Weekend winners
College football fans. OH MY GOODNESS. How are we going to top that. Thrillers. Comebacks. Emotional stories. It's week one people. Week one. That was amazing.
Alabama. Of all the impressive things we saw this weekend, was there a single thing with more wow than what the Tide defense did to FSU? Think of it this way: Alabama suffocated a team picked by almost everyone to win the ACC and get to the playoff; Tennessee (more on than that in a moment) needed a miracle (or three) to get out of the same building against a middle-of-the-road ACC team in double overtime.
Jim Harbaugh. Speaking of college football, the Michigan main man lost 10 defensive starters and came out in the opener and crushed Florida. The 33-17 final was misleading as the Gators scored on two picks sixes. Want ti know the guys that are next level great, like top five elite? Look at the programs that recruit long enough and well enough and develop with enough consistency that really no matter what they lose year-to-year, they stay among the best in the country. That's Saban's greatest quality and Harbaugh sure appears to have it, too.
Justin Thomas. Dude won his fifth tournament of the year and unless Jordan Spieth wins the Fed Ex Cup playoffs, Thomas all but locked up the player of the year honors.
Stacy Lewis. Speaking of golf, Lewis won her first LPGA tournament in three years and sent her winnings - all of them - to Hurricane Harvey relief. While we're here, all of the athletes and teams who have raised millions and millions - J.J. Watt has raised close to $20 million on his own - deserve a tip of the visor. Notice how no one is telling them to stick to sports now/
Florida State running back Jacques Patrick (9) makes the catch against Alabama linebacker Christian Miller (47) during the second half of an NCAA football game, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)Weekend losers
Kevin Sumlin. Egad. What a floater. The only thing was close to as bad as Sumlin on Sunday night was announcer Gus Johnson, who missed more pronunciations and names in UCLA's stunning comeback over A&M than an English substitute teacher in Bangladesh.
Jim McElwain. The Vols did not announce their QB - more on that in a minute - as a strategic advantage. The Gators apparently waited because they had no idea which underwhelmer to push in front of the Michigan defense. Hey Coach McElwaine, know this: If your offense is crap on toast another year, and considering you are an offensive 'guru' know that being mistaken as a drunken and naked shark lover will be down the list of your worries.
FSU. A loss to Alabama is nothing to put a team in this category. Heck, there are 11 more teams on Alabama's schedule who almost assuredly will lose to the Tide. No, the Seminoles find themselves here because a season with title hopes - division, conference, national - unraveled when Deondre Francios tore his knee and is out for the year.
The NFL. This Ezekiel Elliott decision and court injection has controlled the non-college football headlines. A decision is expected today on whether the injection can be heard and whether his suspension will be six games, reduced from that or wiped away entirely. While all this happens, it only highlights how the NFL has not put anything in place to consistently and effectively deal with its biggest current - and growing - problem. It also, during a time the country should be frothing for the Shield, left us discussing another NFL star who does not how to treat women.
The Dodgers. Losers of nine of their last 10, the juggernaut that was L.A. appears to be flawed, especially against the Diamondbacks, who have the top-loaded pitching and a serious line-up to threaten L.A.'s perceived coronation.
Tennessee head coach Butch Jones, right, and Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson talk before kickoff in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday, Sept. 4, in Atlanta, Ga.Tennessee survives
Let's start with what we know:
Tennessee won the game, rallying and scratching and escaping 42-41 in double overtime against a Georgia Tech team that dominated the game in almost every way. Let's remember through every other detail, that Tennessee won, and every bad and lucky and improbable win is better than everyone other dominating and impressive close loss.
Every single one.
Now that the disclaimer has been floated and we covered that hard fact, what else do we know about the Vols? In truth, not much.
Here are some of the things I thought watching UT's dramatic comeback.
Quentin Dormandy threw the ball well for most of the game. He made a couple of questionable decisions - and on the list of about 12 second-half plays that all had to go UT's way for the Vols to win, his fourth-quarter throw into triple coverage that fell harmlessly to the ground is high on that list. But considering that he lost Jauan Jennings in the first half, we'd grade Dormandy's first start as a success.
While we are speaking of the quarterbacks, how weird and awkward was the body language between Dormandy and Jarrett Guarantano? That was surreal. Guarantano did himself no favors with that pouting act, especially considering how this game turned out.
OK, in our quid pro quo of good and bad for the Vols, Trey Smith was a boss. The freshman tackle who was the No. 1 recruit in the country by most services did not disappoint in his debut. The O-line, a strength according to most UT observers, did not allow a sack, but as a group seemed to be OK, you know. Tech rushed three most of the night and it seemed most of the rushing damage was done after contact.
John Kelly runs hard, but was anyone else surprised that he only had 19 carries in a game that long?
Evan Berry is a legit weapon as a kick returner and anyone who kicks it to him does so at their own peril. We hate the squib kick normally because it means no worse than the other team starting at the 35, but with Berry in the equation, that's not a bad thing.
Defensive new faces Darrell Taylor and Daniel Bituli looked like playmakers.
Marquez Callaway saved Butch Jones' bacon. As many good things that Kelly did and that Dormandy did and the fact that UT did not have a turnover and all of it, if Callaway does not make two ab-SO-lutely huge plays - the jump ball catch on the tying drive in regulation and the 50-yard TD catch-and-run earlier in the fourth quarter - think of the narrative out of Knoxville right now. The one thing that shaped that narrative and that can be pushed to the back burner right now but can not be forgotten is how much that UT defense was simply torched by Tech's running game and Paul Johnson's game plan.
What happens when downhill runnings teams with no worse than comparable and possibly better athletes than UT come calling?
Tech ran 96 plays and churned up 655 yards. For some reason, UT consistently lined up a full yard off the ball and consequentially had one tackle for loss in those 96 plays. One.
We also think that, considering the Vols had all summer to work on this, PauL Johnson took Bob Shoop to the woodshed, made him sit down, sit up straight in his chair, spit his gum out and pay attention to the lessons being taught.
There were very few questions answered Monday night in Atlanta, but the outcome can't be denied.
Tennessee won the game. Period.
Whether they deserved to or not, whether they were/are the better team or not, whether we'll look back on this as precursor to issues or a springboard to bigger and better can only be known after the next few installments.
Whether it was being lucky or resilient - and each is beneficial in this crazy world we call college football - is in the eye of the beholder.
This and that
- News from Cleveland has the Cavs shopping the No. 1 pick they got from Boston in the Kyrie Irving deal. That's smart. If they can add a legit option who can defend on the perimeter - something that Irving nor Isaiah Thomas are either good at or apparently interested in - they could contend with the Warriors. And the best way to keep LeBron in Cleveland is to win a title. Period. (And yes, the whispers of pick for Boogie Cousins are still there.)
- Bruce Arena said on ESPN that the U.S. immigration policies are motivating their opponents. C'mon Bruce.
- J.D. Martinez became the 18th player in MLB history to hit four homers in a game when he did it against the Dodgers last night.
Today's questions
True or false, every win is a good win.
True or false, Alabama runs the table.
True or false, Ezekiel Elliott will play this weekend in the opener against the New York Giants.
If you want to throw in a weekend winner or loser, well, that is entirely your option.
As for today, on this day 99 years ago the Star-Spangled Banner was played before a sporting event for the first time - Game 1 of the 1918 World Series between the Red Sox and the Cubs.
The starting pitched for the BoSox that day? Some young lefty named Babe Ruth, who pitched a shutout against Chicago in a 1-0 win.
On this day in 1972, 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage and later killed at the Munich Olympics.
On this day in 1889, a German named Christine Hardt patented the first modern-day bra.
Nice list of birthdays today: Jesse James would have been 170. Bob Newhart is 88 today. Raquel Welch is 77. Hubba-hubba. Freddie Mercury would have been 71.
On this day in 1877 Crazy Horse died at 37. Mother Terea died on this day 20 years ago.
Also on this day, Michael Keaton is 66. Did you know his real name is Michael Douglas, but he changed it because Michael Douglas was in Hollywood before him.
Rushmore of celebrities with the same name. Go.