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AWAITING TAKEOFF ON the Boston Red Sox‘s charter flight early Sunday evening, Rafael Devers sat with his teammates playing cards. The trip to Seattle would take a little more than six hours, and games were a reliable way to pass the time, a carefree bonding exercise for a team coming off a sweep of the rival New York Yankees. This was going to be a good flight.

Before the Boeing 757 lifted off, Red Sox manager Alex Cora approached Devers with a solemn look on his face. He had news, and there was no easy way to say it: Devers had just been traded to the San Francisco Giants. Devers was gobsmacked. He gathered his thoughts and belongings, said goodbye to his teammates, strolled off the plane and into a cab, and rode off to the next phase of his life.

For months, the tension between Devers and the team had simmered. What started in spring training as a repairable mismanagement of Devers’ future — and his ego — by the Red Sox degraded into something far too familiar for the organization. Devers, according to a person familiar with his thinking, felt “lied to and betrayed” by the Red Sox. Cora, long one of Devers’ chief supporters and advocates, supported his expulsion. Craig Breslow, the Red Sox’s chief baseball officer whom Devers publicly badmouthed amid the hostility, played hatchet man. Red Sox ownership, which at first wanted to mend the relationship between the parties knowing that two years earlier it had guaranteed him $313.5 million to play a central role in a forthcoming resurgence, lost faith and greenlit the deal. And just like that, the last remaining member of Boston’s 2018 championship team, the kid who had signed with the team as a fresh-faced 16-year-old and a dozen years later had grown into a three-time All-Star and one of the best bats in the major leagues, was gone. The simmer had boiled over.

Devers wasn’t the only one blindsided. When the news broke, Red Sox fans did not believe it. They did not want to believe it. It was happening. Again. The package heading to Boston — left-handed starter Kyle Harrison, outfield prospect James Tibbs III, hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks and young pitcher Jose Bello — felt light for a player with the track record and productivity of Devers. It felt all too similar to the underwhelming return of the trade five years ago that sent future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts from the Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Eighty-six years of failure leading up to their 2004 World Series win had calloused Red Sox fans and the organization alike. Even as the team became the most successful in the sport, with four titles in a 15-year span, dysfunction was never far from the surface. While winning those rings, the team suffered a historic collapse in 2011, last-place finishes in 2012, 2014 and 2015 — complete with made-for-tabloids drama about chicken and beer in the clubhouse — and the disastrous Betts trade. The one constant was an ugliness that personified the exits of some of the most prominent pieces of the Red Sox’s success.

Theo Epstein, a lifelong Bostonian and the architect of the curse-breaking 2004 team, grew so tired of his clashes with ownership that he quit on Halloween a year after his triumph and exited Fenway Park in a gorilla suit. He returned, only to later abscond for the Chicago Cubs. Terry Francona, the manager for the championships in 2004 and 2007, left alongside Epstein in 2011, was smeared anonymously for his usage of pain pills — he denied the allegations — and went on to win four division titles and go 921-757 in 11 years with Cleveland. Players were not spared the drama, either. Ace Jon Lester wanted to re-sign with the Red Sox, only to get lowballed; he followed Epstein to Chicago. Betts preferred to remain in Boston, but not at a discount — and the Red Sox shipped him out. Manny Ramirez offered perhaps the best description of life with the Red Sox a day before they traded him to the Dodgers in 2008, telling ESPN Deportes: “Mental peace has no price, and I don’t have peace here.”

The Red Sox have everything an organization could want — a rabid fan base, a gorgeous stadium, a successful television network, a history that dates to the turn of the 20th century — and still find themselves regularly salving self-inflicted wounds. Chaos is every bit as much the Red Sox’s brand as the Green Monster. The current iteration comes not from the detritus of a long-standing lack of success but an operating philosophy that better resembles plucky mid- and small-market teams than a financial leviathan. The Red Sox are big-market baseball in a funhouse mirror, a distorted reflection of what could be — and should be.

Breslow is not naïve to the chaos. He grew up in New England and spent five seasons pitching for Boston. Epstein hired Breslow in 2019 with the Cubs and entrusted in him the organization’s pitching program. The Red Sox poached him to replace Chaim Bloom in October 2023 with a specific mandate: Whatever it takes, remake the Red Sox to rekindle the early-century glory days. That’s even when it means trading the team’s best player.


RAFAEL DEVERS GREW up a Boston Red Sox fan in Samana, Dominican Republic. The Red Sox were the unofficial team of the small Caribbean island that had grown into the most fertile hotbed of talent in the world. The team’s biggest stars — David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez — were Dominican. Devers turned 8 three days before the 2004 championship. Nine years later, when the Red Sox were barreling toward their third title in a decade, he signed with them for $1.5 million.

At 20, Devers arrived in Boston as a hitting savant, his left-handed swing loaded with power, and stabilized a third-base position that had been a revolving door. In his first full year, Devers shook off an inconsistent regular season to drive in nine runs over 11 postseason games, capping a 108-win campaign widely regarded as the best in the team’s century-plus history.

After carrying the highest payroll in MLB in 2018 and 2019, owner John Henry tightened the purse strings. And when Betts was shipped out in 2020 and longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts followed him west to sign as a free agent with San Diego for $280 million — $100 million-plus more than Boston’s final offer — the restlessness of Red Sox fans hit overdrive. Save for a surprising run to the American League Championship Series in 2021, mediocrity had become a Red Sox norm. The days of Papi and Manny and Pedro were nearly two decades in the rearview. Devers was their lone homegrown every-day player.

