NCAAF

• Michigan State 35 Western Michigan 13
  • Each of these programs lost a fair amount of production from 2021, so I was curious to see how this contest would turn out. It’s still hard for me to have complete faith in Payton Thorne. Despite tossing four touchdowns yesterday, he completed just half of his passes. Also, we’ll find out fairly quickly whether or not Kenneth Walker was just the product of the system and a great offensive line. In this game, the Spartans didn’t have much difficulty running the ball, but Western Michigan isn’t exactly the stiffest of competition.
• Old Dominion 20 Virginia Tech 17
  • The Hokies have a lot of work to do in order to bring the program back to the heights it used to reach. A good start would be to stop losing non-conference affairs to lesser regional foes. 2014 East Carolina, 2018 Old Dominion, and 2022 Old Dominion — all losses for Virginia Tech. The Hokies also dropped a game to Liberty two years ago, but at least the Flames were ranked. I figured Grant Wells would come in and do at least a decent job at quarterback for Virginia Tech, but his declining play continued last night, throwing four interceptions. ACC play begins next week for the Hokies, and I have them losing at home to Boston College.
• William & Mary 41 Charlotte 24
  • This season has … not gotten off to a great start for Charlotte. Now 0-2 with one loss coming to an FCS opponent, the 49ers are probably heading towards a miserable season. Expect Maryland to beat them by four or more touchdowns next weekend.
• Duke 30 Temple 0
  • This was a really nice way for Mike Elko to kick off his career with Duke. Remember when D’Wan Mathis started at quarterback for Georgia? That was a bad decision at the time and looks even worse now. Mathis was dreadful last night for Temple, averaging less than four yards per attempt.
• Indiana 23 Illinois 20
  • I highly doubt this game will have an impact on the Big Ten title race, but it’s always nice to begin conference play with a victory. It’s now in play for the Hoosiers to start 3-0, as the program’s next two games are against Idaho and Western Kentucky.
• TCU 38 Colorado 13
  • Colorado may very well bring up the rear in the Pac-12 in 2022, but TCU may end up being stealthy good. If the Horned Frogs can squeeze past SMU on September 24th, a showdown with Oklahoma will await. In that game, Sonny Dykes will need to get better play out of the quarterback position, regardless of who’s playing it.

NBA

• Celtics PF Danilo Gallinari out indefinitely with torn ACL
  • This is a blow, but not a crushing one, to the Celtics. Gallinari was set to gobble up around maybe half of Boston’s minutes at power forward, but the team will need to pivot. That’s not a huge issue, though. Jayson Tatum can play the position, and the team can go a bit bigger with lineups containing both Al Horford and Robert Williams. Overall, Boston is still a strong contender, but may need to add a solid veteran at some point.