The Cowboys did pretty well for a bye week. Though a miraculous loss for either Washington in Houston or Philadelphia in San Francisco would’ve been sweet, fans have to be happy about the Seahawks' "hope they paid for dinner first" embarrassment of the Giants at home. At this point of the season, the 'Boys are sitting at the top of the NFC East going into what amounts to another week off in Nashville.

After dropping the Loser Bowl to the Dolphins by three, the Titans may as well shoot the moon and go for draft picks. If they go 0-16, maybe they can pick up Troy Smith to fill the gap on the bench between Vince Young and LenDale White.

There are conflicting accounts of what happened in the final minutes of the Sept. 16 football game between Oklahoma and Oregon in Eugene. But those with knowledge of the controversial decisions and the replay process said it appeared to unfold this way:
1. Oregon scored a touchdown to cut Oklahoma's lead to 33-27 with 1:12 remaining in the game. Oregon kicker Luke Bellotti lined up for an onside kick attempt. Replay official Gordon Riese communicated to his assistant, Roger Judd, that the ensuing call would automatically be a reviewable play regardless of who recovered.
2. The kick bounced high off the Autzen Stadium turf, and in the scramble for the ball, an official on the field blew his whistle, believing Oregon's Patrick Chung had recovered. Officials signaled that it was Oregon's ball with 1:06 left.
3. As per his duties as replay official, Riese radioed referee Dave Cutaia and said he wanted to review the play. Riese had questions about whether the ball had traveled the required 10 yards before being touched and whether it had been first touched by an Oklahoma player, as ruled on the field.
4. The network production team rushed to prepare video feeds and then sent them to Riese and Judd. The replay officials received the feeds but struggled with technical aspects of the equipment. The replay booth does not have access to the over-the-air broadcast, so officials did not see the angles that fans at home saw. All the officials watched was a single angle being played on the Autzen Stadium monitor for fans.
5. After a delay of several minutes, Cutaia radioed to ask Riese if he had a decision. Riese, who had been admonished by the Pacific-10 conference last season for taking nearly four minutes to review a play, said, "I didn't get a view. Dave, there's no way I can overturn this."
6. Cutaia then announced there was "conclusive evidence that an Oklahoma player touched the ball first." The ruling on the field stood.

In case you missed it in print, this was my preseason "Pig Skinny" column:

I'll Place Money That One of These 10 Teams Will Win the BCS Championship
(You Get Everybody Else and Texas)

Sorry, Longhorns. The schedule is too tough, and the quarterback situation is going to be worse than you think, especially in the first half of the season. That being said, that's exactly how this list was compiled: talent level balanced against the favorability of the slate. The race for the glass football is wide open this year, and I predict that nobody finishes the regular season undefeated (click below for Top 10 and first-month analysis)...

The UT Lady Longhorns moved to 6-2 on the year with three good wins last week, 4-2 at LSU, then 5-0 over Nicholls State, and 3-2 over a very good Cal State Fullerton team, who had just knocked off sixth-ranked Texas A&M in College Station. The Horns open their conference schedule this week, on the road at Tech and Baylor.
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It was game on in the English Premier League last week, as struggling Arsenal got a huge win at Manchester United, and champs Chelsea put the hurt on equally struggling Liverpool. This week the Euro focus is on midweek Champions League and UEFA Cup ties. ESPN2 is showing just one game live -- Benfica-Manchester United, at 1:30pm Tuesday, Sept. 26 -- but several other tasty matchups are on ESPN Classic and the spanish-language stations, tape-delayed throughout the week. Televised games I know of include:

Real Madrid-Dynamo Kiev, Tuesday 4pm on ESPN Classic
Lille-AC Milan, Tuesday 6pm on ESPN Deportes
Arsenal-Porto, Tuesday 11pm on ESPN Deportes
Werder Bremen-Barcelona, Wednesday on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Classic
Inter Milan-Bayern Munich, Wednesday 3:45pm on ESPN Deportes
Levski Sofia-Chelsea, Wednesday, 6pm on ESPN Deportes, and 11pm on ESPN2
Valencia-Roma, Wednesday 11pm on ESPN Deportes
Bordeaux-PSV Eindhoven, Thursday on ESPN Deportes
Steaua Bucharest-Lyon, Thursday on ESPN Deportes

Then there's pay-per-view: Arsenal-Porto on Tuesday, and Liverpool-Galatasaray on Wednesday, each at 1:30pm at your favorite sports bar.
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At press time, the military coup in Thailand seems to be putting a crimp in Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's plans to take over Liverpool FC. Details forthcoming.

And so the group stage is underway. For the most part, the home teams held serve – eight games on Tuesday, and just one visiting team managed to score. And there was nary an upset (unless you count Lyon dumping Real Madrid – again). It was a great week for English clubs, as Arsenal, Man U, and Chelsea all won, and Liverpool got a draw on the road. Two weeks now, until Game Day 2.

