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  • David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterOct 6, 2024, 02:55 AM ET

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    • College football reporter.
    • Joined ESPN in 2012.
    • Graduate of the University of Delaware.

If we are, as some scientists have hypothesized, living in a multiverse in which all possible outcomes occur along some timeline, then we can still rest easy knowing that our lives are in fact unique and special and touched by some higher power because in no other possible universe could what unfolded on Saturday in college football happen again.

It was a rough Saturday for the top teams in the sport, and none suffered a more horrific fate than Alabama.

A week ago, the Tide escaped Georgia in what seemed like the best game of the year, a harbinger that their dynasty didn’t end with Nick Saban’s departure; it was simply a changing of the guard to Kalen DeBoer’s Bama.

And on Saturday, the king was replaced again, usurped by the court jester’s good-for-nothing roommate.

Vanderbilt did the impossible, knocking off No. 1 Alabama 40-35 in a game that might not technically qualify as the biggest upset in the sport’s modern era but certainly fits the bill in spirit, but it was really just the beginning.

Nothing about Week 6 screamed drama. It was a week in which just one pair of top-25 teams met on the field — and that turned out to be a snooze, as Texas A&M romped over No. 9 Missouri. The other powers — Georgia, Penn State, Ole Miss and Oregon — seemed to sleepwalk to easy enough wins.

Then No. 10 Michigan lost to unranked Washington. Then No. 11 USC lost to unranked Minnesota. Then No. 4 Tennessee lost to unranked Arkansas. The weekend that was supposed to provide only the dullest of chalk ended up giving us one of the most stunning strings of upsets we’ve had in years — five of the nation’s top 11 losing on the same day for the first time since 2016. A sixth team, Miami, needed a miracle (and a helpful review) to escape at Cal.

Saturday delivered utter absurdity, a Mad Libs of final scores that left the AP poll in tatters. But no outcome was more incredible than what happened in Nashville.

That Alabama found itself suffering through a hangover in Nashville is no surprise. The win over Georgia had felt so seismic, an exclamation point for a program used to making statements.

By halftime on Saturday, the hangover looked a bit more serious than we might’ve expected. But by the time Commodores tight end Kamrean Johnson hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Diego Pavia with 5:07 to play. we’d reached a “Let’s DoorDash Arby’s” level of hangover.

And yet, it still felt almost inevitable that Alabama would find a way — just as it had a week ago, behind quarterback Jalen Milroe‘s arm and wide receiver Ryan Williams‘ magic.

Then Pavia threw a 19-yard completion.

Then Sedrick Alexander ran for 13 yards through the teeth of Alabama’s flummoxed defense.

Then Pavia scrambled for 8 yards and a first down with 1:10 to play — and all Vandy had to do was take a knee to secure its first win over a top-five opponent in 60 tries and leave the bachelorette parties downtown squealing and whooping incoherently (though that last part might have been unrelated).

It was the type of mythical David-over-Goliath win they write songs about, if only Nashville had any songwriters.

For the Commodores, there were so many small storylines that felt, in retrospect, like genuine foreshadowing. There was coach Clark Lea’s promise in the summer of 2022 that Vandy would one day be the best program in the country. He might as well have told the assembled masses at SEC media day that Saban was going to retire and start riding around in a van with his dog solving mysteries. It was nonsensical. And yet, here we are, witness to Vandy toppling the No. 1 team in the nation.

It was less than 11 months ago that Pavia and Jerry Kill led New Mexico State into Jordan-Hare Stadium and utterly embarrassed Auburn. Now, both are at Vandy — Pavia as QB, Kill as advisor to Lea — and they’ve beaten Bama too. Pavia yelled into a microphone on live television that Nashville would be “f—ing turnt,” and somehow that seemed a perfectly natural reaction — subdued, even — to what happened but also an earned celebration for a kid who grew up idolizing Johnny Manziel and dreaming of a moment like this. That Kill has helped turn around both New Mexico State and Vandy in consecutive years is probably enough evidence to warrant sandblasting Jefferson off Mount Rushmore and carving out Kill’s likeness instead.

In its opener this season, Vandy escaped Virginia Tech in part because it got a second chance after the Hokies inexplicably sent two players onto the field wearing the same jersey number during a Vanderbilt punt. The Commodores eventually turned that second chance into a touchdown in a game ultimately won by one possession. And on Saturday, the same thing happened. The difference between 3-2 Vandy with two epic wins and 1-4 Vandy being completely ignored on the national stage is literally another team’s laundry.

It was another résumé win for a school whose résumé previously just read: “Technically a football team.” For virtually the entirety of its history, Vandy was essentially the SEC’s version of the dead body at the start of each episode of “Law & Order.” That’s essential to the plot of the show, but it isn’t supposed to have any dialogue and mostly exists to allow the stars to make a few dark jokes. And now the Commodores have wins over Virginia Tech and Alabama, a narrow defeat to a top-10 Missouri and a close loss to an unspecified team from Georgia. (Let them have their moment.)

What was most exhilarating and confounding, though, was that Vandy absolutely deserved this win. It had nine more first downs than the Tide. It ran for more yards, often straight up the gut against a Bama front that looked a shell of what we saw a week ago against Georgia. It refused to let drives die, converting 13 of 19 third- and fourth-down tries, and as a result, the Dores held the football for more than 42 minutes.

And when it was all over, Vandy not only rushed the field, not only celebrated with its fans and basked in the win and cursed on live TV, but it had the gumption to stick it to Bama’s former coach, replaying a Saban sound bite in which he said the only easy venue in the SEC was at Vanderbilt.

Whichever staffer on Vanderbilt’s stadium ops crew dug up that clip in advance of the win needs to be carried down Broadway like a conquering hero.

It is fair to suggest this isn’t your father’s Vandy team (or, more accurately, the Vandy team from the last time you wore that sport coat hanging in your closet). Lea has these Dores playing good football. Pavia is a swashbuckling underdog who’s entirely deserving of Manziel’s mantle. And as is required by federal law to note in situations like this, there are no easy weeks in the SEC, despite Saban’s now-infamous hot take.

But make no mistake, this was a genuine one-in-a-million outcome — not because Vandy is bad or Alabama is preordained or because this weekend seemed so entirely fluke-proof. All of those things could be true and they still wouldn’t capture the magnitude of what happened.

This was an outcome that a thousand monkeys typing on a thousand typewriters for a thousand years couldn’t script on accident because things like this simply don’t happen. It was the Washington Generals toppling the Harlem Globetrotters, Charlie Brown kicking the football and Dabo Swinney taking a transfer all rolled into one.

In other words, things like this don’t happen in any universe. None but this one, on this beautiful blue marble on this particular Saturday on a field in Nashville that even Saban didn’t take seriously.

Lucky for us, it’s the universe we’re all living in, and we get to go along for the ride.

Jump to:
Tennessee tumbles
Miami survives again
ACC troubles
Army/Navy 5-0
Gift trash talking
Vibe shifts
Under the radar
Heisman

Down go the Vols

The SEC opened Saturday with four undefeated teams and ended it with just one.

