Ranking all 32 NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for 2022-23
The NHL’s Reverse Retro jerseys were a sensation two years ago, creating significant sales and conversation among hockey fans. Adidas felt the pressure of creating a sequel to that blockbuster with its 2022-23 season retro sweaters.
“How many amazing remix combinations are out there?” said Dan Near, senior director at Adidas hockey. “We spent a lot of time debating about whether the franchise should evolve into something else or is this a sequel. We went with the latter.”
As with any sequel, there are a few differences from the original. The 32 new Reverse Retro jerseys feature more white sweaters than the 2020 collection. Please recall that because of the COVID pandemic, the 2020-21 season was played without interdivisional games. Now, Adidas hopes to see more retro vs. retro games, such as the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabres game on Nov. 2.
This line also features more embroidered and raised elements on the team logos, which is something that arrived when Adidas started making jerseys with 50% recycled materials.
Another big difference was the level of anticipation. Near said that Adidas is aware of all the speculation, mock-ups and social media scuttlebutt about this collection of jerseys.
“We’re excited about the speculation. I think if you look back at the first time we launched in 2020, it came out of nowhere. Nobody knew what it was,” Near said. “We didn’t announce it was coming back this time, but people seemed to know it was coming. The rampant speculation and energy is making this unique and exciting. We track it. We see what people are saying. Sometimes they’re right on the mark. Other times they’re on a completely different planet. Nothing is official until it’s official.”
But it wasn’t just the fans anticipating the next wave of Reverse Retro jerseys. The NHL teams were as well.
“There was plenty of meat on the bone to do this again,” Near said. “What made it unique the second time around is that you have the teams thinking ‘I want to win Reverse Retro.'”
Which ones were victorious? Here is our ranking of the 32 NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for the 2022-23 season. Keep in mind that we based this just on the jerseys themselves — some really cool elements will be revealed with the full uniform kits, but they didn’t factor in here.
What a concept: It’s only taken nearly 30 years, but a team that plays in South Florida finally has a jersey that’s evocative of South Florida.
This is a mix of the team’s stick-and-palm secondary logo that’s been with it since the 1990s and the light blue from the third jerseys it rocked in 2009. The rays of the sun are slightly raised to give the crest a 3D quality. The colors on the stripes pay homage to the Panthers’ current primary colors. The rest feels like you’re staring at a frozen blue Hawaiian through a pair of expensive sunglasses.
Sure, seeing the alternate logo makes one realize how close that hockey stick looks to a golf putter … but that’s also kind of thematic to the franchise, if we’re being honest.
It was inevitable that the Sharks eventually would honor their Bay Area ancestors with a Reverse Retro jersey. The California Golden Seals’ greatest legacy might be their aesthetics, including a turn to teal 17 years before the Sharks swam into the NHL.
These are essentially the Seals’ 1974 home jerseys with “Sharks” written on them instead, and they’re sublime: a little California love, a little Jackie Moon. That Seals team won 19 games. Given what we’ve seen from San Jose this season, perhaps it’s just dressing the part.
The Youppi! of Reverse Retro jerseys.
Montreal claims this is meant to honor its 1979 look, when it won its fourth Stanley Cup in a row. Adidas claims the light blue is “inspired by the city of Montreal colors.” But for the love of Tim Raines and Larry Walker, we know what’s up with these sweaters: It’s the Habs as the Montreal Expos, and we salute them like Andrés Galarraga admiring a home run.
The most remarkable thing about this Reverse Retro Kings jersey, which honors the 40th anniversary of the “Miracle on Manchester,” is that one swears that it has previously existed. But the crown logo in the 1980s was on either a gold or “Forum Blue” jersey.
This is the first time the iconic sweater has been executed in white, and it looks awesome. Bonus points for creating raised gems on the crown for a 3D look.
The Avalanche topped the 2020 rankings with their ode to the Quebec Nordiques. This year’s model could be seen as an homage to the NHL’s Colorado Rockies, but their logo inspiration was the same as this Retro jersey: the Colorado state flag.
Nothing is going to top the remixed Nords sweater. But this looks clean and sharp, and like other Avalanche alternate logos is an improvement over their primary one.
The Golden Knights had a Reverse Retro jersey last year inspired by the now-defunct Wranglers minor league franchise. This time, they’re inspired by a team that doesn’t exist.
This sweater “imagines what a Golden Knights third jersey might have looked like in 1995.” The font and numbering are inspired by vintage hotel signage on the Strip. Oh, and just to make sure you get the full Vegas ostentatiousness: There are hidden glow-in-the-dark stars incorporated in the crest that can be seen in the dark and under a black light.
“When you think about the glitz and glamour of Vegas, it requires a little ingenuity,” Near said.
The Blues chose poorly last season, resurrecting a nauseating jersey design and inexplicably making red the primary color. This time, they understood the assignment.
The Blues’ Reverse Retro is based on a 1966 prototype worn by the team’s ownership a year before the expansion franchise actually hit the ice, which is like giving an Oscar to a teaser trailer. Despite being their second most prominent color, this is the first primarily gold jersey the Blues have worn. It incorporates the light blue seen on their Winter Classic jerseys.
Sound the trumpets: These rule.
This is the most “meta” Reverse Retro jersey in the collection.
In 2020, the Coyotes honored their much-maligned 1998 thirds, which magnified the head of the “kachina jersey” logo, made green the primary color and ceded the waistline to “a painfully obvious desert landscape complete with cacti,” as the Five For Howling blog noted. Their first Reverse Retro jersey swapped the green for purple from the team’s crescent moon alternate logo, and it was one of the best of the lot.
Now they’ve gone Reverse Retro on their Reverse Retro, swapping out the green for sienna, marking “the first time this trending earth tone color has been worn by any NHL team,” according to Adidas. The million-dollar question: Are these supposed to abstractly evoke Arizona State athletics colors or is that simply coincidental?
The Pooh bear has returned!
The Bruins wore this logo 1995-2006 on a third sweater. The blog Stanley Cup of Chowder called it “the greatest jersey in Bruins history.” The Pooh bear was originally featured on a gold jersey. This time it’s a white background, all the better to see the kind eyes, parted hair and Marchand-esque smirk on the bear’s fuzzy mug. Put one on and snuggle up with a pot of honey.
I once asked comics artist Todd McFarlane about creating this logo, which Edmonton used as a third jersey from 2001 through 2007.
“What’s the design I could do that could pay homage to the Oilers but also just be cool to look at?” he pondered. “Selling it to someone in Edmonton is preaching to the choir. How do I sell it to someone in Miami?”
We’re not sure how it played in Florida, but its initial run in Edmonton wasn’t unanimously beloved. But this version might be an improvement.
His “dynamic gear surrounding an oil drop” logo has been enhanced by being raised in some areas and with that splash of orange in the middle. Each spoke represents a different Oilers Stanley Cup championship, and sadly that hasn’t needed to be edited since it debuted in 2001.
The Islanders have slowly reclaimed the ill-fated legacy of the “Fishsticks” logo that reigned 1995-97, selling gear with that logo and color scheme in their official store in recent years.
For the team’s 50th anniversary, Adidas has added “the most requested uniform” for its Reverse Retro series.
Here’s the thing: The slight modifications they’ve made to the logo — like the Tron-esque orange highlights and the current color scheme — tone down the kitsch and the charm. One could argue the original Fishsticks jersey’s Aquafresh palette and queasy waves are more in keeping with the Reverse Retro aesthetic.
There’s an interesting separation between Canucks fans and outsiders when it comes to this Reverse Retro jersey. It’s inspired by their Western Hockey League look that featured Johnny Canuck, only this one has raised embroidered gloves and suspenders.
But the Canucks Army blog notes that Vancouver fans (A) feel this look is too close to that of the Abbotsford Canucks, who also use Johnny Canuck, and (B) were hoping for a less predictable experiment, like “a green and blue edition of the Flying Vee or Flying Skate jerseys.”
In 1995, the Capitals went from red, white and blue to blue, black and bronze. They had a black third jersey for 10 years during that fad, with the Capitol dome logo seen on the shoulders of this Reverse Retro jersey.
Now they’ve turned the “Screaming Eagle” into another black alternate sweater, with some really nice tweaks to the formula. This jersey features metallic copper and “Capital Blue,” giving the whole thing a sleeker look.
You can’t improve on perfection, which is why the Red Wings’ first Reverse Retro attempt looked like a practice version of their iconic sweater. But give the Red Wings credit for taking a swing with version 2.0.
An homage to their 1991 NHL 75th anniversary jerseys, which were red and white, this bold red and black look is accented by a DETROIT wordmark inspired by the 1920s Detroit Cougars. For a young team developing its swagger, we’ll allow it.
This Ducks jersey is cool. It’s clean looking. It’s got the proper logo on the front. They’re going to slap “ZEGRAS” on the back of these and move racks of them.
But after much debate inside the ESPN fashion offices, we came to a consensus: If Anaheim is dipping back to the inaugural Mighty Ducks season and its Reverse Retro doesn’t have even a hint of jade or eggplant, then what is it even doing this for?
The Rangers finished No. 2 on the 2020 rankings by simply bringing back to the Liberty Head logo for the first time since around 2007. They went back to that well for this Reverse Retro jersey, slapping it on a royal blue jersey with red sleeves.
The whole thing honestly feels like one of those sweatshirts that costs $50 more than it should and hangs untouched with its friends in some distant corner of the NHL Store.
ROBO PENGUIN! Memories of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Petr Nedved come rushing back as we celebrate the majesty of this flightless fowl.
But we had to assess some demerits for what could have been: This is the Penguins’ 1992-93 jersey flipped from white to black, leaving out some of the more audacious Robo Penguin gradient designs from the latter part of the decade. It’s a jersey that thinks the 1990s stopped with grunge, when “Bills, Bills, Bills” actually dropped in 1999.
The most interesting aspect of this Stars jersey, which is an homage to their inaugural season look back in 1993-94, is the dimensional embroidery on the crest to give the star a 3D quality.
Otherwise, the current “victory green” color integrated with this classic design makes for a fine-looking sweater. But we’re now two Reverse Retro jerseys deep and the “Mooterus” has yet to return, so we really can’t go any higher than this for Dallas.
The Jets’ first Reverse Retro jersey was one of our favorites, but this one isn’t nearly as bold.
Winnipeg remixed the Jets 1.0 jersey from 1990 with the team’s current color palette, minus the red. A great sweater for Teemu Selanne completists but one that doesn’t come close to the streetwear grandeur of the previous Retro hit.
More debate inside the ESPN fashion offices on this one.
The Devils pay tribute to the Colorado Rockies 40 years after the team relocated from Denver to East Rutherford. It’s certainly a fun look, with the Rockies’ gold, red and navy accenting the jersey. But we’re a little disappointed that the color scheme carries through to the logo only via a blue circle around the “NJ,” when this could have been a fun opportunity to play around with that logo.
As it stands, this sorta looks like when a pro shop irons the right crest on the wrong jersey.
“Say, kids, did you like the Minnesota North Stars-influenced Reverse Retro jersey? What if we told you that it’s now available in … green?”
Seriously, no points for creativity, but these remain pretty dope.
Inspired by Chicago’s 1938 uniforms and the team’s 2019 Winter Classic gear, this Blackhawks jersey had the unfortunate timing of being immediately market-corrected by a similar — but much better executed — Red Wings Reverse Retro.
Sorry, but this just doesn’t work. The “goat head” logo loses its magic when stripped away from the red, black and silver color scheme that evoked images of Dominik Hasek saves and Miroslav Satan goals.
Outside of the nostalgic kick of having this logo back on a Buffalo sweater, applying the traditional Sabres colors to it feels slightly blasphemous.
