NEWS » AFC West crown in sight.Theres a lot of fo

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Tennessee erased an early 14-point deficit at Bristol Motor Speedway almost as fast as drivers typically race around the half-mile track that circled the makeshift football field.Joshua Dobbs threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores Saturday night as the 17th-ranked Volunteers beat Virginia Tech 45-24 in front of an NCAA-record crowd of 156,990 at Bristol Motor Speedway.The crowd total shattered the previous NCAA record of 115,109 who attended a Michigan victory over Notre Dame at Michigan Stadium in 2013.Just an unbelievable spectacle, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. I think the reality hit our players when we came here yesterday for the walk through with all the campers and trailers again this is truly a special evening that well remember for a lifetime.Virginia Tech (1-1) outscored Tennessee 14-0 and outgained the Vols 204-28 in the first quarter. Tennessee (2-0) responded by scoring 31 straight points, including 24 in the second period.Dobbs ran for 106 yards on 14 carries, one week after being held to negative rushing yards in a 20-13 overtime victory over Appalachian State. He was 10 of 19 for 91 yards through the air and threw touchdown passes to Jauan Jennings, Josh Malone and Alvin Kamara.We just executed, Dobbs said. In the first quarter, there was really no reason to panic. We knew that we were going to have to score more than 14 points if we wanted to win this ballgame. Theres just that expectation and confidence throughout the unit that well be fine, well go out, make our plays and our time will come.Tennessees Micah Abernathy set a school single-game record with three fumble recoveries. Virginia Tech ended up losing five fumbles, and three of those turnovers resulted in Tennessee touchdowns. The Hokies have lost nine fumbles through their first two games.Weve obviously got to do a better job either teaching or understanding or emphasizing ball security, Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said. Were inadequate, to say the least, right now.Jalen Hurd ran for 99 yards on 22 carries. Virginia Techs Travon McMillian rushed 14 times for 127 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown.The turning point of the game came when Abernathy recovered a fumble on the Virginia Tech 5 in the opening play of the second quarter. Dobbs found Jennings in the end zone on the next play.Tennessees next three drives resulted in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Dobbs to Malone, an Aaron Medley 34-yard field goal and a Dobbs 5-yard touchdown run.THE TAKEAWAYVirginia Tech: The Hokies simply must do a better job of protecting the football. Virginia Techs dominant first-quarter performance showed the Hokies potential, but they cant keep hurting themselves with turnovers and ill-timed penalties. Virginia Tech players said the breakdowns may have resulted from a bad week of practice.As a leader, I will do a better job of making sure my guys are in tune, Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans said. I put this all on me.Tennessee: After averaging just below 3 yards per carry against Appalachian State, the Vols regrouped this week and ran the ball much more effectively. The Vols still must improve their passing attack and gain consistency along the offensive line.SPEEDWAY TO STADIUMThis marked the first football game to take place at the Bristol Motor Speedway since the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles played a 1961 exhibition game here that drew 10,000 fans to a facility that seated 20,000 at the time.Work began on the speedways temporary conversion into a football stadium the morning after a Sprint Cup race three weeks ago. The facility will host a Football Championship Subdivision game between East Tennessee State and Western Carolina on Sept. 17.POLL IMPLICATIONSTennessee tumbled eight spots in the Top 25 after the Appalachian State game, but this decisive victory could get the Vols back into the top 15.UP NEXTVirginia Tech: The Hokies host Boston College on Saturday in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener. Boston College (1-1) will be coming off a 26-7 victory over Massachusetts.Tennessee: The Vols host Ohio on Saturday. Ohio won 37-21 at Kansas this week. Nike Air More Uptempo For Sale Cheap . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Nike Epic React Flyknit China . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. http://www.nikereactsale.com/nike-odyssey-react-running-shoes.html . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Nike Epic React Flyknit For Sale . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Nike Odyssey React Sale . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Long before he confronted the difficult decision of trying a 62-yard field goal in overtime, Gary Kubiak made another call that would come back to haunt him.The Broncos coach didnt go for two after Bennie Fowlers 76-yard touchdown gave Denver a seven-point lead over Kansas City late in the fourth quarter Sunday night.A 2-point conversion would have made it a two-score game.No, were going up by eight there, said Kubiak, who sent Brandon McManus out for the extra point that made it 24-16.With this defense, an eight-point lead late in the game seems downright insurmountable.In last years AFC championship, the Broncos surrendered a touchdown throw from Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski with 12 seconds left but Bradley Roby intercepted Bradys 2-point conversion attempt, sealing the Broncos 20-18 win that propelled them to the Super Bowl.This is largely that same defense that brought home the Lombardi Trophy two weeks later, save for the departures of Malik Jackson (whom the Broncos will face in Jacksonville on Sunday) and Danny Trevathan.If you give us an eight-point lead, I would bet my game check that no one would score on us, said cornerback Aqib Talib, who pulls in $500,000 a game, before taxes. So, I would have been in debt right now.Heres what made that seem like such a safe bet:-After the touchback, the Chiefs had 75 yards to go. They had averaged a mere 12 yards per drive on their first dozen possessions to that point.-They had three minutes and no timeouts remaining.-The Broncos were the fresher team, coming off a bye.Yet, after Derek Wolfe sacked Alex Smith for a 7-yard loss on first down, the strength of Denvers team suddenly couldnt find the game-saving plays that have defined them as one of the best clutch defenses ever.Kayvon Webster was whistled for holding, Von Miller jumped offside, T.J. Ward was flagged for illegal contact.Even after forcing three incompletions from their 14, the Broncos couldnt stop the Chiefs on fourth-and-10 with 15 seconds remaining. Tyreek Hill caught an 11-yard pass on Roby, who had inexplicably lined up behind the first-down marker.Hill hauled in the touchdown pass on the next play, the ball rattling off his shoulder pads before he secured it while sitting on tthe goal line when a clean catch probably comes up short and time runs out.ddddddddddddInstead, its 24-22 and 6-foot-7 tight end Demetrius Harris lined up across 5-10 cornerback Chris Harris Jr.I had never even heard of him, the Broncos Harris said of the Chiefs Harris, who played basketball at UW-Milwaukee but had to play club football because the Panthers dont field a football team.Smith hit Harris for the tying 2-pointer that sent the game into overtime, which Kansas City won 30-27 on Cairo Santos banked field goal as time expired .The debate ever since has centered on Kubiaks decision to try a 62-yard field goal knowing it was a low-percentage shot in the cold November night and that a miss would likely mean a loss because the Chiefs would take over at the Denver 48 needing just one first down against a gassed defense.A punt essentially concedes the tie -- and maybe loses the locker room.How do you tell a team thats fought hard for 74 minutes that youre not going to send out a kicker whos made 70-yarders in camp and had hit from 62 yards in pregame?A tie would be better for them in the standings -- now the Broncos are scrambling for a wild card at 7-4 -- but going for the win was worth it, Kubiak figured. If McManus makes it, the Broncos are breathing down the Raiders backs with a sixth straight AFC West crown in sight.Theres a lot of football left to play. It was a divisional football game and we need to win our divisional football games and we had a chance to do it with something that our kicker has done before. He did it before the game, Kubiak said. Its me showing confidence in him and confidence in our defense if it doesnt happen.I believe in our football team.And his players trust their coach.I like the fact that we went for the win, said Fowler, suggesting theres a stronger resolve than ever to reward Kubiaks faith in them now.Yeah, definitely, weve got Kubes back and hes got our back. So, were in this together.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '