ABCDE D SPORTS sunday, september 19, 2010 HOCKEY
Caps’ pivot possibilities Coach Bruce Boudreau is trying to determine who will be Washington’s second- and third- line centers this season. D2
COLLEGEFOOTBALL [1] Alabama 62, Duke 13 [2] Ohio St. 43, Ohio 7
[3] Boise St. at Wyoming, late Coverage on pages D9-12 [4] TCU 45, Baylor 10
[5] Oregon 69, Portland St. 0 [6] Texas at Texas Tech, late
Va. Tech 49, E. Carolina 27 Florida A&M 50, Howard 7 Navy 37, Louisiana Tech 23
SOCCER
‘IronWoman’ Becky Sauerbrunn has played every minute of every Freedom match in the team’s two seasons in WPS. D2
REDSKINSATTEXANS 4:15 P.M., WUSA-9, WJZ-13
HE’S OFF TO AGOOD START
TrentWilliams ismaking hismark early at left tackle PHOTOS BY JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Trent Williams, above center, fends offGerald Sensabaugh to clear a path for Chris Cooley. At right, six-time Pro Bowler Chris Samuels mentors the rookie left tackle, helping him adjust to the NFL.
BY RICKMAESE O T
n his seventh play as a professional foot- ball player, Trent Williams went dancing. There were no twirls and no dips, and Williams led the whole way. On second and 10 from the Dallas Cowboys 27-yard line last Sunday, Williams engaged strong safetyGerald Sensabaugh, meeting him at
the hash marks of the 25-yard line and pushing him backward, all the way until the pair reached the sidelines near the 16-yard line. Tight endChris Cooley,meanwhile, had caught a short pass from Donovan McNabb and followed Williams, gaining 14 yards and setting up the Redskins’ first points in their first win of the season. The rookie’s block was as important as anything on the first drive of theMike Shanahan era. Formany fans, it offered all the validation they needed
that the 22-year-old Williams will be able to hold down the left tackle spot, perhaps the biggest hole the Redskins faced in the offseason. Williams concedes his regular season opener felt a lot different than the preseason games. “Everyone was letting all their cats out the bag,” the rookie said. As for Shanahan, he long ago reached a verdict on his
first draft pick as Redskins coach. “I think normally you can tell in the first three or four days,” he said. “It doesn’t take long to see if a guy is a legitimate player.”
redskins continued onD8 INSIDE
Redskins Gameday: Houston’s mayor notes the Texans’ influence on Washington. D7 NFL Gameday: Smarter Stats previewsWeek 2 around the league. D6
ONLINE 6Shanahan
Playbook: Take a look inside the mind of Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan with our
interactive graphic. 6Redskins Game Center: Slice and dice the
game’s statistics. 6Redskins Insider: Follow the action all day long. 3Chat: Cindy Boren takes your questions after the game.
washingtonpost.com/ redskins
West Va. too much for Terps
Mountaineers jump to big early lead,
cruise to 31-17 victory BY ERIC PRISBELL
morgantown,
w.va. — This was the big-game litmus test Tor- reySmithwanted,achancefor the Maryland football teamto display improvedmaturity and poise.But Saturday afternoon, Smith could only shake his head in frustration after a litany of blunders proved too costly to overcome. Smith’s two scintillating touch-
down receptions — 60 and 80 yards — in a 31-17 loss at West Virginia won’t be highlighted as much as Maryland’s series of breakdowns: costly penalties, missed tackles, blown coverages and squandered opportunities. A team believing it was ready for prime time demonstrated it was not even ready for an afternoon telecast on ESPNU. “We are more mature than
whatwe showed,” Smithsaid. “We weren’t composed at all.”
terrapins continued onD12
l U-Md. defense is too slow at the start. D12
l Wilson emerges as Hokies rally by ECU. D9
Storen is going back to Stanford
The NFL’s business conundrum BYMARKMASKE
he NFL has spent de- cadesworking tomake itself the nation’s lead- ing television sport, an effort that has yielded
billionsofdollars innetworkcon- tracts and TVratings that are the envy of every other pro sports league. But as ratings continue to soar
early in the new season, the NFL is facing a new business dilem- ma: declining attendance at the games themselves. The NFL ex- pects attendance to drop for a third straight season and is pro- jecting that as many as 20 per- cent of its regular season games will be blacked out on TV in the home team’smarket when stadi- ums fail to sell out 72 hours be- fore kickoff.
With television ratings on the rise but attendance flagging, the league looks for ways to keep fans from staying at home
League executives and fran-
chise owners say they’re con- cerned that the sport has become so good to watch on television, especially intheageofbigscreen, high-definition TV, that many fansarechoosinginatoughecon- omy to avoid the traffic, crowds and costs of going to stadiums in favor of watching in the comfort of their living rooms. “We would have our heads in
J. MERIC/GETTY IMAGES Tampa Bay’s home game was blacked out last week, the first time that’s happened since 1997.
17.3million League-wide
attendance in 2007, a record.
17.1million League-wide
attendance in 2008.
16.7million League-wide attendance last season.
This season’s average attendance per game is projected to be the NFL’s lowest since 1998.
the sand ifwe ignored the trend,” said Eric Grubman, executive vice president of NFL ventures and business operations. “We’ve spent 20 years building an at- home alternative thatwe think is nothing short of awesome. But we don’t want to do that at the expenseofour in-stadiumexperi- ence. We still think a stadium is the best place towatch a game.”
nfl continued onD5
return to college life BY ADAM KILGORE
On the first Sunday in October,
the Washington Nationals’ sea- son will end and Drew Storen’s college life will restart. As his teammates scatter for the offsea- son, Storen will hitch a ride straight from New York’s Citi Field to John F.Kennedy Interna- tional Airport in time to board VirginAmericaFlight29at 7 p.m., one way to San Francisco. Storen will drive from the San
Francisco airport to his apart- ment on the campus of Stanford University — his roommate has already picked up his key for him. ByMonday morning, less than 24 hours after the final out of the season— which hemay very well record himself — Storen will settle into his seat for Physics 41. Storen is returning to college
storen continued onD3
l Nats hint Riggleman will return next year. D3
Nationals rookie excited about
Catch our Freeview ofNFL RedZone TODAY at 1 pm.
1-800-XFINITY EZ SU
All the action. All the touchdowns. All inoneplace. And all free during our NFL RedZone Freeview, today at 1pmEST.
Limited to 9/19/10. Not available in all areas. Requires Digital Starter TV or above. Blackout restrictions apply. Comcast©2010.All rights reserved.
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