The Sports Report

The Club Level College Football Picks of the Week 

Written by Trevor Ritchie

We’re going hard in the paint with five picks, three favorites, one dog, an over and our first ‘Lock of the Week’ in college football this season. Our record over the last 75 overall plays stands at 45-29-1 (60%) with a brand new slate ahead. Against all odds… we’re back, degenerates!

The Big Four

No. 18 Oklahoma -16 v. SMU

You’re getting Oklahoma as just 16-point favorites following a 73-point shutout win against a 37-point line versus Arkansas State. It’s worth the play, and the public tends to agree with 78 percent of the bets coming in on the Sooners, according to Action Network. OU completed 30 of its 33 pass attempts for 422 yards and three touchdowns last week, adding 220 yards and six scores on the ground plus a perfect nine-of-nine run on redone attempts. SMU went an underwhelming 7-of-19 on third down in its 38-14 win over Louisiana Tech a week ago, and if the Mustangs can’t find a way to stay on the field Saturday, 16 points is more than a safe enough margin to roll with Oklahoma

No. 3 Alabama -7 v. No. 11 Texas

Within a touchdown, you have to like Nick Saban in Bryant-Denny Stadium here. The Crimson Tide averaged 5.1 yards per rush in their season opener with five touchdowns via the rushing attack, also 10-of-13 on third down and scored on all four redone attempts in a 56-point performance. Seventy-percent completion percentage through the air, 10 yards per pass attempt and three endzone strikes. Alabama has covered in three of its last four home games dating back to last season with all three of those wins coming as double-digit favorites, too. Not enough is known about Texas to say it’s “back” even after a 37-10 win over Rice, at least not to the point of expecting this to be a one score game. Back the Tide.

Over 52.5 — No. 4 Florida State v. Southern Miss

Let’s make this simple: 52.5 points is a steal. Florida State should cruise to 40-plus points at home in this one, and it’s been roughly 11 months since Southern Miss has recorded less than 14 points. The Golden Eagles put up 14 points during a loss at Alabama in 2021 and 27 points in an upset win over Tulane on the road in 2022 — their two strongest opponents over the past two seasons. FSU takes that role in 2023 for Southern Miss, and if the black and gold manage even just 10 points at Doak Campbell, the over is no less than within arm’s reach. Especially considering the Seminoles have exceeded the total in seven of their last eight games at home.

No. 24 Tulane +7.5 v. No. 20 Ole Miss

Plenty of cushion to feel comfortable taking the Green Wave. Tulane is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games, while the Rebels are 1-3 ATS in their last four with an effectively meaningless 73-7 tune-up against Mercer to open the 2023 campaign. In a 37-17 home victory against South Alabama (a program that went 10-3 a year ago) last week, Green Wave quarterback Michael Pratt completed 14 of his 15 attempts for 294 yards and four touchdowns to earn AAC Offensive Player of the Week and tie a school record for career touchdown passes (72). With 7.5 points to spare inside Yulman Stadium behind a comfortable and reliable leader under center in Pratt, if nothing else Tulane is the value play to make on this matchup.

Lock of the Week

No. 22 Colorado -3 v. Nebraska

Deion Sanders is the biggest story in college football, and it’s no surprise this is the most heavily bet game of the weekend. Since most of you are playing this one already, it almost goes without saying at this point that the Buffaloes are the lock of the week as three-point favorites at home. Coming off a upset win at TCU in which the offense threw for 510 yards, logged 30 first downs, converted on all three redzone attempts and put 45 points on the board — catapulting into the top 25 despite entering the week as 21-point underdogs — Colorado is the absolute LAST team you want fade right now.

Meanwhile, Nebraska is currently recovering from a season-opening loss that produced three interceptions, a 45-percent conversion rate on third down, 11 total completions and a mere 10 points. Now the Cornhuskers have to travel to Boulder and face the Folsom Field welcome awaiting Sanders and company? Give me the Buffaloes, without hesitation.

Baseball’s Stretch Run Highlights Strength/Weaknesses of MLB Today

The baseball season officially reached its point of no return on Tuesday at 6:00 pm ET with the trade deadline.

Roughly 22 of 30 teams are still in contention for the playoffs. Several players are having historic seasons once again.

And yet, there isn’t much excitement or buzz nationally about another highly competitive year of major league baseball.

Baseball occupies an incredibly unusual place among the major American sports leagues. MLB is very profitable, breaking revenue records year-in and year-out for 17 straight years…right up until the pandemic. After that blip on the screen, baseball has gotten back to making money.

Still, problems continue to loom for a sport that should be healthier than ever..

MLB still doesn’t have a mainstream star. No one has crossed over from the diamond and into the collective consciousness the way that Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, or Derek Jeter did.