This wasn’t the week for No. 4 Tennessee to lay an egg against Arkansas, because it really opened the door to some jokes from its in-state neighbors who toppled Alabama earlier in the day.

Tennessee couldn’t do anything in the passing game, with hyped quarterback Nico Iamaleava completing just 17 of 29 throws for 158 yards. Arkansas got plenty of QB Taylen Green, but he left with an injury in the fourth quarter, putting backup Malachi Singleton in position to play hero.

Singleton had a 13-yard completion and an 11-yard touchdown run on the game-winning drive, scoring with 1:17 to play.

It was proof of the important lesson offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino had taught this Arkansas team: When you fall off your bike — then get fired under embarrassing circumstances, spend a decade bouncing around various jobs then help Jimbo Fisher get fired at Texas A&M — you always get back up on that bike and sooner or later, all will be forgiven.

Miami escapes again

The Bermuda Triangle of college football chaos exists in Berkeley, California.

On one leg of the triangle is Coastal chaos. On another is “Pac-12 After Dark.” And on the third, ACC officiating. Mix them all together and what you get is the utter insanity that was Miami–Cal.

The Golden Bears hosted “College GameDay” based on the strength of their darkly subversive Twitter presence and a deeply talented defense, and both showed out early. Jaydn Ott scored two first-half touchdowns, making his case for what the Calgorithm calls the Heisperson Trophy, while the Bears’ D utterly frustrated Cam Ward and the Canes’ offense. By the time Cal kicker Ryan Coe drilled a 37-yard field goal with 14:13 left in the game, Miami was down by 20 points and its No. 8 ranking — and playoff hopes — seemed on shaky ground.

That’s when Ward came to life.

In the fourth quarter, he completed 15 of 22 passes for 238 yards, ran for another 39 yards and accounted for three touchdowns.

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0:27

Cam Ward gives Miami late hope with resilient 24-yard score

Cam Ward keeps Miami within striking distance of Cal after powering into the end zone on a 24-yard rush late in the fourth quarter.

And yet the game was not without controversy. Trailing by six points, Miami looked to force a Cal punt with 1:50 to play, but linebacker Wesley Bissainthe collided with Cal’s Fernando Mendoza on the tackle, smacking helmets along the way.

Replay looked to show a clear targeting, but no flag was thrown on the field. The booth reviewed the play, but allowed the non-call to stand, despite what looked like clear evidence of a launch and a hit with the crown of the helmet.

This follows a similar incident last week in which Miami prevailed only after review overturned a Hail Mary touchdown by Virginia Tech, despite minimal video evidence.

A targeting call would’ve almost certainly won the game for Cal, but instead, a punt followed and Ward delivered a 77-yard connection with Xavier Restrepo on the next offensive play.

Cal fans were rightly furious. Unfortunately, no one in Berkeley knew a good way to signal their disapproval of a decision made by a more authoritative enemy.

Miami still tried to upend its own good fortune with an atrocious unsportsmanlike penalty in the red zone. But Ward delivered a checkdown throw just inches from crossing the line of scrimmage that picked up a key first down, and he then hit Elijah Arroyo for the go-ahead touchdown.

The result: Miami is 6-0, the ACC review booth is 2-0 and Cal is going to invent an app that somehow brings down the entire college football industrial complex as punishment.

Other ACC powers struggling

Louisville’s defense couldn’t find a solution for Kevin Jennings and SMU on Saturday, falling 34-27. Meanwhile, Boston College got its starting QB, Thomas Castellanos, back from injury but blew a 14-0 lead and lost to Virginia 24-14. Wake Forest managed its first ACC win of the year, erasing a 10-point deficit to beat NC State 34-30.

And then there’s Florida State, a school whose fans are going through some things right now.

In the Billable Hours Bowl, the two teams suing to leave the ACC faced off in Tallahassee, and while FSU occasionally showed signs of life with Brock Glenn at QB, the end result was still the same.

In fact, here’s a quick recap of what happened in the game.

Clemson: Hey, the SEC’s on the phone. They said they’re ready to expand.

Florida State: Really?

Clemson: No. They said they don’t need you. They have Vandy.

With the Tigers’ victory, Dabo Swinney became the winningest coach in ACC history, passing Bobby Bowden on the field that bears his name. Swinney did it, too, by taking the same number of transfers as Bowden.

Also Cade Klubnik threw for two touchdowns and Phil Mafah ran for 154 yards in what was an appropriately ugly 29-13 decision.

So, to recap where the ACC stands: Florida State, NC State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Louisville all have multiple losses already and sport a combined record of 13-16.

Meanwhile Pitt, Virginia, Syracuse and SMU are a combined 18-3.

You can take the Coastal out of the ACC, but you can’t take the ACC away from the chaos.

Sluggish day for the top teams

No. 3 Ohio State: Had little trouble swatting away Iowa 35-7. Still, it had to feel like a loss for the Buckeyes, who are the first ranked team to allow points to Iowa’s offense since Michigan surrendered two touchdowns in a win over the Hawkeyes in Week 5 of 2022.

No. 5 Georgia: Responded to last week’s loss to Alabama with an entirely reasonable 31-13 win over Auburn. Carson Beck was 23-of-28 passing, and Trevor Etienne scored twice, and yet it was hardly the offensive performance that offered significant reassurance this uneven start to the season is insignificant. More than anything, Georgia wore down Auburn rather than delivering any sort of statement. If anything, it was a bit embarrassing not to get a single Payton Thorne interception. Typically, Auburn is giving those away with the purchase of any large soft drink.

No. 6 Oregon: Beat Michigan State 31-10 on Friday, despite two red zone picks by Dillon Gabriel. It was another utterly dispassionate performance from the 5-0 Ducks, who’ve basically become college football’s version of “According to Jim” — on every week, with roughly the same plot, perfectly successful without a single memorable storyline.

No. 12 Ole Miss: Cruised past South Carolina 27-3, but those third-down woes that cost the Rebels last week against Kentucky were still on display Saturday. Ole Miss was 3-of-13 on third down (and 1-of-3 on fourth) against the Gamecocks, and Jaxson Dart went without a touchdown pass against an unranked team for the first time in two years. It was entirely meh.

No. 16 Iowa State: Flirted with disaster against Baylor, but because Matt Campbell is a nice guy, the Cyclones ripped out Dave Aranda’s heart by late in the third quarter rather than waiting until the final moments of the game. Rocco Becht remains the sport’s best player named Rocco, throwing for 277 yards and two touchdowns in a 43-21 win.

The end result: Few top teams looked good, but at least these guys got to have a good laugh at Alabama’s expense anyway.

Army, Navy 5-0

In the fall of 1945, Army and Navy defeated fascism then both started 5-0 on the football field.

That was the Greatest Generation.

In the fall of 2024, Army and Navy are again 5-0 for the first time in 79 years, making this at least a pretty good generation despite otherwise being ruined by TikTok and avocado toast.

Navy demolished Air Force 34-7 on Saturday, with Blake Horvath rushing for 115 yards and two touchdowns and at least six good “zoomies” taunts at his opposition.

