KEEPING THE SPORT UNDER CONTROL • Nothing really big happened on Saturday, right? Oh, sure, college football is back. There was an upset in Ireland, another FCS win over a bigger-budget FBS school, and a few other games. But not much else. The Mariners also lost, but that was to be expected for a .500 team that won the day before. The regional NFL team also played, with the most notable aspect of the non-scoring game probably being the loss of a key player. So all in all, was it an inconsequential day or not?

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• What do you say, Jury of our colleagues?

It seems like a little time for reflection is necessary, right? When the Seahawks’ exceptional pass rusher Uchenna Nwosu is seriously injured and looked like he threw an illegal (and substandard) chop block in the 37-33 win over Cleveland, the verdict might be that the day had enormous consequences.

Otherwise the results are mixed.

After all, there haven’t been many games this season that resembled the Mariners more than the one they had on Saturday. The Giants’ best starter, Blake Snell, couldn’t find the plate and walked six hitters in his three innings. That led to San Francisco using its much-maligned bullpen for the final two-thirds of the game. And yet, Dan Wilson’s ballclub couldn’t score enough runs, losing 4-3.

The total: eight walks, four hits, 12 strikeouts and 10 runs remaining. Oh, and a missed opportunity to win another game against the Astros.

That’s 184 minutes of our golden years that we’ll never get back. On the other hand, the M’s have played 130 games that they’ll never get back. Hopefully the last 32 will be special.

• Speaking of special, the expanded College Football Playoffs should be just that. Otherwise, the effect on the regular season won’t be worth it.

For the record, we believe that expanding the playoffs was the right move. In fact, it was an over-the-top move. And perhaps it didn’t go far enough.

But we didn’t anticipate the magnitude of an unintended consequence. The people who don’t care about big losses.

Florida State, ranked 10th, not only lost 24-21 to Georgia Tech on Saturday, but the Seminoles were also pushed around. Consistently. With 190 yards of running, to be precise. And no, the Yellowjackets are no longer playing the triple option. They are simply letting their offensive line push FSU off the ball.

But hey, the game was in Ireland. Florida State was suffering from jet lag. …Uh, did Georgia Tech just beam over?

OK, but the loss didn’t cost the Seminoles a chance to play for the national title, so we can just ignore that. That might actually be true. And in a weird way, be a great thing for college football.

One of the charms of sports is surprises. But let’s be honest. Surprises may be the only charm of sports. It’s a brutal, vicious game — as Georgia Tech showed on the field Saturday and FSU fans echoed in the social media mentions of quarterback DJ Uiagalelei afterward.

But with so much money on the line each week, not to mention jobs, a school like Florida State won’t be on the schedule going forward if a first-game upset costs a chance at the playoffs. It may be true that the Seminoles aren’t that good and that their ranking, like all preseason rankings, was based on expectations. But that’s all we had going into the week.

And we’ll have to rely on whatever we can do next Saturday when top-ranked Georgia and No. 14 Clemson meet in Atlanta. Or seventh-ranked Notre Dame plays No. 20 Texas A&M. No. 19 Miami plays unranked Florida. No. 13 LSU and No. 23 USC face off in Las Vegas on Sunday.

These games are necessary. Now more than ever, when there are only four conferences that matter to the powers that be in the sport. And four that hold 11 of the 12 playoff spots. Seven of those are still being selected by a committee. How they handle early losses in big games will determine whether football will be boring in the coming Septembers or, like college basketball, the non-conference season will continue to offer great matchups between teams.

• We have linked John Blanchette’s story about Dennis Patchin’s resignation appeared on the SR website yesterday. It was the centerpiece of the sports section today. And we’re linking to it again.

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WSU: There’s no position on a football field that gets the spotlight more often than quarterback. He’s a starting pitcher, point guard and front-line center all rolled into one. That’s why who gets selected for that role is critical to a team’s chances. And that explains why we were so excited to read Greg Woods’ article on the latest player to fill that role at Washington State, John Mateer. We read it. From start to finish. You should, too. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 (new and old), the Mountain West and the nation, Jon Wilner in the Mercury News this morning identifies the most important weeks of the season. … Every training camp has players who increase their value. Oregon State is no different this season. … Lucky numbers are high in the Oregonian’s stories. Yep, No. 7 for Oregon State and Oregon. … Dillon Gabriel is ready for his star turn in Eugene. … Stanford always seems to be in lockstep with its Bay Area rival, Cal. The Bears haven’t named a starting quarterback yet? Neither are the Cardinals. … North Dakota State is no longer the FCS power it was a few years ago. But it’s still really good. Can Colorado, which has high hopes for this season, avoid the upset in Boulder? … Utah has released its lineup for its opener against Southern Utah. … DeShaun Foster will coach UCLA the way he played and let his actions speak for themselves. … USC has chosen its quarterback for this season. And has a successor in the pipeline. … There are (at least) six things Arizona State must do to win despite a difficult schedule. … Has new Arizona coach Brent Brennan already made a big mistake? … In the Mountain West, two teams began their seasons. One lost. One won. Neither had it easy. New Mexico trailed visiting Montana State by double digits and led until the fourth quarter. Then they lost 35-31. … Hawaii was a 40-point favorite. Needed to score the game’s final 21 points to beat Delaware State 35-14. … Utah State fired its coach. The move was controversial. Nate Dreiling was named interim coach. Can he succeed? … San Diego State has a new-look helmet, although it is often covered during practice. … Air Force is one of the few college programs that still has a fullback.

Gonzaga: It’s not often that we have a golf story in the GU column. Today is one of those days. And it’s not often that Jim Meehan’s golf column focuses on a golfer with local ties and national influence. Today is one of those days.

EMU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, we have this story from Bozeman here — and then more on Montana State’s comeback win at New Mexico in the Mountain West section above. … Northern Colorado held a preseason celebration with its fans yesterday. … Weber State hopes to get even more out of its defensive ends. … There’s a new head coach at UC Davis. Tim Plow has been preparing his whole life for this opportunity. … And finally, there’s still something of a rivalry between Idaho State and Boise State, especially in women’s soccer.

Indians: Spokane’s offense was sluggish again Saturday, until the top of the ninth inning, when an error and an RBI double by Kyle Karros gave the Indians a 1-0 win at Hillsboro. Dave Nichols has the story. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Vancouver beat Everett 3-2 in 11 innings. … Tri-City again beat Eugene, taking a 2-1 victory.

Seafarers: The 4-3 loss was just another recent one in which Seattle had more than enough opportunities to score more runs and make things easier for pitchers. The offense did none of the sort. … Manager Scott Servais was fired and Dan Wilson was hired with one goal in mind: give the M’s a boost over the final 34 games and reach the postseason. Will it work? … Collin Snider has been a bright spot in a bullpen marred by injuries and ineffectiveness. … JP Crawford is on his rehab mission in Tacoma. … Lou Piniella is all in on leading the changes. On the other hand, he’s also all in on aging. … Baseball is about numbers. Lots of numbers. Historic numbers, like those highlighted in Jayson Stark’s Athletic column.

Seahawks: The preseason games are over. The Hawks finished the season 2-1, but that’s beside the point. More important, however, is the severity of the injuries to Nwosu and defensive back Artie Burns. The NFL season is a season of attrition. Injuries in games that don’t count are not ideal. … We are on the cusp of the Mike Macdonald era. For whatever that’s worth.

Echo sounders: Minnesota used the summer transfer window the way most of us would have hoped Seattle would. The Loons signed a high-profile goalscorer from Europe. Kelvin Yeboah did his job on Saturday, scoring two goals at home. The only problem? The Sounders scored three goals, the last one by Designated Player Albert Rusnák, who is having a great season.

Governing: Seattle is on a winning streak and is preparing to retire Megan Rapinoe’s jersey today.

Paralympics: Spokane will be sending a full roster of competitors, as well as a coach, to the upcoming games in Paris. Madison McCord introduces them all this morning with this preview of the upcoming competitions.

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• That’s it from us for today. We have a lot on our to-do list today. One thing that’s not on it? Playing golf. But we’re getting ready to get back on the golf course soon after taking a break for our surgery. We’ll be rediscovering our swing on the driving range early in the week, so if you see us muttering curse words under our breath after another 7-iron, don’t hesitate to interrupt. Such antics are perfectly normal. As are such terrible puns. See you later…