onally in passing yards per game (328.9) and has six 300-yard passing games.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- On the first play of the fourth quarter Saturday, Patrick Mahomes II, the most prolific passer in college football, faced his biggest moment of the young season.Third-and-7 from the Texas Tech 28. The Red Raiders were facing a 10-point deficit against Arizona State. If the junior quarterback Mahomes were to show the results of his progression over the previous nine months after he quit baseball to focus on his future, this was likely his time.Mahomes showed patience out of the quarter break. With the game clock stopped, he barked an audible and motioned for movement from multiple receivers. Then the snap, and Mahomes backpedaled, changing directions. His footwork fell out of rhythm.He felt pressure and heaved the ball deep to his left, far past receiver Derrick Willies. Mahomes next throw on the ensuing possession was intercepted, his first pick of the season.He was trying to make the 21-point pass, Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said. It doesnt exist.The Sun Devils Kalen Ballage scored his seventh touchdown of the game four seconds later. With that, it was essentially over, and Mahomes stood right where he started this season: as a monster of a QB talent, perhaps the most gifted player in the Big 12, but apparently without a supporting cast to support his championship aspirations.This is the conundrum for the Red Raiders and Mahomes, unique because of his athleticism and diverse skills compared to the Tech quarterbacks who preceded him but unable yet to break through in red-letter games. Mahomes is 0-6 against ranked opponents and 9-10 as a starter. Since his second career start as a true freshman in November 2014 -- after he left with a head injury two weeks prior in a loss to Texas -- Mahomes ranks No. 1 nationally with 6,995 passing yards and second with 59 touchdown passes.Over that time, defensively, Texas Tech has allowed 543 yards per game (worst in the FBS), 42.9 points per game and a whopping 50.2 percent third-down completion rate. Three times in its past 12 games, Tech has scored 50 points and lost. On Saturday in Tempe, from midway through the first quarter until nine minutes remained in its 68-55 win, ASU scored touchdowns on eight of nine drives and faced just nine third downs, of which it converted eight.They had a bad game, but I think youll see a lot of improvement, Mahomes said of the Tech defense after its first road test of 2016. We have all the faith in them. We know that theyre going to make the big stops.Doubt Mahomes at your own risk, but it isnt always the best idea.Mahomes considered quitting the sport before his junior year of high school in Whitehouse, Texas. So said his mom, Randi Mahomes, and dad, Pat Mahomes, a former major league relief pitcher who played 11 seasons with six teams.Both parents were on board. Randi, with whom Patrick lived after his parents divorced more than a decade ago, has always struggled to watch him play football, she said. Pat wondered why his son, so distinguished in other sports, wanted to compete for the quarterback position.Why are you messing around? Pat said at Sun Devil Stadium before the game, in recalling his 2012 conversation with Patrick. Youre special in basketball. Youre special in baseball. Why are you playing this other sport? For what reason?Father and son went to the University of Texas for a camp, Pat said. The coaches liked Patrick as a safety.He said, Dad, I can play quarterback, Pat said. I said, I know you can play quarterback, son, but nobody else thinks you can.Patrick said he mulled the decision to quit the game but never took it to his coaches or friends.I had the potential to be a high draft pick in baseball, said the younger Mahomes, a promising right-handed pitcher in the mold of his father. I had to decide if I really wanted to play football or try to get drafted in the first or second round.Ultimately, Patrick won the job at Whitehouse in the fall of 2012 and committed to Texas Tech in April 2013. In the 2013-14 offseason, incumbent starter Baker Mayfield left Tech for Oklahoma, and Michael Brewer transferred to Virginia Tech. That left the Red Raiders with Davis Webb as a sophomore and Mahomes behind him.Again, the elder Mahomes said he questioned his son, suggesting he might have to sit for two or three years. But Patrick proved him wrong. He replaced an ailing Webb late in 2014. In Mahomes fourth start, he threw for 598 yards and six touchdowns in a 48-46 loss to Baylor. Last year, he won the job late in camp over Webb, who transferred to Cal.In that freshman season, even as he prepared to play baseball at Tech in the spring of 2015, Mahomes said, he fell hard for football.I love how hard it is to be good, he said. I love being challenged. I love the drive it takes to succeed and having the ball in my hands with the chance to win games.Since that discovery, Mahomes leadership has not wavered.Its his team, Tech receiver Dylan Cantrell said. Its his offense. Everybody knows that.Mahomes 4,653 passing yards as a sophomore ranked fourth nationally. He leads the nation as the lone quarterback to top 1,000 yards through two games this year, after he threw for 540 and five touchdowns Saturday at ASU.He would trade all the stats for more wins.I want to be that first quarterback to bring back a Big 12 championship to this university, Mahomes said. They bleed Texas Tech football here, and they really do want a championship. All their quarterbacks have had a lot of stats, but they havent got that.Patrick told his dad before the season that he would lead Tech to the Big 12 title this year, the elder Mahomes said. Doubt him?I dont doubt anything he says anymore, Pat Mahomes said. Anything hes ever told me, hes done. So Im all in. I believe hes going to win the Big 12.In his first two years at Tech, teammates had a nickname for Mahomes: Fatrick.Cantrell laughed at it this week. He has known Mahomes since they were kids playing baseball on the same teams in Whitehouse.Mahomes added 15 to 20 pounds this year and redistributed additional weight. When he took the field Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium, listed at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Mahomes looked more linebacker than quarterback. His improved shape coincided with his decision early in 2016 to leave the Tech baseball team after just one