Sports Briefs September 20, 2011
Football
Problems in the kicking game cost Boise State last season. Coach Chris Petersen is trying to make sure it's not an issue again.
At his weekly press conference Monday, Petersen addressed the fourth-ranked Broncos' shortcomings in the kicking game after kickers Dan Goodale and Michael Frisina both missed extra points in a victory over Toledo last weekend.
"We'll get this kicking situation figured out," Petersen said. "You saw the worst of the worst there. We haven't seen a lot of that in practice. Not that things can't happen in games that happen in practice, but they've been OK as long as we've kept them inside their range."
Last season, Boise State saw how costly miscues in the kicking game can be. Senior Kyle Brotzman missed two field goals in a loss to Nevada that cost the Broncos a chance at a perfect season.
Heading into the Broncos' home opener against Tulsa on Saturday, Petersen isn't wasting time addressing the trouble area.
"Any time you have a trouble area, you spend more time on it in practice," Petersen said. "And we'll be spending more time on it this week."
Petersen also said the team will take a closer look at freshman kicker Jake Van Ginkel in practice.
• Dunta Robinson will pay for his flagrant hit on the Eagles' Jeremy Maclin. He won't be suspended.
The NFL fined the Falcons cornerback $40,000 for the hit in which he led with his helmet and crashed into Maclin in the third quarter of Atlanta's 35-31 win over Philadelphia on Sunday night. Robinson was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness.
The league did not suspend Robinson although it has said hits like the one he put on Maclin could lead to such action. Robinson is a repeat offender, having being fined $25,000 last year for a similar hit on the Eagles' DeSean Jackson that left both players with concussions.
• Giants 28, Rams 16: At East Rutherford, N.J., Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes and linebacker Michael Boley scored on a 65-yard fumble return to lead New York (1-1) over mistake-prone St. Louis (0-2).
• Oklahoma cleared the way for its possible departure from the Big 12, with university president David Boren demanding the league move toward an equal revenue-sharing model and create stability or else lose the Sooners to the Pac-12.
Baseball
• AMERICAN LEAGUE
Yankees 6, Twins 4: Mariano Rivera set the major league record with career save No. 602, pitching a perfect ninth inning to preserve host New York's win over Minnesota.
Orioles 6-9, Red Sox 5-18: Host Boston lost for the 12th time in 15 games when Jeremy Guthrie pitched Baltimore past the Red Sox in the opener.
Jacoby Ellsbury hit an inside-the-park homer and Conor Jackson added a grand slam to cap to help Boston to a doubleheader split.
Blue Jays 3, Angels 2, 10 inn.: Adam Lind drove in the winning run with a grounder in the 10th and host Toronto beat Los Angeles.
• NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cardinals 4, Phillies 3: Kyle Lohse outpitched Roy Halladay to lead St. Louis at Philadelphia.
Marlins 6, Braves 5: At Miami, Omar Infante hit a game-ending two-run homer to lift Florida over Atlanta.
Astros 3, Reds 2: Matt Downs hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to lift Houston at Cincinnati.
Cubs 5, Brewers 2: Geovany Soto hit two two-run homers and drove in all of host Chicago's runs to beat Milwaukee.
Diamondbacks 1, Pirates 0: At Phoenix, Ian Kennedy won his 20th game to help Arizona over Pittsburgh.
- The Associated Press