Argentina are expected to overwhelm Iran as one of the tournament favorites gear up for their second game.
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The goal was so good that Bruce Arena bowed.
Robbie Keane didn't start for the LA Galaxy because he was hurt. Well, he came off the bench and look prettttttty healthy.
Now consider Bruce Arena, the Galaxy manager. He is 62 years old, has managed for more than 20 years, was the United States head coach for eight years and would best be described as something between a smart ass and surly.
AND KEANE'S GOAL WAS SO GOOD THAT ARENA BOWED FOR IT.
Excellent catch. Now you are a god.
If you're ever lucky enough to make an awesome catch at a major league game, then you need to follow the blueprint of this Royals fan.
It's easy to get overwhelmed when the moment happens, so print this out and keep it in your wallet.
Here kitty, kitty, kitty.
There are plenty of occasions in life you don't want to see a black cat cross your path, even if you're not the superstitious type. Headlining this list is almost assuredly "While leading a NASCAR race."
Kevin Harvick was leading the Oral B 500 in Atlanta when this little kitty decided to wander onto the asphalt. Obviously the cat was okay, now it's the infield's problem.
I'm sorry for lying to you.
Tonight's first-half scores! Power-conference teams 31 Non-powers 0 Feel the rhythm!
— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) September 1, 2014
The college football Internet's biggest excitement so far: learning Baylor's pretty new stadium has faux brick.
For shame Baylor http://ift.tt/Y4pyzF
— Pod Katt (@valleyshook) September 1, 2014
As the NFL teaches us weekly, it's hard to have good games on Sundays.
Yeesh ...
The first game in a new stadium is always a fun affair, but this crush of the Baylor Line went a little beyond the pale.
If getting trampled is your favorite extracurricular activity, then Baylor is the school for you. Luckily it seems nobody was seriously hurt, because we've all heard those horrible post-Thanksgiving stories from Black Friday. The Baylor Line would be TERRIFYING if a $99 television was on the field.
All of the biggest transfer rumors, updated constantly until the deadline. Check out our done deals StoryStream, which only has confirmed transfers.
Personal terms have yet to be agreed and a medical still needs to be passed, but Manchester United have confirmed that they're ready to sign Daley Blind:
BREAKING: #mufc has reached agreement with Ajax to sign Daley Blind, subject to a medical and personal terms. http://ift.tt/1zWuqCo
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 30, 2014
Louis van Gaal is, of course, already quite familiar with the defender. The 24-year-old was included in the Netherlands World Cup squad, impressing many and scoring his first senior international goal in the third-place match against Brazil.
Clubs don't often take to social media to announce signings before they're finalized, unless they're tweeting photos of a player with wires strapped to his chest while he has a medical. This announcement, made before terms have even been reached with Blind, seems to point to the fact that United are rather desperate to be shown to be doing something to put a stop to the bleeding.
Manchester United have just one point thus far, having lost to Swansea in their first match, then drawing with Sunderland last weekend. They face Burnley today, however, so there's a chance they can bounce back.
This is your place to find all of the deals that have been completed on transfer deadline day. This space only includes deals announced by clubs. Check out our transfer rumors StoryStream.
Atlético Madrid have reached an agreement with Torino for the transfer of Italy forward Alessio Cerci, the defending La Liga champions announced on Sunday. Atléti, who've lacked a certain spark after the summer sale of Diego Costa -- they drew 1-1 in their opening match before scraping past newly-promoted Eibar on Saturday -- are obviously hoping that the 27-year-old, one of the top wide players in Serie A last year, will provide more firepower and pace to a flagging attack.
Cerci, formerly of Roma and Fiorentina, scored 13 goals in 36 league appearances in 2013/14, and is set to sign a three-year deal that will keep him at the Vicente Calderon through June 2017. Personal terms, however, have not been finalised, and Cerci still needs to undergo a medical before the move can be made official. Rumour has it that the fee will end up being around €19 million after bonuses, well worth it if he ends up reinvigorating Atléti's attack.
Stephane Mbia moved to Sevilla on loan last season after Queens Park Rangers were relegated, and they've decided to keep him around going forward. Instead of going back to QPR now that they're in the Premier League again, Mbia has opted to sign for the team he helped make Europa League champions.
Stéphane Mbia, nuevo jugador del #SevillaFC http://t.co/aeiQ59VFbh #SomosEquipo #SomosMbia http://ift.tt/1wWHcop
— Sevilla Fútbol Club (@SevillaFC) August 31, 2014
Sevilla have strengthened their squad with a large number of attacking midfielders and wingers this summer, but were short on players like Mbia. He's likely to provide a bit of steel to the center of their midfield, and he can fill in as a central defender as well.
Even though Mbia isn't the exact same type of player as Ivan Rakitic, they were in need of bodies in the center of midfield in light of his departure to Sevilla. They've seemingly opted to replace Rakitic's playmaking qualities with more advanced players, and will probably play with a slightly more defensive midfield this season.
Good sign, Air Force.
Sign above the visitor's tunnel leading into Falcon Stadium. Air Force's psychological intimidation is really subtle. http://ift.tt/1r0gxSw
— Steve Holley (@writerinblack) August 31, 2014
There's nothing new about stadiums having motivational statements on their walls to get the home team ready for the game, but this might be the first time we've seen visitors warned of their impending death. Such is the case at Air Force's Falcon Stadium, where opponents need to be well-aware of hypoxia.
This is probably a government-ordered disclaimer, but let's help with that bedside manner.
"Hi, thanks for making the trip. We really appreciate it. While on your stay at our stadium please be aware that if you start to lose feeling in your extremities and begin having seizures that you might be dying. Enjoy your stay at Falcon Stadium."
Sorry ... we couldn't do any better.
Most players in the Atlético Madrid squad would be loath to depart the defending La Liga champions and last year's European Cup runners-up, but Toby Alderweireld is a special case. A first-choice defender for Belgium, Alderweireld has consistently found himself blocked at club level by the centre back duo of Diego Godin and Miranda and even his secondary position at right back is occupied by Juanfran. Alderweireld needs playing time, and he's willing to sacrifice Champions League football to get it.
Although the 25-year-old has been targetted by Newcastle United, it reports from Belgium are claiming that he'll join Southampton on loan instead:
Atlético Madrid and Southampton agreed terms on Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld. He'll sign tomorrow (by: @svenclaes)
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) August 31, 2014
Southampton will sign Toby Alderweireld on a 1 year loan. #saintsfc
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) August 31, 2014
It's a good signing for the Saints, who sold centre half Dejan Lovren to Liverpool earlier in the transfer window. With a one-year loan deal for Alderweireld, they won't see too much of a drop-off in defence, and considering how much money they made on the Lovren deal, you'd have to imagine that if they can pull this off there'll be plenty of happy faces at St. Mary's come September 2nd.
USA Basketball took three quarters to figure out a Turkish team that slowed the tempo and took Coach K's squad out of its game.
The rest of Team USA could use a little bit of Kenneth Faried's relentlessness. The forward led the United States with 22 points and eight rebounds in a testy 98-77 victory against Turkey on Sunday. It was far from the 114-55 blowout against Finland a day prior.