season.Patrick struggled with the new reality as the Red Raiders advanced to the College World Series in June.I know it wasnt an easy decision, Cantrell said. Baseball was his first love. But hes going to do whatever he has to do to win.It starts, Mahomes said, with eliminating those ill-advised throws that resurfaced in the fourth quarter at Arizona State. Mahomes threw 15 interceptions last year. Hes always going to improvise on a few plays because of his athleticism, Cantrell said. But after Techs first loss this season, the QB is more intent than ever on making the smart play every time he touches the ball.Its easier said than done, but I can learn from my mistakes, Mahomes said. Really, its just staying with my reads and progressions. Its something I have to get better at every week. Whether were scoring or theyre scoring, I have to take what [the defense is] giving me.According to Kingsbury, Mahomes has already taken big strides this year. Despite the loss last week, in which Mahomes first interception led to a decisive, short-field touchdown for ASU, the fourth-year coach said he expects to see more progress immediately.For the most part, Mahomes has tightened his mechanics. Plus, the chance to work on football year-round for the first time is no small item.I think thats huge, Kingsbury said.The Red Raiders host Louisiana Tech on Saturday, then open the Big 12 with Kansas, Kansas State and West Virginia before Oklahoma visits Lubbock on Oct. 22.Will Mahomes be ready to take the next step before Techs challenging finish, which features TCU, Texas and Oklahoma State after the Sooners? More pressing, will his supporting cast stand a chance to let him run the offense without the need for perfection?If [the defense] can make one or two stops in the right situation, were going to win the game, Mahomes said. We can score any moment.Scoring has never been the problem. But with the Big 12 race seemingly never more wide-open than it is this season, the Red Raiders can get more from Mahomes in 2016 if he tries to do less. Russell Wilson Jersey . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. Joey Gallo Jersey . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. http://www.texasrangersshop.com/rangers-logan-forsythe-jersey/ . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . Lance Lynn Jersey . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Russell Wilson Rangers Jersey . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. BOSTON -- Steve Addazio knew it would take a different kind of approach to build a winning program at Boston College.The changes he has made as he prepares to enter his fourth season are testament to his willingness to keep trying new things.The Eagles posted identical 7-6 records during Addazios first two seasons in 2013 and 2014. That was good enough for third- and fourth-place finishes in the Atlantic Division, and back-to-back bowl berths.That progress ended last season as BC stumbled to 3-9 and 0-8 in conference play. It was part of a collectively down year for its two main revenue sports as the Eagles became the first ACC program to go winless in league play in both football and mens basketball during the same school year.Addazio is aiming to prove that 2015 was an anomaly with a huge group of returners and eager newcomers.This team has got a great attitude, a great desire to be good, he said. Its a mix, weve got some returning starters, but they were young. .Itll get better every day.Injuries certainly had a role in the Eagles struggles. Quarterback Darius Wade was lost in the third game of the season to a broken left ankle, and running back Jon Hillimans season ended a week later because of a broken foot.It left Addazios spread-option offense in flux, and it showed in a unit that ranked at or near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference in virtually every major offensive category. Things would have been a lot worse if not for a defense that topped the FBS in total defense, allowing just 254.3 yards per game.There wont be a complete reinvention, but this Eagles team should have a different feel.It starts on the coaching staff, where Addazio brought in five new assistants, including two new coordinators. Scot Loeffler replaces Todd Fitch as offensive coordinator, and on defense Jim Reid takes over for Don Brown, who left for Michigan.Here are some other things to watch for from Boston College this season:ALL HEALED UPThe silver lining on the early injuries to Wade and Hilliman was that they had plenty of time too recuperate.ddddddddddddTraditionally more comfortable running, Wade says hes embracing an opportunity to air it out as he competes with graduate transfer Patrick Towles for the starting job.Every quarterback always says he wants to throw it as much as possible, Wade said. But Im here to do whatever Coach Loeffler wants me to do. If he wants me sling it around, I will gladly do that.FAMILIAR FACESAfter having a total of 35 players see their first collegiate action in 2015, continuity should bode well for this group -- particularly on the defensive side of the ball. BC returns 17 of its top 21 tacklers from a year ago. The secondary could be the strongest group of them all, led by senior safety John Johnson, as well as junior cornerbacks Kamrin Moore and Issac Yiadom.SEASON OPENERFor the second time in program history, Boston College will be play a game in Ireland when it serves as the home team in its Sept. 3 season opener in Dublin against Georgia Tech. The Eagles then host UMass the following week at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. In 1988, BC beat Army, 38-24, in the Emerald Isle Classic, which was also played in Dublin. That game was the first American football game played in Europe.KEY GAMESThe Eagles first road test of the season comes Sept. 17 against Virginia Tech. They also host what should be a highly ranked Clemson squad on Oct. 7. BC will also look to avenge a triplet of three-point conference losses from last season when it hosts Syracuse (Oct. 22), Louisville (Nov. 5) and at Wake Forest in its regular season finale Nov. 26.PREDICTIONBC should also be a lot more disciplined with a more veteran group. The Eagles defense help them stay competitive in more conference games, they will likely still go through growing pains as they transition to a more pro-style offense. A 6-6 finish likely is the best to hope for.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower ' ' '