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🏈 Good morning to everyone, but especially to ...
THE NO. 1 GEORGIA BULLDOGS, THE NO. 19 MIAMI HURRICANES AND OTHER WEEK 1 WINNERS
Star quarterback? Check. Superstar-laden defense? Check. Coach who just doesn't lose in the regular season? Check. Another domination of a supposed challenger? Check. Georgia isn't No. 1 for a reason; it's No. 1 for many, many reasons, and they were all on display in the Bulldogs' 34-3 dismantling of No. 14 Clemson.
- Carson Beck threw for 278 yards and a pair of second-half touchdowns. Fellow potential future top-10 pick Malaki Starks had an incredible interception.
- With star running back Trevor Etienne suspended, Nate Frazier shined with 107 total yards and a touchdown.
- Clemson averaged 3.6 yards per play; Georgia more than doubled that at 7.5.
- Georgia has won 40 straight regular-season games.
Georgia looked awesome. So, too, did No. 19 Miami. The Hurricanes routed Florida, 41-17, for the most points the Gators have allowed in a home opener.
Miami embraced NIL pandemonium to get here, and now that it's here, "The U" ... is back, Dennis Dodd writes.
- Dodd: "The 'Canes have found themselves a quarterback, there is no doubt. ... Cam Ward -- who has thrown for more yards than anyone in Division I since 2020 -- threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns in his first start for the 'Canes. ... There is a whole season to go but, gosh, they look cool. They look physical. They look damn good. They look like the old Miami. Too soon? Perhaps. That's why on opening day it was OK to believe all of it for just a while."
Miami also opened up multiple playoff paths already, Chip Patterson writes.
Here's more ...
- Arch Manning shined in his most game action yet.
- The Nico Iamaleava hype train has left the station.
- No. 2 Ohio State bulldozed Akron 52-6, and Jeremiah Smith is awesome.
- No. 7 Notre Dame went on the road and topped No. 20 Texas A&M, 23-13.
- Tetairoa McMillan's stat line looks fake. It's real.
- Team grades
- Winners and losers
- Overreactions
- Transfer QB grades
- Good, bad and ugly from every SEC team
😃 Honorable mentions
- A'ja Wilson is on her way to becoming the first WNBA player to score 1,000 points in a season.
- Caitlin Clark is chasing down another rookie record.
- The Steelers voted Russell Wilson a team captain. Same for the Giants and Daniel Jones as well as the Bears and Caleb Williams.
- The GOAT might be getting even better. Joey Chestnut downed 83 hot dogs and buns Monday, setting a new world record and defeating former longtime rival Takeru Kobayashi, who ate 67.
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🏈 And not such a good morning for ...
THE "TOP" OF THE ACC (EXCEPT MIAMI), LSU AND OTHER WEEK 1 LOSERS
If anyone can find a silver lining to No. 10 Florida State's 0-2 start, you have much better vision than I do. The Seminoles were simply outclassed in a 28-13 loss to Boston College on Monday. The Seminoles are the first preseason top-10 team to start its season off with consecutive losses to unranked opponents since 2007 Michigan.
It's a shocking loss, but there's really not much to say. It wasn't much different from what we saw against Georgia Tech in Week 0. D.J. Uiagalelei was pressured often, and when he wasn't pressured, he missed easy throws. The Seminoles ran 16 times for 21 yards. The Eagles ran 52 times for 263 yards -- and that's with kneeling three times to end the game.
Some will say Florida State lacks identity, that it doesn't quite know what it is after so much offseason turnover. But that's not true. Its identity is a middling team without anything to hang its hat on. The 0-2 record tells you all you need to know.
Elsewhere in the ACC, remember when Clemson went from one superstar quarterback (Deshaun Watson) to another (Trevor Lawrence) with just a year in between? When it was producing so many wide receivers it was up there in the "Wide Receiver U" debates thanks to guys like DeAndre Hopkins (who's now calling for change)? Or, to put it simply, when it was winning national championships?
Those days are long gone. Clemson has played Georgia twice in the last four seasons and hasn't scored a touchdown in either game. Dabo Swinney has a multitude of issues -- his largest loss since 2013 proves that -- and his unwillingness to use the transfer portal and his struggles to identify and/or develop talent, are chief among them, Brandon Marcello writes.
The ACC's hopes of being a multi-bid conference are nearly gone already, and we're barely into September! Here's my favorite stat so far: Double-digit favorites are 71-3 this season. Two of the three losses belong to Florida State, and the other one belongs to fellow ACC team Virginia Tech. (Shoutout Vanderbilt!)
