Boxing Challenge

      The boxing challenge will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The main event will feature the three titles in the heavyweight division that Oleksandr Usyk was allowed to keep after his split decision win over Tyson Fury earlier this year. 

Usyk held the WBA, IBF, and WBO crowns and added the WBC held by Fury with the victory but the IBF stripped Usyk about thirty seconds after the win for taking the lucrative Fury rematch rather than face Daniel DuBois, who Usyk knocked out in 2023. 

Fury dominated the early rounds but was fortunate to survive the eighth round after Usyk knocked him down and had Fury staggering around the ring.

Usyk controlled the late rounds and deserved the decision but it was close enough to make a rematch intriguing.

Fury was thought to be the harder puncher of the two, yet it was Usyk who scored the fight's only knockdown. Fury never really used his larger bulk to try to wear down the naturally smaller fighter, so one can see how Fury could turn the tables and win the rematch, much as he did against Deontay Wilder in their second fight after a first-fight draw.

Still, I'd favor the more versatile Usyk against Fury, who may have been a little overrated as a boxer because he outboxed opponents who couldn't cope with Fury's skills but might have been outboxed by many top heavyweights.

The undercard isn't as dazzling as the usual cards from Riyadh Season with the co-feature a junior middleweight bout between Serhii Bohachuk and late replacement Ishmael Davis in which the winner will be the mandatory challenger for WBC champion Sebastian Fundora.

Bohachuk was originally scheduled to face former WBA champion Israil Madrimov but Madrimove dropped out when given a chance to face Vergil Ortiz in February.

Bohachuk lost a majority decision to Ortiz in his last fight despite dropping Ortiz twice in the match and a fight with Madrimov was highly anticipated but instead faces Davis, who lost his first fight in September to Josh Kelly by majority decision.

The remaining challenge bout is in the heavyweight division with talented prospect Moses Itauma battling Demsey Mckean in a ten-rounder.

Itauma won impressively in his last fight, stopping trialhorse Mariusz Wach in two rounds, and is thought of by many as the best prospect in the division.

McKean hasn't fought in sixteen months after losing for the first time in his career, being stopped by Filip Hrgovic in the twelfth round.

Boxing Challenge

WBA/WBC/WBO Heavyweight Titles. 12 Rds 

Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury

Ramon Malpica: Fury Split Decision
TRS: Usyk Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Fury Unanimous Decision

Junior Middleweights 12 Rds

Serhei Bohachuk vs Ishmael Davis

R.L: Bohachuk Unanimous Decision

TRS: Bohachuk KO 10

V.S: Davis Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights, 10 Rds

Moses Itauma vs Demsey McKean

R.L: Itauma Unanimous Decision
TRS: Itauma KO 3
V.S: McKean KO 6 

PPM

 The bowls continue, the CFP begins and the NFL hits the final stretch as teams jockey for playoff berths and seeding position.

Last Week: 6-3

Overall:141-72

College

CFP Playoffs

Ohio State over Tennessee 24-14

Notre Dame over Indiana 31-21

Penn State over SMU 24-17

Texas over Clemson 41-24

Cure Bowl

Ohio over Jacksonville State 33-26

Gasparilla Bowl

Florida over Tulane 24-21

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Coastal Carolina over UTSA 37-32

Potato Bowl

Fresno State over Northern Illinois 27-21

Hawaii Bowl

San Jose State over South Florida 29-21

Game Above Bowl

Toledo over Pittsburgh 27-23

Rate Bowl

Kansas State over Rutgers 38-19

Ventures Bowl

Bowling Green over Arkansas State 28-17

Armed Forces Bowl

Oklahoma over Navy 24-21

Birmingham Bowl

Georgia Tech over Vanderbilt 33-24

Liberty Bowl

Texas Tech over Arkansas 44-37

Holiday Bowl

Syracuse over Washington State 29-24

Las Vegas Bowl

Texas A&M over USC 35-21

NFL

Bengals over Browns 24-10

Games of the Week

Ravens over Steelers 20-14

Eagles over Commanders 33-27

Lefty Driesell

      He was a program builder, a showman, a recruiter, and a salesman.

Lefty Driesell was all of those plus many other adjectives and adverbs and the Hall of Fame coach's recent passing at the age of ninety-two brought lots of memories back to me (perhaps even more if I hadn't somehow lost the first version of this).

Lefty Driesell was the originator of Midnight Madness, a master recruiter who landed the top player in the country three times (although Moses Malone turned pro with the ABA Utah Stars), and a man so beloved by his fanbase that the Maryland band would play "Hail to the Chief" when he walked onto the floor with Lefty returning the V for Victory sign.

Lefty came to Maryland in 1969 from Davidson, where he had reached the Elite Eight in the previous two seasons, vowing to turn the Terrapins into the "UCLA of the East".

Driesell may have fallen short of that prediction but he turned the DMV into a basketball area and set the stage for some of the best basketball that this area has seen.

Under Lefty, Maryland won its second ACC Tournament (1984) in program history, won its only NIT (1972) in the days when the NIT was more than a consolation prize, took Maryland to its only Elite Eight appearances (1973 and 1975) before the Gary Williams Final Four teams in 2001 and 2002, won the first two ACC regular season titles (1975, 1980) in program history, and won twenty or more games on ten occasions.

Driesell recruited the top player in the nation to Maryland three times. Tom McMillen and Albert King played for Maryland, and Moses Malone committed to the Terrapins before signing with the Utah Stars of the ABA.

Driesell also coached nine first-round picks in the NBA draft, including John Lucas (first overall in 1976), Len Bias (second overall in 1986), and Buck Williams (third overall in 1981).

Driesell also indirectly played a part in the gradual expansion of the NCAA Tournament when his 1973-74 Terrapins were a top-four team but due to the NCAA"s one team per conference rule, were unable to participate when they lost their classic 103-100 overtime game in the 1974 ACC tournament final to the eventual NCAA champions in N.C. State.

Lefty is also the only coach in college basketball history to win one hundred games at four schools, Davidson, Maryland, James Madison, and Georgia State, and to take each of those teams to the NCAA tournament.

Lefty wasn't known as a great X and O coach and that was a major criticism about him through the years as his teams lost more than their share of big games in crunch time.

Lefty finally won the title that he wanted most in 1984 when the second-seeded Terrapins caught a break when unbeaten (in conference) regular season champion North Carolina was upset in the semi-final round by Duke, allowing Maryland to play the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament final, emerging with a 74-60 victory with Len Bias as tournament MVP as a sophomore.

While I can understand how Juan Dixon could be considered to be the greatest player in program history with Dixon as the star of the only national championship team, I'd make the argument that Len Bias was the best player with two ACC Player of the Year awards and it was Lefty Driesell who recruited him to Maryland.

Lefty Driesell's reign may not have been as successful as Gary Williams's as Williams won the school's first and only national title but some of his seventies teams might have won a national title if those tournaments played with sixty-four teams and it was the success of the Driesell era that is the foundation of the tradition of Maryland basketball.

I wonder if Lefty would have been elected to the Hall of Fame earlier had the Len Bias tragedy not occurred.

Maryland was still a consistent NCAA tournament participant under Driesell and my guess is he would have been at Maryland for another ten to fifteen years, so the numbers would have been large enough at the top level of the sport that they couldn't have been ignored.

And there are the memories I have of Lefty and his Terrapins that are so meaningful to me today because it was Maryland basketball that I shared with my father.

We rooted for different teams in sports except for Maryland basketball and those childhood memories of watching Lefty's coaches show on winter Saturday mornings and ACC battles with my dad or telling him the next morning of a game that he missed because he worked second shift the night before.

The highs and lows of Maryland basketball (and sports in general) were something that I could share with my dad to find common ground in a relationship that didn't have many common interests aside from sports and I always smile thinking of those twelve years of childhood rooting for Maryland with my dad.

From the crushing defeats to North Carolina and N.C. State to the euphoric wins over some of the best teams in the country, Lefty Driesell, and his teams helped me fall in love with basketball and share that with my father.

I'm sure Lefty would have rather raised a national championship trophy but somehow turning an entire region into a basketball-crazed area is a nice consolation prize.

I'm sorry this is being posted ten months after Lefty's passing.

I had an entire post written and ready over the summer but a snafu just before uploading caused the original to be lost.

Boxing Challenge: Munguia Vaporized!

    The boxing weekend appeared to have a few interesting bouts, mainly to keep contenders in action, but one right hand from the sky felled a contender and became the star of the weekend.

Unbeaten and unknown Bruno Surace of France hadn't beaten anyone of note and had only fought a few ten-rounders before he traveled to Tijuana, Mexico to face super middleweight contender Jaime Munguia.

Few gave Surace a chance, and even if you thought Surace had a chance, with only four knockouts in his twenty-five wins, no one thought Surace could stop the durable Munguia. After the expected Munguia win, he would face Christian Mbilli in a WBC-ordered eliminator, which would be sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Surace was better than advertised and despite losing most of the first five rounds and being knocked down in the second round by a Munguia hook, Surace was hanging around in a fight that he appeared to be overmatched.

That was before Surace bounded off the ropes with a pulverizing right hand that dropped Munguia to the floor.

Munguia bravely beat the count but couldn't continue as the fight ended as what will likely be named the upset of the year for 2024.

Munguia vs Mbilli will be delayed as Munguia will likely look for a chance to redeem himself against Surace as quickly as possible.

Monte Carlo was the site of the first of DAZN's two cards with their main event featuring former WBA and IBF junior featherweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who knocked Ricardo Espinoza down three times in the third round before the referee stopped the fight in that round.

Akhmadaliev is the best fighter in the division that has yet to meet the undisputed champion, Naoya Inoue, and in winning a WBA minor title,  Akhmadaliev will hopefully receive his chance at "The Monster" sometime in 2025.

In the evening DAZN program, welterweights Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel swapped punches for twelve exciting rounds with the judges deciding on a majority decision draw.

Rocha banked the early rounds by boxing a bit and keeping Curiel at bay from the outside but began to exchange more often, which made the fight more fan-friendly but took away Rocha's tactical advantage.

The scorecards were 116-112 for Rocha and two at 114-114, which is how I saw the fight.

Both fighters seemed amenable to a rematch; considering this fight, a rematch would be well received.

Unbeaten junior middleweight Charles Conwell continued his march to a title shot with a dominating seventh-round knockout of Gerardo Vergara.

Conwell should be in line for either a title chance or a final title eliminator next year.

On Sunday, heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte won a surprisingly entertaining slugfest over Ebenezer Tetteh when Tetteh's corner ended the fight after the seventh round.

Tetteh's only loss entering the fight came to Daniel DuBois via first-round knockout and most expected Tetteh to look for a way out as soon as Whyte hit him but showed plenty of heart in exchanging with Whyte throughout the fight.

Whyte hurt Tettah badly in both the sixth and seventh rounds and the fight was stopped at the right time.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 184 Pts(5)

TRS: 184 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 116 (1)

Browns dropped by Chiefs 21-7

     The Cleveland Browns turned the football over six times. Only through the surprising ineptness of the Kansas City Chiefs offense was the game remotely close as Kansas City won a 21-7 decision over the Browns in Cleveland.

Jameis Winston threw three interceptions and was benched in the final quarter in favor of Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

Only a sixty-two-yard rushing touchdown by Jerome Ford dented the scoreboard for the Browns with Ford finishing with eighty-four yards on the game.

Jerry Jeudy caught eleven passes for one hundred-eight yards to lead the offense.

Cleveland dropped to 3-11 with the defeat and will travel to Cincinnati to play the also-unwinding Bengals next Sunday.

Brownie Bits

1) Starting with the worst news of the day, Nick Chubb suffered a broken foot on a play that saw Jameis Winston fake a handoff to Chubb and then turn to make a pitch only to find no one available.

Chubb broke his foot without contact and will miss the remainder of the season, not that he'll miss much in time or quality.

2) Nick Chubb finishes the season with three hundred thirty-two yards on one hundred and two carries with three touchdowns.

Chubb averaged 3.3 yards per carry and never seemed to find his stride after returning from his knee injury. While that was expected, it puts the Browns in a position to make one of many key decisions before the 2025 season.

Do the Browns re-sign Chubb and gamble that he returns to form with the money he will cost to please the fanbase?

Or do they risk allowing the most popular player on the team in years to leave town when he states he wants to stay and perhaps reverts to his past performance elsewhere?

It's a tough call and I don't envy it.

3) I think the Browns are going to start Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback for the final three games, and while I don't have an issue with it in a lost season, I do disagree with the narrative that "The Browns need to see what they have in DTR."

They should know what they have because it's apparent to most that his slight frame and lack of arm strength makes him a backup at best, a situational gimmick QB at worst and if they think he is more than that, the Browns really need to reevaluate their talent evaluators.

4) Jerry Jeudy continued his fine play and moved past one thousand receiving yards for the first time in his career.

What will be interesting is if Jeudy's numbers drop off when Dorian Thompson-Robinson takes over at quarterback after he didn't perform well until Jameis Winston took over from DeShaun Watson.

5) The Browns released Kadarius Toney last week after he fumbled a punt against Pittsburgh.

Of course, his replacement, James Proche. fumbled the first punt of the game, which led to the Chiefs first touchdown.

6) The Browns turned the ball over six times, the Proche fumble, three interceptions by Jameis Winston (one wasn't his fault), another interception by Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and a Nick Chubb fumble.

Simply awful.

7) Kansas City didn't play well despite their easy win, and the Browns defense didn't play poorly and managed to keep the game close enough to not be humiliated.

8) The Browns made a silly decision on a fourth and one by going for it with a pass.

I could understand trying that but I can't understand why Jerry Jeudy, the only true weapon, is in the backfield as a decoy.

That alignment sticks the offense in a hole before the snap and the throw is going to anyone but the best pass catcher.

9) The Browns did have one big play, the long run by Jerome Ford, which was aided by several holds that weren't called but such is NFL life.

Ford will likely have the bulk of the carries now that Nick Chubb is finished for the season.

10) The worst news for this team came well before this game as Jimmy Haslam announced that Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry would return next season.

I still wouldn't think it is written in stone that either or both are sure to be back but if that is the case, I'm not sure there is hope for this franchise.

PPM

  The PPM starts the bowl season and the NFL continues its run to the playoffs.

The schedule isn't as large on the college side but it will boom for the next few weeks!

Last Week: 8-4 

Overall: 135-69

College

Army over Navy 31-20

Veterans Bowl

South Alabama over Western Michigan 34-24

Frisco Bowl

Memphis over West Virginia 44-38

Boca Raton Bowl

James Madison over Western Kentucky 33-29

LA Bowl

UNLV over Cal 25-21

New Orleans Bowl

Georgia Southern over Sam Houston 31-24

NFL
Chiefs over Browns 28-17

Games of the Week

Packers over Seahawks 34-28

Lions over Bills 38-35

Boxing Challenge

 The boxing weekend isn't filled with compelling matchups, but several top contenders are in action, and they will continue to stay sharp for bigger matches in 2025.

ESPN+ and Top Rank bring back super middleweight contender Jaime Munguia in a homecoming bout in Tijuana, Mexico.

Munguia stopped contender Erik Bazinyan in ten exciting rounds in September and faces a question mark in unbeaten Frenchman Bruno Surace, who has faced zero recognizable foes, so who knows how good Surace is.

Munguia stays sharp in his hometown against an opponent he should shine against, which is fine with me considering he's fought Canelo Alvarez and Erik Bazinyan already this year.

DAZN will offer a day/night doubleheader with the opening card's main event pairing former WBA and IBF junior featherweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev fighting for a minor title against Ricardo Espinoza in Monte Carlo.

Akhmadaliev has won one fight since his stunning split decision defeat to Marlon Tapales, which cost him his titles and a unification match with Naoya Inoue, while Espinoza lost to his two best opponents in former champions Daniel Roman and John Reil Casimero.

Golden Boy takes over in the evening with a welterweight main event with Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel.

Rocha was in line for a mandatory chance at then-WBO champion Terence Crawford or the vacant title before his surprising knockout loss to Giovani Santillan last October.

Rocha has won twice since and faces the unbeaten Curiel, who has stopped thirteen of his fifteen foes.

This shapes up as the best fight of the weekend.

Junior middleweight contender Charles Conwell continues to stay busy against unbeaten Argentine Gerardo Vergara.

Conwell should be in line for a title shot soon and an impressive win over Vergara would help make his case for a chance in 2025.

DAZN returns on Sunday from Gibraltar with veteran heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte continuing to rebuild his career after his 2022 KO loss to Tyson Fury for Fury's WBC title at the time.

Whyte has defeated Jermaine Franklin and Christian Hammer since losing to Fury and will meet 23-1 Ebenezer Tetteh, who is remembered most for his only loss, a one-round defeat to Daniel DuBois in 2019.

Boxing Challenge

Super Middleweights. 10 Rds 

Jaime Munguia vs Bruno Surace

Ramon Malpica: Munguia KO 6

TRS: Munguia KO 4

Vince Samano: Surace Unanimous Decision

Junior Featherweights 12 Rds

Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs Ricardo Espinoza

R.L; Akhmadaliev Unanimous Decision 

TRS: Akhmadaliev KO 9
V.S:  Espinoza Unanimous Decision

Welterweights 12 Rds

Alexis Rocha vs Raul Curiel

R.L: Curiel KO 9

TRS: Curiel KO 6

V.S: Curiel Unanimous Decision

Junior Middleweights 10 Rds

Charles Conwell vs Gerardo Vergara

R.L:  Conwell KO 7

TRS: Conwell KO 6
V.S; Vergara KO 6

Heavyweights 10 Rds

Dillian Whyte vs Ebenezer Tettah

R.L: Whyte KO 8

TRS: Whyte KO 4

V.S: Tettah KO 6

I Tell Ya' Herbie- The CFP

   I Tell Ya' Herbie takes a different approach this week. It's all about the CFP, what the committee got right and wrong, and what needs to be fine-tuned for future seasons.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            I would have done one thing differently with the CFP and it is already looming as unfair to the top seed and only unbeaten team in the tournament.

Looking at the brackets, top-seeded Oregon will face the winner of Ohio State-Tennessee, giving the Ducks a potential second-round matchup against a team equal in talent and one that they beat by one point at home or an SEC team that has just defeated Ohio State on the road.

The answer to this problem is to emulate the NBA playoff model, in which the seeding is created anew after each round.

Under the current format, Oregon would still play the Ohio State-Tennessee winner, if all four favorites won in the first round but it would give Oregon a deserved break if someone pulled a surprise.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                           I also would seed the teams differently and make a change that I have proposed for the NFL for years.

I would continue to allow the top five conference champions to have an automatic slot, even if they weren't in the top twelve teams overall but they would not be guaranteed to have a bye.

In the NFL, I would guarantee each division champion a playoff berth but I would seed the teams by record, avoiding a mess like 2011 where an eleven-win Saints team was forced to travel to Seattle to play the 7-9 division "winning" Seahawks and lose.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            I may have ranked the fifth through eighth seeds differently but I don't have a problem with the committee's order of Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.

Those four teams have different arguments and all would be fair in any order.

My ratings for those? Notre Dame (has a horrible loss to Northern Illinois but it's their only loss), Texas( best win over 8-4 Texas A&M but both losses to number two Georgia), Ohio State (bad loss to Michigan but defeated Penn State on the road and playoff participant Indiana), and Penn State ( didn't beat a team that finished ranked in top 25 and lost to Ohio State).

I would have rated nine through twelve as the committee did with Tennessee at nine (toughest schedule, two losses), Indiana (lacking a good win but just one loss), SMU (two losses, regular season ACC champion), and Clemson (ACC champion but three losses).

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                           I wrote earlier about Oregon's gripe about a second-round matchup and I'd go further than that- The fifth seed (Texas) and sixth seed (Penn State) have easier paths than the top overall seed.

Oregon gets a bye and then the winner of Ohio State-Tennessee.

Texas gets a home game against the only three-loss team in the field (Clemson) and then Arizona State and Penn State draws SMU in Happy Valley, and then Boise State, playing two teams that were Group of Five teams just a season ago.

Which path appears easiest to you?

I don't blame Oregon at all for any anger and I bet that is changed in the future.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            All four first round games have solid favorites (Ohio State 7.5, Notre Dame 8, Penn State 8.5 and Texas 11) and I think it's somewhat important that one of the underdogs win.

If the argument over time becomes that the 9-12 seeds don't/can't win, why not just have an eight team playoff?

I don't know if I would bet money on any of the underdogs to win straight up but if I was given a free bet, I think I might go with SMU over Penn State.

Considering Penn State's lack of dynamic offensive weapons, the erratic play of Drew Allar, and James Franklin's questionable coaching in big games, SMU might be able to win a high-scoring game with their excellent passing game.

Boxing Challenge: Navarrete, Espinoza keep titles, Hitchins wins one

    As the final month of 2024 began, the boxing weekend was stuffed to the brim with action from several platforms worldwide, and there were many entertaining battles for the fans' viewing pleasure.

Top Rank and ESPN+ appeared to have two excellent rematches for championships after both original fights were good action fights. However, the best-laid plans can go up in smoke, and both fights were disappointing in different ways.

In the Phoenix main event, Emanuel Navarrete repeated his victory over Oscar Valdez in a far more dominant manner as Navarrete dropped Valdez three times (rounds one, four, and six) and won via knockout after a body shor finished Valdez to retain his WBO junior lightweight crown.

Navarette won by a clear but entertaining unanimous decision in their first fight over Valdez but had struggled to a draw against Robson Conceicao and a loss to Denis Berinchyk in an attempt to win the vacant WBO lightweight title and didn't seem to be putting the time in to prepare properly.

Navarrete was prepared for Valdez and stormed from the gate and never allowed Valdez to get started and won every round on my card.

Navarrete is rumored to perhaps face WBC champion O'Shaquie Foster in a unification match next year while Valdez might need a confidence builder or two after taking a shellacking from Navarrete.

In the co-feature, Robiesy Ramirez appeared to be building a lead against Rafael Espinoza in their rematch for the WBO featherweight title that Espinoza took from Ramirez by a thrilling majority decision last December.

However, seconds into round six, Ramirez ended the fight with a "No Mas" to allow Espinoza to retain the title,

Throughout the fight, Joe Tessitore and Tim Bradley stated that the Ramirez team had told the referee to watch for elbows from Espinoza, which they claimed was a major factor in the first fight, and sure enough, that's exactly what Ramirez complained about in the post-fight interview and used as his reason for quitting-double vision caused by elbows that the referee did nothing to stop.

Ramirez is reported to have suffered a broken orbital bone around his right eye, which lends some credibility to his surrender.

I gave Ramirez the first four rounds and while I gave the fifth to Espinoza, it was a close round.

The judges saw it closer with two judges scoring Ramirez up by one point and the other with an incredulous card of a three-point lead for Espinoza, which I don't see in any case.

On the undercard, welterweight contender Giovani Santillan rebounded from his first loss to Brian Norman, when veteran Frederick Lawson surrendered after one round, and unbeaten junior welterweight Lindolfo Delgado knocked out Jackson Marinez in five rounds.

Richardson Hitchins won the IBF junior welterweight title in San Juan Puerto Rico via a split decision over Australia's Liam Paro.

Paro started quickly but Hitchens dominated the second half of the fight and I thought won easily at 116-112.

Two judges agreed with me at 116-112 for Hitchins with a way out of bounds score for Paro at 117-111.

Hitchins called for WBO champion Teofimo Lopez after the fight, which I find highly unlikely with Hitchins's boxing style known for bothering Lopez, differing promoters, and Hitchins not bringing a large paycheck to the table.

Unbeaten junior lightweight Henty LeBron earned his biggest career win with a unanimous decision win over former world title challenger Christopher Diaz.

I thought the fight was close for LeBron at 96-94 which was the same as one judge with the other two scoring for LeBron 97-93.

LeBron scored well with counters against Diaz, who marched forward the entire fight and deserves future fights against young prospects after a strong performance.

A fun and entertaining heavyweight match between two veterans over forty for a minor title may not have been at the world-class level but it was worth watching with two former world title challengers hooked up in Sofia Bulgaria.

In the end, it was the hometown fighter, Kubrat Pulev boxing a bit smoother with the jab and Pulev's more active offense that earned him the WBA minor title by unanimous decision over Mahmoud Charr.

Pulev's scores were 117-11 times two and 116-112 with my score at 117-111 for Pulev.

The question for me will be this, will Pulev eventually decide to keep himself as the eventual WBA mandatory challenger for a title attempt? Or at 43, will he use the "title" to bring mid-level heavyweights to Bulgaria and earn Pulev larger paydays than he could dream of making anywhere else?

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica:  179 Pts (11)

TRS: 179 Pts (11)

Vince Samano: 115 Pts (7)

Steelers KO Cleveland 27-14

   The Cleveland Browns missed on opportunities and it was costly as the Pittsburgh Steelers gradually pulled away until a meaningless late touchdown in a 27-14 Steelers win in Pittsburgh.

In the defeat, Jameis Winston threw two touchdowns, one each to Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku, along with two interceptions.

Njoku led the Browns in catches with seven while Jeudy led in receiving with sixty-four yards.

Cleveland fell to 3-10 after the loss and will host the powerful Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Brownie Bits

1) I didn't see the game live as I was on my final road trip in 2024 (I'll be writing about it eventually) and I scanned it quickly last night, so this is less detailed than a normal recap.

The biggest downer of this game?

George Pickens sitting out with an injury, two weeks after his fight with Greg Newsome and after both had built a bit of interest in a showdown between two talented but immature players, nothing happened.

2)  The struggles of Dustin Hopkins continued as he missed two more field goals and is making the decision of Andrew Berry to give him a contract extension look extremely questionable.

Hopkins was a solid kicker for Washington and Los Angeles (Chargers) but Browns followers are seeing both the ceiling and the floor for Hopkins, who was never better than he was in 2023 and has never been worse than he has been this season.

3) The mantra of Kevin Stefanski has always been 'Smart, tough, and accountable', and rarely has it been taken seriously.

The Browns moved to the Steelers sixteen yard line for the first play of the final quarter for a third and one.

Jack Conklin moves too soon for a five-yard penalty, Jameis Winston is sacked to lose three more, and Germain Ifedi gets nailed with a roughness call to lose fifteen more to force the ball back to the thirty-nine and a punt.

4) The Browns used former first-rounder Kadarius Toney as the punt returner and Toney was hit with a taunting penalty and muffed a punt, so Kevin Stefanski didn't seem likely to try Toney again next week against his former team in Kansas City.

It's too bad those two mistakes happened because Toney was doing well before those errors, finishing the day averaging eleven yards on his four returns with a long of nineteen.

5) I hated mentioning Jack Conklin's penalty because the veteran has been playing so well of late.

Conklin again held T.J. Watt without a sack and Watt was motivated to do well after the media narrative from the Browns win in Cleveland.

6) After the defeat, the Browns were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

As the late Peter Tomarken used to utter on the game show "Press Your Luck"- Whammy.

Boxing Challenge

     It's a packed boxing weekend with ESPN/Top Rank leading the pack with two rematches of action title battles from Phoenix Arizona.

Emanuel Navarrete returns to the junior lightweight division to defend a title that he had hoped to jettison, as he defends the WBO belt against Oscar Valdez in a rematch of their thrilling August 2023 war.

Since then Navarrete drew with Robson Conceicao and lost a split decision to Denis Berinchyk for the vacant WBO lightweight title, while Valdez nabbed the WBO interim belt with a seventh-round knockout of Liam Wilson, which most assumed would see Valdez elevated to the full title with Navarrete favored to win the lightweight title,

Their first fight was exciting and this one should be as well, the question is this- How motivated is Navarrete to return to the division to fight someone he has already beaten, and will the drop in weight drain the champion and cost him late in the fight?

In the co-feature, Rafael Espinoza will attempt to repeat his surprising win over Robeisy Ramirez in a rematch for the WBO featherweight title.

