
An epic Prime Time performance ushered in a classic Week 1 of college football
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David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterSep 3, 2023, 01:48 AM ET
Close- ACC reporter.
- Joined ESPN in 2012.
- Graduate of the University of Delaware.
There were games before Saturday, but for all intents and purposes, this was the day college football finally returned to us — and not a moment too soon.
Think of all we’ve endured over the past nine months. Realignment, tampering, NIL proposals from the federal government, the 2023 Yankees. It’s been rough.
But then Week 1 kicked off, and all was right with the world once more.
Yes, Colorado stole the show with an Eras Tour-level performance, but Saturday had everything we’ve been missing since the last time TCU was embarrassed on a national stage.
We opened the day with a grown man in Charlotte, North Carolina, covering himself in mayonnaise, which would seem to fly in the face of the narrative that the ACC isn’t a great TV product.
0:24
Fan gets pumped for CFB kickoff with mayo bath
Ahead of the Duke’s Mayo Classic, a fan decides to take to a mayonnaise bath at College Gameday.
TCU fans gave us our first epic reaction shot of the season, and a Liberty player gave us — honestly, we’re not sure what this is, but we’re pretty sure the Liberty student code of conduct doesn’t allow it.
Why so serious? ?
cc: @nocontextcfb pic.twitter.com/SEhUjNyIkV
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) September 2, 2023
Iowa threw a passing touchdown on its opening drive of the season for the first time since 1991. Think about that. There have been more President Bushes since then than season-opening Iowa passing TDs. And then, of course, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s offense did so little in the second half against Utah State that the quest for 25 points per game is already behind schedule.
Oregon, meanwhile, had so much offense it nearly killed its mascot. Not since the KFC Double Down sandwich has a bird been so battered.
Oregon breaking their modern era record for points in a game (81) resulted in A LOT of push-ups for their mascot ? pic.twitter.com/DYXJ1omuhi
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 3, 2023
As has become tradition, Georgia toyed with an obviously overmatched opponent like a cat batting a mouse around before delivering the fatal blow. The Bulldogs led just 17-0 at the half but ultimately beat Tennessee-Martin 48-7.
We saw a man driving a motorized garbage can.
What’s going on in Bozeman? ? pic.twitter.com/8Ut0jiAyjY
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) September 3, 2023
We’d note that, had Butch Jones only thought to attach a lawnmower engine to his famed turnover trash can, his time at Tennessee might’ve turned out entirely different. But we’re not here to pile on. Jones had a rough enough day already.
Justin Parks consoling his head coach Butch Jones during a tough afternoon ❤️ pic.twitter.com/88TZvgmywl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 2, 2023
Sure, it was a little disappointing that Texas A&M won a game without Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino coming to blows on the sideline, but there’s a genuine Chekhov’s gun scenario here. There will be a payoff before the show’s over.
The wheels came off the Texas Tech bandwagon, as Wyoming stunned the Red Raiders in walk-off style. Though we wouldn’t recommend walking far in Wyoming. There are coyotes out there.
1:24
Fans rush the field after Wyoming secures thrilling 2OT victory
Wyoming takes home an exciting 35-33 win in double overtime against Texas Tech.
We saw upsets — Fresno State over Purdue, Northern Illinois over Boston College and, most shockingly, Texas State over Baylor.
We saw blowouts — Ole Miss, Washington and USC all cruised.
We saw vintage Alabama, another impressive performance from Tulane, and a Quinn Ewers performance just good enough to pronounce that Texas … is … back!
It wasn’t the best Saturday of football we’re likely to see this year, but that’s beside the point. It was college football — back at long last after a joyless offseason of arguments over all the things that threaten the sport’s future.
But Saturday — this one, every one — reminds us that, for all the supposed enemies at the gates, the game itself never wavers.
Welcome to Prime Time
We doubted.
Who wouldn’t have doubted this Colorado team. All the hoopla and hype in the world couldn’t erase the utter catastrophe of 2022, when the Buffaloes were 1-11 with seven losses by at least 30 points.
We lectured.
Of course we lectured. Deion Sanders essentially upended every lofty, moral (and, yes, utterly ridiculous) notion of genuine amateurism by effectively cutting two-thirds of his team upon arrival. If Coach Prime had a constant megaphone to tout his new approach to roster building, we could at least use our soapbox to argue against it.
We learned.
Oh, yes, we learned so much Saturday, and we came away looking like fools after Colorado beat TCU, last year’s national runner-up, 45-42 in Sanders’ first game as the Buffaloes’ head coach.
For months, the great college football punditry laughed off Prime’s rollicking hype machine, knowing that, once the games began, a hard truth would be revealed. Instead, Colorado pulled back the curtain on an offense that was nothing short of miraculous, a college football reveal that was something akin to Michael Jackson’s moonwalk, JR getting shot on “Dallas” and UConn making a bowl game all wrapped together.
If aliens had landed at midfield wearing cowboy hats, it wouldn’t have been any more shocking.
Sanders’ quarterback son, Shedeur, threw for 510 yards and four touchdowns.
Four different Colorado receivers hauled in 100 yards’ worth of catches.
Travis Hunter was a superstar playing both receiver and corner and probably drove the team bus, too.
1:21
Shedeur Sanders throws for school-record 510 yards, 4 TDs in debut
Shedeur Sanders gets Colorado off to a winning start by throwing for 510 yards in his debut.
In a time when every new action movie, tech invention or Netflix college football documentary is hyped endlessly only to fizzle out into mediocrity, Deion Sanders and his Buffaloes delivered something truly remarkable on Saturday.
Sure, this wasn’t last year’s TCU. That team was like the guitar solo in “Free Bird” — chaotic, rollicking, lasting far longer than it had any right to, but never truly earning the respect of the cultured class of critics. But those Frogs had a host of NFL-caliber players. This year’s team — well, it’s a little like seeing Skynyrd today. There’s no one from the original band left.
So yes, TCU’s defense was a mess and couldn’t get off the field despite having Colorado backed up repeatedly in the second half. But can that really explain 565 yards of Buffaloes offense?
And it’s true, the Colorado defense had its own issues. TCU rushed for 262 yards in the game, including three touchdowns from the one Sanders — Trey Sanders — who wasn’t playing for Coach Prime, but when the Buffs absolutely needed a stop in the final two minutes of action, they stuffed the Frogs at the line on back-to-back plays, setting up a turnover on downs that effectively sealed the game.
Nitpick all you want. This was a genuinely epic performance by Colorado, one that assures the Buffs’ bandwagon will be replaced with a 1979 Trans Am with a big, gold Ralphie painted on the hood.
Oh, we could try to tamp down the now outsized expectations, because this was, after all, just one game. But to do that is to miss the point. In a sport that routinely churns out the same great teams year after year, this was a genuine surprise. In a week with relatively few marquee matchups, Colorado and TCU delivered the highest of drama, a game with seven lead changes and constant fireworks. And after an offseason marred by endlessly frustrating intrusions of business and economics into college football, Coach Prime gave us something we so desperately needed: fun.
So keep doubting if you must. We’re done with all that. We’re buying whatever Deion is selling.
After Saturday’s win, he suggested Colorado has “a couple of Heisman” contenders. Hey, why stop there? Maybe three or four.
There’s film on Colorado now, so its next game should only get tougher. Oh, but Colorado gets Nebraska? Buffs by a million.
The future of college football will be written by Sanders, his sons (Shilo Sanders is a safety for the Buffs), Hunter and a host of other sudden superstars who followed their coach out to Boulder?
Bring it on. If every week looks even close to this one, the future can’t come soon enough.
Heisman Five
The Pac-12 might be on life support, but after Colorado’s stellar start, it has command of the early Heisman race. Much will change over the next three months, but for now, the West Coast is the best coast.
1. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter
You know what college football needed? Its own Shohei Ohtani. Hunter played 129 snaps, caught 11 passes, had 3 tackles, picked off a pass and broke up another. The only difference between Hunter and Ohtani is Colorado actually won a game in which he did something historic.
2. Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders
He opened the week with 100-to-1 odds to win the Heisman and finished it by throwing for 510 yards and four touchdowns. The only downside to his game is autocorrect keeps trying to change his name to Shedder.
3. USC QB Caleb Williams
In the 2023 calendar year, Williams has thrown for 1,059 yards with 14 touchdown passes and one interception. For comparison, 22 FBS teams, including four of USC’s future conferencemates in the Big Ten, failed to throw for 14 total touchdowns in all of 2022.
2:32
Caleb Williams shines with 5-TD performance vs. Nevada
Caleb Williams continues his red-hot start to the season with a five-touchdown performance vs. Nevada.
4. Washington QB Michael Penix Jr.
Boise State ranked fourth nationally in defensive success rate last season. Penix torched the Broncos to the tune of 450 yards and five touchdowns on Saturday.
5. All three Alabama QBs
Nick Saban isn’t into depth charts these days, which was just as well against MTSU. It didn’t matter which QB was in the game. The three contenders for the starting job — Jalen Milroe, who actually started, along with Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson — combined for 295 yards of offense and seven touchdowns.
Buckeyes start slow
Should we be worried about Ohio State?
The Buckeyes beat Indiana handily but scored just 23 points in the process. New starting QB Kyle McCord threw for 239 yards but no touchdowns and one pick. It was just the third time since 2018 the Buckeyes didn’t throw a touchdown pass — and both of the others came against Northwestern. Less than 10 months ago, Ohio State hung 56 on the Hoosiers.
Frankly, this was a performance Michigan was expecting Ohio State to save for late November.
Still, it’s probably far from time for anyone in Columbus, Ohio, to panic. Ohio State was a woeful 2-for-12 on third down, which stunted any sustained drives. Marvin Harrison Jr. missed some time after a minor arm injury. He and Emeka Egbuka combined for just 34 yards, which they’d typically rack up before the coin toss.
After all, it was just a year ago when Ohio State — complete with star QB CJ Stroud — struggled to score 10 points in the first half of its opener against Notre Dame before ambling to a 21-10 win. The rest of the 2022 season turned out OK.
So no, let’s not fill the message board with doomsday (or “Fire Day”) scenarios just yet.
Freeze and others nab win No. 1
A year ago, Hugh Freeze’s team managed to lose to both UConn and New Mexico State, so it was fair to have a few worries as he began his tenure at Auburn against perennial Bottom 10 stalwart UMass.
Turns out, Auburn’s win was as comfortable as a press-box hospital bed, with the Tigers rushing for six touchdowns and racking 491 yards of offense — their most against an FBS opponent since the 2021 opener against Akron.
It was a strong start for the bulk of the other 23 first-year head coaches, too.
G.J. Kinne scored the second-biggest shocker of the day, leading Texas State past Baylor 42-31. Former Auburn QB TJ Finley led the way, throwing for 298 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for a fourth. In 11 starts for LSU and Auburn over the past three years, Finley had never thrown for three touchdowns or racked up as many passing yards in a game.
Jeff Brohm’s homecoming to Louisville started brilliantly with a win over Georgia Tech. Former Louisville coach Scott Satterfield proved he knows how to get the most out of dual-threat QBs, as Emory Jones threw for five touchdowns and ran for two more in Cincinnati‘s win over Eastern Kentucky. And Charlotte‘s Biff Poggi led the 49ers to a 24-3 win over South Carolina State while, we assume, smoking a cigar, complaining about the concession lines and using the headset exclusively to tell “Yo Mama” jokes about the opposing offensive linemen.
In all, the 22 new coaches in action Saturday posted a solid 16-7 record, with Northwestern still on the docket.
Michigan played its first of three games without head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is serving a self-imposed suspension, and his players let it be known they didn’t agree with it.
A @UMichFootball tribute to HC Jim Harbaugh. #GoBlue
?: @Peacock pic.twitter.com/4X5VSXUeDy
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 2, 2023
On the first offensive possession of the game, the players lined up in his infamous train formation and held up four fingers — Harbaugh’s jersey number as a player. J.J. McCarthy even donned a “Free Harbaugh” shirt before and after the game (despite the far more emphatic message that would’ve been sent by simply playing the game wearing a pair of Dockers khakis), then told reporters after the win that he was eager to support his coach.
But while Harbaugh was secluded from the action and (we assume) either calling recruits or researching crop circles on YouTube, his team thumped East Carolina 30-3 behind three passing TDs from McCarthy.
With UNLV and Bowling Green on the docket before Harbaugh returns to the sideline, there’s a good chance Michigan would start 3-0 even with a magic eight ball calling plays, but the high-profile show of support certainly keeps the suspension — and the long saga with the NCAA that preceded it — front and center.
No Hendon Hooker, no problem for Tennessee.
Joe Milton III opened the 2023 season proving last year’s late-season highlights weren’t a fluke, as Tennessee dominated Virginia 49-13.
The box score says Milton threw for just 201 yards, but we’re going to assume that’s only because he actually threw the ball so far so often that the yardage counter hit its max and circled back to zero at some point early in the third quarter.
Tennessee’s ground game offered ample support, accounting for 287 yards and five touchdowns, too.
Since Hooker went down with a season-ending injury in the Vols’ shocking loss to South Carolina in November, Tennessee’s offense has put up 56, 31 and 49 points.
Thursday was supposed to represent the start of a new, better era at Nebraska. Instead, it was more like subsequent chapters in the John Wick series — bloody, brutal and essentially just a continuation of the previous films.
Daniel Jackson‘s gorgeous 13-yard touchdown grab erased a late Cornhuskers lead, and Jeff Sims‘ third interception of the game handed Minnesota a short field for a game-winning field goal and, for the 26th time since the start of the 2018 season, Nebraska lost a one-possession game 13-10.
For the record, that’s seven more one-possession losses than any other team in the country over the same span.
For the record, Nebraska’s .212 winning percentage in one-possession games since 2018 is also by far the worst in the nation.
For the record, Matt Rhule had one of the worst one-possession records in the NFL during his stint with the Carolina Panthers, so perhaps none of Week 1’s loss should come as a surprise.
But fear not, Nebraska fans. No matter how cursed the team appears to be, we fundamentally believe in the law of averages that eventually everyone regresses to the mean, and over a long enough timeline, even the Huskers’ close-game luck has to even out.
So, see your glass as, well, 21% full, and know that, buried deep below the 19-38 record Nebraska has posted over the past five-plus seasons, there’s an entirely mediocre program just destined for a date with the Quick Lane Bowl.
Changes in latitudes
For the first time since 1991, Florida left its own state for a nonconference game, and it did not go well.
Utah was without its star QB and a host of other key players, and yet the Utes had no trouble demolishing Florida 24-11 on Thursday.
It was a reminder that Kyle Whittingham is arguably the most underappreciated head coach in the country.
It was also a reminder that Billy Napier inherited a huge job at Florida.
Over the Gators’ past 30 games, they’re just 12-18. Worse, a quarter of those wins came by just a field goal, two more came vs. FCS teams, and two others came vs. a USF program that is 4-29 over the past three seasons. Indeed, Florida has lost 17 of its last 24 games vs. Power 5 opponents — in line with the production of Missouri, Cal and Syracuse over the same span.
Under-the-radar game of the week
There was a time in the mid-1990s when our country was flush with cultural doppelgängers, from the 1996 Canadian Football League season that featured both the Ottawa and Saskatchewan Roughriders to the 1997 hit songs by The Verve and The Verve Pipe to 1998’s release of “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” in the same summer.
But if those glory days of hilarious glitches in the matrix are long over, Friday gave us another confusing plot overlap for the ages when Miami (the Ohio one) faced off against Miami (the Florida one).
The matchup came with its share of smack talk, as Miami (Ohio)’s QB, Brett Gabbert, announced the “real Miami” was in Oxford, Ohio — an assertion that must’ve shaken Pitbull to his core.
But it turned out Miami (Florida)’s players weren’t worried about geography lessons and instead inflicted a physical pounding against that other Miami.
Final score: Miami 38, Miami 3.
Miami couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. Meanwhile, Miami will be left to lick its wounds on the sandy shores of Miami … or maybe amid the leafy trees of another cool, colorful fall in Miami.
Under-the-radar play of the week
There wasn’t much drama in Oklahoma‘s opener, with the Sooners stomping Arkansas State 73-0, but the blowout didn’t mean Jayden Gibson was taking any plays off. The Sooners receiver used the defender to keep the ball alive and hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass before tumbling out of bounds.
0:31
Jayden Gibson makes an unbelievable catch for an Oklahoma TD
Jayden Gibson somehow comes away with an unbelievable touchdown reception to pad the Sooners’ lead.
There are about a half-dozen amazing parts to the play, but our favorite is the reaction from defensive back Leon Jones, who made an exceptional play on the ball but offered up the most half-hearted wave off after the grab possible. Come on, Jones. You’ve got to sell it to the ref!
Best bets and bad beats
Colorado closed as a 20.5-point underdog but pulled out the 3-point win. That’s some prime cash for at least one bettor.
A bettor in Nevada placed a $12K bet on the Colorado ML (+600) on 8/17 and won $72K ?pic.twitter.com/llRn9Gp4Fo
— Caesars Sportsbook & Casino (@CaesarsSports) September 2, 2023
Kentucky bettors owe the gambling gods a serious offering this week. Not only did the Wildcats enjoy a nice 69-yard scoop-and-score, but tailback Ray Davis racked up one of the all-time great backdoor covers with an otherwise meaningless 30-yard touchdown run with just six seconds left on the clock.
0:26
Kentucky covers the spread on TD with 6 seconds remaining
Re’mahn Davis rushes in for a 30-yard touchdown with six seconds left in the game for Kentucky.
The Wildcats were 24.5-point favorites over Ball State. Thanks to Davis’ late score, they won by 30.
Northern Illinois pulled the upset over Boston College in overtime, and the OT rules added another insult to any Eagles backers who had the over, too. NIU’s OT touchdown secured the 27-21 win, but since no PAT was required, the final tally of 48 points came up exactly one point shy of the total.
Good teams win, and Penn State has been good for a while. But great teams? Great teams cover, which is exactly what the Nittany Lions did when second-string QB Beau Pribula waltzed into the end zone from 5 yards out with six seconds to play to give Penn State — a 21-point favorite against West Virginia — a 38-15 win.
Pribula was the star for the betting community, but it was Drew Allar who led the way for Penn State. The Lions have had a long line of effective QBs, including Sean Clifford, who manned the position admirably for the past 23 years. But Clifford was a bit like Paul Giamatti — an effective leading man who churned out solid performances for years without ever once being considered a sex symbol.
Allar, on the other hand, offers Penn State hope for something more. His Saturday performance — 325 passing yards and three touchdowns without an interception and a win — is something Clifford did just once in his career.
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Source: USC flips Ducks’ Topui, No. 3 DT in 2026
Published
3 hours agoon
April 1, 2025By
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Eli LedermanApr 1, 2025, 06:09 PM ET
Close- Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
USC secured the commitment of former Oregon defensive tackle pledge Tomuhini Topui on Tuesday, a source told ESPN, handing the Trojans their latest recruiting victory in the 2026 cycle over the Big Ten rival Ducks.
Topui, ESPN’s No. 3 defensive tackle and No. 72 overall recruit in the 2026 class, spent five and half months committed to Oregon before pulling his pledge from the program on March 27. Topui attended USC’s initial spring camp practice that afternoon, and seven days later the 6-foot-4, 295-pound defender gave the Trojans his pledge to become the sixth ESPN 300 defender in the program’s 2026 class.
Topui’s commitment gives USC its 10th ESPN 300 pledge this cycle — more than any other program nationally — and pulls a fourth top-100 recruit into the impressive defensive class the Trojans are building this spring. Alongside Topui, USC’s defensive class includes in-state cornerbacks R.J. Sermons (No. 26 in ESPN Junior 300) and Brandon Lockhart (No. 77); four-star outside linebacker Xavier Griffin (No. 27) out of Gainesville, Georgia; and two more defensive line pledges between Jaimeon Winfield (No. 143) and Simote Katoanga (No. 174).
The Trojans are working to reestablish their local recruiting presence in the 2026 class under newly hired general manager Chad Bowden. Topui not only gives the Trojans their 11th in-state commit in the cycle, but his pledge represents a potentially important step toward revamping the program’s pipeline to perennial local powerhouse Mater Dei High School, too.
Topui will enter his senior season this fall at Mater Dei, the program that has produced a long line of USC stars including Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley and Amon-Ra St. Brown. However, if Topui ultimately signs with the program later this year, he’ll mark the Trojans’ first Mater Dei signee since the 2022 cycle, when USC pulled three top-300 prospects — Domani Jackson, Raleek Brown and C.J. Williams — from the high school program based in Santa Ana, California.
Topui’s flip to the Trojans also adds another layer to a recruiting rivalry rekindling between USC and Oregon in the 2026 cycle.
