In Sports from United Press International

Notre Dame, Penn State post big wins

SOUTH BEND, Ind., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Two of college football's most familiar names returned to the spotlight Saturday and set up what will likely be a significant shakeup of the top 10.

Notre Dame and Penn State have fallen on recent hard times, but both came up with huge wins against national powers to signal they are ready to return to the sport's upper echelon.

Notre Dame finally scored an offensive touchdown and then relied on two key defensive plays to record its third win in as many tries this season, 25-23 over No. 6 Michigan.

Penn State, meanwhile, blasted No. 7 Nebraska, 40-7, with Larry Johnson and Michael Robinson both scoring two touchdowns.

Four of the top-five teams in the country were in action Saturday and none of them had any problems remaining unbeaten. But Michigan and Nebraska fell victim to teams very anxious to get back into the chase for a national championahip.

Cornerback Shane Walton batted away a two-point conversion pass with 2:53 left and added an interception moments later as the 21st-ranked Fighting Irish escaped with their win in South Bend.

It was Notre Dame's first win over a top-10 foe in four years and it came after the Fighting Irish had managed to capture their first two games this year with only field goals and defensive touchdowns.

John Navarre pulled the Wolverines within two points with an eight-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bennie Joppru. Notre Dame cornerback Vontez Duff was injured on the preceding play and walked out of the end zone, apparently without telling his teammates.

The Fighting Irish had just 10 men on the field and Navarre capitalized by finding Joppru, who had seven catches for 80 yards. Notre Dame regrouped following a timeout and, with 11 men on the field, Walton deflected Navarre's toss in the direction of Braylon Edwards.

Michigan (2-1) regained possession with 1:25 left before Walton intercepted Navarre, sealing Notre Dame's first win over a top-10 team since defeating Michigan, 36-20, on Sept. 5, 1998.

In State College, Pa., Johnson and Robinson each ran for two touchdowns and cornerback Richard Gardner returned an interception 43 yards for a score.

Penn State Coach Joe Paterno remains the all-time leader among Division I-A coaches with 329 wins, but Penn State has endured back-to-back losing seasons and was not overly impressive in a 27-24 victory over Central Florida in its opener two weeks ago.

But the Nittany Lions (1-1) took a huge step in restoring their reputation by recording their first win over a top-10 team since a 27-23 victory at Miami on Sept. 18, 1999.

In the process, Paterno made amends for one of the more lopsided losses in his tenure, a 44-6 setback in the first Kickoff Classic in 1993, which was the last meeting between the schools.

While Paterno was silencing his critics, Nebraska coach Frank Solich can expect to feel the heat from another lackluster performance against a marquee team. The Cornhuskers dropped to 1-7 on the road against ranked teams since Solich took over in 1998.

Despite the showings by Notre Dame and Penn State, the Miami Hurricanes gave no hint they were ready to give up their No. 1 ranking.

Miami coasted past Temple, 44-21, to get to 3-0. No. 2 Texas was a 52-21 winner over North Carolina and third-ranked Oklahoma blasted Texas-El Paso, 68-0.

No. 4 Tennessee had the week off while fifth-ranked Florida State downed Maryland, 37-10.

Further down in the top 10, No. 8 Ohio State fought off No. 11 Washington State, 25-7, and No. 10 Georgia won over South Carolina, 13-7. Ninth-rated Virginia Tech began the college weekend with a 47-21 victory over Marshall Thursday night.

Oakland, Anaheim stay tied

OAKLAND, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Tim Hudson was masterful in recording his fourth career shutout and Scott Hatteberg's two-out single in the second inning drove in the game's lone run Saturday as the Oakland Athletics edged the punchless Seattle Mariners, 1-0.

Hudson's seventh straight victory was his most dominant of the season as he scattered two singles, a double and two walks. He matched a season high with seven strikeouts and evened his record against Seattle this year at 2-2.

The 27-year-old righthander capped his spectacular performance by retiring reigning American League Most Valuable Player Ichiro Suzuki, rookie Scott Podsednik and the dangerous Edgar Martinez without the ball leaving the infield in the ninth.

The loss enabled Oakland to remain atop the AL West and dropped Seattle nine games back with 14 to play. While the A's have won 24 of 28, the Mariners have dropped a season-high six straight games, scoring just 15 runs during that span.

In Anaheim, the Angels kept pace with the A's for the division lead. Tim Salmon's three-run homer in the fifth inning erased a two-run deficit and led the Angels to their franchise record-tying 93rd victory, an 8-6 triumph over the Texas Rangers.

After spotting the Rangers a five-run lead in the first inning, Salmon completed Anaheim's comeback, belting a 1-2 offering from Todd Van Poppel over the wall in center field. The homer snapped a four-for-26 slump for Salmon and lifted the Angels to their 42nd come-from-behind victory in 2002.

The comeback spared Anaheim starter Kevin Appier his eighth consecutive loss to Texas. In just 3 1/3 innings, Appier yielded six runs and seven hits. Righthander Scot Shields (5-3) gained the win, tossing 1 2/3 hitless innings with two walks and two strikeouts.

Other American League results: Chicago 8, New York 1; Kansas City 5, Detroit 1; Toronto 8, Tampa Bay 4; Boston 6, Baltimore 4; Minnesota 3, Cleveland 2.

Cardinals extend division lead

HOUSTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Woody Williams worked seven scoreless innings Saturday as the St. Louis Cardinals moved closer to winning the NL Central by holding on for a 2-1 victory over the Astros.

Injury-prone throughout his career, Williams endured a pair of stints on the disabled list this season, but has returned to the rotation for the stretch drive.

Williams (9-4) won his third straight start, limiting the Astros to five singles. The veteran righthander walked none and struck out two before departing after throwing 64 of 94 pitches for strikes.

Making a case to be the Cards' No. 2 starter behind Matt Morris in the postseason, Williams has allowed more than three runs just once in 16 starts.

Sparked by Williams, the Cards beat the Astros for the second straight day and moved 7 1/2 games in front of second-place Houston in the Central with 14 games left.

Other National League results: Cincinnati 3, Chicago 1; Los Angeles 16, Colorado 3; Arizona 5, Milwaukee 0; Atlanta 10, Florida 5; Montreal 5, New York 4; Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 1.

De La Hoya downs Vargas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Oscar De La Hoya recorded a technical knockout over Fernando Vargas in the 11th round Saturday night to claim the world super welterweight title.

De La Hoya knocked Vargas down once in the 11th round and then had him defenseless against the ropes before the fight was stopped by referee Joe Cortez.

Vargas was actually ahead on one of the three cards before what turned out to be the final round got underway. Vargas was taken to a local hospital for examination after the bout.

Patriots-Jets highlight NFL's Week 2

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots visit the New York Jets and traditional playoff rivals commemorate the 30th anniversary of the "Immaculate Reception" to highlight Week 2 of the NFL season Sunday.

The Pats and Jets meet a little less than a year after Jets linebacker Mo Lewis hospitalized former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe with a hit to the chest.

That paved the way for Brady to take over as the starting quarterback and he wrote a Hollywood script, leading the Patriots (1-0) to an improbable Super Bowl victory and becoming, at age 24, the youngest quarterback to win Super Bowl MVP honors.

With the 30th anniversary of the "Immaculate Reception" approaching, it is fitting that the Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) will host the Oakland Raiders (1-) on Sunday night.

On Dec. 23, 1972, the Raiders came to Pittsburgh for an AFC divisional playoff game and a moment that may be the most memorable in the 83-year history of the NFL - the "Immaculate Reception" by Hall of Famer Franco Harris that signified the start of a prosperous decade for the Steelers.

The Raiders were leading, 7-6, when the Steelers were faced with a fourth-and-10 play from their own 40 with 22 seconds left. After desperately scrambling in the pocket, Terry Bradshaw rifled a pass over the middle to Frenchy Fuqua. But Fuqua and safety Jack Tatum collided and the ball rebounded and headed straight to Harris, who made the catch just off the artificial turf and rumbled 60 yards for the touchdown to give the Steelers a 13-7 victory.

It will be an emotional scene in Baltimore where the Ravens will honor the late Johnny Unitas, who died Wednesday of a heart attack, before their home opener with a video tribute and unveiling of his No. 19 at the Johnny Unitas sideline spot near the Ravens' bench.

The NFL announced that a moment of silence for Unitas will be observed before all of Sunday's games.

The Ravens (0-1) will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) while the Colts (1-0) stage their home opener against former AFC East rival Miami (1-0).

The Denver Broncos (1-0) beat the defending NFC champion St. Louis Rams last week and visit the San Francisco 49ers (1-0) in Sunday's marquee interconference matchup. San Francisco is considered St. Louis' biggest threat in the NFC West, but has lost its last six meetings with the Rams.

