Month: December 2022

A missed opportunity for Michigan football, yes, but keep perspective

That the end of the season was a disappointment is a good thing.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Sometimes, it’s difficult to look at the silver linings, especially after an emotional loss. But certainly, the season was not a disaster for Michigan football in 2022.

Look, the loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff was beyond disappointing. Events that started with the botched Colston Loveland pass on the goal line were persistent and pervasive. Michigan should have walked away with points, but didn’t. After a three-and-out by TCU, J.J. McCarthy threw a pick six — the first of two in the game — and the game of yakety sax was on. The Kalel Mullings goal-line fumble just as it appeared that Michigan was getting on the board was further indication that it wasn’t the Wolverines’ day.

Yet, the maize and blue kept fighting and had the ball in their hands and a chance to win with time dwindling. It was a battle, yet uncharacteristic mistakes — both from the coaching staff and the players — keep rearing up.

What makes matters worse is Georgia proved eminently beatable in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, indicating this truly could have been Michigan’s year had it not decided to get cute and had not made mistakes it usually doesn’t make.

However, the loss in the College Football Playoff, no matter how disappointing and maddening, does not define what was a successful season overall.

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Of the many stated goals that the Wolverines had this season, the final ones — winning the College Football Playoff semifinal and national championship — go unfulfilled. Yet, Michigan wildly exceeded expectations from a national perspective this year.

Thought by the media to be behind Ohio State, Penn State, and — to some — Michigan State, Michigan beat all three teams — convincingly. It won its second-starlight Big Ten Championship, and the nucleus of the team from this year is returning. It managed to win those final two conference games despite the best players on each side of the ball being severely limited or unavailable. The Wolverines won more games in 2022 than they ever have in a single season.

None of this is to say that, for fans, the ending of what appeared to be a season so promising that Michigan could have made — and won — its first national championship in 25 years isn’t beyond disheartening. It’s sad, of course, and fans should want the team to strive for more. And that’s good news: The expectations are no longer just beat Ohio State, win the conference and make the College Football Playoff. The expectations are officially higher. And that’s a good thing.

But even as the expectations for this program are rising and as the loss to TCU is disappointing, don’t lose perspective on the season that was, and the accomplishments that carried Michigan to this point in the first place. Because, unless fans have a short memory, it wasn’t that long ago that none of these accomplishments seemed remotely possible.

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Nets’ Kevin Durant says start to game was ‘key’ in win over Hornets

Kevin Durant says that the Nets’ start was everything in Saturday’s win over the Hornets.

Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant knows that when the Nets face teams like the Charlotte Hornets, they have to get out to a good start in order to prevent the team from getting confidence and possibly upsetting them. In the first two meetings between these two teams, Brooklyn was expected to win pretty handily only for them to win the game by a few points and having to win the game late.

In Saturday’s 123-106 win over the Hornets on New Year’s Eve, the Nets finally got off to a great start against Charlotte and didn’t look back. Durant’s 23 points had a hand in Brooklyn having as much as a 22-point lead in the game. Durant had 10 points in the first quarter to set the tone for the Nets and the rest of the team followed his lead.

During his postgame availability, Durant gave his take on how Brooklyn’s start to this game was pivotal in the win:

“Yeah, it (the good start) was key. We know that this team (the Hornets) can get hot. We knew that they were gonna come out and make a run there in the third quarter, which they did. They cut it to six twice. We’ve been in this position before where a team gets hot on us after having a big lead so we knew what to do afterwards. Coach (Jacque Vaughn) called good plays out of the timeouts, we executed defensively, and was able to get a win.”

The Nets finish 2022 on a 11-game winning streak and have won 15 of their last 16 games.

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Doc Rivers proud of Sixers for handling business in win over Thunder

Doc Rivers is proud of the way the Philadelphia 76ers handled business in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered Oklahoma City on Saturday in a bit of a trap game scenario as they took on a young Thunder squad. The Sixers were on the second night of a back-to-back following a loss on Friday in New Orleans, it was the final game of a four-game road trip, and it was New Year’s Eve.

On top of that, the Thunder are a rebuilding team who were missing key pieces such as Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Ousmane Dieng, and Aleksej Pokusevski. While the Sixers were missing James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and PJ Tucker, they still were the supremely talented team and they could have fallen into the trap.

They didn’t as Philadelphia led by as many as 33 points on Saturday on their way to an easy 115-96 win over the Thunder on the road and stop a two-game skid.

“I was just happy with how professional we-this is a back-to-back, New Year’s Eve,” coach Doc Rivers told reporters after the win. “This was a trap game in a lot of ways. They had the day off, we had guys missing, and we come out and play like that. That was terrific.”

Philadelphia received contributions from up and down the roster. Tobias Harris led Philadelphia with 23 points, Joel Embiid had 16, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, and Shake Milton had 18. De’Anthony Melton was huge as well as he had 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

“We just really wanted to come out aggressive,” Melton told NBC Sports Philadelphia courtside after the win. “Especially, coming off a back-to-back. We knew we didn’t want the fatigue to get to us, especially losing the last one. We wanted to come out here, be aggressive from the jump, and see how the game goes from there. I feel like we did a great job with that.”

