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Were still several weeks away from the Heisman Watch taking off in earnest, but after the first week of NCAA action is a good time to track some of the preseason favourites for college sports most prestigious individual award. The schedule is usually lacking the first 3-4 weeks of the season until conference play begins, but the opening week offered a few intriguing matchups, the most of which was No. 8 Clemsons 38-35 win over No. 5 Georgia. With the biggest spotlight of the week shining on him, Clemsons senior quarterback Tajh Boyd delivered. The dual threat QB scored all five of the Tigers touchdowns (three through the air and two on the ground) in the win against a tough SEC opponent. For that, Boyd becomes the early season man to beat for the Heisman. The good news for Boyd, and Clemson, is the Tigers have a very easy schedule until their October 19th meeting with Florida State. With his statement game already out of the way, theres plenty of time for Boyd to pad his stats against lesser competition in September and early October. Despite playing just the second half against Rice, last years Heisman winner Johnny Manziel didnt let Boyd out of his sights in the early Heisman race. Manziel connected on six of eight passes and three touchdowns in Texas A&Ms season-opening win. Teddy Bridgewater, a prospective first overall pick come next spring, is one to watch as well. The Louisville junior had to wait until Sunday to rip up the Ohio Bobcats secondary, throwing for 355 yards and five touchdowns to one interception in the No. 9 Cardinals win. Ohio State junior Braxton Miller and Alabama senior AJ McCarron were also included in most preseason Heisman candidate lists but did little to impress in their first action of the 2013 season. Miller had a pedestrian 178 yards passing and two touchdowns to one interception, but added 77 yards on the ground in the Buckeyes somewhat disappointing win over Buffalo. McCarron meanwhile, was 10-23 for 110 yards, one touchdown and one interception and lost 23 yards to the pressure front of Virginia Tech. Jadeveon Clowneys campaign to become the first defensive player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson pulled off the feat in 1998 got off to a slow start, literally. No. 6 South Carolina got by their rivals North Carolina but looked sluggish on defence. Clowney gets a pass as he was recovering from a stomach virus the week leading up to the game. . Yoenis Cespedes proved he can play through a hurting right heel, giving Scott Kazmir and the As a spark with a pair of RBIs that helped spoil the Minnesota Twins home opener with an 8-3 victory on Monday. . The Bruins forward has been fined $5,000 by the National Hockey League for spearing Red Wings defenceman Danny DeKeyser in the groin. http://www.footballsteelerstore.us/Blac ... is-Jersey/. This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a bonus question on his predictions for the MLB playoffs. . Therrien would not confirm his lineup for the game, but he did have the same line combinations practicing together for the third straight day which is usually a pretty good indication of what the lineup will be. . 25 against Miami. Hillis left Browns Stadium about two hours before kickoff, a decision that has led to speculation he was upset over ongoing negotiations with the club on a contract extension.TORONTO - Just days after locking up star point guard Kyle Lowry, the teams top offseason priority, the Raptors are following suit with restricted free agent forward Patrick Patterson. Although the deal cannot be made official until the free agent moratorium period is lifted on July 10, Patterson has agreed to a three-year, $18 million extension to remain in Toronto, sources confirm to TSN.ca Friday afternoon. Patterson, 25, was acquired in the seven-player deal that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento in December and played a significant role in the Raptors resurgence last year. One of the leagues premier reserves at his position following the trade, the fourth-year forward appeared in 48 games for Toronto, starting seven, and averaging 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds while shooting 48 per cent from the field and 41 per cent from three-point range. As a restricted free agent, the Raptors could have matched any offer Patterson received on the open market but retaining him was a priority for general manager Masai Ujiri and something he moved on quickly after agreeing to terms with Lowry late Wednesday night. Patterson figured to draw a fair amount of interest from teams around the league after jumpstarting his young career in Toronto. Although he struggled to begin the year with the Kings, Patterson emerged as a versatile, two-way player that can stretch the floor at the power forward position. He became especially valuable as starter Amir Johnson began to wear down, battling a myriad of injuries late in the season. Patterson, often the first player off the bench last year, is expected to have a bigger role with the Raptors in 2014-15 and beyond. Toronto had a record of 42-22 following the early-season trade that made Patterson a Raptor, finishing the campaign with a franchise-best 48 wins and division title en route to a seven-game, first round defeat in the playoffs. Shortly after extending the contract of head coach Dwane Casey in May, Ujiri expressed his desire to keep his team, one that exceeded all expectations a year ago, together going forward. "As far as Im concerned, keeping our core group going forwward, with Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez and Patterson and Nando, those guys are priorities for us," the Raptors GM had said.dddddddddddd "And if you want to build, I think a team where we have young players, we have to build continuity. When free agency comes, we have to attack our guys first." With that goal in mind the next order of business will be retaining Vasquez, also a restricted free agent, expected to be done soon. In an effort to create the cap space required to complete a deal with the back-up point guard and perhaps add another piece while maintaining future flexibility and avoiding luxury tax penalties, the Raptors have also traded veteran sharpshooter Steve Novak to the Utah Jazz, reports Yahoo Sports. Toronto will send a future second-round selection to the Jazz as a sweetener and take back the non-guarantted contract of guard Diante Garrett, who will be immediately waived, in order to unload the $7.2 million Novak is owed over the next two years. After the Lowry and Patterson signings are made official and assuming guards Julyan Stone and Dwight Buycks are also waived (their deals are non-guaranteed if voided before July 7 and July 22 respectively), the Raptors will have roughly $62 million committed to 10 players under contract for next season, not including Vasquez, free agent guard Nando De Colo and rookies Bruno Caboclo, Lucas Nogueira or DeAndre Daniels. Even after signing their rookies and inking Vasquez to a new deal, the Raptors should be able to use most of their mid-level exception to address another need on the roster and remain under the salary cap. Aided by the trade of Novak, Toronto should have max or near max cap space next summer, with only Lowry, Patterson, DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross and this years rookies on their books for the 2015-16 season. Novak was acquired in the trade that sent Andrea Bargnani to New York a year ago. The 31-year-old forward and three-point shooting specialist averaged 3.3 points in 54 games with the Raptors last season, his eighth in the NBA. ' ' '