Whomever you consider the face of baseball…Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuna Jr., Mike Trout…none of them are selling sneakers or cereal or jerseys.

Of the top 45 jerseys sold across all sports during 2022, MLB players make the list just 5 times (Fernando Tatis Jr., Mookie Betts, Ronald Acuna Jr., Corey Seager, Freddie Freeman).

The Players Union and MLB have a tenuous five-year agreement in place as a result of the 2022 lockout. That negotiation was bitter and both sides still have resentments leftover as a result.

Baseball needs to start preparing now for a very different environment instead of waiting to deal with it in 2026.

Load management has impacted baseball as much as it has the NBA with star players and pitchers playing less than ever. A quality start used to mean going seven innings while allowing three runs or less. Now, it seems like the criteria is five innings and 100 pitches.

In a sport that spans nearly 200 games and eight months, there has to be some consistency for fans to fall in love. The starting pitcher and the four-man rotation used to be a big part of that. Not anymore.

There aren’t any “iron men” in the mold of Cal Ripken. Calculated rest is one thing, but injuries are plaguing franchise-type players. Though we more about the human body than ever before, stars aren’t taking the field for 140 or 150 games.

Some of the changes MLB implemented recently have worked. Games are faster while runs are still being scored. The utilization of the stolen base is back to levels we haven’t seen in over a decade.

However, a survey of social media would indicate that far more sports fans were talking about the start of NFL training camp than the MLB trade deadline this past weekend.

Gaming and highlight culture have made individual plays bigger than the game. Cord-cutting and streaming are going to dramatically impact the broadcasting and economic models of the sport.

With all of the parity in the standings, if the playoffs started today the Boston, New York, and Los Angeles markets would be missing from the American League. Chicago and New York, once again, would be out in the National League.

How many “casual” fans can name a starter for the Tampa Bay Rays? Or know who’s batting cleanup for the Milwaukee Brewers?

The talent pool in the game is deeper than its ever been. So is the competition for eyeballs. Baseball has a compelling product and plenty of storylines to sell. So why aren’t they resonating?

Why aren’t fans nationally responding the way they do locally?

Clearly, the game isn’t enough. Major League Baseball had better find a way to be heard a little more clearly in the onslaught of noise in the sports marketplace.

Saints Starters Shine In Preseason Debut

The New Orleans Saints enter year 2 of the Dennis Allen era with plenty of expectations as well as unanswered questions.

Fans have been anxiously awaiting the start of the preseason with new quarterback Derek Carr in the fold, a healthy Michael Thomas trying to get back into All-Pro form, and a defense that has maintained a top ten ranking for three years running.

Who Dat Nation Got its first look at the 2023 edition of the Saints on Sunday afternoon.

The Black and Gold defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 26-24 in the Superdome, getting out to a 17-point lead behind impressive efforts from the starting offensive and defensive units.

New Orleans gave up 24 points to KC’s reserves before Jake Haener was able to put together a late TD drive that set up some defensive heroics by Kyle Phillips and a game-winning field goal by Blake Grupe.

Carr led the Saints into the end zone on his only drive of the game. He took the offense on a 12-play, 80-yard march that was capped by a beautiful, four-yard touchdown pass to Keith Kirkwood.

Carr was 6-for-8 for 70 yards on the drive, completing passes to four different receivers.

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After the defense forced a turnover on downs with an impressive stop on Fourth and one by linebackers Pete Wener and Zach Baun, Jameis Winston took over where Carr left off.

Winston, perhaps the most overqualified backup in the NFL, led scoring drives on each of the next two possessions.

On the first, Jameis started and finished the drive with passes to rookie sixth-rounder A.T. Perry out of Wake Forest. Perry’s second grab was a 29-yard touchdown reception that Winston dropped right over the head of the defender.

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Perry led all New Orleans receivers with six catches (on six targets) for 70 yards and a score.

Winston was 11-of-13 passing over five total drives. The Saints’ attack was only slowed once Dennis Allen sent in the second unit on the offensive line.

The defensive starters shut down Patrick Mahomes, though the Chiefs were without All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce.

Mahomes only completed two passes, none to receivers, for 15 yards.

However, the backups mixed some very good plays with inconsistent tackling, penalties, and an inability to get off the field on third downs.

Each of the three Chiefs’ backup quarterbacks led at least one scoring drive. The final being with just over six minutes remaining in the game and the Saints trailing 24-17.

And that’s when Haener went to work. The rookie got his first NFL TD pass prior to the two-minute warning, connecting on a two-yard score with Ellis Merriweather.

The two-point conversion failed, seemingly sealing the loss.

Fate intervened when KC’s Chris Oladokun decided to pass and Phililips was there to take it away, returning it for five yards and setting up the offense at the 22-yard line.

After running down the clock, Grupe trotted out and nailed the 31-yard field goal to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Saints hit all of the beats in the opener. They saw what they wanted from their new quarterback as Allen praised Carr’s command and poise. The offense is as deep and talented as advertised. So much so, that the returns of Michael Thomas and Jimmy Graham were almost superfluous to the total team effort shown by the starters.

The rest of the team looked like backups playing in the preseason. Some good. Some bad. But nothing that would win or lose anyone a spot on the roster.

That is, except for A.T. Perry. With Tre’Quon Smith and Rashid Shaheed out, he made the most of his opportunity to shine. He showed speed, hands, and route running ability. It will be hard not to overreact to his performance.

New Orleans will now head back to the practice field to prepare for their first road test, when they face the Los Angeles Chargers and Justin Herbert. The Chargers are expected to contend for a playoff spot in the AFC and Herbert is another Pro Bowl-caliber starter to test the defense.

Based on what we saw on Sunday, there’s plenty of reason to look forward to the next exam.

The New Orleans Saints didn’t play their best, but they did put together enough good football to win their season opener by defeating the visiting Tennessee Titans 16-15 at the Caesar’s Superdome on Sunday afternoon.

For the second straight year the Saints won their first game of the season by a single point. This time it was the Saints that had to hold on as the final seconds ticked away.

Derek Carr got his first victory in a Saints uniform, completing 23-of-33 passes for 305 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The Saints’ defense limited the Titans to 285 total yards and forced three turnovers, intercepting Ryan Tannehill three times. Winning the turnover battle was vital as New Orleans scored 10 points off of those mistakes.

New Orleans also got three sacks and held Tennessee without a touchdown in three red zone appearances.

Just For Kicks

Rookie kicker Blake Grupe was a perfect 3-for-3 on his field goal attempts. Each kick provided a tying score for the Saints, who didn’t take their first lead until there was 1:23 remaining in the third quarter.

The atmosphere was electric with Steve Gleason serving as an honorary captain and Drew Brees on hand. That changed in an instant when Rashid Shaheed fumbled the opening kickoff. The Saints defense pushed the Titans back, forcing the first of Nick Folk’s five field goals.

With Carr finally getting to take control of the offense on the ensuing possession, he gave the fans plenty to be excited about. His first official pass was a 25 yard completion to Michael Thomas that got the Saints to midfield.

Carr completed his first four passes, hitting three different receivers as he led the Saints into the Red Zone. Unfortunately, the drive would stall at the eight yard line and Grupe would tie the score with a 26-yard kick.

Both teams would exchange field goals and interceptions as the Titans took a 9-6 lead into the locker room.

The Titans opened the second half the way the Saints opened the first…with a turnover.

Tannehill threw one deep down the left side of the field, looking for Chris Moore. Instead, the ball ended up in the hands of Marcus Maye. Maye led the secondary with six tackles and also had a pass breakup as well.

Carr and the offense would go 60 yards in seven plays to set up Grupe’s third field goal, tying the score at 9-9.

Tannehill would throw his third interception of the day. This time it was Paulson Adebo who came away with the pick.

Finally, Saints fans got the moment they had been waiting for on the next drive. Facing a third and seven from the Titans’ 19 yard line, Carr threw a strike to Shaheed for the first touchdown pass of his Saints career. Grupe’s extra point made it 16-9 going into the fourth quarter.

Tennessee scored on both of its possessions in the final frame, but the Saints defense was able to limit those to field goals rather than TDs. The offense put the game away with a 9-play, 59-yard drive that ate the final 2:17.

Big Catches

Chris Olave led all receivers with eight catches for 112 yards. Shaheed had five for 89 yards including a 41-yard bomb on third down that extended the game-ending possession. Michael Thomas also had five receptions and added 61 yards in his first action since week three of last season.

The offensive line remains a question mark. The Saints managed only 69 yards on the ground on 27 attempts, surrendered four sacks, and committed more than its share of the team’s seven penalties.

Despite all of that, Carr stood tall in the pocket and led his team to a much-needed win.

The Saints travel to Charlotte next week to face the Carolina Panthers (0-1) in their NFC South opener on Monday Night Football.

Stats

The Saints are 6-5 under Dennis Allen when holding opponents to 20 points or less.

New Orleans improved to 3-7 during Allen’s tenure when scoring 20 points or less.

The Saints had three interceptions in a game for the first time since Sept. 26, 2021, when they picked off Patriots rookie Mac Jones three times in a 28-13 road win.

New Orleans had three interceptions and three sacks in the same game for the first time since Nov. 8, 2020 (38-3 win over Tampa Bay).