Not to be outdone, Army went to Tulsa and dominated 49-7 behind 250 combined passing and rushing yards and two touchdowns from Bryson Daily. Daily completed all five of his pass attempts, averaging 28 yards per throw, which served as a reminder to people in Michigan that it’s OK to employ the forward pass from time to time.

What does it mean that Army and Navy are off to their best combined start to the season since World War II in the larger scope of international diplomacy? It’s impossible to say at this point, but just to be safe, it’s probably a bad idea to invade Poland in the next few weeks.

A&M gets last laugh

Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels combined to run for 172 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries as Texas A&M routed No. 9 Missouri 41-10 on Saturday.

Missouri QB Brady Cook completed just 13 of 31 passes, an ugly performance somewhat predicted by the gift wideout Theo Wease Jr. received in his hotel room upon arrival in College Station.

Now, we should point out this is technically a throw, not a blanket. It says so right there on the label. And, as such, Wease did actually haul in Missouri’s only touchdown of the day. Next time, Will Lee III should consider a nice duvet cover.

Still, Lee’s gift was an undeniably great bit of smack talk, and we’d like to think more players will follow his lead by leaving gifts for the opposition before the game — a bag of potatoes with a note, “enjoy the sack; there’ll be plenty more tomorrow” or a box of Bisquick with the message “prepare to get pancaked” or a bag of those hint-of-lime Tostitos. No note with that last one. Just impossible not to eat the whole bag, thus leaving your opponent listless and dehydrated for game day. Those are good chips.

Week 6 vibe shifts

Each week, there are big wins and painful losses that help shape the story of the season. But there also are more subtle shifts — small movements in the larger ecosystem that don’t garner headlines but can prove to be just as important. We work to capture them here.

Trending down: Billy Napier seat temperature

Florida is officially over .500, and it won’t finish as the worst Power Four team in the state. Given that the expectation for the Gators after an early loss to Miami involved a slew of defeats, a likely coaching change and a photo surfacing of a naked Napier hugging a shark on the back of a boat, this is nothing short of a massive success.

The Gators toppled UCF 24-13 on Saturday, giving Napier consecutive wins versus Power Four opponents for just the third time in his Florida tenure.

Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway were near flawless again, completing 23 of 28 passes for 229 yards. Over their past two games, they’ve tossed just six incompletions on 56 passes.

Honestly, what are the odds we could write that many consecutive positive things about the Gators this year?

Trending up: The apocalypse

It was 97 degrees at kickoff for Rutgers-Nebraska on Saturday, enough heat to make the corn in the stands go best with movie-theater butter.

It also was enough to stifle most of the offense. Neither team managed more than 264 yards, and Huskers QB Dylan Raiola was just 13-of-27 with a pick. But two Rutgers turnovers and a stout defensive performance from Nebraska secured an ugly 14-7 win.

Given the extreme temperatures and the fact that Nebraska won a one-score game (8-26 in games decided by a TD or less since 2019), coach Matt Rhule announced afterward that, in fact, the end times were upon us and we should seek shelter and hug our loved ones.

Holding steady: Hoosier State football

Indiana’s rollicking start to the 2024 season continued unabated Saturday, as the Hoosiers dismissed Northwestern 41-24 while also leaving a pretty unimaginative three-star review on the lakefront Airbnb where the Wildcats are playing this season.

If you had Indiana as the first team to qualify for bowl eligibility in 2024, congratulations. You’re a winner. After making just five bowls in the past 30 years, Indiana is now 6-0 and virtually guaranteed to beat Kentucky 12-9 in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

That hot start has to be frustrating for Purdue, which can usually count on Indiana to be so embarrassing no one notices how bad the Boilermakers are. Sadly, Purdue’s misery is on full display in 2024. On Saturday, the Boilermakers lost 52-6 to Wisconsin, mustering just 216 yards of offense and converting just 1 of 11 third-down tries. They’re 1-4 on the year, the lone win coming against Indiana State (which didn’t have Larry Bird so really never had a shot) and has now lost each of its four games by at least 17.

Trending up: QB changes in Ann Arbor

Michigan made its second QB change of the season, benching Alex Orji in favor of Jack Tuttle midway through its game against Washington. But the end result was the same: The passing game struggled, and a late pick proved the difference in a 27-17 Huskies win.

Tuttle threw for 98 yards, which believe it or not is the fourth most by a Michigan QB this season, but his interception with 3:24 to play allowed Washington to ice the game with a late field goal.

Michigan threw for just 113 yards in the game — 20 of which came on the final drive — its fourth straight with 134 or less through the air. The last time a top-20 team did that in four straight was Georgia Tech in 2014 and 2015 when it ran the triple option. That, by the way, might not be such a bad idea for the Wolverines moving forward.

Trending down: Lincoln Riley narratives

It’s not exactly Vandy-over-Bama weird, but USC’s defense has been good and the Trojans are struggling because they can’t score points.

USC was again reminded that football in the Big Ten is intended to be ugly and slow — and occasionally results in winning a trophy shaped like a jar of pickles or a bronze bedpan that once belonged to William Henry Harrison — falling at Minnesota 24-17 after turning the ball over three times.

The Golden Gophers scored on each of their final two drives, while USC wasted a 17-10 win with two picks and a three-and-out in their final three drives.

Honestly, Riley didn’t bolt Oklahoma to escape coaching in the SEC just so he could lose Big Ten games like this. Very disappointing.

Trending up: Last year’s new FBS teams

On Friday, Jacksonville State pulled a nifty trick in the second half of a 63-24 win over Kennesaw State.

The Gamecocks had just five possessions in the second half, and yet they scored a total of 42 points.

Some basic math would suggest that’s six touchdowns, which is accurate. Not only did Jacksonville State find the end zone on each of its five possessions, it also had a 30-yard pick-six.

It’s just the fourth time in the playoff era a team has scored 42 or more points with five or fewer drives in the second half of a game. Oddly, San Diego State did it earlier this season against FCS Texas A&M-Commerce but only scored four offensive touchdowns, adding two on defense.

Jacksonville State isn’t the only second-year FBS team to add a big win in Week 6 though. Sam Houston beat UTEP like it was former Ohio Sen. William Stanbery, 41-21. Sam Houston is now 5-1 on the season, with its only loss coming at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Or maybe UCF. We only skimmed the Sam Houston Wikipedia page.

Trending down: Dilfer’s dimes

Tulane hung seven dimes and a penny on Trent Dilfer’s UAB team Saturday with a 71-20 win that moves the Blazers to 1-4 on the season. They are just 5-12 under Dilfer, including eight losses by 20 or more. Only Temple and Kent State have more such defeats during that span.

Under-the-radar drive of the week

Normally, we don’t put a spotlight on a single drive in a game. But this week, we felt it necessary to highlight North Carolina’s slow decline.

Leading 7-3 against undefeated Pitt, the Heels ran 19 plays, including two fourth-down conversions, covering 81 yards and chewing up 9:03 of clock.

The result: Squat. Nada. Zilch.

A Jacolby Criswell throw on fourth-and-2 at the Pitt 9 fell incomplete, making it just the second drive of the season of 19 plays or more not to end with points. (Western Kentucky had a 21-play scoreless drive against Alabama, so at least UNC can say it has something in common with Alabama.)

The Tar Heels still had chances to win, but that only served to provide just enough hope to make the inevitable ending — a 34-24 Pitt win — all that much more infuriating for coach Mack Brown, who is approximately one more loss away from ripping off his shirt, shouting incoherently and running into the woods to live with a family of badgers.

On a more positive note, Pitt is 5-0 for the first time since 1991 — a time when Curtis Martin roamed the backfield, Pirates baseball wasn’t a national embarrassment and Barry Bonds’ head didn’t have its own satellites. And Eli Holstein is the first Pitt QB to win his first five career starts since Dan Marino, who would go on to have a successful career as a glove salesman.

Under-the-radar play of the week

Penn State continues to be the Big Ten team that wins every game against noncontending opponents in the least noteworthy way possible after Saturday’s 27-11 dispatching of UCLA. But while the bulk of this game could’ve been scripted in advance like a WWE match, there was one small wrinkle that made the whole affair worthwhile.

The Nittany Lions sent 350-pound offensive lineman Olaivavega Ioane in motion, and he delivered by possibly sending UCLA D-lineman Luke Schuermann backward in time.

The first hit, of course, is monstrous, and that’s the point in which Schuermann’s buddies should be telling him, “Bro, just stay down.” Unfortunately, Schuermann ignored the fact that he has an entire family somewhere who cares about him, and he got back up for more.

This was, in many ways, a nice microcosm of UCLA’s shift to the Big Ten — a normal dude wrestling an F-350. The Bruins are 1-4 overall and 0-3 in conference, and they have led for a grand total of 2:16 this season — the final 56 seconds against Hawaii and for 80 seconds in the first half against LSU.

The takeaway: LSU is the worst team UCLA has played this year.

Under-the-radar game of the week

In most weeks, watching a game between UConn and Temple would be punishment for shoplifting in some more draconian jurisdictions. But on Saturday, it was actually pretty fun.

There were seven different lead changes in the game, including UConn going up 23-20 with 3:46 to play. Temple, however, had a shot to win it on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line and 3 seconds to play, but Tyler Douglas fumbled on an attempted “Brotherly Shove,” and UConn recovered for a scoop and score.

This is a good reminder to the folks at Temple: While you are located in Philadelphia, you are not the Philadelphia Eag– what’s that? By 17 to the Bucs, you say? And they’ve lost seven of their past 10? Ah. Well then. Carry on, Temple.

Heisman Five

Consider Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia an honorary Heisman winner, regardless of his actual standing in the race. In fact, let’s just change the trophy to look like him yelling four-letter words into a microphone.

1. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter

Colorado was off in Week 6, though somehow Hunter still got 104 snaps.

2. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty

Let’s check in on Jeanty’s first carry of the game against Utah State in Week 6.

Honestly, it’s time teams consider just negotiating a deal with Boise State before kickoff. Just go ahead and assume Jeanty is going for 220 yards and four touchdowns, let him watch from the sideline to preserve everyone’s dignity and spot the Broncos 28 to open the game.

3. The ACC review booth — er, Miami QB Cam Ward

For the second week in a row, the ACC officials stole the storyline of an incredible ending, but also for the second straight week, Ward was a hero. He finished with 437 passing yards and three total touchdowns. It’s Ward’s seventh straight game — dating back to last season at Washington State — in which he threw for 300 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. Only WKU’s Bailey Zappe (8 straight) had a longer streak in the past 16 years. Assuming the ACC doesn’t review that, it’s a pretty impressive feat.

4 (tie). Army QB Bryson Daily and Navy QB Blake Horvath

Two weeks ago, an Army fan emailed us and made the case that Daily belonged on this list on account of his exceptional start to the season for the undefeated Black Knights, so we put him at No. 5 last week.

Then a Navy fan reached out and lambasted us for adding Daily while overlooking Horvath, whose numbers are even better for the undefeated Midshipmen.

Never let it be said we aren’t pushovers for peer pressure — particularly when that pressure comes from veterans.

Now, if anyone from the Merchant Marines wants to make the case for their QB, however, you’re going to need our Venmo to make it happen.

5. Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith

It’s not even clear Smith is the best freshman wide receiver in the country; Alabama’s Ryan Williams had another nice game Saturday. But one guy lost to Vandy and the other one did this.

Once Urban Meyer stopped paying the coaching equivalent of Uncle Rico to oversee receivers, the Buckeyes have churned out one elite prospect after another, but there’s a real chance Smith ends up the best of the bunch.

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MLB Power Rankings: Move over, Dodgers — there’s a new No. 1 on our list

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MLB Power Rankings: Move over, Dodgers -- there's a new No. 1 on our list

Apr 17, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

Three weeks into the new MLB season, there’s a new No. 1 on our list.

After being a unanimous choice atop our preseason rankings, the Los Angeles Dodgers have fallen from the top spot thanks to a recent rough patch (by their standards) combined with the strong performances of other National League powerhouses.

Was it the New York Mets, San Diego Padres or San Francisco Giants who replaced the defending champions atop our Week 3 Power Rankings? Which other teams off to surprising starts surged up our list? And who took the biggest April tumbles?

Our expert panel has combined to rank every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Jorge Castillo, Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.

Week 2 | Week 1 | Preseason rankings

Record: 15-4
Previous ranking: 3

San Diego finally lost at home this week, but the Padres’ advantage at Petco Park shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s become a more raucous environment than ever, a destination for fans who want to see a pitching staff that so far has compiled the lowest home ERA in the game and a lineup that ranks eighth in home OPS. Fernando Tatis Jr., in particular, must like the sight lines there this year; he has an OPS over 1.100 at Petco Park. San Diego has established a home environment all smaller market teams should strive for, and the Padres are winning plenty to keep fans coming back for more. — Rogers

Record: 14-6
Previous ranking: 1

How much fun is Tommy Edman? Through Tuesday’s games, he is tied for the major league lead with six home runs. Yes, even if it’s for a moment in time, Edman has one more long ball than his teammate Shohei Ohtani, all while playing solid defense, both at second base and center field. Edman led the Dodgers last week with an OPS over .900 while Ohtani was experiencing a mini slump, especially during a weekend series loss to the Cubs. Edman remained hot with a four-hit performance against Colorado on Tuesday. He has yet to go hitless in consecutive games this season. — Rogers

Record: 11-7
Previous ranking: 4

Juan Soto was right: Pete Alonso isn’t Aaron Judge, the best hitter in the world and the American League MVP in two of the past three campaigns. But Alonso has been doing his best impression. The first baseman is slashing .356/.466/.729 with five home runs, 20 RBIs and 11 walks to 10 strikeouts hitting behind Soto through Tuesday. Alonso’s 1.195 OPS and 242 OPS+ lead the National League. His hard-hit rate is in the 100th percentile. His average exit velocity and barrel rate sit in the 99th percentile. He already has posted more than half of his fWAR total from last season (1.3 to 2.1). Opponents have mostly opted to pitch around Soto and attack Alonso, but that changed in Minnesota this week when Soto clubbed home runs on consecutive days. It makes for a dangerous recipe. — Castillo

