ACC: What we learned in Week 1

Week 1 lessons have to be taken with a grain of salt, as scores against unheralded opponents can often be misleading. Taking these games at face value, here are a few things revealed in the ACC after this weekend.

New coaches made a difference. Mike London led Virginia to its first season-opening win since 2005, and he football jersey
did it against his former team and alma mater, Richmond. The Spiders are a championship program to be respected (just ask Duke, which lost to Richmond last year), and was the biggest threat at an upset, but the Cavaliers ran the ball effectively and got what they needed despite scheme overhauls on both offense and defense. In Tallahassee, first-year coach Jimbo Fisher had his offense running with precision in a commanding route of Samford. He left no doubt who was the better team, unlike last year when the Seminoles escaped with a win over Jacksonville State. The Noles looked focused and prepared and ready to make a statement.

North Carolina won’t back down. There were many reasons North Carolina could’ve folded against LSU -- including its 30-10 deficit heading into the fourth quarter, but the Tar Heels rallied together and with six seconds still remaining had a chance to win. There were young players and walk-ons seeing their first collegiate snaps, but there was enough leadership to keep the team together -- and in the game.

BC linebacker Mark Herzlich is back. It was one of the most anticipated comebacks of nfl wholesale jerseys
the season, but in the weeks preceding the Eagles’ opener against Weber State, it was in doubt because of a stress fracture in his foot. Herzlich delivered, though, and he was in good enough shape to deliver a few hits, too, as he was in on five tackles.

The ACC avoided embarrassment. There were no losses to FCS teams, and no implosion in Atlanta -- two scenarios the ACC has encountered in recent years. Last year, Virginia lost to William & Mary at home, and two years ago Clemson was embarrassed by Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff. This year, the ACC started out 9-1 with the only loss to LSU, the toughest competition of the weekend. Two games remain -- against Boise State and Navy -- but both are respectable bowl opponents.

There’s life after C.J. Spiller. Clemson running backs Andre Ellington and Jamie Harper proved the Tigers’ offense can function without their former star. Each of them scored twice against North Texas, and both surpassed the 100-yard mark. It was the first time cheap authentic jerseys
Clemson has had two players top 100 rushing yards in a game since James Davis and Spiller accomplished it against Maryland in 2007.

What we learned among non-AQs: Week 1

It was a terrific opening weekend for the upper echelon teams in the Mountain West Conference, with TCU, BYU and Utah posting big wins in their marquee games against opponents from the automatic qualifying conferences. New Mexico -- not so much.

We will know much, much more after Monday night, but nfl jerseys
here is what we learned through the games so far:

Don’t sleep on TCU. The Horned Frogs are happy to have everybody talking about Boise State and the national championship race. TCU has largely been left out of that discussion. But a 30-21 win over Oregon State on Saturday night should serve as a reminder that TCU has an experienced, talented squad returning and could be legitimate national championship contenders. Andy Dalton needs to cut down on the interceptions, but if the option works as well as it did against the Beavers, then TCU should win all its games this year. TCU rolled up 278 yards rushing. The defense limited Jacquizz Rodgers to 75 yards on the ground, a very good sign for a unit missing four starters from last season. One area that needs to be shored up -- cornerback. Greg McCoy was often a target for Ryan Katz.

BYU made two quarterbacks work, for now. It may be unorthodox in Provo, but BYU made its two-quarterback system work in the opener against Washington. Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps rotated series and both finished with 131 yards each. Nelson threw two touchdown passes and had 45 yards rushing. He had 17 pass attempts to 23 for Heaps. The offense did sputter on two drives in the fourth quarter with a chance to put the game away, but the defense stepped up with Washington mounting a late drive, batting down Jake Locker’s pass with 1:55 to win.

Could New Mexico be the worst team in FBS? It was the most lopsided game of the weekend, a 72-0 drubbing at the hands of nfl jersey wholesale
Oregon. What is staggering is that every FCS team playing against a top-division opponent came closer than the Lobos did to the Ducks. New Mexico had eight first downs, 107 yards of total offense and five turnovers. It trailed 59-0 at halftime and gave up 720 yards. Embattled coach Mike Locksley, who went 1-11 in his debut season, is going to need to find some answers fast to keep his team from sliding.

Fresno State could be a dark horse. The Bulldogs had an impressive 28-14 win over Cincinnati late Saturday night behind Ryan Colburn, who tied a career-high with four touchdown passes. Coach Pat Hill expected improvement out of Colburn, but he had to have been pleased with the way his defense played. Going into the game, he worried about the way his team would be able to handle the spread because it has struggled against that offense in the past. Fresno State held the Bearcats and Zach Collaros in check, holding him to 219 yards passing and just 9.1 yards per completion. Robbie Rouse didn’t do much in his debut, with 40 yards on 20 carries.

Middle Tennessee could be fine without Dwight Dasher. The Blue Raiders lost to Minnesota, 24-17, on Thursday night, but it wasn’t a blowout without its top playmaker, ineligible for taking a $1,500 loan. Middle Tennessee had the lead at one point in the game, and the play of new quarterback Logan Kilgore was encouraging. He went 13-of-18 for 172 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Without Dasher, Phillip Tanner stepped up with eight carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. Of nfl jersey sales
the five Sun Belt teams playing AQ opponents, Middle Tennessee played the closest game

Tim Tebow looks to be Denver's No. 2 QB

After three preseason performances, the most negative thing that could be said about Tim Tebow is that he is a rookie quarterback who is prone to making rookie mistakes. But, most important, Tebow has shown that he looks like he belongs in the NFL. All he needs is to make progress.
That will likely be done as Denver’s No. cheap nfl jerseys
2 quarterback.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is not making any proclamations and we may not know anything officially until Denver announces its emergency quarterback prior to the season opener at Jacksonville on Sept. 12. But it sure seems like Tebow has done enough to beat out Brady Quinn as Denver’s backup quarterback.
Tebow relieved starter Kyle Orton in 2010 nfl jerseys
the past two weeks. Thus, it would be a surprise if Tebow isn’t the backup in the season opener.
While Quinn has struggled a lot in the preseason (he played decently Thursday night), Tebow put up solid preseason numbers. He was 25 of 39 for 344 yards and he threw two touchdowns in the preseason.
As he did Sunday night, Tebow bounced back Thursday against the Vikings after a slow start; Tebow fumbled his first snap and then was intercepted on the next drive. However, Tebow settled down and completed 12 of 13 passes at one point.
He continued his preseason trend of throwing some nice down-field bullets. It is clear Tebow’s teammates respond well to him, and he moves the ball when he is on the field.
Again, Tebow is a rookie and he often looks like one. nfl football jerseys
But he also looks like a future NFL starting quarterback.

Report: Byron Leftwich has sprained MCL

It appears Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich is out for the Sept. 12 regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports football jersey
Leftwich suffered a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

Leftwich was the favorite to start at quarterback during Ben Roethlisberger's suspension. But Leftwich was hit low in the first half of Thursday's game against the Carolina Panthers and didn't return. Backup quarterback Dennis Dixon is now the favorite to cheap authentic jerseys
become the starting quarterback for Pittsburgh.

Albert Haynesworth goes the distance

Let's take a quick look at what folks are saying about the Redskins' 20-10 loss in Arizona:

* Paul Tenorio of the Post thinks the nfl jerseys
diminutive Brandon Banks may have sealed his fate with yet another fumble during a return. I've been pulling for the 5-6 Banks out of Kansas State, but he's just been too inconsistent. Hopefully he'll end up on the practice squad.

* Tenorio has put together a nice, long summary of Thursday's events. It was pretty funny to see Albert Haynesworth on the field in the fourth quarter of a fourth preseason game. I'm anxious to see how he react.

* Excellent blog post from Matt Terl on last nfl jersey sales
night's Redskins loss.

* Here's some instant analysis from Comcast Sportsnet's Ryan O'Hallran.

* Albert Haynesworth was on the field until the bitter end. He was out there for 49 of nfl wholesale jerseys
the Redskins' 55 players, according to the Post's Jason Reid.

Detroit (66-68) at Kansas City (56-77)

Zack Greinke(notes) earned just one victory despite an outstanding four-start finish to August, but the Kansas City Royals ace might have an excellent opportunity to win his first outing in September.
Greinke boasts an ERA under 1.00 in his past seven starts against the Detroit Tigers, who may not have major league RBI leader Miguel Cabrera(notes) for the opener of this three-game series Friday night at Kauffman Stadium
Greinke (8-11, 3.81 ERA) won’t be winning a second nfl jerseys
straight AL Cy Young Award, but over his past four outings he’s certainly pitched up to the standard he set in 2009.
He’s 1-0 with a 2.10 ERA since Aug. 11 after holding Cleveland to three runs over eight innings Saturday in a 4-3, 10-inning loss.
“Greinke is so darned tough,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “It’s not just his velocity. It’s his off-speed stuff and how he locates it, too.”
Kansas City (56-77) gives the right-hander the majors’ fifth-worst run-support average (3.26), but Greinke has received 5.51 runs per game in his last seven starts against the Tigers (66-68).
He’s hardly needed that much assistance. Greinke is 4-1 with a 0.92 ERA in that stretch, and hasn’t allowed a homer versus Detroit in 60.0 innings over nine starts dating to May 13, 2008.
Miguel Cabrera is 3 for 16 (.188) with five strikeouts against the Royals ace over the past two seasons, but Greinke might not have to worry about one of baseball’s most feared hitters. Cabrera, who leads the majors with 107 RBIs, is day to day after leaving Thursday’s game at Minnesota with left biceps tendinitis.
“I’m a little worried, but I think I’m going to be OK,” he Kansas City Chiefs jersey
said. “They take care of me good. Hopefully (Friday) feel better.”
The Tigers were trailing 6-3 in the sixth inning when Cabrera exited, but put together an impressive rally. Casper Wells(notes), who replaced Cabrera, hit a tying homer in the ninth and Gerald Laird’s(notes) solo shot in the 13th was the difference in Detroit’s 10-9 victory.
“It was just a whole team effort tonight,” Laird said. “It was an unbelievable win.”
The Royals beat Texas 10-9 on Tuesday, but were on the other side of a one-run game in Wednesday’s series finale. Wilson Betemit(notes) and Billy Butler(notes) hit deep drives in the ninth, but Nelson Cruz(notes) caught both near the wall to preserve the Rangers’ 4-3 win.
“Almost every other park you can almost put it on the board, but not in this one,” Butler said of the roomy Kauffman Stadium.
That’s good news for Jeremy Bonderman(notes) (7-9, 5.27), who gives up 1.32 homers per nine innings - sixth-most in the AL.
The right-hander didn’t have a problem keeping the ball in the park when he faced the Jacksonville Jaguars jersey
Royals in Detroit on Aug. 23. Bonderman held Kansas City to two runs over six innings of a 12-3 win.
Bonderman, 1-4 with an 8.68 ERA in his last five road starts, missed his latest turn in the rotation due to inflammation around his right rib cage. While he expects to pitch Friday, Alfredo Figaro(notes) would get the call if he can’t.

Choo drives in 5 to power Indians

SEATTLE (AP)—The Seattle Mariners found out Shin-Soo Choo(notes) is one of those players who can do it all.
Choo drove in five runs with a bases-loaded double and a two-run home run to cheap nfl jerseys
give the Cleveland Indians a 6-3 victory over the Mariners.
Choo, traded to the Indians by Seattle in 2006, hit a 3-1 fastball from Doug Fister(notes) (4-11) against the right-center-field wall in the Indians’ four-run sixth to score all three runners without a throw.
He added his two-run shot in the ninth to match his season-high for RBIs. Choo had five RBIs against the Chicago White Sox on April 18.
Choo leads Cleveland in home runs (16) and RBIs (68).
“He’s a stud,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “He hits good pitching. He hits right, left, he has good at-bats, he plays hard every day. I basically have to pull him off the field to give him a day off.
“He’s a legit complete player. Those words five-tool player are used a lot but he’s a legit five-tool guy. He can do it all on the field.”
Asdrubal Cabrera(notes) had three hits for the Indians.
Russell Branyan(notes), traded from the Indians to the Mariners on June 26, hit his 21st home run, a two-run shot in the third.
Josh Tomlin(notes) (3-3), in jeopardy of being lifted during the Mariners’ three-run third, lasted six innings to pick up the win. He allowed seven hits, three runs, struck out five and walked none.
Chris Perez(notes) worked the ninth for his 17th save in 21 opportunities.
Indians pitchers retired 18 of the last 19 hitters.
Fister yielded a one-out single to Cabrera in the first inning then retired the next 14 batters.
Then in the sixth he seemingly couldn’t get anyone out.
Luis Valbuena(notes) led off the inning with a single. With one out, Michael Brantley(notes) and Cabrera singled, loading the bases to set up Choo’s first big inning.
Travis Hafner(notes) drove in Choo with a single to right. Jayson Nix(notes) followed with the fifth straight hit, a single to left that chased Fister.
Fister threw 32 pitches in Minnesota Vikings jersey
the inning, retiring just one batter. He has lost 10 of his last 11 decisions.
“It was like watching two different ball games,” Mariners manager Daren Brown said. “After watching him for five innings, I didn’t see that coming. He was pretty good for the first five innings.”
Fister said it was all about location.
“Before the sixth inning, I made pitches,” Fister said. “In the sixth, they weren’t in the quality locations they needed to be.”
Fister handled the hitters with a balance of spotting his fastball early then coming in with off-speed pitches.
“Then in that inning we got better at working the count,” Acta said. “He fell behind guys and gave us good pitches to hit.”
The Mariners collected all their runs in the third. Ichiro Suzuki(notes) stroked a one-out double into the right-center gap. He moved to third on Chone Figgins’(notes) single to left. Franklin Gutierrez(notes) had a sacrifice fly for his team-leading 52nd RBI.
Branyan then worked a count full against Tomlin before unloading with a third-deck home run to right for a 3-0 lead.
That ended a season-high seven-game homer-less streak.
“It watched it for a long time. Watched him, too,” said Tomlin, who used to play with Branyan. “I’ve seen him hit some balls pretty far. That tops them all right there.”
Tomlin appreciated the manager’s faith in him to allow him to get through his rough third. He rewarded that faith by retiring 10 of his last 11 batters he faced.
“Every start is a learning experience right now,” Tomlin said. “I fell behind hitters in the third. I just attacked the hitters after that. That let me go deeper in the game and I gave the team the chance to win.”
The Indians had a chance to break the game open in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. But Garrett Olson(notes) popped up Cabrera, struck out Choo and Hafner flied out.
Notes: Brown admits his bias but said RHP Felix Hernandez’s(notes) “name has to be mentioned any time you talk about” the Cy Young Award. Despite a 10-10 record, Hernandez is second in ERA (2.38), tied for first in strikeouts (200) and fifth in opponent average (.222). Brown likes his innings pitched numbers (first at 211.1) and quality starts (26 of 29). “You look at both of those and they tell me that every fifth day he’s going out there that he’s not giving you a chance to Miami Dolphins jersey
win. That really sticks out.” … 1B Matt LaPorta(notes) has had just one plate appearance since injuring his right hip Sunday. “The training staff doesn’t think he’s ready to be on the field just yet,” Acta said. He said it’s possible he could play Friday.