Weekday Morning Sports – Monday 9/12/16

sportsreport-107
sportsreport-107

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Monday, September 12, 2016

NFL – National Football League – Week 1
Yesterday
Houston Texans 23, Chicago Bears 14
Detroit Lions 39, Indianapolis Colts 35

Baltimore 13, Buffalo 7
Minnesota 25, Tennessee 16
Philadelphia 29, Cleveland 10
Cincinnati 23, N.Y. Jets 22
Tampa Bay 31, Atlanta 24
Green Bay 27, Jacksonville 23
Oakland 35, New Orleans 34
Kansas City 33, San Diego 27, OT
Seattle 12, Miami 10
N.Y. Giants 20, Dallas 19
New England 23, Arizona 21

Texans 23, Bears 14 – Osweiler solid in debut to lead Houston over Chicago
Brock Osweiler threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns in his debut with Houston to lead the Texans and their revamped offense to a 23-14 win over the Chicago Bears Sunday. Osweiler, who signed to a $72 million contract from Denver in the offseason, was helped by an offense filled with playmakers. He completed passes to eight different receivers, led by rookie first-round pick Will Fuller, who became the first player in franchise history to have 100 yards receiving in a debut with 107 and a touchdown. DeAndre Hopkins added 54 yards and a score and running back Lamar Miller had 106 yards rushing in his first game with the Texans. Osweiler’s day started with a hiccup when he threw an interception on the first drive, but soon got going and looked comfortable after that.  Houston trailed by 1 point entering the fourth quarter before Osweiler found Fuller on a short pass and he scampered 18 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-14. The Texans added a 38-yard field goal later in the quarter to make it 23-14. Chicago’s Jay Cutler threw for 216 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but was also sacked five times.

Lions 39, Colts 35 – Prater gets redemption with late field in 39-35 win at Indy
Matthew Stafford took advantage of one last chance Sunday and Matt Prater redeemed himself with a 43-yard field goal with 8 seconds to give the Detroit Lions a 39-35 victory at Indianapolis.  Prater missed an extra point wide right with 4:04 left in the season opener, a miscue that nearly cost the Lions. Detroit won for only the second time in Indy, and it came just 37 seconds after it looked like Andrew Luck had rallied the Colts for an improbable last-minute victory. It just wasn’t enough to avoid Indy’s third straight opening day loss in a wild finish. After Prater’s miss, Luck drove the Colts 75 yards and hooked up with Jack Doyle on a 6-yard TD pass with 37 seconds left. Adam Vinatieri’s extra point gave the Colts a 35-34 lead. This time, Stafford connected with receivers who took advantage of their speed against Indy’s thin secondary. He quickly got the Lions into position for Prater to atone for the earlier miss. Indy was called for a safety on the final play of the game, for throwing an illegal forward pass in its end zone.

Packers 27, Jaguars 23
The Packers were 27-23 winners at Jacksonville as Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score. Rodgers completed 20 of 34 passes for 199 yards, with second-quarter TD passes to Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. Jaguars QB Blake Bortles was 24 of 39 for 320 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Vikings 25, Titans 16
Minnesota’s defense accounted for two touchdowns in a 25-16 win against Tennessee, allowing the Vikings to win their season opener under quarterback Shaun Hill. Eric Kendricks returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter and Danielle Hunter scored a 24-yard TD off a fumble return. The defending NFC North champs needed the help from their defense in scoring 25 straight points after being shut out in the first half.

Tonight
Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins, 7:10 p.m.              WSJM Sports 6:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers, 10:20 p.m.                  WSJM Sports

NFL – NFL to investigate Panthers medical team
The NFL is reviewing how the Panthers medical team handled a hit to Cam Newton’s head during Carolina’s season-opening loss to Denver. The league says it wants to ensure the concussion protocol is being “uniformly applied across all 32 teams.”  Newton took several hard hits in Thursday night’s game, including one after which he appeared woozy. The union has questioned why Newton didn’t undergo a cognitive exam on the sideline during the game.
MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Baltimore Orioles 3, Detroit Tigers 1
Kansas City Royals 2, Chicago White Sox 0
Chicago Cubs 9, Houston Astros 5

Orioles 3, Tigers 1 – Tillman outduels Verlander, O’s top Tigers to increase lead
Michael Bourn and Jonathan Schoop homered off Justin Verlander to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers Sunday. Baltimore moved two games ahead of Detroit in the AL wild card race.

Royals 2, White Sox 0 – Kennedy, bullpen throw 2-hitter, Royals nip Sale, ChiSox 2-0
Ian Kennedy and three relievers combined on a two-hitter and the Kansas City Royals beat Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox 2-0 Sunday. Kendrys Morales homered on Sale’s first pitch of the second and Eric Hosmer did the same in the fourth.

Cubs 9, Astros 5 – Russell, Soler homer lead Cubs in 9-5 win over Astros
Jorge Soler and Addison Russell homered to lead Chicago to a 9-5 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday night, moving the Cubs magic number to clinch the NL Central to 5.
 
Yesterday
Minnesota (Ervin Santana 7-10) at Detroit (Daniel Norris 2-2), 7:10 p.m.      WCSY-FM 6:45
Cleveland (Carlos Carrasco 11-7) at Chicago White Sox (Miguel Gonzalez 3-6), 8:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Kyle Hendricks 14-7) at St. Louis (Mike Leake 9-9), 8:15 p.m.

NCAA Football – OK State out of AP Top 25 after controversial loss
Oklahoma State dropped out of The Associated college football poll after a controversial loss, and Georgia and Clemson fell after close calls against lightly regarded opposition. Alabama is still Number 1, receiving 56 out of 61 first-place votes Sunday.  Number 2 Florida State, Number 3 Ohio State and Number 4 Michigan all moved up one spot. The Seminoles got four first-place votes and Michigan received one. Clemson fell from second to fifth after a four-point win against Troy. Number 16 Georgia dropped seven spots after beating FCS Nicholls by two.  Oklahoma State was ranked 22nd when it lost 30-27 to Central Michigan on a final play touchdown Saturday. Officials admitted after the game they misinterpreted a rule, and the play should not have been granted. The Cowboys were three-touchdown favorites against Central Michigan.

1 Alabama(56) 2-0
2 Florida State(4) 2-0
3 Ohio State 2-0
4 Michigan(1) 2-0
5 Clemson 2-0
6 Houston 2-0
7 Stanford 1-0
8 Washington 2-0
9 Wisconsin 2-0
10 Louisville 2-0
11 Texas 2-0
12 Michigan State 1-0
13 Iowa 2-0
14 Oklahoma 1-1
15 Tennessee 2-0
16 Georgia 2-0
17 Texas A&M 2-0
18 Notre Dame 1-1
19 Ole Miss 1-1
20 LSU 1-1
21 Baylor 2-0
22 Oregon 2-0
23 Florida 2-0
24 Arkansas 2-0
25 Miami 2-0

NCAA Football – Officials of CMU OK-State game suspended
The Mid-American Conference says the eight-man officiating crew that botched the end of the Central Michigan-Oklahoma State game has been suspended for two games. And the Big 12 announced Sunday that the two-person video replay crew that worked the same game also has been suspended for two games. Officials mistakenly gave Central Michigan an untimed final play from midfield after Oklahoma State was penalized for intentional grounding while trying to run off the last four seconds of the fourth quarter with a three-point lead. On that play, the Chippewas scored a touchdown on a long pass and lateral to win 30-27. The referee admitted afterward that an error was made by extending the game after a loss-of-down penalty. Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder voiced his protest, but the result of the game was final.

Tennis – US Open – Wawrinka takes US Open
Third seed Stan Wawrinka wore down Novak Djokovic and knocked off the defending champion 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Wawrinka had dropped 19 of his previous 23 meetings with Djokovic before capturing his first U.S. Open crown and third Grand Slam title. The 31-year-old Wawrinka is the oldest U.S. Open men’s champion since Ken Rosewall was 35 in 1970.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Last Night
Indiana Fever 80, Washington Mystics 73

Fever 80, Mystics 73 – Wheeler helps Fever clinch, 80-73 over Mystics
Erica Wheeler scored nine of her 17 points in the final 2:17 to help the Indiana Fever pull away from the Washington Mystics and clinch a playoff berth with an 80-73 win on Sunday. Wheeler’s 3-pointer with 2:17 left gave the Fever (16-15) the lead for good at 72-69 and sparked an 11-4 run in which she made all six free-throw attempts to secure the victory. Indiana is currently in the fifth playoff spot, holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chicago Sky (16-15). Lynetta Kizer added 17 points, Briann January had 15 and Shenise Johnson scored 12 for the seventh-ranked Fever. Emma Meesseman had 19 points, Tayler Hill scored 15 and Kia Vaughn added 12 for the No. 10 Mystics (12-19), who are one spot out of the playoffs.
 
Golf – Johnson polishes off a dominant victory
Dustin Johnson was powerful off the tee and relentless with the putter, closing with a 5-under 67 to win the BMW Championship by three shots and move to the top of the FedEx Cup. Paul Casey also closed with a 67 and it still wasn’t enough. Casey made a 25-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole to briefly get within one shot, only for Johnson to make an 18-foot eagle on top of him. Johnson won for the third time in his last eight tournaments, starting with his first major at the U.S. Open.  Charl Schwartzel closed with a 64 and got the 30th spot to advance to the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship. Schwartzel knocked out Rickie Fowler by 0.57 points, the closest margin in 10 years.
 
Golf – Day withdraws from BMW Championship with back pain
Jason Day withdrew from the BMW Championship after eight holes on Sunday with back pain, making him ineligible for the Vardon Trophy.  Day has a history of back issues. The world’s No. 1 player barely made it through the opening round of the Dell Match Play, considered withdrawing and then went on to win. He was 2 over for the round and in the middle of the pack when he withdrew. Day was leading the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average going into the BMW Championship. While he was sure to be passed by Dustin Johnson, an incomplete round makes a player ineligible for the award. His agent says Day was being cautious by withdrawing and hopes to be at the Tour Championship.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball – Playoffs – Round 2 (Best of Three)
Last Night – Eastern Division Finals
Great Lakes Loons 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 1                                 GL Leads series 1-0

Tonight – Eastern Division Finals
Great Lake Loons at West Michigan Whitecaps, 7:35 p.m.                      GL Leads series 1-0

MHSAA – High School Sports
Tonight
Boys Soccer
Niles at Three Rivers, 5:30 p.m.
Vicksburg at Comstock, 6:00 p.m.
Bridgman at Dowagiac, 5:00 p.m.
Parchment at Otsego, 6:00 p.m.
Lawrence at Howardsville Christian, 5:00 p.m.
Saugatuck at Coloma, 6:00 p.m.
Schoolcraft at Delton Kellogg, 6:00 p.m.
Bangor at Hartford, 5:00 p.m.
Fennville at Kalamazoo Hackett, 6:00 p.m.
Gobles at Lawton, 6:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Christian at Marcellus, 6:00 p.m.

Girls Volleyball
New Buffalo at Bridgman, 7:00 p.m.