Montgomery sets 100-meter record

PARIS, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- American Tim Montgomery set a world record in the 100 meters Saturday, clocking 9.78 seconds to win the IAAF Grand Prix final.

The 27-year-old sprinter topped the record of 9.79 seconds set by American Maurice Greene in 1999. Greene was not entered in the meet, but he was in attendance Saturday.

"This is the end of a great season for me, I knew I was in great shape and today everything was just perfect," Montgomery said. "The wind was perfect, my reaction time was almost perfect, but that is what you need to break world records. I only realized I had done something special after finishing when my coach ran towards me on the track and lifted me up in the air."

A silver medalist at last year's world championships, Montgomery had a previous best mark of 9.84 seconds in the 100 meters.

Montgomery was helped by a tailwind that registered 2.0 meters a second, which is the maximum limit.

Andrade clings to one-shot lead

PAOLI, Pa., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Jeff Brehaut, who began the year with a major medical exemption on the PGA Tour, shot a 5-under-par 66 on Saturday at Waynesborough Country Club to move within a stroke of Billy Andrade after three rounds at the Pennsylvania Classic.

A 39-year-old who has not been in the top 10 at a PGA Tour event in three years, Brehaut birdied each of the last four holes to reach 10-under 203 and put himself in Sunday's final group.

Brehaut underwent shoulder surgery in January 2000 and missed the rest of the PGA Tour season. He returned in 2001 but missed the cut in 14 of his 26 starts, never finishing better than 25th.

Andrade shot a 3-under 68 and had the lead to himself for the third straight day at 11-under 202. He had three times as many bogeys Saturday (3) as he did through the first two rounds, but still put himself in position for his fifth PGA Tour title and first in two years.

Ian Leggatt of Australia was third at 204 with Dan Forsman, Jeff Sluman, Aussie John Senden, Steve Flesch and John Huston at 205.

In Clemmons, N.C., a bomb threat suspended play for 90 minutes Saturday at the RJR Championship on the Senior Tour. Once play resumed, Bruce Fleisher extended his lead to five strokes by firing a 6-under 64.

With several players on the course shortly before 10:30 a.m. EDT, a threatening note was found in a port-a-let between the eighth green and ninth teebox.

Play was halted at 11:05 a.m., and the clubhouse was evacuated for inspection by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department and the Special Operations Response Team. Authorities also searched golf carts and automobiles.

Sheriff's department bomb dogs sniffed all areas of the clubhouse, as well as all carts and automobiles in the vicinity of the clubhouse. No suspicious packages or bomb residue was found.

Kournikova tries to win first title

SHANGHAI, China, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Fourth-seeded Anna Kournikova of Russia posted a 6-4, 7-4 victory over Japanese second seed Ai Sugiyama on Saturday to advance to a singles final, against top-seeded Anna Smashnova of Isreal, for the first time since losing to doubles partner Martina Hingis in the 2000 Kremlin Cup.

Sugiyama was seeking her fourth career title and first since 1998.

Kournikova is ine of the most popular female athletes in the world and showed great promise when she turned professional in 1995. Although she has 15 career doubles titles, including the Australian Open with Hingis in January, Kournikova is yet to win a singles crown.

The 21-year-old Kournikova also reached the final at Hilton Head in 1999 and Miami the previous year. She has won the last two meetings with Smashnova.

Smashnova is seeking her third title of the year and posted her second straight rout, a 6-1, 6-1 victory over seventh seed Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia in Saturday's other semifinal.

Franchitti wins CART race

CORBY, England, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Dario Franchitti of Scotland won Saturday's CART Rockingham 500 for his first career victory.

Franchitti was 0.986 seconds ahead of CART points leader Cristiano da Matta of Brazil more than 2.7 seconds in front of Canadian Patrick Carpentier at Rockingham Motor Speedway.

Oriol Servia of Spain and Bruno Junqueira of Brazil rounded out the top five.

With four races remaining, the top six drivers in the points standings are unchanged. Da Matta leads with 191 points, 58 ahead of Junqueira and 65 in front of Franchitti.

English rookie Darren Manning gave the local crowd a reason to cheer as he started 17th and even led some laps before finishing ninth. Manning, a former Formula One test driver, made his CART debut as an entry for Dale Coyne Racing/Team St. George.