Record: 13-5
Previous ranking: 8

The Giants are rolling, thanks in part to outfielder Jung Hoo Lee. He seems to be coming into his own during his second season in San Francisco, highlighted by a two-homer performance in New York over the weekend. He leads the league in doubles (10) while slugging .647. One thing he is doing particularly well is not letting mistake pitches get by him; instead, he is doing max damage on those pitches, hence all the slug. He already has more than double the number of extra-base hits this season in less than half the at-bats he had all of last year. — Rogers

Record: 10-8
Previous ranking: 2

Alec Bohm notched four hits and a walk in the Phillies’ first two games this season. In 15 games since, the third baseman has gone 8-for-64 with one extra-base hit (a double) and zero walks, an icy stretch that dropped him to eighth in the batting order against the Giants this week. Bohm enjoyed a breakout first half last season, which resulted in his first All-Star nod. But he stumbled down the stretch, culminating in getting benched in the NLDS against the Mets and rampant trade rumors over the offseason. Bohm is batting .228 with four home runs and a .599 OPS in 65 games since the start of last season’s second half. Continued struggles could result in less playing time with Edmundo Sosa pushing for more starts. — Castillo

Record: 12-9
Previous ranking: 6

Losing pitcher Justin Steele to a season-ending elbow injury is a tough early blow. The Cubs do have some pitching depth, but no one as reliable as Steele is. Replacements for the role include veteran right-hander Colin Rea — he threw 3⅔ shutout innings against the Dodgers on Sunday — and young left-hander Jordan Wicks.

Highly touted pitching prospect Cade Horton could also find his way to the majors in the coming month and Chicago’s front office will hit the phone lines as well, calling on potential trade targets like Marlins star Sandy Alcantara. For now, though, expect the Cubs to look inward. — Rogers

Record: 11-7
Previous ranking: 5

The Yankees’ starting rotation, a projected strength entering spring training, has been a weakness after injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt gutted the group. The rotation’s 4.98 ERA through Tuesday was the third-worst mark in the majors. Max Fried has pitched as advertised, posting a 1.88 ERA in his four starts, but Will Warren’s 5.14 ERA ranks second. Schmidt’s return from a shoulder injury this week should bolster the rotation, but the Yankees need Carlos Rodon (5.48 ERA, 12 walks in 23 innings across four starts) to be better in the third year of his six-year, $162 million contract. — Castillo

Record: 11-7
Previous ranking: 10

Offense, offense, offense. Arizona is becoming known for a relentless attack. After leading the majors in run scoring last season, the Diamondbacks are off to a hot start again, just behind the Cubs as the second-most prolific team in the NL. Outfielder Corbin Carroll is back to the elite form he displayed when he was named Rookie of the Year in 2023. And he has carried over a hot finish to 2024, hitting a league-leading six home runs, including a grand slam in Miami on Tuesday. Carroll’s output has helped mitigate the loss of second baseman Ketel Marte, who should be back soon. There’s no reason not to believe the D-backs’ offense will continue to lead them all year. — Rogers

Record: 10-8
Previous ranking: 12

Kerry Carpenter clubbed 18 homers in 264 at-bats last season, and then hit a memorable three-run homer against Emmanuel Clase in the postseason. Opposing managers have been saving left-handed relievers to face him, but here is some bad news for the opposition — the left-handed slugger’s production is climbing against lefties, too. He’s got two homers off lefties this season, which is one more than he had all of 2024. — Olney

Record: 11-7
Previous ranking: 7

If all you looked at were the offensive numbers, the Rangers’ record would make zero sense. Three key guys — Marcus Semien, Joc Pederson and Jake Burger — all carry on-base percentages of .220 or lower, and the deep lineup of mashers really hasn’t come together yet. But the starting pitching has been really good, with Texas’ rotation ERA of 3.45 ranked seventh in the majors.

Bruce Bochy noted in a text the progression of the pitching — Jacob deGrom still refining his command, Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle have thrown well, and the hope is that Jack Leiter — “really impressive,” Bochy wrote — is past his blister issue and will rejoin the rotation. — Olney

Record: 9-8
Previous ranking: 22

It’s too soon to know whether Emmanuel Clase’s brutal start is temporary, but the struggle is real right now. He has already allowed more earned runs (6) than he did for the entire 2024 regular season, and he surrendered 15 hits in eight innings. As he dominated hitters last year, Clase pitched with precision, but so far this year, his raw stuff seems flat and he’s just leaving a lot over the middle of the zone. Interestingly, his first-pitch strike rate is a career-high 75.7%, and it’s fair to wonder if he’s throwing too many strikes. — Olney

Record: 8-10
Previous ranking: 16

Junior Caminero homered in three straight games and compiled three hits in another over the past week. But lesser-known Jonathan Aranda has been the Rays’ best hitter — and the best hitter against right-handed pitching across the sport. The 26-year-old first baseman entered Wednesday leading the majors in batting average (.413), slugging (.761), and OPS (1.242) facing almost exclusively right-handers in 15 games. And the underlying numbers suggest the production isn’t a fluke: He ranks in the 96th percentile or better across the majors in barrel rate, hard-hit rate and average exit velocity among other categories. Aranda is 0-for-4 with two walks in seven plate appearances against left-handed pitchers so he’s likely to remain a platoon player for now, but he is capitalizing on his chances against righties after an injury-plagued 2024 season postponed his breakout. — Castillo

Record: 11-8
Previous ranking: 17

For a team with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Anthony Santander, the Blue Jays have not hit the ball over the wall very often. Toronto’s 11 home runs through Tuesday were tied for the second-lowest total in baseball. Toronto’s 12 home runs through Wednesday are tied for the third-lowest total in baseball. Guerrero didn’t hit his first homer until Toronto’s 19th game Wednesday when he crushed a hanging slider from Spencer Strider. Bo Bichette is still looking for his first long ball.

