— Packers 27, Panthers 19
Packers in first half: 37 plays, 238 yards, 20 points.
Green Bay led 20-10 at halftime.
QB Love threw for 288 yards, three TD’s.
Packers are 13-9 ATS last 22 games as a home favorite.
Green Bay was 9-16 on third down, Carolina 5-18.
Carolina opponents converted 22 of last 43 third down plays.
Packers still have run ball for only 59 yards/game this year.
Total yardage: Green Bay 354, Carolina 258.
— Carolina, by the way, is the only NFL team that has both:
won a game by 30+ points this year, and
lost a game by 30+ points this year
— Big trade in the NFL; Chicago Bears went all-in on this season, trading two first round draft picks to Tennessee for DT Jeffrey Simmons. Simmons is the first defensive tackle since at least 1967 to be traded for multiple first-round picks.
— North Texas 48, Florida Atlantic 38
North Texas in 2nd half: 41 plays, 245 yards, 24 points.
Game was 24-24 at halftime.
North Texas QB Jackson threw for 390 yards, four TD’s.
— Troy 24, James Madison 21 OT
17.5-point underdog Trojans pull off a very big upset.
James Madison scored TD’s on their first three drives.
James Madison turned ball over on five of next 13 drives.
— Hawks 114, Cavaliers 111
Onyeka Okongwu scored 29 points, had 12 rebounds.
Cleveland led by 12 points after the first quarter.
Hawks were +17 in the 24:00 Aaron Wiggins played.
— Pelicans 132, Kings 120
Jeremiah Fears had 22 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds.
1-4 Pelicans get their first win; Sacramento is 0-5.
New Orleans shot 60% from the floor.
— Famous birthdays, October 30th
Henry Winkler, 81
Harry Hamlin, 75
Kevin Pollak, 69
Danny Tartabull, 64
Darryl Henley, 60
Ty Detmer, 59
Marco Scutaro, 51
Trent Edwards, 43
Marcus Mariota, 34
Devin Booker, 30
— The great TV studio host Ernie Johnson announced this week that this will be his last year hosting Inside the NBA with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal. Johnson is 72 and is going to cut back his schedule, after 37 years of working the NBA studio show.
What was so cool is the reverence his famous broadcast partners have for him; the love/respect they show him is excellent.
— I’m still waiting for most of my college basketball reference stuff to come in the mail; all these eligibility questions for players have delayed the books from getting printed. College hoop starts Monday; we need the books.
Memphis played Arkansas in an exhibition game the other night; Memphis has a good big man, Namanja Popovic, but he may be ineligible for the first six games- that hasn’t been decided yet. Tigers definitely need him as soon as they can get him.
— Glad to see that former UCLA/St John’s coach Steve Lavin is going to be on ESPN’s airwaves for college basketball games this winter; he is terrific on TV, always learn from him.
— Arizona P Corbin Burnes didn’t opt out of the four years, $140M left on his contract; Astros P Tatsuya Imai exercised his $18M player option for next year and will return to the Astros.
— Red Sox traded OF Nate Eaton to the Sacramento/Las Vegas A’s, in exchange for a minor league pitcher. Eaton probably wouldn’t have been kept on Boston’s 40-man roster next year.
— Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams has been fined $34,823 by the NFL for wearing Caddix cleats; only Nike, Adidas and Under Armour have partnerships with the NFL- if a player wears another type of shoe, he has to cover up the logo or get fined. Williams won’t do that, so either he or the show company has to pay the fine.
— Utah Utes are 7-0 in football for the first time since 2010.
— RIP June Jones, longtime football coach who ran the run-and-shoot offense for several teams in both college/pro football. He was 73 years old. Jones led Hawai’i to the Sugar Bowl in 2007, a huge accomplishment; his teams were great fun to watch.
RIP, coach.