Clemson entered the season with high hopes for a rebound. Florida, meanwhile, entered with low hopes again, and maybe that's even worse. The clock is ticking even faster on Billy Napier already (even with that massive buyout), John Talty writes.
Fittingly, Napier and Swinney are former co-workers, and now they're in the same boat, says Richard Johnson.
Finally, they say a picture is worth 1,000 words. We could write 1,000 (or more!) words on the Brian Kelly era at LSU -- a 20-8 record overall but a ghastly 3-7 vs. ranked teams after the Tigers fell, 27-20, to No. 23 USC -- but the picture will do: Kelly slamming the table in frustration during his post-game interview.
But really, it's the LSU fans who should be even angrier at Kelly, John writes.
- Talty: "This is what LSU gets for $10 million a year? Another highly anticipated season that immediately goes off the rails? ... It's not that LSU is far off, as shown in Sunday's tight loss, but as college coaches have explained over the years, thisclose is often the hardest part."
😓 Not so honorable mentions
- Ja'Marr Chase still isn't practicing.
- Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest during a robbery attempt. Thankfully, the 49ers rookie was upgraded from "serious" to "fair" condition within hours and was released from the hospital shortly thereafter, a truly miraculous outcome. In far less important news, he will start the season on the non-football injury list.
- The "Pac-2" of Washington State and Oregon State are in football limbo after the Mountain West announced it will not renew its scheduling agreement.
- The White Sox broke the franchise record for losses in a season. Up next? Most losses in a season in MLB history!
- Jordan Spieth had wrist surgery.
- Ludvig Åberg will have knee surgery.
🏌 Scottie Scheffler wins Tour Championship, accomplishes feat not done since Tiger Woods
It's no hyperbole: Scottie Scheffler just completed one of the greatest PGA Tour seasons in recent memory, fittingly capping it off with a four-shot victory at the Tour Championship and, oh yeah, another $25 million.
Let's do a quick rundown of what Scheffler accomplished on the course this year:
- Seven PGA Tour victories, most by any player in a season since Tiger Woods in 2007
- Masters champion (his second green jacket)
- Players Championship winner (first back-to-back winner ever)
- Olympic gold medal
- 16 top-10 finishes, 12 top-5 finishes and zero missed cuts in 19 Tour starts
- Over $62 million in earnings
Some of the best players in the world don't reach those heights in a career, much less a season, Kyle Porter explains.
- Porter: "Scheffler has never been more in control mentally. It's his secret sauce and his greatest gift. He wants to win the right amount. He's not defined by it, but he dives into competition earnestly, every chance he gets. ... He basically had Hideki Matsuyama's career between March 1 and Sept. 1, and he did it in the most Scottie way imaginable."
Throw in the off-course stuff, both good (becoming a father) and not-so-good (being arrested -- all of the charges were dropped), and you get a season that won't be replicated in any way, shape or form. The only thing that's stopping him (and stopping us from enjoying his greatness), for now, is the offseason. I can't wait to see what he does for an encore.
⚾ MLB roundup and players facing important final month
It may have been Labor Day weekend, but MLB teams weren't getting any sort of break as the regular season now concludes in less than four weeks.
The Phillies won three of four against the Braves to widen their NL East lead to six games. But Philly has its eyes set on much bigger goals and lands the No. 1 player on R.J. Anderson's 10 players facing important Septembers.
- Anderson: "Bryce Harper has had a brilliant season overall, but he's not far removed from a July that doubled as the worst full month of his career. (He posted a .598 OPS in 17 games.) Harper's power has also vanished since the end of June, with him launching just two home runs in his last 32 games. ... Harper admitted over the weekend that he's been dealing with wrist and elbow discomfort. If the Phillies are going to win the NL East and make a serious run at the pennant, they'll need Harper to regain his power stroke soon."
Speaking of important players, rosters expanded from 26 to 28, and R.J. looked at the most intriguing additions.
Here's more news from around the playoff races:
- Matt Snyder's latest Power Rankings.
- Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman went back-to-back-to-back.
- Clayton Kershaw (toe) is back on the IL.
- Fernando Tatis Jr. is back.
- Willy Adames homered for a fifth straight game, tying an MLB record for a shortstop.
- Kodai Senga is willing to pitch in relief if he returns from his calf injury.
- Michael Harris II made the catch of the year.
- The Yankees did not call up Jasson Domínguez.
📺 What we're watching Tuesday
🎾 US Open, starting at noon on ESPN+
⚾ Red Sox at Mets, 7:10 p.m. on TBS
🏀 Sky at Aces, 10 p.m. on NBA TV