USA Today - 31.10.2019

USA TODAY z THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 z SECTION C

Around the NBA

Davis plays in pain; Zillgitt on Nets 3C

Around the NFL

Drake ready 3C;Elliott guides Cowboys’ RBs 5C

World Series Game 7

See MLB’s newest champion at mlb.usatoday.com

IN SPORTS

USA TODAY SPORTS

FIRST WORD

Since I’ve been here the last

six years, I’ve worked ex-

tremely hard to clean up the rep-

utation of this organization, this

team off the field. We’ve put in a

lot of resources for them to not

have these kinds of issues, and for

them to do that is really idiotic.”

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer on

Wednesday, according to the St. Paul

Pioneer Press, on being “very ticked

off” about the arrest of safety Jayron

Kearse on Sunday for suspicion of

driving under the influence and pos-

session of a firearm without a permit.

The Pioneer Press reported a Glock

semiautomatic handgun loaded with

28 rounds was found in Kearse’s vehi-

cle and that a person vomiting outside

the car was identified as defensive

back Mike Hughes.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

10-

Odds against going un-

defeated for New Eng-

land, according to handicapper Danny

Sheridan. San Francisco is 75-1.

CAMPBELL TROPHY

Finalists for the Campbell Trophy,

known as the Academic Heisman, to

be awarded Dec. 10: Spencer Black-

burn (C, Eastern Washington, 3.

GPA), Rodrigo Blankenship (K, Geor-

gia, 3.71), Jordan Fuller (S, Ohio State,

3.60), Alex Goettl (LB, Minnesota

State, 3.93), Justin Herbert (QB, Ore-

gon, 4.01), Adam Holtorf (C, Kansas

State, 3.92), Michael Lohmeier (DE,

Carnegie Mellon, 4.00), Jordan Mack

(LB, Virginia, 3.47), Dante Olson (LB,

Montana, 3.90), Jelani Taylor (S, Cor-

nell, 3.96), Casey Toohill (LB, Stanford,

3.71), Jon Wassink (QB, Western Mich-

igan, 3.96).

LAST WORD

That’s the dumbest question

you could ask.”

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield,

abruptly ending a news conference

Wednesday after growing frustrated

with a radio reporter’s questions

about time management at the end of

the first half in Sunday’s 27-13 loss at

New England.

ROBERT DEUTSCH/USA TODAY SPORTS

SPORTSLINE

PGA Tour FedExCup Leaders

Through Oct. 27

Points

1. Lanto Griffin 710


2. Justin Thomas 662


3. Sebastian Munoz 627


4. Kevin Na 603


5. Joaquin Niemann 587

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

USA TODAY SNAPSHOTS©

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – When your

mantra is “graduating champions,”

even 10-win seasons can seem hollow.

That’s the challenge facing Notre

Dame this week as it tries to shake off

the 45-14 drubbing at Michigan that

didn’t just end all hopes of a return trip

to the College Football Playoff. It also

left Brian Kelly’s football program fac-

ing an existential crisis as it prepares to

face unranked Virginia Tech on Satur-

day afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium.

“There’s so much more at stake here,”

Kelly said during his weekly news con-

ference. “This is so much more about

who you are as a person and who we are

as individuals. Playoffs, bowl games all

kind of get put aside after weeks like

that.”

Dropped from No. 9 to No. 16 in the

Amway Coaches Poll after its worst loss

since a 41-8 beatdown at Miami in No-

vember 2017, the Fighting Irish (5-2)

now project to play either Texas or Kan-

sas State in the Camping World Bowl on

Dec. 28.

That’s quite a comedown from the

stated goal of returning to the national

semifinals after last year’s 30-3 Cotton

Bowl loss to Clemson. It’s also quite a

distance from the New Year’s Six slate,

where Notre Dame had been looking at a

Cotton Bowl or Orange Bowl check if it

Irish facing existential crisis

Mike Berardino

The Indianapolis Star

USA TODAY Network

See IRISH, Page 4C

We are now halfway through the

NFL season. While some teams cer-

tainly will have their work cut out for

them the rest of the year, there’s

enough football to be played for teams

to make late pushes for the postsea-

son. That only means playoff races will

start to heat up, in earnest, now that

it’s almost November.

Here are the winners and losers at

the halfway point of the season.

Winners

Road teams:Maybe it’s time we

soften the stance on the importance of

home-field advantage. Through Week

8, road teams are above .500, with an

overall record of 63-57-1. That’s the

most road victories through eight

weeks in NFL history. Only four teams –

the Patriots, the Vikings, the 49ers and

the Saints – are undefeated at home.

Five teams – the Buccaneers, the Red-

skins, the Bengals, the Browns and the

Dolphins – have yet to win at home. Ac-

cording to the NFL, only five seasons

have taken place in which road teams

have finished with a winning record,

though none has happened since the

1970 AFL-NFL merger.

49ers:Pretty much everyone expects

the Patriots to be among the best-

coached and most efficient teams year

in and year out. But the Niners have

been one of the biggest surprises so far,

remaining the only other undefeated

team in football at 7-0, side by side with

New England. Coach Kyle Shanahan is a

brilliant offensive mind and has the

49ers dominating in rushing yards per

See NFL, Page 4C

NFL MIDSEASON WINNERS AND LOSERS

≠Head coach Sean Payton has guided the Saints through injuries to key offensive players to a 7-1 record.

CHUCK COOK/USA TODAY SPORTS

≠ 7-0 49ers; Ø kickers

Lorenzo Reyes

USA TODAY

ØMatt Bryant was cut by the Falcons

after going 9-for-14 on field goal

attempts. KEVIN C. COX/GETTY IMAGES

FORNEY, Texas – Mike McBarron

stepped out of the 96-degree heat and

into a shed on his feedlot after loading

37 horses onto a truck. They were

headed to Mexico, where they would

be slaughtered and shipped around

the world for human consumption.

“It’s just a job to me,” McBarron told

USA TODAY Sports. “I mean, I don’t at-

tach myself to them. I don’t fall in love

with them.”

McBarron, 48, is one of the country’s

most prolific “kill buyers,” people who

buy horses and sell them to slaughter

plants. They also represent an uncom-

fortable reality for the horse racing in-

dustry.

Over the past decade, an average of

more than 600 Thoroughbreds a year

have died because of racing, according

to research by the USA TODAY Network.

USA TODAY SPORTS SPECIAL REPORT

Racehorses to slaughter:

‘It’s just a job to me’

Josh Peter

USA TODAY

See RACEHORSES, Page 2C

Mike McBarron looks at horses while

attending an auction in August.

JOSH PETER/USA TODAY SPORTS