The Sixers did what they were supposed to do in this one. They shot 55.1% from the floor in the first half and they held Oklahoma City to just 36.4% as they built a 69-43 lead. The Sixers fed off their defense to get easy looks and it ultimately led to the easy win.

“I think we kind of recognized the type of defense they were trying to play early,” Milton told reports. “Coming off the pick-and-roll, heading towards the middle, they were heavily pulled in so we knew we would have some flow passes and from there, we’d be able to knock down shots or go down the rim and attack. I think that definitely helped us and also getting stops and being able to get out and run. That definitely helped our offense as well.”

The Sixers will now return home to host the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.

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Jim Harbaugh reacts to Michigan football miscues vs. TCU in CFP

It was a Murphy’s Law game for #Michigan.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — There were multiple miscues for Michigan football in the 51-45 loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Saturday.

From the two pick sixes thrown by quarterback J.J. McCarthy, to very questionable play calls, to questionable officiating decisions — the Wolverines often found themselves on the short end of the stick. But the majority of the issues in the semifinal were self-inflicted by the maize and blue.

After the game, head coach Jim Harbaugh noted that both teams had their miscues, but TCU took the most advantage. Had just one thing gone differently, the Wolverines could be Los Angeles-bound. Instead, they’re heading back to Ann Arbor.

“We were one short of executing the touchdown, the turnover,” Harbaugh said. “They made their fair share of mistakes. We made ours. They made their big plays. We made our big plays. And we just had one fewer big play, one less misfire.”

The game started rockily for Michigan. Donovan Edwards rumbled for a 54-yard carry on the first offensive play for the Wolverines. TCU held near the goal line, forcing a fourth-and-2. Then the maize and blue ran a bizarre play call.

Despite having the nation’s best offensive line two years running, Michigan went for obfuscation rather than playing bully ball. In other words, it got cute.

Generally, Michigan would run a dive play that close to the goal line, but instead put the ball into freshman tight end Colston Loveland’s hands behind the line of scrimmage. It appeared the goal was for him to throw a pass to J.J. McCarthy, but with surging defenders, he ran in the backfield before being tackled on the 10-yard line, turning the ball back over to TCU.

Given that the Wolverines have generally had success by being straight-forward, why did the offense opt for trickery?

“Because we thought it would work. I take full responsibility for it not working, and should have had something different called,” Harbaugh said. “Put that one on me. They had it wired and they had it well-defended. Sitting here now, definitely wish I would have called a different one.”

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There were other issues, like Kalel Mullings’ fumble at the goal line — a play that perhaps shouldn’t have happened, as it appeared that wide receiver Roman Wilson had gained control of the ball, after bowling it, as he fell across the goal line. The touchdown was overturned, and Michigan gave the ball right back on the next play instead of cutting into the growing deficit.

Additionally, the final play of the game for Michigan was a series of miscues on its own, with center Olu Oluwatimi snapping the ball too early, which caused J.J. McCarthy to fumble. Left tackle Ryan Hayes came up with the ball and pitches it to running back Donovan Edwards, who pitched it to tight end Colston Loveland. Loveland was brought down behind the line to gain, but appeared to be on the bad end of targeting. The officials reviewed the play for targeting, yet came away saying that it hadn’t occurred.

Harbaugh didn’t have an instant reaction to either after the game, but simply gave his explanation of what happened.

“I mean, I’ll take a closer look at it,” Harbaugh said. “Last play, they were looking at targeting and they ruled that it wasn’t targeting. The touchdown, Roman, that they ruled it didn’t get in the end zone.”

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Non-targeting calls marring CFP semifinal games

Big plays were called targeting and then waved off. College football has a problem

The College Football Playoff semifinals took place on Saturday.

Both games were exciting and high-scoring.

And, as has been the case so often in college football the “targeting” foul has created a controversial cloud.

In the Peach Bowl, Georgia’s Javon Bullard Jr. was originally flagged for this hit on Ohio State star WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Eventually, after review, the play was ruled not to be targeting despite Harrison being a defenseless receiver.

There was no penalty and Harrison wound up in the medical tent after being prone in the back of the end zone for minutes. He was not given his helmet back, so his return was in question.

At the end of the Fiesta Bowl between Michigan and TCU, this play occurred and once again it was ruled not to be targeting.

College football needs to find clarity when it comes to targeting because it continues to cloud great games.

Twitter reacts to Emeka Egbuka touchdown

Twitter reacts to Emeka Egbuka touchdown #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently leading the Georgia Bulldogs, 35-24, and with a tad more than ten minutes left in the third quarter, Ohio State is inching closer to a bid in the national championship if it can keep making plays. After a big Buckeye defensive stop, the Ohio State offense came out ready to roll and Emeka Egbuka finished the drive off with an impressive touchdown reception.

C.J. Stroud has completed 18 of his 22 passing attempts for 292 yards and four touchdowns, and Egbuka has had a great game as well with six receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown. Egbuka also added three yards on the ground on one carry. Let’s dive into the Twitter reactions to the most recent touchdown.

Bengals issue final injury report before Week 17 vs. Bills

A look at the final Bills vs. Bengals injury report for Week 17.

Another week, more big names on the final injury report for the Cincinnati Bengals, this time as they get ready to host “Monday Night Football” against the Buffalo Bills.

The team already shifted starting right tackle La’el Collins to injured reserve after his season-ending knee injury during the win over the New England Patriots last week, so he doesn’t appear here.

Big names like defensive end Sam Hubbard and tight end Hayden Hurst, though, make the list after showing positive signs for most of the week that they can finally make big returns.

Here’s a look at the final game statuses the team issued on the Saturday before the game.

Draft Wire compares Alabama QB Bryce Young to Drew Brees

Alabama QB Bryce Young has some similarities to former New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, and the Houston Texans should take notice.

The Houston Texans need a quarterback.

For as much progress as Davis Mills has shown in his second season, it isn’t enough, and the club’s 2-12-1 record heading into their final two games is a silent reminder of where Houston needs to upgrade. More than likely the Texans will be using one of their two first-round picks in the 2023 NFL draft to take a quarterback.

According to Luke Easterling from the Draft Wire, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young would be a solid selection for the Texans. If there are any concerns Young’s ability to perform in the NFL because of his vital statistics, one needs to look no further than former New Orleans Saints Super Bowl-winning quarterback Drew Brees.

Detractors will point to his lack of ideal size (listed at 6-0, 195 pounds, and likely just south of both), but when you check every other box to the level that Young clearly does, his measurements should be an afterthought. Young does all of the most important things as well as any NFL team could want from a quarterback prospect, and he’s still just scratching the surface of his potential.

It’s always unfair to compare college prospects to NFL players, but in terms of where they were coming into their respective drafts, Young looks to me like a more athletic Drew Brees with a better arm. I’m not saying he’ll be a first-ballot Hall of Famer as Brees will, but he has that kind of potential based on what we’ve seen to this point.

All I’m saying is that Houston Texans fans should be thrilled.

The comparison Easterling made between Young and Brees was based off physical traits and measurables. No doubt how Young approaches the game and performs will start to tell the real tale of how he compares to Brees.

Young threw five touchdown passes in the Crimson Tide’s rout of Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl.

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Player grades: Thunder blown out by Harden-less Sixers on New Year’s Eve, 115-96

Player grades for the Thunder’s 115-96 loss to the Sixers.

OKLAHOMA CITY — 19 seconds into the game, Joel Embiid hit on an assisted layup to give the Sixers the quick 2-0 lead.

The Philadelphia 76ers were able to hold onto that lead for the remaining 47.5 minutes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were not able to close out 2022 with a win as they lost their annual New Year’s Eve home game, 115-96, to the Sixers.

With a tall lineup headlined by the seven-foot Embiid, the Sixers were able to take advantage of their size and outscored the Thunder 66-42 inside the paint.

This will become a recurring issue for the Thunder for the foreseeable future with the number of injuries they’re currently dealing with in the frontcourt. This issue was magnified by playing against a top-two center on Saturday.

For the Sixers, it was a well-balanced offensive outing with seven of their 11 players scoring at least eight points. This included four of their five starters.

Joel Embiid led the way with a triple double of 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Tobias Harris contributed with 23 points and nine rebounds.

With James Harden and Tyrese Maxey out, the Milton-Melton backcourt seamlessly stepped into their absence. Shake Milton stepped up in his absence with 18 points and five assists. De’Anthony Melton finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

For the Thunder, it was a tough offensive showing as they shot 35-of-92 (38%) from the field. This included going 12-of-36 (33.3%) from outside. The Thunder only had four players score 10+ points.

While the Thunder chipped away at the Sixers’ massive lead in the second half, they never really found their groove offensively as they scored just 72 points at the end of the third quarter.

The Thunder have done a good job at avoiding these type of blowout losses this season, it just wasn’t their night on either end of the floor on Saturday as the calendar flips to 2023.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Ohio State vs. Georgia Chick-fil-A halftime review: Three and out

Ohio State vs. Georgia halftime review: three things #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently beating the Georgia Bulldogs to the tune of 28-24 going into halftime and Ohio State is sitting in the ideal situation. Most experts expected the SEC champions to be blasting the Buckeyes at this point, but Ohio State is in a prime position to snag an upset victory and a bid to the CFP national championship game.

It it can hold on.

Georgia does receive the ball to start the third quarter and the Buckeye defense hasn’t exactly been in lockdown, but they have been solid and had a strong drive to end the half and all of the momentum heading into the locker room. Let’s dive into three things that were most notable about the first half in this College Football Playoff semifinal.