Chase Daniel came through in relief after Mitchell Trubisky got knocked out of the game on the opening possession, and a banged-up defense dominated again for the Bears.It all added up to a victory that ranked among coach Matt Nagy’s favorites, even if it came with a price.Daniel threw for 195 yards and a touchdown after Trubisky exited with a left shoulder injury, and the Bears swarmed NFL rushing leader Dalvin Cook in a 16-6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.The defending NFC North champions avoided an 0-2 start at Soldier Field and another home loss to a division rival to go with the one they suffered against Green Bay in the NFL’s 100th season opener.

”It’s definitely for sure top three, top four for me,” Nagy said. ”It’s a division game at home against a really good football team. That’s number one. Here we are four games into the season, and you start out 0-1 and there’s a little bit of `what’s going on.’ And our guys, they just stick together.”

Things weren’t looking so good for the Bears (3-1) when Trubisky went down in the opening minutes.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, he was scrambling on the sixth play from scrimmage when Danielle Hunter dragged him down. The quarterback’s non-throwing arm got pinned awkwardly under his body as the ball popped out. Minnesota made the recovery, but a holding penalty against Anthony Harris negated the play.Trubisky headed to the sideline and walked to the locker room a few minutes later. Nagy said he wasn’t sure of the extent of the injury.Daniel came on and connected with Tarik Cohen on a 10-yard touchdown to complete a 14-play drive. The 10th-year pro completed 22 of 30 passes.Allen Robinson had seven catches for 77 yards. Nick Williams had two sacks . Khalil Mack and Roy Robertson-Harris each had 1 1/2.The Bears (3-1) held Cook to 35 yards on 14 attempts after he ran for at least 110 in the first three games, even though Akiem Hicks (knee) and linebacker Roquan Smith (personal reasons) missed the game. The Monsters of the Midway also held a big edge in time of possession (35:27 to 24:33) on the way to their third straight win.

”You can talk all day but these guys stepped up and did what they’re supposed to do, man,” Mack said. ”Like I said, guys were stepping in big. Big Roy, Big Nick, guys were doing their job and we were able to get it done.”

Cook, who came in with 375 yards rushing, spoiled the Bears’ bid for their first shutout since 2010 when he ran it in from the 2 in the closing minutes.Kirk Cousins was 27 of 36 for 233 yards and got sacked six times as the Vikings (2-2) lost in Chicago on the road for the 16th time in 19 games.

”They are good, everybody knows they are good,” Cook said. ”It’s one of the best defenses in the league, but it was more about us than them, so we just have to do better on our part.”

The Bears took a big step toward the NFC North championship last season when they beat Minnesota at Soldier Field. They then kept the Vikings out of the playoffs with a road win to close the regular season while sweeping them for the first time since 2011.And they got a win they sorely needed on Sunday if they’re going to defend their division championship. The Bears outgained the Vikings 182 yards to 59 in the first half and held them to just two possessions.EARLY EDGE

The Bears took a 10-0 lead to the locker room after Eddy Pineiro’s 25-yard field goal at the end of the first half. They had to settle for another field goal after Mack sacked Cousins on the first play from scrimmage of the second half. took over at the Minnesota 16 after Williams made the recovery, and Pineiro’s 38-yarder made it 13-0. He added a 30-yard field goal with just over three minutes left in the third.

”You really never know when your opportunity is going to come at any position but we had so many guys step up on such short notice,” Daniel said. ”I mean, we had some Pro Bowlers out. You know? Your starting quarterback goes down. One of your best D linemen goes down, Akiem Hicks. Roquan. … I think it also says a lot about our coaching staff and how they’re able to get guys ready at moment’s notice.”

G Kyle Long missed the game because of a hip injury. He did not practice Thursday or Friday. … G Ted Larsen (knee) and LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe (hamstring) left the game

BERLIN – The Blackhawks wrapped up the 2019 preseason with a 3-1 win over Eisbaren Berlin on Sunday evening from Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany. At the end of a back-and-forth opening frame, Jonathan Toews put the Blackhawks up in the final minute of the period with a bit of skill. Patrick Kane found his certerman with a no-look feed from behind the goal, with Toews finishing the chance top shelf in in the near corner from the bottom of the circle. Corey Crawford‘s night was finished at the 11:00 mark of the second, a scheduled split with newcomer Robin Lehner. Eisbaren Berlin found the equalizer just over three minutes later as Marcel Nobels founr Sean Backman from behind the net and the forward fired a quick shot past Lehner from point-blank range.

Alexander Nylander continued the trend of in-tight tallies at 10:12 of the third, corraling a loose puck at the side of the goal and roofing a shot top shelf past as sprawled-out Maximikian Franzreb for a 2-1 lead.David Kampf sealed the 3-1 win with an empty netter from inside his own blue line at 18:40 of the third. The Blackhawks depart for Prague, Czech Republic on Monday afternoon, where they will open the 2019-20 season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday at 1 p.m. CT. 

MADISON—Jonathan Taylor ran for 119 yards and his 11th touchdown of the season, Wisconsin got two scores from its defense, and the eighth-ranked Badgers remained unbeaten with a 24-15 win over Northwestern on Saturday.Taylor carried 26 times to help Wisconsin (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) avenge its 31-17 loss to the Wildcats last season. The junior reached 100 yards rushing for the 26th time in 31 career games and moved into fourth place on the Badgers’ career rushing list (4,730).After allowing 81 yards rushing through the first three games, the Wisconsin defense surrendered 97 yards on the ground to Northwestern (1-3, 0-2).The Badgers’ defense sacked backup quarterback Aidan Smith once and starter Hunter Johnson three times, including one by safety Eric Burrell that caused a fumble by Johnson in the end zone. Matt Henningsen recovered to make it 14-3 in the third quarter for Wisconsin. Noah Burks added the other after intercepting Smith and returning it 68 yards down the Wisconsin sideline.Johnson went 10-for-21 and Smith completed 8 of 19 passes and had a late 15-yard touchdown to JJ Jefferson. Drake Anderson had 16 carries for 69 yards and a 4-yard score for the defending Big Ten West champion Wildcats, who dropped their second straight game conference game.Charlie Kuhbander added a 29-yard field goal for Northwestern.Chris Orr had two sacks and Collin Wilder added another for a Badgers’ defense that is allowing just 7.3 points per game through the first four contests.Defensively, the Wildcats, like last season, made it hard for the Wisconsin offense. But a loose offensive line and a lack of production at the quarterback position will continue to haunt the Wildcats’ offense.Wisconsin: Jack Coan won his sixth straight start, but needed the Badgers’ defense to have a big day to overcome a lackluster day. The defense responded, as Coan finished 15-for-21 with 113 yards and an interception by Northwestern defensive back JR Pace.With one of the top running backs in the history of college football and a stout defense, No. 8 Wisconsin continues to prove it is one of the top teams in the country and deserves to be on the short list of teams that can seriously contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

NASHVILLE—Ke’Shawn Vaughn rushed for 138 yards and one touchdown, Riley Neal threw for 189 yards and a touchdown and Vanderbilt defeated Northern Illinois 24-18.The victory was the first of the season for the Commodores (1-3), who dropped their first three games to Power Five teams, two of which came against Top Five ranked opponents No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 LSU.After winning their season opening game, Northern Illinois (1-3) has dropped three straight, all against Power Five teams.Vanderbilt’s Keyon Brooks and Vaughn scored rushing touchdowns on the first two Vanderbilt drives of the game.On Vanderbilt’s opening drive, Brooks broke loose for a 61-yard touchdown run, the freshman’s first of the season. He had only one more carry of the game. Entering Saturday, Brooks had just eight carries for a total of seven yards in two games this season.The Huskies pulled to within four in the third quarter after posting points on their first two drives of the second half. John Richardson kicked a 39-yard field goal to get Northern Illinois on the scoreboard, and then Mitchell Brinkman had a 38-yard touchdown reception. But Vanderbilt answered right back 1:49 later when Neal found Kalija Lipscomb with a 38-yard touchdown pass.Vanderbilt improved its record to 8-2 against Mid-American Conference opponents, including 4-0 against Northern Illinois.Neal is a graduate transfer from Ball State. His Cardinals teams never defeated MAC foe Northern Illinois.Early in the fourth, the Huskies cut the deficit to six following a one-yard touchdown run by Marcus Jones and a two-point conversion reception by Brinkman, but the Commodore defense denied the Huskies on their final drive, and the Vanderbilt offense was able to run out the remaining three minutes to seal the victory.NIU After not allowing a 100-yard rusher in 17-straight games, the Huskies allowed an opponent to eclipse the century mark for the second consecutive game. Vanderbilt’s Vaughn rushed for 138 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. In Northern Illinois last game Sept. 14, Nebraska’s Dedrick Mills ran for 116 yards on 11 carries.Vanderbilt: In their three losses to open the season, the Commodores allowed an average of 46 points to Georgia, Purdue and LSU. After not allowing any points in the first half, Northern Illinois recorded a field goal and a touchdown on their first two possessions of the second half. The Commodores allowed the Huskies to convert just four of 13 third down opportunities in the game.

LANDOVER—After the Bears‘ offense was slow to get going this season, Mitchell Trubisky was excited to speed things up.Trubisky and the Bears used a no-huddle, hurry-up tempo to snap out of their offensive funk and score 28 first-half points on the way to beating the Washington Redskins 31-15 Monday night. After no passing touchdowns the first two games of the year, Trubisky connected with Taylor Gabriel on three of them in the second quarter alone.The 2017 second overall pick looked at ease with a fast-paced approach and picked apart Washington’s porous defense on 25 of 31 passing for 231 yards. It was the offensive explosion Trubisky predicted would happen this week.

”It just felt like the tempo helped us out a little bit,” Trubisky said. ”If everyone just continues to stick together and execute our plays and believe and just go out there and make plays, it’ll be a fun offense.”

The Bears (2-1) had just a 1-yard touchdown run to show for its first two games, and Trubisky entered the night with a completion percentage of 58.3 and ranked near the bottom of the league in yards per attempt. Facing the Redskins (0-3) brought out some of the best in Trubisky.

”Hat’s off to him,” said Washington linebacker Cole Holcomb, who was roommates with Trubisky at North Carolina. ”I always knew he was a good quarterback. He struggled a little bit, but he came out and he played a good game.”

Trubisky had 173 yards in the first half alone before throwing an interception at the goal line in the third quarter.With scores of 1, 3 and 36 yards, Gabriel joined Mike Ditka in 1963 as the only Bears receivers with three TD catches in the first half of a game. Gabriel made six catches for 75 yards before leaving in the second half with a concussion.The Bears took advantage of five turnovers by Redskins quarterback Case Keenum: two interceptions by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, including a pick six, another by Kyle Fuller and fumbles forced by Khalil Mack and Danny Trevathan.

”That’s all me,” said Keenum, who was 30 of 43 for 331 yards and two touchdowns that didn’t compensate for the turnovers. ”Turn it over that many times as a quarterback, I let my team down. It’s all on me. I take complete responsibility. I have to take care of the ball better.”

With the offense up to the defense’s speed in the first half, The Bears put up 28 points in two quarters after scoring a total of 19 the past two weeks, 12 of which came on field goals from Eddy Pineiro.Mack had two of the Bears’ four sacks to continue a dominant start by the defense that didn’t give up a Washington TD until midway through the third quarter. Keenum’s two TD passes came long after fans chanted for rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins and booed the Redskins off the field at halftime.Washington’s defense that wilted in the second half of its first two losses had few answers for Trubisky all game Monday. Eight days after coach Jay Gruden said, ”I don’t think we have to push the panic button yet,” some significant changes could be coming soon.Before Gruden’s job security is really in question, defensive coordinator Greg Manusky looks like the logical target as the first coach to take the fall. Washington’s defense ranked in 21st and 17th in the NFL in Manusky’s first two seasons in charge and is on pace to finish worse than that this year.

EVANSTON—Michigan State was determined to get back on track following a stunning loss last week.Brian Lewerke had three touchdown passes, Elijah Collins added a rushing TD and the Spartans bounced back with a 31-10 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.Lewerke completed 18 of 31 passes for 228 yards, Collins had 76 yards rushing on 17 carries and tight end Matt Seybert had two TD receptions as Michigan State (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten Conference) snapped a three-game losing streak against the Wildcats (1-2, 0-1).
”I was very impressed with our workman-like attitude today,” coach Mark Dantonio said. ”If something negative happened, we just lined up and played.”

Michigan State lost 10-7 to Arizona State last week after an apparent game-tying field goal was negated by penalty.

”We talked about last week, refocusing and getting back down to business, and that’s what we did,” said linebacker Joe Bachie, who had 13 solo tackles and an interception.

The win was the 110th for Dantonio at Michigan State, which makes him the winningest coach in program history. Dantonio, who had been tied with Duffy Daugherty, is 110-52 in 13 seasons.

”I think those are things you sit back at a later date and say, `OK, did this, did that,”’ Dantonio said. ”It’s not an individual thing. There’s just so many people working toward it.”

Northwestern had its eight-game winning streak in Big Ten regular-season games snapped. The Wildcats had won 15 of 16 regular-season conference games.Quarterback Hunter Johnson completed 15 of 26 passes for 88 yards with an interception before being pulled in the fourth quarter.Running back Drake Anderson had 86 yards rushing on 16 carries with a touchdown.

CHAMPAIGN—Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez took the blame for his team’s poor first half performance against Illinois on Saturday night.

”I didn’t play as well tonight as I should have,” he said. ”I’ll take the blame for that.”

He was serious, too.In reality, Martinez passed for 327 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cornhuskers over Illinois 42-38 in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. Martinez also rushed 18 times for 188 yards.The Cornhuskers (3-1, 1-0) put up 690 yards of total offense compared to 299 by Illinois (2-2, 0-1).Wan’Dale Robinson carried the ball 19 times for 89 yards and a touchdown. Dedrick Mills rushed 12 times for 62 yards and a touchdown.

”Wan’Dale did his job,” Martinez said. ”And he did it at a high level. He was ready to go.”

Nebraska coach Scott Frost thought his quarterback did a pretty decent job, too.

ATHENS—On a raucous Saturday night between the hedges, No. 3 Georgia held on for a gutsy win that might have ramifications all the way to the College Football Playoff.For No. 7 Notre Dame, it was another big-game loss but a performance that should bring more respect.Jake Fromm threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Cager early in the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs survived for a 23-17 victory that was much tougher than many expected.

”That’s what college football is all about, man,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. ”I hate that somebody had to lose that game. I’ve got a lot of respect for the way they played, and all the negative things they’ve heard, and to come out and play the way they did. They played really physical as a team, and so did we. We persevered.”

The Bulldogs (4-0) trailed 10-7 at halftime but turned the momentum when redshirt freshman Divaad Wilson snatched away a deflected pass by Ian Book for an interception deep in Notre Dame territory.The Fromm-to-Cager combination helped push Georgia to a 23-10 lead before the Fighting Irish (2-1) made a game of it at the end.Book’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool cut the deficit with 3:12 remaining, the Notre Dame defense held, and Book got the ball back at his own 48 after a poor punt with just under 2 minutes to go.The Irish got as far as the Georgia 38, but no farther. It ended with Book zig-zagging on a desperate scramble before hurling up a long pass that fell incomplete, denying Notre Dame the signature win over a top opponent it so desperately needs in its first visit ever to Sanford Stadium.

DENVER—Eddy Pineiro won the Bears nerve-wracking kicking competition.Now, he’s winning over Bears fans and teammates who suffered through the bad miss by Cody Parkey that sent them home from the playoffs.Pineiro kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Bears a wild 16-14 win Sunday over the Broncos and their former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, whose gutsy 2-point call 31 seconds earlier had given Denver the lead.

