Aaron Murray to miss Week 2 of XFL

Georgia football legend Aaron Murray of the Tampa Bay Vipers in the XFL will not play in Week 2.

Tampa Bay Vipers quarterback Aaron Murray struggled in his XFL debut last weekend against the New York Generals.

The former Georgia Bulldog went 16/34 for 231 with two interceptions and two fumbles in a loss to New York.

The Vipers, now 0-1, announced on Friday that Murray will be sitting out this weekend’s contest, springing former Oklahoma State quarterback Taylor Cornelius into the starting role.

In the first half of last week’s game, Murray apparently suffered a foot injury that has since held him out of practices.

Murray returned back to his hometown of Tampa to play for the Vipers this season. After breaking numerous SEC and Georgia records, Murray attempted to play in the NFL, where he did not find much success. He then went on to work for CBS as a broadcaster in addition to playing a single season for the Atlanta Legends, a member of the Alliance of American Football in 2019.

Notre Dame’s Highest “Top Early Top 25” Ranking We’ve Seen

The Irish also come in one spot behind Florida who is fresh-off an Orange Bowl victory and 11-2 season.

We tend to react when national college voices weigh in on Notre Dame gets mentioned, whether it’s good or bad.

This week you’ve seen us post a few different “Too Early Top 25” rankings that various college football writers have offered.  We reacted to one by considering firing it into the sun while the other we dissected, we pretty much fell in line with.

Now we have one that has ranked Notre Dame higher than any we’ve seen this week.

From Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde:

9. Notre Dame

There are two attractive but difficult additions to the schedule: Clemson at home and Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Those are in addition to games at USC and Pittsburgh. But with Ian Book and most of the offensive line returning, Brian Kelly has some building blocks. There are a lot of good players to replace on defense. The recruiting consistency of the Fighting Irish will come into play there.

Notre Dame coming in at nine placed them a spot ahead of national champion LSU which may come as a shock to some.  The Irish also come in one spot behind Florida who is fresh-off an Orange Bowl victory and 11-2 season.

Three 2020 Notre Dame opponents show up on the list with Clemson being top-rated in the nation and Wisconsin checking in at 13 and USC at 16.  Simple logic leads you to understand why the November 7 showdown with Clemson could very easily be the biggest game at Notre Dame Stadium since The Game of the Century versus Florida State in 1993.

Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, Jalen Hurts named All-Americans by Sports Illustrated

CeeDee Lamb and Jalen Hurts are off to a great start to college football’s award season.

CeeDee Lamb and Jalen Hurts are off to a great start to college football’s award season.

Arguably one of, if not the best wide receiver in the nation, Lamb received first-team All-American honors. Lamb’s production has still been electric, despite rumors of him being unhappy with the lack of touches he has received.

Lamb has over 100 yards receiving in six of the 12 games he has played in this season. Catching 58 passes for 1,208 yards and 14 touchdowns, Lamb has shown what he is fully capable of without Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown lining up opposite him. Two huge performances against Texas in the Cotton Bowl and Baylor in the Big 12 Championship showed the nation that Lamb is going to be electric on Sunday’s in the near future.

Jalen Hurts was awarded second-team honors behind Heisman Trophy favorite and semifinal opponent, Joe Burrow.

Hurts has made the most of his lone season as a Sooner, making the College Football Playoff and heading to New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

Hurts is the team’s leading rusher with 1,255 yards on 219 carries and 18 touchdowns. Through the air, Hurts has slung the rock 309 times and connecting on 222 throws for a 71.8% completion rate. His 3,634 yards of passing and 34 passing touchdowns rank among the nation’s best.

Oklahoma faces LSU in the Peach Bowl as part of the College Football Playoffs on Dec. 28. Kickoff is set for 3:00p.m. CT on ESPN.

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Where do Chargers stand in NFL power rankings after Week 10?

After suffering defeat in Week 10, Chargers Wire takes a look how the Bolts stack up in power rankings heading into Week 11.

In one that they needed badly, the Chargers were unable to deliver after suffering defeat to the Raiders on the national stage. The loss dropped Los Angeles to 4-6, but their playoff hopes are still alive.

Let’s see where the Bolts are viewed in power rankings.

USA Today: 19 (Previous: 19)

“Key injuries … Philip Rivers trying to do too much … off-field distractions … we’ve definitely entered “same-old Chargers” territory.”

Touchdown Wire: 22 (Previous: 22)

“Last Thursday night, Oakland rookie Josh Jacobs’ 18-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left in the game gave the Raiders a 26-24 lead over the Chargers. The Raiders then kicked off to the Chargers, who gave the ball to Philip Rivers in the hope that he could engineer a crucial win. What resulted was probably the worst drive of Rivers’ career. The veteran shot-putted the ball all over the field, and only one of his seven passes didn’t fall incomplete — his last pass of the night, which was caught by Oakland safety Karl Joseph.”

NFL: 18 (Previous: 18)

“Philip Rivers is currently on the dark web searching for mind-eraser technology to wipe away a lost Thursday night in Oakland. The Chargers quarterback threw three interceptions and had two more picks nullified by penalty in a 26-24 loss to the Raiders that put Los Angeles’ playoff hopes in serious doubt. Rivers was under constant duress due to a surprisingly meddlesome Oakland front seven, which had its way with an L.A. offensive line missing both starting tackles. The low point for the Chargers came on a final possession that went like this: incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, penalty (first down), incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, interception. Like I said, Philip Rivers is scouring the digital underground in search of mind-eraser hardware. Next up for the Chargers? A showdown against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Mexico City. It’s a virtual must-win for the Bolts.”

ESPN: 19 (Previous: 19)

“At 4-6, the most important game for the Chargers is the next one, a Monday Night Football tilt against the AFC West rival Chiefs. With Kansas City losing over the weekend against the Titans, the Chargers still sit two games back in the division with six left to play. So even though it has been up-and-down year for the Bolts, they could catapult themselves back into the playoff conversation with a win over the Chiefs.”

Sports Illustrated: 19 (Previous: 18)

“Tough one to drop in primetime for a team that had a chance to take more steps away from the brink. The Chargers go as Phillip Rivers goes, and three interceptions were too much to overcome despite Melvin Gordon’s best game of the season (133 total yards, 1 TD).”

CBS Sports: 18 (Previous: 18)

“They can’t turn the ball over the way they did against the Raiders and expect to be a playoff team. That loss to the Raiders was a momentum killer.”

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