Group A
Barcelona and Chelsea took early control with a pair of dominating home shutouts. Barca got scores from five different players.
Barcelona 5, Levski Sofia 0
Chelsea 2, Werder Bremen 0

Group B
A good day for the home teams here as well; Bayern cruising, Sporting Lisbon hanging onto a slim win over Inter Milan, who had Patrick Vieira red carded.
Bayern Munich 4, Spartak Moscow 0
Sporting Lisbon 1, Inter Milan 0

Group C
A pair of scoreless draws is probably good news for the visitors, who were likely the favorites in this group already.
Galatasaray 0, Bordeaux 0
PSV Eindhoven 0, Liverpool 0

Group D
Valencia came from behind, and got two goals in the final five minutes to take a road win in Greece; Fernando Morientes tallied a hat trick. Roma left it late as well, getting four goals in the last 23 minutes to bury a pretty good Ukranian side.
Olympiakos 2, Valencia 4
Roma 4, Shakhtar Donetsk 0

Group E
Tough week for the Ukraine, whose teams had been on a roll. And what about Real Madrid? Last year's Galacticos lost at Lyon 3-0; this year's new, improved, Fabio Capello-led non-Galacticos were just a goal better.
Dynamo Kiev 1, Steaua Bucharest 4
Lyon 2, Real Madrid 0

Group F
The much anticipated all-British matchup lived up to its billing, with end-to-end play, and five goals in the first half. Man U's Sir Alex Ferguson promised his lads wouldn't fail again this year, and so far, so good.
Manchester United 3, Glasgow Celtic 2
FC Copenhagen 0, Benfica 0

Group G
Arsenal got a valuable win on the road, but didn't necessarily look all that convincing doing it. Hamburg played a man down almost the entire game, after having their goalkeeper sent off while conceding a penalty in the 10th minute.
FC Porto 0, CSKA Moscow 0
Hamburg 1, Arsenal 2

Group H
Milan coasted; they look to be the class of this group. Second place looks wide open; give an edge to the French side.
AC Milan 3, AEK Athens 0
Anderlecht 1, Lille 1

Top two teams in each group advance to the final 16 knockout round.
Match Day 2 is Sept. 26-27

The Lady Longhorns split a pair of road games last weekend, beating New Mexico 2-1 (Ashley Foster hit the winner in overtime), then losing 1-0 at Rice. The Horns' national ranking, up from nowhere to No. 8 last week, dropped to 23rd this week. Sic transit gloria. The Horns are back home this weekend for two nonconference games before the Big 12 schedule starts. Nicholls State, 7pm Friday; Cal St. Fullerton, 1pm Sunday. Myers Stadium, $7 (Friday: 4 tickets/$8, kids $1). Sophomore defender Stephanie Logterman is back with the team after her stint with the youth National Team at the U-20 World Championship in Russia. The U.S. finished fourth there, dropping both the semifinal and third place games in shootouts after 0-0 draws. Tough way to lose. In Europe, it's getting into the heart of the fall schedule, which means two games a week for many teams and players -- regular league games on weekends and cup and international play midweek. Last week it was the national teams, playing for Euro 2008 qualifying, this week it's the first games of the Champions League group stage. For the most part, the home teams held serve, and there was nary an upset (unless you count Lyon dumping Real Madrid -- again). It was a great week for English clubs, as Arsenal, Man U, and Chelsea all won, and Liverpool got a draw on the road. Here are the full results: Group A: Barcelona 5, Levski Sofia 0; Chelsea 2, Werder Bremen 0 Group B: Bayern Munich 4, Spartak Moscow 0; Sporting Lisbon 1, Inter Milan 0 Group C: Galatasaray 0, Bordeaux 0; PSV Eindhoven 0, Liverpool 0 Group D: Olympiakos 2, Valencia 4; Roma 4, Shakhtar Donetsk 0 Group E: Dynamo Kiev 1, Steaua Bucharest 4; Lyon 2, Real Madrid 0 Group F: FC Copenhagen 0, Benfica 0; Manchester United 3, Celtic Glasgow 2 Group G: FC Porto 0, CSKA Moscow 0; Hamburg 1, Arsenal 2 Group H: AC Milan 3, AEK Athens 0; Anderlecht 1, Lille 1

Top two teams in each group qualify for the final.

Results from Sept. 2 & 6

Most notably in this week's action, in Group B, Scotland started off with two wins, while world champ Italy managed only a home draw with Lithuania, and a 3-1 loss at France in a rematch of the WC final.
• Norway moved to the top of Group C with two wins.
• Germany scored a record 13 goals on the road against hapless San Marino. They also beat Ireland, and share the Group D lead with the Czech Republic.
• England and Israel both won twice to share the early lead in Group E.
• Northern Ireland had a complete turnaround: getting shut out at home, 3-0, by Iceland on Saturday, and coming back on Wednesday to beat Spain, 3-2 in Group F.
• Netherlands won twice to take the lead in Group G.

