ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore became the NFL's third-leading career rusher Sunday, eclipsing the 15,269-yard mark set by Barry Sanders.

Gore officially passed Sanders on a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter of the Bills' game against the Denver Broncos. Now in his 15th season, Gore previously became the fourth player to rush for 15,000 career yards during the Bills' Week 4 game against the New England Patriots.

The former Miami Hurricane pulled himself within striking distance on a 27-yard run midway through the third quarter before officially stepping onto the NFL's all-time podium with just over nine minutes left in the game. Gore had just 54 combined rushing yards in his past three games but had amassed 43 yards on eight carries at the time he passed Sanders' career mark.

He signed with the Bills this offseason after stints in Miami and Indianapolis, but began his career in 2005 as the San Francisco 49ers' third-round pick, rushing for 608 yards in 14 games. That still stands as the fewest yards he has rushed for in a single season; Gore ran for 1,000 or more yards in nine of the following 13 seasons, although he is projected to fall just short of that mark this season.

A model of durability, playing in 217 of 231 possible games, Gore, 36, could finish his career in his current position on the all-time list. He's roughly 1,500 yards from the No. 2 rusher, Walter Payton, and 3,000 yards from the all-time leader, Emmitt Smith.

CINCINNATI -- The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn't wait any longer.

After a stagnant drive to open the third quarter down 7-3 to the Bengals, the Steelers benched starting quarterback Mason Rudolph in favor of backup Devlin "Duck" Hodges.

Rudolph was sacked on the first play of the drive for a loss of 13 yards when he couldn't find an open receiver. Two plays later, he threw a wobbly pass that fell incomplete and sent the Steelers' offense off the field for the third three-and-out of the afternoon.

The offense responded immediately to Hodges, scoring a touchdown on the rookie's first drive. He threw an 11-yard pass to Jaylen Samuels on his first play, and connected with James Washington for a 79-yard touchdown a couple of plays later. It was the Steelers' first touchdown since the third quarter of the 21-7 loss to Cleveland last week.

Hodges finished the game 5 of 11 on pass attempts for 118 yards, and helped lead the Steelers back to win Sunday's game 16-10.

Rudolph's afternoon was abysmal before he got benched, completing just 8 of 16 pass attempts for 65 yards. He ended the Steelers' second drive with an interception in the red zone.

The offense had just three plays of at least 10 yards in the first half -- all coming from players signed off of practice squads eight days earlier. Running back Kerrith Whyte had a 21-yard rush and a 16-yard carry in the drive that ended with Rudolph's interception. And wide receiver Deon Cain made a 35-yard catch in the second quarter on second-and-21.

Rudolph's performance in Cincinnati was the latest in a series of rough games for the second-year quarterback. The loss in Cleveland will most be remembered for Rudolph's fight with Myles Garrett, but prior to that he threw four interceptions.

Rudolph has thrown for 1,551 yards with 12 touchdowns to eight interceptions since taking over for Ben Roethlisberger in Week 2, when the franchise quarterback went down with a season-ending elbow injury. Rudolph's QBR of 35.0 ranks 31st in the NFL.

Hodges took over for Rudolph once before this season, coming in when Rudolph sustained a concussion against the Ravens in Week 5. Hodges started the next week against the L.A. Chargers before Rudolph resumed his starting duties after the bye week.

Roberto Bautista Agut put Spain 1-0 ahead in their Davis Cup final against Canada with an emotional victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in Madrid.

Bautista Agut, making a surprise return to the team following the death of his father on Thursday, beat the 19-year-old 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

He was in tears after the win while addressing the jubilant crowd.

Spain will seal victory if world number one Rafael Nadal beats Denis Shapovalov in the second singles rubber.

Canada are in their first final, while Spain are chasing a sixth title.

The final is a best-of-three tie, where a doubles rubber would decide the outcome if the teams are level after the two singles matches.

Bautista Agut puts aside grief to deliver for Spain

Bautista Agut rushed home on Thursday after his father was taken ill and the Spanish federation later announced the player's dad had died.

But the world number nine returned to Madrid to watch his team-mates beat Great Britain in the semi-finals on Saturday before being recalled for the final.

The 31-year-old, whose mother died last year, pointed to the sky after claiming victory when Auger-Aliassime went wide on the first of three match points.

"It was very special feeling on the court and I just could go out and try my best, give my best," he told Eurosport.

"I am very happy I could win the first point for Spain."

Auger-Aliassime was playing his first match at the revamped tournament this week after an ankle injury, with Canada reaching the title-decider by using just the same two players in all of their singles and doubles matches - Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil.

Gawad delighted to win 90-minute thriller at SGH
By ELLIE MAWSON – Squash Mad Correspondent

Egypt’s World No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad prevailed in a 90-minute five-game battle against World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy to lift the Channel VAS Championships at St. George’s Hill, PSA World Tour Gold title in Weybridge, England.

The two players have faced each other 14 times on the PSA Tour previously, however, the last and only time the two Egyptians went to five-games was all the way back in 2016 when Gawad claimed the victory in the semi-finals of the Men’s World Championship, which he went on to win.

The 2017 champion ElShorbagy came out of the blocks firing to take the opening game at the St. George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club, before Gawad switched the momentum to his favour in the second and third, taking a 2-1 lead for the loss of just four points across both games.

An injury break for ElShorbagy at the end of the third seemed to give him a push in a marathon 37-minute fourth game as he stayed with his opponent in a tightly contested battle.

World No.4 Gawad looked at one point as though he was going to hold championship ball at 9-7, before it was taken away from him by his ball being called down to allow ElShorbagy to stage an epic fightback and push the match to a deciding fifth.

ElShorbagy, who had spent 188 minutes on court this week before the final, was not able to push on any further in the final game though as he looked increasingly fatigued against an in form Gawad who punished him with his accurate hitting to take an 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 10-12, 11-6 final in 90 minutes – the longest match of the tournament – and claim his 23rd PSA title.

“It felt great to play in that match, I think me and Mohamed haven’t played for a very long time in a final, since 2017 maybe,” said Gawad afterwards.

“I’m really glad to be back and playing in finals with him. He is an amazing athlete and is such an idol for everyone, a great player and very professional on and off court.

“From the beginning of the match, actually from 7-0 down, I tried to be aggressive from the back corners, and also I tried mixing my volleys. In the fourth at 9-7, I maybe got a bit passive, but also, Mohamed changed his game plan, and I didn’t adapt well enough. Although I lost, I remember thinking that my game plan was good, and that I had to go back to it.

“In the fifth I just made sure I switched back to it, but we were both very tired. The difference I think is that I managed to move him around more than he did.

“I’m really happy to win such a prestigious title. I’ve been playing here for so long and I have very good memories here. I would like to thank Mohamed for a great match today, Danny [Lee] for organising this and Bassim Haider for sponsoring the event.

“You’re doing a great job here and I love playing here in front of a good crowd. Squash means a lot to us so I would like to thank everyone for doing this and my coaches and sponsors for helping me and supporting me on good and bad days.” 

2019 Channel VAS Championships at St George’s Hill, Weybridge, Surrey, England.

Final:
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) beat [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 10-12, 11-6 (90m) 

Report by ELLIE MAWSON (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA and PATRICK LAUSON

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Amid all the change taking place within the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports stable for the upcoming Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, one notable name is staying put.

Rico Abreu confirmed to SPEED SPORT Saturday night following his third-place finish at Bakersfield Speedway with the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series that he will be back with the Toyota-powered juggernaut for the crown jewel indoor midget race in Tulsa, Okla.

The news comes in the wake of announcements over the last month that both Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell will not race with KKM inside the River Spirit Expo Center, with Larson running his own program and Bell driving for a different Toyota program in Tucker/Boat Motorsports.

Abreu, who won back-to-back Chili Bowl titles in 2015 and 2016 to start a run of five straight there for KKM as a team, looks to rekindle that success in January in his No. 97 Safelite Auto Glass Bullet-Toyota.

He was quick to point out that there’s “no team I’d rather race for” than the one led by co-owners Keith Kunz and Pete Willoughby, who helped launch Abreu’s career nearly a decade ago.

“Absolutely I’ll be back with Keith in January,” Abreu told Sprint Car & Midget. “I’m planning on racing for Keith Kunz as long as they want me back. I think I signed that lifetime contract with KKM about seven years ago when I first started for them, but I have to go and race hard in front of those guys and make sure I don’t get booted out. I really, really enjoy getting to race for Keith and Pete (Willoughby) and my appreciation level for their work ethic inside the shop and at the race track is unbelievable.

“The cool part about it for me is that I get to see both sides of this sport, with how I take care of my sprint car team and in the same shop is their midget program,” Abreu added. “So I get to see the guys that work their butts off in the shop … and results like tonight and getting them wins is all I want to do for them. That’s what I’m here for when it comes down to it.”

Abreu won his preliminary night for the fourth time in five years with KKM this past January, and was in contention for a strong result during the 55-lap championship A-main before getting caught up in an early incident that relegated him to the rear of the field and scuttled his hopes at victory.

“Last year I thought we were pretty good, but we just got caught up in the beginning of the race and once you lose that track position at the Chili Bowl … especially in that Saturday feature, it’s so hard to get it back,” Abreu noted. “So I’m looking forward to this (coming) year and to finishing this year on a strong note so that we have some momentum going into the Chili Bowl.

“It’s going to be interesting (with Bell and Larson driving for different teams), but hopefully we can show the pace that got us those two Golden Drillers a few years ago and come home with a third one.”

CONCORD, N.C. – Now that he’s had a few weeks to let it sink in, Ricky Weiss has done a bit of reflecting back on the remarkable first season he completed aboard the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series.

At this point, the rookie denotation he wore throughout the 41 contested races might have been the most unfitting word to describe his first year on a national tour.

With 13 podium finishes, 17 top-fives, 30 top-10s and an average finish of 7.6, this was far more than just a rookie season. Weiss, who claimed the Rookie of the Year Award, took the title to unprecedented heights this year while most of his competition just took notes.

“It felt pretty good hearing everyone’s speeches at the banquet, commenting on our team and how they don’t really consider us a rookie,” Weiss said. “That was definitely pretty humbling.”

“We kinda had our hearts set on [the Rookie of the Year title] when we rolled into Volusia, and that was a goal that was not going to be taken away from us no matter how hard we tried,” said Shawn Gage, Weiss’ crew chief. “We just had to envision that was going to be the first goal we achieved.”

His large northern fanbase from years of racing around the upper Midwest and his home in Headingley, Manitoba, followed him throughout the year and grew exponentially from beginning to end. A solid runner-up finish in the tour’s annual stop at River Cities Speedway in North Dakota brought the local crowd flocking to the pit area after the race to see the former track regular and add to his ever-counting merchandise sales. There he stood, in a sea of black-and-orange t-shirts, signing autographs for a line of fans longer than the one he waited in to get his pit pass earlier that day.

Even those that didn’t follow him in his pre-Outlaw days were quite familiar with the nickname Manitoba Missile by season’s end after watching each race live on DIRTVision. It’s the fans, he said, and their constant support both at the track and online, that make he and the team’s daily grind more worthwhile.

“With social media nowadays, we’re trying to get our team more known and progressively better, and trying to help get our sponsors seen,” Weiss said. “It’s a pretty proud moment to say that we sold the most t-shirts and have fans stick up for you on the Internet. When something happens on the track, I try not to get into it too much, but when you scroll through the comments and see 90 percent in my favor, it makes us proud to know that we’ve got the backing of the fans.”

That constant support helped carry Weiss and the team through the toughest of times this year, more specifically his two DNFs late in the season that sent him back from second in points to fifth — a hole which he climbed out of by the Can-Am World Finals conclusion to finish third and become the highest-finishing rookie in Series history.

Even in what might have been Weiss’ darkest hour, his fans stuck with him. While leading with only six laps remaining in Lernerville Speedway’s Firecracker 100 in late June, Weiss cut a right-rear tire, dashing his chances for $30,000 and the first World of Outlaws win of his career.

“I wish one of my highlights could have been the Firecracker, that was close,” Weiss said. “Not to say we won’t get that again. But we know we can unload there and be quick.”

He stood beside his car after the race, completely dejected, with the glummest face anyone had seen him wear all season. But the car got loaded up, the tire got changed, and the team showed up the following week for the next race in Terre Haute, Ind. Back to work he went, just as the veterans of the sport do.

Weiss was ultimately unable to get that elusive first Outlaw victory by season’s end, despite posting the second-most podium finishes. He had the equipment, he had the knowledge and determination, he certainly had the skill and the experience. But there was just one touch of something else missing that he said would have made a difference in getting to Outlaw victory lane, even just once.

“With a great racer comes great luck. If you’re not lucky, you’re not going to be a good racer. That all plays a factor,” Weiss said.

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Manchester United dropped points once again in the Premier League as they were held to a dramatic 3-3 draw by Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday.

John Fleck gave the Blades an early advantage, with Lys Mousset doubling their advantage early in the second half. A remarkable seven-minute comeback from the Red Devils saw them take the lead courtesy of goals from Brandon Williams, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford, only for Oliver McBurnie to snatch a point for the home side late in the game.

Positives

Breaking away on the counter seems to be a tactic that Manchester United are implementing more and more as the season goes on, and they're certainly getting better at it. They're also starting to surge down the flanks more as opposed to attempting to walk the ball into the back of the net.

Negatives

The spaces that they leave at the back are painful to see at times, and with nobody really taking the initiative, these issues are going to keep happening. They're far too sloppy on the ball, too, which often hurts them when trying to build up a nice move possession wise.

Manager rating out of 10

6 -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer set up his United side in a manner that ensured it'd be incredibly difficult to pump the ball up to the front three. He continues to look tactically naive in the first half of games, failing to showcase the kind of leadership necessary to guide this team towards bigger and better things. With that being said, his changes in the second half seemed to inspire the comeback.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK David De Gea, 7 -- Produced a fantastic double save to prevent Sheffield United early on and seems to have regained the confidence in goal that he's lacked this year.

DF Victor Lindelof, 5 -- Always seems to panic beyond belief when it comes to making any kind of decision off the ball, and certainly lived up to that today.

DF Harry Maguire, 5 -- Really struggled with the physicality of this Blades team, to the point where he had many fans questioning his price tag once again.

DF Phil Jones, 4 -- Was constantly looking for a foul to the frustration of United supporters, and was at the heart of why the hosts were able to take the lead.

DF Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 6 -- You could be forgiven for thinking that Wan-Bissaka wasn't even playing today, as his poor positioning ensured he barely even got a touch of the ball.

DF Brandon Williams, 7 -- Still seems to be a bit off the pace and needs more time to grow into a permanent Premier League role. Did manage to get on the score sheet to begin United's comeback.

MF Andreas Pereira, 5 -- Losing the ball in key positions is becoming far too regular of an occurrence for Pereira, and he did so again in the lead-up to Sheffield United's second goal.

MF Fred, 5 -- Total lack of awareness for what's happening around him causes Manchester United so many headaches. Takes one step forward then two steps back.

MF Daniel James, 7 -- Was arguably the most ineffective player in the whole team in the first half. Came into his own during United's comeback and set up their second goal.

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FW Marcus Rashford, 7 -- Much like James, he struggled in the first 45 minutes, but was key to getting United back into the game with a goal and an assist.

FW Anthony Martial, 6 -- Shifts the ball out of his feet well, but was the least influential out of the three attacking threats in the game.

Substitutions

MF Jesse Lingard, 6 -- Had more of a spark than he has done in recent months, but still has questionable decision making.

FW Mason Greenwood, N/R -- Scored and looked like the liveliest member of United's side after coming onto the pitch.

DF Axel Tuanzebe, N/R -- Seemed to struggle after being thrown on late in the game.