USA's second win in the FIBA World Cup was filled with lessons stemming from a smart gameplan on the part of the Turkish squad.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski's squad trailed 40-35 at the half. Even against the USA's pressuring defense that forced turnovers with ease, Turkey hung close as the ball stuck in the United States offense. The Americans' sleepiness showed most on blown coverages on two inbound plays and once again by getting cherry-picked by Turkey in the fullcourt.
USA trailed in the rebounding department 21-12 at the half, and though the guards began to break down the Turkish zone, turnovers on bad passes were as common as field goal makes.
Krzyzewski implemented a fullcourt defense to start the second half, and the USA finally began getting into its early offense much more decisively. Things started going the Americans' way.
Davis, who was limited with foul trouble in the first half, finally got involved, scoring 11 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Pelicans forward finished with 19 points and six rebounds as he and Faried combined to shoot 19-for-25 from the floor, many of which came in the second half as the pace finally tilted in the Americans' favor.
Some of the damage came like so.
Still, things were testy for the United States through the third despite the change in schemes. Turkey, carrying a growing confidence from the first half, continued breaking down the Americans off the bounce in the third quarter. The United States defense held strong in the paint but Turkey kept itself within six points heading to the fourth by targeting corner three-point looks -- they hit five corner threes in the third.
The United States continued pressing and opened the fourth with a flurry, scoring 10 straight to break the game open.
The Americans shot just 37 percent in the first quarter and were tied with Turkey at 16 apiece. A baiting zone defense by Turkey collapsed well and forced USA to take nine of its 19 field goal attempts behind the three-point arc -- only one of those shots went in. The only offensive success for the USA came in the fullcourt, and Turkish center Omer Asik bullied the Americans in the halfcourt.
USA fixed its turnover issues in the second half and found easier looks, but there will be plenty of lessons to take from the win. Avoiding complacency might be one. Another could be how to adjust on the fly -- faster.
FC Kansas City are the champions of NWSL.
TUKWILA, Wash. - What was supposed to be a coronation day for one of the greatest women's soccer teams in North American history instead turned into a story of redemption.
FC Kansas City got a pair of goals from Amy Rodriguez off two assists from Lauren Holiday to beat the Seattle Reign 2-1 in the NWSL Championship Game on Sunday in front of 4,252 fans. FCKC, who has quietly been the 2-year-old league's most consistent team, clinically finished their chances while a Reign team that had dominated the league all season struggled to find the final touch.
The NWSL championship gives KC their first piece of silverware, redemption for an inaugural season in which they lost out on the NWSL Shield on a tiebreaker and blew a 2-0 lead at home in the semifinals. KC had also posted the second best regular-season record this season.
As they had in compiling a 16-2-6 record, the Reign dominated possession throughout and looked the far better side for the first 20 minutes, as KC struggled to get out of their own end.
But the first real chance from either side came in the 21st minute when Jenna Richmond got a good look from inside the penalty area after a series of poor Reign clearances. Her shot caromed off the post, though, seemingly allowing the Reign to escape danger.
About a minute later, though, Holiday got the ball on the break and put Rodriguez through on goal with only Reign goalkeeper Hope Solo to beat. Although Elli Reed was nearly able to close down from behind, Rodriguez little chipped her shot over the on-rushing Solo for a 1-0 lead.
That seemed to wake the Reign up, who suddenly got far more direct. Jess Fishlock put Kim Little in on Nicole Barnhardt with a ball over the top, but the FCKC goalkeeper was able to make an acrobatic kick save on the tight-angled shot to the near post.
The Reign continued to press and Little appeared to have set up the equalizer in the 30th minute. After making a nice run to generate an open look down the sideline, Little put in a perfect cross to Nahomi Kawasumi who was unmarked in front of goal. But Kawasumi's header somehow skimmed wide of the net.
The second half saw KC come out in an even more defensive setup, which seemed to frustrate the Reign attack. The Reign's best look at an equalizer was when Kawasumi somehow got her foot to a ball at the far post from a Rapinoe cross but Barnhardt was there to make the save.
As much as KC may have lacked the ball, they still managed to grab a 2-0 lead off an absolutely amazing bit of individual play from Holiday. After collecting the ball at the edge of the penalty area, Holiday fought off and dribbled around at least three Reign defenders before putting the ball back across the goal where Rodriguez finished it with a sliding effort inside the far post.
With KC showing virtually no interest in building that lead, the Reign attacked relentlessly over the final 30-odd minutes. But it wasn't until the 84th minute when real chances started to come. That's when Rapinoe had a shot deflected off the post and then three minutes later Mariah Nogueria's header went off the crossbar. Following a scramble, Rapinoe finally got the Reign on the scoreboard when her shot through traffic found the back of the net.
That started off a wild finish in which the Reign threw numbers forward. Keelin Winters had a good look from the top of the penalty area, but her shot was blocked in the 88th minute. Fishlock and Rapinoe had even better looks in stoppage time, but both of them sent open looks from about 12 yards wide.
There's a famous 11-minute video of James Harden's terrible defense during the 2013-14 season. He's been generally good for Team USA thus far ... at least until this play. This is about as bad as it gets.
We think this mask is appropriate.
Kyrie Irving's alleys don't need an oop:
There are bad own goals, and then there is this.
St. Etienne goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier will not look back fondly on Sunday's match. But we will.
That's because we like funny things and him putting the ball in his own net is hilarious. That he slides back trying to get it and is sitting in his own goal as Paris Saint-Germain celebrate is just perfect.
The good news for Ruffier is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat trick and St. Etienne lost 4-0 anyway, so this goal didn't really matter that much. And thus concludes an own goal so bad that a goalkeeper giving up four goals isn't the worst part of his day.
Not cool.
If you've ever watched the PBA or read Rafe Bartholomew's Pacific Rims, you know sneaky dirtiness is particularly popular in basketball in the Philippines. Greece's Kostas Papanikolaou learned that the hard way when L.A. Tenorio gave him a little downstairs high-five toward the end of Greece's win Sunday:
Unnecessary. Funny, but unnecessary.
TFC have sacked the embattled Ryan Nelsen and will hope that Greg Vanney can take them to the playoffs for the first time ever.
Toronto FC have fired manager Ryan Nelsen and replaced him with Greg Vanney. Vanney has been given the permanent post, as TFC have opted against an interim coach. Toronto are still putting together the rest of the coaching staff, with one of Nelsen's assistants offered a job to stay on, but Vanney will have to fill out the rest of the crew.
Nelsen's dismissal isn't a surprise considering the criticism surrounding him as a manager. He was hired prior to last season with no coaching experience and struggled. Many thought he was on the hot seat this season, especially with the club having made a slew of expensive signings, and while the team was improved, it wasn't one of the league's best as expected.
Saturday's 3-0 loss to the New England Revolution may have sealed Nelsen's fate, but he made sure he wouldn't be staying on as manager when he had some hard words for general manager Tim Bezbatchenko after the match. Nelsen said that Bezbatchenko's statements before the match about the team needing to "take it up a notch" were not helpful, criticizing his decision to take things public instead of keeping his thoughts inside the club.