Andres Giménez, who hit nine home runs last season in Cleveland, leads the club with three. Santander, who clubbed 44 home runs for the Orioles in 2024, went 15 games before homering as a Blue Jay. And yet Toronto is over .500 — a great sign for a club looking to rebound from last season’s last-place finish. — Castillo

Record: 10-10
Previous ranking: 9

Boston’s lineup is as deep as any in baseball on paper, but it has been a boom-or-bust unit so far. On Tuesday, for example, Alex Bregman went 5-for-5 with a double and two home runs in a 7-4 win over the Rays. Before that, the Red Sox were held to four or fewer runs in eight straight games after an 18-run explosion against the Cardinals on April 6. Boston has scored one run in five games and been limited to three or fewer runs in 11 games through Tuesday. It’s why they emerged from Tuesday’s win one game below .500. — Castillo

Record: 9-9
Previous ranking: 19

Julio Rodriguez isn’t on top of any American League leaderboard, but within the context of league-wide pitching dominance, he’s actually doing more at the plate early this season than he has in the past. His wRC+ is 113 and his patience at the plate has been striking: He already has drawn 11 bases on balls, with a walk rate that doubles that of last season. “He’s been as aggressive as he’s always been, especially early in the count,” said Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners’ head of baseball operations. “But the biggest difference to me is that he gets himself dialed back in.” — Olney

Record: 8-11
Previous ranking: 14

The Kansas City offense has a collective slash line of .206/.274/.308, but at the very least, Bobby Witt Jr. is hitting. He’s 10-for-20 over his past six games, with three walks and four strikeouts. The lack of production from the outfielders continues to be an issue: The Royals’ outfielders have a wRC+ of 51, which seems impossibly low. They had two homers in 187 plate appearances. In a related note, star prospect Jac Caglianone has a .290/.356/.579 slash line in Double-A, with all of his starts at first base. — Olney

Record: 9-9
Previous ranking: 20

The Reds finally pushed past the .500 mark earlier this week behind the strength of a pitching staff that dominated during a four-game win streak, surrendering just 16 hits in 36 innings. They allowed just nine runs (2.25 ERA) over that time frame with a minuscule 0.81 WHIP. Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott shined in the rotation while the bullpen, led by righty Emilio Pagan, was stellar. — Rogers

Record: 5-13
Previous ranking: 15

Not much has gone right for the Braves so far in 2025, but Spencer Strider‘s season debut against the Blue Jays on Wednesday qualifies as a resounding positive. Besides giving up an RBI single and a solo home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the right-hander held the Blue Jays in check over five-plus innings in his first major league start in more than a year. Strider finished with 10 strikeouts, including a vintage three-pitch strikeout of Bo Bichette to begin the outing, and became the fastest starting pitcher to 500 career strikeouts. He walked two, limited Toronto to three hits and threw 97 pitches. Most importantly, he looked uninhibited. — Castillo

Record: 10-9
Previous ranking: 18

Are the Brewers this year’s Jekyll and Hyde? They’re all over the place, giving up seven or more runs in a third of their games while also compiling four shutouts, second most in baseball. Their latest shutout came thanks to recent pickup Quinn Priester. Milwaukee acquired him from the Red Sox a week into the season — usually marking an inventory/depth addition — but Priester could end up being the move of the year. He has given up just one earned run in two starts: a solid performance at hitter-friendly Coors Field last week followed by five shutout innings against the Tigers on Tuesday. Milwaukee is looking for some consistency on the mound. Could Priester provide it? — Rogers

Record: 7-10
Previous ranking: 11

Orioles general manager Mike Elias met with reporters Tuesday and maintained he believes his club is a playoff team. Baltimore then lost to the Guardians to fall to 6-10. The Orioles’ offense, rightly heralded for its premier young talent, has been inconsistent, but that should improve. The bigger problem is the starting pitching. The Orioles’ rotation ranks last in the majors in ERA. Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suarez, all projected starters during spring training, are on the injured list while Kyle Bradish isn’t expected to return from Tommy John surgery until the second half. Starting pitching was the concern entering the season after Baltimore failed to replace Corbin Burnes with another front-line starter. And it has so far played out as expected. — Castillo

Record: 8-10
Previous ranking: 13

Jim Crane’s instinct will be to hold his team together and push to make the playoffs for the ninth season in a row, and for the 10th time in the last 11 years. But without Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, the challenges are greater. Yordan Alvarez is off to a slow start, and the AL West is more competitive than it was a season ago.

If the Astros do drift from contention, there will be teams calling on Framber Valdez, who will be eligible for free agency in the fall. The Tucker trade seemed to signal a greater willingness to identify deals that will help to turn over the roster and build around the likes of Hunter Brown, Yainer Diaz and Cam Smith. — Olney

Record: 9-8
Previous ranking: 21

The Angels are the AL’s biggest surprise so far, and given their struggles of last season, you could understand why rival executives aren’t buying in yet. But there are ways in which the team is clearly distinguishing itself from the ’24 edition, and of course, that starts with the right fielder.

“Mike Trout is still Mike Trout and as long as we have his presence, we have a chance,” manager Ron Washington wrote in a text.

Washington also noted that the youngest Angels are benefitting from the experience of last year – Nolan Schanuel has an .856 OPS, Kyren Paris is impressing and Logan O’Hoppe has an early-season OPS near 1.000. — Olney

Record: 9-9
Previous ranking: 23

Even with Ivan Herrera missing time with a knee injury, Cardinals catchers still lead the league with six home runs and a lofty .329 batting average through Tuesday. Backups Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo have held their own in Herrera’s absence. Pozo made headlines after coming up from Triple-A as he collected five hits — including two doubles and a home run — in his first three games. The longtime minor leaguer had not seen time in the majors since 2021 when he played in 21 games for the Texas Rangers. Over 1,000 minor league games later, he’s been an unexpected surprise in St. Louis. — Rogers

Record: 7-12
Previous ranking: 24

What is happening in Minnesota is the worst-case scenario — a slow start for a team that did very little to improve over the winter after failing to make the playoffs last season. Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton are both batting under .200, at a time when Royce Lewis is on the injured list, and Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack have allowed 26 earned runs in 29 1/3 innings. The weather is always an early-season X factor for the Twins, but hey, a lot of teams have had to play in brutal conditions in the first weeks, and only two AL teams have a worse run differential so far. — Olney

Record: 8-9
Previous ranking: 28

Who had the rebuilding Marlins playing .500 ball through 16 games this season? The team’s relative success probably won’t last much longer, but Miami has held its own through 10% of the regular season.

First baseman Matt Mervis is fueling the offense with five home runs and a 1.009 OPS through Tuesday. Shortstop Xavier Edwards, coming off an impressive 70-game sample last season, is batting over .300 again. Right-hander Max Meyer was impressive in his first three starts, holding opponents to four earned runs across 18 innings.

Chances are the Marlins will sink back down to the basement of the loaded NL East, but this start constitutes a step in the right direction. — Castillo

Record: 8-10
Previous ranking: 25

The early returns on the ballpark in Sacramento are that it’s like Coors Field California. The A’s have the worst home-field ERA, at 5.89, and the 1.56 home runs allowed per game is the fourth-worst ratio in the big leagues. Or maybe those numbers are rooted in a small-sample size of rough pitching performances. — Olney

Record: 7-11
Previous ranking: 26

How bad has the Nationals’ bullpen been this season? Bad enough for manager Dave Martinez to summon his relievers to his office for a meeting before Tuesday’s game against the Pirates. Two Nationals relievers then combined to toss two scoreless innings in a 3-0 win, which qualifies as significant progress for a group that ranks last in the majors in ERA (7.21) and WHIP (1.89). — Castillo

Record: 7-12
Previous ranking: 27

Stop us if you’re heard this one before: The Pirates are having trouble scoring runs. It’s a rinse-and-repeat scenario for the Buccos, who hit just .185 as a team last week (which, incredibly, was not the lowest batting average in MLB). That was low enough to help produce a 2-5 record for Pittsburgh, which sits in last place in the NL Central. The Pirates’ overall team OPS ranks last in the NL and 29th in baseball, and that puts a tremendous strain on their young pitching staff. — Rogers

