It’s Wednesday night. There’s no MACtion. There’s no football. But there’s still plenty to talk about between those blessed Saturdays. Without further adieu, the very first Midweek Report. Name still in the works.
The Nats Clinch the Postseason
Way back when Bryce Harper signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, I had an odd feeling that it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of the NL East. The Nationals still had Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. They’d just signed Patrick Corbin. Anthony Rendon is a legit MVP-caliber player. The emergence of Juan Soto and Victor Robles gives the Nationals one of the most formidable outfields in baseball no matter who the third guy is.
After a 19-31 start these guys were dead and buried by fans and media alike. But they’ve been the hottest team in baseball since. On Tuesday night, they punched their ticket to the playoffs, eliminating the Phillies in Washington DC. How can you not be romantic about baseball?
And now … WE DANCE!#CLINCHED // #STAYINTHEFIGHT pic.twitter.com/qiFUxAJdd4
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 25, 2019
UCF, Boise State Agree to Home-Home
In the same week that Utah & Florida agreed to their own home-home, the Knights & Broncos made arrangements of their own.
Holy hell, it’s happening!
BREAKING: #BoiseState and #UCF have scheduled a home-and-home football series!
📍Orlando – 2021
📍Boise – 2023 pic.twitter.com/57IApaXygQ— Jay Tust (@KTVBSportsGuy) September 24, 2019
This is great for college football. But what will it mean by the time these games are actually played? I see no reason to think that either team will encounter a steep fall-off before at least 2021, when the series kicks off in Orlando. I’m going to choose to just be excited about this for now.
One great thing that the Notre Dame-Georgia home-home reminded us of is that there’s nothing like these marquee games at college venues. And make no mistake, as it stands this is a marquee matchup. This may end up being a series that means nothing in the CFP landscape. It will, however, mean everything to the G5 NY6 race.
D’Eriq King Has Had it
And I don’t blame him. He stunned Houston and college football fans collectively by announcing his intention to redshirt the rest of this season.
Head coach Dana Holgerson’s worry is other teams recruiting King. A transfer is not only a possibility, but a near certainty. The market for transfer players looks more and more like a professional free agent market by the day. If he planned on going pro, he would probably be playing on Saturday. If he wanted to keep any sort of credibility with his teammates, well you get the picture. This guy is gone, and the Holgerson era in Houston might already be a disaster.
I hear Texas has a really good senior QB who will need replacing.
Clay Helton… Coach of the Week?
What the hell was this. Not a question, a statement. What. The. Hell.
Yes, USC pulled off a big upset at home and now finds themselves ranked again. Wooooo. But here’s how it happened:
TEAM: 22 carries, 13 yards. Fumble lost. 1 interception thrown. 368 yards passing, 381 total yards. 11 penalties for 117 yards.
Michael Pittman Jr: 10 receptions, 232 yards, 1 77 yard touchdown reception.
Yes, Matt Fink three for 368 yards. Michael Pittman Jr had 232 of them and he earned every yard he had. Utah continually shout themselves in the foot and USC backed into a seven-point win. This game was ridiculous. What’s even more ridiculous is that Clay Helton was named coach of the week for winning this stupid game.
Better candidates:
Paul Chryst -thoroughly out-coached media sweetheart Jim Harbaugh. Won 35-14. Undefeated as hell.
Willie Fritz -Tulane overcame a 21-point deficit to stun Houston and make D’Eriq King quit football for the year. They’re undefeated.
Tom Herman -Daring decisions late in the game. Always a good call to let your best player (Sam Ehlinger) have the ball with the game on the line. Huge win over Oklahoma State. 3-1 with a close loss to LSU, who happens to be pretty decent.
I can’t figure this one out.
Random/Cool Things
The Breaking Bad movie, El Camino, looks fantastic. Jesse Pinkman became an unwilling hero. We’ll finally get some closure on him.
OJ Simpson and Dennis Rodman being active on Twitter in 2019 is absurd. Jose Canseco used to be the best thing on twitter. Those two sentences don’t feel right.
Antonio Brown is a lunatic.
Hit HBO series Ballers is in its fifth and final season and I don’t think it ever figured out what it truly wants to be. It’s Entourage with sports. There’s four story lines all heading for a big climax. It would be so on-brand for this show to wrap them up inadequately. I will say, though, that this season has been the most entertaining since season 1. Much like Shea Patterson, so much hype that you just can’t give up.
Fun Facts
Gerrit Cole has recorded 216 strikeouts since his last recorded loss. That is absolutely ridiculous.
Over the last ten years, 25 NHL teams have had an 80-point scorer. The teams without one are: Arizona, Montreal, Minnesota, Nashville, St Louis and Vegas.
The Kansas City Chiefs have never scored less than 26 points with Patrick Mahomes as their starting quarterback.