A Sports Filled Weekend It Was

You won’t be upset if you like upsets in college football. Six teams in the preseason top 25 lost their openers and a seventh will do so on Monday night when No. 11 Ole Miss plays No. 4 Florida State.

Sunday night provided the proverbial icing on a gigantic football cake when unranked Texas topped No. 10 Notre Dame 50-47 in two overtimes. Texas started Shane Buechele, a true freshman, at quarterback. The last true freshman who started a game at quarterback for Texas was Bobby Layne in 1944.

Buechele threw two touchdown passes and ran for another and his backup, Tyrone Swoopes, also ran for two scores, including the game-winner.

Big Winners

No. 1 Alabama, 52-6 over No. 20 USC; No. 3 Michigan, 63-3 over Hawaii, and No. 15 Houston, which flattened No. 3 Oklahoma 33-23.

Tennis

No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic topped topped Kyle Edmund in three sets on Sunday but No. 4 Rafael Nadal fell in five sets to Lucas Pouille in five sets. On the women’s side, No. 2 Angelique Kerber rolled over Petra Ktvitova in straight sets. Venus Williams (No. 4) and Serena Williams (No. 1) are the court on Monday.

Elsewhere
NFL teams made their roster cuts to 53 players ahead of the opening game (Carolina Panthers-Denver Broncos) on Thursday night. The Philadelphia Eagles traded quarterback Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings for a No. 1 draft pick and more as the Vikings are without Teddy Bridgewater (knee) for the season. … Martin Truex Jr. won NASCAR’s Bojangles 500 at Darlington, beating Kevin Harvick, who led most of the race. … The Cleveland Indians came from behind to beat the Miami Marlins 6-5 and sweep the three-game series. The Indians lead the American League Central Division by 5 ½ games. … The Oakland A’s didn’t get a hit until the eighth inning but beat the Boston Red Sox 1-0. … Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, out more than two months with a herniated disk in his back, will return to pitch on Friday against the Marlins.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman