Yahoo Sports AM: Dobbs gets the Dub
We hope you enjoy this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚽️ New USWNT coach: Chelsea manager Emma Hayes will reportedly leave her job at the end of the season and become the next USWNT head coach.
⚾️ Gold Gloves:The 2023 Gold Glove Awards were announced on Sunday. There are 13 first-time winners (second-most ever) and two rookies (Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe and Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle).
🐎 40th Breeders' Cup: White Abarrio won the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at California's Santa Anita Park, securing $6 million of the $31 million in prize money that was paid out during the two-day horse racing event.
⚽️ MLS playoffs: Sporting KC upset top-seeded St. Louis City to advance, LAFC eliminated Vancouver in a game marred by an officiating mishap, and No. 1 overall seed Cincinnati closed out Red Bulls on penalties.
🏒 Historic Saturday: There were 114 goals scored on Saturday across 15 NHL games, the most ever on a single day. The previous record of 104 was set last April.
🏈 DOBBS GETS THE DUB
Just five days after joining the team, Josh Dobbs engineered a spectacular last-minute drive on Sunday to lead the Vikings past the Falcons, 31-28.
How it happened: Rookie Jaren Hall started in place of Kirk Cousins, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles last week. But after just two series, Hall was ruled out with a concussion.
In came Dobbs, who was acquired from the Cardinals on Tuesday and hadn't taken a single rep with the offense in practice. He was literally learning the snap cadences on the sideline before entering the game.
The final line for the 28-year-old Dobbs, who's on his fifth NFL team in the last year: 20-30, 158 yards, 2 TDs, plus 66 rushing yards and another score. His teammates made him feel right at home in the locker room after the game.
Quote of the day: Dobbs didn't even know most of his teammates' full names on Sunday. "That's for next week," he told ESPN's Kevin Seifert after the game.
Elsewhere:
Stroud is special: Rookie C.J. Stroud was phenomenal in the Texans' 39-37* win over the Buccaneers, throwing for 470 yards (rookie record) and 5 TDs, including the game-winner.
Philly wins on final play: The Eagles tackled CeeDee Lamb just short of the goal line in the final seconds to hold off the Cowboys, 28-23, and improve to an NFL-best 8-1.
KC wins in Germany: The Chiefs beat the Dolphins, 21-14, in Frankfurt as Miami fell to 0-3 against teams with winning records (they're 6-0 vs. teams with losing records).
Bengals beat Bills: Cincinnati topped Buffalo, 24-18, on "Sunday Night Football" to win their fourth straight game. The Bills already have more losses (4) than all of last season (3).
Pierce wins debut: The Raiders looked like a new team under interim coach Antonio Pierce, as they cruised to a 30-6 victory. Of course, it helped that they played the Giants, who stink.
More scores…Saints 24, Bears 17; Packers 20, Rams 3; Commanders 20, Patriots 17; Ravens 37, Seahawks 3; Browns 27, Cardinals 0; Colts 27, Panthers 13
*Scorigami: Houston's 39-37 win over Tampa Bay was the 1,080th unique final score in NFL history.
🏈 BEDLAM (1904-2023)
Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma, 27-24, on Saturday in the final Bedlam game before the Sooners move to the SEC and the longtime rivals stop playing each other every year.
By the numbers: The Sooners and Cowboys have met 118 times, and this was the 114th consecutive year they've played each other. Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 91-20-7, but Oklahoma State got the last laugh before conference realignment upends the Bedlam tradition.
"It's a big deal. I mean, this is the last Bedlam," Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy, who has played or coached in 33 of these rivalry games, told ESPN.
"All the Oklahoma State people have put up with a lot of crap for 100 years. They've had their butt kicked a bunch. Now they're going to walk around and say we won the last game."
Saturday scoreboard: Alabama beat LSU, 42-28, to stay perfect in SEC play; Texas squeaked past Kansas State, 33-30 (OT); Georgia held off Missouri, 30-21; Clemson upset Notre Dame, 31-23; Arizona took down UCLA, 27-10; Army beat previously unbeaten Air Force, 23-3.
More CFB:
Stalions fired: Michigan has fired recruiting analyst Connor Stalions, who emerged as the central figure in the sign-stealing scandal that has engulfed the program.
AP poll: The Top 10 remained unchanged this week. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, Kansas State and Air Force moved out; Oklahoma State, Arizona, Liberty and UNC moved in.
Trojans fire Grinch: USC fired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch after their 52-42 loss to Washington. They rank 124th out of 133 FBS teams in total defense (436 yards per game).
Further reading:Who is the best team in college football?
🇯🇵 THE "CURSE OF THE COLONEL" HAS BEEN LIFTED
The Hanshin Tigers beat the Orix Buffaloes, 7-1, on Sunday in Game 7 of the Japan Series to snap their 38-year title drought and end the "Curse of the Colonel," a hex placed on the team by the ghost of deceased KFC founder Colonel Sanders.
