Mariners, who made up a game in the wild-card

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Bowling Green will be a four-touchdown underdog coming into Ohio Stadium on Saturday, but new Falcons coach Mike Jinks said he welcomes the chance to shock the world.If Jinks squad can knock off the mighty Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium, it would be a monumental inaugural win for him as a college coach. A Texas Tech assistant for three seasons after a long career in Texas high school football, the 44-year-old Jinks took the helm at Bowling Green this season after Dino Babers was hired away by Syracuse.Returning fewer than half the starters from a team that went 10-4 and won the Mid-American Conference crown last year, the Falcons have their work cut out for them. They have new starters at quarterback and tailback, a rebuilt defensive line and must compensate for the loss of two of the three best receivers from last year.Anything can happen, right?Ive been an underdog my whole life, Jinks said. I kind of excel in those situations.So does Bowling Green, it seems. The Falcons shocked two Big 10 teams last season on the road, Maryland and Purdue, and stayed competitive against Tennessee in the season opener. In 2014, they beat Indiana 45-42 at home.These are the games we ought to want to be in, Jinks said. These are the opportunities that dont come too often. There are 128 FBS schools in the country, and were playing at probably one of the top five venues of all time. Not everybody gets those chances throughout a college career, so its a trend that we hope to continue in years to come.Bowling Green will take home a guaranteed payout of $975,000 for the trip to Ohio Stadium.Some other things to know as the Falcons try to pull off the upset in Columbus:QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONSThere may be as many questions about No. 6 ranked Ohio State as Bowling Green this season. The Buckeyes have the least experienced team in the nation, losing 16 starters from last year. They have new starters at tailback and wide receiver, and throughout the defense.I know what were walking into, but you dont know what this 16 Ohio State team going to be, and you dont know what this 16 Bowling Green team is going to be, Jinks said. Thats the exciting part of it.DONT DISCOUNT THE UNDERDOGSOhio State players say theyve learned not to look past any team. The Buckeyes needed a pick-six from linebacker Darron Lee to bail out its struggling offense and squeak by MAC power Northern Illinois 20-13 in what was intended to be a tune-up game early last season.Scrappy. Very, very scrappy, offensive guard Billy Price said of BG. NIU was a very good opponent. We expect the same thing. We cannot take an opponent lightly no matter what conference, whatever team it is. Were going in there respecting them just as much as we did Alabama or just as much as Oregon.Said linebacker Chris Worley: A team like Bowling Green, you can never overlook them. Theyre going to come here ready to play, and we know that. The team that plays the hardest will win.SHADES OF 2014?Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said this years teams reminds him of the 2014 team in terms of starting so many talented but still untested players. That team ended up winning the national championship.(Its) very similar, he said. And Im real excited about them. Im trying to hold down the excitement because I really am. I cant wait to watch them to play. This has been a good camp. Good people to work with.The biggest unknown, he said, is how the young players will react to being in the stadium with 100,000 of their closest, noisiest friends.BARRETT READY TO ROLLMeyer said quarterback J.T. Barrett, who entered a training camp for the first time as the undisputed starting quarterback, is playing as well as he ever has.Hes on top of his game, Im proud to say, Meyer said. Hes a very good player, a very good leader. Hes driving the car and hes never had that this time of year. The first time he got a start, he certainly wasnt driving the car. He was in the front seat somewhere, but he wasnt driving it. Now its his, and hes really doing a nice job.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacyFor some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mitch-stacy Cheap Air Max Shoes Sale . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Cheap Air Max Wholesale .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. http://www.wholesaleairmaxauthentic.us/ . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Wholesale Nike Air Max Shoes . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. Cheap Air Max Authentic . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. SEATTLE -- While the Texas Rangers continue rolling toward the postseason and the possibility of finishing with the best record in the American League, the Seattle Mariners are on the verge of playing for the future.Sitting 11 1/2 games behind the Rangers in the AL West and four behind Baltimore in the wild-card race, Seattle (71-68) has one eye on evaluation as the Mariners close out a once-promising season. One of the questions at the top of the list involves young starters Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, neither of whom have done a lot to impress the first-year regime of general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais.The 24-year-old Walker, once considered the top prospect in Seattles organization, will get another shot in Thursdays series finale against the Rangers (83-57).Walker began this season as the No. 2 starter behind Felix Hernandez but fell so far out of favor that he did an August stint at Triple-A Tacoma. He turned in a couple of decent outings after getting recalled, but Walkers three-homer debacle in less than an inning his last time out might have the organization rethinking his future as a front-line starter.Another Seattle starter who has a lot to prove is 27-year-old rookie Ariel Miranda, who turned in the best start of his career in beating the Rangers on Wednesday. Miranda He held the mighty Texas lineup to three runs (all unearned) and three hits in six innings.Obviously, the team helped me out a lot with some runs earlyy, Miranda, who took an 8-0 lead into the fifth inning, said through an interpreter, and that made it easy for me to be aggressive.ddddddddddddWalkers start is one of the few lingering storylines for the Mariners, who made up a game in the wild-card race Wednesday night but still has a lot of teams to pass on the way to the finish line.Texas, on the other hand, is still trying to win the top seed in the AL and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Rangers still hold a two-game lead over Cleveland but cant afford to lose too many more games against inferior teams from the division down the stretch.Wednesdays game saw Texas turn in another rough outing from its starting pitcher, only this time the offense couldnt pick him up. A.J. Griffin gave up five runs in the first inning, and by the time the Rangers finally got on the board with Carlos Beltrans three-run homer in the sixth, Texas was trailing 8-3.Afterward, manager Jeff Banister was already eager to turn the page toward Thursdays series finale.Obviously, we need to come out and play good baseball, put another win on the board and move on to (the weekend series in) Anaheim, he said.Thursdays series finale also marks the final times these two teams will meet this season. Texas has already won the season series, as the Rangers take a 12-6 advantage into Thursday. ' ' '