Glenn Papazian bringing you the latest edition of The Sports Desk, news from the world of sports, what happened, what’s coming up, an honor roll, and a commentary.
But, first and foremost heartfelt wishes for good health go to Jalen Hurts and his family.
Eagles
The Eagles losing streak continues as the Carolina Panthers take a 25 – 14 win at the Linc. The Birds are injury riddled as they played without quarterback Jales Hurts. In his first start quarterback Tanner McKee could not jump start the offense. He threw for 215 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked 3 times. Wide receiver Devonte Smith returned and did snare a scoring toss. The offense is in a funk, and all options are on the table said Coach Nick Sirianni. The Birds were outgained 399 – 222 in total yards, and the Panthers had the ball for nearly 10 minutes longer than the Eagles. There should be a concern about giving up 25 points to the Panthers. Next up is a Monday night home game against the Dallas Cowboys. More on this later.
Major League Baseball
The Cleveland Indians and the Tampa Bay Rays go to game 6. Who will meet the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series? Tampa Bay has the advantage.
Flyers
The historic losing streak is over for the Philadelphia Flyers who defeated the Ottawa Senators 3 – 1. Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone both had a goal and an assist in the first win of the season. This week Philadelphia plays Colorado at home. After going to Buffalo, the team returns home to play Anaheim. All the opposition teams are well ahead of the Flyers in points.
Sixers
The season begins this week starting off at The Garden against the defending champion New York Knicks. The Sixers return to play Cleveland and Milwaukee before going to Detroit. The Lebron, Jaylen Brown era begins.
Let’s talk some college football.
Penn
The University of Pennsylvania Quakers hosted the Columbia Lions under Friday night lights, that turned into after midnight lights. Penn lost 28 – 27 in a wild ending at Franklin Field. Columbia took the lead in the fourth quarter. The Red and Blue drove into Blue and White territory, but Quarterback Karson Siqiueros-Laskey threw an interception. The defense got the ball back with less than a minute to go. Penn did not any have timeouts. The clock wound down and with just seconds to go and time running, Penn got the field goal unit on the field for a 51-yard attempt. It was into the wind and short. Columbia got their first Ivy League win.
Another Friday night game for Penn against Yale. The Red and Blue seek their first win in The Ancient Eight.
Villanova
A winning weekend for the Wildcats who earn a 38 – 17 win over Fordham.
It was one of the most complete games played by Nova this season. In the first half running backs Isaiah Ragland and Ja’briel Mace scored a touchdown, would run for a total of 153 yards on 22 carries. Ragland pictured above courtesy of Villanova Media Relations. Quarterback Pat McQuaide threw for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns plus one on the ground. The defense held Fordham to 60 yards passing. Villanova hosts Lehigh next on the Main Line. These teams met last season in the FCS Playoffs.
Temple
A tough day for the Owls who lost 38 – 31 to Charlotte, a team who came into the Linc with a 0 – 6 record. There was plenty of offense especially from Charlotte’s Connor Harrell and Henry Rutledge. Owls signal caller Ajani Sheppard had 236 yards passing and 70 rushing. The Cherry and White get a much-needed week off.
WestChester
West Chester shut out Lackawana 52 – 0. The Rams had 4 first quarter touchdowns and never looked back. Lackawana is a new member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Penn State
A better effort by the Nittany Lions, but it was another loss, 21 – 18 at Michigan. The PSU defense gave up two third quarter touchdowns that gave control to the Maise and Blue. The losing streak now equals four games. They’ll host Purdue next.
National College Football
There was some outstanding national college football last weekend.
Ohio State knocked Indiana from the ranks of the unbeaten 19 – 15 in Bloomington.
Notre Dame fell at BYU 28 – 24 on a touchdown pass from Bear Bachmeier to Walker Lyons with 1:47 to play. There is officiating and administration controversy. The Big 12 now says in the final play, an incomplete pass by Notre Dame, the ball hit the ground with time remaining. The referees ruled the game was over.
Tennessee handed Alabama its second loss 26 – 10 in Knoxville behind 156 rushing yards by DeSean Bishop.
The Big Story is that for the second straight week the #1 team in the nation coming in lost to an unranked team. The Auburn Tigers win 27 – 24 over the then number one Georgia Bulldogs. Late in the game Auburn recovered a Georgia fumble with just under a minute to play at the Tigers 46. Five plays later Alex McPherson won it for Auburn with a 34-yard field goal.
A 24-team CFP format may not be far away. ESPN and the College Football Playoff reached a handshake agreement to expand the post season starting with the 2027 season. I see good and bad. I think the expansion could have been for a lesser number of teams. But it is about money. It will get rid of the meaningless conference championship games. The possible high impact games are good. But now .. #25 – 29 can whine and complain that they should have been included.
Time for the Honor Roll
Peter Clarke for Temple who caught a touchdown pass that made him the all-time program leader in touchdowns by a tight end at 11.
The Player of the Week is Tampa Bay pitcher Drew Rasmussen who had a strong postseason outing against Cleveland that brought his team to the brink of a world series. He threw 7 innings giving up 1 earned run, struck out 6 and walked one. Over the postseason this past week he had pitched 14 innings, gave up 2 runs, walked 2, and fanned 17 batters.
Commentary
Yes, the Eagles played shorthanded. Many key players were inactive, most notably Jalen Hurts. The JV lost to the Carolina Panthers. The 14 points scored is not an outlier. The Eagles offense has been and continues to be a problem. They put up only 7 second half points on the scoreboard. Don’t blame it on Tanner McKee who was third on the depth chart two weeks ago. It is a more fundamental problem. It is a continuation of what has been going on this season. In the second half the Birds have been outscored 81 – 30 this season, and 58 – 10 in the last four games.
Something is clearly amiss. It is described by Jordan Mailata as a lack of focus and want to.
That’s Dangerous.
The I have to be better, and we have to be better is purveyance of the obvious. Do the Eagles have an idea how to?
And now add the devastating news about Jalen Hurts. More to overcome.
And that’s the story.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: glenn@phillycollegesports.com
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