College Football
DETROIT – Robert Spillane intercepted a pass with 51 seconds remaining, and No. 13 Western Michigan remained undefeated, holding off Ohio 29-23 on Friday night to win its first Mid-American Conference title since 1988.
The Broncos (13-0, No. 17 CFP) led 23-7 at halftime, but Ohio rallied and had the ball in WMU territory in the final minute when Spillane intercepted Greg Windham’s pass over the middle. Spillane immediately took a knee at his own 30, then was mobbed by his teammates as a Ford Field crowd full of Broncos fans roared.
Ohio (9-4) never led and didn’t do much on offense until the final quarter, but the Bobcats still came achingly close to their first MAC championship since 1968.
Instead, WMU became the first undefeated team to win the MAC title game since Marshall in 1999. The question is whether the Broncos have done enough to make it to the Cotton Bowl. WMU is trying to earn the Group of Five bid to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Golf
NASSAU, Bahamas – Dustin Johnson wasn’t even expecting to be in the Bahamas for the Hero World Challenge. He was tied for the lead Friday with Hideki Matsuyama, who has reason to expect being at the top of any tournament he plays.
Six shots behind was Tiger Woods, who shot a 7-under 65 without anyone in his way.
Woods made two super par saves, from next to a bush on the par-3 eighth and with a 25-foot putt on the 16th. He was practically flawless for a seven-hole stretch in the middle of his round and tied for ninth. Plus, it took just under three hours.
MLB
DENVER – Reliever Jake McGee and the Colorado Rockies agreed Friday to a $5.9 million, one-year contract, a raise of $1.1 million as part of a deal that avoided salary arbitration.
He can earn an additional $200,000 in performance bonuses, $50,000 each for 40, 50, 60 and 70 pitching appearances.
Obtained from Tampa Bay after the 2015 season, McGee had 15 saves this year before hurting a knee. He didn’t pitch for the Rockies between June 10 and July 2 and lost his closer’s job during the layoff. He wound up 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA in 57 games.
NEW YORK – Baseball players and owners had a deal to expand active rosters from 25 to 26 players for most of the season, but the union backed out in the final stages of collective bargaining.
As part of the deal, the limit from Sept. 1 on would have been lowered from 40 to 28.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press on Friday: “We thought we were going to make an agreement, had a tentative agreement. ... but nothing’s done until it’s done.”
Skiing
VAL D’ISERE, France – Kjetil Jansrud and Norwegian teammate Aksel Lund Svindal finished 1-2 on Friday in a World Cup super-G, the first men’s speed race of the season.
In his comeback race 10 months after sustaining a serious knee injury, Svindal was 0.17 seconds slower than Jansrud, the Olympic champion in super-G. Jansrud won in 1 minute, 21.66 seconds.
Dominik Paris of Italy was third, 0.41 behind.
Norway’s men earned 19 wins last season and got their first this season in the third race.
Associated Press
