Christian McCaffrey came tantalizingly close to setting an NFL record with at least one touchdown in 18 consecutive games.

Looking to break a tie with Hall of Fame Baltimore Colts running back Lenny Moore, the San Francisco 49ers running back re-entered a blowout game against the Jacksonville Jaguars as the Niners moved into the red zone late in the fourth quarter.

McCaffrey touched the ball on four consecutive plays, but couldn’t haul in a pass from backup quarterback Sam Darnold on fourth-and-goal from the Jacksonville 5-yard line with approximately three minutes to go.

San Francisco won the game 34-3. McCaffrey had 95 rushing yards on 16 carries, adding 47 receiving yards on six catches.

The last time McCaffrey did not score a touchdown in a game was San Francisco’s 13-0 win over the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 27, 2022. He began his record-breaking streak the following Sunday in Week 13 with a 3-yard TD reception from Brock Purdy against the Miami Dolphins.

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There was drama on and off the field in college football, but in the end Week 11 passed with little chaos as far as the US LBM Coaches Poll is concerned. The top eight teams remain the same, although the differences at some positions are a bit smaller.

Georgia remains No. 1 following its decisive win against then-No. 10 Mississippi. The Bulldogs received 58 of 64 first-place votes. No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Ohio State, both also winning impressively on Saturday, picked up three firsts apiece as there head-to-head showdown is now less than two weeks away. The Wolverines are now just 12 poll points ahead of the Buckeyes for the second spot.

No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Washington hold steady after surviving close contests to keep their respective records clean. Oregon, Texas and Alabama stay put in the next three positions, with the Crimson Tide closing to within 10 points of the Longhorns.

TOP 25:  Complete US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 11

HIGHS AND LOWS: Week 11 college football winners and losers

Entering the top 10 this week are No. 9 Louisville and No. 10 Oregon State. It is the first top-10 appearance for the Cardinals since Nov. 13, 2016 and for the Beavers since Oct. 21, 2012. Penn State slides three places to No. 12, while Mississippi drops just four spots to No. 14. Missouri climbs to a season-high No. 11 after its big win against Tennessee, which tumbles seven positions to No. 19.

Iowa and Kansas State rejoin the poll this week at No. 23 and 24, respectively. Oklahoma State hangs on to the No. 25 spot but takes an eight-position hit following its loss at Central Florida.

Kansas and Fresno State are the week’s dropouts.

The NFL’s Week 10 Sunday slate dawned with the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots squaring off in Frankfurt, Germany, in the fifth and final installment of the league’s 2023 International Series docket.

And while it was hardly a shock that the Colts won, a 10-6 triumph at Deutsche Bank Park that put yet another torpedo into the Patriots’ apparently lost season was still a rather jarring watch. And it seems like there could be significant fallout for both clubs as they head back across the Atlantic Ocean and into their Week 11 byes.

Sunday morning’s winners and losers, Deutschland style:

WINNERS

Colts

They leveled their record at 5-5, moving into ninth place overall in the AFC – for now – and one game behind the trifecta of 5-3 AFC North teams that currently occupy the conference’s three wild-card spots. Indianapolis may not, uh, have the horses to reach the playoffs, but a 2023 season that’s largely been devoid of rookie QB Anthony Richardson has already been a rousing success for first-year head coach Shane Steichen.

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Jonathan Taylor

Indy’s All-Pro running back had a season-high 24 touches (for 75 yards) in his sixth appearance of a campaign that began with an ankle still healing from surgery and his bank account smarting from a below-market contract. Both issues now resolved, Taylor looks ready for a heavy workload moving forward on a day when he scored the game’s only touchdown on a patient 1-yard run.

Patriots’ draft position

They’re now projected to pick third overall in 2024, which could mean a shot at a quarterback more worthy of Tom Brady’s vacated throne. More on this later, but hey – if the glass is 95% empty, there’s another way to look at it, yeah?

Dayo Odeyingbo

The Colts’ third-year defensive end notched three of Indianapolis’ five sacks, establishing a new career high while doubling his 2023 total entering the game.

New England’s run game

RBs Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott spearheaded an effort that produced 167 yards on the ground, the Patriots’ highest total of the season.

Punters

Indianapolis’ Rigoberto Sanchez and New England’s Bryce Baringer combined for nine boots, each bombing one for at least 69 yards – Baringer drilling a 79-yarder.

LOSERS

Bill Belichick

The only other time he’s been 2-8 with New England was his inaugural season in 2000, which is also the only time BB’s Patriots have finished last in the AFC East – a spot they firmly hold now. They failed to score an offensive TD for the third time this season and went 0-for-4 in the red zone. And Sunday’s loss certainly won’t alleviate the once-unthinkable questions about Belichick’s job security – especially following a game that owner Robert Kraft said he “very much” wanted to win on NFL Network prior to kickoff. Welp.

Mac Jones

Bill O’Brien

New England’s offensive coordinator was caught on camera airing out Jones on the bench – a scene reminiscent of when O’Brien and Brady infamously argued on the sideline in 2011. Yet Brady was a slightly better quarterback … we’d say? O’Brien was brought back to fix the Patriots’ attack and reverse Jones’ regression since his 2021 Pro Bowl season as a rookie. Not working. And we know Josh McDaniels is on speed dial.

Germany

While I can tell you from experience that Germans love to watch punts and field goals – both in steady supply Sunday – shame such a fervent foreign football fan base (alliteration!) was subject to the lowest-scoring international game in NFL history. But never a lost day when you can perpetuate a new national tradition by singing John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” en masse.

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 50 points, Joel Embiid had 37 points and the Philadelphia 76ers improved to 8-1 with their eighth straight victory, beating the Indiana Pacers 137-126 on Sunday night.

Maxey was 20 for 32 from the field and had seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the first of two straight games in Philadelphia between the teams. His previous high was 44 against Toronto on Oct. 28, 2022.

Maxey dedicated the performance to Sixers guard/forward Kelly Oubre Jr., who was hit by a car on Saturday night and suffered a fractured rib. Oubre did not play Sunday night.

According to a incident report from the Philadelphia Police Department, Oubre was struck in the upper chest area by a silver vehicle traveling at a high-rate speed in the Center City area of Philadelphia. In addition to a broken rib, the report said he suffered injuries to his hip and right leg. Although Obure’s injuries are not believed to be season-ending, they could cause him to miss signficant time.

‘This had nothing to do with me,’ Maxey said during his postgame interview. ‘This is all Kelly Oubre. We’re praying for him. Love my dawg. I just met him, but I love him. I hope he gets well soon.’

Embiid had 13 rebounds in 33 minutes. The 76ers are off to their best nine-game start since opening 10-0 in 2000-01 en route to the NBA Finals.

Maxey’s final basket came on a 32-foot step-back 3-pointer with 1:05 to play after Embiid — who has tagged Maxey with the nickname “The Franchise” in past interviews — passed him the ball and set a screen to free him.

“Joel wanted me to get 50 more than even I did,” Maxey said. “When he gave me the ball, he said, ‘You are going to shoot this basketball.’ And that’s why I appreciate my teammates, my coaches and the fans. It was a great night and we got the win, which is what matters most.”

After the game, Oubre’s teammates sent him a video of the post-game locker room celebration after being unable to get him on FaceTime. “

“The game today, I’m sure Tyrese was thinking about it and we were all thinking about it,” Embiid said. ”We just want him to take his time, recover and know that we have his back. He’s needed because he’s a big part of us. We missed him tonight, but he should take his time.

Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 25 points and Myles Turner had 22. The Pacers had won three a row.

“This is one of the top two or three teams in the entire league and we know that,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “There are certain things that we can and will do better on Tuesday. We have to look at it, be honest about what they are and make those adjustments.”

After trailing by 19 in the first half, Indiana took its first lead at 105-104 early in the fourth quarter on Aaron Nesmith’s jumper in the paint. The 76ers pulled away with an 18-6 run, capped by Maxey’ putback of a Patrick Beverley’s errant shot.

“There were stretches where they really got going and we couldn’t shut off the water there,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “But we really got it going in the fourth.”

Maxey raised to average to 28.6 points in his new role as the floor leader in the wake of the trade of James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers.

“I had been missing the open threes and I kept telling my uncle that I can’t keep missing them,” Maxey said. “Tonight, they fell.”

The teams will meet again Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center in the NBA In-Season Tournament. They each won their tournament openers.

Shaquille O’Neal has a new reason to attend SEC women’s basketball games. Although he might be cheering for a former rival.

The four-time NBA champion’s youngest child, daughter Me’Arah O’Neal, committed to play college basketball for the Florida Gators. The four-star prospect, who is ranked No. 33 for the Class of 2024 by ESPN, shared the news of her college decision on Instagram Live on Sunday, choosing the school over her father’s alma mater, LSU. The Tigers, coached by Kim Mulkey, are the reigning NCAA national champions.

‘I will be committing to the University of Florida,’ O’Neal, a senior at Episcopal High School in Houston, said as she popped a balloon that had blue, orange and green confetti in it. She unbuttoned a black letterman jacket to reveal a blue T-shirt with the Gators logo.

The Gators made it to the quarterfinals of the NIT last year. A season earlier, they earned a spot in the 2022 NCAA tournament, their first bid in the Big Dance since 2016, when they lost in the first round. That was head coach Kelly Rae Finley’s first year in Gainesville, and she was named USA Today Sports Network SEC Coach of the Year. The Gators welcomed McDonald’s All-American Laila Reynolds to its squad this year and are off to a 2-0 start.

‘I went on the Florida visit, and I had a feeling that’s where I belonged,’ O’Neal told ESPN of her decision. ‘And that I was going to be most successful if I went to go play at Florida. I felt like I connected with Coach Kelly more than I connected with any of the other schools that recruited me. She really cares about me not just on the court but off the court. That’s important for me.’

The LSU women’s basketball team beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in April for the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball championship. Tigers star Angel Reese, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, signed an endorsement deal with Reebok as the brand’s first major NIL deal after O’Neal was named president of basketball for the athletic apparel company.

In his Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech in 2016, the former Los Angeles Lakers star had high praise for his youngest daughter.

‘I don’t like to put pressure on my babies, but she works out with my sons and I think it’s fair to say one day, if she continues, Me’Arah will probably be the best women’s basketball player ever,’ he said. ‘She’s that good.’

The final score between two high school football teams from Virginia was a head-turning: 104-0.

The end of the game was stomach turning.

Phoebus High School of Hampton led Jamestown High School of Williamsburg 98-0 and had a chance to run out the clock. Instead, Phoebus went for more, scoring on a 28-yard touchdown pass on the game’s final play.

Fans of the Phoebus Phantoms cheered at Darling Stadium in Hampton as the team eclipsed the 100-point mark. But the last-second touchdown did not sit well with Scott Lambin, coach of the Jamestown Eagles.

“I was hot,’’ Lambin wrote to USA TODAY Sports by text but said he didn’t say anything about it to Phoebus coach James Blunt. “…I didn’t feel that I had to ya know?’’

The touchdown was the final indignity on a night Jamestown trailed 56-0 at the end of the first quarter and 84-0 at halftime.

Blunt, reached on Sunday by phone, expressed regret about allowing his team to go for the touchdown on the final play.

“It’s going to eat me up,’’ he told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s something that’s going to stay with me.’’

What was the winning coach thinking?

Phoebus’ coach said under normal circumstances his team would have taken a knee and run out the clock during a lopsided game. But then came Friday night.

“By the time we got to 98 (points),’’ Blunt said, “I’m just like, “Jesus, man, why is this game still going on?’’

But his players reaction was decidedly different after Phoebus took possession of the ball at the Jamestown 45-yard line and 3:44 to play.

“The kids are all looking at me and they’re begging me, like, ‘Coach, can we have our shot at history?’” Blunt said. “And, you know, for me I’m like, I don’t like it. I didn’t like it, didn’t care for it and you’re hearing the crowd and they’re begging me.’’

With eight seconds left, Phantoms snapped the ball. From shotgun formation, the team’s third-string quarterback launched a high-arching pass pulled in by a reserve wide receiver who coasted into the end zone as the final second elapsed off the clock.

“I’ll be honest with you, man, I told the boys at the end when I broke them down, I’m happy for them and I did it for them, but that it’s not one of my better moments,’’ Blunt said. “I haven’t smiled about it. I haven’t accepted a congratulations about it. I just don’t feel good about it.

“But I did it for my kids. The point that was made by some of my seniors was, ‘Coach, we always take the high road and we get it. But it’s our chance. Can we make history?’ “

Why did this travesty happen?

A questionable high school football playoff system in Virginia created this unfortunate matchup.

Phoebus entered the game 10-0 with seven shutouts. Jamestown entered the game 1-9, with seven of those losses’ shutouts.

“No disrespect to Coach (Lambin) and his team, but it wasn’t a matchup that we were excited about,’’ Blunt said.

The game got out of hand almost as soon as it started.

Jamestown committed turnovers on the first play of each of its first three possession, and Phoebus led 20-0 just 48 seconds into the game.

Jamestown trailed 56-0 at the end of the first quarter.

“Those poor kids shouldn’t have been in that game,’’ said Blunt, adding that he pulled out most of his starters early in the first quarter.

The schools’ athletic directors discussed ending the game at halftime, according to Blunt, who said Jamestown chose to play on even after trailing 84-0 at halftime.

Lambin, a former Marine, suggests he draws on his military background in coaching a team that went 0-10 last season.

“The biggest takeaway from last night is we didn’t quit,’’ he wrote.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Connecticut’s second-ranked women’s basketball team brought a lot of loud, aggressive energy into Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday.

And North Carolina State matched it.

The Wolfpack defeated the Huskies 92-81, the first time NC State has beaten UConn since 1998 and their first win in the last seven matchups.

Saniyah Rivers played a starring role for NC State (2-0) with 33 points and 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals, going toe-to-toe and then one-upping the Huskies’ headliners, Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Aaliyah Edwards.

NC State, which lost its top four scorers from last season, took control late in the third quarter of what, until then, had been a seesaw battle.

‘If you don’t show up early in the game, they can expose you,’ Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said coming into Sunday’s game. His squad answered with an outstanding performance to set a high bar for this season as Rivers comes into her own with a hungry team in tow.

Here’s more from the game:

Breakout performance

NC State freshman guard Zoe Brooks had hit double-figure scoring by halftime and her driving layup with 54 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Wolfpack a 3-point lead – the largest for either team in the first half. And she did it coming off the bench, in just her second game in college.

Brooks was a catalyst for the Pack offense early, slipping behind the defense and fighting through contact to finish. She leaked out on fast breaks to push tempo and disrupted UConn’s offense with her quick hands and feet.

Brooks finished with 12 points and she pulled down 4 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.

NC State’s River Baldwin also had a huge game battling Aaliyah Edwards in the post. Baldwin finished with six points and six rebounds, but most importantly, she kept the Huskies from dominating the paint.

Huskies’ NC ties

Sunday’s game marked the completion of a two-season home-and-home series between the Huskies and Wolfpack, but Auriemma and Moore have crossed paths before.

One of Auriemma’s first jobs as an assistant coach was in the ACC. He served five years under Debbie Ryan at Virginia, going with the Cavaliers to the NCAA Tournament during his last two seasons in 1984 and ‘85 before heading to UConn.

Moore was still coaching at Jonson Bible College in Tennessee then, but he would serve as an assistant to Kay Yow from 1993-95 before becoming head coach in 2013. 

And while the NC State-UConn series has seen 11 games, Moore and Auriemma have squared off just three times, with the Huskies winning all three. One of those matchups was the only Elite 8 game every to go to double-overtime. 

UConn star Fudd  is the daughter of former NC State women’s basketball player Katie Smrcka-Duffy Fudd. The elder Fudd was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1997 before transferring to Georgetown.

One of Auriemma’s biggest contributors during his early years at UConn was Shea Ralph, a graduate of Terry Sanford High in Fayetteville.

Ralph helped deliver the third of Auriemma’s 11 national championships with UConn as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 2000. Ralph served on Auriemma’s staff for 13 seasons and was named head coach of Vanderbilt women’s basketball in 2021.

Up next

On Wednesday, the Wolfpack hosts Elon and coach Charlotte Smith, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the 1994 national championship game for UNC. Then, Rhode Island comes to Reynolds on Nov. 19th, and the Wolfpack heads to St. Thomas, US Virgin Island, for the Paradise Jam over Thanksgiving, where they’ll face Kentucky.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Kyler Murray’s 2023 debut saw the Arizona Cardinals franchise quarterback show flashes of dynamic playmaking ability, with the fair-to-expect glitches of a quarterback who hasn’t played in a game in 11 months and was plopped into a new scheme on offense that he can only master with more time.

