Morning. It's Monday. You know that means.
That said, we're only looking for runners-up for who won the weekend, because Marcus Mariota clearly won his NFL debut.
From the "Talks too much" studios, Titans fever, catch it.
Weekend almost winners
Meadeville High School running back Journey Brown. Yep, he ran for 720 yardshttp://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/25298670/defense-pa-hs-football-teams-post-107-90-score-rb-rushes-for-720-yards as his team scored more than 100 points. On Friday night. And his name is Journey. Don't Stop Believin' my man.
J.J. Watt is a mythological figure. Dude sacked Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith without a helmet Sunday http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/helmetless-j-j--watt-will-not-be-denied-on-this-amazing-sack--vine-181530765.html. Next he'll throw a silver dollar across the Atlantic.
Michigan State. The Spartans wrestled away some No. 1 votes from Big Ten rival THE Ohio State by beating Oregon in a showdown of top-10-ranked teams.
BYU. Another late rally for a dramatic win, this time getting a 35-yard TD pass and a pick-six in the final 50 seconds for a 35-24 win over Boise State. With games against UCLA, Michigan and Missouri on the horizon, BYU could be a legit spoiler in the college football playoff picture.
AFC East. The Jets, Patriots, Dolphins and Bills each won their opener. The league may be the best in football, and it dominated its foes by a combined 103-55.
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Tennessee's Chris Weatherd brings down Oklahoma's Alex Ross during the first half of Saturday night's game in Knoxville. Missed opportunities kept the Volunteers from securing what would have been a big win and one of their few victories over a ranked opponent in recent years.Tennessee. What a meltdown.
The SEC as a whole. Arkansas lost to Toledo. Auburn almost lost to Jacksonville State. Florida and Missouri escaped with seven-point wins over East Carolina and Arkansas State, respectively. Auburn dropped 12 spots in the AP poll after rallying to beat JSU in overtime.
Tennis. It could have been a special weekend, but Serena lost in Friday's semifinal meaning the women's championship drew an awesome overnight rating in Sicily. And for the men's final, well, Roger Federer was a great champion - one of the all-timers - but dude has nothing now for Novak Djokovic. And they both know it.
Eli Manning and the Giants play-calling. Yes, Tony Romo and Dallas were splendid on a game-winning final drive that ended with 0:07 on the clock of a 27-26 win. But New York called a pass on third-and-goal from the 1 with less than two minutes left and Dallas with no timeouts. Instead of taking the sack, Manning threw an incomplete pass and Romo and the Cowboys had 1:45 to work with on the final drive.
Vegas. According to this, there were huge winnings to be had on the opening Sunday of the NFL season because the favorites dominated and the Packers, Dolphins and Rams - three teams with heavy action - all covered http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13653044/las-vegas-sportsbooks-lose-big-opening-nfl-sunday. Add that to the Thursday opener - almost $8 million of legally bet money was lost when Pittsburgh scored a meaningless TD to push the spread - and it was a terrible start to the most lucrative season for Vegas.
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Marcus Mariota
Marcus Mariota won the weekend. Period. Dude's stat line was mesmerizing. He went 13-for-16 for 209 yards and four TDs.
Yes, he had more TDs than incompletions.
Yes, he had a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating.
And yes, he was a perfect 8-for-8 from the shotgun.
In a match-up of the top two overall picks last April, Mariota smoked No. 1 overall Jameis Winston. In fact, Winston has now lost as many games as NFL starter (one) as he did in two years as a college starter at FSU.
And he lost both of them to Mariota.
Wow.
Here are some of the best debuts in sports history http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/109235/mariota-joins-list-of-memorable-debuts.
Add Mariota to that list.
He was sublime and amazing and understated and poised.
Yes, it's one game, but buckets it was hard not to be overwhelmed by what he did.
And as ace columnist Mark Wiedmer pointed out in today's TFP http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/columns/story/2015/sep/14/wiedmer-mariotperfect-remedy-whats-ailed-tita/325004/ it's hard not be excited if you're a Titans fan.
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This and that
- The Fab 4 picks were anything but, since Notre Dame and Ohio State did not cover after injuries and sloppy play. Plus Arkansas and Louisville lost outright as double-digit favorites. We went 1-4 and fell to 5-5 on the year. No es bueno.
- The new Miss America was crowned Sunday night and in the Q-and-A she says that Tom Brady cheated and should have been suspended http://www.sbnation.com/2015/9/13/9321267/miss-america-contestant-says-she-knows-tom-brady-cheated-immediately. And if you are wondering why everyone moves to the South, forget air conditioning, the weather or great college football. The five finalists for Miss America were Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Coincidence? We think not.
- Since being 42-42 a couple of months ago, your Atlanta Braves are 14-46 since and are tied with Philadelphia for the worst record in baseball.
- Moses Malone, one of the all-time greats - and one of the more underrated superstars in NBA history - died this weekend. He was 60. Because of an overlap with some amazing centers of that time - Kareem, Hakeem and some others - Malone often gets overlooked. He was an animal on the boards.
- Painful first week of the NFL season http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/luke-kuechly--josh-mccown--desean-jackson-among-big-week-1-injuries-202430161.html. Among the starts injured were Dez Bryant, who will mist four-to-six weeks with a broken foot, and Terrell Suggs, who will miss the season with an ACL injury.
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Today's question
Who won the weekend and who lost it?
If we tossed out a Rushmore of debuts with Orson Wells (Citizen Kane), Beastie Boys (License to Ill) and Mario Lemieux (stripped Hall of Famer Ray Bourque to score his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot seconds into his first NHL game) as very strong contenders.
Does Mariota make it? Who else you got?