NI - Battery » midfield, Romo checked down to Lance Dunbar, wh

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame sent quite the message in its Atlantic Coast Conference debut. Eric Atkins scored 19 points, Pat Connaughton had 16 and the Fighting Irish upset No. 7 Duke 79-77 on Saturday. The victory comes in the wake of leading scorer Jerian Grants dismissal from school two weeks ago for an academic violation and provides a much-needed confidence boost as the Irish begin play in their new league. "Its really important for our group given the two weeks weve had to feel like, Hey, we may still have a shot at this thing. Because nobody else thought we had a shot," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. Atkins scored seven points during a decisive 20-4 run as Notre Dame rallied from a 10-point deficit and held on to win two weeks after squandering an eight-point lead in the final 50 seconds against No. 3 Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. "It definitely gives us a lot of life. Everybodys confidence is up now, winning such a big game," Atkins said. The Irish (10-4, 1-0) improved to 13-6 against top-10 teams at home under Brey. It was the first loss in an ACC opener for the Blue Devils (11-3, 0-1) in seven seasons. Rodney Hood, who led the Blue Devils with 27 points, said Duke played like an immature team, allowing the Irish to hold the ball for long periods and then score as the shot clock ticked down. "When we needed a stop, we didnt get a stop," Hood said. "We had some balls go in and out, but I can name at least 10 plays where it was a breaking point and we didnt pull it off." Duke used a 9-0 run to open a 49-40 lead early in the second half and stretched the lead to 60-50 when Andre Dawkins made a 3 from the top of the key with about 11 minutes left. But when Notre Dame went to a small lineup to try to guard the Blue Devils better from behind the arc, Demetrius Jackson hit a 3 to spark the 20-4 run. "I thought that was the biggest shot of the game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "If we get a stop, we could have gone up by 12. That was a huge shot." Atkins tied the game on a layup, and then followed with another basket inside on a pass from Connaughton. Steve Vasturia, who wasnt getting much playing time before Grant was dismissed, hit a 3-pointer to give the Irish a 68-64 lead after Duke freshman Jabari Parker, who struggled all game, badly missed a 3. "That was a huge shot to really make us believe," Brey said. The Blue Devils closed within one point twice in the final 2 minutes, but the Irish didnt wilt under the pressure. Atkins made a layup after Duke cut it to 72-71, and then Garrick Sherman hit a free throw with 16 seconds left after missing the first. Duke still had a chance to tie the game, but Hood dribbled too deep and had a pass stolen by Jackson. Each team finished with six turnovers. Krzyzewski blamed the loss on Dukes defence. "We just stopped playing the defence that we were playing," he said. Sherman had 14 points as the Irish outscored Duke 44-16 in the paint. Quinn Cook had 22 points for Duke, which was 12 of 28 from beyond the arc, one shy of its season high. Parker, who grew up 90 miles away in Chicago, failed to score in double figures for the first time this season. He missed his first four shots, including a 12-foot baseline air ball, and had a jumper blocked by Austin Burgett. Cook looked frustrated at the end of the first half when it appeared Parker ran the wrong play. Parker had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting and wasnt in the game at the end. "He just wasnt having a good game," Krzyzewski said. Brey said good team defence played a role in Parkers off day. "I think there was a great team awareness of him. I wish we could have used some of that on Hood," he said. Brey improved to 1-1 against his former boss. "Its a historic day for us, our first ACC game," Brey said. "To beat a program like Dukes will always be a great memory for us starting off in Atlantic Coast Conference play." Michael Bennett Eagles Jersey . -- After a year spent travelling the world, Brooks Koepka suddenly is in a position to play a lot more golf at home. Mike Wallace Eagles Jersey . Ashley Wagner will skate in the womens short program for a U.S. team thats in seventh place. Davis and White won the silver medal at the Vancouver Games and are two-time world champions. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Michael-Bennett-Jersey/ . With one week left in the regular season, Cornish - voted The Toughest Player To Bring Down - is a leading candidate for the CFLs Most Outstanding Player award. He has rushed for 1,799 yards and could break Willie Burdens club record for rushing yards in a single season with a 98-yard performance against the B. Haloti Ngata Jersey . Venable and Jeremy Hermida drove in three runs apiece, and the Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Sunday to snap a nine-game losing streak. Markus Wheaton Eagles Jersey . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North.Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Tony Romo threw for 218 yards with four touchdowns on 18-of-20 efficiency to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 42-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts, and help clinch the franchises 19th NFC East title in the process. Dallas (11-4), which just needed a win in one of its final two games after Philadelphias loss to Washington on Saturday, captured the division crown for the first time since 2009. The Eagles, meanwhile, have been eliminated from playoff contention. DeMarco Murray was active even though he underwent surgery Monday on his fractured left hand sustained in last Sundays win over the Eagles. Murray rushed for 58 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown. Terrance Williams hauled in two touchdown passes, while Jason Witten, Dez Bryant and Cole Beasley each had a touchdown grab in the Cowboys third straight win. The Colts (10-5), who clinched the AFC South last week, had their four-game winning streak snapped. Andrew Luck threw for a career-low 109 yards on 15-of-22 passing with two interceptions before getting substituted for Matt Hasselbeck late in the third. Lucks 41.7 passer rating was the lowest of his career. Dallas had a very productive touchdown drive to open the game that was prolonged by a taunting penalty. On 3rd-and-11 from midfield, Romo checked down to Lance Dunbar, who was dropped by Jerrell Freeman for a loss of four on the play. However, Freeman stared down Dunbar as he got up from the tackle which warranted the taunting violation. Five plays later, Romo capped the 15-play, 80-yard drive that spanned 8:24 with a 9-yard TD to Williams on a slant that gave the Cowboys a 7-0 lead. Indianapolis went backward on its first possession, then Colts coach Chuck Pagano tried some trickery on fourth down. The punt team was sent out at the 19-yard line and punter Pat McAfee dropped back to pass. He lofted a pass to an open Dewey McDonald on the near sideline, but McDonald dropped the easy first down to give the ball back to Dallas in excellent field position. Romo didnt wait long to punch another touchdown in, hooking up with Bryant for a 19-yard score following McDonalds blunder. The Cowboys continued to add on with another scoring drive that bridged the first and second quarters.dddddddddddd. Bryant hauled in a 24-yard pass from Romo toward the end of the first. Later in the march, Beasley caught a crossing pattern, slipped under DQwell Jackson and raced into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 21-0. The Colts were forced into another punt following three more unsuccessful plays. Dallas proceeded to chew up 6:31 of clock with Murray capping the 10- play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Dwayne Allen then dropped his third pass of the half while wide open deep down the far sideline that would have given the Colts their initial first down of the game. Reggie Wayne finally gave the visitors a fresh set of downs on a swing pass with under six minutes to play in the half. Indianapolis moved past midfield for the first time with under a minute left, but Luck was intercepted by J.J. Wilcox in the back of the end zone to close the half. The second half started how the first half ended with a Cowboys interception of Luck. Nick Hayden got a hand on a pass at the line of scrimmage and Anthony Hitchens hauled in his first career interception. Dallas went backward on the possession, though, and Dan Bailey missed wide from 52 yards out. Romos 15th consecutive completion was a 25-yard touchdown to Witten. That mark was a personal best for Romo, who also passed Troy Aikman (32,942) for the franchise lead in passing yards on the play. Brandon Weeden relieved Romo in the fourth and hit Williams for a 43-yard touchdown, then Hasselbeck found Zurlon Tipton for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 5:24 remaining to account for the final margin. Game Notes Dallas snapped a three-game home losing streak ... Cowboys right tackle Doug Free was again inactive with an ankle injury ... The Cowboys have never shutout an opponent while scoring 40-plus points ... Murray is 28 yards shy of Emmitt Smith for the most rushing yards in franchise history ... The Colts were last shut out in a 38-0 loss to New England in 1993 ... Witten had a team-high 90 yards on seven receptions ... Hakeem Nicks caught a team- high nine passes for 72 yards in the loss ... Hasselbeck finished 15-of-21 for 126 yards with a touchdown. 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