Group A
Saturday, Sept. 2
Poland 1, Finland 3
Serbia 1, Azerbaijan 0
Wednesday, Sept. 6
Finland 1, Portugal 1
Poland 1, Serbia 1
Armenia 0, Belgium 1
Azerbaijan 1, Kazakhstan 1

Group B
Saturday, Sept. 2
Italy 1, Lithuania 1
Scotland 6, Faroe Islands 0
Georgia 0, France 3
Wednesday, Sept. 6
France 3, Italy 1
Lithuania 1, Scotland 2
Ukraine 3, Georgia 2

Group C
Saturday, Sept. 2
Hungary 1, Norway 4
Malta 2, Bosnia-Herzegovina 5
Moldova 0, Greece 1
Wednesday, Sept. 6
Norway 2, Moldova 0
Turkey 2, Malta 0
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1, Hungary 3

Group D
Saturday, Sept. 2
Germany 1, Ireland 0
Slovakia 6, Cyprus 1
Czech Rep. 2, Wales 1
Wednesday, Sept. 6
San Marino 0, Germany 13
Slovakia 0, Czech Rep. 3

Group E
Saturday, Sept. 2
England 5, Andorra 0
Estonia 0, Israel 1
Wednesday, Sept. 6
Macedonia 0 - 1 England 1
Israel 4, Andorra 1
Russia 0, Croatia 0

Group F
Saturday, Sept. 2
Latvia 0, Sweden 1
Northern Ireland 0, Iceland 3
Spain 4, Liechtenstein 0
Wednesday, Sept. 6
Northern Ireland 3, Spain 2
Iceland 0, Denmark 2
Sweden 3, Liechtenstein 1

Group G
Saturday, Sept. 2
Luxembourg 0, Netherlands 1
Romania 2, Bulgaria 2
Belarus 2, Albania 2
Wednesday, Sept. 6
Netherlands 3, Belarus 0
Albania 0, Romania 2
Bulgaria 3, Slovenia 0


The next games are Oct. 7 and 11, and Nov. 15.
And in 2007: March 24, 28, June 2, 6, Aug. 22, Sept. 9, 12, Oct. 13, 17, Nov. 17, 21.

The UT Lady Longhorns had a big weekend, beating third-ranked Penn State, 2-1, and then 13th-ranked Illinois, 1-0 in double overtime. Kelsey Carpenter scored both game-winning goals, to earn national player-of-the-week honors, while the Horns jumped as high as eighth in the national polls; they're on the road this week, at New Mexico Thursday, Rice Sunday, and LSU on Wednesday. Qualifying for the 2008 European Championship got underway for real this week, with full slates on Saturday and Wednesday. Most notably, in Group B, Scotland started off with two wins, while world champ Italy managed only a home draw with Lithuania, and a 3-1 loss at France in a rematch of the WC final. (See full results on Soccer Watch Online.) Marco Materazzi, of World Cup head-butted fame, didn't play in that game; he's serving a two-game suspension for provoking Zinedine Zidane in the WC final, and revealed this week just what it was that did the trick. Zidane: "If you want my shirt I'll give it to you afterwards." Materazzi: "I'd prefer your sister."

The Lady Longhorns' first home game of the season could be the best one all year. The Penn State Nittany Lions, fresh off a 3-1 pasting of No. 1 UCLA (see below), are probably the best team UT will face. As for the Horns, they opened with a 1-0 loss at Auburn (on an own goal, ouch!), despite outshooting the Tigers 15-6. Let's hope that's not the continuation of a trend. Over the past couple of years, the Horns have consistently outshot opponents but had trouble finishing. Penn State: Friday, Sept. 1, 7pm; Illinois: Sunday, Sept. 3, 1pm; Myers Stadium. $7 ($4 students, or see "Soccer Watch Online" for $1 tix). Horns' captain Stephanie Logterman will miss those games -- gladly. She's still with the U.S. national team at the Under-20 World Champion­ships, where the U.S. advanced to a Thursday semifinal against China by thumping defending champion Germany, 4-1, avenging a 2004 loss in the semifinals. In a busy opening weekend in NCAA women's soccer, the top three preseason picks all lost on the road: Penn State knocked off UCLA, defending champ Portland lost to Florida State, and Texas A&M beat North Carolina, 1-0, before an NCAA record crowd of 8,204 in College Station. But I've still got the Bruins at No. 1; they'll soon get back five starters who are now in Russia with the national team. 1) UCLA (1-1-0) 2) Santa Clara (2-0-0) 3) Penn State (1-0-1) 4) Florida State (1-0-0) 5) Notre Dame (2-0-0) 6) Texas A&M (2-0-0) 7) North Carolina (1-1-0) 8) Virginia (2-0-0) 9) Portland (0-1-1) 10) California (2-0-0)