Texas A&M hires Kevin Sumlin as football coach

Texas A&M hired Houston’s Kevin Sumlin as its football coach Saturday.

Aggies Athletic Director Bill Byrne said he thinks Sumlin “is the right person to lead our football program into the Southeastern Conference.”

Speculation intensified that Sumlin would move about 100 miles northwest to College Station when Texas A&M fired Mike Sherman after he went 25-25 in four seasons. Sumlin was an assistant coach at Texas A&M under R.C. Slocum in 2001-02.

The Aggies (6-6) are set to play Northwestern (6-6) in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston on Dec. 31, with defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter serving as interim coach. Texas A&M is moving to the Southeastern Conference next season.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to serve as the head football coach at Texas A&M University,” Sumlin said in a statement. “Having coached there before, I understand the culture and embrace the commitment by the 12th Man regarding Aggie football. Aggieland is a special place and I look forward to working with the young men in the football program and recruiting the type of players we need to be successful in the SEC.”

GOLF

Donald closer to money title

Top-ranked Luke Donald is on the verge of becoming the first golfer to win money titles on the European Tour and the PGA Tour after shooting six-under-par 66 in the third round at the Dubai World Championship at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Donald trails leader Alvaro Quiros by four strokes.

Rory McIlroy all but ended his chances of overtaking the Englishman for top spot on the European money list. The U.S. Open champion had a shaky one-under 71 and dropped into a tie for eighth.

McIlroy needs to win the tournament and Donald needs to finish outside the top nine for any chance of McIlroy winning the European money title. Donald is fourth.

Quiros (70) was at 14-under 202. He leads Paul Lawrie (66) by two strokes.

Several other high-profile players — including No. 4-ranked Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey — also moved into contention. Kaymer tied the course record with a 64 and had a share of eighth place with McIlroy, Garcia (68) and Casey (70).

PGA champion Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele shot 10-under 62 in better-ball play, taking a one-stroke lead over Mark Calcavecchia and Nick Price (63) in the Franklin Templeton Shootout at Naples, Fla. Bradley and Steele had a 19-under 125 total at Tiburon Golf Club.

ETC.

UCLA advances to final four

Rachael Kidder had a match-high 26 kills, and the No. 9-seeded UCLA women’s volleyball team defeated No. 1-seeded Texas, 3-1, at Lexington, Ky., and advanced to the national semifinals.

The Bruins (28-6), who won by scores of 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21, reached the final four for the 12th time and for the first time since 2006. UCLA will play Florida State on Thursday at San Antonio.

USC and Pepperdine played Saturday night in a quarterfinal match at Honolulu. The Trojans advanced late Friday night with a 3-2 victory against Hawaii, 19-25, 29-27, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12.

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Dennis Wideman said he did not deserve a hat trick Friday night. Turns out he was right. On Saturday, the NHL changed the scoring on the Washington Capitals’ final goal Friday night in a 4-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Wideman said after the game that the puck went into the net after deflecting off teammate Brooks Laich. The league agreed, and Laich gets credit for the goal, with assists to Wideman and John Carlson. It would have been Wideman’s first hat trick.

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Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones survived a challenging first round and choked out former champion Lyoto Machida at 4 minutes 26 seconds of the second round in UFC 140 at Toronto.

Machida (17-3) did not tap out and toppled when referee John McCarthy stepped in and Jones released a choke hold. Jones (15-1) became the first 205-pound champion since Chuck Liddell to make consecutive successful title defenses.

In the co-main event, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir (16-5) won by submission against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-7-1 with one no contest) in the first round.

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Challenger Lamont Peterson won a split decision from Amir Khan at Washington to become the WBA and IBF junior-welterweight champion. Peterson, who is from Washington, won 113-112 on two judges’ cards and Khan, who had points deducted for pushing, won 114-111 on the other.

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Canada’s Patrick Chan won his second consecutive ISU Grand Prix Final title at Quebec City. The 20-year-old fell on his triple lutz and touched two hands down on his quad toe loop, but he still earned first-place marks of 173.67 for his free skate and 260.30 overall. Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi finished second and Javier Fernandez of Spain was third.

Carolina Kostner of Italy won the women’s gold, and Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won the pairs event.

Annie O’Shea won the silver medal and Katie Uhlaender took the bronze in a World Cup race at La Plagne, France, a breakthrough finish for a U.S. skeleton program that is trying to build momentum for the 2014 Olympics. Canada’s Mellisa Hollingsworth won the gold medal.