NFL

• Broncos sign QB Russell Wilson to five-year, $245M extension
  • Wilson is still one of the game’s better quarterbacks, but he wasn’t exactly great last season, and this deal will pay him $49M in 2028 — Wilson’s age 39 season. That’s certainly not a good thing for the Broncos’ future cap sheet, but Denver is in win-now mode, so locking up Wilson and making him happy is logical.
• Titans EDGE Harold Landry will miss rest of season due to torn ACL
  • The AFC South is a weak division — perhaps the weakest in the NFL, but following this injury, Tennessee will have a tough time winning it. A ton of pressure will now be on fourth-round rookie Rashad Weaver to make an immediate impact, but he probably won’t be ready. For the Titans to surprise this year, the run game will need to be elite. I’m not sure that’s likely, as Tennessee’s offensive line is less than spectacular.

NCAAF

• Toledo 37 Long Island 0
  • Toledo did it’s job in this game, but Dequan Finn and the offense will need to play better in order to challenge Ohio State and beat San Diego State later this month.
• Tennessee 59 Ball State 10
  • Ball State is bad, and probably won’t compete for much of anything in the MAC this season, but Tennessee’s offense displayed just how impressive it can be in this contest. Hendon Hooker should be in store for a big year, and that’ll benefit his top receiver, Cedric Tillman, as well.
• Oklahoma State 58 Central Michigan 44
  • This game was wild. I stopped paying attention when the Cowboys led, 37-7, but Oklahoma State’s defense fell apart afterward. Spencer Sanders and the offense made it look easy in this game, but it’s fair to wonder if the departure of former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will lead to the defense cratering. It’s incredibly worrisome that the Cowboys were outgained by the Chippewas last night, 546-531.
• Wake Forest 44 VMI 10
  • I thought Wake Forest would’ve won by a larger margin than this, and perhaps they would’ve if Sam Hartman played. The Demon Deacons’ next game, a visit to Vanderbilt, should be interesting.
• Pittsburgh 38 West Virginia 31
  • This matchup needs to be played annually. The Panthers’ offense, of course, isn’t quite what it was in 2021 when it featured Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison, but it was good enough in this game. Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Dante Stills stood out for the Mountaineers, a team that thankfully has two snoozers coming up — Kansas and Towson. Back to the Panthers — their game against Tennessee next week should be excellent, at least on paper. Pittsburgh holds an edge because it’s at home, but the Volunteers should be favored.
• Northern Illinois 34 Eastern Illinois 27
  • I figured Northern Illinois would fare better than this. If the Huskies play like this in their next three contests, the results probably won’t look good against Tulsa, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky.
• Missouri 52 Louisiana Tech 24
  • After a 6-7 finish in 2021 and little hype coming into this season, it’s hard to feel good about Missouri, even after this demolition. With that said, for the Tigers, freshman wide receiver Luther Burden scored two touchdowns in this game, and he’s a huge reason for hope regarding Missouri’s future.
• Penn State 35 Purdue 31
  • Winning conference road games, especially in the Big Ten, is a difficult task. That task becomes a bit easier when you have a quarterback in his sixth year like Sean Clifford. Clifford was just good enough in this game to hold off Drew Allar from breathing down his neck for the starting job, but the Nittany Lions still have other issues. The running game, similar to last season, was fairly nonexistent.
  • This was a major missed opportunity by Purdue. Whether it was due to poor tackling or bad play calling, the Boilermakers had plenty of chances to win last night. What worsens the blow even further is that Purdue has a string of winnable games ahead leading up to a visit to Madison on October 22nd.
• Minnesota 38 New Mexico State 0
  • New Mexico State is horrible, and Minnesota has a very solid defense, so this result comes as no surprise. It feels as if Tanner Morgan and Mohamed Ibrahim have been with the Golden Gophers since the BCS era, giving Minnesota loads of experience on offense. Minnesota has a laughably easy non-conference schedule, so the first real test will be at Michigan State in a few weeks.
• Fresno State 35 Cal Poly 7
  • Fresno State should be a contender in the Mountain West, so it would’ve been nice to see the team win by a larger margin than this. Regardless, Jake Haener was good, and gives the Bulldogs a realistic chance to take down Oregon State next weekend.

NBA

• Cavaliers receive: Donovan Mitchell
• Jazz receive: Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round picks, and two first-round pick swaps
  • The Cavaliers had a fun and mostly unexpectedly successful season last year, and as a result, are clearly pushing their chips to the center of the table. Three first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps sounds like a lot, but if Cleveland is as good as it should be, it won’t end up mattering too much. Darius Garland, Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen is a fantastic core four that should propel the Cavs to the top, or near the top, of the East for a long time. For Utah, obviously the team is rebuilding. Getting Agbaji is a nice get, but the draft capital acquired may not end up amounting to much. Regardless, it’s not a bad idea for the Jazz to empty the tank and hit the reset button.