Tuesday’s commitment comes less than two months after coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans flipped four-star Oregon quarterback pledge Jonas Williams, ESPN’s No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in 2026. USC is expected to continue targeting several Ducks commits this spring, including four-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene, another top prospect out of Mater Dei.
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Sources: QB Pyne leaves Mizzou, seeks 4th team
Published
6 hours agoon
April 1, 2025By
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Max OlsonApr 1, 2025, 03:48 PM ET
Close- Covers the Big 12
- Joined ESPN in 2012
- Graduate of the University of Nebraska
Missouri quarterback Drew Pyne has entered the portal as a graduate transfer, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Pyne is looking to move to his fourth school after stints at Notre Dame, Arizona State and Missouri. He’ll be a sixth-year senior this fall.
Pyne joined Missouri last year as a backup for senior starter Brady Cook. He earned one start, leading the Tigers to a 30-23 comeback win over Oklahoma while Cook was sidelined by ankle and wrist injuries.
Missouri brought in former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula via the transfer portal this offseason. He’ll compete with redshirt junior Sam Horn and true freshman Matt Zollers, the No. 86 overall recruit in the 2025 ESPN 300, for the opportunity to start this season.
Pyne, a former ESPN 300 recruit, began his career at Notre Dame and started 10 games for the Fighting Irish in 2022. He threw for 2,021 yards on 65% passing and scored 24 total touchdowns with six interceptions while winning eight of his starts.
After the Irish brought in grad transfer quarterback Sam Hartman, Pyne transferred to Arizona State but appeared in just two games with the Sun Devils before an injury forced him to sit out the rest of the season.
Pyne played 211 snaps over six appearances for the Tigers last season and threw for 391 yards on 60% passing with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
The NCAA’s spring transfer window opens April 16, but graduate transfers are permitted to put their name in the portal at any time. More than 160 FBS scholarship quarterbacks have already transferred this offseason.
Sports
What’s going on with Rafael Devers? Putting his historic strikeout streak into context
Published
7 hours agoon
April 1, 2025By
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David SchoenfieldApr 1, 2025, 11:50 AM ET
Close- Covers MLB for ESPN.com
- Former deputy editor of Page 2
- Been with ESPN.com since 1995
There are slow starts, there are slumps, and then there is whatever Rafael Devers is going through.
The 28-year-old three-time All-Star for the Boston Red Sox has been one of baseball’s best hitters since 2019, posting three 30-homer seasons, three 100-RBI seasons and a whole bunch of doubles.
His first five games of 2025 have been a nightmare. It’s the early-season equivalent of dealing Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Johnny Pesky holding the ball. Bucky Dent. The ball rolling through Bill Buckner’s legs. Aaron Boone. Just to name a few Red Sox references. Here’s how those games unfolded for Devers:
Game 1: 0-for-4, three strikeouts
Game 2: 0-for-4, four strikeouts
Game 3: 0-for-4, three strikeouts, walk, RBI
Game 4: 0-for-4, two strikeouts, walk
Game 5: 0-for-3, three strikeouts, two walks
Along the way, Devers became the first player to strike out 10 times in a team’s first three games of a season — and that’s not all.
He became the first player to strike out 12 times in a team’s first four games. And, yes, with 15 strikeouts through five games he shattered the old record of 13, shared by Pat Burrell in 2001 and Byron Buxton in 2017. Going back to the end of 2024, when Devers fanned 11 times over his final four games, he became the fourth player with multiple strikeouts in nine straight games — and one of those was a pitcher (the other two were a rookie named Aaron Judge in 2016 and Michael A. Taylor in 2021).
With Devers struggling, the Red Sox have likewise stumbled out of the gate, going 1-4 after some lofty preseason expectations, including an 8-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the home opener Monday. To be fair, it’s not all on Devers: Jarren Duran, Devers and Alex Bregman, the top three hitters in the lineup, are a combined 11-for-62 (.177) with no home runs.
But there is one question weighing heaviest on the minds of Red Sox Nation right now: What is really going on with Devers?
It’s easy to say his head simply isn’t in the right space. Devers made headlines early in spring training after the Red Sox signed Bregman, saying he didn’t want to move to DH and that “third base is my position.” He pointed out that when he signed his $331 million extension in January of 2023, the front office promised he would be the team’s third baseman.
