By William Hathaway
This year has been a strange one in the sports world. The New York Giants went from flirting with the 1st pick to flirting with the division title, after taking their fourth straight win. Backup quarterback Colt McCoy led Big Blue to a stunning 17-12 win at Seattle. Backup running back Alfred Morris had two touchdowns in support of a tough Giants defense that somehow stopped Russell Wilson, sacking him multiple times throughout the game.
Across the country, the New York Jets snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, in a shocking 31-28 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Gang Green led the game with only seconds remaining, when Raiders QB Derek Carr Raiders quarterback threw a wide open deep ball to Henry Ruggs for the winning touchdown pass to keep the Raiders in the playoff hunt. The play was stunning, because defensive coordinator Gregg Williams called a blitz that allowed a receiver to get behind the defense, with no timeouts left. Not long after, Williams was fired for his inept play calling.
In other football action, the Rutgers football program lost at home to Penn State 23-7 in a less than stellar Big Ten game. Meanwhile, that conference has a dilemma, as Big Ten favorite and National Title contender Ohio State had its game with Michigan cancelled. OSU needed the game to meet the six-game minimum requirement to participate in the College Football Playoff.
In college basketball, Seton Hall has had a rough start to this season. A tough 71-70 loss on the road to Louisville was coupled with an 83-70 loss at Oregon and a 76-63 loss to Rhode Island. The Pirates did however win a big game at Penn State, beating the Nittany Lions 98-92 in overtime. Forward Sandro Mamukelashvili scored a career high 30 points, while Myles Cale had 16. SHU will open its Big East season at home against St. John’s on Friday.
