Admin September 16, 2024
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🚨 Headlines
⚾️ Historic splash: Giants center fielder Heliot Ramos became the first right-handed batter to hit a home run into McCovey Cove. His ninth-inning blast came off a 100.2 mph pitch and traveled 397 feet.
⛳️ $22 million weekend: Jon Rahm signed with LIV for hundreds of millions of dollars. He earned $22 million more on Sunday, when he won the Chicago event ($4 million) and the season points title ($18 million).
🥍 Back-to-back titles: Brett Dobson (17 saves) and the Utah Archers beat the Maryland Whipsnakes, 12-8, to repeat as Premier Lacrosse League champions.
🏎️ Palou wins again: Spanish driver Alex Palou cruised to his third IndyCar title in four years in Sunday’s season finale. He’s the first back-to-back champion since Dario Franchitti won three straight from 2009-11.
🏈 Texas might be back
For the first time since 2008, Texas is the No. 1 team in the nation after leapfrogging Georgia in this week’s poll.
“Is Texas back?” That’s been a running joke for over a decade. Any small achievement is greeted with “Texas is back” memes, and the phrase is used to mock the Longhorns when they underachieve — as they’ve made a habit of doing since they last played for a national title in 2010. Could this year be different?
All eyes on Arch: Redshirt freshman QB Arch Manning replaced Quinn Ewers (oblique strain) on Saturday and put on a show in front of the home crowd, throwing four TDs and running for another in a 56-7 win over UTSA.
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Manning’s 67-yard TD run gave him bragging rights over his grandfather and uncles. Archie’s longest rush at Ole Miss was 64 yards, Eli’s longest at Ole Miss was 15 yards and Peyton‘s longest at Tennessee was 13 yards.
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Perhaps Cooper was the swiftest Manning then? Not so fast, says Arch. “I credit my mom for that speed, not my dad,” said the 19-year-old. “Don’t know if I’ve run that fast in a while.”
From backup to Heisman: Manning now has the seventh-best odds to win the Heisman (+1600 at BetMGM), while Ewers is off the board after entering Week 3 as the favorite. Manning will likely get his first start this Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe, with Ewers expected to miss at least a week.
Speaking of the Heisman… Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter had another standout performance, catching 13 passes for 100 yards and 2 TDs while playing almost every snap on defense and making an interception.
“Listen, if this guy plays all the games, and plays like this, and someone sits down and fills out a [Heisman] ballot and does not choose Travis Hunter, they need their head examined. This guy is doing something we’ve never seen. This is Shohei Ohtani… He’s playing both positions, full-time, at a first-round NFL level.”
🎙️ — Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel (via the College Football Enquirer podcast)
More from Saturday: FSU fell to 0-3* with a home loss to Memphis … LSU rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat South Carolina … Missouri came back to beat BC in a ranked-on-ranked matchup … Boos rained down in Gainesville after Florida slipped to 1-2.
*Historically bad start: The Seminoles are the ninth team ever to start 0-3 after being ranked in the top 10 of the preseason AP poll. They join 1954 Illinois, 1960 USC, 1963 Washington, 1976 Arizona State, 1983 Penn State, 1984 Pitt, 1988 Texas A&M and 2020 Penn State.
🏈 NFL Sunday: By the numbers
158.3: Cardinals QB Kyler Murray finished with a perfect 158.3 passer rating in a blowout win over the Rams, completing 17 of 21 passes for 266 yards and 3 TDs (two to rookie Marvin Harrison Jr.). He added 59 rushing yards and looked unstoppable at times.
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44-19: The Saints’ surprising 44-19 win over the Cowboys was the 1,086th unique final score in NFL history. That’s Scorigami!
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91: Speaking of New Orleans, the Saints have scored an NFL-leading 91 points, and no other team is within three TDs (Cardinals are second with 69).
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1-11: The Bengals, who lost to the Chiefs on a walk-off field goal, are now 1-11 in Weeks 1 and 2 under Zac Taylor. Joe Burrow is 0-2 for the fourth time in his five years.
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114: Travis Kelce‘s streak of recording 3+ catches ended Sunday at an NFL-record 114 games, dating back to Patrick Mahomes‘ second career start.
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2nd: The Giants made the wrong kind of history in their loss to the Commanders, becoming the second team to score three TDs, allow zero TDs and still lose the game.
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4.5: Lions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson had 4.5 sacks (and one forced fumble) in a losing effort. It’s just the 35th time an NFL player has had 4.5+ sacks in a game.
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73-13: The Panthers have been outscored by 60 points in their first two games and look even worse than they did last year, when they finished 2-15. Is it time to panic about Bryce Young?
Scoreboard: Seven favorites took care of business, and seven underdogs pulled off upsets.
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Favorite won: Texans 19, Bears 13 // Chiefs 26, Bengals 25 // Jets 24, Titans 17 // Chargers 26, Panthers 3 // Steelers 13, Broncos 6 // Commanders 21, Giants 18 // Seahawks 23, Patriots 20 (OT)
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Underdog won: Saints 44, Cowboys 19 // Vikings 23, 49ers 17 // Bucs 20, Lions 16 // Raiders 26, Ravens 23 // Packers 16, Colts 10 // Browns 18, Jaguars 13 // Cardinals 41, Rams 10
Fantasy recap: Booms and busts
🇺🇸 Photos across America
Las Vegas — The technological marvel of the Las Vegas Sphere was on full display Saturday night at UFC 306, where Merab Dvalishvili upset “Suga” Sean O’Malley in the main event. Meanwhile, just down the road: Canelo Álvarez outclassed Edgar Berlanga in the boxing ring.
Gainesville, Virginia — Team USA won the Solheim Cup for the first time since 2017, clinching a 15.5-12.5 victory over Team Europe on Lilia Vu’s closing birdie. The Americans are now 11-7-1 in the head-to-head series, which began in 1990.
Indianapolis — Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 35 points in the Fever’s 110-109 win over the Wings on Sunday, passing Hall of Famer Seimone Augustus for most points in a rookie season (761 and counting). Clark also holds the rookie records for assists and three-pointers.
Fort Lauderdale — Lionel Messi scored twice in four minutes — and later added an assist — to lead Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union in his first game back with the team since June 1 (ankle).
🌎 Photos around the world
Manchester — Erling Haaland fell one goal short of his third consecutive hat trick in Man City’s 2-1 win over Brentford on Saturday. But with nine goals through four matches, he’s still well on his way to breaking his own Premier League scoring record (36).
Baku, Azerbaijan — Red Bull’s lead atop the F1 standings is no more. Oscar Piastri won Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, vaulting McLaren into first place with seven races left in the season.
Newcastle, Northern Ireland — Rory McIlroy was denied a fairytale win in front of his home fans on Sunday at the Irish Open, where Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard birdied four of the last five holes to beat him by one shot. Another near-miss in a year of near-misses for the world No. 3.
Canazei, Italy — Mountain bikers (and e-mountain bikers) faced snowy conditions during this weekend’s world championship event in the Dolomites, which might just be the most beautiful mountain range on Earth.
📆 Sept. 16, 1924: “Sunny” drives in 12
100 years ago today, Cardinals first baseman “Sunny” Jim Bottomley set an MLB record with 12 RBIs in a 17-3 rout over the Brooklyn Robins (now the Dodgers).
By the numbers: The future Hall of Famer went 6-for-6 with two home runs and a double. His record was tied in 1993 by fellow Cardinal, Mark Whiten, who hit four home runs.
Fun fact: The lopsided loss was personal for Robins manager Wilbert Robinson* because it was his record (11 RBIs in a game) that Bottomley broke.
*Did you know? From 1916-31, the Dodgers went by the Robins specifically because Robinson was their manager. That was one of many nicknames they used over the years, including “Dodgers” itself — a shortened version of the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, named for the fans who had to dodge street trolleys to reach the ballpark in the 1890s.
📺 Watchlist: Falcons at Eagles
The Eagles host the Falcons tonight (8:15pm ET, ESPN/ESPN2) to cap off the Week 2 slate.
Honoring a legend: Nick Foles, the only QB to ever lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl and the star of perhaps the most famous play in Philadelphia sports history, will sign a ceremonial contract today to officially retire as an Eagle before serving as honorary captain for their home opener.
More to watch:
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⚾️ MLB: Dodgers at Braves or Nationals at Mets (7pm, MLB)
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⚽️ NWSL*: Seattle vs. NJ/NY (10pm, CBSSN)
*Playoff picture: With just six games left, here’s what the field currently looks like: 1. Orlando, 2. Washington, 3. Kansas City, 4. NJ/NY, 5. North Carolina, 6. Portland, 7. Chicago, 8. Bay FC.
🏈 College football trivia
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel threw his 131st TD pass on Saturday, tying him for fifth-most in FBS history.
Question: Who’s No. 1 on that list, with 155 career TD passes?
Hint: Currently an NFL backup QB.
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top plays of the weekend
Trivia answer: Case Keenum, Houston (2007-11)
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