College Football

The sports weekend continues through Monday’s Labor Day festivities, with some events still on-going.

The crowning event of the opening of the college football season takes place on Monday night in Blacksburg, Va., where the defending national champion – The Ohio State University – takes on Virginia Tech. OSU was a unanimous choice in The Associated Press poll to repeat and the Buckeyes are also out for a bit of vengeance. Their only loss last season was to the Hokies in Week 2, in Columbus, Ohio, by a 35-21 count.

There were the usual first-week mismatches and blowout in college football, but the drama of Saturday belonged to Brigham Young University. With starting quarterback Taysom Hill knocked out of the game (and for the season), backup Tanner Mangum’s Hail Mary heave on the last play with no time left landed in the hands of Mitch Matthews for a 42-yard touchdown and a  33-28 win over Nebraska.

TENNIS

Serena Williams’ march to a Grand Slam will have to go through her older sister Venus on Tuesday night at the U.S. Open in Flushing, N.Y., in the quarterfinals. Steffi Graf was the last player, male or female, to achieve the Slam, 27 years ago. Serena has won 25 consecutive matches this year. In 26 career meetings between the siblings, Serena owns a 15-11 record. Serena won the most recent match, in the fourth round at Wimbledon, in straight sets.

ELSEWHERE

The Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass., wraps up on Monday after a Friday start. Henrik Stenson took a one-stroke lead over Rickie Fowler and a two-shot edge over Sean O’Hair and Matt Jones into the final round. … The New York Mets and pitcher Matt Harvey have been disputing whether or not his innings on the mound will be capped this season and Harvey insists they will not and that he will pitch into the playoffs. The Mets lead the National League East by four games over the Washington Nationals; they begin a three-game series on Monday afternoon that could reshape the race.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .