1st Down: Saturday began the 2022 college football season, and with that came a familiar theme for Nebraska as they, once again, fell in a game. This time around it was their seventh straight defeat at it came in Ireland, of all places. It came at the hands of Northwestern, with their Big 10 rivals defeating them 31-28 to see the Cornhuskers start their season behind the proverbial eight-ball. Wildcats QB Ryan Hilinski threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns while running back Evan Hull scampered for a TD and 119 yards on 22 carries. Nebraska blew a 28-17 lead with 9:09 left in the third. In other action, Florida State and Illinois were among others to record wins to get their seasons off to a 1-0 start.
2nd Down: The latest sources indicate that LIV Golf are set to add more names to their ranks, with Cameron Smith, the defending Open champion, and Harold Varner III among the names. Smith has been dealing with rumors of his ‘defection’ for a couple of weeks now, so it’s no real surprise to once again see them creep in. Joaquin Niemann, of Chile, is also said to be close to joining, meaning that both he and Smith would be ineligible to represent the international team at this year’s Presidents Cup. These signings come despite the PGA Tour making changes to try to entice players to stick around with the league in lieu of moving elsewhere.
3rd Down: Tom Brady has explained his absence from preseason training with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, kind of. The quarterback, who was rumored to have been on vacation in the Bahamas amid an 11-day predetermined ‘break for personal reasons,’ simply stated that he was 45 years old and that there were challenges in his life that others might not have due to his age. What exactly that means remains to be seen, but it is rather interesting. Brady also has made it clear that he was also going to play for Tampa, denying rumors that he was possibly going to go to either Miami or Las Vegas.
4th Down: The English Premier League nearly saw history made on Saturday by Liverpool as they thrashed lowly Bournemouth at Anfield by a 9-0 score line. Having failed to win any of their first three PL matches, the Reds responded by dishing out a beating that ties the record win in the division’s history. Luis Diaz and Roberto Firmino each scored twice and the Reds led 5-0 at the half. In other PL action, Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 over Fulham to extend their winning streak to four while Erling Haaland scored a hat trick for Manchester City as they came from behind as well to beat Newcastle 4-2. Raheem Sterling also scored a pair of goals at Chelsea downed Leicester 2-1 in London.
