Saturday was the third preseason game, the so-called dress rehearsal for the regular season. The starters got to play the entire first half, at least, and were on the field for an extended period of time, much more so than any of the previous two games when it was one or two series then out. Romeo was able to get a good, long look at the starters on both sides of the ball, as well as make some decisions on other position battles.

First-team offense

Charlie Frye and the offense looked in mid-season form as they drove down the field for a touchdown in the opening drive. After that, however, the first-teamers looked average the rest of the way. Above all else, they left injury-free.

Braylon sighting

Not only did wide receiver Braylon Edwards make his first return to game action since last season, he made his presence felt. Edwards caught a 9-yard Frye pass in traffic near the goal-line on the first drive of the game. I, for one, held my breath as three Bill defenders gangtackled him to the turf but exhaled moments later as Edwards sprung up and spun the ball on the ground in excitement.

Braylon also displayed his blocking skills when he laid out a defender in an effort to free Reuben Droughns on a running play. He’s been saying all along that he’s ready to play and after Saturday’s game, should we really doubt him anymore? Forget just getting in the game and getting his feet wet. Edwards played like he hasn’t missed a beat and a September 10 debut seems to be in the cards for the wide receiver.

Reggie who?

Former USC and current New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush may have won the Heisman and went number two overall, but the Browns may have found a diamond in the rough in rookie running back Jerome Harrison. The scat back out of Washington State once again showed his quick feet and elusiveness in Saturday ’s win. Harrison rushed for 70 yards on 9 carries and pulled a Bush-like run on a change of direction play in the fourth quarter. Harrison has joked before about being just as good as Reggie, but he sure is backing himself up on the field with his nifty running style. The Browns might as well give Harrison the third down back spot now and cut ties with Lee Suggs for good.

Anderson #2?

Romeo needs to make a decision on the backup QB spot and Derek Andeson may have won that battle with his performance in Game 3 of the preseason. The strong-armed quarterback did some good things and showed some good poise, leading his team on the game-winning drive in a two-minute situation. Dorsey did OK but wasn’t that impressive for the third game in a row.

Jones v. Pool

This should be interesting. Pool had 5 tackles on the night. While he failed to record a tackle, Sean Jones made a nice closing hit on a Bills receiver in the first half which prevented the receiver from holding on to the ball. Jones had the edge going into the game and the battle will be something to keep an eye on in the near future.

Yes, it was only the third preseason game and it was against Buffalo, one of the league’s worst teams, but the Browns are starting to put together some positive things. They won their second straight preseason game as they defeated the Bills 20-17 on a 35-yard field goal by Jeff Chandler as time expired.

The Browns wasted no time putting points on the board. On their opening drive, they drove down the field and Charlie Frye hit TE Steve Heiden on a 2-yard pass in the back of the endzone to put the Brownies up 7-0. Frye, who was 12-for-16 for 76 yards and 1 TD, threw the ball extremely well as he and the first-teamers played all of the first half and the first drive of the third quarter.

Peerless Price burned cornerback Ralph Brown on a 54-yard touchdown reception and the Bills went into halftime holding a 10-7 lead. In the fourth quarter, Joshua Cribbs caught a pass from Derek Anderson for a score as the Browns regained their seven-point advantage. The Bills responded with a touchdown of their own when Lionel Gates ran it in from three yards out to tie it up. Derek Anderson, who finished 4-for-7 for 83 yards and 1 TD, orchestrated the two-minute drill and led his offense down the field to set up the game-winning field goal.

The Michigan Wolverines and Lloyd Carr have to feel like they’ve traded places with Ohio State and ex head coach John Cooper. The Wolverines and Carr are 1-4 against the Bucks and have to play on the road this year. Michigan played in their first non-January bowl game in nine years last season and had an embarrassing lose to Nebraska.

These types of numbers are not acceptable to a school that is still trying to recover from basketball violations that have set the team back at least 5 years. Michigan is a school that believes in winning and will only be so patient if it doesn’t happen soon.

Carr, the nation’s fifth-winningest active A-1 coach, will get some slack when it comes to turning this program around. They won a National Championship in 1997 and have five Big Ten titles. If the Wolverine don’t win at least 10 games this year and lose to the Buckeyes again, don’t be surprised if Carr doesn’t get a seat in the press box sooner than he expected.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have named the captains and as expected Troy Smith is one of them. Smith, Doug Datish and Quinn Pitcock are all red shirt freshman from the National Championship team. The last one is David Patterson, who came in the following year and has been a factor ever since.

This statement is exactly what Smith needed and deserved. Smith is a senior this year and if the Bucks plan to run the table, Troy will have to lead them on and off the field. Ohio State has a ton of offensive experience, but it will be important for Smith to support the youth on both sides of the ball.

I continue to hear people say the Buckeyes are the best team in the land, but if Smith doesn’t show up for one game, Ohio State will lose. When the Buckeyes won the Championship last time, the offense and defense could cover each others ineffectiveness in a game. This year the offense will have to carry the load.

Cabrera and Betancourt are two guys that need to start turning it around, especially if they want a spot on this team next season. They’ve shown they have the ablility to pitch at this level and get hitters out but, for some reason, they have drastically underperformed this year. As good as Cabrera was last season, perhaps he is having a difficult time adjusting to pitching a full major league season. But, considering he’s been touted as our future closer and is out of options, Cabrera needs to show something in the last month. Betancourt is a guy with a good track record. He has had a sub-3 ERA in two of his last three seasons and the fact that he’s struggled this season is a mystery.

Bullpen in general is an iffy thing. They can be good one year and bad the next. The Indians obviously need to find some help this off-season in that area. However, if Cabrera and Betancourt can somehow bounce back in the remainder of the season and prove themselves once again, that’ll be two less relievers the Indians have to worry about replacing in the off-season.

Jeremy Sowers overcame a tough first few innings but managed to settle down and get his sixth win of the season as the Tribe beat the Tigers 4-2. The rookie, who won his third straight start, gave up two runs and four hits in the second inning but pitched well the rest of the game and got enough support from his offense. Jhonny Peralta, Shin-Soo Choo, Joe Inglett, and Victor Martinez all contributed RBIs for the Tribe. After they led 4-2 after three, the Indians left it up to Sowers and the bullpen, who all did their job in shutting down the Tigers’ lineup.

Fernando Cabrera relieved Sowers to pitch two scoreless innings, including four strikeouts, and Rafael Betancourt pitched the ninth to get the save. Between the two, they did not allow a hit in three innings. Pretty impressive considering how dreadful the Tribe’s bullpen has been this season.

The Indians toyed with the idea of more late-inning drama Thursday night but pulled away for an 8-4 victory over the Royals. The win gave the Tribe a series victory and ended a nine-game road trip. Losers of three of their first four, they were able to turn it around and concluded their trip on a winning note, going 5-4. Starter C.C Sabathia put his team on his back and earned the victory. He went eight innings, allowed three earned runs, and threw 120 pitches as he got his ninth win of the season. With the game tied at four in the eighth, Andy Marte doubled in the go-ahead run. Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko each homered in the ninth to put the game to rest. Marte, in one of his best games since joining the major league club, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI.

This is what we need to be seeing from this kid. He’s young, inexperienced, and is still learning, but it’s important for him to put together a solid September. After all, he was the #6 prospect in all of baseball at the start of the season.

The Cleveland Browns continue to add centers to their roster this season. Today, the Browns signed Lennie Friedman for a 2007 conditional draft pick. Friedman, who has played in about 65 NFL games, will definitely bring experience to this position.

Lennie played in 10 games for the Redskins last season before being let go. He played one game for the Bears as a reserve.

After the first inning Wednesday night, the Indians seemed to be dead in the water. However, they battled back and amazingly beat the Royals 15-13 in a crazy, extra-inning affair. The Royals scored 10 in the first off Paul Byrd, who didn’t make it out of the inning. A catching error by Ryan Garko set up the wild inning. It would get much crazier from there.

The Indians put up runs from the third to the sixth to cut the lead to 10-9. The Royals scored three more in the bottom of the sixth but that would be it for the night. The Tribe pen held them scoreless the rest of the way. Three doubles and a triple in the top of the ninth helped the Indians tie the game. RBI singles by Garko and Hector Luna, who finished with four hits and four RBI on the night, gave them the lead in the tenth and Tom Mastny closed it out for his second save of the season.

Cabrera, Betancourt, and Mastny came in and finally gave the Indians some long-awaited late-inning bullpen help. The game looked to be over twice, after the first and after the sixth, but the Tribe just kept pounding and somehow found a way to win in dramatic comeback fashion.

When he first came to OSU, receiver Anthony Gonzalez obviously had to wait his turn and climb the ladder at the wide receiver position for the Bucks. Gonzalez has had some success the last two seasons and is now the number two man behind Ted Ginn, Jr. However, he’s not completely satisfied.

“I never feel comfortable, ever, in anything,” Gonzalez said yesterday. “I’m the type of person that, no matter what, even in (Cleveland St. Ignatius) high school, when I was team captain and started both ways, I never felt secure.

“I don’t know if that’s part of being an athlete, or just something that goes on in my head, but in no way do I ever feel secure. And then when you look out there and see the guys that we have, the young guys coming up, you know you have to raise your game just that much higher to stay ahead of them and also for the sake of the team.”

Gonzalez should get his fair share of touches in 2006 and he will be leaned on heavily during the course of the season. The Bucks offense will be expected to carry most of the load considering the youth on defense. They may be under a lot of pressure early on to put up points as the defense continues to learn and grow. They have a wave of good, young receivers coming in this season but it will still be up to Gonzalez, Ginn, and Hall to make some big plays for Troy Smith and the offense.