1. SPORTSMONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After
seeing UCLA and North Carolina
demoralize Virginia by scoring
points off turnovers, and Georgia
Tech start quick before mauling
U.Va., linebacker Henry Coley was
tired of the Cavaliers failing to
have a little more control of their
fate.
He desperately wanted some-
thing to change Saturday night at
No. 2 Florida State. What he got
was a partial fulfillment of his
wishes — an aggressive U.Va. team
that took advantage of mistakes
more than he’d seen in the previ-
ous month, but one that let the
familiar, self-inflicted foibles
creep in yet again in a 34-20 loss.
“That’s kind of our Achilles’
heel,” Coley said. “We haven’t
really gotten beaten all season.
We’ve beat ourselves in a lot of the
games we’ve played. We just can’t
allow that.”
U.Va. (4-6, 2-4 Atlantic Coast
Conference) finds itself in the
difficult position of needing to
snapafour-gamelosingstreakand
win its last two regular-season
games — against Miami and at
Virginia Tech — just to get bowl-
eligible.
Though it has an off week
before its Nov. 22 games against
Miami, U.Va. will have to use the
time to get healthier on the
offensiveline,reinvigorateitsrun-
ning game and get past what
might’ve been against FSU had
U.Va.justbeenabletocapitalizeon
FSU’s three turnovers without
giving the Seminoles three easy-
scoring opportunities of their
own.
“There are things that you can
hold your head up about, but
there’s things that now we have to
move forward on and get ready
for,” said U.Va. coach Mike Lon-
don, who continues to be under a
greatdealofpressuretowinasthe
season draws to a close. “We’ve
got a bye week. We have to get
some guys healthy and finish out
with two games left.”
U.Va. returned to some of the
form that made it so successful
early in the season by forcing
three FSU turnovers and scoring
20 points off those takeaways,
which included two first-quarter
interceptions thrown by FSU
quarterbackJameisWinston,who
was 22 of 35 passing for 261 yards,
a touchdown and two intercep-
tions. U.Va. was held to a season-
low 257 yards, but it has forced an
ACC-high 24 turnovers this sea-
son, and has scored 95 points off
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
OFF-WEEK FOCUS KEY TO STRETCH RUN
Florida State receiver Jesus Wilson squeezes between two Virginia
defenders during the Seminoles’ 34-20 victory on Saturday night.
MELINA VASTOLA/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO
After loss to FSU,
U.Va. has time to prep
for ‘must-win’ games
By Norm Wood
nwood@dailypress.com
See U.VA./Page 5
The last time the Arizona Car-
dinals were 8-1?
They were the Chicago Cardi-
nals.
NFL-leading Arizona achieved
that feat again Sunday, matching
the club’s starts in1925 and1948,
with a 31-14 victory over the visit-
ing St. Louis Rams.
On a day when the sputtering
NFC West was reanimated — San
Francisco edging New Orleans in
overtime and Seattle trampling
the New York Giants with 350
yards rushing — the Rams looked
as if they might be headed for
another upset.
St. Louis, which in the past
three weeks upset the Seahawks
and 49ers, had a14-10 lead over
the Cardinals in the fourth quar-
ter, when Arizona quarterback
Carson Palmer fell to the turf in
agony with an injury to his left
knee, the same joint that was bent
backward on a horrific hit nine
years ago during a Cincinnati
playoff game.
According to NFL.com, Palmer
is believed to have a torn anterior
cruciate ligament, which would
end his season.
As Palmer was carted off the
field this time — mere days after
signing a three-year contract
extension — the life was sucked
NFL COMMENTARY
RIGHT
NOW, IT’S
IN THE
CARDS
Patrick Peterson scores a TD in
Arizona’s win over St. Louis.
MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS
Sunday’s results
DETROIT 20, Miami 16
Kansas City 17, BUFFALO 13
Dallas 31, Jacksonville 17
(in London)
S. Fran. 27, NEW ORL. 24, OT
BALT. 21, Tennessee 7
N.Y. JETS 20, Pittsburgh 13
Atlanta 27, T. BAY 17
Denver 41, OAKLAND 17
ARIZONA 31, St. Louis 14
SEATTLE 38, N.Y. Giants 17
Chicago at Green Bay, late
Home team in CAPS
See FARMER/Page 4
Arizona perseveres
despite Palmer’s injury
By Sam Farmer
Tribune Newspapers
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Tongue
firmly in his cheek, Ryan New-
man looked at fellow drivers
Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano
next to him after Sunday’s race
and asked, “Anybody fight, or
not?”
It’s was a wry reference to the
prior
week’s
post-race
brawl in
Texas, and
in fact
there was
no follow-
up fight-
ing at
Phoenix International Raceway.
But the drama was intense
nonetheless in the next-to-last
race in NASCAR’s Chase for the
Sprint Cup title playoff.
Kevin Harvick won in domi-
nating fashion and will join
Newman, Hamlin and Logano in
a one-race shootout for the
championship next Sunday at
Homestead-Miami Speedway in
Florida.
FourotherChasedriverswere
eliminated: Jeff Gordon and
Brad Keselowski — who were at
the center of last week’s brawl —
along with Matt Kenseth and
Carl Edwards.
Harvick automatically ad-
vanced with his victory on a
warm, cloudless day, his fourth
win in the last five Cup races at
the one-mile PIR oval. The other
three advanced by being highest
in points among the eight drivers
in contention.
“Here we come, Homestead,”
Harvicksaid.“Iguessthat’swhat
it feels like to hit a walk-off
(home run) in extra innings.”
Newman, in his first year with
the Richard Childress Racing
team, made the most dramatic
move of the day when he passed
Kyle Larson after their cars
bangedtogetheronthelastlapto
finish11th.
In doing so, Newman moved
one point ahead of Gordon,
allowing Newman to reach the
final four of the Chase and
eliminating Gordon.
“If Kyle Larson was in my
shoes, he’d have done the exact
same thing,” Newman said. “I
don’t like racing that way, but
there’s a lot on the line.”
It was a dizzying task trying to
keep track of which four drivers
would advance because the eight
drivers started the race sepa-
rated by only 18 points, and the
standings changed with each of
the 312 laps.
The only constant was the
NASCAR SPRINT CUP QUICKEN LOANS RACE FOR HEROES 500
Kevin Harvick leads a group of drivers during Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 at Phoenix. Harvick won the race.
MATT SULLIVAN/GETTY PHOTO
CUT TO THE CHASECUT TO THE CHASE
Harvick wins at Phoenix, one of four drivers left with chance at Cup title
By Jim Peltz
Tribune Newspapers Hopefuls at Homestead
J Kevin Harvick Joey Logano I
Wins: 4 Wins: 5
Top 5 finishes: 13 Top 5s: 16
Top 10 finishes: 19 Top 10s: 22
J Denny Hamlin Ryan Newman I
Wins: 1 Wins: 0
Top 5s: 7 Top 5s: 4
Top 10s: 17 Top 10s: 15
Mike Vick threw two
touchdownpassesastheNew
York Jets shocked the red-hot
Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-13. It
was the Jets’ first win since
Week 1. For more coverage,
turn to Page 4.
NFL
Vick leads stunning upset
ALEX TRAUTWIG/GETTY IMAGES
With the addition of Louisville — and head coach Rick
Pitino — the ACC is touting itself as one of the best basketball
conferences in the nation. Including Pitino, the league boasts
four of the five coaches in the basketball Hall of Fame. Duke’s
Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and North
Carolina’s Roy Williams have also been inducted into the Hall.
For more on the elite stable of coaches, turn to Page 6.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
ACC coaches pave the way
Up next
FORD
ECOBOOST 400
When: 3 p.m. Sun.
Where:
Homestead-Miami
Speedway
TV: ESPN
See NASCAR/Page 5