Seems like everywhere one looks on their screens there’s football of some kind for the taking this weekend, beginning with last night. Some of the games actually counted.
As they have done for the past 17 years because something has to fill the appetite and demand for actual gridiron action even before Week Zero, ESPN began a nine-day series of nationally prominent high school telecasts which effectively serve as the video resource for the recruiting days to come. Now that the unofficial start to fall has been permanently moved up to August–Halloween pop-ups have already opened and Pumpkin Spice Latte is headed back to Starbucks next week–why shouldn’t there be actual regular season games this month? Especially one that turned out to be as exciting as this one which RIVALS’ Hunter Sheldon humble-bragged about:
All eyes were on Heywood Stadium in Chattanooga on Thursday night as the top two teams in Tennessee went to battle. Baylor School opened a high-profile campaign with a 38-20 victory over Brentwood Academy in a rematch of last year’s Class 3A, Division II state championship.
To no surprise, the Red Raiders’ workhorse in the backfield stole the show. Three fourth-quarter touchdowns for senior running back David Gabriel Georges propelled Baylor (1-0) to victory over the Eagles once again. The Five-Star Plus+ prospect and Tennessee commit dropped the jaws of everyone in attendance from the opening drive onward.
Perhaps someday Georges might be as much of a household name as Fernando Mendoza now is. The Heisman Trophy and national championship winner of 2025 earned the distinction of being the headliner of the first ESPN mothership telecast of the 2026 pre-season last night for an otherwise lackluster matchup. Let’s just say he’s still work in progress on the NFL level, as he ASSOCCIATED PRESS’ Krisite Reiken reminded:
Mendoza struggled in his second preseason game, throwing an interception that Houston returned for a touchdown before the Las Vegas Raiders rallied late for a 22-20 victory over the Texans on Thursday night…“I came away with there’s a lot more learning to do, and although that maybe you may have had a lot of success at another level, this level is a whole step further and that the margins are so small, and that one tiny mistake can lead to catastrophe,” Mendoza said.
At least that game proved to be competitive–more than can be said for what went down a few exits south of me, which the LOS ANGELES TIMES’ Sam Farmer was tasked with sharing:
The Chargers had precious few highlights Thursday night and a landslide of lowlights, resulting in a 41-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium. On designed runs, the Chargers gained 1.8 yards per carry. They converted two of 14 third downs. Their defense surrendered five touchdowns, including an 83-yard punt return. The only two statistical categories in which they had an edge: More penalties and more punts.
“We got outplayed and we beat ourselves in all three phases,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “It’s not going to go well when those two things occur.”
It got to the point where I actively sought out something else as an alternative, and then I remembered that the CFL was actually beginning the second half of its regular season last night. It’s still jarring to see the exceptionally similar graphics of TSN–the home of “Sportscentre”–with a CBS Sports Network bug–but when you’re willing to go to the ends of the Earth for a competitive game, one puts up with such Third World problems.
What I wound up catching up instead with was a performance that made last night’s Chargers seem like worthy candidates to host a Super Bowl in their stadium. As THE CANADIAN PRESS reported:
The Ottawa Redblacks are still searching for their first win, and now sit in some very lonely company. Ottawa suffered its 10th straight loss to open the season Thursday night, dropping an ugly 46-16 decision to the league-leading Montreal Alouettes before 22,482 at Molson Stadium.
“Our margin for error is small,” Redblacks quarterback Jake Maier said. “And I think that when a play doesn’t go our way, you can feel it a little bit more as a football team that’s trying to find their footing.”
There’s still a ways to go before the Redblacks seriously threaten the 1976 Buccaneers or the 2008 Lions’ ignominies, but hitting double digits is a milestone unto itself. Maybe they’ll fare better next year when the league completes its remodeling that will have it more closely resemble the American version. Already gone is the “rouge”–the one-point play that used to reward single points for missed field goals or punts/kickoffs that go through the end zone untouched. No longer are we being rewarded with the oddity of a 6-4 partial score that looked like it had been displaced from an NHL ticker. And as of next year the 110-yard field, which includes the “C” to denote the 55-yard line, will be reduced to 100. At least they are keeping the width at 65 yards and not adding a fourth down.
You almost can’t blame the Canadians because the American seems to be taking over the rest of the world. We will have a record number of international games in the NFL this year, including the first-ever regular season tilt in Australia where the 49ers will try to draw first blood over the other Los Angeles team in their quest to play another game in SoFi Stadium this season. It’s a point that the league’s czar drove home yesterday as a harbinger for the future, as OPERATION SPORTS’
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the league will inevitably establish permanent franchises outside the United States. Speaking with former NFL linebacker Markus Kuhn for German broadcaster RTL/ntv, Goodell expressed full confidence in the league’s global footprint expansion…The statement aligns with a record-setting international push for the 2026 NFL season, which features nine regular-season games played overseas across England, Australia, Brazil, France, Spain, Germany, and Mexico. League owners have also approved measures to expand the international slate up to 10 games starting in 2027 while removing the ability for franchises to protect home dates from international assignment.
His timing to announce even greater carpetbagging aspirations was especially curious since today is opening day for what the rest of the world considers football. THE SUN’s Craig Mahood , Betting & Sports Writer–because we know what’s given priorities in London–naturally was all over this as the sun rose over London this morning:
It’s the start of a new Premier League season, full of fresh optimism for all 20 top flight clubs. But for defending champions, Arsenal and new boys Coventry, there’s more than plenty to be excited about.
The Gunners begin the season as defending champions for the first time in over two decades and arrive fresh off the back of a comfortable Community Shield win over Man City last weekend.
In the wake of the tremendously successful World Cup and renewed recognition for its personnel the fine folk at NBC, Peacock and Versant are giddy at the prospects of even larger audiences for their matches. They even get a window ahead of high school football stateside for their lid-lifter, and Saturday morning matches of the day have become a staple. But those Sunday morning matches will get more competition from that other football than ever, and outside of the shire there’s all the more betting going on with his version.
At least for now, there’s enough different kinds of football to satisfy the whims and whimsies of just about any taste anywhere. Enjoy it while you can.
Courage…