What’s a nostalgic Kraken jersey? A Mark Giordano sweater?
Obviously lacking history, Seattle just decided to make a sea green jersey that makes it look like they’re wearing a cummerbund under their own logo. It’s not a bad looking sweater. It’s just not as audacious as one might expect from a team nicknamed after a mythical sea creature. It’s a Reverse Retro with real “Why don’t we make our mascot a troll doll?” energy.
Missed opportunity here. There was speculation that the Predators were going to put their 2001 third jersey logo on a navy jersey, which would have properly remixed their mustard stain sweater with a currently used color.
Alas, they went with gold, making this jersey practically redundant with their current ones.
It’s their current away jersey remixed into a red sweater, with two sets of hurricane warning flags on the shoulders.
Your mileage here is entirely dependent on how you feel about nicknames on jerseys instead of full nicknames.
Adidas says this is a remix of the jersey the Senators wore during their 2006-07 Stanley Cup Final run with “the current Ottawa color scheme and breakouts.”
Sure. It’s very much an Ottawa Senators jersey. But we’ll wait and see the full kit, as Adidas notes these Ottawa jerseys will be “presented in a powerful black head-to-toe visual including the helmet, pant and sock” complemented by “a thick super-sized player name and number system.”
The Blue Jackets got a little funky last time with a primary red jersey that sported their original logo. This is the first black jersey the Jackets will have worn, with blue sleeve accents that evoke their current third sweaters.
These FrankenJerseys are on the borderline of looking like a stitching accident, but in the end we like our jerseys like we like our steaks: black and blue. But maybe not as cold.
Toronto is honoring its 1962 Stanley Cup championship, remixing a primary white jersey into a primary blue jersey with white shoulder pads.
A blue Maple Leafs jersey. Wild stuff. Save us, Justin Bieber.
Have you ever seen a movie where one bad performance ruins the whole thing? The Flames have a cool black jersey, with an iconic logo and an eye-catching color scheme.
They also decided to bring back the truly bizarre “diagonal pedestal hem stripe” from their mid-1990s sweaters.
It just ruins the whole thing and makes it look as if the Flames are wearing an achievement belt from a strip mall taekwondo academy.
“I don’t want my guys looking like a [expletive] crayon box. I don’t want them wearing a bunch of whozies and whatsits. Just make a Flyers jersey. Who cares?” — John Tortorella, maybe.
Nostalgia can be comforting. Nostalgia can be inspiring. But nostalgia can also cloud one’s judgement on what should or should not be mined from the past for the benefit of the present.
To that end: These Lightning jerseys should have remained buried under whatever landfill in which they were decomposing. Tampa Bay wore these jerseys 1996-99, during a time when the NHL had its share of ghastly third jerseys. They had storm waves across the waist; lightning bolts on the sleeves; and, in perhaps the single worst aesthetic touch for an NHL jersey in the past 30 years, “bold rain” flecked across the front of the sweater that looked as if it was taken straight from an 8-bit video game.
Whatever Lightning player feigns excitement the most for these monstrosities should win the Lady Byng, full stop.
Dan Near of Adidas offers a brief rebuttal about this jersey: “There were some jerseys from that era that we presented and the teams weren’t excited about. There were others that the teams embraced right away. This isn’t a permanent choice. This is a celebration of a moment in time and the nostalgia about a team. Maybe we don’t have to take ourselves so seriously and bring something back that might have been polarizing but that in today’s day and age is very trend-right. I give a lot of acclaim to the Lightning for making a risk well worth taking.”
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida fired coach Billy Napier on Sunday, a day after an error-filled win against Mississippi State that included more head-scratching calls and offensive lulls like those that marked much of his four-year run with the Gators.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin made the move following a 23-21 victory that improved the Gators’ record to 3-4 but looked as if it was going to be a gut-wrenching loss until defensive tackle Michai Boireau picked off a pass with 21 seconds left and the Bulldogs near field goal range.
The game-sealing takeaway energized The Swamp, but the home crowd quickly turned on Napier and booed him as he sprinted off the field. Stricklin had seen enough and pulled the plug on a run that most of the Florida faithful thought lasted longer than it should have.
Florida owes Napier roughly $21 million, with half of that buyout due within 30 days. The rest will be spread over three annual installments beginning next summer, meaning that, since the Gators are still paying former coach Dan Mullen, they will be paying three head coaches for the second time in seven years once they hire Napier’s replacement; they did the same with Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Mullen in 2018.
Napier went 22-23 in four seasons at Florida, including 12-16 in SEC play. He was 5-17 against ranked opponents, including 0-14 away from home, and declined to give up his playcalling role despite calls to do so.
Equally damning: His 3-12 mark against rivals Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami and Tennessee includes the fewest wins by a Florida coach in such games since the late 1930s.
Napier is the first full-time coach at Florida to finish his tenure with a losing record since Raymond Wolf (1946 to ’49).
“Making this decision during the open date provides our team valuable time to regroup, refocus, and prepare for the challenges ahead. The timing also allows us to conduct a thoughtful, thorough, and well-informed search for our next head coach. We remain fully committed to utilizing every resource available to identify the right leader to guide Gators Football into the future,” Stricklin said in a statement.
“I will conduct the search with a high degree of confidentiality to protect the privacy of those involved. The search will focus on the hiring of an elite football coach who will embody the standard we have at the University of Florida, and we will continue to provide all of the necessary resources for that coach, his staff and the players to be successful.”
Receivers coach Billy Gonzales was named interim for Florida’s remaining five games, beginning against rival Georgia (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) on Nov. 1 in Jacksonville. The Gators (3-4, 2-2) have an off week to regroup from the chaos that often comes with a coaching change.
Jettisoning Napier will temporarily quell a frustrated fanbase, but the group won’t truly be satisfied until the Gators hire someone with a proven track record at college football’s highest level.
