Thursday’s 6-pack:
Interesting NFL spreads for this week:
— Jaguars (-2) @ Houston
— Browns @ Denver (-1.5)
— Chiefs (-8.5) @ Las Vegas
— Bills @ Philadelphia (-3.5)
— Ravens (-3.5) @ LA Chargers
— Bears @ Minnesota (-3.5)
Quote of the Day
“Coach Smith and I have had ongoing conversations for more than a month regarding his future at Oregon State and our path forward for football specifically and our athletic department generally. He has embraced our short and long term plans……..
……..Coach Smith and I have also discussed our commitment to extending assistant coaches’ contracts and increasing the salary pool for his staff to retain the continuity of what they have all built together for Beaver Nation.”
Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes
Thursday’s quiz
When he was a rookie in 2016, Jared Goff started seven games for the Rams; what QB started the other nine games for the Rams that year?
Hint: He is still in the NFL, but he isn’t a starter
Wednesday’s quiz
Brian Flores was head coach of the Miami Dolphins before Mike McDaniel.
Tuesday’s quiz
The last time the Angels made the baseball playoffs was 2014; they got swept by the KC Royals in the divisional round.
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— Purdue 78, Marquette 75- Big guy Zach Edey had 28 points, 15 rebounds as Purdue wins a very tough Maui Classic. Boilermakers hit 10-21 on the arc.
Tyler Kolek had 22 points, 6 assists for Marquette, which leaves Hawai’i with wins over UCLA and Kansas, so it was a good week for them, even though they lost this game.
— Kansas 69, Tennessee 60- Rough couple of days for the Vols, who scored 0.91/0.87 points per possession in losses to Purdue/Kansas— they shot 17-63 on the arc in those two games, but they have a good defensive team and figure to make the NCAA’s in March.
Hunter Dickinson scored 17 points, grabbed 20 rebounds for Kansas, which shot 57.5% inside the arc, after trailed by 7 early on.
— Gonzaga, 69, UCLA 65
Zags rebound from loss to Purdue with wins over Syracuse, UCLA
Antone Watson scored 32 points for the Zags.
Gonzaga has won its last four games with the Bruins.
— Arkansas 77, Stanford 74, 2OT
Brickfest: teams combined to shoot 14-49 on the arc.
Stanford led by 9 with 14:21 left in game.
Arkansas shot 30.3% from floor, 26-33 on foul line.
— Southern Illinois 81, New Mexico State 54- You don’t see this often; Aggies shot 31.9% from the floor, 0-9 on the arc. In this day and age, you almost never see a team go a whole game without making a 3-pointer.
— In the Horizon League, Oakland Grizzlies have a player Jack Gohlke; so far this season, he’s shooting 24-72 on the arc, 1-2 inside the arc. All the freakin’ guy does is shoot 3’s. Seems like a fun job to have.
— Word of the Day— Gratitude- the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
— Movie of the Day- Class Action (1991)- An attorney representing a traumatized accident victim finds that his opponent is a very familiar defense attorney – his own daughter.
Gene Hackman is the lawyer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is his daughter. Laurence Fishburne, Fred Thompson, Jonathan Silverman, Joan McMurtrey and the guy who was the coroner on CSI are all in this movie- very good cast.
— In baseball, Seattle Mariners traded 3B Eugenio Suárez to Arizona, for C Seby Zavala and P Carlos Vargas; the move frees up $11,285,715 that Suarez will be paid next year. Luis Urias is expected to be the Mariners’ 3B next season.
— Bowling Green 34, Western Michigan 10
Falcons clinch their first winning season since 2015.
Bowling Green led 31-3 at halftime; they had a pick-6 to make score 17-0.
Falcons averaged 8.1 yards/pass attempt.
— Eastern Michigan 24, Buffalo 11
Underdog Eagles led 24-0 at halftime; they’re bowl eligible now.
EMU ran ball 46 times for 226 yards (4.9 yards/carry).
3-9 Buffalo lost three fumbles, completed only 12-28 passes.
— NFL stuff:
Jets are starting 3rd-string QB Tim Boyle against the Dolphins Friday; Boyle started three games for Detroit in 2021, lost ‘em all. He played college ball at UConn/Eastern Kentucky.
Falcons are going back to QB Desmond Ridder for their game against the Saints this week; they’re 4-6 overall this season, 4-4 in Ridder’s starts.
— Nebraska 89, Duquesne 79
Cornhuskers scored on their first 16 possessions of the second half; I can’t remember seeing a team do that before.
— Last 17 years, favorites are 15-2 ATS in Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving Day games.