ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have one of the NFL's biggest surprises in the first half of the season. They'll try to retain their hold on first place in the NFC South when they play the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. The Falcons are 4-4. The Chargers, coming off their bye week, are 4-3. Chargers coach Brandon Staley says the Falcons are winning with offense. The Falcons rank fifth in the league in rushing and have enjoyed a recent surge in explosive passing plays.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia football has made a transformation over the last seven years. The school was no longer satisfied with being an occasional national championship contender and futilely chasing Alabama in the Southeastern Conference. School officials decided to go all-in in a way Georgia had never done before. It wasn’t just about hiring a new coach. Though Georgia alumnus Kirby Smart, a former Nick Saban assistant at Alabama, was the perfect person for the job.

Justin Verlander overcame an early jolt to grit out the World Series win that long eluded him, rookie Jeremy Peña hit a go-ahead home run and the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 to …

Houston Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña put on quite an all-around performance Thursday night in Game 5 of the World Series. He became the first rookie shortstop to homer in the World Series, …

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Ray Guy, the first punter to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has died, He was 72. Southern Mississippi, where Guy starred before a long NFL career says he died following a lengthy illness. Guy played 14 seasons with the Raiders and was a three-time All-Pro selection. In 2014, he became the first player to make be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame exclusively for his punting. A native of Thomson, Georgia, Guy is also a member of the College Football Football Hall of Fame.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — There will be Southeastern Conference and national championship hopes on the line when No. 1 Georgia faces No. 2 Tennessee. The Vols were No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff ranking the season this week while Georgia, the defending national champion, was No. 3. The showdown between undefeated teams could rest on the matchup of Tennessee's offense, which leads the nation in scoring and total yards, against Georgia's defense, which ranks second in points allowed per game.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cristian Javier and Houston’s bullpen combined on just the second no-hitter in World Series history, silencing a booming lineup and boisterous ballpark as the Astros blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 Wednesday night to even the matchup at two games each. The only previous no-hitter in the World Series was a perfect game by Don Larsen of the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — Before he became the Heisman frontrunner leading the most feared offense in college football for one of the nation’s top teams, Hendon Hooker thought it would be nice to write a children’s book. That sentence can give you whiplash, much like the Tennessee quarterback’s bombs have given opposing defensive backs this season for the undefeated Volunteers.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alec Bohm hit the 1,000th home run in World Series history, and the Philadelphia Phillies quickly went to work on launching the next thousand. Bryce Harper, Bohm and Brandon Marsh teed off early against Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3 of the 118th World Series. Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins hit back-to-back drives to finish McCullers in the fifth inning and make it 7-0. The five home runs tied a World Series record done three previous times.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons, in need of depth at cornerback, have acquired Rashad Fenton from the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2023 conditional seventh-round pick. Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell missed Sunday’s 37-34 overtime win over Carolina with a hamstring injury. Casey Hayward, who opened the season with Terrell as the starting cornerbacks, is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Fenton, a sixth-round pick from South Carolina in 2019, has started 16 games over his four seasons.

Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson were the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, four days before the Volunteers and Bulldogs square off on the field. Michigan was fifth, followed by Alabama and unbeaten TCU. Tennessee is No. 1 in the CFP rankings for the first time, starting a head of a group of teams that have become regulars at the top of the selection committee’s top 25.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Suspended Atlanta receiver Calvin Ridley is getting a fresh start in Jacksonville. It's unclear, though, when he will be allowed to play again. The Jaguars made a complex deal to land Ridley just before the NFL trading deadline Tuesday. A person with knowledge of the trade says compensation to the Falcons ranges between a second-round pick in 2024 and a sixth-rounder.

Tennessee scores so many points so fast that the defense tends to be overshadowed. At least until someone wonders how the Volunteers can play so many minutes a game. Turns out the second-ranked Vols actually can play some defense too, despite being on the field more than all but five other FBS teams. Now Tennessee is preparing to visit top-ranked and defending national champ Georgia.

No. 1 Georgia’s defense has lost outside linebacker Nolan Smith to a season-ending injury. The key loss comes as Georgia is preparing for its biggest test, against No. 2 Tennessee’s top-ranked offense. Smith leads Georgia with three sacks and is fifth with 18 tackles. He suffered a torn right pectoral muscle in last week’s 42-20 win over Florida. Georgia says Smith will have surgery on Thursday.

ATLANTA (AP) — Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota just wanted another chance to pull out a victory after he threw an interception on the first possession of overtime. Three plays after C.J. Henderson returned the pick 54 yards, it still looked bleak for Atlanta as Carolina sent out kicker Eddy Piñeiro to try a game-winning 32-yard field goal, but the Falcons got just the break they were looking for when Piñeiro missed wide left.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida has dismissed pass rusher Brenton Cox for what coach Billy Napier called “more of a cumulative effect here.” Cox is a fifth-year junior and one of the team’s best defenders. He's expected to turn pro and enter the NFL draft. The Stockbridge, Georgia, native has 41 tackles, including 9 1/2 for loss and four sacks. He also leads the Gators with 19 quarterback hurries. Napier says “sometimes you have to make decisions in the best interest of the team."

Christopher Bell worked his way into NASCAR’s championship round the only way he could, winning at Martinsville Speedway to claim a spot in the finale. Ross Chastain reached the title race with a move out of a video game. The pair will face Joey Logano, who entered Sunday’s race with his spot in the title race assured, and Chase Elliott for the championship at Phoenix Raceway.

Tennessee moved into a tie with Ohio State for No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll. That sets up a 1 vs. 2 matchup next week between the Volunteers and top-ranked Georgia. It'll be the 25th regular-season game matching the top two teams in the AP poll, and the third straight involving Southeastern Conference teams. Neither the Bulldogs nor the Volunteers have ever played in a 1-2 game in the regular season. Georgia remained No. 1 for the fourth straight week, receiving 30 first-place votes and 1,528 points.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta’s Younghoe Koo booted a 41-yard field goal in overtime after the Carolina Panthers missed a pair of kicks that could have won the game. That gave the Falcons an improbable 37-34 victory that maintained their hold on first place in the NFC South at 4-4. The teams combined for three touchdowns in the final 3:06 of regulation before a silly penalty by the Panthers' D.J. Moore opened the door for the Falcons to pull it out.

HOUSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez made a five-run lead stand up after Houston’s lightning first-inning burst, Alex Bregman homered and the Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 to tie the World Series at one game apiece. Just like in Game 1, the Astros rushed to a 5-0 lead. Unlike ace Justin Verlander in the opener, Valdez and Houston held on. Valdez rebounded from a pair of poor outings in last year’s Series to pitch shutout ball into the seventh, and the bullpen survived a couple of jams to close things out.

HOUSTON (AP) — Astros catcher Martín Maldonado was forced to switch bats for Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night after it was determined the Albert Pujols model he swung in the opener was no longer allowed in the majors. “A rule is a rule, and I have to follow the rule," he said. "That’s why I didn’t use it today.”

HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Schwarber stayed near home plate after he had already rounded the bases on what was initially ruled a fair ball. He was about to get another swing, and the slugger launched a long drive again.

Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson says he isn’t concerned about Houston starter Framber Valdez’s unusual hand rubbing during Game 2 of the World Series, downplaying speculation on social …

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Daijun Edwards and Kenny McIntosh ran for two touchdowns each, and No. 1 Georgia pulled away from Florida following a second-half scare to win 42-20 Saturday night in the rivalry dubbed “the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State fumbled on the goal line and another first-quarter drive deep into Georgia Tech territory was halted on downs. But the Seminoles made the most of their drives in the second quarter and pulled away to defeat Georgia Tech.