A novelization of the sights and sounds from the Mavericks’ home opener

A novelization of the sights and sounds from the Mavericks’ home opener

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Few days throughout the NBA calendar are as special as day one. There is no dread of a lost season or any regret of games that got away. There is only excitement and hope, which are amplified when you experience game one in person. I have been going to games my whole life, as my dad has had season tickets for the Dallas Mavericks since 1984. I am fortunate to have experienced so much, but inherently the volume of games I have been to takes away from the allure of any single one. Despite this, the first game I go to every year is always a special feeling, and having it be the first game of the Mavericks’ season this year, I wanted to document the experience to look back on.

Before even walking in, the buzz around the stadium was clear. They rolled out the blue carpet and player cutouts on Victory Plaza, and there was not a road within two miles not being traversed by fans. The lines to get in were long well before tip and the excitement was palpable. Once you got inside, the colors and smells of the concession stands helped bring about a sense of deja vu. Public address announcer Sean Heath’s voice crept through the hallways leading to the seats like your mother calling you down for dinner. In an ever-changing world, so much of American Airlines Center was the same, which gives the returning fan a sense of home.

Seeing the players warm up is always a treat, as you gain a new appreciation for just how big they are. This was especially true on Thursday night when Victor Wembanyama towered over 20-plus NBA athletes. He truly felt larger than life. The lights went down and the National Anthem was sung and the lights came back on for a minute while the Spurs’ starting lineup was announced. The arena went dark again, and the Mavericks were ready to be recognized for the first time this year. The announcement of the players was goosebump-inducing. From the confusion of Brandon Williams’ name coming first to the roar for Klay Thompson to the ambiance of Eminence Front by The Who playing during the pregame video (which has been their hype song for as long as I can remember), there was not an aspect of the before-game antics that did not increase your readiness for the game. The only thing left before tipoff was Heath telling the fans to be “rowdy, loud, and proud” from “the opening tip to the final buzzer”. He said his peace and the game was underway.

The tradition (originating from something the Thunder do) of standing until Dallas scores continued, and the fans were able to sit down when Daniel Gafford threw in a hook shot for their first points of 2024-25. The verbal relief of sitting down paled in comparison to the cheer of the next made basket when Klay Thompson’s first field goal as a Maverick went around, up, and down just over a minute later. The rest of the first half was fairly uneventful as Dallas shot poorly and trailed by two. After waiting out the halftime bathroom lines, it was time to get seated for the second half.

The third quarter was far more reminiscent of last year’s team. Every Luka Doncic three felt familiar and exciting, and when Dereck Lively dunked the arena felt the vibrations. Their 40-point third-quarter outburst had the crowd rocking like a playoff game. The fourth quarter had a nervous anxiety to it after Dallas went up by 21 points and Jason Kidd left Luka Doncic and Lively in the game. Many people stayed to the end to hear Heath end the night with his signature “Mavs win! Mavs win!”. As the exits were flooded with happy Mavericks supporters, the drum line could be heard echoing through the concourse. It was a great feeling to be back and an even better one with a Mavericks win.


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Week 8 Colts vs. Texans Game Open Thread

Week 8 Colts vs. Texans Game Open Thread

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The Indianapolis Colts are on the road to take on the Houston Texans for their week eight game, Sunday at 1 p.m. EST.

The Colts come into week eight having won four of their last five. A lot of Colts fans (and writers/bloggers/podcasters/YouTubers) have been riding that high and I feel like I’m living on an island, all alone, with my firm belief that this Colts team is not as good as it’s record. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy this team is above .500 in late October. That is fantastic. But had the Colts not played a rookie in his third game (Caleb Williams), a retread that has since been benched for what’s left of Russell Wilson (Justin Fields), Will Levis and the all-star combo that was Tyler Huntley and Tim Boyle last week against the Dolphins, well I’m not sure this team would have won any of those games. But the fact of the matter is, you can only play who is on your schedule and the Colts went out and won those games.

So I don’t mean to take anything away from the team.

This week I’ve seen people point out that the Texans only won by two points in week one and how last week C.J. Stroud threw for a career low 86 yards. They’re missing a great wide receiver in Nico Collins and their defense is missing multiple star players as well. And that’s all true but this Colts defense is bad. Very, very bad. Zaire Franklin is playing the worst football of his career. He isn’t getting off blocks and I don’t care how many tackles he ended up with last week, how many of them came before the back was 4-6 yards beyond the line of scrimmage? You don’t need to actually go look, it wasn’t many. Even the defense’s best plays from a week ago were from fluky fumbles that were caused after a Miami back had already picked up a big chunk of yards.

Had the Colts played better quarterbacks, frankly, I don’t know that they would have won a single game this year. And yes I just got done lambasting the run defense and you might be wondering how I’m making that connection. That’s fair. But when the Colts do manage to prevent the opposing running back from picking up a first down on either first or second down runs, often that opposing team chooses to throw on third down. Bad quarterbacks don’t often convert on third down. C.J. Stroud, despite his play last week and Collins’ absence, is unfortunately, a very good quarterback.

After watching Anthony Richardson last week, I also feel completely alone in the online Colts world. First let me say, Richardson was bad. There. Got that out of the way.

But it is wild to me the way people are talking about why he was bad.

I feel like I’m the only one who remembers week two against the Green Bay Packers. When he was sailing passes to wide open receivers and then when asked about it, he more or less said that he was working through things too quickly, getting excited and trying to rush the throw which was making the ball come out wildly.

So last week was it the same thing? No! His throws were mostly on target. He had one or two off target throws, but every quarterback will have one or two they’d like back. So what was it last week? Everything he threw came out late. He slowed down, way down, too slow. He worked his reads, found the open man, got his feet right and threw the ball. The problem wasn’t his accuracy it was that from the time he found his receiver to when he actually made the throw it took too much time, allowing the defensive backs to make a jump and break up the passes.

THIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS!

Not because the result was bad. Not because the balls were deflected. Not because we had to listen to another week of narrative based “analysis” but because he took a problem he had the last time he played a full game and he fixed it in the next one. He is working through a problem he (and probably his coaches) identified and he’s fixing things week to week. This is what progression looks like. It isn’t always that things just get better. Sometimes you have to suck at something in a different way before you figure out what works and the process is happening right in front of our eyes and it sure feels like everyone is missing it.

Little known online fact about me (I think) I coached gymnastics for almost a decade. I mostly coached bars and floor (I’m a big guy who was good at spotting the kids, I was most useful on those two events) but every now and then I would find myself working with kids on vault or beam. I, after a near decade of coaching, still don’t know that much about beam, I won’t get into it here but just know, I don’t. The one thing I do know is that when a kid is learning a new skill and is consistently falling off of the beam on the same side, you convince them to fall off of the beam on the other side. Every time I told a kid to fail, but just differently, I would get confused looks and every time they successfully fell off the beam on the “other” side, I would then tell them to split the difference and land on the beam the next time they did the skill. And guess what? Normally that worked.

Sometimes you have to fail multiple ways to understand how you can succeed, before you actually succeed.

I don’t know if Anthony Richardson is going to be a good quarterback. I hope he will be. But I am sure that he is progressing and it feels like no one in the football world is noticing.

Either way I expect the Colts to lose this game, mostly due to the defense. Unless Richardson puts it all together this week (unlikely) and the offense is dominant, I expect this to be a rough watch for Colts fans. I hope I’m wrong.

RELATED

Colts Inactives

This is your week eight open thread so hang out here, chat, celebrate, commiserate, and argue in the comments! Go wild (within reason)!

Go Colts!


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Late blocked field goal and touchdown propels Maryland football over USC, 29-28

Late blocked field goal and touchdown propels Maryland football over USC, 29-28

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With just under two minutes remaining and USC set to kick a game-sealing field goal up six points, the unthinkable happened.

Maryland football linebacker Donnell Brown got his hands on the attempt, and the block was returned into USC territory by defensive back Glen Miller.

The Terps scored five plays, 47 yards and 48 seconds later to take an improbable lead with under a minute left. The advantage held for the remainder of the contest — despite Maryland’s various miscues, mistakes and gaffes, it eked out a season-saving 29-28 victory at SECU Stadium on Saturday night.

“Really proud of the guys, really proud of the coaching staff [that] did a great job preparing these guys,” head coach Michael Locksley said. “They kept dialing and figuring out how to answer the things that were taking place.”

The early action was not characterized by stellar offensive performances, as both secondaries stepped up early. The Terps contained USC (3-4) well on its first drive, but the Trojans equally stymied Maryland’s offense on its first two drives.

In his second game calling offensive plays, Locksley rejected the run, solely opting to pass the ball on the team’s first two drives. Only on the second play of the Terps’ third drive did they hand the ball off to Nolan Ray, for a 3-yard gain.

Instead, the Terps’ offense was strewn with quick bubble screens and short play-action throws. Those didn’t produce explosive results, as Maryland (4-3) scored just seven points in the opening half.

Meanwhile, USC settled in nicely after its second drive. It drove into Maryland territory before being forced into a 52-yard field goal that it missed. But an illegal Terps substitution gave the Trojans a more manageable fourth down, which it converted.

The ensuing sequence saw Moss find wide receiver Kyron Hudson for a 22-yard touchdown, the game’s first score.

Similar mistakes built up slowly over the course of the half — and the game — as the Terps accumulated seven infractions for 60 yards on the night.

After its first touchdown — a corner fade to Octavian Smith Jr. — Maryland had difficulty building on its momentum. A missed 52-yard field goal from Jack Howes and a fourth-and-2 stuff on running back Roman Hemby left points on the board.

The start to the second half nearly sealed the Terps’ demise, as they turned the ball over on downs after chewing over three minutes of clock. But Moss underthrew a pass to Zachariah Branch on the very next drive, resulting in a Lavain Scruggs interception and return that set Maryland up at the USC 18-yard line.

“We’ve created some depth where these young guys are forced in there, and I gotta live with some of the mistakes,” Locksley said. “But right now, they are doing everything we’ve asked of them.”

The very next play resulted in a Tai Felton receiving touchdown, bringing the Terps within a score.

“That’s the beauty of our system, is that we have answers,” Locksley said. “If [USC is] going to play man and we’ve got a group — Octavian Smith and Tai Felton and these tight ends have to make these plays … they did today when we needed them to.”

Yet, Maryland failed to take the lead until until very late. USC was forced to punt on the next drive, and the Terps had no trouble driving the length of the field. But red zone problems got the best of Maryland once again, as Edwards threw an interception in the end zone on fourth down.

The Terps clawed their way back nonetheless, forcing USC into a punt with 6:37 left to give itself another chance. After another botched fourth down play on the ensuing drive, things looked hopeless for Maryland.

“It’s like a little slugfest, Coach Locks might say, [a] little slugfest where we’re just taking punches [and] we’re giving them out,” linebacker Donnell Brown said. “At the end of the day, we stood up and they stood down.”

But that’s when the magic occurred — and Maryland’s first Big Ten win resulted in an emphatic Saturday night storming of SECU Stadium.

Three things to know

1. Late chaos took place. After the Terps’ late score with just 53 seconds left, USC had a prime opportunity to drive down for a game-winning field goal attempt. It got all the way down to Maryland’s 40-yard line before a 4th-and-2 incomplete pass with 11 seconds left sealed the victory for the home team.

“I slammed my helmet on the field,” Brown said. “I was just so happy, because that was the breakthrough that we’ve been waiting for for a very long time.”

2. A highlight-reel grab. USC wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane had the best catch of the day, bar none, as his 15-yard one-handed reception for the team’s second score might be in contention for catch of the year. He wildly contorted his body around Maryland defensive back Perry Fisher before reeling it in.

3. Smith sees increased utilization. Aside from his first touchdown reception of the 2024 season, it was encouraging for Maryland fans to see the shifty junior produce well. He finished the day with career-highs in both catches (8) and yards (84).

“I think KP told me he had over 100 [yards], Tai had a bunch of touches,” Edwards said. “Octavian Smith had a hell of a catch there in the first touchdown in the first half. So just continue to feed them the ball.”


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Sixers beat Hawks, but Paul George’s knee injury overshadows everything

Sixers beat Hawks, but Paul George’s knee injury overshadows everything

by with No Comment Uncategorized

So, what does everyone want to talk about?

The Sixers knocked off the Atlanta Hawks 104-89 in a preseason contest Monday night, but did not come away unscathed. Paul George scored eight points tonight before leaving with what the team called a left knee hyperextension.

Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Sixers with 14 points each, though neither did it efficiently. Maxey shot 5-of-18 from the field while Oubre went just 4-of-12 from the field and 1-of-8 from three.

Eric Gordon started the game in place of Caleb Martin, though that feels significantly less newsworthy than it did pregame.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

  • For the third straight game, the Sixers’ offense got off to an abysmal start. They made one shot over the first five minutes of the game and turned it over four times. This start was certainly more understandable — three games in four nights in the preseason in absurd.
  • So it happens in other arenas too. There was a slight delay early on thanks to a broken clock above one of the rims. They seemed to get it fixed right when an arena employee set a clock on the floor in the mean time, the poor guy.
  • That interruption seemed to do the trick, as the Sixers ripped off a 9-2 run when play resumed. George shot the ball well, primarily on pull-up jumpers, going 3-of-4 in the quarter.
  • The first subs off the bench tonight were Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry and Guerschon Yabusele — not really any surprises there. Martin and Oubre were each able to get a bucket in transition, tying the game up at 23 at the end of one.

Second Quarter

  • In a unit with a good blend of starters and backups, the Sixers moved the ball (and off the ball) really well to open the quarter. The first six field goals they made in the second were all assisted
  • For the first time this preseason, Yabusele got to play some four as he shared the floor for a minute and a half with Andre Drummond. He is not the quickest rotating over or closing out to the three-point line, perhaps why he hasn’t played there until now. He did have a good shift on offense though, knocking down a three and filling the lane for Lowry who rewarded him with a fast break layup.
  • As if the clock breaking in the first quarter wasn’t bad enough, there were two whole challenges in the second. Straight to jail immediately for everyone involved.
  • There were some interesting plays in the two-man game between Maxey and Drummond towards the end of the half. Drummond found Maxey for a floater on a give-and-go that looked nice, even if it just rimmed out. This lob was a nice sign as well. It feels like Maxey could continue to get more comfortable throwing lobs this close to the rim. The Sixers led by six at the half.

Third Quarter

  • Paul George did not return for the second half, nor was he on the bench. Hopefully it’s nothing more than a “it’s the third game in four nights and still the preseason” type of thing, than anything actually serious.
  • Meanwhile on the floor, the Sixers were once again off to a sloppy start; opening the half shooting 3-of-9 from the floor. Maxey seemed to emphasize hoisting up as many threes as he could, but he was just 2-of-9 on the night. Drummond got up two threes tonight as well, though he missed both and was very hesitant to get the second one up.
  • Lowry is able to help a lot of guys that struggle to figure out where to be with his passing. He threw a more traditional lob to KJ Martin in transition, but this one he threw here as the Hawks’ defense was getting back was so creative.
  • Jared McCain checked in around the four-minute mark. That probably gives us a good sense of who’s in the regular rotation to start things, as he was the first new sub in quite some time. He was short on both of his threes but got a scoop layup to go. The Sixers led by eight after three.

Fourth Quarter

  • The end of the bench continued to trickle in as Reggie Jackson and Ricky Council IV checked in for the first time. Council, who hasn’t played his best ball to start the preseason, came into the game and almost immediately ran over Vit Krejci for a charge.
  • By this time of the night, the team had announced that Paul George had left the game due to an injury, but there was still basketball going on as well. Yabusele continued to play well offensively, hitting another three and slipping down the lane for a dunk on a roll.
  • Adem Bona, Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Justin Edwards were the last Sixers to check in for the night. Edwards had a nice layup and knocked down a three. McCain had some nice bully ball moments on drives, something he’s done well this preseason. Council put a bow on things by knocking down a three from the logo, so it wasn’t all bad tonight!
  • The Sixers are back at home for their next preseason game, meaning it will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia. They’ll take on the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.




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Raiders-Steelers recap: Las Vegas throttled again in loss

Raiders-Steelers recap: Las Vegas throttled again in loss

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New quarterback, same old result.

Indeed, the switch from Gardner Minshew to Aidan O’Connell had little impact.

The Las Vegas Raiders were once again a sloppy flat product on both offense and on defense and were easily beaten at home by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday by a score of 32-13.

Let’s take a look at the key aspects of the game:

Team records: The Las Vegas Raiders are 2-4. The Pittsburgh Steelers are 4-2.

