Good Morning! Today, we’re all about the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner, Tennessee Titans’ Marcus Mariota. Last night, he had a fantastic start to the NFL season. Check out some highlights – we’re looking forward to seeing his season progress!

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

Week 1 of the NFL season featured quite a few interesting games on opening Sunday. The  Seattle Seahawks lost to the St. Louis Rams in OT, and despite an appearance by Johnny Manziel, the Cleveland Browns fell to the New York Jets.  Marcus Mariota put on quite a show with 4 TDs in his debut for the  Tennessee Titans, and beat Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Bucs. Mariota is the second player in NFL history to throw 4 or more touchdown passes in his first league game. Sunday night ended late with the Dallas Cowboys winning an NFC East showdown against the New York Giants.

Also of note, Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers, Josh McCown of the Cleveland Browns, DeSean Jackson of the Washington Redskins, and both Lorenzo Mauldin and Antonio Cromartie of the New York Jets were all injured in their opening weekend games.

Monday Night Football features two match-ups: the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Atlanta Falcons at 7:10pm EST on ESPN and the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Minnesota Vikings at 10:20pm EST on ESPN.

College Football

College football was back in full force for week 2. Many of the top teams looked strong, but several notable SEC teams had rough weekends and lost their games, including  Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi State.

After the weekend, the latest poll shows Ohio State, Alabama, TCU, Michigan State and Baylor rounding out the top five. Stay tuned for next week as Alabama will take on another Top 15 team in Ole Miss.

Next week’s big games to watch include:

• Northwestern vs. Duke on Saturday – 12:30pm on ESPN3 and ACCN
• Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame on Saturday – 3:3opm on NBC
• Stanford vs. USC on Saturday – 8pm on ABC
• Alabama vs. Ole Miss on Saturday – 9:15pm on ESPN

MLB

As we get closer and closer to the October baseball, injuries are starting to disrupt some teams’ post-season dreams. Troy Tulowitzki of the Toronto Blue Jays will be out for a least a couple of weeks after fracturing his shoulder, and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals  left a game after a collision with Florida Marlins’ second baseman Derek Dietrich on Sunday.

The New York Mets’ Matt Harvey rest-versus-play saga continues with the latest announcement that he will use half-outings to stay ready. Another pitcher will be used after Harvey so as to give him time on the pitch but not exhaust him.

In exciting news, David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox hit the 500th home run of his career in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

Tennis

Flavia Pennetta is this year’s US Open women’s champion. On Saturday, she beat Roberta Vinci for the title. Vinci had defeated Serena Williams earlier in the week and ended the dream of a Serena Slam.

Roger Federer beat out Stan Wawrinka and world #1 Novak Djokovic beat out Marin Cilic to meet at the US Open men’s finals. Late Sunday night, after a rain delay and four sets against Federer, Djokovic took home his second US Open title and third major title of 2015.

JUST FOR FUN

Snooze-fest
KC fans fall asleep at the Chiefs/Texans game this weekend

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

A Legend
Rest in peace, Moses Malone
He was a Hall of Famer who enjoyed a 20-year NBA career and several MVP seasons

Talent agencies are investing in athletics
It’s one of the only growing arms of the entertainment industry 
The value of athletes as both players and marketers is skyrocketing, and the agencies are taking advantage of that business

Last fight
Floyd Mayweather won every round against Andre Berto
There was a lot of verbal back-and-forth, but the fight itself was a disappointment