Golden Football Rankings

Did You Notice? NFL Week 2

As Henry Goes, So Go the Titans
Derrick Henry gained just 35y on 13 carries in the first half as the Titans fell behind, 24-9. In the second half, he torched the Seahawks' defense for 147y on 22 carries and three touchdowns as Tennessee won in overtime, 33-30.
Kicker Bails Out McCarthy
The Chargers kicked a field goal with 3:54 left in the game to tie the Cowboys 17-17. A holding penalty on the subsequent kickoff set Dallas back to their 13. Throughout his rehab from a broken ankle last season, Dak Prescott thought about how it would feel to again lead the Cowboys on a game-winning drive. He converted two third downs by passing to Ezekiel Elliott for 7y to the 26 and, after the two-minute warning, handing to Zeke for a 3y gain to the 38. In the shotgun in the No Huddle offense, Dak moved the Cowboys to 3rd & 3 at the LAC 41 with 0:33 left. Instead of calling his last timeout at that point to allow time to throw a pass and possibly move the ball closer, Dallas coach Mike McCarthy let the time tick down to four seconds before stopping the clock. In came Greg Zuerlein to try a 56y field goal. Zuerlein had missed two field goals and an extra point in Week 1. But this time, he boomed a 56-yarder through the uprights to pull out the 20-17 victory. McCarthy said afterward that the clock he was watching at SoFi Stadium went out, and that's why he let over 20 seconds elapse before calling time. If Zuerlein had missed and the Chargers won in overtime, McCarthy would have been on a very hot seat after the game.
Burrow Up and Down
Here's Joe Burrow's stats after two games.
Game 1 vs Minnesota: 20-for-27, 261y, 2 TD, 0 INT, QB rating 128.8
Game 2 vs Chicago: 19-for-30, 207y, 2 TD, 3 INT, QB rating 66.2
The Bengals defeated the Vikings 27-24 but lost to the Bears 20-17.
Saints, Packers Go Opposite Ways
A week after dominating the Packers 38-3, the Saints lost 26-7 to the Panthers. That's a 54-point turnaround in point differential.
Meanwhile, the Packers beat the Lions 35-17 for a 53-point turnaround.

Intriguing Numbers - NFL Week 2
5	TD passes by Tom Brady against the Falcons, tying him with Dan Marino for the second-longest steak of consecutive regular-season games with at least four.
4%	Titans chance of victory against Seattle with 13:16 remaining in the game before they rallied to win in overtime.
7	Touchdowns accounted for by Arizona QB Kyler Murray in two games - two by rushing and five by passing.
20	Total penalties in the Cowboys-Chargers game, which made LA coach Brandon Staley say, "It felt like a preseason game."
9	Sacks of Bengals QB Joe Burrow in two games
0-3	Record against Kansas City of Ravens' QB Lamar Jackson before Sunday night's victory
5	INTs thrown in two games by Jaguars #1 draft pick QB Trevor Lawrence
4	INTs thrown by the 2021 #2 pick in the draft, QB Zach Wilson, in his first start at home for the Jets.
0	Games lost in September by Patrick Mahomes as the starting QB for the Chiefs until Sunday night's defeat at the hands of the Ravens

Did You Notice? NCAA Week 3

Alabama Vulnerable?
When Florida fell behind Alabama 21-3 at the end of the first quarter, the viewing public understandably thought, "Another Crimson Tide national championship this year." But the Gators had other ideas. They held Bama to ten points in the final three quarters and socred a touchdown with 3:10 left to pull within 31-29. But the Tide stuffed the two-point run and escaped The Swamp with a two-point victory.
New King in Michigan?
Second-year coach Mel Tucker has invigorated the Michigan State Spartans, who bopped #24 Miami 38-17 on the road. The Spartans are 3-0 for the first since 2015. Menawhile, archrival Michigan is also 3-0 after wins over Western Michigan, Washington, and Northern Illinois.
What a Difference a Year Makes
When Penn State began the COVID-shortened 2010 season 0-5, many questioned whether 7th-year coach James Franklin would survive. He did and now has the Nittany Lions 3-0 and ranked #6 after beating Auburn 28-20 in a rare on-campus SEC vs Big Ten showdown. Commentators point to games like this one as occuring more often when the CFP expands to 12 teams because a non-conference loss to a highly-ranked Power Five opponent is less likely to eliminate a team from the playoff.
50th Anniversary Letdown
Saturday's Oklahoma-Nebraska game was scheduled this season to celebrate the Game of the Century when the two teams met in their annual Big Eight finale with the Cornhuskers ranked #1 and the Sooners #2. The clash lived up to its hype with Nebraska winning 35-31, which was a high-scoring game in 1971. But this year's version did not reflect today's fast-paced football. The Sooners won 23-16, which sounds like a halftime score in 2021.
Another Coach Defies an Old Rule
Trailing 14-10 early in the third quarter, Cincinnati faced 4th-and-6 at the Indiana 18. The Bearcats kicked the field goal, but Indiana was lined up offside. So Coach Luke Fickell decided to take the points off the ball and go for it on 4th-and-1. They made it and continued to a touchdown to take their first lead in the game on the way to winning 38-24.
Dazzling Debut
Freshman QB Jaxson Dart came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes as Southern Cal rebounded from last weekend's tough loss to Stanford and the subsequent firing of coach Clay Helton to give interim coach Donte Williams, USC's first Black head coach, the 45-14 victory over Washington State.
Buckeye Defense Still Suspect
Ohio State coach Ryan Day took the defensive play-calling from coordinator Kerry Coombs and gave the responsibility to secondary coach Matt Barnes. Tulsa still gained 487y in their 41-20 defeat, which was a one-score game with 12:07 left in the fourth quarter.
Exciting Play of the Day
Memphis's punt return TD against Mississippi State. View it ...
The TD should not have counted because Memphis had two #4's on the field at the same time.

Intriguing Numbers - Week Three
45-3	Amount by which Alabama has outscored its opponents in the first quarter through three games
32	Consecutive wins by Alabama against the SEC East, a streak that spans nearly 4,000 days.
7	Number of Big Ten vs SEC on-campus matchups since 2010 before Auburn-Penn State Saturday night
34-6	Cincinnati's record since 2018, which is sixth best in the FBS
1976	Last time Florida State started a season 0-3
14-23	Florida State's record since Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M
7	Touchdowns by Ole Miss QB Matt Corral against Tulane - four rushing and three passing, a first for an SEC quarterback.
$1.5M	Estimated net worth of Miami QB D'Eriq King, who is well named considering he is the king of NIL endorsement deals
0	Touchdowns allowed by Clemson's defense in three games
2	Touchdowns by Clemson in eight quarters against FBS opponents.
34	Number of offensive possessions by UConn this season before the Huskies scored their first points against an FBS team.
67	Number of times Army has run the ball in each of its three games.
63	Total yards by Colorado in their 30-0 loss to Minnesota.
970	Yards rushing in three games by Baylor this season, which surpasses the 813y rushing they gained all last year.
1	Punts by Presbyterian in the Blue Hose's 72-0 loss to Campbell. Head coach Kevin Kelley is famous for his strategy of never punting and attempting onside kicks and fourth downs.

20th Century Baseball Tidbits

1908
This season produced two of the most thrilling–and controversial–pennant races in baseball history. The two-team race in the National League required the replay of a game to settle it, and the American League stretch drive involved four teams.
The New York Giants thought they had won the September 23 game with their archrival, the Chicago Cubs, when SS Al Bridwell singled to center in the bottom of the 9th to score Moose McCormick from 3rd. But with jubilant fans overrunning the field, Fred Merkle, the runner on 1st, failed to touch 2nd. Chicago 2B Johnny Evers called for the ball and touched 2nd to force out Merkle and nullify the run. Since it was impossible to continue the game with the fans invading the field, NL president Harry Pulliam ordered the game replayed after the season if it made a difference. As luck would have it, the teams tied for 1st, and the Cubs won the replay 4-2 as Three Finger Brown outdueled Christy Mathewson.
In the AL, a four-team race went down to the wire. Detroit finally slipped past Cleveland by .004 percentage points, the smallest margin of victory in major league history. Chicago finished 1 1/2 back as St. Louis faded late to end up 6 1/2 behind.
Detroit's Ty Cobb and Pittsburgh's Honus Wagner continued to dominate their respective leagues. As in 1907, Cobb and teammate Sam Crawford led the Junior Circuit in nearly everything. Cobb was #1 in batting average, hits, doubles, triples, total bases, RBI, and slugging. Crawford led in home runs and was second in runs, RBI, hits, total bases, batting, and slugging. Wahoo Sam is still the only player ever to be the home run leader in the AL and NL, having led the NL with 16 homers for the Reds in 1901. His title-winning total in '08? Seven. Despite this awesome one-two punch, the Tigers again lost the World Series to the Cubs, 4-1.
Wagner won the NL batting title again with a .354 average. He also topped the league in on-base average, slugging %, hits, RBI, doubles, triples, total bases, and stolen bases.
1908 was the biggest year for pitchers in a decade of dominant pitching. Both leagues batted. 239, record lows in both circuits. Only one of the 16 major league pitching staffs, the last place New York Highlanders, had an ERA over 3.00.
Cleveland's Addie Joss twirled a perfect game against Chicago on October 2, the first ever in a pennant race.
Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators pitched three shutouts in a four-day period vs the Highlanders.
On September 26, Ed Reulbach of the Cubs pitched two shutouts in one day.

Source: 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-Year History of Major League Baseball

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