NFL

• Saints OT Trevor Penning suffers torn foot ligament and will miss an extended period of time
  • The Saints offensive line will be fine — it was one of the league’s best protection units before this injury, but Penning’s development will be hurt. The No. 19 pick in this past draft could’ve served as protection on Jameis Winston’s blind side at some point early in the season, but that’ll have to wait.

NCAAF

• Western Kentucky 38 Austin Peay 27
  • This game certainly taught us that Western Kentucky will, as expected, miss Bailey Zappe and Jerreth Sterns this season. The duo set some records last year, so we’ll see what Austin Reed and company can do this season to try to match. Despite scoring 38 points yesterday, the early indications aren’t promising.
• Northwestern 31 Nebraska 28
  • Nebraska looked impressive early on, but really collapsed as the game went on — Casey Thompson in particular. To reverse the disaster of last year’s 3-9 mark, the Cornhuskers had to win this game. Northwestern entered the day No. 89 in SP+, and Nebraska failed to take advantage of that. However, per usual, Northwestern appears to have a gritty and mature team, traits that should allow the program to perhaps steal a few more Big Ten victories in 2022.
• Utah State 31 UConn 20
  • This wasn’t exactly an impressive performance by the Aggies, a bad omen considering the program travels to Tuscaloosa next weekend. Although that sounds bad, winning 11 games a season ago is no joke, so perhaps Utah State can keep it within 30 or so. I have my doubts. On the UConn side of things, it’s sad what the program has become. The administration simply doesn’t take football seriously. The Huskies had four players selected on Day 1 on the 2009 NFL Draft. Four! A lot has changed.
• Illinois 38 Wyoming 6
  • This was a nice start for Illinois. The Illini aren’t going to be much competition for the majority of the Big Ten, but the team showed yesterday that the defense should be fine. Additionally, Bret Bielema loves to run the football, and this team may be equipped to do that at a decent level. 41 carries for 260 yards isn’t too shabby, even versus Wyoming.
• Florida State 47 Duquesne 7
  • This wasn’t much of a test for the Seminoles, so there’s not a lot to take from this contest. We’ll find out more next Sunday night against LSU, but at least Florida State took care of business in this one. Last year, Florida State dropped an early season game to Jacksonville State of the FCS.
• North Carolina 56 Florida A&M 24
  • Maybe there’s a reason Gene Chizik hasn’t coached since 2016. The new North Carolina defensive signal-caller saw his unit struggle mightily in this tilt. Losing Tony Grimes early didn’t help, but the Tar Heels let Florida A&M move the ball through the air with ease at times. On the other side of the ball, new quarterback starter Drake Maye was fine, and he’ll need to play well next week when the Tar Heels travel to Boone. North Carolina versus Appalachian State should be a good game — certainly good enough to be one of the top 12:00 PM ET contests next Saturday.
• Nevada 23 New Mexico State 12
  • It’s going to be a rough year for each of these teams. Nevada returns, by far, the least amount of production in all of college football from a season ago. Most of all, replacing Carson Strong will be a tall task. New Mexico State could very well be the worst FBS team in 2022, so Nevada edging the Aggies by just 11 isn’t a great sign.
• Vanderbilt 63 Hawaii 10
  • I took Hawaii +9 in this game. Yikes. The Rainbow Warriors had some serious offseason turmoil, and it appears that definitely carried over into this game. After this demolition, maybe Vanderbilt will be able to win an SEC game this season. Mike Wright made a solid impact last night with both his arms and legs, so perhaps the Commodores now have more juice than they had in previous years.
• College Football Playoff Rankings
  • 1. Alabama (0-0)
  • 2. Ohio State (0-0)
  • 3. Georgia (0-0)
  • 4. Clemson (0-0)
  • 5. Oklahoma (0-0)
  • 6. Utah (0-0)

MLB

• Angels 2 Blue Jays 0
  • Back-to-back shutouts for Toronto’s lineup. Not great. If this occurred in a playoff series, the Jays would be toast, especially considering that the Blue Jays’ pitching isn’t as effective as that of most AL contenders.
• Marlins 2 Dodgers 1
  • One of the only reasons Miami has a halfway okay record (55-71) is due to the pitching Sandy Alcantara. After throwing a strong complete game yesterday, the 26-year-old is 12-6 with a 2.13 ERA.
• Reds 6 Nationals 2
  • The Reds have an abundance of quality prospects throughout their system, but Alexis Diaz is one that’s already arrived. The 25-year-old should be Cincinnati’s closer of the present and future.
• Tigers 11 Rangers 2
  • I think it’s about time for clubs to realize that Dallas Keuchel simply doesn’t have it anymore. Now with his third team of 2022, Keuchel has bombed with each of them, perhaps pointing to the end of a good career.
• Cardinals 6 Braves 5
  • He’s a fantastic player, so this isn’t shocking, but few, if any, players have performed better than Nolan Arenado this month. Slashing .341/.394/1.088 along with playing terrific defense on the hot corner in August, Arenado has given the Cardinals even more hope that the swan songs of Albert Pujols’ and Yadier Molina’s careers can end in a special way.