Thursday Night Recap

So much television, so little time. Baseball playoffs, college football, the NFL – to which channel do we turn, and at what time?

First, catching up on Thursday’s festivities. The Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 and the Houston Astros topped the Kansas City Royals 5-2 in the American League Divisional Series. In the NFL, 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck won his second consecutive start for the Indianapolis Colts as they downed the Houston Texans 27-20. Andrew Luck (shoulder) sat out.

Now, your weekend six-pack of viewing pleasure:

BASEBALL

New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday night, 9:30 p.m. Jacob deGrom, last season’s National League Rookie of the Year, pitches against Clayton Kershaw, who has yet to win a postseason game. The Dodgers last played the Mets in July, before the trading deadline and the acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes and others who beefed up the Mets’ attack.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Illinois (4-1) at No. 22 Iowa (5-0): The Illini put their coaching change behind them and average better than 400 yards a game. Iowa comes off a 10-6 win over then-No. 19 Wisconsin.

Georgia Tech (2-3) at No. 6 Clemson (4-0): Tech’s special teams have been terrible during a three-game losing streak and Tech hasn’t lost four straight since 1996. Clemson well remembers last year’s 28-6 loss to the Yellow Jackets.

NFL

New England Patriots (3-0) at Dallas Cowboys (2-2): Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy, back from a four-game suspension, made a number of cracks about Tom Brady’s wife, model Gisele Bundchen. Uh oh.

Seattle Seahawks (2-2) at Cincinnati Bengals (4-0): This will be a true test for Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. Seattle is 2-0 since safety Kam Chancellor ended his contract holdout.

New Orleans Saints (1-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (1-3): Both teams expected much more of themselves. The Eagles need to get high-priced running back DeMarco Murray involved. The winner saves its season; the loser is likely cooked.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .