This is really late due to a fun trip on Sunday, personally, but I wanted to add a few thoughts on Ohio State's 38-14 win over Penn State last Saturday.
1) Julian Sayin threw for over three hundred yards and fired four touchdown passes.
Sayin has firmly placed himself in Heisman consideration, and the biggest hurdle that Sayin may have to face might be voters splitting votes between Sayin and his top two receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.
2) Ryan Day gives more and more challenges each week to Julian Sayin, and the final advance might have come against the Nittany Lions, where Sayin began looking downfield for big plays to his standout pass catchers.
Sayin completed fifty-seven-yard passes to both Smith and Tate and showed the ability to throw a beautiful deep ball.
3) Penn State was only down three points at the half after a C.J. Donaldson fumble late in the first half led to a Penn State short-field touchdown drive, but I never felt threatened with an upset.
Ohio State scored on every first-half possession other than the final drive when Donaldson fumbled, and I didn't think Penn State could keep pace in the second.
Shawn's Favorite Five will be a series that looks at my five favorite coaches from a sport that isn't my choices for the five greatest or best coaches; it's a list of my five favorites.
College Football is the focus of this version of our series.
1: Barry Switzer, Oklahoma
Switzer is one of three coaches to win a national championship and a Super Bowl (Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll are the others) and is responsible for making Oklahoma the top program of the seventies.
Switzer's Sooners may not have invented the Wishbone offense (Texas did in the late sixties). Still, they perfected it, winning three national titles and numerous Big Eight championships with an unstoppable offense unless forced to pass.
Switzer always played the part of the lovable rogue, and his Sooners may have been the first team that was a "love or hate" team on a national level.
I had no problems loving them.
2: Woody Hayes, Miami, Ohio, and Ohio State
Hayes was brought to Ohio State over former Buckeye coach ( and two-time Hall of Fame inductee) Paul Brown, and then became the most controversial coach of his tenure.
Woody's comments and behaviors were always controversial, and his offenses gave the term "three yards and a cloud of dust" a synonym for dull. Still, his manner of dealing with the rivalry with Michigan is largely what has made it the biggest in college football, if not all sports.
During Hayes's tenure, Ohio State may not have been a love them or hate them team, but Woody Hayes certainly was as a coach.
3: Jim Tressel, Youngstown State and Ohio State
Tressel combined the love of keeping recruiting based around the state of Ohio with a surprising gambling streak for someone who appeared so straight-laced.
Tressel loved basic football, and I'm not sure if he would have been as effective in the current game, but he represented Ohio State well.
Plus, it was Tressel who reestablished Ohio State's domination of Michigan after John Cooper ran the series into the dirt for Buckeye fans!
4: Chris Petersen, Boise State and Washington
Known for bringing Boise State to national prominence, Peterson's trick plays and innovative offense made the Broncos a fun team to watch.
Petersen also rebuilt the Washington program, taking them to the BCS and laying the foundation for the team (under Kalen DeBoer) that would make the national title game in 2023.
5: Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Snyder took one of the country's worst programs and turned it around-TWICE!
Snyder took "Futility U" almost to the verge of a national title. After retiring, K-State fell back to the bottom under Ron Prince before Snyder returned for another decade to rebuild the program back AGAIN!
Barry Switzer once said of Snyder and the job that he did at Kansas State, "He's not the coach of the year or the decade, he's the coach of the century!"
Myles Garrett sacked New England's Drake Maye five times for a franchise record, but the Patriots scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to lead New England to a 32-13 win in Foxboro.
Dillon Gabriel threw two touchdowns with two interceptions and a total of 156 passing yards.
The Browns slip to 2-6 with the defeat and will have a week off before traveling to New York to meet the 1-7 Jets.
Brownie Bits
1) Myles Garrett was dominant in this game, sacking Drake Maye five times.
New England had no answer for Garrett, who also forced a fumble, and was the only thing that made the Browns worth watching in this game.
2) I've heard (and read) several notes about how bad some feel about Myles Garrett wasting his career in Cleveland.
Don't.
Garrett had his chance in the off-season when he demanded a trade, and he made the decision to take a new contract, which made him the league's highest-paid defender at the time.
I don't blame Garrett. I might have made the same decision in his situation, but he's been here and he knows how this organization is run.
He's well compensated and was well-informed before making his decision.
3) The defense (other than Garrett) was erratic in the defeat.
Three times, New England moved the ball down the field in the first half, and the defense stiffened to hold the Patriots to field goals, which gave New England a 9-7 lead at the half.
4) The same couldn't be said in the third quarter, with the Patriots scoring touchdowns on all three possessions to put the game away.
I mean, there was plenty of time available, but when you have the Browns offense, there was no chance for a comeback.
5) Quinshon Judkins was once again keyed on by the defense (Get used to that Quinshon) and finished with only nineteen yards on nine carries before leaving the game with an injury.
6) The leading rusher?
Malachi Corley, who took a jet sweep pitch thirty-one yards.
When a wide receiver with one carry is your team's leading rusher? Oh Boy.
7) The Browns completed two passes to wide receivers.
Yes, Two, both to Jamari Thrash.
8) Dillon Gabriel did throw one pass longer than six yards, a long pass intended for Isaiah Bond, but it was instead grabbed by New England's Jaylinn Hawkins.
I can live with interceptions like that; they are basically the same as a punt as far as field position goes, but the ball was badly thrown.
9) That was the only pass more than a few yards beyond the line because, well, you know, but defenses are having no problems dealing with a passing game that uses the bubble screen like a long bomb.
10) The Browns tried a flea-flicker,
But New England read that so fast that Gabriel didn't have time to even look for a receiver as he threw the ball down like a kid playing the old game "Time Bomb".
11) Kevin Stefanski stated after the game that things were going to change (I have no idea how in the hell that's supposed to happen), but he was sticking with Dillon Gabriel for the game against the Jets in two weeks.
I don't have a clue what there is to change at this stage of the season that could help other than Shedeur Sanders or Bailey Zappe coming in at quarterback (and I don't think that helps anyway), but it only brings attention to the fact that nothing can be done when Stefanski keeps talking about changes.
12) It wouldn't be a post without a Jerry Jeudy complaint.
Jeudy finished without a catch, which is very helpful for a player making millions to be your number one receiver, but he was only thrown to twice.
In the fourth quarter, the Browns went for it in the red zone with Dillon Gabriel throwing incomplete to Jeudy.
Watching the live action, it appeared that the Patriot defender made a nice play. However, upon reviewing the replay, the ball goes through Jeudy's arms, and it looks like Jeudy made an effort that I'd say was lackluster, if I'm being generous.
13) The Browns received more bad news when rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger left the game with a high-level ankle sprain.
Schwesinger grabbed his first career interception earlier in the game and has played very well in his rookie season.
Schwesinger could miss four to six weeks, and with the team lacking depth at linebacker, his loss will be felt.
For the second fight in a row, Fabio Wardley rallied from behind to score a miracle knockout win, and in this win, he defeated the best opponent of his career to earn a chance at undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Wardley's eleventh-round stoppage of Joseph Parker won him a minor title, but his victory in London has replaced Parker as the next opponent for Usyk.
The fight was action-filled and competitive, but two of the three judges had Parker ahead (by two and six points), with the third scoring it even after ten rounds (I had Parker ahead 97-93).
Both fighters landed heavy shots throughout the fight, but Parker had Wardley in mild trouble in the ninth and tenth rounds.
I thought the stoppage by referee Howard Foster was premature, as Parker looked to be hurt worse earlier in the round, and Wardley wasn't connecting solidly (if at all) with the flurry that ended the fight.
A rematch seems to be a good idea, but I can't see Wardley risking his now mandatory shot at Usyk, although Parker took that risk to face Wardley.
I don't see Wardley having more than a puncher's chance against Usyk, who will likely handle Wardley in the same manner that he disposed of the similarly styled Daniel DuBois.
However, as Wardley has proven in his two recent bouts, you always have a chance when you possess the power to end a fight at any time.
Only one bout in the boxing challenge as the top heavyweight contender meets a hard-punching young challenger.
Former WBO champion Joseph Parker is on a six-fight winning streak including wins over Martin Bakole, Zhihei Zhanf, and Deontay Wilder, which has moved Parker into the top challenger position to world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Fabio Wardley was part of a great fight against Frazer Clarke that ended in a draw before dusting Clarke in the first round of their rematch.
Wardley seemed to be taking a step back in his last fight against Justtis Huni as Wardlley was far behind on the scorecards against Justis Huni before landing one right hand in the tenth round to save his ranking and add to his status as a power puncher.
Parker can make exciting fights and Wardley has a flair for the dramatic, so this could be a very fun fight to watch.
However, Parker might be better served to outboc Wardley, take the win, and happily move on to a title shot.
