Another week of 2020 goes by in a flash, leaving behind nothing more than a few COVID setbacks for British Columbia. But the sporting world continues to provide “COVID friendly” entertainment for all of us in some form of isolation in North America.
The NCAA welcomed back PAC-12 Football on Saturday. Giving many west-coasters something to enjoy again. USC and Arizona State put on an instant classic performance during their Saturday morning debuts. The Sundevils surprised many by hanging with USC then throwing up 13 unanswered points heading into the 4th quarter. However, USC and their never say die attitude began the comeback. Kedon Slovis, the USC quarterback, threw a quick touchdown pass to Bru McCoy to bring the Trojans to within one score. With a little luck, USC recovered their onside kick and marched down the field to score a go-ahead touchdown. The defence came up big and stopped ASU on the final drive of the game. Kedon Slovis finished with 381 passing yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He completed 40/55 pass attempts and finished with a QB rating of 139.3. ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels finished with 134 yards and 1 TD with a QB rating of 111.1.
PAC-12 powerhouse and conference favourite Oregon began their campaign for more PAC-12 glory by facing off against division rivals Stanford. Sophomore QB Tyler Shough made his first start for Oregon, knowing that he must make an immediate impact since the departure of former QB standout and first-round draft pick Justin Herbert. Shough impressed, helping Oregon route Stanford 35-14. Oregon put up 496 total yards, Shough throwing for 227 of them with one TD and one pick. Highly touted 2021 NFL Draft prospect Penei Sewell continued his dominance on Oregon’s O-line, protecting Shough at left tackle every offensive drive.
In College Football’s “Game of the Week.” #1 in the nation Clemson took on a new division rival and #4 in Notre Dame. Heisman favourite and Clemson’s starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence was once again sidelined due to his COVID-19 infection, allowing #1 rated QB in the 2020 high school class D.J. Uiagalelei to make his second start for the Tigers. This game was deservedly game of the week, having football fans around the nation tuned in to see who’d win. Both Notre Dame and Clemson brought it upon themselves to make this game a shootout. Going drive for drive, score for score all the way until double overtime. Both teams put up over 300 yards passing and 40 points for an absolute ACC delight. However, star running back Travis Etienne ultimately let Clemson down, putting up only 28 rush yards on 18 attempts, allowing Notre Dame to stun the college football world with a 47-40 upset. Notre Dame QB Ian Book threw for 310 yards with one passing touchdown, and Fighting Irish running back Kyren Williams ran for 140 yards with 3 TDs. Notre Dame will play unranked Boston College this weekend while Clemson is on a bye week.
Moving onto the pros in the NFL. Week 9 saw a much more eventful week than week eight had last week. The Buffalo Bills ran through the Seattle Seahawks in what might have been Seattle’s worst contest so far this season. Josh Allen wowed against current MVP front runner Russell Wilson. Putting up 415 yards and three touchdowns without turning the ball over to Seattle. Buffalo led wire to wire in this affair between East vs West leaving many to think are the Seahawks pretenders or contenders this season?
The defending champs Kansas City got to welcome back Christian McCaffrey from the IR list as they hosted Carolina at Arrowhead. To everyone’s surprise, Carolina came out with guns blazing. Putting up two touchdowns in their first two drives. They continued to show offensive dominance leading 17-13 at the half. But when you play the current best QB in the game in Patrick Mahomes, it’s best not to lay off the gas. Of course, Kansas City started to come back. Finding holes in the Carolina defence mainly the size of Tyreek Hill. Mahomes and Hill combined for two touchdowns in the second half alone. When all was said and done, Kansas remained victorious with the final score favouring them 33-31. Mahomes threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns and finished with a QB rating of 121.7. Christian McCaffrey cemented his return with 151 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns ( one receiving and one rushing.)
Sunday Night Football saw the NFC South take center stage under the lights at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were looking for revenge against the New Orleans Saints, who the Bucs lost to in week 1. However, instead of revenge, the Buccaneers got an absolute butt-kicking. Tom Brady put up arguably his worst Sunday night performance of his career. Throwing for 209 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns. The Buccaneers only managed to score a field goal even with the re-debuting Antonio Brown making his first start since September 2019. The Saints look like a force to be reckoned with when they are fully healthy. Drew Brees surpassed Tom Brady in all-time touchdown passes, throwing for 4 of them and putting him atop the all-time charts with 654. Taysom Hill was wrecking ball in wildcat offence and ran for 54 yards as a backup QB. Alvin Kamara continued to stake his claim as the best player in fantasy football leagues across the globe by adding another rushing TD and adding 49 all-purpose yards. The Saints slapped the Bucs 38-3. Tonight’s Monday night matchup will see New England take on the New York Jets.
Now to take off the helmet and pads and lace up the gloves as we step into the squared circle and octagon for some combat sports updates. UFC Vegas 13 went down on Saturday at the UFC Apex inside of the UFC’s headquarters. The main event saw light heavyweight action as the division’s two top contenders Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira, battled it out to see who would get the next crack Jan Blachowicz’s championship belt. Both Santos and Glover got cracking almost immediately, with both landing ferociously. Santos dropped Glover midway through the second round and had him hurt up until the bell. But as legends do, Glover bounced back and brought Santos to the ground where he is most comfortable. Landing some vicious ground and pound, Glover eventually sunk in a Rear Naked Choke and secured himself his 5th straight victory. Lining him up for the next shot at the light heavyweight division champ Jan Blachowicz.
The co-main saw some Canadian action as Bonnyville, Alberta native Tanner Boser threw down with former heavyweight champion and future UFC Hall of Famer Andrei Arlovski. A back and forth contest saw Arlovski get the better of Boser in a unanimous decision victory.
Finally, to cap it all off, this past Saturday evening saw the return of 21-year-old WBC Lightweight champion Devin Haney. Haney took on a veteran of the sport Yuriorkis Gamboa in a 12 round main event contest on DAZN. Although, many fans disliked what they saw from Haney. Haney came out on top in a rather one-sided contest. No, there weren’t any knockdowns or even many power punches thrown, but Devin Haney, I thought, looked great and resembled a young Floyd Mayweather with a defence first strategy. Haney escaped the bout unscathed and looked like he could go another 10 rounds if asked. Now boxing fans alike and myself included, cannot wait to see what they decide for the likes of Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis, and Teofimo Lopez. I hope Davis vs. Lopez gets set up, leaving an Olympic trial rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney on the table if Garcia gets passed Luke Campbell this December.
Written By: Patrick Pinter