Leave it to fate to have Murray’s return come down to the wire, with the fifth-year pro forced into trying to lead the Arizona Cardinals on a scoring drive in the final two minutes, 33 seconds of the game. Murray couldn’t connect with Michael Wilson nor Rondale Moore, but electrified the crowd with a signature Murray-like scramble and burst of speed to convert a third-and-10.

And on an underthrown ball, Murray found his favorite target of the day, tight end Trey McBride, for 34 yards to put the Cardinals only a chip shot field away from win No. 2. Matt Prater converted with a 23-yard field goal, and Murray and his team walked off the field as happy winners, 25-23 over the Atlanta Falcons at State Farm Stadium.

Murray finished the game 19 for 32 for 249 yards with an interception and a touchdown run.

What started out well turned into a mixed bag of results that was enough for a victory, with Murray running for six, throwing accurately and moving well but also missing receivers, taking a penalty for delay of game and throwing a third quarter interception.

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Murray at times looked a lot like the pre-knee injury and surgery Murray, connecting with tight end Trey McBride for completions and looking confident in his throws. But it was that late-game scramble that seemed to say ‘Kyler is back.’

After a slant route pass for Brown went incomplete on Murray’s first pass of the day, Murray had run to avoid pressure. It was certainly a significant moment for Murray, to see how his knee held up.

Murray looked more confident as the game wore on, and didn’t appear nervous or apprehensive about anything. In his first game in 335 days, Murray looked nimble in avoiding the pass rush. He just missed good buddy Hollywood Brown for what would have been a touchdown in the second quarter, the ball off Brown’s hands, but on that play opted to throw deep instead of hitting McBride for an easy first down.

That was as close to a mistake for Murray until the middle of the third quarter, when he threw well behind McBride and was intercepted by Atlanta’s Nate Landman. Up to that point, Murray was 15 for 25 for 194 yards.

The interception came with Murray under center, which happened more than handful of times in the game. Murray was more effective out of the shotgun, but successful enough to win the game.

At times, he appeared to be walking with a bit of a limp. Maybe it was just the general soreness of playing a full game for the first time in a while. But nothing ever appeared wrong with Murray when he dropped back, scrambled, or moved around in the pocket.

As the field goal sailed through, the Cardinals didn’t celebrate like they’d won the Super Bowl. Much like Murray’s demeanor the whole game, they calmly congratulated each other and saluted the crowd.

A highly-touted recruit has decommitted from the Colorado Buffaloes.

Wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr., who has a five-star rating by Rivals.com, said Sunday that he is rescinding his commitment from head coach Deion Sanders. The No. 3 receiver and No. 1 player in Florida for the Class of 2025 originally pledged to Colorado in December.

‘I didn’t want to limit the opportunities I already have because when you’re committed some schools try to not talk to you,’ Watkins Jr. told Rivals.com, per Sports Illustrated. ‘I have a lot of schools I want to make sure I’m still good with them because I don’t know if Prime will still be there when I get there.’

Sanders and the Buffaloes are 4-6 with two more games left in the Pro Football Hall of Famer’s first season at the helm. Sanders apologized to the fan base after losing 34-31 in their home finale and extending their losing streak to four games. Sanders joined Colorado in December after leading Jackson State for three seasons and winning back-to-back conference championships. Upon his arrival in Boulder, Sanders shook up the roster using the transfer portal and a landmark amount of recruit commitments.

Watkins Jr. is a junior at First Baptist Academy in Naples, Fla. This season, he had 38 receptions for 804 yards and nine touchdowns. He previously played at IMG Academy. He has 22 offers, including Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan, and he visited Florida State and Miami last fall.

‘I want to make sure that I have all my opportunities. I’m still messing with Colorado super, super heavy but I just want to make sure I’m making the right decision,’ he said. ‘I have love for them and all that type of stuff but business is business.’

He told on3 that he doesn’t plan on making any more verbal commitments after decommitting from Colorado.

‘I just want to study every college that is recruiting me and continue to pray that I am making the right decision that I feel is best,’ he said. ‘… No more Commitments until National Signing Day in December 2024 (signing on the line)!’