Napier sealed his fate against the Bulldogs. He dialed up a QB rollout on a third-and-1 play in the waning minutes that led to a punt and gave Mississippi State a chance down the stretch. He also called a QB keeper on a third-and-7 play earlier in the game, botched the final possession before halftime and was flagged for having 12 men on the field during a 2-point try.
It was a fitting end for a coach who often looked in over his head in the powerhouse SEC. Between repeated penalties, game organization issues, clock management miscues and running an offensive scheme that was as predictable as it was pedestrian, Napier stuck around longer than many thought he deserved.
Stricklin gave the coach a public vote of confidence shortly before the Gators won their final four games of 2024. They hoped to carry that momentum into Napier’s fourth season, but quarterback DJ Lagway was out close to eight months recovering from injuries — and it showed.
Lagway looked mostly lost in the pocket as Florida struggled to move the ball. Suddenly, the two-time Sun Belt Conference coach of the year, who gained fame at his previous stop by saying “scared money don’t make money,” seemed afraid to get the ball down the field the way Lagway did with such ease as a freshman.
Most outsiders saw this ending coming. Although Napier accomplished plenty while helping the program navigate name, image and likeness compensation and revenue sharing, he churned through assistants while failing to find much consistency on either side of the ball.
“The standards and expectations for Gators football are to win championships — not simply to compete. We exist to win, and will not settle for less. UF has never been more invested in the success of this football program — elite facilities, robust NIL opportunities and comprehensive support for our student athletes and staff — than we are today,” Strickland said.
“The University of Florida is a destination — a place where people come to achieve excellence. With our resources, passionate fan base, and unwavering commitment, we are determined to return Gators football to championship form. I understand and accept the responsibility to deliver a football program that reflects the greatness of this university and I thank Gator Nation for their continued support as we begin this next chapter together.”
Florida hired Napier in 2021 after he went 40-12 in four seasons as Louisiana’s coach.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
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Bill Connelly
With four ranked-versus-ranked games on the Week 8 docket, we were guaranteed to see some good teams fall this weekend. We got more than we bargained for. No. 2 Miami lost as a 10.5-point home favorite to an unranked team. No. 7 Texas Tech (10.5-point favorite), No. 22 Memphis (21.5-point favorite) and No. 25 Nebraska (5.5-point favorite) all fell to unranked squads as well.
And in the SEC, No. 4 Texas A&M barely survived 2-4 Arkansas, while No. 16 Missouri (against 3-3 Auburn) and No. 21 Texas (against 2-3 Kentucky) needed overtime to secure road wins.
Parity has been the watchword in college football this year — the elite teams don’t seem quite as elite, and the sport’s middle class seems closer to the top of the pack than usual. It rules, frankly. Week 8 certainly reinforced that notion. It was a breathless mess from start to finish.
In times like these, it’s hard to know what teams and players you can trust. I’m here to help. After eight topsy-turvy weeks, we have at least a decent idea of teams’ ceilings and floors, so let’s talk about college football’s most — and least — trustworthy entities.
I went on an Ohio State podcast last week and revealed an ugly truth: Ohio State is annoying the hell out of me this season. Amid all the parity talk, I’m pretty sure Ryan Day’s Buckeyes are comfortably the best team in the country at the moment, but they choose to drop hints only in periodic doses. I prefer my elite teams to win games 63-0 and basically wear a giant “WE’RE ELITE” sign, but after last season’s experience — in which the Buckeyes lost late in the year to Michigan but shifted into fifth gear in four comfortable College Football Playoff wins — no one better understands that the goal is to peak in December, not October.
It would help if they had some elite opponents to look toward, but the Big Ten opponent on their schedule that was supposed to be elite (Penn State) is anything but, and the Buckeyes aren’t scheduled to play Indiana. Instead, they’ve been left to alternate between second-gear blowouts of iffy to bad teams and comfortable 18-point road wins over solid-but-unspectacular opponents such as Illinois and Washington.
Day at least let Julian Sayin throw some pitches Saturday. In front of a less-than-robust Wisconsin crowd (perhaps just hours before the inevitable firing of head coach Luke Fickell), Sayin, who averaged just 26.8 dropbacks per game in his first six starts, went 36-for-42 for 393 yards and four touchdowns. He distributed the ball to 10 receivers, though the dynamite duo of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate combined for 15 catches and 208 yards.
Wisconsin’s offense was never going to threaten the best defense in the country — the Badgers gained just 144 total yards and took just nine snaps in Ohio State territory (yards gained in those snaps: 6) — so there was no downside to stretching Sayin out a bit. He averaged only 10.9 yards per completion, and Smith is still averaging just 9.4 yards per catch and 6.9 yards per target against power-conference opponents. For that matter, the Buckeyes’ run game is producing almost no explosive plays, but one assumes the passing game will provide more than enough explosiveness if it’s ever asked to, especially as Sayin, the redshirt freshman, grows in confidence.
Of course, we might have to wait a while to confirm that. Ohio State gets a bye week, then four straight games against teams with losing records (Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, Rutgers). Three of those games are at home, and three of those opponents rank worse than 65th in SP+. Anyone craving a glimpse at fifth-gear Ohio State is probably going to have to wait at least another month.
In part because of how quickly SP+ was saying Indiana was really good in 2024, I feel like I’ve been in the front car of the Hoosiers bandwagon for a while now. And even I have found myself wondering if or when they might begin to look a bit more mortal, to drop a hint that they might be dealing with extra pressure and expectations. It would be normal and forgivable if it happened, and when Aidan Chiles and Nick Marsh connected to give Michigan State a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter in front of 55,165 in Bloomington, I thought we might be encountering such a moment.
Nope. The Hoosiers ripped off a 75-yard touchdown drive, forced a punt, drove 80 yards for another touchdown and, after a halftime weather delay, drove 75 and 68 yards for two more touchdowns to put away a 38-13 win. Fernando Mendoza was nearly perfect once again, engineering five TD drives in five tries before a turnover on downs ended the streak early in the fourth quarter. He went 24-for-28 for 332 yards and four touchdowns, and stars Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt caught 12 passes for 185 yards and three of the scores. The Indiana defense had a poor game by its standards, allowing six Michigan State drives to finish in IU territory, but the Hoosiers still haven’t allowed more than 20 points in a game this season.
Even if your brain has been slow to completely grasp this — mine evidently has, despite my best efforts — there’s absolutely no reason to think of Indiana as anything but an elite team that will play like an elite team most of the time. And if that remains true, then go ahead and pencil the Hoosiers into the Big Ten championship game: Their five remaining games are against three teams ranked 65th or worse in SP+ and two (Maryland and Penn State) who are a combined 0-7 since Week 4.
We entered Week 8 with five teams looking at odds of 25% or higher to finish 12-0: Ohio State, Texas Tech, Indiana, Memphis and Miami. Three of them lost; the other two — Ohio State (now 49%) and Indiana (45%) — are on a collision course to meet in Indianapolis.
Don’t trust: The ACC
All of it. The entire conference is untrustworthy at this point. There were eight games involving ACC teams in Week 8; four produced upsets, three on the favorite’s home field, and two others nearly did. Stanford beat Florida State as a 17.5-point underdog, Louisville (+10.5) won at Miami, SMU (+5.5) won at Clemson in a game altered by multiple quarterback injuries and Georgia Tech (+3.5) won at Duke 27-18 in a game impacted heavily by a 95-yard Omar Daniels fumble return score.
0:48
Omar Daniels takes Duke fumble 95 yards to the house
Georgia Tech strikes first as Omar Daniels recovers a Duke fumble and returns it 95 yards for the touchdown.
Oh yeah, and Cal nearly lost as an 8.5-point home favorite against previously hapless North Carolina, and Virginia (-16.5) needed a late Washington State implosion to beat the Cougars 22-20 at home. In all, only Pitt’s 30-13 win over Syracuse — the Panthers have genuinely gone to a new level since installing freshman Mason Heintschel at quarterback (though he admittedly didn’t do much Saturday) — and collapsing Boston College’s 38-23 loss to UConn produced what you might call expected outcomes, though UConn’s winning margin was larger than anticipated.
As one would expect, such a wacky week shuffled the conference title odds a good amount.
ACC title odds, per SP+:
Georgia Tech (7-0, 4-0 ACC): 26.9% (up 9.2%)
Louisville (5-1, 2-1): 16.8% (up 6.5%)
Miami (5-1, 1-1): 13.4% (down 17.3%)
Virginia (6-1, 3-0): 12.9% (up 1.9%)
SMU (5-2, 3-0): 12.9% (up 5.8%)
Pitt (5-2, 3-1): 8.3% (up 2.5%)
Duke (4-3, 3-1): 7.3% (down 7.7%)
Cal (5-2, 2-1): 1.0% (up 0.4%)
SP+ pinpointed Miami as more of a top-15 team than an elite one weeks ago, and as such, the Hurricanes could struggle in road trips against SMU (which has won three in a row) and the aforementioned Pitt in a series that has produced upsets in five of the past nine meetings. Louisville’s offense isn’t quite trustworthy yet, but the Cardinals have only one more SP+ top-40 opponent on the schedule (No. 37 SMU).
Virginia and SMU still have mulligans to spend — both are unbeaten in conference play — as does Georgia Tech, which remains unbeaten overall and has moved into the ACC driver’s seat. But as fun as the Tech story is, it’s hard to trust the Yellow Jackets, who, despite having not yet faced an SP+ top-40 team, have needed three one-score victories to remain unbeaten and rank only 29th in points per drive on offense and 53rd on defense. They’re 28th in SP+, behind Miami and Louisville and only narrowly ahead of Pitt, SMU and a quickly deteriorating Florida State.
Translation: This race probably has a few more plot twists to go. The spirit of the ACC Coastal division lives. Trust no one.
For what I believe was the first time since it expanded to 16 teams last year, the SEC had eight conference games going on the same Saturday. Two went to overtime, and others were decided by two, three, seven and eight points.
When we talk about parity in college football, we’re directing a lot of that at the SEC. It currently doesn’t have a team within six points of Ohio State in the SP+ ratings, but its top 10 teams are within five points of each other. All are ranked between fifth and 19th nationally, and even with Alabama bolting out ahead of the pack, we’re still looking at eight teams with at least a 5% chance at the conference title.
SEC title odds, per SP+:
Alabama (6-1, 4-0 SEC): 25.8% (up 7.0%)
Texas A&M (7-0, 4-0): 17.6% (up 3.1%)
Georgia (6-1, 4-1): 13.9% (up 3.4%)
Oklahoma (6-1, 2-1): 10.4% (up 2.7%)
Texas (5-2, 2-1): 7.7% (up 1.2%)
Missouri (6-1, 2-1): 7.4% (up 1.5%)
Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1): 7.1% (down 9.1%)
Vanderbilt (6-1, 2-1): 5.5% (up 1.8%)
Alabama indeed eased out in front thanks to Saturday’s 37-20 win over Tennessee. Who knows how the game might have played out if Zabien Brown hadn’t picked off a Joey Aguilar pass at the goal line and taken it 99 yards for a touchdown as the first half expired — instead of a 16-14 or 16-10 halftime lead for Bama, it was 23-7. But the Tide once again got the two things they have come to rely on: red zone stops from the defense and just the right plays from Ty Simpson.
In Bama’s current run of four straight wins over ranked foes, opposing teams have scored touchdowns on just seven of 14 red zone trips, with three turnovers, a turnover on downs and only one field goal among the seven failures. The Tide are just 58th in yards allowed per play and 66th in success rate allowed, but they’re 22nd in scoring defense. That’s a tenuous balance, and we’ll see what happens against Oklahoma or anyone they might face in the SEC championship game or CFP, but it’s working well for now.
It works even better since they know they’ll get what they need from Simpson. That Week 1 defeat at Florida State grows more baffling by the week, but since then Simpson ranks seventh in Total QBR with a 74% completion rate, a 16-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio and a 52% success rate on third and fourth down (national average on those downs: 40%). He’s also the only guy this season who has outdueled Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia. Simpson has earned our trust, although I’m still willing to cast a suspicious glance toward the defense.
Trust: Georgia’s toughness
I’m also struggling to trust quite a few aspects of Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs. They struggled to run efficiently against either of the two good defenses they’ve faced, they continue to lack in the big-play department, and while they’ve played against three top-15 offenses, per SP+, we still expect a Smart defense to rank higher than 49th in points allowed per drive or 48th in success rate allowed.
Still, you have to admire the Dawgs’ flair for the moment. They spotted Tennessee a 14-point lead in the first quarter, Auburn a 10-point lead in the first, Alabama a 14-point lead in the second and Ole Miss a nine-point lead in the third, and yet, the only team they lost to was Bama. (And it looked like they were going to win that one, too, until Bama’s defensive red zone magic struck.) Against Auburn’s awesome defense in Week 7, they eventually figured out a way to eke out 20 points and a road win; against Ole Miss’ awesome offense in Week 8, they allowed five straight touchdowns to start the game but stayed within pecking distance and then suddenly locked the Rebels all the way down. Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss went 1-for-10 passing during a fourth quarter in which Georgia outgained the Rebels 143-13 and outscored them 17-0. The result: yet another comeback win 43-35.
When the Bulldogs need to score 40-plus, they do it. When they need to hold an opponent to 10, they do it. It would be awfully boring if, in this year of epic SEC parity — when Texas A&M, Missouri, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt all have at least a puncher’s chance at the crown — we got another Georgia-Bama conference title game. But it’s pretty damn hard to think we won’t at this point, isn’t it?
Don’t trust: Arch Manning and Texas’ offense
I called Ohio State’s defense the best in the country above, and I certainly believe it is. SP+, however, still leans toward Texas, which held the Buckeyes to 14 points in the season opener and has allowed only one opponent to score more than that. The Longhorns rank fourth in points allowed per drive and 10th in yards allowed per play — quite possibly the second-best defense in the sport to my eyes.
Despite the defense, however, and despite a potentially key tiebreaker win over Oklahoma last week, Texas is only fifth on the SEC title odds list above, just ahead of Missouri and behind those Sooners. You already know the reason, of course: an offense that ranks 74th in yards per play, 88th in points per drive, 101st in success rate (80th rushing, 110th passing) and 116th in percentage of plays gaining zero or negative yards. On 46.5% of their pass attempts this season, they’d have been as well or better off just spiking the ball into the ground; that “spike factor” ranks 120th.
I don’t bring this up to heap further scorn on Arch Manning, or at least not to specifically do that. The preseason Heisman favorite hasn’t gotten any of the help he needed this season, and he certainly didn’t in Saturday night’s 16-13 win over Kentucky. His running backs averaged 3.3 yards per carry in Lexington, and his first 25 pass attempts produced just eight completions and three sacks. He did complete four straight short passes late, but Texas gained just 179 yards against a Wildcats defense that allowed 461 yards to Eastern Michigan in mid-September.
The Longhorns survived when Kentucky foolishly called two straight halfback dives into the teeth of Texas’ enormous defensive line and turned the ball over on downs in overtime, setting up Mason Shipley’s game-winning field goal. But this offense is still failing to clear an increasingly low bar. It has underachieved against SP+ projections in five of seven games and needed a special teams touchdown to overachieve its projection against Oklahoma last week.
No matter how good the defense may be, it’s going to face four of the nation’s top 15 offenses (per SP+) in its last five games, and the offense is going to face three defenses that grade out better than Kentucky’s. If it can’t help Manning, and Manning can’t help himself and start to improve — a hard thing to do midstream, especially when your issues seem to be pretty fundamental things such as footwork, pocket timing and accuracy — then how exactly does Texas end up with a playoff résumé? Things could be worse; the Horns could have easily lost to UK. But it’s hard to see things getting much better.
I’m not sure my trust is going to be enough. At 5-2 with no serious résumé-building win opportunities left, it sure seems like Notre Dame will be at or near the bottom of a pile of hypothetical two-loss teams even if it gets to 10-2 at the end of the regular season. There’s no shame in losing to Miami and Texas A&M — teams that are a combined 12-1 — by four combined points, as the Irish did, and their list of quality wins just isn’t going to end up being all that impressive even if USC, Saturday night’s victim, keeps playing well.
For this conversation, however, that doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that this is one of the five best teams in the country right now, and I’m growing to trust the Irish considerably. (Well, everything but their place-kicking anyway.) They’ve overachieved against SP+ projections over the last five games by an average of 14.9 points. And even though quarterback CJ Carr had a poor game Saturday — 16-for-26 for 136 yards, a TD, an interception, a sack and a 32.8 Total QBR — they still overachieved against their offensive projections thanks to a 228-yard rushing performance from Jeremiyah Love, his first genuine breakout game of the year, and an 87-yard performance with a kick return score from backup Jadarian Price.
Combine a high-end offense with a defense that seems to have completely solved itself over the last month, and you’ve got a hell of a team. After allowing 32.7 points per game in Chris Ash’s first three games as coordinator, the Irish have since allowed just 12.8 per game despite playing USC (first in offensive SP+), Arkansas (fifth) and Boise State (25th), and despite dealing with injuries to stars such as corner Leonard Moore and tackle Gabriel Rubio. USC had scored at least 31 points in every game before Saturday and came to South Bend averaging 8.3 yards per play; the Trojans managed just 24 points and 5.6 yards per play against the Irish.
Thanks primarily to the early defensive struggles, the Irish were 21st in SP+ after three games. They’re now sixth after seven games. Only one remaining game is projected within 17 points, per SP+, and if they make the CFP they could do some serious damage. We’ll have to see what fate has in store in that regard.
