Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday 10/4/21
4 October 2021 Sports
Sports for October 4th
Randall Cobb demonstrated why Aaron Rodgers wanted the veteran receiver back in Green Bay. Rodgers connected with Cobb for two touchdowns and ran for another score as the Packers won their third straight, 27-17 over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Cobb began his career in Green Bay and played for the Packers from 2011-18 before landing in Dallas in 2019 and Houston last year. The Packers reacquired Cobb at the start of training camp at Rodgers’ request.
Cobb caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to put the Packers (3-1) ahead for good and scored again on a 1-yard reception that made it 27-10 in the third period. That short throw was the 420th TD pass of Rodgers’ career, tying Dan Marino for sixth all-time. Through the first three games, Cobb had four catches for 58 yards. He caught five passes for 69 yards Sunday. Rodgers and Cobb connected on two third-down completions that set up Green Bay’s touchdown. Cobb’s go-ahead score also came on third down.
Rodgers went 20 of 36 for 248 yards and scored the Packers’ first points on a 4-yard rush in his first home start against the Steelers, the only team he hadn’t faced at Lambeau Field. After falling behind 7-0, Green Bay scored 27 of the next 30 points to seize control.
Pittsburgh (1-3) has lost three straight, failing to top 17 points in each game, after a surprising season-opening win at Buffalo. Since opening the 2020 season with 11 straight wins, the Steelers have lost eight of 10.
It was the first time Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger had faced off as starting quarterbacks since Green Bay edged Pittsburgh 31-25 in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6, 2011. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to wins over Green Bay teams quarterbacked by Matt Flynn in 2013 and Brett Hundley in 2017, as separate collarbone injuries prevented Rodgers from playing in either game.
But the Steelers didn’t return to the end zone until Najee Harris scored from 1 yard out with 4:10 left in the game. Roethlisberger ended up going 26 of 40 for 232 yards with an interception.
Green Bay led 14-10 when Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick blocked Mason Crosby’s 31-yard field-goal attempt. Fitzpatrick recovered the ball and raced 75 yards to the end zone, but officials called Pittsburgh’s Joe Haden offside. Crosby made the ensuing 26-yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the first half.
A.J. Dillon led the Packers in rushing with 81 yards on 15 carries while Aaron Jones gained 48 yards on 15 carries.
Crosby added a 29-yarder in the third quarter for his 24th consecutive successful field-goal attempt, breaking his own franchise record. Crosby made 23 straight from 2010-11.
On the injury front, CB Jaire Alexander (shoulder) left the game in the third quarter.
The Packers play at Cincinnati Sunday.
Elsewhere in the NFC North Sunday the Vikings dropped to 1-3, losing at home to the Bengals 14-7 while the Bears won at home over Detroit 14-14 to improve to 2-2.
Last night in his return to Foxboro Stadium Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers escaped with a 19-17 win over the Patriots as New England’s Nick Folks 56-yard field goal attempt hit the left upright to preserve the Bucs win.
In Monday Night Football Las Vegas (3-0) plays the Chargers (2-1) in Los Angeles.
Trea Turner ended the regular season with a bang, hitting his second grand slam in less than 48 hours to easily wrap up the NL batting title. The Dodgers came up just short in their bid to unseat the rival San Francisco Giants for the NL West title, beating Milwaukee 10-3 Sunday for their 106th victory only to finish as the winningest second-place team in major league history. The Dodgers’ streak of eight straight NL West titles ended with them one game behind the Giants, who beat San Diego 11-4 for their 107th victory.
The Dodgers host St. Louis in the NL wild-card game on Wednesday, and the winner plays the Giants in the NL Division Series. Turner hit .328, well ahead of former Washington teammate Juan Soto, who went 0 for 3 Sunday to end at .313. Turner went 1 for 3 with four RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 19 games while making a case for NL MVP honors. Turner also led the league in hits (195), stolen bases (32) and total bases (319). He joined the Dodgers at the July 30 trade deadline from Washington, along with All-Star pitcher Max Scherzer, a strong contender for the NL Cy Young Award.
Walker Buehler (16-4) allowed one run and three hits in five innings of his career-high 33rd start. He struck out a season high-tying 11, including six of his first eight batters, and walked one. His wins are a career high. Aaron Ashby (3-2) took the loss.
Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes is the first pitcher in franchise history to win the ERA title. He topped the league at 2.43. Dodgers starters Max Scherzer and Buehler were second and third, respectively, at 2.46 and 2.47.
The Brewers open their divisional series at home Friday against the Braves.
Cornelius Johnson caught both of Cade McNamara’s touchdown passes and No. 14 Michigan remained unbeaten Saturday with a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin, which lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a chest injury. Wisconsin (1-3, 0-2 Big Ten) trailed 13-10 and had the ball to start the third quarter when Mertz was sacked by Daxton Hill on a third-and-9 play. Mertz and tight end Jake Ferguson both went to the locker room with chest injuries after that play, and neither returned to the game. Once Mertz and Ferguson departed, Michigan scored 25 straight points to put the game out of reach.
The Wolverines (5-0, 2-0) won at Madison for the first time since 2001 by shutting down Wisconsin’s rushing attack, something Michigan had failed to do the last couple of seasons. Michigan had lost in each of its last five trips to Camp Randall Stadium.
Wisconsin beat Michigan 35-14 in 2019 and 49-11 in 2020 while rushing for over 340 yards in each of those games. Michigan limited the Badgers to 43 yards on 32 carries Saturday.
McNamara went 17 of 28 for 197 yards. Highly touted freshman quarterback J.J. McCarthy also played and had a 1-yard touchdown run plus a 56-yard touchdown pass to Daylen Baldwin. Mertz was 8 of 15 for 115 yards with a touchdown pass to Chimere Dike before getting hurt. Chase Wolf replaced Mertz and went 3 of 8 for 52 yards with an interception and a touchdown pass to Clay Cufiff.
Wisconsin honored former coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez during a halftime ceremony. Alvarez stepped down as coach in 2005 and retired as athletic director earlier this year. Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced Friday that Camp Randall Stadium’s playing field will be named after Alvarez. The change takes effect next season, making the playing field “Barry Alvarez Field at Camp Randall Stadium.”
Wisconsin is at Illinois Saturday.
UW-Oshkosh won on the road at UW-Platteville Saturday 35-32 to improve to 3-0.
Fueled by a 18-0 start, the Ripon Red Hawks (4-0) remained undefeated, marking the program’s best start since 2010. Quarterback Jarrett Zibert threw for 3 TDs including a 83-yard connection with Tiegan Bothun in the 3rd quarter as Ripon beat Illinois College 24-13.. Ripon out-gained Illinois College in total yardage by a 406-267 margin. Zibert completed 18-of-27 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for a team-high 57 yards on eight carries. Ripon will play at Grinnell College next Saturday at 1 p.m.
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