Weekend In Review – Ravens Hand Patriots First Loss, College Football Rankings Unchanged, And NASCAR Playoffs

Recapping everything you may have missed in sports over the weekend The Baltimore Ravens built a 17-0 lead, handled the inevitable New England comeback and then finished off a...

(Photo Credit: Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)

Recapping everything you may have missed in sports over the weekend

The Baltimore Ravens built a 17-0 lead, handled the inevitable New England comeback and then finished off a 37-20 victory Sunday night that left the Patriots (8-1) with their first loss of the season.

Lamar Jackson passed for 163 yards and a touchdown and ran for 61 yards and two scores for the Ravens (6-2) in tying the NFL’s No.1-ranked defense in knots throughout the evening. The Ravens have won four straight.

Also:
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson passed for 378 yards and five TDs in a 40-34 overtime win at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-6). The Seahawks are 7-2. … The Miami Dolphins (1-7) picked up their first victory by beating the New York Jets (1-7) and former coach Adam Gase 26-18.

College football:
Florida State University fired coach Willie Taggart less than two years into a six-year contract worth $30 million. FSU missed a bowl game last year for the first time since 1981 and was 4-5 this season after a 27-10 loss to so-so Miami. Taggart’s record with the Seminoles: 9-12.

With four of the top five teams on byes, the Associated Press Top 25 remained unchanged. From No. 1 through No. 5 it remains LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Penn State. The first College Football Playoff rankings are due Tuesday.

NASCAR:
Kevin Harvick led for 119 of the 334 laps Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in winning the AAA Texas 500. That earned him a berth in the final four of the Monster Energy Cup Series championship. Aric Almirola was second and Daniel Suarez third in a 1-2-3 sweep for Stewart-Haas Racing. One more race remains for drivers to earn a spot in the title race Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Boxing:
Canelo Alvarez made history with an 11th-round knockout of Sergey Kovalev to win a light heavyweight world title Saturday in Las Vegas. He became a four-division titleholder and owns belts at middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight at the same time.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman