Flat Buckeyes limp past Nebraska 21-17

      Will Howard threw three touchdown passes , including the game winning score with six minutes remaining in the game as the Ohio State Buckeyes survived an unexpectedly stern test from the visiting  Nebraska Cornhuskers to salvage a 21-17 win in Columbus.

Carnell Tate caught four passes for one hundred and two yards including a forty-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter to lead the Ohio State offense.

It was the Ohio State defense that stood out in the win as they allowed just one touchdown, stopped Nebraska on a fourth and goal from the one, and Jordan Hancock's interception on the final drive that ended the Cornhusker's chances of an upset.

Ohio State improved to 6-1 overall (3-1 Big Ten) and will meet Penn State on the road next Saturday.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Last week against Oregon, Ohio State lost left tackle Josh Simmons for the rest of the season and the loss of Simmons was immediately felt against Nebraska.

Replacement Zen Michalski didn't play well and then suffered his own injury in the fourth quarter.

2) The offensive line now has to find someone capable of blocking Penn State's All-American Abdul Carter, who will have played very little this season or not at all, and have him ready in a week.

Seems to be a very tall task,

3) The woes on the offensive line have affected the running game with Ohio State running for only sixty-four yards for a tiny 2.1 yards per carry.

If you can't run the ball on Nebraska, how do you expect to do so against more physical teams such as Penn State or Michigan?

4) Will Howard threw three touchdown passes with one interception but Howard threw only sixteen passe, completing thirteen and it made me think about why Ryan Day threw so few passes.

The passing game was working but the running game wasn't yet the commitment was to what wasn't doing well, which is puzzling to me?

5) Jeremiah Smith caught one of Howard's touchdown passes, which gives him one in each of the seven games this season.

Smith is the first true freshman to do this since Sidney Rice of South Carolina did it in 2005 and his eight for the season, tied him for the Buckeye freshman record with Cris Carter, who accomplished his feat in 1984.

6) Carnell Tate's game was the first in his career of over one hundred yards and Tate is also showing signs of a legitimate deep threat.

Now if only Will Howard has the time to get the deep game going, Ohio State will really have something.

7) Ohio State was fortunate to only lose Arvell Reese for the first half against Penn State on a targeting call on the final Nebraska drive.

I've griped about targeting in the past but the fortunate break was Ryan Day on the field, slamming his headset on the field and perhaps brushing the official.

Could have been an extra fifteen yards to Nebraska but Ohio State wasn't penalized as they were warned for sideline issues.

8) The second-quarter miss from forty-two yards by Jayden Fielding was just awful.

Fielding's kick was so wide that it landed closer to the sidelines than the goalpost and was so off-target, that if there wasn't something amiss, I would have major concerns about Fielding.

9) Massive game from Cody Simon, who made the finishing hit on fourth down to stop the Huskers at the goal line and made two more tackles for losses on the final Nebraska drive.

10) Ohio State sacked Dylan Raiola three times and held him to only 152 yards passing.

In fact the biggest play the freshman was with his legs, when he galloped thirty-eight yards on a first-half run.

11) Not an inspiring game off a two-week layoff and they better pick up the pace in State College next week, another setback could mean a season that Ohio State entered as a potential dream season would become an instant nightmare.

Boxing Challenge

     The boxing weekend has only one card of importance with its main event as the only match in the boxing challenge as Matchroom/DAZN pairs a key fight in the junior welterweight division as Jack Catterall faces former WBC champion Regis Prograis in Manchester, England. 

The smooth-boxing Catterall avenged his controversial defeat to Josh Taylor in 2022 with a unanimous decision win in May.

Prograis looks like a fighter past his prime with dull efforts in his last two fights, a boring decision win over Danielito Zorilla, and losing every round to Devin Haney last December when he dropped his WBC title.

Prograis looked old and slow against Haney and while Catterall may not have the complete games that Haney possesses, he's a slicker boxer and he's lefthanded.

Unless Prograis can land the big punch against Catterall, the result appears to be pre-ordained. 

Boxing Challenge

Junior Welterweights. 12 Rds 

Jack Catterall vs Regis Prograis

R.L and TRS: Catterall Unanimous Decision 

V.S: Prograis Unanimous Decision

PPM

   The football season is in mid-swing and the PPM is here with our selections.

Last Week:7-6 

Overall: 78-32

College

Ohio State over Nebraska 45-21

TCU over Texas Tech 45-41

Boise State over UNLV 38-35

Middle Tennessee State over Jacksonville State 20-14

Georgia Southern over Old Dominion 27-17

Arkansas over Mississippi State 39-31

Toledo over Bowling Green 24-21

UTSA over Tulsa 31-21

Oregon State over California 34-28

Games of the Week

Navy over Notre Dame 24-23

Alabama over Missouri 42-31

NFL
Ravens over Browns 24-10

Games of the Week

Bengals over Eagles 27-21

Bills over Seahawks 31-24

I Tell Ya' Herbie

   Time for a few thoughts and notes from the college football world, which we like to call I Tell Ya' Herbie.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Lincoln Riley and the tradition of USC appeared to be well-matched when Riley left Oklahoma for Southern California in 2022. 

The Trojans appeared to be the crown jewel of the Big Ten's West Coast expansion and both appear to be mismatched.

Riley blames everyone but himself for the woes of USC and after finishing 8-5 in the final year of the Pac 12, USC was expected to finish in the upper tier in the Big Ten, even if they weren't an elite team.

The Trojans surprised many with an opening week upset of LSU but have won only twice since posting a 3-4 record of this writing and 1-4 in the Big Ten.

Losses to offensively inept Michigan, boat rowing Minnesota, and losing huge leads in losses to Penn State and Maryland have made me wonder just how they managed to defeat resurgent Wisconsin?

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            The Big 12 has two unbeaten teams- BYU and Iowa State, neither of which were expected to be title contenders.

Texas Tech suffered their first conference loss, losing at home by twenty-four to mediocre Baylor, to drop one game back, Colorado and Cincinnati each have one loss in conference and play each other this Saturday with the winner keeping hopes alive and the loser likely praying for tie-breaker miracles.

This leaves one loss Kansas State, who were trashed by BYU but will play Iowa State on November 30th in what could decide the participants in the Big 12 title game.

Another crazy year in the wacky Big 12.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            In the Sun Belt East, the door has opened for Georgis Southern to win the division after beating pre-season favorite James Madison, holding a win over Marshall, and the slow start to perennial contender Appalachian State.

Should the Eagles defeat Old Dominion on Saturday, they would have a two-game lead over the entire division except for Marshall, who they would have the tiebreaker after their win over the Thundering Herd.

UL-Monroe is the only unbeaten team in the Sun Belt West and holds a one-game lead over Arkansas State, South Alabama, and Texas State, all of whom the Warhawks will play in the final half of the season.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            It's hard to believe that after the first two weeks of the season, two teams that suffered non-conference defeats would be the final two schools standing without a loss in the SEC standings.

LSU has rebounded from their loss to USC on a neutral field in Las Vegas, while Texas A&M hasn't been defeated since a home defeat to Notre Dame.

The winner will have a step up on a possible SEC title trip while the loser will join five teams with one conference loss of this writing with Alabama not part of that group with two league setbacks.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Which SEC coach has the more tenuous job security currently, Auburn's Hugh Freeze at 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the SEC or Brent Venables of 4-3 (But 1-3 in SEC play) Oklahoma?

I'd say Freeze as one of Auburn's two wins was over 1-AA Alabama A&M, their remaining games are road games at Kentucky and Alabama with home games against ranked Vanderbilt and Texas A&M along the aforementioned Sun Belt West leader UL-Monroe.

Auburn might be lucky to get two wins out of that run and winning one might be the most likely result.

I don't think 3-9 is what Auburn thought they were paying for when they hired Freeze from Liberty.

Cavaliers trample Toronto in season opener

     Evan Mobley scored 25 points and Donovan Mitchell added 21 as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their season opener, easily defeating the Toronto Raptors 136-106 in Toronto.

Cleveland returns for their home opener Friday night against the Detroit Pistons.

Swashbucklings

1) I didn't post a Cavaliers preview, partially due to time and partially because the team has literally added one player, first-round draftee Jaylon Tyson, to the team that lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

2) If the Cavaliers are going to improve from last season, that improvement relies on Evan Mobley's improved offensive game.

From what I saw, the project is off to a strong start with Mobley hitting nine of fourteen from the floor,

Mobley took a step forward in the playoffs last season, he may be taking another one very soon.

3) One of the main reasons Cleveland hired Kenny Atkinson as the new head coach is his ability to develop young players and Mobley was at the top of the list to work with.

Mobley doesn't have to become a three-point bomber or a on the block specialist but if he can improve in each of those areas, he could see a sizable jump in his scoring.

4) Max Strus injured his right ankle before the season and will miss some time with Dean Wade replacing him in the starting lineup.

Strus was expected to bring outside shooting to the team last season and he did- on occasion.

I'm hoping to see more consistency from Strus and for that matter-

5) Anything from Georges Niang would be welcomed after being disappointing as the expected off-the-bench gunner.

Niang started fast against Toronto, hitting four of five shots, three of those three-pointers, finishing with eleven points in nineteen minutes.

Niang would be a huge help to the second squad with play such as last night.

6) Streaky Caris LeVert hit his first seven shots and finished with nineteen points on eight of nine shooting.

LeVert will have his ups and downs but when on fire, he misses very few

Road Trip: Tennessee

     The final trip of the 2024 baseball season was to Kodak, Tennessee for the last visit to Smokies Stadium. 

The Chicago Cubs AA affiliate will move thirty miles to Knoxville for the 2025 season.

The move will leave Smokies Stadium without a tenant in 2025.

The stadium opened in 2000 after the franchise left Knoxville's Bill Meyer Stadium, allowing East Tennessee to retain Double-A baseball.

Smokies Stadium sits on a hill overlooking the area and interstate and other than a Bass Pro Shop shopping area across the street, the area was known essentially for being the exit to the vacation areas of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge when I made my first visit to the area.

Now it's congested, and the area between the exit and the tourist traps has filled in and it's more like visiting a metropolitan area's traffic than what you would expect in East Tennessee.

It was well, Smoking hot on the day of the game and I was disappointed that I missed my friend Corey White while we were at the game.

Corey left us tickets but we missed communication and I wasn't able to see him, although I thanked him for the tickets via messenger.

We decided to leave after a few innings due to the heat and started hitting the antique mall circuit.

One massive facility was open for the first time on a visit so we stopped by and it was more of a flea market than an antique mall.

No judgment but flea markets rarely produce the type of additions to the collection unless you collect black hair coloring or car air fresheners and while this one didn't find any purchases, I did see someone I knew as I walked by one collectible booth.

Eric Esch, popularly known as "Butterbean" was once known as the "king of the four-rounders" after a career spent in the "Toughman" contests transitioned into a somewhat legitimate boxing career against preliminary boxers before finally fighting a legitimate heavyweight in aging former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes and losing a one-sided fight.

Esch is remembered for his quick icing of WWF Brawl for All victor Bart Gunn in thirty-four seconds at Wrestlemania XV but I didn't see much action from Esch, who recently starred in some videos from former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page covering Esch's attempt to drop weight and improve his mobility.

It was pretty sad seeing Esch have trouble moving around and no one asking him to sign anything, just sadly sitting in a chair.

We ran through a few places where I didn't purchase anything before finding the Green Olde Deal in Sevierville.

I did find a few programs there at very affordable prices,  1964 Baylor at Texas, 1984 N.C.State at Maryland and a 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl program with Arkansas playing Florida.

Dinner was a return to Captain Jim's Seafood House, where I had eaten before with Fred Landucci and Lefty Koch, the last time I visited Tennessee.

I had enjoyed my previous visit but there had been a few recent poor reviews, so even up to pulling into the parking lot, I was wondering about my decision, so as I was getting out of the car, the person parked next to us was leaving, so I asked him what he thought.

He said it was great and would return but if he did, he wouldn't get the crab legs addition as he thought there were plenty of items and for the extra twenty-five bucks, he didn't receive his money's worth.

I followed his recommendation, bought the non-crab legs buffet, and was quite pleased.

It takes a decent amount of time to navigate the Sevierville version of the Las Vegas strip and near our hotel was the famous Buc-ees, the gas station that has to be seen to be believed..

I mainly wanted the lay of the land of Buc-ees (like I could eat anything after Captain Jim's) for the next day when we would eat lunch there and purchase requested swag for the girls.

After returning to our hotel, next to the stadium and one that hosted the Smokies opponents, who could walk to work each day, I watched the Newcastle-Bournemouth match on replay from Peacock, and drifted off to sleep or what passes for it in my world.

On the next installment, time to wrap it up with Buc-ees, Knoxville, and a nice find in Virginia on the way home! 

Watson Finished, Bengals bump Browns

   The Cleveland Browns day went awry with the first kick of the game and never got better as the Browns lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 21-14 in Cleveland.

Charlie Jones of the Bengals took the opening kickoff for a touchdown and the Browns never pulled even for the remainder of the game.

Nick Chubb rushed for a touchdown and David Njoku caught ten passes including a touchdown to lead Cleveland in defeat on a day that DeShaun Watson may have taken his last snap as a Cleveland Brown.

Cleveland falls to 1-6 after the loss and will host Baltimore next week.

Brownie Bits

1) DeShaun Watson played his usual game for the Browns before the injury consisting of dink and dunk passes, completing many and moving the chains seldom.

That said, Watson was in the middle of the best Browns drive of the day to that point, which eventually would be finished with the Browns first touchdown.

Watson finished the day completing fifteen of seventeen passes for one hundred twenty-eight yards before leaving the game.

2) It was very evident on the play where DeShaun Watson blew out his Achilles tendon without being touched that the injury was severe.

I watched the play, turned, and said "That's an Achilles injury and that's bad".

The replay shows the bulge and those injuries are almost always devastating.

3) The controversy about some fans cheering the injury to Watson led to players confronting fans during the period that Watson was being attended to on the field and emotional statements by Myles Garrett and Jameis Winston after the game.

Here's my take- I think fans have the right to boo players that they feel aren't playing up to their salaries.

Cheering when players are injured crosses the line and I think the fans that did that crossed the line.

4) The final Watson drive was completed by Dorian Thompson-Robinson and ended with a short touchdown run by Nick Chubb.

On a day filled with bad football and the season-ending injury to DeShaun Watson, the return of Nick Chubb and the response that he received from Cleveland fans was just about the only fun news from an awful game.

5) It was a bad game for veteran kicker Dustin Hopkins, who missed a 49-yard field goal attempt, missed an extra point, and failed to take an angle on the Charlie Jones kick return that might have caused Jones to go out of bounds or give another player a better chance to bring Jones to the turf.

6) Special teams coach Bubba Ventrone is renowned as one of the better special teams coaches in the league, which is why the return for a touchdown by Cincinnati was a surprise.

7) Before the game, the Browns announced that Dorian Thompson-Robinson had been designated the backup QB with Jameis Winston as the emergency quarterback.

I thought that was a bit odd but when DeShaun Watson was injured, it was DTR in the game.

Other than the short field touchdown and a thirty-four-yard scramble, his play wasn't impressive, throwing two interceptions and injuring a finger when he took a sack.

8) When DTR left the game due to his finger injury, Jameis Winston entered the game as the designated emergency quarterback for the Browns final drive and the Browns scored their final touchdown when Winston hit a leaping David Njoku in the back of the end zone.

9) Many think the Browns should play Dorian Thompson-Robinson over Winston when he returns to health to see "what they have".

I don't. The Browns should know what they have as DTR lacks the arm to push the ball deep and his frail frame is going to keep him off and on that injured reserve.

10) Jameis Winston isn't going to send the Browns to the playoffs but his ability to stand tall in the pocket and power arm fits the offense and much like Joe Flacco in 2023, gives the Browns a chance to steal a few games- which might be exactly why they prefer DTR at this point.

11) David Njoku and Cedric Tillman combined for eighteen catches and might be the biggest winners of the quarterback change.

12) A final word on Jedric Wills, who continues to show a complete disinterest in blocking.

That is a real problem for an offensive tackle, the sooner he is gone, the better.