Florida Sports Wire

NFL: Dolphins' home struggles continue in loss to Houston

Miami, FL (Sports Network) - Matt Schaub threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns, as the Houston Texans earned a 23-13 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

Arian Foster ran for 33 yards on 10 carries before aggravating a hamstring injury. He did not appear in the second half and was spelled by Ben Tate, who made his NFL debut last Sunday in the Texans' 34-7 thumping of division rival Indianapolis.

Tate ran for 103 yards on 23 carries, while Andre Johnson had seven catches for 93 yards and a touchdown for the Texans (2-0).

Chad Henne threw for 170 yards with one touchdown and an interception on 12- of-30 passing for the Dolphins (0-2), who have lost six straight and 11 of 12 at home.

With Reggie Bush rendered ineffective -- six rushes, 18 yards -- rookie second-round pick Daniel Thomas carried the ball 18 times for 107 yards for Miami.

Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Houston reeled off a methodical, 12-play, 75-yard drive on the game's opening possession, which resulted in a 23-yard Neil Rackers field goal.

After a Dolphins three-and-out, Jacoby Jones returned a Brandon Fields punt 40 yards to the Miami 44. The Texans advanced to the four-yard line before the drive stalled and Rackers' 22-yard field goal made it a 6-0 game.

A 41-yard completion from Henne to Davone Bess coupled with a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on the Dolphins' next drive moved the ball to the Houston 23-yard line. Dan Carpenter hit a 42-yard field goal to cut the Texans' advantage in half, but the Miami offense sputtered through the rest of the half.

Johnathan Joseph intercepted Henne near the Miami goal line at the start of the second quarter and Schaub capitalized two plays later, rolling to his right and hitting Owen Daniels for a four-yard touchdown and a 13-3 Houston lead.

The Dolphins then worked their way into field goal range but Carpenter's attempt was blocked by J.J. Watts.

Carpenter then missed a 34-yarder and Rackers made good on a 36-yard try to give the Texans a 16-3 lead at the half.

After the break, it was the Texans offense which ran out of gas. The Miami defense, which allowed a franchise-high 622 yards in Monday's 38-24 loss to New England, forced punts each of Houston's third quarter possessions.

Miami, on the other hand, reeled off a seven-play, 62-yard scoring march on its second drive. With the Dolphins working out of the no-huddle, Thomas had rushes of 14 and 13 yards. On 1st-and-10 from the Houston 12, Henne spotted Marshall with one-on-one coverage on the sideline. Marshall caught an out and carried cornerback Jason Allen into the endzone to make it a 16-10 game.

Staying in the hurry-up, the Dolphins, aided by Brian Hartline's outstretched, 25-yard catch along the sideline, moved the ball 75 yards down the field early in the fourth quarter before Carpenter's 34-yarder cut the Texans advantage to three points.

The Texans, however, proved their mettle, needing just five plays to re- establish a 10-point lead. Tate reeled off a 16-yard run during the brief drive and Schaub found Johnson in the end zone from 23-yards out.

The Dolphins followed with a three-and-out and the Texans received the ball with 8:01 remaining. They ran Tate eight consecutive times before punting back to the Dolphins with 2:51 left.

After Miami failed to convert a 4th-and-19, Houston ran out the clock to seal the victory.

Game Notes

The Texans snapped a six-game road losing streak. They are 6-0 all-time against the Dolphins...Tate was a second-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft but broke his ankle during the preseason of that year.

NFL: Jets annihilate Jacksonville Jaguars, 32-3

East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Dustin Keller caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, helping the New York Jets destroy the Jacksonville Jaguars, 32-3, in Week 2 action.

Mark Sanchez completed 17-of-24 passes for 182 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Jets (2-0), who rallied past the Cowboys, 27-24, last Sunday.

Shonn Greene carried the ball 16 times for 49 yards and a score for New York. Santonio Holmes hauled in three passes for 42 yards and a touchdown.

"Last night, we challenged our team that there was one streak that we wanted to break and that was struggling offensively," Jets head coach Rex Ryan said. "That's really a team deal -- it's not just struggling on offense. It's a team statistic."

The news was not all good for the Jets, who lost All-Pro center Nick Mangold to an ankle injury late in the first quarter. Rookie Colin Baxter took over for Mangold.

Luke McCown connected on 6-of-19 passes for 59 yards and four interceptions for the Jaguars (1-1), who failed to build off a 16-14 victory over the Titans last weekend. McCown's passer rating was a dismal 1.8.

"It was one of those days where it was honestly nothing they were doing...This was on me, and I'll do better," McCown said.

Blaine Gabbert, the 10th overall pick in this year's draft, played the fourth quarter due to McCown's poor play. The Missouri product completed 5-of-6 passes for 52 yards.

Maurice Jones-Drew was the lone bright spot for Jacksonville, rushing for 88 yards on 18 carries.