Record: 4-13
Previous ranking: 30

Andrew Vaughn has generated some ugly numbers so far this season, with a .131 batting average and two home runs in his first 61 at-bats. But the White Sox feel like he’s actually swung the bat better than those numbers indicate — Vaughn is hitting just .132 on balls in play, and he is 54th among 132 hitters in adjusted exit velocity. Whether Vaughn’s early production has been nicked by bad weather, or bad luck, the White Sox anticipate better days ahead for the first baseman. — Olney

Record: 3-15
Previous ranking: 29

Let’s try to find one positive thing about the Rockies, who went 1-7 over the course of the week, from last Tuesday to this one. Here it is: In their lone win — a 7-2 victory over Milwaukee last Thursday — outfielder Brenton Doyle went 4-for-5 with five runs driven in while scoring twice. Doyle, just 26, has an OPS over .900 (through Tuesday) that includes three home runs and a batting average over .300. See? It can be done. It just takes some looking to find the good in Colorado. A younger group of players might provide more positives this summer, but it won’t show up in the standings any time soon. — Rogers

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Ex-South Alabama QB Lopez commits to UNC

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8 hours ago

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April 18, 2025

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Ex-South Alabama QB Lopez commits to UNC

  • Eli LedermanApr 17, 2025, 09:35 PM ET

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      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.

Former South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez, one of the top passers in the spring transfer portal, has committed to North Carolina, he announced on social media Thursday.

The No. 6 available transfer in ESPN’s spring portal rankings, Lopez lands as an immediate front-runner to claim the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback job under first-year coach Bill Belichick. Per sources, Lopez will join North Carolina on a two-year, $4 million contract with three seasons of remaining eligibility after a breakout redshirt freshman season in 2024.

Lopez entered the transfer portal earlier this week two days after completing spring camp with South Alabama. His commitment formally closes the Tar Heels’ lengthy search for a quarterback since Belichick took over the program in December.

Sources said that Lopez initially considered an exit from South Alabama during the winter transfer portal window before opting to remain with the program. He stayed with the Jaguars through spring practices and took part in the program’s spring showcase Saturday, but transfer portal interest from major Power 4 programs persisted in the lead-up to the spring window.

Sources told ESPN that Georgia and LSU held discussions with Lopez this spring, each with an eye on giving him a chance to compete for a starting spot in 2026. According to sources, North Carolina initiated contact with Lopez’s camp in March and continued talks through Thursday, when Lopez finalized his deal with general manager Michael Lombardi and the Tar Heels.

North Carolina entered Belichick’s first spring camp with three quarterbacks on the roster — Max Johnson, Ryan Browne and incoming freshman Bryce Baker.

Browne, a former Purdue transfer, entered the portal earlier this week. Baker, ESPN’s No. 200 recruit in the 2025 cycle, remains with the Tar Heels after affirming his commitment following coach Mack Brown’s departure. Johnson, a 23-game starter, returns in 2025 after suffering a season-ending leg injury in Week 1 last fall.

A 6-foot-2, 220-pound dual-threat, Lopez emerged as one of the most productive Group of 5 quarterbacks in the nation last fall when he led South Alabama to a 7-6 finish in coach Major Applewhite’s first season. Lopez completed 66% of his passes for 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 starts, adding another 465 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

Per TruMedia, Lopez’s 8.20 yards per passing attempt in 2024 ranked 26th among quarterbacks nationally. He also completed 38 passes of 20-plus yards last fall, more than 27 returning passers across the country in 2025.

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‘I have a superpower now’: Jack Bech leans on late brother’s memory in pursuit of NFL dreams

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17 hours ago

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April 17, 2025

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'I have a superpower now': Jack Bech leans on late brother's memory in pursuit of NFL dreams

  • Dave WilsonApr 17, 2025, 06:10 AM ET

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      Dave Wilson is a college football reporter. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.

DAVE LeBLANC REMEMBERS when he saw Jack Bech practice for the first time at a middle school football camp. A strength and offensive line coach at St. Thomas More in Lafayette, Louisiana, since 1995, he has seen his share of talented players come through south Louisiana. But Bech stood out.

“I have witnesses,” LeBlanc said. “When he was running, doing some agility blocks and I was watching him perform, I said, ‘This is going to be the next kid that plays on Sundays.’ I made that call in seventh grade before he had hair under his arms.”

The coaches already had a frame of reference, albeit a smaller one. They had coached Tiger Bech, Jack’s older brother, an aggressive, fiery, but diminutive all-purpose talent who went on to star at Princeton.

“Before Jack, Tiger was the best receiver we’ve ever had,” said Lance Strother, STM’s wide receivers coach. “Then Jack came along with the same skill set, but he also brought the metrics with him, the size and the strength.”

Both fearless. Neither lacked a drop of confidence. They were just five years apart in age and completely different in build.

“Tiger was 5-9 on a tall day,” their dad Martin said, “while Jack was always a man amongst boys. He always was huge.”

All these years later, Jack Bech is standing taller than ever. Now 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, he’s considered a solid Day 2 pick in next week’s NFL draft, all while carrying the hopes of his brother and his family after Tiger, his best friend, was killed on Jan. 1 in the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

“Whatever team gets me, it’s going to be a two-for-one special. Not only do you get Jack Bech, you get Tiger Bech too,” Jack said. “I have a superpower now. I have another presence about me that just can’t lose.”

JACK IDOLIZED TIGER, following him everywhere from the time he could walk. He watched his brother become a football star, and wanted to be just like him. But Tiger would always tell Jack he got the genetic gifts that he was lacking, calling his little brother “the prototype.”

Two of their uncles, Brett and Blain Bech, played football at LSU, and their aunt, Brenna Bech, was on the Tigers’ first soccer team. Naturally, they were competitive, but Tiger, who became an All-Ivy League return specialist in college, saw bigger things for Jack.

Baton Rouge was just 45 minutes away, and they grew up going to LSU games at Death Valley, watching Tyrann Mathieu, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry and Leonard Fournette.

And Jack would be next.

“I had two dreams: One was to play in Tiger Stadium, and one was to play in the NFL,” Jack said.

In late October 2020, shortly before signing day, Jack, who had committed to Vanderbilt, finally got an offer from LSU. The family was ecstatic. One of his dreams was coming true.

And he was a star out of the gate. Jack Bech started seven games as a freshman, catching 43 passes for 489 yards and three touchdowns, and becoming a fan favorite. Playing as a hybrid tight end/slot receiver, he was named to two different freshman All-America teams in 2021 alongside players such as Xavier Worthy and Brock Bowers. But once Ed Orgeron was fired and Brian Kelly arrived with a new coaching staff, he had to start over.

He struggled with some nagging injuries but was cleared to play, although he ultimately got stuck in a logjam in a loaded receivers room with Malik Nabers, Kayshon Boutte, Kyren Lacy and Brian Thomas Jr. He played in 12 games, and caught just 16 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown.