That, however, was when a different regime was in charge. Bregman, a Gold Glove winner in 2024, is the better defensive third baseman, so it makes sense to play him there and move Devers — except many players don’t like to DH. Some analysts even build in a “DH penalty,” assuming a player will hit worse there than when he plays the field. While Devers eventually relented and said he’d do whatever will help the team, it was a rocky situation for a few weeks.
But maybe it’s something else. While Devers avoided surgery this offseason, he spent it trying to rebuild strength in both shoulders after dealing with soreness and inflammation throughout 2024. He didn’t play the field in spring training and had just 15 plate appearances. So maybe he is still rusty — or the shoulder(s) are bothering him.
Indeed, Statcast metrics show his average bat speed has dropped from 72.5 mph in 2024 to 70.3 mph so far in 2025 (and those are down from 73.4 mph in 2023). His “fast-swing rate” has dropped from 34.2% in 2023 to 27.9% to 12.2%. Obviously, we’re talking an extremely small sample size for this season, but it’s clear Devers isn’t generating the bat speed we’re used to seeing from him.
That, however, doesn’t explain the complete inability to make contact. Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters after the series in Texas that Devers had made alterations with his foot placement — but was having trouble catching up to fastballs. Following Monday’s game, Devers told reporters (via his interpreter) that, “Obviously this is not a position that I’ve done in the past. So I need to get used to it. But I feel good, I feel good.”
Which leads to this question: Does this historic bad start mean anything? Since the DH began in 1973, three DHs began the season with a longer hitless streak than Devers’ 0-for-19 mark, so let’s dig into how the rest of their seasons played out:
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Don Baylor with the 1982 Angels (0-for-20). Baylor ended up with a pretty typical season for him: .263/.329/.424, 24 home runs.
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Evan Gattis of the 2015 Astros (0-for-23). Gattis hit .246 with 27 home runs — not as good as he hit in 2014 or 2016, but in line with his career numbers.
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Curtis Terry with the Rangers in 2021 (0-for-20). Terry was a rookie who ended up playing just 13 games in the majors.
Expanding beyond just the DH position, I searched Baseball-Reference for players in the wild-card era (since 1995) who started a season hitless in at least 20 plate appearances through five games. That gave us a list of … just seven players, including Evan Carter (0-for-22) and Anthony Rendon (0-for-20) last season. Both ended up with injury-plagued seasons. The list also includes Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, who was 0-for-24 for the Houston Astros in 1995. He was fine: He hit .302/.406/.483 that season, made the All-Star team and finished 10th in the MVP voting. J.D. Drew started 0-for-25 through five games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005; he hit .286/.412/.520, although an injury limited him to 72 games.
But none of those hitters struck out nearly as often as Devers has.
So let’s focus on the strikeouts and expand our search to most strikeouts through the 15 first games of a season. Given his already astronomical total, Devers is likely to rank high on such a list even if he starts making more contact. Seventeen players struck out at least 25 times through 15 games, topped by Yoan Moncada and Miguel Sano with 29, both in 2018. Not surprisingly, all these seasons have come since 2006 and 12 since 2018.
How did that group fare?
They were actually OK, averaging a .767 OPS and 20 home runs. The best of the group was Matt Olson in 2023, who struck out 25 times in 15 games, but was also hitting well with a .317/.423/.650 line. He went on to hit 53 home runs. The next best season belongs to Giancarlo Stanton in 2018, his first with the Yankees. He finished with 38 home runs and an .852 OPS — but that was a big drop from his MVP season in 2017, when he mashed 59 home runs. His strikeout rate increased from 23.6% in 2017 to 29.9% — and he’s never been as good.
Indeed, that’s the worrisome thing for Devers: Of the 16 players who played the season before (Trevor Story was a rookie in 2016 when he struck out 25 times in 15 games, albeit with eight home runs), 13 had a higher OPS the previous season, many significantly so.
As Cora argued Monday, it’s a small sample size. “You know, this happens in July or August, we’d not even be talking about it,” he said.
That doesn’t really sound quite forthright. A slump, even a five-game slump, with this many strikeouts would absolutely be a topic of discussion. Still, that’s all the Red Sox and Devers have to go on right now: It’s just a few games, nothing one big game won’t fix. They just hope it comes soon.
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