D-backs ride hot start, Kelly gem into Game 7
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — An improbable postseason ride will continue for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who forced Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday after beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 in Game 6 on Monday.
Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly was fantastic, setting the tone for the visitors as he gave up just one run over five innings. In the process, he helped quiet the usually raucous Philadelphia crowd.
“I think that’s the first time they sat for a playoff game,” closer Paul Sewald observed after the game. “It’s just a testament to how we got this game started.”
After Kelly left two stranded in the first inning — no small task against the Phillies in this series — the Diamondbacks tallied three runs in the top of the second. Struggling designated hitter Tommy Pham got the ball rolling as he hit a solo shot off Phillies starter Aaron Nola just a couple of days after being benched in Game 5. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. did the same moments later.
“I’m already pretty self-motivated but that kind of helped,” Pham said of the benching. “It felt tremendous.”
Arizona added another run that inning on an Evan Longoria RBI double as Nola lost any feel he had to start the game.
“It was a little strange because first thing he comes out and he really executed everything,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
Nola lasted only 4⅓ innings while giving up four runs on six hits and two walks. His counterpart went only five innings and was stunned when manager Torey Lovullo pulled him after he struck out Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on nasty curveballs, part of an easy 1-2-3 inning.
Kelly used his complete array of pitches during his 5-inning gem. Fastballs up, sinkers away, curves and sliders down. The Phillies just couldn’t get a read on him, making it all the more curious when he was pulled after 90 pitches. He and Lovullo had a lively discussion in the dugout afterward.
“What I can share about it is he was pounding the table to go back out there and was shocked that I was going to remove him from the game,” Lovullo said. “But we had another brief conversation, and I explained to him why I was doing it, and he began to slowly understand.”
Said Kelly: “I think partly why I was upset right there was I was kind of just taken off-guard by it. I just went through their top three, punched out two of them. Ninety pitches through five, I’m thinking I’m for sure going back out for six. When I came in and saw his hand out for the handshake that I was done, it kind of just took me by shock more than anything.”
A parade of relievers, starting with sidearm righty Ryan Thompson, shut down the Phillies for the rest of the game, avoiding a controversy for Lovullo.
Now the focus turns to Game 7, and the Phillies are trying to keep a positive attitude after losing at home for the first time this postseason. The winner of Tuesday night’s game will go on to face the Texas Rangers in the Fall Classic.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Schwarber said. “This is what you play for. Obviously, it sucks. You wish you got it done today, absolutely. But it’s an exciting thing and we’re embracing it.”
So are the Diamondbacks, who continue to shock the baseball world. It’s something they’re embracing.
“We deserve this moment,” Lovullo said. “We’re going to play Game 7, and for me Game 7, it’s like all hands on deck, anything is possible. Game 7s are Game 7s for a reason.”
Zac Gallen, the starter for Games 1 and 5, said he’ll be ready out of the bullpen for Arizona, if he’s needed. Rookie Brandon Pfaadt will start the game, becoming the seventh rookie in the wild-card era to do so.
“I think being in the position to start Game 7, I think that would be huge,” Pfaadt said before the Game 6 win. “Especially as a rookie. I think I’m going to give it my all, give it all to the team and try to come out with a win tomorrow.”
Pfaadt said it was a little different to prepare for a game that he wasn’t sure would be played, but he tried to treat it like any other start. It certainly won’t be. Like Gallen, Zack Wheeler, the Phillies’ starter for Games 1 and 5, could be available out of the bullpen as well.
“I would think so,” Thomson said. “It’s going to be all hands on deck.”
Philadelphia will send lefty Ranger Suarez to the mound to start the game. He and Pfaadt both pitched well in Game 3, a 2-1 win by the Diamondbacks.
“It’s going to be fun to put everyone’s best efforts and best everything that we got tomorrow [Tuesday],” Schwarber stated. “That’s all we got, is tomorrow.”
A loss would be a devastating one for Philadelphia as the Phillies were the heavy favorites to return to the World Series after the top seeds in the NL, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, both lost in the division series. But the Diamondbacks have proved to be resilient — especially after losing the first two games of this series.
Now they’re in it to win it.
“We’re pretty pumped,” Pham said.
“We put ourselves in the ultimate position,” Longoria said. “To go out there and win a game to go to the World Series. Could not be more proud of the group and what we accomplished. The belief in here is very strong.”
Diamondbacks rookie Corbin Carroll summed up his feelings prior to Game 7: “It’s going to be hard to sleep tonight.”
Week 7 in college football did not disappoint. There were several blockbuster matchups, and some previously undefeated teams were dealt their first losses.
No. 7 Indiana traveled to No. 3 Oregon for a game between two undefeated Big Ten teams and snapped the Ducks’ 18-game home winning streak, sending Oregon down five spots in this week’s AP Poll. The Hoosiers, on the other hand, have shown they’re the real deal and in the hunt for another shot at the national championship after last season’s early exit from the College Football Playoff. Meanwhile, in the Cotton Bowl, the return of quarterback John Mateer didn’t help No. 6 Oklahoma, which fell from the ranks of the unbeaten at the hands of Texas.
And with things going from bad to worse for Penn State after its third straight loss Saturday, the school fired James Franklin on Sunday after 12 seasons as its head coach.
What’s ahead for the Hoosiers as they chase a first-round bye in the playoff? What’s next for the Nittany Lions after their coaching change? And how does Oklahoma bounce back after a rough rivalry loss that may have exposed some issues that need to be addressed?
Our college football experts break down key storylines and takeaways from Week 7.
Jump to:
Indiana’s CFP chances | Franklin’s future
No buyout is too high | Watch out for Washington
Here comes Navy | A new star at USC?
Oklahoma’s offense
Indiana is better than last season — and capable of a deeper playoff run
At the midpoint of the season, no team has made a bigger playoff statement than Indiana. The Hoosiers tried to announce their arrival on the national stage with last season’s playoff appearance, but doubts lingered after an early exit. They tried to reassert themselves with a historic 63-10 beatdown of Illinois, but the Illini aren’t Ohio State or Oregon. And then the Hoosiers beat Oregon — by double digits — in Autzen Stadium, where the Ducks hadn’t lost in 18 straight games. Indiana forced Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Dante Moore into two interceptions and sacked him six times.
With the win, the Hoosiers catapulted into the top five and into program lore, positioning themselves not only for a run at the Big Ten title, but for a first-round bye as a top-four playoff team. Indiana doesn’t play Ohio State during the regular season, but it can face the Buckeyes in the conference championship game if the Hoosiers keep winning. And if Indiana’s only loss this season is to the selection committee’s No. 1 team and the Big Ten champs, the Hoosiers could still earn a top-four seed because those spots are no longer reserved for conference champions. If Indiana can beat Oregon, though, it can also beat Ohio State. — Heather Dinich
Franklin’s firing marks a first in highly pressurized CFP era
Penn State’s firing of coach James Franklin on Sunday was an absolute stunner, and also not a stunner. And yeah, still a stunner.
The unsurprising part about Franklin’s ouster, halfway through his 12th season at Penn State, was how clear the stakes had become this fall. Penn State had to start winning games and ultimately win some type of championship — Big Ten or national. After bringing back the nucleus of a team that played for the Big Ten title and was a play away from the national championship game, anything less would be a major disappointment.
I thought that if Penn State fell short and finished 10-3 or worse, Franklin could possibly look to move on. Things had run their course for him in Happy Valley. He would have gone out with a very good tenure without enough truly notable accomplishments.
The still-stunning part is that it came to an outright firing, especially to the tune of nearly $50 million remaining to be paid on his contract. The Oregon loss stung Penn State unlike other big-game defeats under Franklin. The Nittany Lions then looked completely lost against inferior opponents UCLA and Northwestern. The postgame malaise Saturday night suggested Franklin knew the end was coming before he got the news from athletic director Pat Kraft on Sunday.
But the finality of it all is still jarring and also indicative of the stakes that exist in the CFP era. As an industry source noted Sunday, Auburn and LSU waited at least a season before firing national-championship-winning coaches Gene Chizik and Ed Orgeron. Coaches can now reach the national semifinal and be fired halfway through the ensuing season. That’s wild.
What happens next for Franklin and Penn State will be fascinating, but it’s clear few coaches are safe in such a big-money, all-in sport. — Adam Rittenberg
No buyout is too high
There was a belief, at least among some FBS coaches, that athletic directors and universities would be less likely to fire a coach because the buyouts were going to be too high in the NIL era.
“They want the money for NIL,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin told me earlier this month. “But also because of the contracts. It’s great for coaches, but it’s the problem [agent] Jimmy Sexton created. These contracts [have] so much guaranteed money that now they’re like, ‘Whoa, we want to fire him, but we don’t want to pay $50 million.'”
Kiffin, it should be noted, is one of several high-profile coaches represented by Sexton.
“Not only have you got to pay him, you’ve got to pay his assistants,” Kiffin continued, “and then you have to go out and buy another team because everybody’s going to transfer within 30 days once the coach is fired, depending on the next coach you get.”
Obviously, that’s still not the case after Penn State canned Franklin and will pay his buyout of roughly $49 million, which is the second biggest in college football history, behind only the $76 million that Texas A&M doled out to Jimbo Fisher.
It’s not even November, and there are already seven head coaching openings, and all but one of them at Power 4 conference schools: Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA and Virginia Tech.
Thanks to NIL and the transfer portal, the head coach, even a successful one, is no longer irreplaceable. Will one of those schools finally step up and say, “Enough is enough?” — Mark Schlabach
Don’t miss Demond Williams Jr.
One of the best individual performances of the week came late Friday night in Seattle, where Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. became just the 16th player in FBS history to throw for at least 400 yards and rush for at least 100 yards in the same game. The last Big Ten quarterback to achieve the feat was Northwestern’s Zak Kustok in 2001 against Bowling Green.