“When the coaching change happened at LSU, those weren’t the guys that recruited him and everybody around him didn’t think he was getting a fair shake,” LeBlanc said. “He went from being a freshman All-American, then getting on the field maybe 25% of the snaps. I think the transfer portal is bad for football in the long run. But if anybody should have transferred, it was Jack.”

He picked TCU as his destination, but Sonny Dykes, who had coached at Louisiana Tech and knows the psychic power LSU has over the state’s residents, knew it was a gut-wrenching decision.

“There’s nobody that loves the state of Louisiana more than his family,” Dykes said. “There was a lineage and I’m sure it was very difficult for him to leave. But there’s a quiet confidence about that whole family and it took a lot of confidence to bet on yourself. That’s what makes him different and unique.”

In Fort Worth, Jack suffered a high ankle sprain and had surgery as the Horned Frogs, coming off a 13-2 season in 2022, slipped to 5-7. But amid the struggles, Dykes sold him on a long-range plan, telling him they wanted him to get him fully healthy and back to who he was as a freshman, even if it was frustrating for Jack.

“Well, let’s give a lot of credit to Sonny Dykes for that,” Strother said. “Imagine having a world-class race car tuned up and ready to go and you’re pretty sure there’s not another car that can beat it anywhere, but you keep it in the garage. It was a matter of Jack getting healthy and then being unleashed with opportunity.”

Dykes said by midway through his junior year, Jack had so many small little bumps and bruises that he “had one of everything.” He could see how badly Jack wanted to play, which he said might have been part of the problem. He couldn’t ease off the gas.

“He’s a guy that’s trained his body really, really hard, has never taken a break and tried to squeeze every single ounce of ability out of his body,” Dykes said. “And it was pretty banged up because of it.”

He caught just five passes from October on, as they kept him on a tight leash. He finished his junior year in 2023 with appearances in eight games, catching 12 passes for 146 yards. But Dykes would tell anyone who would listen that he was going to be a star the next season. And by the spring, it was evident.

“We were going to play him inside, but we had a logjam of players inside, and he just kept performing at such a high level that we wanted to play him every down. So we moved him outside, and the thing about him is he knew all the positions. It’s easier to move from outside to inside because you’ve got to deal with press corners and releases. There’s usually a transition. With Jack, there was no transition.”

He responded with one of the greatest seasons by a Horned Frogs receiver, catching 62 passes for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024, the fourth-highest single-season total in TCU history, trailing only Josh Doctson, Quentin Johnston and Jalen Reagor, who were all first-round picks.

And best of all, Tiger was there to watch every game, flying down from New York, where he had begun a career as a stockbroker.

“One of the greatest things about this season was it gave us, our whole family a focus,” Martin Bech said. “My daughter lives in Philadelphia, another one lives in Nashville. It gave us all a gathering point. Tiger just loved being there, being in Fort Worth and being with Jack. There’s a famous text in the family now about how Tiger was just so enamored by Jack’s success.”

“It’s happening,” Tiger wrote.

AT 3:15 A.M. on Jan. 1, Tiger and his roommate Ryan Quigley, whom he worked with in New York, were on Bourbon Street when Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Houston accelerated his pickup truck into the crowd, then got into a shootout with police before he was fatally wounded. He killed 14 people, including Tiger, and injured at least 57 others, including Quigley.

Tiger was taken to the hospital and kept on life support until his family could arrive. A TCU booster flew Jack to New Orleans on his plane immediately, but he didn’t make it in time. The moment he got the news Tiger was gone, he told himself he was going to get Tiger a Hall of Fame jacket.

Jack was out front immediately, doing television interviews and hoping to talk about his brother whenever he was needed. He and the family were unimaginably unshakeable.

“Our pain and our suffering is no different from the 13 other families that lost their loved ones in that horror,” Martin said. “All these kids that were in the ICU for weeks on end and Tiger’s roommate who had his leg shattered and his face gashed for six inches, everyone is struggling the same. We’re just blessed that we are given the platform to share Tiger’s story.”

Jack said his foundation is his faith, that he believes there was a reason this year played out the way it did. Tiger and the family were gathered for every game. He had the best season of his life. They were all together in New Orleans for Christmas.

Martin said he started hearing stories after Tiger had died about all the people he had visited back home in Louisiana over the holidays who he hadn’t seen in years. He thinks that was all by design too. He said Tiger knew Jack was going to be near Fort Worth rigorously training for the draft, so he wanted to maximize their time together.

“When we’re home together, we’re going to spend every minute together,” Tiger told Jack. “If we have to go Christmas shopping, we’re going to go together. If we have to go meet a friend, we’re going to meet the friend together. If we’re going to go to our aunt’s house for dinner, we’re going together.”

They were inseparable the entire holiday season, even down to the pets, Martin said.

“We have pictures of him sleeping on the sofa with Jack’s dog,” he said of Tiger. “Is it any more special than a lot of brothers’ relationships? Maybe not, but it was pretty damn special.”

Jack says this is all destiny. And it has allowed him to find a new gear.

Every coach who knows Jack has seen a different Jack since that day. And they all have a similar vantage point on what they see.

“He was already on a great trajectory,” Dykes said. “This was kind of the rocket fuel.”

“Some people could have spun off the rails after you lose your best friend, but it did the total opposite with Jack,” LeBlanc said. “Jack was going to be in the league with or without Tiger’s passing, but Tiger’s passing kind of propelled him.”

“Tiger, who was an absolutely phenomenal football player himself, knew and understood long before the rest of the football world understood and believed Jack was bound for greatness at the highest level,” Strother said. “Now he’s bound, determined and on fire to bring to the fullest potential his talent and ability in honor of Tiger and in honor of his faith.”

Everything culminated in a magical Senior Bowl performance.

Jim Nagy, the game’s executive director, got Jack the No. 7 jersey, Tiger’s number. Every player on the field wore a tiger-striped decal with 7 on it. Jack had an impressive performance, earning MVP honors with six catches for 68 yards.

Dykes said he was watching with his 8-year-old son Daniel, who said, “Dad, Jack’s going to score a touchdown on the last play of the game.”

With 7 seconds left, Memphis QB Seth Henigan rolled right, and found Jack for the game-winner. Jack calls these moments “Tiger Winks.”

“I knew I was about to catch that ball and score that touchdown,” he said. “My brother’s name was written in the clouds above us. Just so many signs. I mean, if you don’t believe God is real, I don’t know how much more you need.”

He has lived a lifetime this offseason. Now he waits to see where he goes. But wherever it is, Tiger will be with him. He’s got “7 to Heaven” tattooed on his chest, along with a set of Roman numerals representing Tiger’s birth and death dates.

“They’re only on the left side of my body, because he was my other half,” Jack said.

Strother said it will be tough knowing Tiger won’t be there for Jack’s draft party.

“There will be a profound Tiger spirit all throughout that draft party room because it was a day and a moment that Jack and Tiger together really looked forward to,” he said.

And whoever turns that card in with Jack’s number on it will get both of them.

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