Bezbatchenko didn't hire Nelsen, having joined the club before this season with Nelsen already in place, so it's unlikely that he had much loyalty to the manager. That the team has just three wins since the World Cup break probably didn't help Nelsen's standing either. Vanney has no managerial experience, but he did spend two years as an assistant coach at Chivas USA after his retirement as a player.
Toronto currently sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but just two points from falling out of a playoff spot. They still have the top end stars in Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe, although Bradley has struggled of late and Defoe is injured. But with ownership spending roughly $100 million to bring the pair in before the season and join a squad that is significantly more talented than TFC has ever had before, the expectation is not just to make the playoffs for the first time in club history, but to make a run at MLS Cup.
Right now, the focus is on just getting into the playoffs, but it will not be Nelsen doing it. The man who joined the club as a surprise hire is now gone, and Vanney has been brought in to guide the team into the postseason for the first time.
The SB Nation Fantasy War Room is live until 9 p.m. ET. Trying to figure out your last minute lineup decisions? Have thoughts on a trade or a waiver pick-up? We're here for you!
Welcome back to the War Room! This marks the third season of a chat room that offers you the most extensive fantasy football advice on the Internet. In 2012, SB Nation created a live chat called the Fantasy War Room, in order to help you better prepare for your fantasy football drafts and weekly lineup decisions. Unlike other chats that are for an hour or two on game day, the Fantasy War Room is live several hours a day, for virtually the entire season.
The War Room was launched in order to help people in this era of the 24-hour news cycle. A Top 200 ranking is helpful, but even waiting a couple days to update it can leave a fantasy football player hopelessly out of date. The War Room will be able to provide you answers on the latest breaking news, and how it impacts your fantasy draft board.
Today, we go live every day until the 2014 NFL season kicks off in less than three weeks! We'll be live today from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. Until the Sept. 4 opener, we will be live from 6 to 10 p.m. during the week, and 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. If you have questions when we are not around, feel free to hit us up at @sbnationfantasy.
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Atlético Madrid have reached an agreement with Torino for the transfer of Italy forward Alessio Cerci, the defending La Liga champions announced on Sunday. Atléti, who've lacked a certain spark after the summer sale of Diego Costa -- they drew 1-1 in their opening match before scraping past newly-promoted Eibar on Saturday -- are obviously hoping that the 27-year-old, one of the top wide players in Serie A last year, will provide more firepower and pace to a flagging attack.
Cerci, formerly of Roma and Fiorentina, scored 13 goals in 36 league appearances in 2013/14, and is set to sign a three-year deal that will keep him at the Vicente Calderon through June 2017. Personal terms, however, have not been finalised, and Cerci still needs to undergo a medical before the move can be made official. Rumour has it that the fee will end up being around €19 million after bonuses, well worth it if he ends up reinvigorating Atléti's attack.
He got an assist. He got an assist with his #butt.
Congratulations to Andre Carrillo, the wonderful owner of the butt assist. He, being the brave man that he is, put his butt in harm's way to create a goal and a place for himself in the Butt Hall of Fame.
And then there is Islam Slimani, the villain in all of this. He just had to run in and knock the ball over the line from a yard out, making this a butt assist instead of a butt goal. He is a ruiner of butt fun.
Also relevant: Goalkeeper Artur's play is so bad that it would normally be a show stopper, and laugh track starter. That he did it in the Lisbon Derby only makes it funnier. But then a butt got involved so he is spared (kinda, not really).
Dan Rubenstein and Ryan Nanni catch you up on the things that mattered most during college football's opening weekend.
New AC Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi started his tenure with a season-opening 3-1 win over Lazio on Sunday.
Filippo Inzaghi made a dream start to life as AC Milan coach with a 3-1 victory at home to Lazio on Sunday. The rossoneri endured a terrible pre-season under their new tactician, though things came together surprisingly well in their Serie A season opener.
They netted the game's opening goal less than 10 minutes into the match, when they struck Lazio on a quick counter-attack down the left. Stephan El Shaarawy found space in behind Dušan Basta out wide, before delivering a lethal ball for his teammate Keisuke Honda to slot beyond Lazio goalkeeper Etrit Berisha.
Despite the lively opening, it certainly wasn't the most entertaining half, with both sides set up to play on the break. Milan's mobile front three of El Shaarawy, Honda and Jérémy Ménez searched for space in behind the Lazio defence, and the visitors looking to break through Antonio Candreva out wide. However, they both cancelled each other out in the centre of midfield, and few opportunities were created.
At the halftime whistle, Honda's opener was Milan's only shot on target of the entire match. Lazio, too, had hit the target just once, when Candreva's effort from the edge of the box was comfortably caught by rossoneri debutant Diego López. It wasn't the most riveting start to the new season.
Lazio came out after the restart looking a little more proactive; forcing Milan deep for the first time in the match. However, their added pressure unwittingly played straight into Milan's hands, by leaving them space in behind to counter-attack into. The rossoneri made Lazio pay by doubling their advantage just short of the hour, when Sulley Muntari broke into the penalty area to prod Ignazio Abate's cross beyond Berisha.
The visitors' evening went from bad to worse within 10 minutes, when Ménez was bundled over in the penalty area by defender Stefan de Vrij, and the referee pointed to the spot. The fouled Frenchman promptly dispatched the spot-kick, seemingly wrapping up the points for the rossoneri.
However, Lazio hadn't quite given up yet. They pulled one back from nowhere three minutes later, when Candreva teased the ball into the penalty area for substitute Filip Đorđević to lash home -- albeit via a heavy deflection off defender Alex.
The goal gave Lazio extra impetus heading into the final 20 minutes, with Milan sinking deeper and deeper towards their own goal. Lazio's best chance to pull another goal back fell to Candreva from the penalty in stoppage time, after he was tripped in the box by Abate. However, his weak penalty was palmed away by López, with Milan hanging on for a 3-1 win.
It's a great start for the rossoneri under Inzaghi, but Lazio evidently still have plenty of work to do under their new coach Stefano Pioli.
AC Milan: López; Bonera, Zapata, Alex, Abate; Muntari (Essien 68'), De Jong, Poli; El Shaarawy, Ménez (Niang 82'), Honda (Armero 77').
Goals: Honda (7'), Muntari (56'), (Ménez pen. 64').
Lazio: Berisha; Radu, Cana, De Vrij, Basta; Lulić (Mauri 73'), Biglia, Parolo; Keita (Anderson 60'), Klose (Đorđević 59'), Candreva.
Goals: Alex (o.g. 67').
Barcelona faces an early season test with a trip to El Madrigal to face Villarreal, while Real Madrid travels to face struggling Real Sociedad.
The defending champions Atlético Madrid stumbled out of the blocks with a scoreless draw against Rayo Vallecano. Atléti looked tired after their Spanish Super Cup triumph the week before, lacking their usual energy especially in the final 15 minutes of the match. Head coach Diego Simeone will once again be forced to watch the match from the stands as he continues to seve his eight match ban.
Real Sociedad could find themselves in an early season hole as they look to rebound from an opening round loss by hosting Real Madrid. Los Blancos were hardly impressive on Monday against newly promoted Cordoba, but they still won thanks to their wealth of talent. After a week of rest and training, Carlo Ancelotti will expect a strong performance from his players.
The 'Game of the Week' for this round is Barcelona vs. Villarreal on Sunday at El Madrigal. After a fairly pedestrian tune-up match at home against Elche in round 1, Barca hit the road for the first of two straight early season tests. The Yellow Submarine got their season off to a good start with a 2-0 win over Levante, and would love nothing more than to knock off the Blaugrana to open their home schedule. Despite playing Barca tough twice last season, Villarreal was unable to get a victory in either league match.
Here's the full schedule for round two in La Liga:
Getafe vs. Almeria | 2 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. CEST
Valencia vs. Malaga | 4 p.m. ET, 10 p.m. CEST
Athletic Bilbao vs. Levante | 1 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CEST
Cordoba vs. Celta Vigo | 1 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CEST
Atlético Madrid vs. Eibar | 3 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. CEST
Espanyol vs. Sevilla | 5 p.m. ET, 11 p.m. CEST
Villarreal vs. Barcelona | 1 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CEST
Deportivo La Coruña vs. Rayo Vallecano | 3 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. CEST
Real Sociedad vs. Real Madrid | 3 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. CEST
Elche vs. Granada | 5 p.m. ET, 11 p.m. CEST
Alexis Sánchez's opening goal was cancelled out by Leonardo Ulloa as the Gunners dropped points for the second straight week.
Arsenal had managed to earn three points through late goals so far in this young season, but there was no late escape for them against Leicester in the King Power Stadium. Although Alexis Sánchez handed the Gunners an early lead, the Foxes fought back bravely and gave as good as they got, securing a 1-1 draw and leaving Arsenal four points adrift from the top just three games in.
The opening minutes were relatively quiet, but the match got going in a hurry following a clash of heads between Arsenal centre half Laurent Koscielny Jefferey Schlupp on the Leicester right. Koscielny came off by far the worse, and although he eventually re-emerged after lengthy treatment (and wearing what appeared to be a swimming cap) the clash had an undeniable impact on the game.
Initially, the Gunners were galvanised by the injury -- despite going down to ten men they stepped up through the gears and swiftly scored the opening goal. Santi Cazorla did brilliantly, scooping the ball over the Foxes' back line for Yaya Sanogo to run onto, and although the young striker's attempted square ball for Alexis Sánchez was sloppy, he got enough on it for the star signing to sneak between Leicester's centre backs and poke beyond Kasper Schmeichel.
But Leicester, who stole a point from Everton in the opener and gave Chelsea several scares at Stamford Bridge in week two, were hardly going to give up, and were back on equal terms just two minutes later. Schlupp burst once more down the left, and his high cross to the back post was horrendously misjudged by Koscielny and nodded in by Leonardo Ulloa.
That turned out to be the last straw for Koscielny, who trudged off to be replaced by Calum Chambers. The substitute had plenty of problems in containing the hosts, who worked very hard through both David Nugent and Riyad Mahrez to keep Wojciech Szczesny's goal under pressure.
Ulloa should have made it 2-1 Leicester early the second half. Played through with a clever diagonal from Mahrez, the striker set Chambers down, shifted the ball to his right foot, and fired into the side netting when it looked easier to score. Then, on the hour mark, the hosts worked the ball into position for Nugent to take a pop only for Chambers to pop up with a vital block.
There were chances at the other end of the pitch as well. Sanogo, played one-on-one by Nacho Monreal, saw his angle shot well saved by Schmeichel, and Cazorla nearly saw a deflected long-ranger drop onto the roof of the net with the goalkeeper well beaten.
Arsenal were doing their best to fight for the points, but were dealt another blow with 11 minutes to go. Having just made a double substitution and thus running out of changes, Arsene Wenger was treated to the unfortunate sight of Mesut Özil sliding off the pitch and tweaking his ankle. The playmaker soldiered on after substantial treatment, but he clearly wasn't happy.
The Gunners were very nearly torn apart within seconds of Özil returning to the field. From an Arsenal corner, Leicester substitute Jamie Vardy burst through the centre of the pitch, exchanged passes with Danny Drinkwater, and blasted an effort towards the far corner which Szczesny did very well to save.
That, however, proved to be the last real chance of the match. There was no last Arsenal surge, and Leicester claimed an important point after navigating a very tough stretch with just one loss.
Leicester City starting lineup (4-4-2): Kasper Schmeichel; Paul Konchesky, Liam Moore, Wes Morgan, Ritchie de Laet; Jefferey Schlup (Jamie Vardy 70'), Andy King, Dean Hammond, Riyad Mahrez (Marc Albrighton 64'); David Nugent, Leonardo Ulloa (Danny Drinkwater 77').
Goals: Ulloa 22'.
Arsenal starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Wojciech Szczesny; Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny (Calum Chambers 27'), Per Mertesacker, Mathieu Debuchy; Mathieu Flamini, Aaron Ramsey; Santi Cazorla (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 77'), Mesut Özil, Alexis Sánchez; Yaya Sanogo (Lukas Podolski 77').
Goals: Sanchez 20'.
Flying through the air and contorting your body is hard, but David Lafata made it look easy. And cool. And he scored.
Czech club Jablonec were good to David Lafata. He played more than 160 matches for them and they did nothing but love him. Then last year he signs with Sparta Prague and when they played Jablonec on Sunday, how did he repay his former club?
By doing this to them. By crushing Jablonec with a dirty, filthy, amazing goal.
Has he no conscience? No love? No mercy?
He does not, thankfully.
Shinji Kagawa's horror stay at Manchester United is over. He is back at Borussia Dortmund.
Shinji Kagawa is back with Borussia Dortmund. The midfielder, who starred for BVB before moving onto Manchester United, has been sold back to the German club in a move that he hopes will reignite his career.
Borussia Dortmund confirmed the deal, which comes the day before the transfer deadline. Manchester United will reportedly get €8 million for Kagawa, which is about half of what they paid for him two years ago.
Kagawa was supposed to be an impact signing at Old Trafford, having torn apart the Bundesliga, but he never found his feet with the Red Devils. He struggled right away, and the reasoning most gave was that he was being played out wide and out of position. But he didn't fare much better centrally. Simply, he never played well there, and having three managers in a little over two years there probably didn't help.
It got so bad for Kagawa that he wasn't even an impact player for Japan. His confidence was at an all-time low this summer and was dropped from the starting XI in one of the World Cup matches.
Now he is going back to the club he played incredibly for, where the same manager is in place, and they are in need of attacking help. BVB have to get more production from their midfield with Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich now, and a midfield of Kagawa and Marco Reus might be just the trick.
Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY
The chainsaw is an Oregon State (and state of Oregon) thing, seeing as it is the piece of equipment that best enables a human to perform the duties of a beaver, OSU's mascot. These fans at Saturday's Portland State game added musical elements, albeit ones differing from those offered by the school itself:
Villa dominated for most of the match, but a late fightback from Hull City made the margin of victory far closer than it needed to be.
This should have been more comfortable for Aston Villa, who completely dominated most of the game and would have been surprised to only emerge from their clash with Hull City with a one-goal win. But the late blip that let the visitors back in won't matter too much to Paul Lambert: his team put in perhaps their best performance of the young season, and they claimed a vital three points to boot.
Villa started strong and refused to let up, holding possession with ease against the visitors and causing them serious problems whenever they went forward. Fabian Delph nearly opened the scoring inside two minutes, squeezing his way through the defence and then blasting off the near post from a narrow angle, but Hull's let-off was only temporary. 10 minutes later, the hosts were ahead.
Midfield dominance isn't normally a hallmark of Villa's game, but they crushed the Tigers in the first half, picking them off with ease whenever they tried to move the ball through the central third. Eventually the interceptions were going to lead to a goal, and so it proved -- a wayward pass from the back eventually found its way to Andreas Weimann, whose quick pass to Gabriel Agbonlahor afforded the striker enough time to turn at the top of the box and fire past Allan McGregor to make it 1-0.
After the goal, Villa might have been forgiven for resting on their laurels, but there was no letup in their play. Hull were pinned in their own half, the visitors only chances coming from their rare set pieces. The intensity of Villa's play meant that a second goal was inevitable, and it arrived in the 36th minute. New Hull signing Michael Dawson coughed up the ball to Delph, who passed wide for Kieran Richardson. The visitors' defence panicked, leaving Weimann alone in the middle, and the Austrian was duly picked out, a simple finish making it 2-0.
Villa might have added to their lead just before the break through a thumping Ashley Westwood free kick, which beat McGregor but cannoned off the near post and was scrambled to safety. But the intensity dropped after the interval, perhaps thanks to a halftime formation from the visitors that turned their back three into a four, a switch that game Hull at least some measure of control.
It seemed too little too late -- until Nikica Jelavic headed against Aly Cissohko and past the hitherto untroubled Brad Guzan with 15 minutes to go. Suddenly Villa were under pressure, and Guzan was called into action just minutes later thanks to Jake Livermore's curling drive. But, faced with this surprising storm, the hosts' back line held out, and Guzan's smart save when Sonny Aluko found himself free in the box in stoppage time ensured victory. That's seven points from nine -- perhaps Villa will be able to avoid the relegation battle this season?
Aston Villa starting lineup (4-3-3): Brad Guzan; Aly Cissokho, Philippe Senderos, Ron Vlaar, Alan Hutton; Kieran Richardson (Jack Grealish 75'), Fabian Delph, Ashley Westwood; Charles N’Zogbia (Carlos Sanchez 64'), Gabriel Agbonlahor, Andreas Weimann.
Goals: Agbonlahor 14', Weimann 36'.
Hull City starting lineup (3-5-2): Allan McGregor; Curtis Davies (Liam Rosenior 45'), Michael Dawson, Paul McShane; Andrew Robertson, Stephen Quinn, Tom Huddlestone (Sonny Aluko 71'), Jake Livermore, Ahmed Elmohamady; Tom Ince (Robbie Brady 58'), Nikica Jelavic.
Liverpool put in an impressive performance to demolish Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on Sunday.
Liverpool smashed Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at White Hart Lane on Sunday, as Mauricio Pochettino suffered his first defeat as Spurs boss. Goals from Raheem Sterling, Steven Gerrard and Alberto Moreno guaranteed a handsome victory for Brendan Rodgers' outfit.
The game kicked off at an extraordinarily high-tempo, and it took just three minutes for Liverpool to create the first clear-cut chance of the match. A Daniel Sturridge cross from the left was met in the penalty area by debutant Mario Balotelli, whose point-blank header was tipped away by Hugo Lloris.
Within five minutes, Liverpool had managed to beat the French goalkeeper. A swift counter-attack culminated in Jordan Henderson penetrating the Spurs defence before rolling the ball across for Raheem Sterling to tap in at the far post. Despite seeing much of the early possession, Spurs had a mountain to climb.
The hosts' best early chance fell to Emmanuel Adebayor, who was sent through by Nabil Bentaleb within a minute of the opening goal, only to lob the ball over Simon Mignolet's goal. Otherwise, Liverpool still looked in the ascendency, with Sturridge lashing a shot wide from the edge of the penalty area before Balotelli nodded a Steven Gerrard free-kick past Hugo Lloris' post.
Eventually the game settled into a slower rhythm, with Spurs seeing more of the possession but struggling to ever break the Liverpool defence down. They had to wait for 42 minutes before producing their only outstanding goalscoring opportunity of the first half, when Nacer Chadli sneaked into the penalty area to lash a volley straight at Mignolet.
The game was still tantalisingly poised as the players came out for the second half, but that changed within five minutes of the restart. A pull from Spurs defender Eric Dier on Liverpool's Joe Allen was enough to warrant a penalty, which Gerrard promptly dispatched to double the visitors' advantage.
10 minutes later, Liverpool had the points in the bag. Some poor Spurs defending gave the Reds' left-back Alberto Moreno acres of space down the left flank, with the Spaniard flying down the wing and into the penalty area unchallenged before dispatching a low drive inside Lloris' far post. Spurs needed to slip into damage limitation mode.
Things should have gone from bad to worse for the hosts with 20 minutes left on the clock, when some magical work from Sterling saw him duck and weave his way through their defence, only to fire his shot weakly at Lloris. The poor finish ensured Spurs limited their losses to just three goals.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Rose (Davies 72'), Vertonghen, Kaboul, Dier; Capoue, Bentaleb (Dembélé 59'); Chadli, Lamela, Eriksen (Townsend 59'); Adebayor.
Goals: None.
Liverpool: Mignolet; Moreno, Sakho, Lovren, Manquillo; Allen (Can 61'), Gerrard, Henderson; Sterling (Enrique 86'); Balotelli (Marković 62'), Sturridge.
Goals: Sterling (8'), Gerrard (pen. 49'), Moreno (59').
The 55th annual Oral-B USA 500 will be run at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night, with all eyes on Tony Stewart in his first race since the incident that killed Kevin Ward, Jr. ESPN will provide television coverage for the race, the 25th of 36 races in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and the penultimate race before The Chase begins.
Stewart will start the race in Row 6, qualifying in 12th place with a speed of 187.907 mph. Kevin Harvick starts in pole position for the sixth time this season.
ESPN begins pre-race coverage at 7 p.m. ET with host Mike Massaro and analysts Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace on "NASCAR Countdown."
Race coverage starts at 7:30 p.m., with the green flag expected at roughly 7:46 p.m. ESPN will have Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth, with Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Jim Noble and Vince Welch reporting from the pit.
In addition, Kasey Kahne -- currently 13th in points and trying to move up three spots to qualify for The Chase -- will be ESPN's in-race reporter, speaking from his car with Jarrett during pace laps and caution periods.
The race will also air live in Canada on TSN4, TSN5 and TSN6, and will be available online via Watch ESPN. The race is scheduled for re-air at 1 a.m. on Mon., Sep. 2 on ESPN2.
Jason Day and Ryan Palmer share the midpoint lead in Boston, where a secondary cut will need to be made on Sunday.
It's a Sunday on the PGA Tour, but at the Deutsche Bank Championship, that means we're only halfway home. The annual stop at TPC Boston is the only tournament on the schedule with a pre-planned Monday finish, utilizing the Labor Day holiday for the final round. The field, which started with 93 of the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup standings, was supposed to be cut down on Saturday night but only 13 players have been knocked out at this point. With 80 players still in the field, we'll have a secondary cut for the second straight week. Of the 80 players left, only the top 70 (and ties) will make it to the final 18 on Labor Day.
Two players who won't have to worry about the second cut on Sunday are Ryan Palmer and Jason Day. They sit on a share of the lead at 8-under, Day making his charge in the second round while Palmer held on after posting his opening 63 on Friday. They will anchor the tee sheet and go off No. 1 at 1:45 p.m. ET. The Tour is aiming for a finish right around 6 p.m., and with so many players still in the field and a switch over to twosomes off just one tee, they'll start sending them out bright and early just after 7 a.m.
Playing one group ahead of the leaders will be Matt Kuchar, the big mover in Saturday's second round. Kuchar drained six straight birdies at one point to rocket into the lead. It was the longest birdie streak of his decorated career, but there were some bumps scattered in that prevented a super low-60s round. His 5-under 66 puts him a shot off the pace, and in safe range to post a career-best 12th top 10 this year. Given his track record, he's probably the favorite among the group on the first page of the leaderboard. And he's also the sentimental favorite too -- Kuchar is playing this week without his usual caddie, Lance Bennett, whose wife passed away suddenly earlier in the week.
The No. 1 player in the world, Rory McIlroy, is still within striking distance although he's not overwhelming the course and field like he did during his win streak this summer. McIlroy is five shots back, sticking at 3-under and unable to post a number yet in Boston. Fortunately, this is the kind of course where a big move is possible. It's a long but gettable layout, suiting McIlroy's near-perfection off the tee this summer. So we could easily see a round of 62 or 63 from Rory that puts him right on top of the leaderboard and back to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings after this week. He'll start his third round at 12:05 p.m. alongside Chris Kirk.
Here's the full tee sheet for Sunday's third round at TPC Boston:
| Tee Time | Players | |
| 7:15 AM | Marc Leishman | Andres Romero |
| 7:25 AM | J.B. Holmes | William McGirt |
| 7:35 AM | Brendan Steele | Daniel Summerhays |
| 7:45 AM | Cameron Tringale | John Huh |
| 7:55 AM | Steven Bowditch | Graham DeLaet |
| 8:05 AM | Scott Stallings | Jerry Kelly |
| 8:15 AM | Hunter Mahan | Brendon de Jonge |
| 8:25 AM | Matt Jones | Freddie Jacobson |
| 8:35 AM | David Hearn | Charl Schwartzel |
| 8:45 AM | Brian Stuard | Luke Donald |
| 8:55 AM | Scott Langley | Shawn Stefani |
| 9:05 AM | Andrew Svoboda | Stewart Cink |
| 9:15 AM | Ryan Moore | Bubba Watson |
| 9:25 AM | Phil Mickelson | Ernie Els |
| 9:35 AM | Bo Van Pelt | Will MacKenzie |
| 9:45 AM | Hideki Matsuyama | Scott Brown |
| 9:55 AM | Jeff Overton | Billy Hurley III |
| 10:05 AM | K.J. Choi | Brian Harman |
| 10:15 AM | Geoff Ogilvy | Jason Bohn |
| 10:25 AM | Gary Woodland | Michael Putnam |
| 10:35 AM | Adam Scott | Kevin Stadler |
| 10:45 AM | George McNeill | Camilo Villegas |
| 10:55 AM | Charles Howell III | Matt Every |
| 11:05 AM | Morgan Hoffmann | Kevin Chappell |
| 11:15 AM | Ian Poulter | Carl Pettersson |
| 11:25 AM | Jimmy Walker | Jason Kokrak |
| 11:35 AM | Henrik Stenson | John Senden |
| 11:45 AM | Vijay Singh | Robert Streb |
| 11:55 AM | Kevin Streelman | Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano |
| 12:05 PM | Chris Kirk | Rory McIlroy |
| 12:15 PM | Chesson Hadley | Danny Lee |
| 12:25 PM | Rickie Fowler | Zach Johnson |
| 12:35 PM | Chris Stroud | Jim Furyk |
| 12:45 PM | Martin Kaymer | Ben Crane |
| 12:55 PM | Seung-Yul Noh | Jordan Spieth |
| 1:05 PM | Webb Simpson | Russell Knox |
| 1:15 PM | Patrick Reed | Keegan Bradley |
| 1:25 PM | Bill Haas | Russell Henley |
| 1:35 PM | Matt Kuchar | Billy Horschel |
| 1:45 PM | Ryan Palmer | Jason Day |
The Tigers' late surge was too much for the young Badgers to withstand.
For three quarters, Wisconsin was running LSU out of the building. The Badgers were dominating the Tigers on both lines of scrimmage and appeared to be on the verge of making themselves the clear favorite in the Big Ten West. But LSU's defense dug deep and came up with some big second-half stops and turnovers, giving its offense just enough of a jump start to get back in the game and mount an impressive comeback from a 24-7 third quarter deficit.
Late in the game, LSU started winning the battle up front and Wisconsin seemed to completely lose its composure. Having Melvin Gordon miss large chunks of the final quarter didn't help, but Tanner McEvoy seemed exceptionally rattled, throwing a pair of devastating interceptions just as the Tigers' offense was getting a head of steam.
1. LSU's offense is talented but enigmatic. Even for a team that reloads as effortlessly as LSU does, replacing Zach Mettenberger, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham, and Jeremy Hill wasn't going to be easy. Saturday night was the proof of that. New starting quarterback Anthony Jennings and the Tigers' stable of blue chip running backs sputtered through most of the first three quarters but made big plays late in the game. LSU's veteran offensive line should provide the new faces at the skill positions with time to mature, but there could be some growing pains early.
2. Wisconsin's rushing attack is as good as advertised. Even if SEC defenses aren't quite what they once were, running roughshod over one of the conferences most prestigious teams is going to turn some heads. Melvin Gordon was a preseason Heisman contender, and he did nothing but bolster his status as one of the nation's best running backs with his performance against LSU. He gained 140 yards on just 16 carries, and not until got injured and left the game in the fourth quarter did Gordon look remotely stoppable.
3. Wisconsin's passing game is going to be a problem ... for Wisconsin. 2014 is a year of transition for the Badgers' passing game. They lost their top three pass-catchers from 2013 and converted safety Tannery McEvoy has taken overtaken incumbent quarterback Joel Stave. McEvoy showed on Saturday night that he's a great athlete but still incredibly raw as a passer. He completed just eight of 24 pass attempts for a total of 50 yards, and a few throws that were just comically inaccurate, including a late interception that essentially sealed Wisconsin's fate. Melvin Gordon is very good, but he can't carry the entire offense on his back. If the Badgers are going to have a shot at winning the Big Ten West, the passing attack needs to improve dramatically.
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Another Giants starting pitcher is threatening a no hitter, this time it's Jake Peavy. He is through seven innings against Milwaukee.
Giants starter Jake Peavy has a no-hitter through seven innings against the Brewers on Saturday night at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
The Giants lead Milwaukee, 3-0.
Peavy retired the first nine batters he faced before walking Carlos Gomez to open the fourth inning. Peavy has walked three on the night while striking out seven. He has thrown 99 pitches through seven innings.
San Francisco acquired Peavy from the Red Sox for minor league pitchers Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree on July 26. This is the second time in seven starts with the Giants that he has taken a no-hitter into at least the seventh inning. He had a no-hitter broken up with one out in the seventh inning against the Mets on Aug. 2, an inning that saw Peavy allow four runs in a loss.
Peavy's strikeout of Aramis Ramirez in the second inning on Saturday was his third of the night and the 2,000th of Peavy's career, the 72nd pitcher in major league history to reach that plateau.
Giants starter Jake Peavy has a no-hitter through seven innings against the Brewers on Saturday night at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
The Giants lead Milwaukee, 3-0.
Peavy retired the first nine batters he faced before walking Carlos Gomez to open the fourth inning. Peavy has walked three on the night while striking out seven. He has thrown 99 pitches through seven innings.
San Francisco acquired Peavy from the Red Sox for minor league pitchers Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree on July 26. This is the second time in seven starts with the Giants that he has taken a no-hitter into at least the seventh inning. He had a no-hitter broken up with one out in the seventh inning against the Mets on Aug. 2, an inning that saw Peavy allow four runs in a loss.
Peavy's strikeout of Aramis Ramirez in the second inning on Saturday was his third of the night and the 2,000th of Peavy's career, the 72nd pitcher in major league history to reach that plateau.
A dominant Kevin Harvick made it look easy in winning the Atlanta Nationwide Series race.
Leaving no doubt who had the best car, Kevin Harvick stormed to a dominant Nationwide Series victory Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Harvick never relinquished the lead after passing pole-sitter Chase Elliott on Lap 37 -- the only lead of the night -- and was out front for the final 159 circuits. It was Harvick's third series victory of the year and 43rd overall.
"This thing was bad fast from the drop of the green flag," Harvick said in Victory Lane. "It's just one of those race tracks where I like the challenge of everything you get to do here."
Joey Logano finished a distant second, with Kyla Larson in third and Kyle Busch fourth. Asked if he had a chance to catch and pass Harvick, Logano was blunt with his assessment.
"He was better everywhere," Logano said.
A teammate of Harvick's, Elliott looked like he was going to make it a 1-2 result for JR Motorsports. But Elliott slid through his stall on the last pit stops of the night and fell to fifth.
"I made a mistake, absolutely unacceptable and you can't do that," Elliott said. "That's disappointing. I'm frustrated with myself because my guys deserved to finish second tonight and I didn't get the job done for them."
Because of Harvick's blistering pace only nine drivers finished on the lead lap. Regan Smith, Brian Scott, David Ragan, Ty Dillon and Elliott Sadler completed the top 10 finishers.
Elliott continues to lead the standings over Smith, also driving for JRM. With 10 races remaining Elliott holds a 13-point advantage. The 18-year-old is attempting to become the first rookie to win the Nationwide championship.
28 yards and just about the entire Oklahoma State defense stood between Jameis Winston and the end zone, but that didn't matter:
A hurdle, a juke, and just enough power and speed to burst past the last few defenders into the end zone, and yep, that's the guy who won the Heisman last year. (Never mind that the hurdle is actually over his own player.) He hasn't looked perfect tonight -- two picks -- but my goodness, that move.
Air Jameis!
After the run, the reigning champs now lead 27-17, which is pretty uncomfortable by their standards last year.
Uh-oh.
UH-OH.
Sad dudes in costumes, sure, but let's not overlook the horrified fan in front of them.
Look, if a large kicker dances, we are going to set it to "Pony." Those are the rules.
Rafael Gaglianone is a true freshman for Wisconsin. He's 5'11 and 230 pounds, which is more linebacker weight than kicker weight. And after drilling his first career field goal, a 51-yarder, the Brazilian native showed he knows how to samba with all 230 of those pounds:
Yes, we added Pony to this:
We are now Rafaele Gaglianone fans.
Florida's season opener against Idaho was delayed until 9:50 p.m.. from its original 7 p.m. start time. That represents a significant bummer for the fans in attendance at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but at least we got some cool lightning pictures out of it.
It started out looking like a great day to play football in Gainesville. The sun was out, the field was looking well-maintained, and Florida fans were beginning to pile into The Swamp in hopes of seeing the Gators' make their disappointing 2013 campaign a distant memory.
Field looks great for the #Gators' season opener - http://ift.tt/1ucWj7J
— Thomas Goldkamp (@Goldkamp247) August 30, 2014 But then the radar started looking rather ominous about an hour ahead of the originally scheduled 7 p.m. start.
Update: cell approaching #UF & #Gainesville now should pass through by approx 7:50. Lightning possible until then. http://ift.tt/1ucWlMI
— WRUF Weather (@WRUFWeather) August 30, 2014 Around 7 p.m. the rain started to pour and the game was officially delayed.
When it rains it pours! #UFvsIDA @GatorZoneFB #inallkindsofweather #ItsGreatUF http://ift.tt/1ucWjo1
— Kan Li (@kanli) August 31, 2014
And then ... oh boy that doesn't look good.
Here's the scene in Gainesville, where the #Gators opener has been delayed by 2 hours so far http://t.co/yWmlaGhSpz http://ift.tt/1ucWjo9
— PB Post Sports (@pbpsports) August 31, 2014
You see, it's kinda funny because Ben Hill Griffin stadium is nicknamed "The Swamp" and tonight it actually looks like one.
Your latest this seems unlikely update - http://ift.tt/1ucWjob
— Thomas Goldkamp (@Goldkamp247) August 31, 2014 And then, after three hours of waiting in the rain, Florida fans finally got the sweet relief that only comes from watching Idaho Vandals football.
Another huge roar as officially announced on PA that weather delay is lifted. 10:00 put on the scoreboards.
— Thomas Goldkamp (@Goldkamp247) August 31, 2014 Gators are in the tunnel getting to run out. They are jacked.
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) August 31, 2014
On the first play of the game, Valdez Showers, whose surname is a meteorology term, nearly rain back the opening kickoff for a touchdown. And then - surprise, surprise - lightning struck again and the game was delayed some more. We'll keep you updated as to whether this game is ever actually going to get played.
The Hogs showed they were no pushover, but the Tigers ground out a win at home to start their 2014 season.
The Auburn Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks slugged it out to a tie through two quarters, but Auburn was able to pull away and earn a 45-21 win in a disjointed, weather-delayed second half.