The curse, explained: The "Curse of the Colonel" dates back to 1985, when rowdy Hanshin fans threw a storefront statue of Colonel Sanders into the murky waters of Osaka's Dōtonbori Canal to celebrate the team's Central League pennant.
The Colonel was believed to be angry about this and cursed the team — a hex that became a national saga not unlike the "Curse of the Billy Goat" (Cubs).
Even when the colonel statue was retrieved in 2009 (minus his glasses and left hand), the curse lived on.
Some 37 fans jumped in the canal on Sunday to celebrate Hanshin finally breaking through.
Japan loves KFC: There are over 1,200 KFC locations in Japan, trailing only China and the U.S. It's even become a Christmas tradition, with millions of Japanese people eating there on Christmas Day each year.
🇺🇸 PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA
San Diego — OL Reign beat top-seeded San Diego, 1-0, and Gotham (NJ/NY) beat No. 2 seed Portland, 1-0, on Sunday to advance to the NWSL title game, which will be the final match for USWNT legends Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign) and Ali Krieger (Gotham).
Phoenix — Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series championship on Sunday, beating out Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell to give Team Penske its second straight title after Joey Logano won in 2022.
New York — More than 50,000 runners participated in the 52nd New York City Marathon on Sunday, where Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola set a course record (2:04:58) en route to winning the men's race. Kenya's Hellon Obiri won the women's race.
🌎 PHOTOS AROUND THE WORLD
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — Erik Van Rooyen hit a walk-off eagle to win the World Wide Technology Championship in honor of his best friend, who's dying. Try to watch this without crying.
Paris — Novak Djokovic beat Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to win his seventh Paris Masters trophy and 40th Masters title. He'll enter the season-ending ATP Finals on an 18-match winning streak.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Fluminense (Brazil) won South America's version of the Champions League, beating Boca Juniors (Argentina) in extra time to secure their first Copa Libertadores title.
📆 NOV. 6, 1869: THE FIRST COLLEGE SOCCER (AND FOOTBALL) GAME
154 years ago today, Rutgers beat the College of New Jersey* (now Princeton), 6-4, in the first college soccer (and football) game ever played.
Soccer and football: The rules governing play that day were based on the London Football Association's 1863 rules, which disallowed carrying or throwing the ball. Therefore, the game closely resembled soccer and is considered the first college soccer match ever played.
Because college football was developed from those same rules, this game is also considered the first college football game.
Six years later, on June 4, 1875, Tufts and Harvard played the first college football game that actually looked like football.
🏈 1929: Rhode Island's NFL team, the Providence Steam Rollers, hosted the Chicago Cardinals in the first NFL game ever played under the lights.
⚾️ 1969: Mike Cuellar (Orioles) and Denny McLain (Tigers) were named co-winners of the AL Cy Young with an equal number of votes — the Cy Young award's first and only tie.
*Heated rivalry: Rutgers and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) regularly tried to settle their rivalry by stealing back possession of a Revolutionary War cannon. After New Jersey ended that contest by submerging the cannon in concrete, Rutgers challenged them to this football game.
📺 WATCHLIST: COLLEGE HOOPS TIP-OFF
The college basketball season tips off today, with well over 100 men's and women's games across the country.
Men: No. 6 UConn hosts Northern Arizona (6:30pm ET, FS1) as the Huskies begin their title defense, and Kansas State hosts No. 21 USC in the nightcap (10pm, TNT/Max).
Women: No. 10 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 South Carolina in Paris* (1pm, ESPN); No. 21 USC at No. 7 Ohio State (2pm, truTV); No. 20 Colorado at No. 1 LSU (7:30pm, TNT).
More to watch:
🎾 WTA Finals:Championship (4:30pm, Tennis) … Jessica Pegula vs. Iga Świątek in the finale of the season-ending event. The winner will become World No. 1.
🏈 NFL:Chargers (-3.5) at Jets (8:15pm, ESPN/ABC)
⚽️ MLS Playoffs:No. 5 Salt Lake (down 1-0) vs. No. 4 Houston (9pm, Apple)
⚽️ Premier League:Tottenham vs. Chelsea (3pm, Peacock)
🏀 NBA:Lakers at Heat (7:30pm, NBA)
🏒 NHL:Lightning at Maple Leafs (7pm, NHL)
*Historic meeting: Notre Dame-South Carolina is the first regular-season college basketball game ever to be played in Paris. It continues a trend of NCAA sports playing games abroad.
🌎 GEOGRAPHY TRIVIA
The 2023 Pan American Gamesconcluded on Sunday in Santiago, Chile. Next up: The 2027 Pan Am Games in Barranquilla.
Question: Where is Barranquilla?
Brazil
Mexico
Colombia
Peru
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 BAKER'S DOZEN: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND
The top 13 plays of the weekend include football, basketball, soccer, volleyball and field hockey.
Watch the highlights... On Yahoo or on Twitter/X.
___
Trivia answer: Colombia
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
