Alabama scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to seize control of a game that had been tied 6-6 at the half. Junior running back Trent Richardson totaled 110 yards (77 rushing, 33 receiving) on the day to go along with two touchdowns while senior wide receiver Marquis Maze added 106 receiving yards on five catches. The Crimson Tide defense held Tennessee to just 155 total yards while forcing two turnovers. Alabama held the Volunteers without a first down in the second half.

“I’m obviously very pleased and happy with the results and the way we responded in the second half,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “It was a little lackluster in the first half, which is a little bit concerning, but there was a concern going into the game, and something we tried to fight all week in terms of guys being focused on what’s happening right now, and not being concerned about the future, and challenging themselves to play and having the proper respect for the team that we were playing. I think those guys did a fantastic job. Derek’s done a fantastic job there, and they were certainly ready to play.”

With the score tied at the half, Alabama opened the third quarter with a five-play, 72-yard drive culminating with McCarron punching it into the end zone from two yards out to give the Tide a 13-6 advantage. Following a Tennessee punt, McCarron needed just one play to find sophomore receiver Kenny Bell with a 39-yard touchdown strike to stretch the UA advantage to 20-6. The score was the first of Bell’s career.

Richardson added the first of his two touchdowns on Alabama’s ensuing possession, powering his way into the end zone from 12 yards out to cap off a six-play, 63-yard drive that pushed the score to 27-6.

From there, Cade Foster added a 45-yard field goal to make it 30-6 at the outset of the fourth quarter, before Richardson notched the final touchdown of the evening to give Alabama a 37-6 lead. Richardson’s score was set up by junior linebacker Dont’a Hightower’s first career interception and subsequent 29-yard return.

“AJ (McCarron) did a good job managing the game,” Richardson said. “Marquis Maze made some good plays. Darius Hanks did an awesome job. Receivers were just on point and they just let everybody know that it’s not all about the running game. We had a full team out there.”

Tennessee notched the first score of the day with a 40-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead. Alabama tied the score on the ensuing possession with a 26-yard Jeremy Shelley field goal setup by a 69-yard McCarron to Maze pass. The completion was the longest on the season for McCarron and Alabama. The Crimson Tide took a 6-3 lead at the outset of the second quarter on Shelley’s 29-yard field goal before the Volunteers tied the score on the strength of a 52-yard field goal.

Sophomore linebacker C.J. Mosley led Alabama with eight tackles while senior linebacker Courtney Upshaw added seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Freshman safety Vinnie Sunseri notched a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter, the first of his career, while Hightower added seven tackles, three quarterback hurries, two pass breakups, a sack and a tackle for a loss to go along with his interception.

The trade was confirmed by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, and it will happen just before the 1 p.m. PT trade deadline.

Murray has few points to defend before the end of the season and with Federer sidelined with an injury, the Scot is well-placed to end the season as world number three for the first time.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who has won the Australian and US Opens as well as Wimbledon this year remains comfortably ahead despite taking time off to rest a back injury. French Open winner Rafael Nadal of Spain stays in second.

Federer falls to fourth due to Andy Murray’s win Sunday in the Shanghai Masters, his third straight ATP title triumph in Asia during the last month.

Murray has few points to defend before the end of the season and with Federer sidelined with an injury, the Scot is well-placed to end the season as world number three for the first time.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who has won the Australian and US Opens as well as Wimbledon this year remains comfortably ahead despite taking time off to rest a back injury. French Open winner Rafael Nadal of Spain stays in second.

Payton told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he hopes to be back in the Saints’ offices Tuesday, but wasn’t sure about being at practice Wednesday. He admitted that he might have to spend some games in the coaches’ box.

“Because it’s a fracture it’s different,” Payton told the paper. “If it’s the MCL you can have the brace, but the fracture on the outside means the weight bearing part of it really changes.”

Payton is among the shrewdest offensive play callers in the league and it’s unclear how working from the booth will affect him. A late Saints rally came up short with the 47-year-old coach watching from the trainers’ room.

There’s no space on the injury report for coaches, but if there was it sounds like Payton would be listed as a limited participant at best on Wednesday. New Orleans is such a well-run organization that they should be able to survive a couple practices while he heals.

Even though it was a freak accident, it’s surprising similar incidents don’t happen more frequently. There are a lot bodies on both sidelines and players get shoved out of bounds so often, it’s really a recipe for disaster.

One infamous occurrence of an injured coach on the sideline involved Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who suffered similar injuries in 2006 against Wisconsin. He coached the rest of the season from the press box.

With Drew Brees leading the offense, Payton can rest assured its in good hands. Brees is one of the few quarterbacks who can be entrusted to run an entire offense without input from the sidelines.

Payton will be back on the sidelines before long helping his team in a playoff chase. Sunday’s loss dropped them into a tie with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. That despite the Saints having a huge point differential advantage (+58) over the Bucs through six weeks.

Sean Payton’s a fiery competitor, so he’ll probably be back on the field quicker than his doctor would like, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Especially some of those on defense.

“That move he made, pretty much he does that move every day in practice,” said Alabama linebacker Nico Johnson. “It’s nothing new to us. We say all the time, ‘Oh, somebody else got victimized.’”

The run was the most spectacular highlight of a streak which has ignited talk that No. 2 Alabama could have its second Heisman Trophy-winning tailback in three years.

Richardson, however, brushes off Heisman talk.

“I don’t really pay attention to that stuff,” he said after the Ole Miss game. “It’s been so long since I’ve watched SportsCenter. I don’t even look at that, for real.”

But it’s hard to ignore his stats.

Richardson has tied Shaun Alexander’s 12-year-old school record with six consecutive 100-yard rushing performances and collected his second Southeastern Conference offensive player of the week honor of the past month on Monday.

The 17-carry, 183-yard, four-touchdown effort at Ole Miss was the third time he has topped his career high for rushing yards already this season. Then there was the run that showed the between-the-tackles bruiser’s speed and elusiveness.

“I really was sort of amazed at not only the ability to make the run but the tenacity and toughness that Trent played with the entire game,” Tide coach Nick Saban said. “He’d be the first guy to talk about the offensive line, and probably all the other yards that he gained, he gained some on his own but they did a good job of blocking on those plays.

“But they kind of had us on that play and he made a great individual effort to make people miss. That’s what great players do; they kind of make plays above and beyond, and he certainly did that on that occasion.”

It’s not enough to make Alabama fans start wondering “Who Dat?” about current New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram, but Richardson is ahead of Ingram’s pace through seven games during his 2009 Heisman Trophy season.

Ingram was the first Heisman winner in Alabama’s storied history, but the Tide may not have to wait that long for No. 2.

Richardson’s 912 rushing yards is seven more than Ingram, but he has 15 touchdowns compared to Ingram’s eight during that span. He’s third nationally in scoring and fourth in rushing after gaining just 37 yards in the opener against Kent State.

Rival Tennessee is the next defense to try to keep Richardson in double-digit yards Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Volunteers linebacker Austin Johnson even suspects Richardson is better than Ingram, who he shared carries with the past two years.

“They’re different backs, but Trent Richardson kind of developed into his own pretty early,” Johnson said. “He brings a little bit more than what Mark Ingram did. Mark Ingram is obviously an unbelievable back, first-round pick, but I think Trent Richardson is going to be that top back for them. I think he’s better than him.”

The 76-yarder was worth checking out. Three guys had a shot at him at the line of scrimmage, then he raced downfield and juked a defender with a stutter step.

“That was ridiculous,” is Tide linebacker Dont’a Hightower’s assessment.

Richardson said he thinks his best run was a 49-yard touchdown early in the national championship game two seasons ago but says “there’s more to come.”

As for the final move, “I had to get in the end zone some type of way,” he said. “I couldn’t let those blocks go to waste.”

Saban’s much more interested in hearing that kind of talk than about a potential Heisman candidacy and says he doesn’t think Richardson cares about it either.

“Trent’s a great player,” Saban said. “He’s one of the best players in the country. Whatever awards they give at the end of the season, he certainly should be considered for any and all of them that he qualifies for. But for right now, we’re thinking about what we need to do right now. We’re not even concerned about that stuff.”

Or one of the hallways inside the Mal Moore Athletic Facility, which has many of the framed moments from Crimson Tide football history.

Alabama landed on the front of SI once again after a resounding 38-10 win at then-No. 12 Florida. The national cover featured Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

The victory moved the Tide to No. 2 in the nation.

The Southeast regional cover cover reads, “Ram! Jam! ‘BAMA!” It also shows Alabama nose guard Josh Chapman with his right index finger raised high in the air.

The feature story is a piece by Lars Anderson, who asks if this is Alabama’s best defense ever.

Statistics and newspaper clippings back it up with rich accounts of the Gators’ home-field house of horrors. The 90,888 fans who stuffed themselves inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday night – the second-largest crowd in school history – only added to the legend of Florida Field.

And when John Brantley launched a deep pass on Florida’s first offensive play, Andre Debose raced past Dre Kirkpatrick, snatching it and sprinting away for a 65-yard touchdown.

The Swamp was suddenly Animal House, a tangled celebration of orange and blue.

How would Alabama respond?

With the backbone of a winner.

“The goal tonight was to attack and be aggressive from the very start,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “At the beginning we were maybe too hyped up. It really shows the resiliency of our team.”

The third-ranked Crimson Tide defeated No. 12 Florida 38-10. Alabama (5-0, 2-0) scored 35 unanswered points while Florida (4-1, 2-1) watched helplessly.

The Gators could not stop junior running back Trent Richardson. The Pensacola native rushed for a career-high 29 carries and 181 yards, including two touchdowns.

It was Alabama’s first win at Florida since 1999 when the Tide rallied for a 40-39 overtime victory.

A kaleidoscope of runs, hits and dynamite destroyed the kitchen sink that Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis promised to throw at the Tide.

Richardson was aided by solid run blocking and complemented by the poised pocket presence of AJ McCarron (12-for-25 passing, 140 yards). It was a lightning-quick lick from linebacker Courtney Upshaw in the second quarter that helped the Tide begin to take control for good.

With the game tied at 10, Upshaw gobbled up Florida speedster Chris Rainey for a 7-yard loss. Then Upshaw intercepted Brantley two plays later and sprinted 45 yards untouched for a momentum-changing touchdown. It was the second pick-six in as many games for Alabama, and the second year in a row the Tide returned an interception against Florida for a score.

Upshaw led Alabama with four tackles, including three for losses, and a sack.

The Gators’ offense, which relied heavily Saturday night on its passing game, was suddenly silenced.

And it would get worse for the Gators.

Upshaw sacked Florida’s starting quarterback two plays before halftime, knocking him out of the game with what Florida coach Will Muschamp called a “lower leg” injury. Brantley was 11-for-16 passing for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

“When we lost John,” Muschamp said, “it took the wind out of our sails in some of the things we were trying to do in the run game.”

Alabama’s defense was stifling once more, holding Florida to 222 total yards, including three sacks, four fumbles (one lost) and an interception.

The Tide smothered the Gators’ normally effective running game of Rainey and Jeff Demps, who rushed a combined 14 times for 8 yards. Florida backup quarterback Jeff Driskel was the Gators’ leading rusher with six carries for 18 yards. Florida had just 15 rushing yards for the game.

“We got beat by a better team tonight,” Muschamp said. “… You can’t afford to make some of the costly mistakes.”

Past midnight Wednesday and again Thursday morning, Gonzalez was peppered with questions that ran the gamut: What happened to the offense? Relievers worn out? Did you ever have imagine going 9-18 in September and blowing a lead of 8 1/2 games?

And a big one: Why pitch to hot-hitting Hunter Pence with runners at first and third and two out in the 13th inning of a tie game, when .196-hitting Michael Martinez was on deck?

Pence hit a bloop single to the back of the infield between first and second to bring in the go-ahead run, and Freddie Freeman grounded into a double play in the bottom of the 13th to give the Braves their fifth consecutive loss and ninth in 12 games.

Gonzalez, who had said for a couple of weeks that the Braves would eventually snap out of their funk, clinch the wild card and be better for having gone through the struggle, was faced with harsh reality late Wednesday: They didn’t snap out of it. Time ran out. Season over.

The St. Louis Cardinals won 16 of their final 21 games, including sweeping the Braves, to win the wild card and deny the Braves’ postseason bid in Gonzalez’s first season as the managerial replacement to retired icon Bobby Cox.

“Our slump combined with the Cardinals playing really good baseball in September — you’ve got a shocking situation,” said veteran third baseman Chipper Jones, who ranked it among the sourest of sour season endings he has experienced. “Having such a big lead and then sitting here after [game] No. 162 and not being in the playoffs is a tremendous disappointment.”

The Braves led the Cardinals by 10 1/2 games Aug. 25 and by 8 1/2 games Sept. 5. The Braves matched the 1964 Phillies for the dubious distinction of largest blown lead by an NL team in September.

If Boston hadn’t blown a nine-game lead Wednesday in the American League wild-card race, the Braves would have matched the major league record for largest blown lead in September.

“I think last night was probably one of the greatest nights in the history of the game of baseball. It just stinks the end we ended up on,” Braves left fielder Matt Diaz said Thursday morning, when players came to Turner Field to commiserate and clean out their lockers.

Diaz managed to maintain his sense of humor when asked about the simultaneous September collapses of the Braves and the Red Sox. “We can just say the city of Boston is cursed since that’s where we have our roots,” he said. “Pass blame. When it doubt, pass blame to the other city.”

Laugh to keep from crying, a day after the stunning finish to their once-promising season. Rookie-of-the-year candidate Craig Kimbrel gave up a run in the ninth inning for his third blown save in his last six chances, and the Braves lost after leading in the ninth inning or later for the third time in their final 20 games.

They scored three runs in 13 innings, two on Dan Uggla’s homer that staked them to a 3-1 lead in the third. They didn’t score for the last 10 innings of their season.

Three runs is about what the Braves averaged (3.1) during the fateful 7-16 stretch that began Sept. 5. They scored three runs or fewer 14 times in that 23-game slide, forcing their injury-depleted starting rotation and overworked bullpen to pitch with little or no margin for error.

“I really can’t fathom it,” Freeman said of the September swoon. “We went out there every day battling and came up on the short end of the stick. The Cardinals took care of business.”

Kimbrel tied for the NL saves lead with 46, but faltered in the final weeks. He insisted that his workload wasn’t a factor, and that emotions and adrenaline led to his giving up three walks, a hit and the tying run in the ninth inning. Kris Medlen bailed him out without further damage, getting Martinez to pop out with the bases loaded to end the ninth with the score tied.

The Braves kept it there for another three innings before veteran Scott Linebrink entered in the 13th. Brian Schneider walked with one out, and Chase Utley singled with two outs.

Linebrink got ahead in the count 1-and-2 against Pence, who took the next pitch before shattering his bat on a sinker and blooping the ball into no-man’s land for the Braves.

Gonzalez wasn’t in a mood to answer the question late Wednesday, cutting short a group interview after a string of questions about in-game strategy. Twelve hours later, after a mostly sleepless night, he fielded the question:

Why did hit pitch to Pence with Martinez on deck? Martinez left the bases loaded with an inning-ending foul pop in the ninth and stranded two with a routine fly in the 11th.

“I thought about not doing it,” Gonzalez said. “But all of a sudden you’ve got the 1-2 or 2-2 count, whatever it was. And Scotty made a great pitch. … Can you guarantee me Martinez wasn’t going to get a hit, or draw a base on balls?”

Over the coming weeks and months, there will be plenty more questions asked about a September the Braves would just as soon forget, but won’t be able to for quite some time.

They want blood. They want names.

And perhaps most of all, they want accountability.

They want their failed players to stand up, raise their hands, and say, “It’s my fault.”

One of the few players who understands this basic tenet of being a member of the Red Sox is closer Jonathan Papelbon [stats], who has never been afraid of saying, “It’s on me,” when it’s on him.

But this team has become so fractured, its players perhaps too obsessed with looking at their own stats, rather than the standings, that accountability has become as out of style around here as pregame infield practice and outfielders who can make a strong throw to the plate.

Consider, for example, the preposterous statements uttered the other day by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who would have you believe that the Red Sox were done in this season because they were forced to play too many nationally televised Sunday night games. He also suggested that it’s God’s will that the Red Sox aren’t going to the playoffs.

There’s just so much wrong here that’s it hard to tell where to start. We’ll leave it at this: The reason Adrian Gonzalez plays for the Red Sox is because they are one of the few teams that can afford to pay him. That they are able to do so is because they are a big-market team, and big-market teams generally win a lot of games, which is why they are featured on national television.

Next year, if the Red Sox return to being big-market beasts and Gonzo starts hitting home runs again, his ridiculous whining will be forgotten. For now, he is the poster boy for all that has gone wrong for the Red Sox — who, by the way, are being viewed as a laughingstock throughout baseball. And we haven’t been able to say that since the last days of 2001, when Sox players were openly rebelling against Dan Duquette puppet Joe Kerrigan.

But it’s not just Gonzalez. Free agent bust John Lackey’s postgame pressers this season were as laughable as his pitching, what with all the excuses, and let’s not forget the constant eye-rolling when his glove men failed to come up with the ball.

It’s worth noting that both manager Terry Francona and general manager Theo Epstein came to Lackey’s defense yesterday, though Epstein did add, “He’s tried to change, but it’s something he can’t change. It’s an emotional reaction. We’ll continue to work with him on it.”

Funny, but during that same presser Epstein said, “I don’t think it’s appropriate for excuses. We did this to ourselves. We have to take full responsibility for it. We have to own it. Sure, certain things didn’t go our way, but every team deals with that. We can’t run from this. This happened. We have to learn from it and get better.”

Yet Lackey made excuses — and pointed fingers at others — and gets away with it.

Francona spoke cryptically of some kind of discord on the team, revealing he held a meeting in Toronto to go over some things. The skipper noted that “there were some things I was worried about. I thought we were spending too much energy on things that weren’t putting our best foot forward toward winning . . . there were some things that did concern me.

“Normally as the season progresses there are events that make you care about each other, and with this club it didn’t always happen as much as I wanted it to. And I was frustrated by that.”

Francona’s comments, coupled with Gonzo’s remarks from the other day and pretty much everything Lackey said this season, reveal a Red Sox clubhouse that sounds an awful lot like the days of “25 men, 25 cabs.”

Those teams never won anything.

Neither did this one.

Since then he has not made any major changes to his game, but wins and more experience like those, changed his mental approach to facing other top players. He is hitting shots he did not in the past few years, and with more aggression and confidence, and made a change in his diet in the offseason to being gluten-free.

The result has been one of the greatest years in the history of tennis, which Djokovic made even greater Monday.

Djokovic battled back problems but used his superior return game, defense and speed to play with confidence to defeat the 10-time Grand Slam champion Nadal, 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1, to win his first career US Open crown and fourth Grand Slam title in a match featuring spectacular shot-making and many unbelievable rallies. With the win, he pushed his record on the year to an amazing 64-2 and 6-0 over Nadal. He also had a 43-match win streak stemming from last year’s Davis Cup final until his loss to Federer in this year in the French Open semifinals.

With the win he also became just the sixth man in the Open Era to win three Grand Slam titles in the same year, after winning both the Australian Open and Wimbledon (over Nadal) earlier this season.