The much-publicized contrast in styles between these two teams was fully evident from the start. Gus Malzahn's Tigers were frenetic, moving the ball as fast as they could and striking quickly. Starting in place of Nick Marshall, Jeremy Johnson had two touchdown passes in the first 17 minutes, and they were cutting through the Arkansas secondary virtually unopposed.
Bret Bielema's Razorbacks took the opposite approach, but it proved to be just as effective early on. The Hogs used their massive offensive line to bulldoze the Auburn front seven, giving Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams, and Korliss Marshall huge lanes to run through. Those lanes closed up in the second half, though, as the Tigers' defense clamped down and gave up just 46 yards in the final two quarters.
1. Auburn has the chops to repeat as SEC champions. The Tigers charged their way to an SEC title in 2013, helped in no small part by some incredibly lucky finishes against Georgia and Alabama. Few people would be surprised if they repeated in 2014, but it's just a matter of seeing them do it without needing so many improbable strokes of luck. They showed their quality on Saturday, and considering all the turnover across the SEC this year, they would have to be tabbed as the favorites as of now.
2. You can see the progress at Arkansas. As mentioned above, the defense is still clearly a work in progress, but you can start to see Bret Bielema's plan come together with the offense. The Hogs' offensive line is absolutely massive, and they were able to maul Auburn for pretty significant stretches in the first half. Combine that with a big stable of capable running backs lead by Alex Collins, and things aren't looking so bad. Brandon Allen had an up-and-down day, but it's already evident that the offense has taken a step forward in year two.
3. Auburn is pretty deep at quarterback. Jeremy Johnson and Nick Marshall each played a half under center for Auburn, and they both looked pretty great. Johnson went 13-17 for 243 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, and the offense really hummed. However, when Marshall came into the game in the third quarter, it completely changed the offense. His running ability gives them an added dimension that is just so difficult to stop, and despite Johnson's successful outing, it's clear why Marshall is the starter. Should Marshall be forced to miss extended time due to injury, Auburn fans can rest easy knowing they're in good hands.
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The Broncos released Duke Ihenacho, the Saints scrapped both kickers on their roster and more notable names who didn't make it through Saturday's roster cuts unscathed.
The final wave of NFL roster cuts got underway over the weekend, and all 32 teams made it down from 75 to 53 players by the 4 p.m. ET deadline on Saturday. There were some big names that are now eligible to be claimed on the waiver wire or signed on the open market. Here's some notables:
SS Duke Ihenacho
Duke Ihenacho started 17 games for the Broncos, including two playoff wins and a Super Bowl defeat. Ihenacho is a solid all-around safety who didn't struggle much last season ... outside of the aforementioned Super Bowl, unfortunately. He's also a solid special teams player, which is why it was so surprising he was released on Saturday. Denver brought in T.J. Ward this offseason, but seeing Ihenacho lose his roster spot entirely was unexpected. Then again, he might be able to earn a starting role with some team next season.
S C.J. Spillman
The San Francisco 49ers have had a stellar special teams unit for years, and over the past couple, that unit has been anchored by C.J. Spillman. He was once released for lacking special teams ability, and was instantly dominant when he joined the 49ers. He's one of the few players who demands multiple blockers on punt coverage and he's proven effective in making big goal-line stops on defense on top of that. Smart money is on Spillman not being available for long.
K Connor Barth
Connor Barth was a very consistent kicker from 2010-2012, but he missed all of the 2013 season due to an Achilles tear. Despite a career 84.2 field goal percentage, he was in a training camp battle against Patrick Murray and given that he's gone while Murray is still with the Buccaneers, it seems as though Barth has lost. But it could have a lot to do with the fact that Barth had a base salary of $2 million for 2014-15, with a sizable roster bonus provided he made the official roster. Murray, on the other hand, will make less than $500,000 this season. Smart money is a on a kicker-needy team landing Barth.
CB Champ Bailey
Champ Bailey will go down in history as one of the best defensive backs to ever play the game, but his departure from the league has been in motion for some time now. He was released by the Denver Broncos after spending 10 seasons with them, and has now been released by the Saints. He's slowed down considerably and it's unclear where his career goes from here.
DE Michael Sam
Michael Sam made waves this offseason, and some wondered if he'd be a distraction. He wasn't, and made the decision to release him incredibly difficult for the St. Louis Rams, a team that's already very stacked along the defensive line. Sam was always a longshot to make it on the Rams, but the preseason was a venue for him to show the rest of the league what he can do. If he doesn't find himself on a roster soon, he'll definitely find himself on a practice squad.
WR Stephen Hill
Hill isn't a big name due to success, he's a big name due to failure. Hill was a second-round pick in 2012, and the New York Jets expected big things out of him. Unfortunately, after just two seasons, Hill has now been released but his career probably isn't over. He's played in just 23 games and has caught 45 passes for 594 yards and four touchdowns. Those aren't great numbers, but he's only two seasons removed from being one of the more promising physical specimens in some time. Then you factor in the dumpster fire that is the Jets' quarterback position and Hill might just benefit from a change of scenery.
K Shayne Graham, K Derek Dimke
The New Orleans Saints have had a kicking competition going throughout training camp and the preseason and at it's conclusion they have decided that ... nobody wins. Both Graham and Dimke were released as part of roster cuts on Saturday. It seems like the Saints were dissatisfied with both, and with guys like Ryan Succop and the aforementioned Connor Barth becoming available, New Orleans knew they could get better production on the open market.
WR Bryan Walters
Bryan Walters was a promising receiver for the Seahawks, and one of the front-runners for the return duties on top of that. His release is significant because it likely confirms that Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas will handle the primary punt return duties. Walters looked solid aside from a fumble during a preseason game, but he also rebounded from that fumble. He may not clear waivers.
WR Vincent Brown
Vincent Brown's career has been marred by injuries since the San Diego Chargers took him in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. But he managed to start 12 games with the Chargers in 2013, and though he didn't make headlines, he was a solid receiver. He's also had a productive offseason, and many predicted his roster spot would be safe. He was going to compete with guys like Malcom Floyd and Eddie Royal, but now he'll be looking for a new team. Brown is a smaller slot receiver and there appears to be a lot to work with there, provided there's nothing to the calf strain he's been dealing with.
CB Leon McFadden
Leon McFadden struggled in 2013, and based on that play it's not entirely surprising that he was released. But McFadden was selected in the top half of the third round in 2013, and it's rare to see a rookie drafted that high getting cut so quickly. The Cleveland Browns aren't exactly stacked at the cornerback position, but McFadden's release probably has a bit to do with the fact that there's a new regime in town as well. He still seems to have a lot of potential.
LS Kevin McDermott, LS Danny Aiken
We don't talk about long snappers much these days, but there were a couple notable moves on Saturday. First, the 49ers released Kevin McDermott, who took the job from Brian Jennings last season. Jennings had been the starter for 12 years, but McDermott got beat out by Kyle Nelson. Then there's Danny Aiken, who was the only long snapper on the New England Patriots' roster. He was battling Tyler Ott for the spot, but Ott was released earlier in the month. It's unclear where the Patriots will go at the position.