• Coming into this week, the Florida State Seminoles looked to be back, after running through college football for much of the late 90s, the Seminoles had taken a back seat to in-state rival University of Florida. This season was supposed to be different. Coming into the weekend ranked #3 in the country, and taking on the 3-2 NC State Wolfpack, FSU looked to be safe. However, a 4th down touchdown pass from Mike Glennon to Bryan Underwood with less than 20 seconds remaining pulled NC State even to FSU at 16, and the ensuing extra point gave them the victory and major upset. Another year and another irrelevant ACC football team as far as the BCS championship goes.
• The SEC is far from irrelevant as far as the BCS goes, coming into the weekend this powerhouse conference had four of the top six teams in the country, with two of them taking each other on. The #6 South Carolina Gamecocks hosted the #5 Georgia Bulldogs. The Gamecocks rolled, and that’s putting it nicely. They scored 35 points and only gave up a garbage time touchdown to the Bulldogs, to win 35-7. South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore ran for 109 yards and a touchdown, leading the way for the Gamecocks.
• Another big SEC showdown came in the form on #4 LSU at #10 Florida, where despite a very pedestrian offensive game, especially from quarterback Jeff Brantley, Florida rolled to a important victory, 14-6. For those of you keeping track, the #3, #4 and #5 teams all lost on the same day, the first time that's happened early in the 2008 season.
• The Oregon Ducks were the only top 5 team who won (#1 Alabama had the week off) rolling over their competition on Saturday. Hosting the #21 Washington Huskies, the #2 Ducks scored three unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter and never looked back. Running their typical quick hit offense, the Ducks scored 52 and only gave up 21 to dominate and reinforce their claim as a top team in the country.
Big games in NFL
• On primetime TV and in front of their suspended head coach for the first time this year, The New Orleans Saints finally got their first win Sunday night, defeating the San Diego Chargers 31-24 after rallying late from a 10 point deficit. Drew Brees was his typically impressive self, throwing for 370 yards and 4 TD's and in so doing, broke the All-Time record for most consecutive games with a TD pass, doing so in his 48th straight game which bested Johnny Unitas's longstanding record of 47.
• Coming into the season as Super Bowl contenders, the Saints have seemingly lost games every way possible and are already 4 games behind the undefeated Atlanta Falcons for the division title. Only 1 0-4 team has ever gone on to even make the playoffs, although that stat may be deceiving because few, if any, 0-4 teams are as talented as the Saints. If they figure out their issues and start winning games, they could be a team that no one wants to face in the playoffs.
• In other action, the Bears and Vikings continued their solid starts with convincing wins. The Bears showed that they should be considered Super Bowl contenders themselves, demolishing Jacksonville 41-3, while the Vikings won their 3rd straight game, beating the Titans 30-7, to go 4-1 and surpass their win total from the entire 2011 season. Both teams are now 2 games ahead of the Green Bay Packers who shockingly let an 18 point halftime lead slip away against the Indianapolis Colts to lose 30-27.
• Additionally, the Philadelphia Eagles lost the battle of Pennsylvania 16-14 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a last-second Field Goal. 4 of the Eagles' 5 games have been decided by 2 points or less (although this was the first of those that they lost).
Baseball Playoffs Underway
• After the excitement of the end of the regular season, Friday’s one-game wildcard playoffs added just as much drama. The less thrilling game was the Baltimore Orioles defeating the Texas Rangers and their high priced free agent pitcher from Japan Yu Darvish by a score of 5-1.
• The more contentious game was the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Atlanta Braves. Braves fans are up in arms because in the 8th inning while down four runs, with two men on and one out, Andrelton Simmons hit a flare into left field. The shortstop and left fielder converged on the ball and in apparent miscommunication, let the ball drop between them. However, the left field umpire (with over a decade of umpire experience) used the infield fly rule to call Simmons out. A questionable call, put the Braves in a much tougher position. The Cardinals ended up winning 6-3, and who knows what would have happened if Atlanta had had bases loaded with one out instead of two on with two out in the 8th inning.
• In the National League, the Cardinals lost to the Washington Nationals 3-2 in the first game of their best of five series, and the Cincinnati Reds are up 2-0 looking to advance to the National League Championship Series. In the American League the Detroit Tigers lead the Oakland Athletics 2-0 in their series, while the New York Yankees struck first in the other American League series, breaking open a 2-2 tie with 5 runs in the 9th inning.
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