This week in SP+
The SP+ rankings have been updated for the week. Let’s take a look at the teams that saw the biggest change in their overall ratings. (Note: We’re looking at ratings, not rankings.)
Moving up
Here are the five teams that saw their ratings rise the most this week:
Temple: up 4.5 adjusted points per game (ranking rose from 88th to 72nd)
Florida International: up 4.3 points (from 130th to 124th)
James Madison: up 3.6 points (from 59th to 47th)
Central Michigan: up 3.5 points (from 125th to 114th)
Oregon State: up 3.5 points (from 114th to 106th)
After losing to Delaware and UConn by a combined 89-26, FIU unleashed a nearly perfect performance out of nowhere Tuesday, heading up to Western Kentucky and winning 25-6. James Madison, meanwhile, knocked Old Dominion out in a delightful Saturday slugfest, scoring 42 straight points to turn a 27-21 deficit into a 63-27 rout.
But we need to talk about Temple for a second: The Owls hadn’t topped three wins since 2019, watching their meticulously rebuilt program crumble to the ground in the 2020s. But then they hired KC Keeler. It might have been the best hire of last offseason. The 66-year-old has them at 4-3 following Saturday’s 49-14 blowout of Charlotte.
Temple hasn’t had the athleticism to keep up with high-level power-conference opponents — Oklahoma and Georgia Tech beat the Owls by a combined 87-27 — but against teams in their weight class, they’re 4-1, having overachieved against SP+ projections by an average of 19.4 points and having lost only to unbeaten Navy in the last minute. What a turnaround.
Here are the five power-conference teams that rose the most:
Minnesota: up 3.1 points (from 57th to 49th)
UCF: up 3.0 points (from 58th to 51st)
Cincinnati: up 1.8 points (from 30th to 25th)
Stanford: up 1.7 points (from 108th to 101st)
North Carolina: up 1.6 points (from 103rd to 98th)
Minnesota sure does love playing Nebraska. The Gophers pummeled the Huskers on Friday night 24-6 to move to 5-2 on the season. Without that ghastly egg-laying loss at Cal in Week 3, they’d be ranked and looking at a potential 9-3 finish or so.
Moving down
Here are the 10 teams whose ratings fell the most:
UTSA: down 5.0 adjusted points per game (ranking fell from 61st to 71st)
Tennessee: down 4.0 points (from 11th to 18th)
Rutgers: down 3.8 points (from 50th to 67th)
Nebraska: down 3.7 points (from 20th to 26th)
West Virginia: down 3.6 points (from 80th to 97th)
Memphis: down 3.5 points (from 24th to 30th)
Northern Illinois: down 3.3 points (from 118th to 127th)
South Carolina: down 3.3 points (from 40th to 52nd)
USC: down 2.9 points (from 14th to 16th)
Clemson: down 2.8 points (from 39th to 46th)
There’s no great shame in losing at Alabama, but Tennessee’s slippage here has been a long time coming: The Vols have now underachieved against projections for five straight games, and they’ve done so by double digits in each of the past two. The defense, which finished sixth in defensive SP+ last season, has underachieved in every game and is down to 44th, and while the offense propped the Vols up for a while, it has also underachieved the past two weeks. Continued underachievement at that level would put them in danger of losing at Kentucky this coming week.
Who won the Heisman this week?
I am once again awarding the Heisman every single week of the season and doling out weekly points, F1-style (in this case, 10 points for first place, nine for second, and so on). How will this Heisman race play out, and how different will the result be from the actual Heisman voting?
Here is this week’s Heisman top 10:
1. Gunner Stockton, Georgia (26-for-31 passing for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns, plus 59 non-sack rushing yards and a touchdown against Ole Miss).
2. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (24-for-28 passing for 332 yards and 4 touchdowns, plus 18 non-sack rushing yards against Michigan State).
3. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame (24 carries for 228 yards and a touchdown, plus 37 receiving yards against USC).
4. Julian Sayin, Ohio State (36-for-42 passing for 393 yards and 4 touchdowns against Wisconsin).
5. Alonza Barnett III, James Madison (17-for-25 passing for 295 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 165 non-sack rushing yards and 4 TDs against Old Dominion).
6. Taylen Green, Arkansas (19-for-32 passing for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus 131 non-sack rushing yards and 2 TDs against Texas A&M).
7. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt (14-for-22 passing for 160 yards and a touchdown, plus 94 non-sack rushing yards and 2 TDs against LSU).
8. Colin Simmons, Texas (4 tackles, 3 sacks and 1 forced fumble against Kentucky).
9. Dylan Riley, Boise State (15 carries for 201 yards and a touchdown against UNLV).
10. Haynes King, Georgia Tech (14-for-21 passing for 205 yards, plus 120 non-sack rushing yards and a touchdown against Duke).
It was tempting to just give each of the top three names a share of No. 1 for the week. Love’s domination of USC was vital to Notre Dame’s playoff hopes (and really fun to watch), and Mendoza was ridiculous yet again — his Total QBR has now topped 90.0 in four of the past five games, and he’s completing 74% of his passes with a 21-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio. Kurtis Rourke was so good for the Hoosiers last season, and Mendoza is raising the bar.
I had to give No. 1 to Stockton, though. He had to be great for the Dawgs to keep up with Ole Miss, and when the Georgia defense finally showed up, Stockton raised his game even further. Awesome stuff.
Honorable mention:
Byrum Brown, USF (14-for-24 passing for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus 123 non-sack rushing yards and a TD against Florida Atlantic).
Zabien Brown, Alabama (seven tackles and a 99-yard pick-six against Tennessee).
Anthony Hankerson, Oregon State (25 carries for 204 yards and 4 touchdowns against Lafayette).
Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (18 carries for 133 yards, plus 90 receiving yards against UTSA).
Brad Jackson, Texas State (26-for-38 passing for 444 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT, plus 77 non-sack rushing yards and a TD against Marshall).
