NEWS » thel, but he is dealing with a sore foot an

The Thanksgiving weekend of 1971 is considered the gold standard of epic rivalry games: No. 1 Nebraska defeated No. 2 Oklahoma 35-31 in one of the earliest showdowns tagged as the Game of the Century, and No. 3 Alabama defeated No. 5 Auburn 31-7. Two weekends remain before we get to Thanksgiving, but already it appears as if the Ohio State-Michigan and Alabama-Auburn rivalry games this season will be important beyond their large and passionate fan bases. All four teams are in the top 10, and these two upcoming contests look like the only top-10 matchups remaining before Championship Saturday. Those of us who remember Thanksgiving 1971 are very excited.1. To recap just how well the Ohio State offense played on Saturday night in the Buckeyes 62-3 rout of Nebraska, consider: Eight touchdowns, two field goals and the final possession running the clock out. No punts (but one fumble on special teams). The Buckeyes gained 590 yards of total offense. Converted 11 of 15 third downs. No sacks. Head coach Urban Meyer, as amazed Sunday as he was immediately after the game, said J.T. Barrett threw to his third receiver 12 times. The Buckeyes held the ball for nearly 23 minutes in the second half. All this against a Cornhuskers defense that ranked 15th in scoring defense (18.4) and 20th in total defense (342.1).2. Ohio State bounced back after three lackluster weeks. USC takes a five-game winning streak to Washington on Saturday. And heres another team showing life after a stumble: Texas (5-4) has won three of four games. The standards for a good defense are low in the Big 12. But in those four games, the Longhorns have gotten a little better. They limited Kansas State to one second-half touchdown in a 24-21 loss, beat Iowa State 27-6 and then held Baylor to 34 points and the Texas Tech offense to 30. To put it another way, the Longhorns are 4-1 when they hold their opponents to fewer than 45 points. The Charlie Strong soap opera might finish with a happy ending yet.3. The inability of LSU to open holes for Leonard Fournette against Alabama is reminiscent of Peyton Manning going 0-for-4 against Florida in the mid-1990s. It reflects more on the superstar than on his teammates, and yet Fournette couldnt run because the offensive line couldnt create room for him. In three games against the Crimson Tide, Fournette gained 145 yards on 57 carries, with one touchdown. Fournettes long gain: 18 yards, on the 22-yard drive that led to the above score -- a one-yard plunge last season in the fourth quarter, when the game was out of reach. Manning had a career that will put him in the College Football Hall of Fame. So has Fournette. But each of their careers has an asterisk.4. Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News, spot on per usual, wrote Saturday night that LSU has to solve the thorny problem of what you do when you make a game mean everything -- and then lose it. That seems to be an occupational hazard among Alabamas SEC opponents. Tennessee fell apart after losing to Alabama for the 10th consecutive year. Texas A&M lost at Mississippi State. Ole Miss is 1-3 in the league since blowing a 21-point lead against the Crimson Tide. I dont know whether its the physical toll of playing Alabama or the mental one. But the Crimson Tide are casting a large shadow.5. The Stanford offense continues to operate without an effective passing game -- the restraint in keeping the redshirt on freshman quarterback K.J. Costello is admirable -- and without an offensive line that pushes tacklers around the way it had in winning three of the past four Pac-12 titles. But just when Stanford looked its worst, the schedule provided help. After wins over Arizona and Oregon State, the leagues two last-place teams, Stanford now faces three of the four worst defensive teams in the FBS: at Oregon (127th), at Cal (125th) and, on Thanksgiving Saturday, a nonconference home game against Rice (128th and last).6. The Ducks (3-6) must win out to automatically qualify for their 12th consecutive bowl; although with a 967 APR, the Ducks might have a chance at a bowl bid, should they finish 5-7. There are 11 teams with bowl streaks of at least 11 seasons, and the only other one in danger of not getting to 12 is Georgia (5-4); the Dawgs have a game with Louisiana-Lafayette (3-6) between their rivalry games against Auburn and Georgia Tech. The team with the longest bowl streak? Florida State, which has extended it to 35 games. To explain how good that is, Virginia Tech, which has the second longest such streak, will be going to only its 24th straight bowl.7. I dont know if San Diego State set a record for earliest clinching of a division championship, but the Aztecs nailed down the Mountain West Squared with three Saturdays to spare. They are 8-1 and 5-0 in conference play, they have a 16-game winning streak in the MWC, and they have the FBSs leading rusher in Donnel Pumphrey. So why does it feel as if coach Rocky Long has outfitted his entire team in invisibility cloaks from Hogwarts? Part of it is the one loss, at South Alabama (which also beat Mississippi State but is 1-4 in the Sun Belt). And San Diego State is the ultimate example of a college program in an NFL market that doesnt pay much attention to it. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. https://www.nflcheapjerseysfreeshipping.com/ .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. NFL Jerseys China . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. Cheap NFL Jerseys . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians didnt want to reveal his roster cuts but eight of his players showed on the NFLs official transactions list Friday.Seven were released. An eighth, center Tyler Boggs, reached an injury settlement.Those listed as released were cornerback Cariel Brooks, wide receiver Marquis Bundy, running back Kerwynn Williams, guard Antoine McClain, tackle Robert Crisp, linebacker Drew Butler and safety Chris Clemons.Williams found himself in a logjam at running back, one of the deepest positions on the team. He had 80 carries for388 yards the past two seasons or Arizona.One roster spot was filled via trade. More cuts are coming and some may be signed to the practice squad.Shortly after coach Arians met with the media Friday morning, the Cardinals announced they had acquired cornerback Marcus Cooper from the Kansas City Chiefs for an undisclosed draft choice.Arians had indicated the Cardinals were exploring multiple personnel options as they worked to finalize the 53-man roster by Saturdays deadline.Some teams are happy to cut guys and get it over with, Arians said. Weve got a very talented group. There are calls being made back and forth. A lot of things can happen in the last few hours. ... When you have a roster as talented as ours, you want to make sure you can make it right all the way down to the end.The cornerback position opposite All-Pro Patrick Peterson is the only unsettled spot for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations. Brandon Williams, a third-round draft pick from Texas A&M, has the raw talent but is still working on the techniques of the position.Arians said he thought Brandon got better in Thursday nights 38-17 preseason victory over Denver.dddddddddddd.Hes still got problems looking back at the quarterback when hes playing man-to-man sometimes, the coach said.Cooper wasnt expected to make the Chiefs final roster and the Cardinals apparently made the trade because they werent sure hed be available to them once he hit the waiver wire.Arizonas other option at cornerback is Justin Bethel, but he is dealing with a sore foot and Arians said the player would have to play through pain all season.Whoever is at the cornerback spot will get lots of action because teams rarely throw in Petersons direction.Arians defended the usefulness of a fourth preseason game, even though the starters usually sit that one out.People say we dont need a fourth preseason game, he said. I dont know why, because theres a lot of guys fighting for their lives good and bad in that ball game to make our roster or somebody elses roster.Arians didnt name names but he was impressed with the play of some of the youngsters in Thursday nights gameTheres some guys that made a case for themselves last night, he said. ...Were still in deliberations. Theres a lot of things that can happen here in the last 24 hours with other teams and our team.Arians announced the captains for the coming season -- Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald on offense, Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu on defense and Bethel and kicker Chandler Catanzaro on special teams.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '