SPORTS
Weekend, November 6 & 7, 2021
TIMES-UNION
Warsaw, Indiana
3B
College Football Picks: Michigan State Outlasts Purdue, USC Falls
Each week, Los Angeles Times' national college sports reporter J. Brady McCollough will pick the week's eight best games - that have a combination of big brand intrigue and a spread within a touchdown - plus the USC and UCLA games. Through nine weeks, McCollough is 46 44. No. 3 Michigan State at Purdue This has emotional let down game written all over it for the Spartans, who came back from a 16 point deficit to knock off rival Michigan last Saturday and fully insert ed themselves into the play off race. They might know that Purdue under Jeff Brohm has been an assassin of top five opponents - then No. 2 Iowa the most recent victim - but there's no denying that this trip to West Lafayette should be fraught with difficulty for Michigan State. Still, there just seems to be something special about these Spartans, who will be led once again by Heisman Trophy candidate Kenneth Walker III. Michigan State 31, Purdue 26 No. 9 Wake Forest at North Carolina What does Wake Forest have to do to get respect? The Demon Deacons, 8 0 and ranked in the top 10 of the College Football Playoff rank ings, are nearly a field goal underdog against North Carolina, 4 4 and one of the country's grand disappoint ments. Maybe a convincing win in Chapel Hill would do it? Too bad Wake Forest's defense will have trouble get ting off the field against Sam Howell and the Tar Heels. The Demon Deacons will have to settle for survival. Wake Forest 48, North Carolina 44 No. 12 Baylor at Texas Christian This week, after two decades at the helm of Texas Christian, Gary Patterson and the school parted ways as the Horned Frogs struggled at 3 5. Will TCU's players rally together to prove something about the program Patterson built? They might, but they're running into an opponent in Baylor that has a Big 12 championship on its mind and a budding young coach in Dave Aranda making the right moves each week. Baylor 35, TCU 24 No. 11 Oklahoma State at West Virginia Like Baylor, Oklahoma State has everything in front of it in regard to the Big 12 championship and a poten tial playoff spot. But the Cowboys have to visit Morgantown, where West Virginia just beat Iowa State and knocked the Cyclones out of the Big 12 race. Defense travels, though, and Oklahoma State has a unit that is tough enough to escape those country roads. Oklahoma State 24, West Virginia 20 No. 13 Auburn at No. 14 Texas A&M The SEC West division is not fully within Alabama's grasp just yet. Auburn and Alabama each have one con ference loss and will meet in the Iron Bowl at season's end. Texas A&M has two SEC losses but has that big win over Alabama to help with a potential tiebreaker. The Aggies need to win out and have Auburn and Alabama lose two games, and their easiest path is to knock off the Tigers and hope Auburn wins the Iron Bowl. Texas A&M will take the first step Saturday. Texas A&M 28, Auburn 24 No. 17 Mississippi State at Arkansas Mississippi State was the highest ranked three loss team in the first CFP rankings because of its wins over North Carolina State, Texas A&M and Kentucky. The Bulldogs showed they could win on the road in College Station, but can they do it again against a capable Arkansas team that is hungry to lock up a bowl trip? That's asking a lot for Mike Leach's team. Arkansas 30, Mississippi State 27 Tennessee at No. 18 Kentucky Josh Heupel's first season at Tennessee has been up and down, but the Volunteers have real upside with Hendon Hooker at quarter back. Kentucky's dream sea son has taken back to back hits against Georgia and Mississippi State, but the Wildcats can conceivably go 10 2 if they get back on track against their old rivals. Tennessee has what it takes to get its first validating vic tory of the Heupel era. Tennessee 28, Kentucky 23 No. 4 Oregon at Washington As if Washington coach Jimmy Lake hasn't gotten himself into enough trouble this season, losing to Montana and Oregon State on the way to a 4 4 start, he kicked off Oregon week by stating that the Ducks weren't the Huskies' rivals in recruiting because their aca demics didn't stack up. Lake said that prestigious private universities Stanford, USC and Notre Dame were more like Washington's rivals on the recruiting trail. Oregon, trying to stay in the race for a playoff spot, was already going to attempt to destroy its rival. Now imagine how those comments went over in Eugene. Oregon 38, Washington 16 Texas at Iowa State Each week, we keep wait ing for Steve Sarkisian's first Texas team to live up to his motto of "all gas, no brakes." But during a three game los ing streak that has dropped the Longhorns to 4 4, the better phrase would be "all gas, no breaks." Is Texas snakebit or just not that good? We'll get another chance to find out about Texas against an Iowa State team that always relishes messing with the Longhorns. Iowa State 35, Texas 31 USC at Arizona State For the Trojans to get to six wins and bowl eligibility under interim head coach Donte Williams, they're going to have to win at least one game as a clear underdog. And the task will be even tougher without injured wide receiver Drake London, who was on his way to winning the Biletnikoff Award. Arizona State's offense should present a lot of chal lenges for USC's injury rav aged defense, and the Trojans' offense will not enjoy its first experience of life without Drake. Arizona State 42, USC 24
BY J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH
Los Angeles Times For Tribune News Service
Photo Provided by Tribune News Service
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker celebrates as he leaves the field following a 37-33 win against Michigan at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan, on Saturday
Browns End Odell Beckham Jr. Saga By Granting His Release
BEREA, Ohio - Happy b day, OBJ. The Browns and Odell Beckham Jr. are predictably breaking up. Beckham received official word from the Browns on his 29th birthday he'll get the gift of freedom he sought from them. "After careful considera tion, internal discussions and conversations with Odell and his representation, we've determined that it is in the best interest of all parties involved that Odell no longer play for the Cleveland Browns," general manager Andrew Berry said in a pre pared statement released Friday morning. "We appreci ate all his efforts and contri butions while in Cleveland, but we've just reached a point where it is best that we move forward as a team without Odell. We are finaliz ing the process of granting Odell his release and we wish him well as he continues his career." How did Browns and Beckham get here? Drama surrounding the wide receiver emerged earli er this week in the buildup to the NFL trade deadline, prompting the Browns to excuse Beckham from Wednesday and Thursday's practices as Berry discussed options with OBJ's represen tatives. The two sides couldn't put the pieces of a fractured rela tionship together again, so the Browns decided to release Beckham. He wanted to leave, and he got his way. On Tuesday morning, a video was shared on the Instagram account of Beckham's father, Odell Beckham Sr., highlighting plays on which Browns quar terback Baker Mayfield missed opportunities to con nect with a wide open OBJ from Weeks 3 6 this season. Shortly before noon Tuesday, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James showed support for Beckham by tweeting, "OBJ will show again why he's special. WR1 #FreeOBJ." Why Browns weren't able to trade Beckham before deadline? Despite the social media circus, the NFL trade dead line passed at 4 p.m. Tuesday with Beckham remaining a member of the Browns (4 4), who will visit the Cincinnati Bengals (5 3) on Sunday. Berry was unable to find a trade partner willing to pay the $8 million guaranteed Beckham would have been due for the remainder of this season. Now Beckham will go on waivers. Berry and Beckham's agents have reportedly been negotiating a restructured contract this week. The less money his new team would inherit, the more likely it is he would be claimed off waivers. If he's not claimed, he'll become a free agent. Why two Browns coach ing staffs couldn't maximize Beckham's talents Among the most madden ing aspects of this for the Browns is two Cleveland coaching staffs couldn't max imize the talents of Beckham. Coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered on Oct. 25, 2020, Beckham did n't play this season until Week 3, even though the Browns expected him to be ready for the Sept. 12 opener versus the Kansas City Chiefs. In six games with the Browns this season, Beckham tallied 17 catches on 34 targets for 232 yards and two carries for 14 yards without scoring a touch down. The low point came in Sunday's 15 10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, when Beckham caught just one pass on one official target for 6 yards. "I'd like to see more points any which way we can do it," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said in his postgame news conference when asked if he would like Beckham to be targeted more. "Obviously, he's a play er that we're counting on. A couple of opportunities. [The defense] just took it away." Berry and Stefanski inher ited Beckham. OBJ joined the Browns in March 2019, when former GM John Dorsey acquired him in a block buster trade with the New York Giants, who had signed the mega celebrity player to a five year contract extension worth $90 million, including $65 million guaranteed, in August 2018. Beckham had been under contract with the Browns through the 2023 season and scheduled to make $15.75 million this year. There is no guaranteed money on his deal in the next two seasons, so the writing had long been on the wall for a departure in March 2022 before the time line changed. Dorsey traded safety Jabrill Peppers and 2019 draft picks in the first (No. 17 overall) and third rounds to the Giants in exchange for Beckham. Why expectations didn't meet reality Expectations for the Browns soared with the move, but Beckham and Mayfield never established the strong connection they hoped to find. In 29 games with the Browns, Beckham made 28 starts and compiled 114 catches on 210 targets for 1,586 yards and seven touch downs to go along with eight carries for 96 yards and a TD. It isn't anywhere close to the elite production Beckham or the Browns envisioned. After all, Beckham had been one of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL early in his tenure with the Giants, who drafted him 12th overall out of Louisiana State University in 2014. In 59 games with the Giants, Beckham made 56 starts and racked up 390 catches on 622 targets for 5,476 yards and 44 touch downs to go along with 15 carries for 74 yards. Beckham had more than 1,300 receiving yards and double digit touchdowns in each of his first three NFL seasons, but his production dipped as injuries interfered toward the end of his Giants days. In September 2019, Beckham said he blamed for mer Browns defensive coor dinator and interim head coach Gregg Williams for a string of injuries he's suf fered because Williams teaches "cheap shots" and "dirty hits." Beckham had a high ankle sprain as a result of former Browns defensive back Briean Boddy Calhoun hit ting him low during a presea son game on Aug. 21, 2017, at FirstEnergy Stadium. At the time, Williams was in his first of two years with the Browns. Beckham said he believes the injury led to a broken left ankle later in 2017 and a torn left quadriceps in 2018. Those injuries cost him 16 games in his final two Giants seasons. Beckham's injury issues with the Browns Beckham couldn't stay healthy with the Browns, either. He played through a core muscle injury for the entire 2019 season and underwent surgery afterward. He suffered a season end ing torn ACL in his left knee a little more than a year ago against the Bengals. He suffered a right shoul der injury - USA Today's Josina Anderson reported it's a grade three sprained AC joint - on Oct. 17 against the Arizona Cardinals. The sprain occurred just 10 days after Beckham revealed he has had a torn labrum in his left shoulder for 10 years dating to his LSU career. How Beckham performed for Browns Beckham's history with the Browns cannot be writ ten without chronicling the injuries, but his time in Cleveland will be remem bered most for disappointing production, a lack of oppor tunities, drama and a contro versial ending. Beckham repeatedly expressed his desire to win a Super Bowl with the Browns and five time Pro Bowl receiver Jarvis Landry, his close friend and former LSU teammate. Beckham believed his talent could lift the fran chise to unprecedented heights. But Beckham never became the focal point of the Browns' passing attack. Last month, he compared himself with NBA star James Harden while discussing his lack of targets this season, but insisted winning a champi onship remained his top pri ority. "I can't sit here and lie like I don't want the ball," Beckham said on Oct. 14, the last time he spoke to Browns beat writers. "Like I tell you every time I get up here, they don't pay James Harden for defense. He's a shooter. I feel like I'm a shooter." The son of a longtime NBA executive, Stefanski became the head coach of the Browns in January 2020, but he never got to coach Beckham for a full season. In seven games last sea son before Beckham suffered the torn ACL, he caught 23 passes on 43 targets for 319 yards and three touchdowns and rushed three times for 72 yards and a TD. His best game as a mem ber of the Browns came in a 48 39 road win over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 4, 2020, when he caught five passes on eight targets for 81 yards and two touchdowns (one from Mayfield and one from Landry) and rushed twice for 73 yards and a touchdown. His 50 yard rushing TD on an end around sealed the Browns' victory, and they wound up needing all 11 of their regular season wins to make the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Beckham's best statistical season as a Browns player unfolded amid dysfunction during Freddie Kitchens' lone year as head coach in 2019. Playing through the core muscle injury, Beckham appeared in all 16 games and caught 74 of 133 targets for 1,035 yards and four touch downs and rushed three times for 10 yards. Late in the same season, Beckham laughed off but did n't deny reports by Jay Glazer of Fox Sports and Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports that stated he had told some opponents "come get me" out of Cleveland. Well, it'll soon be time for other teams to come get Beckham because his days with the Browns have ended.
BY NATE ULRICH
Akron Beacon Journal For Tribune News Service
Photo Provided by Tribune News Service
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. walks off the field after the first half against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 29, 2021, in Atlanta
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