Nick Minicucci, Delaware (32-for-50 passing for 422 yards and a touchdown, plus 20 non-sack rushing yards against Jacksonville State).
Dante Moore, Oregon (15-for-20 passing for 290 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT, plus 49 non-sack rushing yards against Rutgers).
Kejon Owens, Florida International (22 carries for 195 yards and a touchdown, plus seven receiving yards against Western Kentucky).
(By the way, a quick shoutout to Curry College’s Montie Quinn, who broke the Division III record with 522 rushing yards … on 20 carries! The Colonels beat Nichols 71-27, and his seven touchdowns alone gained 399 yards, including jaunts of 85, 84, 76, 64 and 58 yards.)
Through eight weeks, here are your points leaders:
1. Ty Simpson, Alabama (29 points)
2. Taylen Green, Arkansas (27)
3T. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (19)
3T. Gunner Stockton, Georgia (19)
3T. Demond Williams Jr., Washington (19)
6T. Luke Altmyer, Illinois (16)
6T. Julian Sayin, Ohio State (16)
8. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (15)
9. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt (14)
10. Jayden Maiava, USC (12)
For the first time all season, the points race and the current Heisman betting odds have begun to match up. Six of the above names are also in the top 10 per ESPN BET: Mendoza (No. 1 betting favorite), Simpson (No. 2), Sayin (No. 3), Stockton (No. 5), Pavia (No. 8) and Chambliss (No. 9T).
My 10 favorite games of the weekend
1 and 2. Stanford 20, Florida State 13 and California 21, North Carolina 18 (Friday). We had matching last-minute goal-line stands in the Bay Area, though Stanford-FSU gets the edge for adding in a mini-Hail Mary (to get to the Stanford 9 with two seconds left) and an untimed down following a pass interference call (which followed an errant snap). And are we sure Gavin Sawchuk didn’t make it to the end zone? One of the most unique finishes you’ll see.
W under the lights 🌲
Stanford held on for a 20-13 win over FSU, sealing it with a goal-line stop. Cole Tabb and CJ Williams came up big on offense@StanfordFball | @GoStanford | #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/cFJMlnHbnn
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) October 19, 2025
Cal, meanwhile, merely forced a fumble millimeters before the end zone with four minutes left. Boring.
0:48
Cal forces UNC fumble at the goal line for a touchback
Cal’s Brent Austin punches the ball out of Nathan Leacock’s hands at the goal line to force a fumble and subsequent touchback.
3. FCS: East Texas A&M 52, Incarnate Word 45. With 6:45 left, East Texas A&M took its first lead 45-42 after trailing by as many as 21 earlier in the game.
With 1:55 left, UIW’s Will Faris hit a 57-yard field goal to tie the game at 45-45.
With 0:27 left, ETAMU not only scored the winning points but did so with one of the most physical runs of the week.
EJ OAKMON POWERS HIS WAY!! @LIONS_FB LEADS UIW WITH 27 SECONDS TO PLAY! pic.twitter.com/7Efeaclppo
— Southland Conference (@SouthlandSports) October 19, 2025
Hot damn, EJ Oakmon.
4. Louisville 24, No. 2 Miami 21 (Friday). Louisville’s offense hasn’t carried its weight at times this year, but the Cardinals scripted out two early touchdowns and got a beautiful, 36-yard burst from Chris Bell. The defense took it from there. T.J. Capers‘ interception — the Cardinals’ fourth of Carson Beck — clinched the upset and sent the ACC race into chaos.
5. FCS: Lamar 23, UT Rio Grande Valley 21. UT Rio Grande Valley is 5-2 in its debut season; the Vaqueros have acquitted themselves well, and they almost took down a ranked Lamar team in Beaumont with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. But Ben Woodard nailed a 57-yard field goal with 1:03 left, and Mar Mar Evans picked off a desperate Eddie Lee Marburger pass with 14 seconds left. Lamar survived.
6. No. 9 Georgia 43, No. 5 Ole Miss 35. I almost just assumed that Ole Miss would score late and send this one to overtime. Alas. A heavyweight matchup in a heavyweight environment.
7. Tulane 24, Army 17. I reflexively made the Chris Berman “WHOOOP” sound when this happened.
Look at this catch by @shazzpreston7!!!#RollWave 🌊 pic.twitter.com/Ufc4nUZ7lq
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) October 18, 2025
8. Arizona State 26, No. 7 Texas Tech 22. Texas Tech backup quarterback Will Hammond finally looked like a backup, but the Red Raiders overcame a number of miscues to take the lead with two minutes left, only for ASU to respond with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by Raleek Brown‘s last-minute touchdown.
9. TCU 42, Baylor 36. One of many games with lengthy weather delays, this one almost saw a three-minute, 21-point comeback. TCU led 42-21, but Keaton Thomas returned a fumble for a touchdown, Sawyer Robertson completed a 35-yard touchdown to Kole Wilson, and Baylor recovered an onside kick with 30 seconds left. But Namdi Obiazor picked Robertson off near midfield, and the Horned Frogs survived.
10. UAB 31, No. 22 Memphis 24. You get points for creativity, Memphis. After Greg Desrosiers Jr. had his game-tying, 41-yard touchdown disallowed — replay determined he was down just short of the goal line — Memphis proceeded to commit two false starts and a delay of game, and backup quarterback AJ Hill‘s fourth-down pass to Cortez Braham Jr. was incomplete by inches. I’ve never seen a team lose a game like that.
11. Division II: Benedict 31, Edward Waters 27.
12. UCLA 20, Maryland 17.
14. FCS: Chattanooga 42, ETSU 38.
15. Marshall 40, Texas State 37 (2OT).
16. No. 16 Missouri 23, Auburn 17 (OT).
18. Division III: No. 14 John Carroll 31, No. 11 DePauw 27.
19. NAIA: Faulkner 36, Cumberlands 35.
20. Florida 23, Mississippi State 21
It says a lot about the week that we had two SEC overtime games, and neither made the top 15.
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