Williams has been outstanding all season. He ranks No. 5 nationally in Total QBR (86.1) with his worst game coming in a 24-6 loss to Ohio State and the country’s best defense. And even then, he still completed 18 of 22 passes against the Buckeyes for 173 yards without an interception. With Michigan, Illinois and Oregon still on the schedule, Washington has some chances to make a statement and push for a playoff spot. — Kyle Bonagura
Anchors aweigh, here comes Navy
The Midshipmen trailed Temple by a touchdown with less than a minute to play Saturday. They also faced fourth-and-1 at midfield. But then, following a convoy of lead blockers, Navy quarterback Blake Horvath sliced through the middle of the Owls defense for a 51-yard touchdown. He then tossed the winning 2-point conversion with a defender dragging him to the ground, giving Navy its first fourth-quarter comeback victory since 2021.
The Midshipmen are quietly 6-0 with the chance to make some major noise in November.
Navy travels to Notre Dame on Nov. 8 before facing South Florida (No. 19) and Memphis (No. 22) in back-to-back tilts that figure to have major American Conference title-game implications.
As it stands, the winner of the American will be the heavy favorite to grab the Group of 5 slot in the playoff. If Horvath, who has rushed and passed for 100 yards apiece in three straight games, keeps up this fourth-quarter magic, the Midshipmen could be a surprise playoff contender. — Jake Trotter
USC’s new star running back
USC might have stumbled into its new star running back.
After Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders went down with injuries during Saturday’s matchup between the Trojans and No. 15 Michigan, Lincoln Riley had no choice but to turn to walk-on King Miller.
The redshirt freshman who didn’t see any action last season was thrust into the game and did not disappoint. Miller carried the ball 18 times Saturday and totaled 158 rushing yards and a touchdown. Every time he touched the ball, it seemed like he could go for a huge gain.
Miller had a total of only 11 carries for 152 yards in three games entering Saturday. This was more than just an unexpected breakout; it was a coming-out party.
“King was huge,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “He stepped up and made big plays. That was obviously really important for us with the way it went down. This is just what he does in practice. He’s a hard worker. He’s a humble guy. He cares about this team a lot. And honestly, hell, we didn’t have anyone else. But he was awesome. The moment certainly wasn’t too big for him.”
Miller’s role on this USC team is far from finished. Riley said Sanders’ injury “doesn’t look super positive in terms of the rest of the season,” while Jordan is set to miss 4-6 weeks after undergoing tightrope surgery this week, according to multiple reports.
If Saturday’s win over Michigan was any indication, the fact that Miller might just turn out to be the Trojans’ top option at running back going forward might not be a bad thing. — Paolo Uggetti
Oklahoma’s offensive stumble exposes broader concerns
Let’s start here: For the third time in four Red River Rivalry games under coach Brent Venables, Oklahoma went without a touchdown against Texas in Saturday’s 23-6 defeat.
The first two occasions came with the Sooners playing a backup quarterback in the 2022 and 2024 editions of the rivalry game. This time, Oklahoma had its starter back with John Mateer under center 17 days after undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone in his right (throwing) hand hand. But Mateer’s much-anticipated return at the Cotton Bowl promptly turned into his first flop in 2025, lowlighted by three interceptions and the Heisman Trophy hopeful’s least accurate throwing performance (20-of-38) in what has been an otherwise dazzling debut season with the Sooners.
“I was ready to go physically,” Mateer said afterward. “Mentally, I just didn’t perform. My eyes weren’t as good as they needed to be. When your quarterback doesn’t play good football, [it’s] hard to win in this league. That’s what happened.”
Mateer’s showing in Oklahoma’s gut-check defeat prompts both near- and long-term questions.
Did the Sooners rush their star passer back against Texas? Would Oklahoma have been better off giving Mateer another week to recover and handing another start to sophomore Michael Hawkins Jr.? Will the physical or mental blows of Saturday impact Mateer beyond Week 7?
More broadly, questions have to be asked about whether this Sooners offense is good enough to support an Oklahoma defense that ranks second nationally and the program’s CFP hopes in 2025. Even with Mateer at his best, the Sooners are hamstrung by a rushing attack that ranks 106th and a good-not-great receiving corps averaging 1.5 touchdowns per game, 12th best among SEC programs. In three games against power conference opponents this fall, the Sooners have averaged only 23.6 points and 323 yards of total offense.
One loss doesn’t change much about the ceiling for the Sooners’ 2025 season. But any chance of Oklahoma flirting with the 12-team field hinges on finding solutions on offense, well beyond the issues that cropped up in Mateer’s disastrous performance against Texas on Saturday. — Eli Lederman
Veteran defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, a steady force on the blue line of the past two Stanley Cup title runs, will be out of the Florida Panthers’ lineup indefinitely after being placed on injured reserve.
Kulikov, 34, was injured in Florida’s second game of the season, a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in which he played 11 shifts covering 7:47 time on the ice. After a collision with Flyers forward Bobby Brink on a second-period shift, he left the ice holding his right wrist.
The Panthers made his move to IR official on Friday, and on Saturday, after morning skate leading into his team’s 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, coach Paul Maurice told reporters that the veteran could need surgery.
Florida, off to a 3-0-0 start, is already without captain Aleksander Barkov, who underwent knee surgery last month, and forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is out until at least December with a lower-body injury.
This is Kulikov’s second tenure with the Panthers. He appeared in 70 games last season, finishing with four goals and 13 points.
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