What the win/loss means for the Raiders:

The Raiders, in last place in the AFC West, is dangerously close to falling into a deep hole in the grand playoff scheme. The Raiders are now 2-1 against AFC North opponents with a Week 9 game at the Cincinnati Bengals remaining. Remarkably, the Raiders have trailed by double digits in all six of their games this season. The Raiders have trailed by 20 or more points three of the past four games including twice at home. Not a great look for coach Antonio Pierce and a roster that pushed for him to get hired. Pierce is 7-8 as the Raiders’ coach.

Turning point of the game:

The Steelers turned a Raiders’ turnover into a touchdown to take a 12-7 lead at halftime. Then, the Raiders had a punt blocked deep in their own territory on the first series of the second half that the Steelers turned into three points. Pittsburgh simply took over from that point.

Injury report:

Guard Dylan Parham hurt his foot in the first half. Jordan Meredith replaced him. Wide receiver D.J. Turner was injured in the third quarter.

What’s next for the Raiders:

The Raiders play at the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT. The Rams are 1-4 and had their bye this week. The Raiders will likely have many fans at SoFi Stadium. They are 1-5 there with five straight losses. Their only win there came in 2020 when there weren’t any fans in the stands.


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Falcons – Panthers final score predictions

Falcons – Panthers final score predictions

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Feeling real confidence in these Atlanta Falcons after the past six years is perhaps a dangerous thing to do, but after the past couple of weeks it’s difficult not to feel pretty good about the team’s direction. That’s especially true with a really injured, shaky opponent next on the docket.

Will that add up to a road win for the Falcons? Adnan Ikic and I weighed in with our predictions for today, and then we welcome yours.

Falcons 27 – Panthers 17

Look at this matchup from any angle and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an area where the Panthers outmatch the Falcons. They might be about the same against the run and a little better at forcing the occasional turnover, but in every other way you can think of, the Panthers are worse. What we all fear is the Falcons coming out flat, making loads of mistakes, or both.

I think a team that has shown some real signs of improvement and learning from their past mistakes, and now they get by far their most straightforward matchup of the season with the passing game humming, clear improvement attainable and a favorable matchup for the ground game, and a weak offense for this scuffling defense. I don’t think it’ll be lopsided and I doubt it will all be pretty, but the Falcons should win this one, and they should do so by two scores. -Dave Choate

Falcons 31 – Panthers 14

I get that this is a road divisional game, and that anything can happen when two NFC South teams clash. I understand the apprehension to fully trust the Falcons to not play down to their competition when they have made that not only a habit but even an identity over the past seven years, but this is the moment when this Atlanta team will prove to be different from past renditions who have let us down over the years.

The Panthers are maybe the worst team in football. They sit in a cluster of disappointing 1-4 teams and have by far the worst net point differential in the league, having lost by two scores or more in all four of their defeats. Atlanta is on a heater right now and coming off of an extra three days of rest. I expect the offense to continue where they left off from in Week 5 and for the defense to stifle Carolina for the most part. This should not even be close. –Adnan Ikic


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Kentucky Football falls to Vanderbilt Commodores: Final score, 4 things to know and more

Kentucky Football falls to Vanderbilt Commodores: Final score, 4 things to know and more

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The juices don’t always get flowing when it’s the Vanderbilt Commodores standing on the other side of the field, but Saturday was different.

It was a long day waiting for the Kentucky Wildcats to kick off against a Vandy team that inexplicably upset Alabama a week ago.

Kentucky opened as double-digit favorites, but it felt like winning this game would require a focused effort.

The first half was forceful as Kentucky was plagued with untimely penalties and poor execution. They’d go into the break down 14-7.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was 9/11 and tossed two scores in the first half.

The Commodores would take advantage of Kentucky’s lack of execution and control most the second half.

UK never really had in a chance in this one simply because they couldn’t get out of their own way.

Vandy makes it two in a row in Lexington. The Cats are now 2-10 in the week following ir last 12 SEC home games.

Unacceptable.

Here are four things to know from Kentucky’s third loss of the season.

Diego Pavia can play

Following up his monster performance against Alabama, Pavia would throw for 143 yards and two scores. He led a 97-yard drive to start the game and really flexed his ability to keep the defense off-balance.

Then, he ended the second half with another brilliant stretch to give the Dores a 14-7 lead heading into the break.

After an awkward takedown in the third quarter, Pavia would leave the game and return in a knee brace. His gritty performance was impressive.

When Pavia is cooking, there’s not much opposing defense can do to stop him.

Saying that, Kentucky’s defense did enough to win this game. The offense was just woefully inefficient, and Pavia did just enough for the Dores to squeak out the win.

Dane Key continues to shine

#6 once again showed why he’s going to be playing on Sundays. Key would grab eight receptions and scored a fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the Cats some life.

It’s been solidified that Dane Key is the most consistent option for this Kentucky offense that continues to sputter.

At this pace, Key may hear his name called at some point in the 2025 NFL Draft if he opts to leave.

Undisciplined play

Kentucky couldn’t get out of its own way in the first half racking up eight penalties for 71 yards, including several in critical situations.

The second half produced much of the same.

Late in the third quarter a botched snap would cost the Cats three points. After a Dane touchdown the special teams unit failed to convert an extra point.

Special teams was a nightmare all night.

Kentucky would finish the night with 12 penalties for 106 yards.

Undisciplined play begins to mount as a concern, especially when you consider that Mark Stoops’ team is coming off a bye week. Then again, his teams have consistently been awful coming out of byes. Somehow in Year 12, he still hasn’t figured out how to perform coming out of a bye.

UK can be very frustrating to watch sometimes, and cleaning up the play has to be a primary focus moving forward.

Next week the Cats will travel to one of the loudest environments in the country when they travel to the Swamp to take on the Florida Gators.

A trip to the Swamp is up next

Kentucky will travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators. Even though UK has had recent success, playing in the Swamp is never easy.

If the Cats can’t figure out how to execute and avoid penalties it’ll be a long night in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Florida will be chomping at the bit coming off a heartbreaking 23-17 OT loss to #8 Tennessee.

Now, let’s discuss this one.


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Arizona Wildcats football at BYU final score: Offensive struggles continue for Wildcats in road loss to Cougars

Arizona Wildcats football at BYU final score: Offensive struggles continue for Wildcats in road loss to Cougars

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The venue keeps changing, but Arizona’s inconsistent, inefficient offense has remained the same.

The Wildcats once again failed to finish drives after getting deep into opposing territory, finding the end zone on their first drive and not again until it was too late in a 41-19 loss at No. 14 BYU on Saturday afternoon.

Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) got inside the Cougars’ 30-yard line on six of its first nine drives, but like last week’s 28-22 home loss to Texas Tech that’s when the offense fell apart. The Wildcats gained 51 yards on 19 snaps inside the 30 compared to 338 on 65 plays outside the 30.

The UA was 11 of 19 on third down, a big improvement from the 3-of-14 performance a week ago, but the failures on third down included another interception by Noah Fifita on a throw to the end zone. That came in a 7-7 game in the second quarterback.

Fifita turned it over four times, including twice on Arizona’s first three snaps in the second half, which turned a 14-7 halftime deficit into a 24-7 margin. The redshirt sophomore was 26 of 52 for 275 yards with a touchdown but also a career-high three interceptions and a fumble, and for the season has thrown nine picks against eight TD passes.

BYU (6-0, 3-0) was held under 400 yards by an Arizona defense that was already without senior defensive backs Gunner Maldonado and Treydan Stukes but then lost junior linebacker Jacob Manu to a targeting ejection four plays into the game. The Wildcats held the Cougars to 4 of 11 on third down and got another fourth-down stop early but were susceptible to big plays, with BYU getting 224 yards on 12 chunk plays.

Down seven at the half, Arizona’s first two drives in the third quarter lasted a combined three plays, with two of those resulting in turnovers. Fifita was intercepted on the first snap after his throw to Sam Olson in the flat was picked off and then lost a fumble on the third.

BYU needed one play to make it 21-7 after the interception, with BYU QB Jake Retzlaff hitting Chase Roberts on a 9-yard TD pass, but after the fumble recovery the Cougars settled for a field goal and a 24-7 edge.

The Wildcats gained five yards on their first three post-halftime drives before getting 22 on the fourth, but that was enough to cut the deficit to 24-10 on a 47-yard field goal by Tyler Loop with 6:30 left in the third. Arizona again got inside the BYU 30 before stalling, though, with Fifita getting tripped up trying to scramble on 3rd and 8.

The Cougars added another field goal to make it 27-10 with 1:47 left in the third, and Arizona again got it back to a 2-score game on a 21-yard Loop field goal with 9:02 remaining, but that came at the end of an 18-play drive that used up more than seven minutes. The Wildcats had 1st and goal at the BYU 8 but threw three straight times, getting only five yards.

BYU then put the game away with a 1-yard TD run by LJ Martin with 5:38 to go.

Arizona finally returned the end zone with 2:58 remaining on a 2-yard run by Quali Conley, his 6th rushing score of the season, then went for two and didn’t convert to make it 34-19. It got the ball back with 2:49 after recovering a BYU fumble but turned it over on downs.

Capping the scoring was a pick-six by BYU’s Isaiah Glasker with 1:02 left after Fifita was running for his life in his own end zone on 4th and 10 and threw up a dead duck.

The Manu ejection came on the fourth play of the game, helping BYU get quickly into the UA red zone. But then the Wildcat defense stiffened, with backups Kamuela Ka’aihue—who came in for Manu—and Dominic Lolesio each posting tackles for loss before Retzlaff threw incomplete out of the end zone on 4th and 4 from the 5.

It was Arizona’s seventh 4th-down stop of the season, fifth in the state of Utah.

The UA then marched all the way downfield on its opening drive, gaining 100 yards en route to taking a 7-0 lead. The extra five yards were the result of a penalty on 3rd and 4, which erased a play that would not have gotten the first down, and instead Fifita found McMillan on a 39-yard catch.

Three plays later Fifita connected with Montana Lemonious-Craig for a 14-yard TD pass, also on third down.

BYU tied it at 7 early in the second quarter on a 20-yard TD pass from Retzlaff to Parker Kingston, the score coming one play after the Cougars converted on a 4th and 3 from the UA 35.

Arizona was just outside the red zone on its second drive but Fifita was intercepted by BYU’s Tanner Wall at the 1-yard line. It was the eighth consecutive game with a pick for Fifita.

The Cougars maximized that UA mistake, taking a 14-7 lead with 6:30 left before halftime on a 33-yard TD pass from Kingston to Martin on a trick play. Kingston took a backward pass from Retzlaff and then hit Martin, who had run a wheel route.

Arizona’s third drive again got inside the BYU 30 but again fell apart, this time coming up short on 4th and 2 when Quali Conley’s 2-yard gain—that was confirmed by the chains—was then overturned on replay.

The UA returns home for its next two games, hosting Colorado on Oct. 19 for Homecoming and then West Virginia on Oct. 26 for Family Weekend. The Wildcats’ next game has already sold out and will be another day game, the earliest in the year they’ll be playing at home during the day since 2016.


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Initial Impressions: Alabama Football blows it in embarrassing fashion to Vanderbilt

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In the most foreseeing move I’ve ever seen, Josh was unable to watch this game today, and I agreed to handle the game recap.

Woe is me.

Alabama, who hasn’t lost to a bottom-feeder team since L.A. Monroe back in 2007, was served a massive slice of humble pie by the nerds of the SEC. Perhaps it’s only fitting that it’s by the same QB, Diego Pavia, that broke Auburn at the end of the season last year.

The game started with Alabama’s defense giving up a long scoring drive, and nothing much changed after that. The Commodores got a quick pick-6 off of a lucky deflection, and suddenly had a 13 point lead that Alabama never recovered from.

For what it was worth, Jalen Milroe and the Tide’s WR group played spectacularly for most of the game, picking up huge chunks of yards and gobbling up scores – but ultimately it didn’t matter, as every time Alabama scored, Vanderbilt responded with another long drive for their own TD and the Alabama defense was rendered effectively useless.

The Tide did have a chance to take the lead in the 4th, but RT Elijah Pritchett chose a bad moment to totally whiff a block and Jalen Milroe got blasted in the pocket and fumbled the ball, giving Vanderbilt the advantage back on the scoring/clock back-and-forth, and the defense never got another stop.

It’s a big lesson for new head coach Kalen DeBoer. You do NOT take a week off in the SEC. While the first 1⁄3 of the season has felt like a fever dream for Alabama fans, losing to Vanderbilt is something that absolutely can’t happen. It just can’t, and it’s the kind of wake-up call for a new coaching staff that will force them to relentlessly prevent this from happening again, or else there will be a massive sized weight of angry Alabama fan expectations bearing down on them.

We picked a good year for a 12-team playoff. Alabama has proven they can beat any team in the country – but they haven’t proven they won’t lose to anyone, either. They have time to figure that out and lay waste in the playoffs… But will they? If the cracks are already exposed, can they fix them? It remains to be seen…. And the entire country will be watching, waiting, and circling for the demise of Alabama. They’ve waited 17 years, and now there is blood. Good luck, Coach DeBoer.

In any case, here are a few observations about the team as a whole:

The Passing Game is Legit

19/25 for 312 yards is absurd. The growth we’ve seen from Jalen Milroe since his season under Tommy Rees last year is astounding. From a start-and-fits offense based on scrambling and first-read deep bombs to Milroe showing he can be a true pocket passer and hit nearly every route on the field (even TE seams!!!), it’s been cool to see.

On top of that, what more can we even say about Ryan Williams? He keeps this up, and he very well might be the best WR in college football since….? I don’t know. Not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it. And on top of it all, William’s attitude is just so great. He gets blasted and pops right back up, and when he doesn’t get the ball, you’ll see him going all out with his perimeter blocking despite being all of 170 pounds.

Past Ryan, though, is Germie Bernard. The Washington transfer has been a revelation too. He’s made some huge tough catches (that one down the sidelines was an insane difficulty) and he also seems to make at least one person miss every time he catches the ball.

Defense….

I honestly don’t even know where to start here. The entire defense failed in pretty much every conceivable way on nearly every play. The option offense was a throwback to 2012 when the pistol and read option were all the rage in college and the NFL. The thing is… That went out of style by around 2017 or so. It had mostly been figured out – there’s no excuse for a defense to look like they had no clue to how defend it.

The defensive line was effectively neutralized. They did next to nothing all game. The linebackers were subsequently given the impossible task of deciding who to cover, and were always outnumbered. And the DBs…. Man, they seemed to miss every tackle, got drug past the line for first downs, AND still got beat deep.

Look, I spent all offseason singing the praises of Kane Wommack’s scheme and coaching style. It’s a system that I’ve seen work exceptionally well and one that I think should be ahead of the curve as the pendulum swings back away from the Fangio two-high defenses.

When a defense pulls an extra safety up to the box for most of the game, I can forgive the occasional gaffe on a deep post. It’s the tradeoff of the scheme…. But you can’t run that formation AND still give up a billion first downs in the run game and on QB rollouts.

I don’t know what the issue was there. Scheme, mentality, or what. But it was a total collapse, and it’s on Wommack to correct it, however that looks. The lack of any adjustments after the early onslaught is an terrible indictment.

Offensive Line

This is a weird one. The OL seemed to keep Milroe pretty clean for most of the game, outside of the game-breaking whiff from Pritchett at the end. At the same time, while the yards per carry for the two running backs looks fine, it’s mostly boosted by a 32 yard scamper from Jam Miller. Outside of that play, the backs were mostly bottled up, as was Milroe on his rushes.

It’s still good to the pass protection do as well as it has, but the line hasn’t seemed to really be able to keep things clean enough to get anyone blocking downfield. That’s part of the tradeoff of running a power blocking scheme rather than zone blocking… But right now, they’re letting things into the backfield more often than they are getting second level blocks.

For now, this is a rude awakening for both Coach DeBoer and the Alabama fan base. The question is going to be – how does he respond, and will the Alabama fans give him slack to respond without turning this into a toxic Auburn-like situation?

It’s not like we have a reputation for unreasonable expectations, or anything.

Roll Tide.


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Syracuse Orange football: game thread vs UNLV

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The Syracuse Orange (3-1, 1-1) are back in action tonight on FS1 as they visit the #25 UNLV Rebels (4-0) at Allegiant Stadium with kickoff scheduled at 9:00 eastern.

It’s the second version of Friday Night Lights for the Orange… will this be better than the first one? UNLV comes in with a lot of momentum after surviving the loss of their starting QB Matthew Sluka to NIL.

Before kickoff, check out some of this week’s football stories:

Enjoy the game and Go Orange!


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