The morning blog: Weekend observations….

Posted on: September 21,2015

We’ve discussed the Ole Miss Rebels’ landmark victory over Alabama. Now then,

Cleveland

other observations from the weekend…
• Watched Seattle-Green Bay Sunday night after watching the Saints and Bucs wage their pillow right earlier in the day. The night game vs. the afternoon game evoked this revelation: “Ah, so this is what it is supposed to be like…”
The play was more crisp, more spirited, more fun to watch. It was a fun run, but the Saints are currently a bad football team and there appears no easy fix. If you bleed black and gold, you must hope that an early-game shoulder injury is what caused all those Drew Brees’ dying-duck passes. Otherwise… well, let’s not go there.
• There’s not much to take from State’s 62-13 dismantling of Northwestern State because the talent differential was so stark. But there is this: The two young Bulldog quarterbacks, Nick Fitzgerald and Elijah Staley, both can wing it. As record-setting Dak Prescott plays out his remarkable career in Starkville, Bulldog fans at least can know that there is a post-Dak future at quarterback.
• Northern Illinois put a scare into No. 1 Ohio State, but don’t necessarily think this means the Buckeyes aren’t the favorite to win the national championship. First, remember, Ohio State started slowly last season and built into a force slowly over the course of the season (which the Buckeyes can do because of the schedule they play). Two, Northern Illinois is a really good football team in a really underrated league, the MAC. Just ask Arkansas, which paid Toledo $1 million to come to Fayetteville and beat the Hogs.
• Southern Miss 56, Texas State 50? You have to start somewhere, and this was a big victory for Todd Monken and USM. It was a road game against a good Sun Belt team with a great quarterback. It was a game USM would have lost last season or the season before that or the season before that. Remember this name: Tyler Jones. He is the Texas State quarterback and you have not heard the last of him. He’s a future pro who can beat you with his arm or legs. There aren’t many better. And USM’s Nick Mullens is not bad — at all.
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We expect a full house but still have a few seats available for the 35-year celebration of “State 6, Alabama 3” Wednesday night at the MSHOF. The open-bar reception is at 5:30, dinner at 7 and the program to follow. It will celebrate a remarkable part of Mississippi sports history and it will raise money for the place that keeps Mississippi sports history alive. Call 601 982-8264 to order your table or seats…