Espinoza entered their first fight unbeaten and untested and won a majority decision with both fighters scoring knockdowns.

The 6'1 Espinoza is extremely tall for a featherweight and holds a sizable advantage over the former gold medalist, Ramirez.

Ramirez did have distractions entering their first fight. His father, still in Cuba, was in serious condition, and he says he will be better prepared for the rematch.

This is an extremely close fight and I've been back and forth on my pick, it's that close.

Also on the card, unbeaten junior welterweight contender Lindolfo Delgado faces veteran Jackson Marinez and welterweight Giovani Santillan returns after his first defeat, losing via tenth-round knockout to Brian Norman for the then-vacant WBO title, against journeyman Fredrick Lawson.

DAZN takes the stage with a Matchroom card from Puerto Rico as IBF junior welterweight champion Liam Paro will defend the title against mandatory challenger Richardson Hitchens for the first time.

Paro upset Subriel Matias in June to win the title while Hitchens won a close unanimous decision over Gustavo Lemos in April to secure the mandatory position.

Unbeaten junior lightweight Henry Lebron returns from a thirteen-month layoff against former world title challenger Christopher Diaz in the co-feature.

Also from DAZN, a minor heavyweight title isn't the attraction but an evenly matched fight between two former title challengers past forty is , as Kubrat Pulev faces Mahmoud Charr in what could be fun or a bore.

Boxing Challenge

WBO Junior Lightweight Title 12 Rds

Emanuel Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez

All: Navarrete Unanimous Decision

WBO Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Rafael Espinoza vs Robeisy Ramirez

Ramon Malpica: Espinoza KO 8

TRS and Vince Samano: Espinoza Unanimous Decision

Junior Welterweights, 10 Rds

Lindolfo Delgado vs Jackosn Marinez

R.L and V.S: Delgado KO 8

TRS: Delgado KO 5

Welterweights. 10 Rds

Giovani Santillan vs Fredrick Lawson

R.L:  Santillan KO 5

TRS: Santillan KO 4

V.S: Lawson Unanimous Decision

WBO Junior Welterweight Title 12 Rds

Liam Paro vs Richardson Hitchins

R.L and TRS: Paro Unanimous Decision

V.S: Hitchins Unanimous Decision

Junior Lightweights. 10 Rds

Henry Lebron vs Christopher Diaz

R.L and TRS: Lebron Unanimous Decision

V.S: Diaz Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Kubrat Pulev vs Mahmoud Charr

All: Pulev Unanimous Decision

I Tell Ya' Herbie

    Last week "Herbie" enjoyed Thanksgiving but our favorite long-range kicker returns for his thoughts on college football as we enter conference championship week.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            One of the things speculated about Michigan's upset over Ohio State is where it ranks in the rivalry's history.

I'm not going to answer that in detail (I'd rate it second to the 1969 loss) but I will pick the upset that it most resembles and it's not one against Michigan.

The 2015 home loss to Michigan State was the only blemish on the record of the defending national champions and cost the Buckeyes a chance to defend their title.

It reminded me of this loss as in both cases, the coach (Urban Meyer then, Ryan Day now) stubbornly refused to allow his best players (Ezekiel Elliott then, the wide receivers now) to decide the game, deciding instead to play into the opponent's strengths, losing a home game to an inferior opponent.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I wonder just how things are going to play out at North Carolina, which fired Mack Brown after finishing 6-6 and has several big-name coaches reportedly interested including Steelers offensive coordinator and former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, UNLV's Barry Odom, Tulane'a Jon Sumrall, and wait for it... Bill Belichick?

I would have thought Belichick was mentioned by a writer attempting to grind out a column but it's being reported that Belichick has actually interviewed with the Tar Heels!

North Carolina has often been mentioned as a football-sleeping giant, if Belichick actually wants to coach college football (and I'm not sure he really will), UNC would make sense as a place where Belichick could be successful quickly and wouldn't have the expectations that many schools would.

I Tell Ya Herbie:

                               It will be interesting to watch who will earn the fourth seed and the first-round bye between Group of Five qualifier Boise State (assuming they defeat UNLV in the Mountain West Championship) and the Big 12 championship winner between Arizona State and Iowa State.

For now, Boise State would earn the bye but I look for plenty of lobbying from the Big 12 for that position because it would be humbling for the conference to be surpassed by the G-5 entry in the first-ever playoff.

Will this be decided on the field or in the boardroom, where there really wasn't a lot of interest in a G-5 automatic bid to start?

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I was asked earlier this week how I felt about Michigan signing the top-rated quarterback in this recruiting class, Bryce Underwood. My answer was that I felt great!

First, if Michigan paid the rumored fifteen million for Underwood, good for Underwood and his family, and Michigan is playing by the rules, how often can I say that of late!

As much as I'll love responding to Michigan supporters about the "Michigan way" regarding NIL spending, what I am excited about is this- Michigan signed the top-rated quarterback in the class and he is a homegrown product, Ohio State inked the second-rated passer in the class, Tavian St.Clair, who is an Ohio resident.

For the first time that I can remember, Ohio State and Michigan will have two home-state players leading their team at quarterback, while Underwood could be the starter at Michigan as early as next season and St. Clair will be behind Julian Sayin for a while, that matchup could be very special when it happens.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             I noted a few weeks ago that Neal Brown faced two games that could decide his future with West Virginia against Baylor and Texas Tech.

Two wins might get him an extension, a split could go either way, and two losses might mean his job.

WVU lost both, including a thirty-seven-point loss to Texas Tech and Brown is leaving Morgantown.

Former head coach Rich Rodriguez and West Virginia native Jimbo Fisher are being mentioned as potential replacements should the Mountaineers take a big swing but a Group of Five coach that I might think about hiring is Marshall's Charles Huff, who knows the state from his Marshall tenure, would not cost West Virginia a buyout since his contract is expiring, and has led the Herd to the Sun Belt title game this weekend.

I'm not saying Huff gets the spot but if the bigger names aren't in the picture, he would be a good choice to consider.

                            

PPM

 It's time for the conference title games in college football and finally, decide who will comprise the first twelve-team field in playoff history.

Last Week: 9-5 

Overall: 127-65

College

Conference USA 

Jacksonville State over Western Kentucky 38-29

Mountain West

Boise State over UNLV 24-17

American

Tulane over Army 23-20

Big 12

Iowa State over Arizona State 34-31

MAC
Ohio over Miami Ohio 24-20

SEC
Georgia over Texas 38-31

Sun Belt

Marshall over Louisiana 31-23

Big 10

Oregon over Penn State 42-23

ACC
SMU over Clemson 29-24

NFL

Steelers over Browns 21-13

Games of the Week

Chiefs over Chargers 20-16

Cardinals over Seahawks 34-28

Boxing Challenge: Yafai stops Edwards

      The only fight on the world title scene last weekend was expected to be a nip-and-tuck affair with both fighters having their fair share of support for a minor flyweight title.

Considering the combatants were a former champion with only one loss and an unbeaten Olympic gold medalist, it was reasonable to pick either fighter to win.

This means, of course, that the fight was a lopsided beatdown and would see one of the more memorable scenes from a fight that didn't happen during the action.

Gal Yafai's six-round battering of former IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards was surprising as the former Gold Medal winner swarmed over Edwards from the start and never allowed him to breathe.

The surprising part was how passive Edwards was in defeat and his remarkable admission between rounds two and three that he really didn't want to be in the ring.

That's almost unheard of to hear from a world class fighter and for Edwards, who announced his retirement after the fight, it may have explained how he fought so limply after battling bravely in his only career defeat to Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez just two fights before.

As for Yafai, he dominated a former world champion, picked up a minor title, and is in a position to battle Japanese star Kenshiro Teraji for Teraji's WBC flyweight title next year in Japan which is likely to be an exciting pairing.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 168 Pts (0)

TRS: 168 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 108 Pts (1)

Pick Six's sink Browns in Denver

 Jameis Winston set a Cleveland franchise record for passing yardage in a game and threw four touchdowns but it was two of his three interceptions that decided the game as Denver Bronco defenders would take two tosses and return them for touchdowns as Denver dumped Cleveland 41-32 on Monday Night Football.

Winston finished with 497 yards passing with Jerry Jeudy (nine catches, 235 yards, and a touchdown), Elijah Moore (eight catches, 111 yards), and David Njoku (nine catches, fifty-two yards, and two touchdowns) leading the offense.

Cleveland fell to 3-9 in defeat and clinched a losing season.

The Browns travel to Pittsburgh next Sunday for the second game against the Steelers in three weeks.

Brownie Bits

1) Jameis Winston's entire career was on display in this game.

It shows Winston's willingness to fire the ball downfield, stand in the pocket, and gun the ball to receivers through tight coverage.

Winston's tools rank with the best in the league and when he is on his game, it is very fun to watch.

2) The downside is his overconfidence in his arm, which results in poor decision-making, which was shown in the deciding play of the game.

Cleveland is down by two with 1:48 to play, needing just a field goal to win and nearing field goal range, Winston throws to a covered Elijah Moore.

Instead, Ja'Quan McMillian grabs the ball, falls to the ground, isn't touched, gets up, and runs for the backbreaking touchdown.

And that play will be what is remembered most about a record-breaking night.

3) That is the biggest problem with Jameis Winston.

Winston makes bad teams fun to watch and the Browns are far more watchable now than under DeShaun Watson but while that's endearing now will it be so if Winston is the starter in 2025 and another season is wasted?

I doubt it and while I'd prefer Winston to Watson and others, I'm not sure I'd want to hitch my wagon to him.

4) Jerry Jeudy was a major disappointment with the Broncos and he didn't change opinions in Cleveland before DeShaun Watson's injury.

Jameis Winston's insertion into the lineup has improved Jeudy's performance but that was nothing compared to Jeudy's eruption against Denver.

Jeudy was motivated for his return to Denver and talked about his feelings often as the game approached.

I'm not saying that Jeudy is a true number-one receiver but he's showing the signs of things starting to fall into place for a productive career.

5) One thing I will point out about Jeudy's game was that he was often covered by one of the league's best corners Patrick Surtain Jr.

As good as Surtain is, Jerry Jeudy practiced against him for years at Alabama and Denver.

If anyone knows Surtain's abilities and tendencies, it's Jerry Jeudy.

6) Elijah Moore's game has picked up with Winston and it has come perfectly for Moore, who will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Moore might be making a case for the Browns to re-sign him and the Browns might be forced to pay more than they thought to retain him should he finish the season playing at this level.

7) The once-anemic Browns offense outgained the Broncos 552-400 and who would have thought that before the lineup changes?

Only one lineup change has made all the difference,

8) The running game is still struggling.

The Browns rushed for 77 yards averaging 3.3 yards per rush.

Jerome Ford and Nick Chubb each carried the ball nine times with Ford outgaining Chubb

I wonder if the Browns and Chubb might consider ending the season for the popular running back, which might help Chubb better prepare for next season.

Shorter than usual but I wanted to get something up before too much time passed

Time for a new Day? - Ohio State tripped by Michigan

   Words cannot describe the pain of Ohio State's fan base destroying 13-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in Columbus.

Michigan's twenty-seven-yard field goal with forty-five seconds remaining made the three-point difference.

The loss will cause the Buckeyes to miss a rematch with Oregon in next week's Big Ten Championship, Penn State will play the Ducks instead but the Buckeyes will still have a CFP berth waiting for them.

I would suggest to Ryan Day that his team win that playoff for his sake.

Olentangy Offerings

1) I just cannot grasp why a team with the best group of wide receivers in the country didn't let their athletes go and make plays.

On the one drive that Ohio State tried to spread Michigan thin and move to a faster tempo, OSU scored their only touchdown late in the first half.

That success was ignored in the second half.

2) I know there have been concerns about the offensive line since various injuries have hit the team and I also know it is easier for a weakened line to run block than pass block but the strength of the Michigan defense is their stout defensive line and their weakness is in a secondary that was missing certain first-round pick Will Johnson.

Why didn't they challenge them downfield?

3) Chip Kelly was brought in as the man Ryan Day trusts most as Day's mentor.

Kelly may have cost his protege his job with a game plan that showed few results against an inferior team.

I'm still in shock over the bland game plan!

4) As the game moved on, one could almost see the fear in Ryan Day as once again, he coached not to lose rather than to win.

Just a timid display of coaching from a man who spent a year vowing that things would be different in this game.

5) Then there was the screw-up by Day on Michigan's game-winning drive that saw Day send extra players into the game, see that OSU was about to be called for twelve men on the field and called a time-out, which isn't allowed since teams cannot call two timeouts without a play.

That gave Michigan a first down, draining Ohio State's remaining timeouts and leaving them little time on their final drive.

6) The defense played beyond what could be expected, other than allowing Kalei Mullings to break tackles for a big gain on Michigan's final drive.

Other than that play, I can't find any fault with Jim Knowles or the defense, which allowed only one touchdown, a five-yard drive following a first-half Will Howard interception.

7) I really thought Jack Sawyer had saved the day with an interception that thwarted Michigan again near the goal line in the fourth quarter.

8) Will Howard talked a big game but played his worst game as a Buckeye, finishing 19 of 33 for 175 yards and two interceptions.

It wasn't for lack of effort but Howard was brought in to win that game and his play wasn't good.

9) Caleb Downs did though, finishing with eleven tackles and a red zone interception.

For my money, he's the best DB in the land.

10) Jayden Fielding missed field goals from 34 and 38 yards, six points lost in a game lost by three.

Special teams continue to be a problem under Ryan Day.

11) Should Ryan Day go?

Well, maybe but consider this- Do you lose Julian Sayin or Jeremiah Smith if you remove Ryan Day?

That might be what saves Ryan Day.

Boxing Challenge

   Only one match on a tepid boxing weekend and it's from Matchroom/DAZN from Birmingham, England for an interim flyweight title.

Former IBF champion Sunny Edwards faces 2020 Olympic gold medalist Gal Yafai for the minor title with the winner in position to next face WBC champion Kenshiro Teraji.

Edwards has fought once since the battering that he took in a courageous losing effort to Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez. winning a technical decision in eight rounds over former IBF light flyweight champion Adrian Curiel.

Yafai hasn't faced anyone of Edwards caliber as a pro but his extensive amateur career will carry him well against the former champion.

Edwards is a smooth boxer but lacks much of a wallop and Yafai is the harder puncher of the two.

The key here is how much has the punishment that Edwards took from Bam Rodriguez affected his ability to take a punch?

Yafai will test that and if Edwards retained his chin, this is a 50/50 fight.

Boxing Challenge

Flyweights 12 Rds

Sunny Edwards vs Gal Yafai

R.L and TRS: Yafai Unanimous Decision

V.S: Edwards KO 9

PPM

 The PPM returns with rivalry weekend in college play and the start of the playoff run in the NFL.

Last Week: 11-5 

Overall: 118-60

College

Ohio State over Michigan 27-14

Texas Tech over West Virginia 41-33

Bowling Green over Miami Ohio 24-21

Boise State over Oregon State 28-14

Missouri over Arkansas 25-20

Army over UTSA 23-20

Middle Tennessee State over Florida International 28-24

North Carolina over N.C.State 21-20

Georgia Southern over Appalachian State 40-37

Games of the Week

South Carolina over Clemson 24-21

Texas A&M over Texas 31-29

NFL
Broncos over Browns 24-14

Games of the Week

Eagles over Ravens 21-18

Chargers over Falcons 23-20

Premier League

Newcastle over Crystal Palace

Happy Thanksgiving

    Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm working all day but this is my favorite holiday anyway because no matter your beliefs or thoughts, we all have things to be thankful for

Enjoy!

Cleaning Out the Inbox: Baseball Passings

     We move to tributes from the baseball world with three losses from the pitcher's mound and one professional hitter.

Goodbye to Luis Tiant at the age of 83. 

Known for his herky-jerky windup, Tiant won twenty games four times and led the American League in ERA twice in a career that saw him completely re-invent himself.

With the Cleveland Indians, Tiant was a fearsome young fireballer and in 1968, Tiant fired one of the best and yet unknown seasons in history when he finished 21-9, nineteen complete games, nine shutouts, 264 strikeouts, and an ERA of 1.61.

Hitters hit only .168 against Tiant in 1968 but an injury would see Tiant lose twenty games in 1969 and traded to the Minnesota Twins in 1970, who released him after the season.

Boston signed Tiant, who began to rotate his body with his back to the batter before turning around to throw, creating a deception for the hitter and arguably the most imitated windup on playgrounds and little league fields across the country!

Starting in 1972, Tiant won twenty games three times for the Red Sox and would win twelve games or more each season until he left Boston after the 1978 season.

Tiant retired after the 1982 season with 229 wins for his career.

Goodbye to Joey Jay at the age of 89.

The first player to make the majors after playing Little League baseball, Jay was also one of the most successful "bonus babies" of the 1950s ( if a player signed a bonus for more than $4,000, the player must remain on the big league roster for two years).

Jay signed for $20,000 with the Milwaukee Braves in 1953 and spent two seasons with the Braves before a seasoning stint in the minors.

After three seasons with the Braves, Milwaukee traded Jay to the Cincinnati Reds before the 1961 season, where Jay would win twenty-one games to lead the National League in wins for the surprising 1961 National League champions.

Jay won twenty-one games again in 1962 but Jay would pitch only four more seasons, winning thirty-three games with the Reds and the first season of the Atlanta Braves before retiring.

Goodbye to Rudy May at the age of 80.

A left-handed pitcher, who could start or relieve, May led the American League in ERA in 1980 for the Yankees and was known for his sharp curveball.

May won eighteen games for Baltimore in 1977 who rewarded him with a trade to Montreal.

May was also noted as the one pitcher that Hall of Famer Rod Carew would always ask out of the lineup when May was scheduled to be the opposing starting pitcher, due to Carew's struggles against May.

Goodbye to Rico Carty at the age of 85.

The National League batting champion in 1970 when he hit a sizzling .366, Carty was a career .299 hitter in fifteen seasons for six teams, most notably with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians.

Carty was known as a deadly hitter, hitting over .300 eight times and reaching double-digits in homers eleven times with three seasons that are quite incredible and almost forgotten by most fans.

In 1969, Carty just missed the batting title by not having the required plate appearances when he hit .342 in 339 plate appearances and hit sixteen homers and then actually won the batting crown in 1970, hitting .366 with twenty-five homers and one hundred one RBI, both seasons with the Braves.

Carty was elected to the 1970 All-Star Game as a write-in candidate, one of the few to accomplish that honor.

Carty's most amazing season, however, was 1978 when at age 38 and splitting the season between two terrible teams (Toronto and Oakland), Carty hit .282 with a career-high 31 homers and 99 RBI.

Ohio State derails Indiana 38-15

     Will Howard completed his first fourteen passes and threw for two touchdowns and Caleb Downs returned a punt seventy-nine yards for a touchdown to lead the Ohio State Buckeyes to a 38-15 win over the previously unbeaten Indiana Hoosiers in Columbus.

Ohio State's defense was dominant in the victory holding the Hoosier offense to barely over 150 yards of total offense.

10-1 Ohio State will host Michigan next week with a trip to the Big Ten title game and a rematch vs Oregon at stake.

Olentangy Offerings

1) Indiana's first possession was concerning as they ground out seventy yards on eleven plays for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Indiana wouldn't move the ball more than thirty yards again until their final possession when the game was decided.

2) The Ohio State defense was dominant after the first drive, turning the potent Hoosier offense into another inept attack but the running numbers are deceiving as the total is lowered by a twenty-three-yard loss on punter James Evans and quarterback Kurtis Rourke's losses of thirty-three yards.

3) One of the problems with last season's Buckeyes was special teams and this season's team used two big plays to turn this game around from those units.

One was during a brief rain mist, a snap to punter James Evans slipped through his hands, and while Evans recovered, Ohio State would take over at the Indiana seven and would take the lead shortly after.

4) And then there was Caleb Downs, who had been a standout returning punts for Alabama and was sent out to return a punt after the initial Indiana possession of the second half.

Sending out Downs was a tip that Ryan Day wanted to make something happen and it did as Downs took the punt on a hop and dashed seventy-nine yards for a touchdown.

5) When Ohio State was able to recruit Downs to transfer from Alabama, one of the skills mentioned was his punt returning, which the Tide used on occasion.

Downs is one of those special players that could be used in any capacity (PSST, including on offense), and don't be surprised if you don't see more of him in playmaking situations over the next few weeks.

6) The Ohio State pass rush cruised through the Indiana offensive line with five sacks and stayed in the face of Kurtis Rourke throughout the games.

Ohio State's pass rush was just short in the loss to Oregon often just missing sacks of Dillon Gabriel, it's an encouraging sign that the sacks are starting to come home.

7) The player of the game has to go to Cody Simon, who seemed to be everywhere with two and a half sacks, four solo tackles, and multiple assisted tackles with a forced fumble.

