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Bar Chat

09/08/2024

Big Upset in College Football

Note: The column is being posted before the start of the NFL games Sunday, as well as baseball and the U.S. Open men’s tennis final.  I’m heading to the Jersey Shore for a few days, my annual get together with some old high school friends.  Needless to say, not much work gets done.  I’ll catch up, as appropriate, on what I missed next Sunday.

NFL Quiz: Who are the only five to score 150 touchdowns (regular season) in NFL history?  Answer below.

MLB

--We have two big races remaining in baseball as we headed into play on Saturday and the final 20 or so games...the AL East and the NL Wild Card race.

AL East after Friday....

Baltimore 82-60
Yankees 81-60...0.5

NL Wild Card after Friday....

San Diego 81-62...+3
Arizona 79-63...+1.5
Mets 77-64...--
Braves 77-64...--

Chicago 72-69...5

The AL Wild Card race is over, for now....

Yanks 81-60...+5
Kansas City 77-65...+0.5
Minnesota 76-65...--

Seattle 72-70...4.5

--Friday, the Yankees were in Chicago to face the Cubs and in an afternoon game, Luis Gil threw 6 terrific innings, one hit, Gil now 13-6, 3.24, as New York shutout Chicago 3-0.

Aaron Judge had an RBI-double, but failed to homer in his 10th straight game.

The Orioles shut out the Rays 2-0 in Baltimore, Friday, Dean Kremer and three other Orioles pitchers combined on a 3-hitter, Gunnar Henderson with his 36th home run.

--As for the Mets, they had a dramatic 6-4 over the Reds, Friday night at Citi Field, Mark Vientos with a walk-off 2-run bomb, his second 2-run homer of the game, as the Metsies won their eighth in a row.

Vientos, playing in his 91st game, having spent time in the minors to get his mind right, now has 24 home runs in just 336 at-bats, a .905 OPS, tops among all major league third basemen with 350 plate appearances.  And there were some on the airwaves all last winter and spring who did nothing but disparage the kid.  Not me.

But the Braves also won Friday, 3-1 over the Blue Jays in Atlanta, Max Fried (9-8, 3.35) with 7 strong for the Bravos.

--Saturday, the standings in the AL East and NL Wild Card race changed again.

The Yankees shut out the Cubs a second straight game, 2-0, as Clarke Schmidt made his return to the New York rotation after being out since May 26, and he was sharp, 4 2/3, but taken out after 75 pitches.  Nestor Cortes then came out of the pen and finished off the last 4 1/3, Cortes getting the win, now 9-10, 3.97.

The win meant the Yanks had clinched a 32nd straight winning season, second-longest in major league history to...the Yankees!  Thirty-nine straight, 1926-64.  Yes, fans in the Bronx are spoiled.

Meanwhile, Baltimore fell to the Rays, 7-1, so New York is back on top....

New York 82-60
Baltimore 82-61...0.5

--In the National League, Saturday, the Mets won their ninth straight, 4-0 over the Reds, Jose Quintana with 6 2/3 of shutout ball.  It was the 100th win of his career, most ever by a Colombian pitcher.

And Mets fans received all kinds of other good news...as the Braves, Padres and Diamondbacks all lost; the Mets now in the third slot....

San Diego 81-63...2
Arizona 79-64...+0.5
Mets 78-64...--
Atlanta 77-65...1

--The White Sox lost to the Red Sox in Fenway Saturday night, 7-5, to fall to 32-111.  Ugh.  Bye-bye ’62 Mets.

--John Sterling, all of 86 years old, is headed back to the radio booth for the Yanks.  Sterling retired earlier in the season, but the team wants him back for the postseason.

--The Cubs had their 18th no-hitter in franchise history Wednesday with a 12-0 win over the Pirates.  Shota Imanaga (12-3, 2.99) went the first seven innings and relievers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge did the rest.

The Cubs thus trail only the Dodgers (26) and White Sox (20) in MLB history.

Imanaga had thrown 95 pitches, so I kind of get why he exited after seven, but he might have gone the distance if not for third baseman Isaac Paredes’ three errors, including two in the sixth inning.

--Thursday, former Wake Forest star hurler Rhett Lowder made his second major-league start for the Reds, 6 1/3, no runs, 4 hits, but 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 82 pitches, as Cincinnati beat Houston 1-0, though it was a no-decision for Lowder.  Nonetheless, just one earned run in his first 10 1/3.

--Last Tuesday, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes improved to 9-2, 2.13, with 5 innings of shutout ball in a 5-0 win over the Cubs.  But Skenes needed 100 pitches just to get through the five.

--Also Tuesday, Atlanta’s Chris Sale solidified his Cy Young bona fides in a 3-0 win over the Rockies, Sale 7 scoreless, now 16-3, 2.46.

[Friday, the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler threw six innings of one-run ball to move to 14-6, 2.59, as Philadelphia blasted the Marlins 16-2, Wheeler staying in the Cy Young conversation.]

--Los Angeles Angels flamethrower Ben Joyce threw a 105.5 mph fastball against the Dodgers on Tuesday night, fanning Tommy Edman, making it the fastest strikeout pitch in the pitch tracking era (since 2008) and the third-fastest pitch ever recorded.

Aroldis Chapman threw pitches of 105.8 (2010) and 105.7 (2016).

There have been 12 pitches at 105 mph since pitch tracking began, and Chapman has nine of the 12.  Jordan Hicks has the other two, both on May 20, 2018.

Despite his high heat, Joyce only has 43 strikeouts in 44 2/3 for his brief career.

--Lastly, Wednesday, Oakland’s dynamic Lawrence Butler doubled in a 16-3 loss to Seattle, despite the beatdown setting a new franchise record by having an extra-base hit in nine straight games.

So I looked at the list of those who had eight straight for the A’s, and one was Ferris Fain, who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1947-52, and then a few other teams through 1955.

Most baseball fans who know a little history know that Fain won back-to-back batting titles, 1951-52, but I forgot the guy had a .424 career on-base percentage!  He had no power, ten homers his top single-season total, but he hit .290 and never struck out.  Instead, he walked a lot, five seasons over a 100 times.

And that’s your little baseballreference.com tidbit for the day.

College Football

You never know how good, or bad, your team is until after Week 3.  That’s just reality in the college game, with the big turnover in personnel each year.

And so No. 5 Notre Dame fans, after a fine win over Texas A&M down at College Station last week, were shocked by Northern Illinois, 16-14, as Kanon Woodhill hit a 35-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play, and then the Huskies blocked a last-second desperation 62-yard attempt by the Fighting Irish.

Northern Illinois outgained ND 388-286, as Duke transfer Rilley Leonard sucked at QB for the Irish, throwing two interceptions, while rushing for only 16 yards (normally a big part of his game).  Incredibly, Notre Dame doesn’t have a pass play of longer than 20 yards in the first two contests.

It was NIU’s first nonconference victory against a ranked opponent since a 19-16 upset of No. 21 Alabama in 2003, and its first victory ever over a top 10 opponent.

What a likable team they are, too.  Witness running back Antario Brown, who rushed for 1,296 yards for the Huskies last season and could have easily transferred to a Power Four school for his final year, and significant NIL money, but he stayed with the school who recruited him.

Brown rushed for 99 yards and caught two passes for 126, including an electric 83-yard touchdown from quarterback Ethan Hampton, a 4-year Huskie as well.

--In a biggie in Ann Arbor, 3 Texas crushed 10 Michigan, 31-12, in a game that wasn’t that close, the Longhorns up 24-3 at the half and dominating the whole way.

Heisman candidate Quinn Ewers answered the call, 24/36, 246, 3-0, defending champion Michigan also clearly outcoached. Sherrone Moore is no Jim Harbaugh.

--7 Oregon had a major test at home against Boise State and the Ducks trailed 34-27 with ten minutes to play before pulling it out, 37-34, needing a last-second field goal.  This would have been a huge win for Boise as it clearly has the talent to compete for the Group of Five playoff berth.  Ashton Jeanty had another monster game at running back for the Broncos, 25-192-3.

--8 Penn State had all it could handle from Bowling Green, a 35.5-point underdog.

The Falcons led 24-20 at the half, before the Nittany Lions ground game led them to victory, 34-27.  Nicholas Singlton (13-119-1) and Kaytron Allen (14-101-0) combined for 220 yards, Singleton also with a 14-yard touchdown reception, and PSU survives.

--13 USC is looking good early on, 48-0 over Utah State, the Trojans outgaining the Aggies 548-190.

--14 Tennessee took 24 North Carolina State to the woodshed, 51-10, in Charlotte, with the Wolfpack picking up just 143 yards of offense (the Vols with 460).

Another crappy showing by the ACC outside the conference.

--23 Georgia Tech made the AP Top 25 this week for the first time since 2015, and they may not return the rest of the season after Syracuse beat them 31-28.  Ohio State transfer QB Kyle McCord was terrific for the Orange, 32/46, 381, 4-0.

--In other games of note, Iowa State came back from a 19-7 third-quarter deficit to defeat 21 Iowa in Iowa City, 20-19, on a Kyle Konrardy 54-yard field goal with six seconds to play.

Former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara was awful for the Hawkeyes, 13/29, 99, 0-2.

The Deion Sanders era in Boulder can now formally be called a disaster, Colorado generating just 260 yards of offense against Nebraska in falling 28-10 in Lincoln.  On the other hand, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule is hellbent on building a sustainable program that’s built to last, not Sanders’ quick-fix blueprint that has failed miserably.

25 Clemson bounced back from its opening week drubbing against Georgia, a 66-20 beatdown of Appalachian State, as Cade Klubnick was rather spectacular, 24/26, 378, 5-0.

Pitt had a nice win against Cincinnati, 28-27, overcoming a 21-point third-quarter deficit., Ben Sauls with a 35-yard winning field goal with 17 seconds remaining.

Rutgers is 2-0 after beating Akron 49-17.

Duke is 2-0 after a 26-20 win in overtime at Northwestern Friday night.

Villanova smothered Pete M.’s Colgate Red Raiders, 28-3.

But St. Francis (Pa.) defeated Division I Kent State, 23-17.  Granted, Kent State was already ranked last among 134 teams in D-I.

--And then there is Wake Forest.  A nightmare ending for Demon Deacon fans.

Up 30-17 heading into the fourth quarter over visiting Virginia, the Deacs couldn’t close it, falling 31-30, in a game reminiscent of the Clemson game I attended two years ago, where the Deacs blew a fourth-quarter lead and couldn’t pull off the big upset.

Wake outgained UVA 544-430, as quarterback Hank Bachmeier was 27/42, 403, 1-0; Donavon Greene with 11 receptions, 145 yards and a score.

But the Deacs had a final chance after Virginia took the 31-30 lead.  Wake had the ball with 2:07 to play when Bachmeier hit wide receiver Taylor Morin on a perfect crossing pattern.  But the normally reliable Morin tried to get some extra yardage and fumbled.  Donavon Greene was in a position to pounce on the ball, but instead he tried to pick it up and run for extra yardage.  No!

Virginia recovered the ball on their own 33-yard line, game over.

“No one’s happy,” said Wake center Luke Petitbon afterwards.  “It’s really hard and it’s silent (in the locker room) and it sucks.”

I said this game was critical, and now Ole Miss comes to town.  Yikes.  At least we do have the ability to put some points on the board.

--George Will / Washington Post

“As the college football season begins, a word to the wise: If you spot your university’s quarterback cruising around campus in a Lamborghini, don’t go all Woodward and Bernstein, thinking you have spotted a Pulitzer-worthy scandal (‘Lamborghini-gate’).  The quarterback might be looking for the molecular biology lab (or not). His vehicle is his legal, rule-abiding reward for pleasing well-heeled alumni by bringing his talented passing arm to their alma mater before he graduates to the NFL. There, he might even take a pay cut.

“Welcome to the world of NIL, where athletes are paid for the use of their name, image and likeness. What has been said of Washington (the shocking thing is not what’s done there that is illegal, but what is legal) can now be said of the college athletics industry. It is lightly superintended – very lightly – by the NCAA, which endearingly persists in referring to ‘student athletes.’

“The new football season, which will end shortly before spring practices begin, will be the first in forever to be free of sanctimony about ‘amateurism.’  Few recruiting rules will be broken because few such rules exist.”

Mr. Will then talks about Ohio State, or rather, ‘The Ohio State University,’ as it likes to be called, having trademarked the “The” in 2022, and their three “collectives,” from which money is distributed to the athletes.

Anyway, in summation, Will writes:

“College football’s postseason, until now a four-team playoff, has been tripled to 12: Wretched excess, thy name is Division I football. The format is more puzzling than string theory, but the evening championship game on Jan. 20 will distract the nation from festivities surrounding the inauguration of a president displeasing to approximately half of Americans.”

NFL

--Prior to today’s season opener against the Browns, the Cowboys and Dak Prescott reached agreement on a four-year, $240 million contract, the first in NFL history to average $60 million per season.  The deal includes $231 million guaranteed, $1 million more than the fully guaranteed deal Deshaun Watson signed with the Browns two years ago.

--The Steelers are starting Justin Fields in place of the injured Russell Wilson (calf injury).

--In the season opener in Kansas City, Thursday night, the two-time defending champion Chiefs barely held on to beat the Ravens in a wild 27-20 win.  It was the coming out party for rookie first-round receiver Xavier Worthy, who scored on a 21-yard rush on his first NFL touch, and he added a 35-yard touchdown catch later, becoming just the third to score a receiving touchdown and one rushing in their NFL debut.

But I was shocked when I saw who the two others were...Rick Upchurch (that wasn’t shocking) and James Brim.

James Brim?  The former Wake Forest receiver?

Yes, him.  Brim was a terrific receiver for the Deacs in the mid-80s, but I forgot he played in the NFL.

I wasn’t far off...he only played three games!  But in his debut, he caught six passes for 144 yards and a TD and had a 38-yard run for a score.

And then...poof!  He was gone.  The reason?  Aside from an ankle injury, he was a replacement player! That’s why.  But he is in the record book.  Kind of amazing.

Anyway, Patrick Mahomes (20/28, 291, 1-1, 101.9) moved to 5-1 in games against Lamar Jackson (26/41, 273, 1-0, 90.8, but also 122 yards rushing on 16 carries).

Mahomes passed Len Dawson for most yards passing in franchise history,

But the game ended when Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely landed just a toe or two out of bounds on a catch at the back of the end zone with no time left that could have allowed Baltimore to send the game into overtime.

For J. Mac’s favorite TE, it was nonetheless a probable breakout game for Likely, the third-year player out of Coastal Carolina.  He had nine receptions for 111 yards and a real touchdown.

Taylor Swift was in attendance, as her beau caught three passes for 34 yards.

--It’s too soon to say whether Saquon Barkley is worth the three-year, $37.5 million he signed this offseason with Philadelphia, after a successful run with the Giants, but he was the difference maker Friday night in the NFL’s first game ever in Brazil, three touchdowns, two rushing, one receiving, as Philadelphia held on to defeat Green Bay in Sao Paulo, 34-29.

Barkley had 109 yards on the ground on 24 carries, and he caught two passes for 23, including an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts.

For his part, Hurts was hardly terrific, 20/34, 278, 2-2, plus he coughed up a fumble...three turnovers in all, but he had AJ Brown (5-119-1) and DeVonta Smith (7-84-0) and the Philly defense held Jordan Love largely in check, 17/34, 260, 2-1, 83.0.

But speaking of Love, in the game’s final seconds, he left the field with an apparent left leg injury that looked to be serious, after his leg got caught between the bodies of two Eagles defenders.

We then learned Saturday, though, that while Love will miss a chunk of time, to be determined, he is not out for the season, his ACL intact.

As an aside, as is too often the case with these international games, the playing surface was atrocious.  These are soccer pitches, after all...a big difference.

Tennis

--Women’s world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka dispatched American upstart, 13 Emma Navarro, in straight sets Thursday night to advance to the U.S. Open final (Navarro’s first Grand Slam semifinal), where she faced 6-seed Jessica Pegula, the American who needed three sets to upend Karolina Muchova.

[Pegula had defeated No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.]

While Sabalenka, who lost to Coca Gauff in last year’s final, was going to be a massive favorite against Pegula, the 30-year-old playing in her first Grand Slam final, Pegula, a Buffalo, N.Y. native, had the home crowd on her side.

Well, Sabalenka, the 26-year-old from Belarus, then picked up her third Grand Slam title to go with her two Aussie Open wins the past two years, 7-5, 7-5 over Pegula. 

--On the men’s side, 12-seed Taylor Fritz defeated fellow American, and 20-seed Frances Tiafoe in one of Friday’s semifinals, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to a Grand Slam final for the first time in his career.

Fritz and Tiafoe were playing in the first men’s Grand Slam semifinal between two Americans since 2005.  Fritz is now the first American male Grand Slam singles finalist since Andy Roddick, who lost the 2009 Wimbledon title to Roger Federer.

So later Sunday afternoon, Fritz was set to square off against No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner, as Fritz attempted to become the first American to win a Grand Slam since Roddick’s U.S. Open title in 2003.

Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam title at this year’s Australian Open, defeated 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals, and then No. 25 Brit, Jack Draper, handily in the semis Friday.

This was the first U.S. Open with two American men and two American women in the semis.  Refreshing.

Stuff

--Caitlin Clark has led Indiana to its first WNBA playoffs since 2016.  But Angel Reese is out for the season with a wrist injury.

--The PGA Tour’s Fall Season begins next week, with a number of tournaments to settle the points list between Nos. 71 and 125, the cutoff for maintaining full PGA Tour privileges, critically important these days with the limited field signature events.

But there was an intriguing announcement this week. Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will face Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in a made-for-TV match later in the year.

The event will be held in mid-December in Las Vegas and will air on TNT.  I have not watched much, if any, of the latest editions of The Match, but I’ll catch some of this one.  You’d hope it will play a small, but maybe significant role in bringing the PGA Tour and LIV Golf together, Rory among a number of players on a committee to effort same.

--Rising star Ludvig Aberg is having arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, that, according to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, had bothered Aberg since last spring.  He is likely to play again before year end.

--No Premier League play this weekend...all about international competition...the Nation’s League...which I’m not covering...except England defeated Ireland 2-0 yesterday.

--Cool moment in the Paralympics Friday, as Hunter Woodall won the 400-meter sprint, after his wife, Tara Davis-Woodall, captured gold in the long jump at the Olympics a month earlier.  I’d call that a power couple.

--Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei died days after being doused in petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend.

The 33-year-old Ugandan marathon runner, who competed in the Paris Olympics, had extensive burns after Sunday’s attack.

The authorities in northwest Kenya, where Cheptegei lived and trained, said she was targeted after returning home from church.  The athlete and her ex-partner had been wrangling over a piece of land.

There have been increasing cases of violence against female athletes in Kenya, several of whom have been killed in recent years. This is beyond ‘sick.’  God love Rebecca...so unfair....

Top 3 songs for the week of 9/7/74: #1 “Having My Baby” (Paul Anka with Odia Coates)  #2 “I Shot The Sheriff” (Eric Clapton)  #3 “Tell Me Something Good” (Rufus)...and...#4 “Rock Me Gently” (Andy Kim)  #5 “I’m Leaving It (All) Up To You” (Donny & Marie Osmond)  #6 “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe” (Barry White)  #7 “Nothing From Nothing” (Billy Preston)  #8 “The Night Chicago Died” (Paper Lace)  #9 “You And Me Against The World” (Helen Reddy...very depressing...)  #10 “Then Came You” (Dionne Warwick & Spinners...terrific tune...B week...)

NFL Quiz Answer: Five with 150 career touchdowns...

Jerry Rice, 208...197 receiving, 10 rushing, one fumble return
Emmitt Smith, 175...164 rushing, 11 receiving
LaDainian Tomlinson, 162...145 rushing, 17 receiving
Randy Moss, 157...156 receiving, 1 kick return
Terrell Owens, 156...153 receiving, 3 rushing

Marcus Allen, 145
Marshall Faulk 136
Cris Carter 131

Kind of shocking, looking back, that Randy Moss hardly carried the ball on an end-around play.

And I have to admit, I needed to be reminded of what a prodigious career Terrell Owens had.

But this is also an excuse to bring up the greatest again, Jim Brown, who had 126 touchdowns, 106 rushing, 20 receiving, in just 118 games, while Jerry Rice got his 208 in 238.

Tomlinson was impressive in that he had his 162 in 170 games.

Next Bar Chat not until next Sunday p.m., due to the above reasons.  I will then be back to normal, I hope, through the football season.   

 

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