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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Reddick’s HR,
rookie’s poise help
Astros beat Seattle
SEATTLE — Houston man-
ager A.J. Hinch knows his pitch-
ing staff can throw good fastballs.
However, it is the change-of-di-
rection pitches that bring a smile
to his face.
Rookie left-hander Fram-
ber Valdez won in his big-league
debut, and Josh Reddick hom-
ered to give the Astros the lead for
good as they beat the Seattle Mar-
iners 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Reddick’s tiebreaking home
run in the fourth inning put the
Astros ahead 2-1, and Yuli Gurriel
added an RBI single in the sixth
for a two-run lead.
Valdez, called up from Tri-
ple-A Fresno earlier in the Tues-
day, gave the ballclub a lift with
his four-plus innings of one-run
ball in relief of Brad Peacock. Val-
dez (1-0) came on at the end of
the second inning with two on and
two out, and threw two consecu-
tive curve balls to Dee Gordon for
strikes, eventually getting out of
the jam.
Oregon to play
Georgia in 2022
season opener
in Atlanta
ATLANTA — Oregon and
Georgia will meet for only the sec-
ond time when the schools play in
the 2022 season opener at Mer-
cedes-Benz Stadium.
The teams were announced
on Tuesday to play in the annual
Chick-fil-A Kickoff game on Sept.
3, 2022. Oregon will become the
second Pac-12 team to play in
the game. Washington will play
Auburn on Sept. 1 in this year’s
opener.
Georgia beat Oregon 27-16 in
Athens in 1977, the only previous
meeting between the teams.
Georgia is scheduled to play
Virginia in the 2020 opener in
Atlanta. The Bulldogs lost to
Boise State in 2011 and beat North
Carolina in 2016 in their previous
appearances in the kickoff game.
Seattle Storm’s
Stewart is AP
Player of the Year
NEW YORK — Breanna
Stewart has taken her game to a
new level this year to lead Seattle
to the top spot in the league.
Her efforts earned her Asso-
ciated Press WNBA Player of
the Year honors on Tuesday. The
award was chosen by the 14-mem-
ber media panel that votes for the
weekly poll.
Stewart averaged 21.8 points,
8.4 rebounds and shot 52.9 percent
from the field this season to help
the Storm earn a bye until the semi-
finals of the playoffs. She received
12 of the 14 votes with Liz Cam-
bage earning the other two.
Giants receiver
Cruz retires,
joins ESPN
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.
— Former New York Giants wide
receiver Victor Cruz has retired.
In making the announcement
Tuesday, the 31-year-old Cruz
said he plans to join ESPN as an
NFL analyst. Cruz will contribute
to variety of shows and make his
ESPN debut Wednesday.
Cruz was a seven-year NFL
veteran and a 2012 Pro Bowl
selection. He joined the Giants in
2010 as an undrafted free agent
out of Massachusetts. He had his
first 1,000-yard season and caught
a touchdown pass in the Super
Bowl victory over the Patriots in
February 2012.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
Volleyball — Knappa at Warrenton, 6
p.m.; Jewell at Columbia Christian, 6:30 p.m.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Seahawks punter Michael Dickson signs autographs for fans.
Dickson and Janikowski emerge
from Seahawks camp competition
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
R
ENTON, Wash. — There were so few
competitions for starting roles when
the Seattle Seahawks arrived for train-
ing camp that the daily assessment of where
things stood with the kicker and punter
became a major topic.
The competition ended as expected with
veteran Sebastian Janikowski appearing to be
a lock as Seattle’s kicker, beating out Jason
Myers, and rookie Michael Dickson as the
punter with Jon Ryan’s tenure coming to an
end.
So much for any drama. And for Ryan it
meant the end for the longest-tenured Sea-
hawks player.
“First, let me say this: Jon Ryan has been
a great Seahawk,” Carroll said. “We loved the
time we spent together. He’s been here since
the beginning, and I know everybody would
understand that it’s a very difficult decision
when you have to make one like this after all
this time together. He was doing great.
“Michael was just kicking out of this
world and was doing the things that we had
hoped he could do. ... It was the right time to
help Jon get moving too. So he’s been a great
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle Seahawks kicker Sebastian Jan-
ikowski kicks as punter Jon Ryan holds
during warmups before a preseason
against the Indianapolis Colts.
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
• Seattle Seahawks
at Minnesota Vikings
• Friday, 5 p.m.
player, been a great competitor, been a great
team guy, community guy. We love him.”
Dickson was expected to land the punter
job from the moment he was selected in the
fifth round by Seattle. The Seahawks didn’t
invest a draft pick like that without want-
ing Dickson to win the job. Ryan was kept
around in case Dickson struggled or there was
an injury, but Seattle was able to save money
by letting go of the veteran and going with the
rookie from Texas.
“There’s just a lot of things we’re excited
about with him and we’re excited to get it
going,” Carroll said. “It’s good for him to feel
the confidence in the program and that we’re
behind him.”
Dickson has been impressive in the first
two preseason games, averaging 51.7 yards
per kick, with better hang time and direc-
tional control than what Ryan showed. Still,
while Dickson was excited to win the job,
finding out he had arrived with some bitter-
sweet feelings about Ryan’s departure.
“It was something that I was battling
for every day, and I wanted to win the spot
more than anything,” Dickson said. “But it
was surprisingly more bittersweet than any-
thing, just because Jon was such a great men-
tor to me when he was here. He was probably
one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. So,
yeah, it was a little bittersweet. But I’m super
excited.”
AP playoff predictions: Tide, Tigers, Huskies and Wolverines
son poll that will finish the season
ranked: Boston College, Memphis,
Utah.
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
The College Football Playoff has
yet to produce a real surprise team.
In four seasons, nine schools have
reached the semifinals — and even
the teams that came from outside the
AP preseason Top 25 were traditional
powers.
The lowest-ranked team in the pre-
season media poll to make the CFP
was Oklahoma in 2015. The Sooners
were 19th to start the season, mostly
because they were coming off a dis-
appointing season (8-5) and few knew
how good Baker Mayfield would be.
Clemson made the playoff that
same year after starting the season
ranked No. 12. The Tigers went 10-3
the season before, but Deshaun Wat-
son was a sophomore coming off a
knee injury, there was major turnover
on defense and exactly what Dabo
Swinney was building at Clemson had
not yet been fully revealed.
Washington was No. 14 going
into the 2016 season before going on
a playoff run. The Huskies were also
coming off mediocre season (7-6),
but there was definitely a sense Chris
Petersen’s team was ready to take a
significant step forward in year two of
his tenure. Turns out it was even big-
ger than expected.
Last year, Georgia went from No.
15 to the CFP. The Bulldogs were 8-5
the season before, Kirby Smart’s first
in Athens. The Bulldogs had an expe-
rienced team in ‘17 that was favored to
win the SEC East, and ended up being
the second-best team in the country.
So what does this small sample tell
us? If you want to pick a playoff dark
CONFERENCE WINNERS
AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
Washington running back Myles
Gaskin runs against Penn State
during the Fiesta Bowl.
horse, look for a brand-name team
ranked somewhere in the teens of the
preseason poll. Maybe one with a tal-
ented quarterback who still has some
uncertainty attached to him.
And with that, predictions for the
2018 college football season:
TOP 25
Three teams in the AP preseason
poll that will not finish the season
ranked: No. 16 TCU, No. 20 Virginia
Tech, No. 25 LSU.
Three teams not in the AP presea-
• American Athletic Conference:
Memphis (West) over Temple (East).
The last two teams to win the Amer-
ican lost their coaches soon after. So
where’s Mike Norvell going?
• Atlantic Coast Conference:
Clemson (Atlantic) over Miami
(Coastal). The Tigers are stacked and
freshman quarterback Trevor Law-
rence could give the offense an explo-
siveness it was missing last year.
• Big Ten: Michigan (East) over
Wisconsin (West). Jim Harbaugh
finally quiets his critics.
• Big 12: Oklahoma (No. 1) over
(West Virginia No. 2). The Big 12 is
the most likely Power Five conference
to provide an unexpected champion.
There is little separation among the top
six or seven teams but when in doubt,
pick the Sooners.
• Conference USA: Florida Atlan-
tic (East) over Louisiana Tech (West).
Lane Kiffin brings a second straight
C-USA title to FAU.
• Mid-American Conference:
Ohio (East) over Northern Illinois
(West). Ohio wins its first MAC title
since 1968.
• Mountain West: Boise State
(Mountain) over San Diego State
(West). Could be the Broncos best
post-Chris Petersen team.
• Pac-12: Washington (North) over
Utah (South). The Huskies win their
second Pac-12 title in three seasons,
but the opener against Auburn could
determine playoff hopes.
• Southeastern Conference: Ala-
bama (West) over Georgia (East). This
time only the SEC champion makes
the playoff.
• Sun Belt: Arkansas State (West)
over Troy (East). Red Wolves win the
first Sun Belt championship game.
HEISMAN TROPHY
The favorites are running backs
Bryce Love of Stanford and Jonathan
Taylor of Wisconsin, but the Heisman
has become a quarterback’s award.
Fifteen of the last 18 winners have
been QBs. Feels like a season where
a not-so-obvious player makes a run.
Top five vote-getters:
1. Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon
2. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin.
3. Will Grier, QB, West Virginia.
4. Shea Patterson, QB, Michigan.
5. A.J. Dillon, RB, Boston College.
NEW YEAR’S SIX/
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
PLAYOFF
Cotton Bowl: Alabama (1) vs.
Washington (4).
Orange Bowl: Michigan (2) vs.
Clemson (3).
Sugar Bowl: Georgia (SEC) vs.
Oklahoma (Big 12)
Rose Bowl: Wisconsin (Big Ten)
vs Oregon (Pac-12)
Fiesta Bowl: Boise State (Group of
Five) vs. Ohio State (at-large)
Peach Bowl: West Virginia
(at-large) vs. Miami (at-large)
NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP
Clemson and Alabama make it four
straight seasons meeting in the playoff.
The Tigers even the series at two and
win another national title.