Simon was unblockable throughout the contest and continued to be the dominant player in the front seven.

8) Will Howard did throw one interception to go with his two touchdowns but it wasn't his fault as Jelani Thurman juggled the ball and Indiana plucked the ball from the air.

Howard avoided mistakes and didn't allow Indiana the one thing that they needed to win- Ohio State turnovers.

9) Give Curt Cignetti all the credit for getting Indiana to a place that it's never been but he gave Ohio State bulletin board material with his famous quote "Purdue sucks and so do Michigan and Ohio State" at a basketball game after his hiring.

Considering the difference between the two programs, it was far from smart.

10) And consider it a message when Ryan Day slammed in a final score when the Buckeyes could have kneeled out the clock.

Message sent- Ohio State is going to finish the job and know your place until you've made your space.

11) It's Michigan week- payback time.

PPM

   Another visit to the PPM with a Big Ten clash of top-five teams in Columbus heading the slate!

Last week: 7-5 

Overall: 107-55

College

Ohio State over Indiana 38-20

Texas Tech over Oklahoma State 37-31

Boise State over Wyoming 42-21

N.C. State over Georgia Tech 20-17

UTSA over Temple 45-17

Bowling Green over Ball State 27-14

Middle Tennessee State over New Mexico State 24-21

Georgia Southern over Coastal Carolina 29-27

Arkansas over Louisiana Tech 34-17

Washington State over Oregon State 35-14

Games of the Week

Notre Dame over Army 31-21

Arizona State over BYU 35-28

NFL
Steelers over Browns 20-14

Games of the Week

Chargers over Ravens 24-21

Cardinals over Seahawks 27-24

Premier League

Newcastle over West Ham

Browns outlast Steelers 24-19!

   It was one of those nights that I will remember fondly in the future when the Cleveland Browns are playing inside their indoor stadium, and I think of the home-field advantage that they once held but no longer possess.

The Cleveland Browns were helped by bad weather and a surprisingly animated crowd to lift the Browns to a 24-19 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers by a snowy Lake Erie.

Nick Chubb rushed for two touchdowns and fifty-nine yards and Jerry Jeudy caught all six passes for eighty-five yards, including several key catches that kept the Browns in the game.

Cleveland improved to 3-8 with the win and have ten days off before visiting the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.

Brownie Bits

1) First, this was the type of game that the Browns often found a way to win even in bad seasons.

Short week, bad weather, home field, a good team coming off a big emotional win (Pittsburgh defeated Baltimore last Sunday), and with most harping on a bad game for the Browns in a loss to New Orleans, the Browns were sitting on a shocker.

Just don't think the Browns have turned things around before going to Denver.

2) What I did see was Myles Garrett was going to notch one of those games that he posts a few times a year because he was motivated.

Garrett stated before the game that he felt disrespected by T.J. Watt's actions after Garrett won last season's Defensive Player of the Year award (Watt didn't congratulate Garrett and offered a tweet questioning the decision) and when Garrett is motivated- look out.

Garrett finished with three sacks and five hits on Russell Wilson, Watt never touched Jameis Winston.

I suspect that the stat line will be reversed in the rematch in two games.

3) I'm asked often by Browns and Steelers fans, which one I would take if I had to choose between Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt, and here is my answer.

If you were selecting for one game, both players were motivated and in top form, Myles Garrett is the better player.

If you were selecting the better player to be more productive over a seventeen-game season, I'd take T.J. Watt.

Peak Garrett, consistently great Watt.

4) One had to feel good for Nick Chubb, who rushed for two scores against the team that he was injured against last season.

Chubb still looks a bit tentative in cutting loose in returning from his second major knee injury but he's still running hard.

The jury is still out on Chubb's return to full speed but one can never doubt his willingness to try.

5) The Browns were a miserable one for ten on third down, converting their only success on their final drive.

However, the Browns tried on fourth down on four occasions and converted all four attempts, including Jameis Winston's twisting triple lindy over the goal line in the fourth quarter.

6) One thing about the Browns since the injury to DeShaun Watson has been the improvement in Jerry Jeudy.

Jeudy made two huge catches late in the game to keep drives alive, caught all six passes thrown to him in poor conditions, and has started to look like a solid NFL pass catcher.

7) The Browns secondary had some problems as they gave up three passing plays of thirty yards or more.

Cleveland allowed Calvin Austin to catch all three passes thrown him for seventy-eight yards, including a touchdown.

Greg Newsome appeared to have his problems with George Pickens, especially after the game when the two swapped punches and needed to be separated.

8) The Browns offensive line managed to do a good job in giving Jameis Winston time to throw as Winston was sacked only once.

That sack was key as Nick Herbig beat Germain Ifedi to strip Jameis Winston of the ball and set the Steelers up for a score then gave them the lead but in general, the O-Line was good enough against a good pass-rushing team.

9) The league announced after the game that the Browns scheduled Thursday, December 19th game against Cincinnati had been "flexed" out and moved to the standard Sunday since both teams have disappointing records.

I'd like to say I'm dismayed but I think it was stupid to give the Browns two Thursday games to start with, so no sympathy from me.

10) Finally, let's give some credit to the crowd that showed up.

For a team entering the game at 2-8, awful weather, and their team in chaos, the Browns fans refused to allow the traveling Steeler fans to buy up their tickets as so many fanbases have and take over their stadium.

The fans stayed throughout and were a major factor in the game, hats off to them!

Cavaliers pound Pelicans

    Ty Jerome popped in a career-high twenty-nine points as the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 128-100 punishing of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Georges Niang scored twenty in a victory that saw the Cavaliers' bench cleared midway through the third period.

Cleveland improved to 16-1 with the win and will return to action on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors in Cleveland.

Swashbucklings

1) The first thing that some may be wondering is this-

Shawn, the Cavaliers won their first fifteen games and you were nowhere to be found since the opener!

Well, with good reason- I have watched most of the games but I missed a few of the early wins due to conflicts with other sports or real life and once they hit the seven-game mark, I decided that I was going to wait until they lost to start writing about them.

In other words- superstition. 

2) New Orleans was missing Zion Williamson, C.J. McCollum, and Brandon Ingram, its three best players.

New Orleans is so battered that they signed Elfrid Payton before the game and started him. He played twenty-two minutes and scored eleven points and eight assists.

3) The Cavaliers weren't at full speed with Darius Garland and Sam Merrill suffering small injuries the night before in Boston.

Not sure how long each player will be sidelined but hopefully both are short-term absences.

4) Ty Jerome started in place of Darius Garland and responded with a career game with twenty-nine points in twenty-three minutes of play, twenty-seven of those points in the first half with seven three-pointers.

5) First-round selection Jaylon Tyson was given his first career start and responded with sixteen points, eleven rebounds, and seven assists.

I've liked what I've seen from Tyson so far in limited minutes.

6) The Cavaliers were so far ahead that they cleared the bench in the third quarter.

JT Thor, who I didn't even know was on the team, hit all four of his shots for twelve points in thirteen minutes, Tristan Thompson played over twenty minutes, and Australian Luke Travers, who I had forgotten about since the Cavaliers drafted him in 2022 played over thirty!