Happy Tuesday! Brent Brookhouse here to help you shake off the hangover — literal or fugurative — of a long holiday weekend. Sure, you have to go back to work, but we are coming off the first full slate of meaningful football of the season and there’s plenty to talk about. From South Florida hammering Boise State on Thursday to Bill Belichick’s nightmare debut as a collegiate head coach, you’re loaded up with water cooler talk.
And we’ll make sure you know all the news worth knowing to spice up those “How was your long weekend?” chats that are sure to come throughout the day. Let’s get started with …
🏈 Five things to know Tuesday
- Bill Belichick’s college head coaching debut was a disaster as his Tar Heels were routed by TCU. A 48-14 final score tells a bleak story, but a deeper dive into the numbers frames Belichick’s UNC debut as a disaster for the ages. With loads of anticipation and celebrities on hand, the team experienced a doomsday scenario.
- Naomi Osaka continued to turn back the clock at the US Open, defeating No. 3 seed Coco Gauff. Osaka not only beat Gauff, but she made it look easy, taking the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. With the win, Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, advanced to a major quarterfinal for the first time since the 2021 Australian Open.
- We took a look ahead to project Tuesday’s AP poll. Unsurprisingly, Ohio State should have the No. 1 spot locked down after taking down Texas on Saturday. In our projections, the Longhorns have fallen out of the top three. Give it a read to see where the AP’s Top 25 could stand when the new rankings drop on Tuesday.
- Final Ryder Cup preparations are underway at Bethpage Black. We broke down the battle of Europe’s experience against the younger American team ahead of the start of the event on Sept. 26. Four rookies will make their debut for American captain Keegan Bradley.
- Brewers maintain top spot in our MLB Power Rankings. September means we’re into baseball’s stretch run, and the Brewers are doing all they can to try to make the postseason. Here’s the rest of the top five: 2. Phillies, 3. Dodgers, 4. Tigers and 5. Blue Jays.
🏈 Do not miss this: CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs dismiss Micah Parsons rumors
Rumors surrounding Micah Parsons didn’t suddenly stop when the star edge rusher was traded from the Cowboys to the Packers. Instead of the will-they-or-won’t-they cycle of rumblings over contract extensions and trades, new rumors began to stir that a subset of Dallas teammates thought of Parsons as “egotistical and self-centered.”
Cowboys stars CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs both brushed off that talk while speaking after Monday’s practice. “That’s my dawg, man,” Lamb said. “He knows it. I expressed it to him just about every week I could, so I feel like he knows where we stand as far as brotherhood, friendship and all that.”
Diggs was more pointed in his response to the rumors, seeming to target specific people whose criticisms he felt were coming from a place of jealousy, saying, “I feel like there were some former players who are not here no more [who didn’t like Parsons]. There was a lot of, I would say, hate, jealousy, envy towards him because of who he is and the production he does on the field.”
Our Garrett Podell drilled down into the specifics of who those former players could be.
- Podell: “Diggs felt ‘everyone’ in Dallas’ current locker room liked Parsons, and he indicated the fuel for those rumors likely came from former Cowboys. Even though the 2021 interceptions leader didn’t name names, it was pretty clear Diggs was referring to former Cowboys four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence. Lawrence departed for the Seattle Seahawks this offseason after signing a three-year, $32.5 million contract following 11 seasons in Dallas. Parsons and Lawrence had a public spat on Twitter back in March after Lawrence posted about the Cowboys’ problems contending for a Super Bowl while directly criticizing Parsons’ work ethic and time on social media.”
🏈 Resetting expectations for Arch Manning, Texas after Week 1 loss
Preseason expectations for Arch Manning were as high as possible. Manning entered the season as the clear Heisman favorite as a first-year starter for preseason No. 1 Texas. Between his family lineage and the talent surrounding him, there was very little doubt of how successful Manning would be this season.
Those expectations came crashing down to an extent on Saturday, with Texas losing their season opener to Ohio State 14-7. While a narrow road loss to an elite team isn’t a season killer, Manning’s performance caused concern for many. For the first three quarters, Manning missed throws, made bad reads and frequently looked out of sorts.
But, as our Brad Crawford wrote, context is everything and there’s plenty of reason to believe Manning and Texas will be fine as the season continues.
- Crawford: “No team in college football had a more difficult ask in Week 1 than the Longhorns, playing away from home in a true road environment against an elite contender. And part of that is what makes the next three games pivotal for Manning’s confidence level as Texas hosts San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston through the end of the month.
“These are get-right opportunities for Manning and this passing game along with an offensive line group still sorting out its rotation under Kyle Flood. The Longhorns also should benefit from an open date ahead of their SEC opener Oct. 4 at Florida. That’s another harsh road environment against a nationally-ranked opponent that Manning must endure. This time, he must perform at his best for Texas to prevail.”
🏆 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
📺 What we’re watching Tuesday
🎾 US Open, 11:30 a.m. on ESPN
⚾ Yankees at Astros, 8:30 p.m. on TBS
🏀 Fever at Mercury, 10 p.m. on NBA TV
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