Baltimore batters Browns 41-17

      The Cleveland Browns turned the ball over twice in key moments to allow the Baltimore Ravens to blow the game open in the second half and resulting in a 41-17 Ravens win in Baltimore.

Joe Flacco threw a touchdown pass but was intercepted once, and a fumble resulted in a Baltimore defensive score.

Quinshon Judkins rushed for sixty-one yards to lead the ground game.

The 0-2 Browns return home next week to host the 2-0 and explosive Green Bay Packers.

Good luck.

Brownie Bits

1) Joe Flacco was mediocre in his return to Baltimore, with 199 yards with a touchdown, an interception, and a fumble returned for a touchdown.

Flacco didn't always have time to throw, and Kevin Stefanski didn't help him any with play calls that rolled Flacco out but...

2) His interception was pretty bad and one that you don't expect a veteran to make.

Flacco threw into double coverage with Nate Wiggins as the second defender waiting for Flacco to throw and then hawking it away.

Flacco should have thrown the ball away.

3) The fumble that Roquan Smith recovered wasn't as much Flacco's fault.

It was fourth down, and Flacco was attempting to do anything against the Ravens' rush to get the ball away.

Flacco was trying to hang in the pocket and make something happen, and he fumbled; it happens.

4) Dillon Gabriel made his debut in garbage time with the game decided and led the team to a late touchdown with Gabriel hitting fellow rookie Dylan Sampson for a score.

It was a promising start, but it was clear that Baltimore had pulled many of their starters, and it wasn't much more than a preseason game.

5) Quinshon Judkins made his debut with sixty-one yards on ten carries, thirty-one yards on one rush.

If the Browns have any hopes of winning with "Stefanski Ball," Judkins will have to be the main reason, as this team lacks any notable weapons.

6) The lone Browns touchdown came on an ironic play as Baltimore's Marlon Humphrey literally watched the ball squirt through his hands and landed with a waiting Cedric Tillman for the score.

7) It was ironic because earlier in the drive, Humphrey hit a sliding Joe Flacco late, and the referees threw a flag only for a replay review to overrule the call.

8) Jerry Jeudy made one nice leaping catch and finished with four catches for fifty-one yards.

Jeudy also dropped two passes (as he did in game one) and still appears to not fit the role of a number one receiver.

9) The Browns defense deserved better than a box score of 41 points.

They were on the field all game and often had to fend off bad field position.

10) Cleveland did manage to shut down Derrick Henry, who rushed for only twenty-three yards on eleven carries, and they kept Lamar Jackson from running as Jackson ran only twice.

11) Denzel Ward missed much of the second half with cramping issues, and the secondary, hampered by the preseason loss of Martin Emerson, looks very soft.

Cameron Mitchell was beaten three times for touchdowns, two of those by Dez Walker.

This appears to be a major problem.

12) Baltimore scored a touchdown on a short field after a blocked punt by Corey Bojorquez.

The punting unit is often the best on the team, so it was disappointing to see the protection break down and Ronnie Hickman whiff on the block.

13) It's going to get worse before it gets better with the powerful Packers coming to Cleveland next week.

This could be ugly by Lake Erie. 

Buckeyes stop Ohio U. 37-9

      The Ohio State Buckeyes were less than sharp but had more than enough to repel the Ohio Bobcats in a 37-9 win at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

Julian Sayin finished with 347 passing yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, while Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate each caught a touchdown and finished with over one hundred yards receiving.

Freshman running back Bo Jackson rushed for 109 yards on nine carries to pace the running game.

I'm changing the format for this week for two reasons: the first is that I left the game in the fourth quarter to watch the Christian Mbilli-Lester Martinez fight on the Canelo-Crawford undercard (BTW- if you have Netflix, watch this fight!) and the other is that I have many posts to write as the Browns kick off in 20 minutes, Terence Crawford's upset of Canelo Alvarez (You read it here first!), Naoya "The Monster" Inoue's title defense (which I got up for after two hours of sleep following Canelo-Crawford), and preparing for something work related, I'm kinda busy!

1) Bo Jackson needs to be the key running back.

2) Julian Sayin's touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith showed beautiful touch.

3) I don't really blame Sayin completely for either of his two picks.

4) The defense was great, but Ohio U.'s one touchdown was due to sloppy tackling by Lorenzo Styles Jr (I think)

5) Ohio U. isn't a bad team, losing to Rutgers by three on the road, and defeating West Virginia, who defeated Pitt yesterday.

6) I suppose my point is this win may wear better than most G-5 wins as the season progresses.

Boxing Challenge

    Early Sunday morning, the undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue will meet the one fighter that he has yet to meet to complete his cleaning out of the division.

Inoue will battle former WBA and IBF champion Murojon Akhmadaliev in Nagoya, Japan, and some think that Akhmadaliev could be the man to push Inoue with a slick southpaw style, which is the style that has given Inoue the most issues in his unbeaten career.

Inoue was knocked down by Ramon Cardenas before rebounding with a knockout win, so some may think he's vulnerable.

Akhmadaliev was a decorated amateur and possesses the skills to make Inoue work for the win, beyond his past victories, except perhaps his first win over Nonito Donaire.

The question is this: Did the tougher-than-expected win over Cardenas show the first crack of vulnerability in Inoue, and Akhmadaliev will be the person who takes advantage?

Or does Inoue show his all-time great talent and repel perhaps his most difficult challenge in years?

The co-feature will pit WBO bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei against Christian Medina.

Boxing Challenge

World Junior Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Naoya Inoue vs Murojon Akhmadaliev

Ramon Malpica:Inoue KO 6

TRS: Inoue KO 11

V.S: Akhmadaliev KO 9

WBO Bantamweight Title. 12 Rds

Yoshiki Takei vs Christian Medina

R.L and TRS: Takei Unanimous Decision

V.S: Medina Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge

   After quite a few tepid boxing weekends, we have a massive one on tap with two of the top three pound-for-pound best in the world in action.

The biggest match will be for the undisputed super middleweight title as Canelo Alvarez, the holder of all four titles, meets WBA junior middleweight and former undisputed junior welterweight and welterweight champion Terence Crawford on Netflix in Las Vegas.

Alvarez regained his undisputed title when he won the IBF version by unanimous decision over William Scull in an incredibly boring bout, while Crawford hasn't fought since 2024, winning a close unanimous decision over Israel Madrimov to win his WBA junior middleweight title.

Alvarez is the naturally larger man and the heavier puncher, but I've always thought of Crawford as a special fighter, and there are some parallels between Canelo-Crawford and another famous fight- Sugar Ray Leonard-Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

A bigger, heavier, and slowing champion against a smaller man attempting to move up in weight to outbox the larger fighter.

It's asking a lot, but Terence Crawford is capable of the task.

The undercard isn't filled with major fights, but all are interesting and competitive matches.

Unbeaten junior middleweights Callum Walsh and Fernando Vargas Jr meet in a ten-rounder that will be the first test of each fighter since turning professional.

This should be an action fight with the winner moving up the ladder with their best win to date.

The most important undercard bout is a super middleweight for a minor title as Christian Mbilli faces Lester Martinez in a match between two unbeaten contenders with big punches.

Mbilli is a bit more proven against better competition, with wins over Sergey Dereyvenchenko, Maciej Sulecki, and Carlos Gongora, while Martinez owns a notable win over Gongora.

The winner could have either the next chance at the Alvarez-Crawford winner or, more likely, pick up a vacant belt.

Junior middleweight contender Serhii Bohachuk battles Brandon Adams in a rematch at middleweight.

Adams knocked out Bohachuk in the eighth round in 2021 to hand Bohachuk his first loss in a fight that saw Bohachuk way ahead on the scorecards.

Since then, Bohachuk has become a contender and has almost beaten Vergil Ortiz, losing a majority decision and knocking Ortiz down on two occasions.

Friday in Nicaragua, former multi-division champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez continues his comeback in a ten-rounder against Hector Robles.

Gonzalez hasn't fought since July 2024, but could land a bout against Nonito Donaire with a victory over the journeyman Robles.

On Saturday afternoon on DAZN, a rematch will be of more value than the initial fight, as the IBF welterweight title vacated by Jaron "Boots" Ennis is at stake. The fight will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Paddy Donovan dropped Lewis Crocker and seemed to be on his way to stopping Crocker before hitting him after the bell and being disqualified.

The disqualification was not overturned, but the IBF ordered a rematch ( the first fight was an IBF eliminator) and after Ennis vacated the title to move to junior middleweight, the fight was ordered for the vacant title.

Boxing Challenge

Bantamweights. 10 Rds 

Roman Gonzalez vs Hector Robles

Ramon Malpica: Gonzalez KO 8

TRS: Gonzalez KO 6

Vince Samano: Robles Split Decision

World Super Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford

R.L and TRS: Crawford Split Decision

V.S: Crawford KO 11

Super Middleweights. 10 Rds

Christian Mbilli vs Lester Martinez

R.L: Mbilli KO 9

TRS: Mbilli Unanimous Decision

V.S: Mbilli KO 6

Junior Middleweights 10 Rds

Callum Walsh vs Fernando Vargas Jr.

R.L and V.S.: Vargas Unanimous Decision
TRS: Walsh Unanimous Decision

Junior Middleweights. 10 Rds

Serhii Bohachuk vs Brandon Adams

R.L and TRS: Bohachuk Unanimous Decision

V.S.: Adams Unanimous Decision

Vacant IBF Welterweight Title 12 Rds

Paddy Donovan vs Lewis Crocker

R.L and V.S.: Donovan Unanimous Decision

TRS: Donovan KO 10

PPM

    The PPM returns with a loaded weekend of football!

Last Week: 14-2
Overall: 20-8

College

Ohio State over Ohio U 42-10

Texas Tech over Oregon State 41-21

N.C. State over Wake Forest 33-30

Ole Miss over Arkansas 36-28

Bowling Green over Liberty 34-31

UTSA over Incarnate Word 41-27

Jacksonville State over Georgia Southern 29-26

Nevada over Middle Tennessee 21-18

Games of the Week

Notre Dame over Texas A&M 27-24

Miami over South Florida 35-21

NFL
Ravens over Browns 27-13

49ers over Sainta 20-13

Games of the Week

Chiefs over Eagles 31-28

Packers over Commanders 28-24 

I Tell Ya' Herbie

   Here's our weekly notes from college football with a column we call I Tell Ya' Herbie.

I Tell Ya' Herbie: 

                             It was a crazy night in Gainesville as the Florida Gators handed the South Florida Bulls an upset when a Gator defensive lineman handed South Florida fifteen yards on their final drive. 

One of the twenty kicking Gramaticas would boot a field goal on the final play to give the Bulls their second upset in two weeks after blasting Boise State.

The Bulls travel to Miami to visit the fifth-ranked Hurricanes, and should they win that game, South Florida will be the prohibitive favorite to win the playoff spot for the Group of Five.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            After that loss, the Florida fans have their traps set for coach Billy Napier, who is only 20-20 in his Gator tenure.

While I get that Napier is accountable for the actions of his players, it's tough to blame him too much for a knucklehead spitting on another player.

Still with the Gators next four games including three teams in the top seven (LSU, Miami, and Texas) and a fourth against number sixteen (Texas A&M), with three of the four on the road (only Texas visits the Gators), Napier could be looking at a 1-5 start and with four of their final five games against teams currently ranked (Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Florida State), Napier's chances of retaining his job appear bleak.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                             Another coach who seems to be in trouble is Virginia Tech's Brent Pry, who is 0-2 with losses to SEC opponents South Carolina (understandable) and Vanderbilt (not as understandable and for the second year in a row).

I wasn't sure about the Hokies hiring Pry, who had never been a head coach and had been the defensive coordinator at Penn State, where working with James Franklin can't be a plus for future head coaches.

Pry is 16-23 overall and draws Florida State and Miami in conference play. So the Hokies have some difficult league games.

It's hard to call a home game against Old Dominion a must-win, but should the Monarchs win Saturday, Brent Pry might be lucky to reach the end of the season.

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Missouri and Kansas renewed their rivalry in Columbia and while the game was exciting (Missouri rallied to a 42-31 win), the highlight was when a fan chose to try to kick a field goal during a timeout for twenty-five thousand decided to show his painted chest (F KU) and kick the ball at the Jayhawk sideline rather than try the field goal.

That's a lot of hate to turn down a shot of twenty-five K, but the guy likely knew he didn't have a prayer of hitting the kick and decided to make himself part of rivalry history.

I can't wait to see the Jayhawk response in 2026 in Lawrence!

I Tell Ya' Herbie:

                            Rich Rodriguez returns in his second run at West Virginia to face the team that cost his Mountaineers a chance at the national title in 2007 when a Pitt team with a losing record pulled an upset talked about to this day.

The West Virginia-Pitt rivalry was renewed last season for the first time in years, and won't resume until 2029, when the schools will play for four years.

The Backyard Brawl is another rivalry that should be played every year, and I think it's headed in that direction after the next three-year hiatus.                  

Boxing Challenge: Nunez outslugs Diaz

      Sometimes in boxing, fighters exceed their abilities because they know that they could be down to their final chance.

Christopher Diaz had failed in two title tries, and before his third attempt, Diaz was the opponent for the homecoming of the first title defense for IBF junior lightweight champion Eduardo "Sugar" Nunez.

Nunez won the fight and retained his title via unanimous decision, but Diaz won the night with a gallant effort in providing Nunez with a severe test in an all-action brawl.

Nunez looked to be ready to finish Diaz off in the seventh round when he knocked the veteran down twice, but Diaz survived the round and gave as good as he got in the late rounds.

Nunez won by scores of 117-109 (times two) and 116-110, which were a little wider than my card of 115-111 for Nunez.

Nunez is rumored to possibly face WBO champion Emanuel Navarette in a unification fight next, in what is a can't-miss all-Mexican action battle.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 127 Pts  (1)

Ramon Malpica: 122 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 48 Pts (2)