USC head football coach Steve Sarkisian [[ sar-KEY-juhn ]] is taking an indefinite leave of absence. USC athletic director Pat Haden announced the news after Sarkisian didn’t attend practice on Sunday. Haden wasn’t specific about the reasons for the leave, but said it was very clear that Sarkisian is not healthy.
Aaron Rodgers threw two long touchdown passes to lead the Packers to a 24-10 win over the Rams in Green Bay. Nick Foles was just 11-of-30 for 141 yards. He threw one touchdown pass, but was sacked three times and also picked off four times as St. Louis slipped to 2-and-3. The Rams have a bye this week.
Jay Cutler’s seven-yard touchdown pass to Matt Forte with 18 seconds left lifted the Bears to an 18-17 win over the Chiefs in Kansas City. Cutler threw a pair of TD passes in the fourth to lead Chicago to its second straight win. The 2-and-3 Bears will visit the Lions on Sunday.
The Giants are in sole possession of first place in the NFC East. Eli Manning’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Larry Donnell with 21 seconds left gave the Giants a 30-27 win over the 49ers on “Sunday Night Football”. New York has won three in-a-row since opening the year with two straight losses.
Regulation wasn’t enough for three NFL games on Sunday. The Bengals, Browns and Falcons all needed overtime to capture victories. The Bengals and Falcons kept their perfect 5-and-0 records intact with the victories.
The defending American League champions have been pushed to the brink of elimination. Dallas Keuchel [[ KY-kull ]] fired seven innings of one-run ball to lead the Astros to a 4-2 win over the Royals in Game Three of their AL Division Series. Houston can close out the best-of-five set with a win at home today.
The Cardinals and Cubs resume their National League Division Series with Game Three tonight at Wrigley Field. Michael Wacha [[ WAH-kuh ]] starts for St. Louis, while Chicago counters with Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta. The best-of-five series is tied at a game apiece. First pitch tonight is slated for 5:07 p.m.
Major League Baseball is suspending Dodgers infielder Chase Utley for two games for his takeout slide in Game Two of the NL Division Series with the Mets. The slide was deemed to be illegal a day after it played a crucial role in LA’s 5-2 win. Utley will appeal.
Joey Logano has secured an automatic berth in the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Logano took the checkered flag at Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Logano led 227 of the 334 laps en route to his fourth win of the season. Defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick finished second for the 11th time this year. Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five. The Chase for the Sprint Cup heads to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 next weekend.
In college football on Saturday, Michigan mauled Northwestern, 38-0. Notre Dame knocked off Navy, 41-24, while Iowa held off Illinois, 29-20. Millikin fell to Illinois Wesleyan 54-13. Northwestern dropped to 21st in this week’s “USA Today” Top-25 poll following its first loss. Notre Dame moved up two spots to 13th.
Coming up this Friday Night, It’s the Talk 101 High School Game of the Week presented by World of Powersports as the Eisenhower Panthers look for their 6th straight win of the season at home against Chatham Glenwood. The Dale’s Southlake Pharmacy Pregame Show gets underway at 6:30p.m. and the kickoff follows at 7:00p.m. Join Scott Busboom and Glen Purvis this Friday Night from Eisenhower High School with all the action. You can also listen to the game online at www.decaturradio.com.
Coming up this Saturday afternoon, it’s Millikin University football on Talk 101 as The Big Blue are on the road against Wheaton College. The Pepsi Pregame Show gets underway at 5:30p.m. and the kickoff follows at 6:00p.m. Join Scott Busboom and Kevin Hale this Saturday night from Wheaton College with all the action. You can also listen to the game online at www.decaturradio.com.