It didn't take long for the Jets to get on the board. New York covered 65 yards in six plays on the opening drive of the game. Keller's 33-yard catch put the ball at the 17. On the next play, Sanchez used a play-action pass to find Holmes in the back of the end zone.

"We haven't scored an offensive touchdown in the first quarter in the last 16 games and a lot of us didn't realize that," Keller said. "That's pretty much embarrassing. The point of emphasis was to get the ball to the offense early in the game. We won the toss and we went down and put an end to that streak. It was really big for us."

Muhammad Wilkerson sacked McCown in the end zone to give the Jets an early 9-0 lead.

Josh Scobee made a 55-yard field goal with 3:02 left in the first quarter to cut the gap to six, 9-3.

Nick Folk responded with a 38-yard field goal early in the second stanza to make it 12-3.

Sanchez was picked off by Rashean Mathis on the next Jets possession. Antonio Cromartie gave New York's offense another shot with an interception. His 37-yard return put the ball at the 40-yard line of the Jets.

The home team did little on offense and was forced to punt. McCown was picked off by safety Eric Smith next time around. A personal foul call on the Jaguars gave New York the ball at the Jacksonville 28.

Folk's 45-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the half made it 15-3.

Following multiple punts to start the second half, the Jets started at their own eight-yard line with 9:08 left. On 3rd-and-4, Sanchez carried the ball seven yards for a fresh set of downs. A defensive illegal contact penalty was added to end of the run. Holmes caught an 18-yard pass to set up New York in the red zone. Keller capped the eight-play drive with an 11-yard TD catch to make it 22-3 with under four minutes remaining.

Cromartie put the game away for the Jets on Jacksonville's ensuing drive. Cromartie stepped in front of McCown's pass and sprinted 26 yards down the left sideline. Replay showed that Cromartie was pushed out at the one-yard line. Greene rumbled into the end zone to give New York a 29-3 margin with 1 1/2 minutes left.

McCown could only shake his head after throwing another interception to linebacker Josh Mauga. Folk capitalized with a 23-yarder to make it a 32-3 game early in the fourth.

Gabbert took over for McCown and led the Jaguars to the 24-yard line of the Jets. Jones-Drew was stuffed on fourth down.

Game Notes

Jacksonville leads the all-time series with New York, 6-3...Scobee's 55-yarder in the first quarter is longest by a Jets opponent at home since Miami's Pete Stoyanovich hit from 59 yards out in 1989...Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis (strained calf) missed the game...The Jets are 7-1 under Ryan in September

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: JU's Walden wins Player of the Week honors

JU's Colby Walden got the Dolphins off on the right foot Saturday with a 93-yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown and Sunday was named Pioneer Football League Player of the Week for special teams.

Walden, a junior from Tampa, Fla., had 185 return yards in the team's 37-30 win over Charleston Southern and was credited with three tackles on defense.

In addition, Walden intercepted a fourth quarter pass from the Bucs' Malcomb Dixon that ended Charleston Southern's final drive and sealed JU's first win of the year.

He is the first Dolphin to win the PFL honor this season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEC Notebook

SEC has five teams ranked in the latest AP and USA Today polls, tying it with the Big 12 (both polls) and ACC (USA Today).

All five teams are ranked in the top 15. LSU (2nd-AP/3rd-USA Today) and Alabama (3rd-AP/2nd-USA Today) lead the SEC followed by South Carolina (10th-USA Today/12th-AP), Arkansas (12th-USA Today/14th-AP) and Florida (15th in both polls). With Vanderbilt receiving points in this week’s poll, the SEC has now had 10 of its 12 teams receive points in at least one poll this year.

* - The SEC is now 22-4 this season against non-conference foes (.846). The percentage is second in the nation behind the Big 12 at .917 (22-2). Since 1992, the SEC is .761 against non-conference teams (707-221-2).

* - Alabama (vs. North Texas) and Arkansas (vs. Troy) both continues its non-conference regular season win streaks last weekend. Both teams are riding 13-game non-conference win streaks, currently longest in the SEC.

* - The eight SEC home games this weekend had a total attendance of 592,852. The average percent of capacity in the eight stadiums was 99.1 percent. That equates to an average of 664 open seats in the eight games this past weekend.

* - LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne (2 INTs, 1 PBU, 1 Tackle) and Florida’s Chris Rainey (233 all-purpose yards – 108 rushing/104 passing/21 punt returns) were named the Walter Camp Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week for this past week.

* - Two SEC teams recorded shutouts this weekend – Georgia’s 59-0 win against Coastal Carolina and Alabama’s 41-0 win against North Texas. Georgia is the only SEC team to record at least one shutout in each of the last three years (2009, 2010, 2011). Alabama has the most defensive shutouts in the SEC since 2008 (4). This is the first weekend since Sept. 5, 2009 that the SEC has recorded multiple shutouts in the same weekend. That weekend, Vanderbilt defeated Western Carolina, 45-0, and Kentucky defeated Miami, Ohio, 42-0.

* - SEC defenses only gave up eight rushing TDs this past weekend and have given up only one special teams touchdown all year (UConn blocked punt return vs. Vanderbilt).

* - Arkansas is the only SEC team to score a touchdown on its opening drive in every game this season. Florida (1 TD, 2 FGs) and LSU (1 TD, 2 FGs) have also scored on its opening drive in all 3 games this season.

* - Florida has four of the 10 longest drives (by time of possession) this year. The Gators had a 7:42 against UAB, 6:32 vs. Florida Atlantic, 6:15 vs. Florida Atlantic and 6:14 vs. Tennessee.

* - Kentucky has not allowed a touchdown in the red zone this year (5 attempts).

* - SEC field goal kickers were 7-of-8 in attempts of more than 40 yards this past weekend. Florida’s Caleb Sturgis and LSU’s Drew Alleman hit two each.

*- SEC teams are averaging 35.0 points per game and giving up 19.5. Since 1992, the SEC best has been 31.0 (last season) while SEC teams gave up only 18.8 points per game in 1992.

* - Florida’s Caleb Sturgis (field goals-3.0 per game), South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore (rushing-178 yards per game) and Alabama’s Trent Richardson (scoring-16.0 points per game) are national statistical leaders after three games.

* - Six SEC teams are among the top 30 in pass efficiency defense. Six are also among the top 21 in scoring defense. This week’s opponents – Alabama and Arkansas are the only SEC teams that are in the top 25 in both scoring defense and scoring offense. Alabama is 2nd in scoring defense and 24th in scoring offense and Arkansas is 18th in scoring defense and 8th in scoring offense.

* - Georgia’s Blair Walsh, with eight PATs and a field goal against Coastal Carolina, has moved into the SEC career top 10 in points scored (10th-327), points scored by kicking (9th-327) and PAT kicks made (9th-153).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: ACC extends formal invitations to Pittsburgh and Syracuse

The Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents has unanimously voted to accept the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University as new members. The invitation followed the submission of letters of application from both universities.

“The ACC is a strong united conference that is only going to get better with the addition of the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University,” said Duke University President Richard Broadhead, chair of the ACC Council of Presidents. “Both schools are committed to competing at the highest level of academics and athletics. We welcome them as full partners in the ACC.”

“The ACC has enjoyed a rich tradition by balancing academics and athletics and the addition of Pitt and Syracuse further strengthens the ACC culture in this regard,” said Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford. “Pittsburgh and Syracuse also serve to enhance the ACC’s reach into the states of New York and Pennsylvania and geographically bridges our footprint between Maryland and Massachusetts. With the addition of Pitt and Syracuse, the ACC will cover virtually the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States.”

“This is an exciting day for the University of Pittsburgh. We have a long history of competing and collaborating with the distinguished universities that already are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and have enormous respect for both their academic strengths and their athletic accomplishments,” said University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg. “In looking to our own future, we could not envision a better conference home for Pitt and are grateful to the Council of Presidents for extending an invitation to join the ACC community.”

"We are very excited to be joining the ACC. This is a tremendous opportunity for Syracuse, and with its outstanding academic quality and athletic excellence, the ACC is a perfect fit for us," said Nancy Cantor, Chancellor and President of Syracuse University. "The ACC is home to excellent national research universities with very strong academic quality, and is a group that Syracuse will contribute to significantly and benefit from considerably. As a comprehensive, all-sports conference, the ACC provides Syracuse tremendous opportunities for quality competition and growth in all sports, while also renewing some of our historic rivalries. This move will also bolster our continued efforts to look outward, engage, and extend Syracuse’s reach to key areas of the country, including the southeast, as we grow and expand our national connections to alumni, partners and the students of the future. We are pleased that Syracuse adds a New York City dimension to the ACC, a region in which we have built strong identity and affinity, and we look forward to bringing ACC games to the Big Apple. Overall, for Syracuse, this opportunity provides long-term conference stability in what is an uncertain, evolving, and rapidly shifting national landscape."

“This is a very significant day for all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff at the University of Pittsburgh,” said Steve Pederson, University of Pittsburgh Director of Athletics. “The strength and quality of the ACC is highly regarded by everyone at Pitt. When we set high expectations for our student-athletes in their academic, athletic and personal goals, it is important to provide every opportunity and resource to enable that success. Joining the ACC and the outstanding institutions in this conference will give every Pitt student-athlete the chance to achieve their highest aspirations.”

Daryl Gross, Syracuse University Director of Athletics said, "Today is a day that we will remember for years to come. We are truly excited that academically and athletically we will be a member of the ACC, one of the nation's premier collegiate athletic conferences. As New York's College Team, we plan to compete at the highest level across all of our sports and help to enhance this great conference."