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Ohio? O H I O Ohio? Really? Them's the facts and we write them. Ohio State beat Ohio U 26-14 today, and did it without injured back Beanie Wells but hoo boy was it ugly. The Buckeyes were listless in trailing 7-6 at halftime. They later found themselves trailing 14-6 in the third quarter before getting their acts together.

Of no surprise, the Buckeyes' defense saved the day, forcing five turnovers against an otherwise poised Bobcat team. Several methodical offensive drives in crunch time provided the winning margin as Ohio's offense was shut down through most of the second half.

A more dominant Buckeye victory almost assuredly would have set up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle next Saturday in Los Angeles against USC. Look for them to drop in the polls, however. The good news for them is that they did emerge victorious and Wells appears to be ready to be cleared to play at some point. The national media will still converge upon L.A. and week three will have its marquee game. All is not lost.

And things continue to get worse in Alex Smith's professional life. Two weeks ago, the 2005 first-overall pick got the news that he had been demoted to second-team quarterback behind journeyman J.T. O'Sullivan, all while enduring a constant verbal barrage from offensive coordinator No. 4 in his NFL career, Mike Martz.

And today we learn that Smith will be listed as doubtful on the 49ers injury report for tomorrow's opener against the Cardinals.

From the Sacramento Bee's Matt Barrows:

There's been a late development on the injury report. Alex Smith injured his surgically repaired right shoulder this week and is doubtful for tomorrow's game. That means Shaun Hill will be the back-up and that Michael Robinson would be the emergency back-up. I'm told that it was a non-contact injury but there are no other details about the injury at this time. Here's a quote from Mike Nolan:

"Yesterday Alex Smith sustained a non-contact injury to his surgically repaired right shoulder. He will be consulting with his surgeon in Birmingham for treatment recommendations. At this time there are no specifics to the injury or a timetable. "

Welcome to the FanHouse UFC 88 live blog, where we'll provide round-by-round and minute-by-minute updates of all of the fights on tonight's UFC 88 show:,

Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill

Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares

Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann

Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim

The pay-per-view show and our live blog will begin at 10 p.m. Eastern.

The reactions were swift and, well, reactionary following the Redskins' uninspired performance against the Giants on Thursday night. As always, the expectations are high, even with Joe Gibbs now doing the Lord's work, and his successor, Jim Zorn, never having even coordinated an offense much less coached up an entire team.

Still, with owner Dan Snyder's history of throwing around money for big-name players like he's Elliot Spitzer patronizing the services of the Emperors Club VIP, expectations are bound to be artificially inflated.

It's probably unfair to think quarterback Jason Campbell would have fully grasped Zorn's West Coast scheme in just a few months, but even the most measured observer had to be taken aback at what passed for offense against New York.

The Washington Post's Jason La Canfora writes that Zorn, who was able to sit through an entire film review without puking his guts out, had some thoughts on how to improve things going forward:

We'll be taking over for the early shift of the live blog of college football here at 3pm. We'll finish out the early games and get started on the mid day games like Penn St. vs. Oregon St., Oklahoma vs. Cincinnati, and East Carolina against West Virginia.

Start the chat after the jump.

Just not anything in the past we care to talk about.

Mark McGwire has basically kept himself out of the limelight ever since leaving baseball in 2001, with his infamous appearance at the Congressional hearings on steroids being the lone exception. Well this coming Monday will be the ten year anniversary of the night that Big Mac hit his 62nd home run of the 1998 season, and broke Roger Maris' longstanding home run record.

So, with that in mind, the man who wasn't here to talk about the past talked about the past with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"That day, Sept. 8," he said, "I had a real calmness about me. It was a very eerie feeling that I didn't ever experience again or hadn't experienced before. I remember driving to the ballpark and, even with all the hoopla going on, it probably was the only day I felt so peaceful. It was a premonition that 'tonight is going to be the night.'

"The whole year was so spiritual, so universal, with so many things that happened," he said. "I don't know if people believe this stuff, but I think that when the stars are aligned right, things happen.

Back in spring training, Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez looked around the Angels training complex and said that it would probably be the last time he'd be there as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. Then after racking up 38 saves in the first half, K-Rod reiterated the fact that the Angels have had six years to try and lock him up to a long-term deal, and didn't do it, so he still expected to leave after the season.

Well, now it seems that Francisco has changed his mind. He is still intent on testing the market this winter, but that doesn't mean he's not open to returning to the Halos in 2009.

"I want to clarify something," Rodriguez said before Friday night's game against the White Sox. "Just because I want to explore the market, it doesn't mean I don't want to be here.

"As a player, I worked hard for six years, and I earned that right to go out there and see what there is. That doesn't mean I don't want to be here. I want to see what's out there, and it would be stupid on my part if I didn't."

K-Rod will be looking for a five-year deal in the $15 million a year range, and given the season he's had and the amount of teams who will probably be looking for a closer this offseason, he's probably going to get it. Still, he did say that he would consider a four-year offer from the Angels with the option for a fifth year.

Of course, considering the bidding war that may ensue for his services, and the money the Angels already have invested in other areas of the team, I still don't think he'll be an Angel in 2009.

There were two facts about the Green Bay Packers' preseason that you might find startling.

For starters, an offensive line that has prided itself on protecting Brett Favre for so many years didn't do a very good job with Favre's replacements in the preseason. Aaron Rodgers, Brian Brohm, and Matt Flynn were sacked a combined 16 times in four games, the most sacks allowed by any team in the preseason.

Meanwhile, the Packers defensive line struggled to generate much of any push against their opponents. The defense picked up just two sacks, which ranked last in the NFL.

Yes, it's just preseason, but the Packers clearly have a little bit of work to do in the trenches.

Luckily for them, so does Minnesota.

Following their 10-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds last night, the Chicago Cubs have now lost six games in a row. Not exactly a great thing for a team holding onto a division lead in September, but at the same time, it's the Cubs first real losing streak of the season. It was bound to happen at some point.

Things almost got a lot worse for the Cubs on Friday, because before they lost the game, they nearly lost their manager. Lou Piniella and first-base coach Matt Sinatro decided to make the drive together from Chicago to Cincinnati, but apparently all that time spent coaching baseball doesn't help a man's sense of direction.

Lou and Matty's Excellent Adventure ended up in the right place Friday -- albeit, three hours after they planned to get to the ballpark on their drive from Chicago and only after overshooting that right turn at Toledo by 90 miles and buying a map.

''I don't know what happened,'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''I probably shouldn't have taken the nap. Anyway, we're here."

Unfortunately for Cubs fans, Bob Howry has a GPS system in his car, and made it to the stadium on time. Maybe Lou should take him on one of those rides where he'll mysteriously disappear.

For 18 games last year, Josh McDaniels' offense in New England was a well-oiled machine, inflicting pain and embarrassment on any defense that had the audacity to cross its path. The Patriots scored at least 30 points in 13 of their first 18 games (never scoring fewer than 20) and at times resembled somebody playing a game of Madden with the difficulty set to beginner.

Then, in the Super Bowl, in a somewhat shocking development to everyone except Plaxico Burress, the Patriots offense was shut down by a relentless New York Giants pass rush, registering only 14 points in the teams only loss of the season. According to Christopher L. Gasper at the Boston Globe, that game, and performance, is still sitting with McDaniels, and he's looking to do something about it.

Judging by McDaniels's mannerisms answering that question, he is motivated by the way the offense sputtered in the Super Bowl. He is eager and excited to correct his mistakes, starting tomorrow at Gillette Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Not satisfied with an offense that was nearly perfect last season, the 32-year-old McDaniels spent the offseason tinkering and tweaking and rethinking the playbook to counter any so-called "blueprint" the Giants may have laid down and to find new ways to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers