Weekend review: Bengals roster, CFB returns, local star born up north?

Welcome back from a long weekend. We hope your summer ended well…

Where should we begin in our weekly recap of what went on in the world of sports?

Well, it’s September so their must be plenty of NFL news.

The Bengals set their 53-man roster with a couple of curious moves, including keeping a third quarterback despite having a Pro Bowl starter and one of the best backups in the league.

The biggest story yesterday would figure to be coach Marvin Lewis’ telling reporters tight end Tyler Eifert won’t practice this week as the Bengals prepare to open the season against the Jets next Sunday. That means the Pro Bowler is pretty much guaranteed not to play as he recovers from an ankle injury initially suffered in, yep, the Pro Bowl.

On the bright side for a team slowed by injuries throughout the preseason, Lewis could have everyone else to be available, including offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, cornerback Darqueze Dennard and tight end Tyler Kroft.

Ohio State's huge draft class certainly left its mark on the preseason, and the school newspaper notes 40 Buckeyes were on rosters after the initial cuts down to 53.

That includes Jalin Marshall, an undrafted rookie from Middletown who earned a spot with the Jets

Many of the Buckeyes still back in Columbus had a pretty big opening day of the college football season.

Ohio State routed Bowling Green behind one of the biggest offensive days in school history for J.T. Barrett and the team.

Centerville native Kirk Herbstreit was among the many to congratulate Barrett, who was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for seven touchdowns.

Among those making their collegiate debuts was Wayne graduate Robert Landers, who impressed defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

The Buckeyes have already started preparing for a week two visit from Tulsa, another offense-first team similar to the Falcons…

Up north, Former Trotwood-Madison linebacker Mike McCray (an Ohio State legacy) was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after posting nine tackles, including 3.5 for loss and two sacks, in his first career start for Michigan. The Wolverines crushed Hawaii 63-3.

Back closer to home, the Dayton football team opened with a win over Central State, and the basketball team picked up its second recruit for 2017.

As for the high school scene, the big story was easy: Wayne beat Cincinnati Moeller for the third straight time. One of the two programs has represented Southwest Ohio in the Division I state championship game four years running, and not long ago it was hard to imagine one win for a Dayton-area powerhouse over one from Cincinnati, let alone three.

RELATED: What we learned in week two

And finally there are those pesky Cincinnati Reds.

They lost to the Mets on Monday after taking two of three from the Cardinals, who are in the thick of the race for the NL wild card, over the weekend.

The biggest story of the weekend came yesterday as Robert Stephenson made his third major-league start and first since the spring.

He looked pretty good, mixing a mid-90s fastball with an effective changeup for five-plus innings.

Stephenson struck out nine and walked one while throwing 100 pitches. He allowed six hits and two runs, both on solo home runs, and also benefitted from Adam Duvall erasing base runners at second and third base.

Stephenson struck out Jay Bruce twice in a matchup of former Reds first-round picks.

RELATED: Bruce appreciates reception from Reds

Former University of Dayton pitcher Jerry Blevins pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Mets on Monday.

Oh yeah, and Billy Hamilton was lost for an undetermined amount of time with an oblique injury as the Reds lost to St. Louis on Sunday.

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