Hendon Hooker thought it would be nice to write a children’s book. That sentence can give you whiplash, much like the Tennessee quarterback’s bombs have given opposing defensive backs this season for the undefeated Volunteers.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alec Bohm hit the 1,000th home run in World Series history, and the Philadelphia Phillies quickly went to work on launching the next thousand. Bryce Harper, Bohm and Brandon Marsh teed off early against Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3 of the 118th World Series. Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins hit back-to-back drives to finish McCullers in the fifth inning and make it 7-0. The five home runs tied a World Series record done three previous times.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons, in need of depth at cornerback, have acquired Rashad Fenton from the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2023 conditional seventh-round pick. Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell missed Sunday’s 37-34 overtime win over Carolina with a hamstring injury. Casey Hayward, who opened the season with Terrell as the starting cornerbacks, is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Fenton, a sixth-round pick from South Carolina in 2019, has started 16 games over his four seasons.

Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson were the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, four days before the Volunteers and Bulldogs square off on the field. Michigan was fifth, followed by Alabama and unbeaten TCU. Tennessee is No. 1 in the CFP rankings for the first time, starting a head of a group of teams that have become regulars at the top of the selection committee’s top 25.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Suspended Atlanta receiver Calvin Ridley is getting a fresh start in Jacksonville. It's unclear, though, when he will be allowed to play again. The Jaguars made a complex deal to land Ridley just before the NFL trading deadline Tuesday. A person with knowledge of the trade says compensation to the Falcons ranges between a second-round pick in 2024 and a sixth-rounder.