”Well, that was a crazy one,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. ”Absolutely crazy. Just a whirlwind of emotions going back and forth.”

”It’s not how you draw it up,” Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky said. ”It’s definitely not.”

The Broncos, who are off to their first 0-2 start since 1999, thought they’d survived and that time had expired when cornerback Chris Harris Jr. tackled Allen Robinson after he hauled in a 25-yard pass on fourth-and-15 from Trubisky at the Denver 35.The clock showed all zeroes and both teams milled around on the field not knowing whether to celebrate a win or lament a loss. Then referee Adrian Hill announced there was 1 second remaining and then Bears were using its last timeout.Pineiro’s third field goal, a day after his 24th birthday, sent the Bears (1-1) streaming back onto the field in celebration of a victory that seemed so unlikely after they’d surrendered the lead moments earlier.

”I knew deep down in my heart that it was going in,” Khalil Mack said. ”You put that pressure on that guy, Eddy P., the birthday man. He came out and nailed it. That’s how you want to play ball. Kudos to everyone else sticking in there and believing. I’m glad to get the win and get the hell up out of here.”

In a whipsaw of emotion, cornerback Kyle Fuller, whose goal-line interception with five minutes left seemingly sealed a Bear’s win, surrendered a 7-yard tiptoe TD to Emmanuel Sanders . Sanders barely got both feet toes down in the right corner of the end zone.That made it 13-12, and the Broncos lined up for 2. A delay pushed them back 5 yards and Fangio sent Brandon McManus out instead for the extra point from the 20-yard line and the tie. But McManus was wide right and the Bears went wild.Buster Skrine was offside and the Broncos moved up to the 1. Out came their offense again, and with an empty backfield, Joe Flacco backpedaled and hit Sanders at the goal line in front of Fuller to give Denver a 14-13 lead.For the second straight game, the Broncos failed to get a sack, but linebacker Bradley Chubb came close, hitting Trubisky just as he got off a throw to tight end Trey Burton for 10 yards. A debatable roughing call on Chubb tacked on 15 yards and the Bears were suddenly in business at the Broncos 45.

”We had our chances to win there,” Fangio said. ”Obviously, the critical penalty at the end of the game there, the roughing call was huge because it stops the clock, saves their timeout and gives them 15 yards.”

Three incompletions were followed by a 12-men-in-the-huddle infraction, however, and the Bears were facing fourth-and-15 from their 40 with 9 seconds remaining.Trubisky stepped up and found Robinson over the middle in the nick of time. Harris’ tackle came 1 second too early for the Broncos, who saw their 13 home game September winning streak snapped.

”Tough call, tough game,” said Von Miller, who remains stuck on 98 career sacks.

The Bears finally reached the end zone – by the nose of the football – with 1:14 left in the third quarter when running back David Montgomery scored from a yard out on the Bears’ sixth snap from inside the 5 and fifth straight from the 1 or 2. That put them ahead 13-3.

SOUTH BEND—Ian Book threw a career-high five touchdown passes and Notre Dame‘s defense came up with three first-half interceptions as the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish rolled past New Mexico 66-14 on Saturday in the final tuneup for a showdown at No. 3 Georgia.The senior quarterback rebounded from a lackluster opening performance in a victory at Louisville to complete 15 of 24 passes for 360 yards. Book finished with another 46 yards rushing yards and a 1-yard TD. He sat the final 1 1/2 quarters.

”It felt good getting the confidence up for everybody,” Book said. ”To come in here and get the win that we wanted felt really good. We’ll enjoy it tonight and once tomorrow hits it’s Georgia week and everyone knows that.”

Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish (2-0) had their way with the Lobos (1-1), who were without head coach Bob Davie. Saga Tuitele acted as head coach for Davie, the former Irish head coach from 1997-2001 who was hospitalized following New Mexico’s opening victory Aug. 31 against Sam Houston State and did not make the trip.Notre Dame finished with 591 total yards to 363 by New Mexico, which got touchdown runs by Bryson Carroll (47 yards) and Bobby Cole (37). The Lobos outrushed the Irish 212-157.