He represented an opportunity for the Red Sox to illustrate they remained dedicated to the now as much as the future. Making moves to mollify restless fans is a hallmark of bad organizations, but with declining viewership on NESN and empty seats at Fenway, ownership pushed to lock up Devers long-term. Multiple high-ranking officials in the baseball operations department opposed the idea. They were overruled. In January 2023, Devers agreed to a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension that would begin in 2024.

It was the largest commitment in franchise history. Executives around the game questioned the wisdom of the deal. Yes, Devers had grown into a consistently excellent hitter — from 2019 to ’22, his OPS+ ranked 25th among the 247 hitters with at least 1,000 plate appearances. And, sure, in a market like Boston, where fandom is religion, placating the masses matters. But the questions, in their minds, outweighed those factors. How soon would Devers need to move off third base, where he was a below-average defender? How would his body, always squatty, age? How often did long-term contracts for one-dimensional players work out? Just because it was a deal that needed to happen didn’t make it a good one.

No signs of discord or regret surfaced until February. Boston’s recent aborted attempts at contending — team chairman Tom Werner famously said the Red Sox intended to go “full throttle” into free agency after the 2023 season, only for them to spend $50 million total and go 81-81 — had failed, but this year was going to be different. Amid all the losing, Bloom had drafted and developed a cadre of position-playing prospects. Breslow traded three, plus a hard-throwing right-hander, for ace Garrett Crochet in December. He signed World Series standout Walker Buehler to join Crochet in an overhauled rotation and veteran closer Aroldis Chapman to shore up the back end of the bullpen. And despite the presence of Devers, Boston found itself in the mix for third baseman Alex Bregman, whose free agency had lingered to the cusp of spring training.

When the prospect of Bregman going to Boston surfaced, Breslow assured Devers’ camp that nothing serious was afoot — and that if it were, he would let Devers know. Cora wanted to meet with Devers in the Dominican Republic during the offseason, but Devers did not respond to messages, which was not entirely surprising — he typically goes off the grid upon his winter retreat to Samana — but disappointed some in the organization. Though the Red Sox were simultaneously pursuing Bregman and St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, there wasn’t enough confidence in a deal being consummated with either to flag Devers.

Then Boston made its final offer to Bregman as negotiations with other teams wound down: three years, $120 million, with opt-outs after the first two seasons. Within an hour, Bregman accepted. Devers found out when the news broke. He was not panicked — Red Sox officials said privately they planned on using Bregman at second base — but the move registered as curious nevertheless.

When Devers showed up at spring training, the team broached the idea of him shifting to designated hitter. Their computer model said the best version of the 2025 Red Sox would feature reigning Minor League Player of the Year Kristian Campbell at second base, Bregman at third and Devers at DH. Devers was livid. A player’s position is part of his identity. He was a third baseman. Beyond that, though, was a breach in the trust implicit in a contract of Devers’ magnitude.

At the very least, if the Red Sox were intent on him moving positions, he wanted to ease into the new role. Play a couple times a week at third base and take the rest of his at-bats as DH. No, he was told. This was what was best for the team.

The front office’s tack reinforced the feeling in the clubhouse that the organization’s reliance on analytics for decision-making had come at the expense of productive interpersonal communication. At the same time, players acknowledged that Devers DHing probably would allow them to field their best lineup. After initially saying he wouldn’t DH, Devers wound up relenting. After Cora told him to not even bother bringing a glove to the spring training fields, he was comfortable that at least he could focus only on hitting.

Everything changed on May 2. First baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury. The internal options were limited. Breslow approached Devers about moving to first. Devers couldn’t believe it. He had already changed positions against his will once. Now the Red Sox were asking him to do it again. The disrespect galled him.

The team didn’t believe the ask was too much. They hadn’t asked him to be a clubhouse leader, a role for which he wasn’t particularly well-suited. They didn’t belabor his fitness or weakness in the field. This is what the money was for: to play where the team needed him to play and keep raking like one of the best hitters in the world.

He was holding up the latter part of that ask. Amid all of the consternation, Devers was evolving into perhaps the best version of himself yet. In the 73 games he played with Boston this season, he walked 56 times — just 11 short of his career best. He was still hitting for power and neared the top of the big league leaderboard for runs batted in. For a team trying to integrate Campbell as well as rookies Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer, Devers was a rock in the No. 2 hole. Teams in transitional phases like the Red Sox need players on whom they can rely, and Devers’ bat was nothing if not reliable.

His refusal to play first, though, coalesced ownership, the front office and the coaching staff. If they were going to build the sort of winning culture that permeated the organization throughout the 2000s and 2010s, what sort of message did it send that the team’s best player refused to do what they felt was best for the team? After Devers told the media he would not play first, Henry, Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy and Breslow flew to Kansas City, where Boston was playing, to speak with Devers. He met again with Henry for breakfast the next day, according to a source. Devers indicated he would prepare to play the position in 2026 if the team wanted to move him there full-time. While publicly the Red Sox deemed the meetings productive, they knew what was happening next.

Rafael Devers was getting traded, public consequences be damned.


EARLY IN BRESLOW’S tenure as chief baseball officer, he hired a consulting firm called Sportsology Group to assess Boston’s baseball operations department. The wide-ranging evaluation was something out of “Office Space,” an attempt to cut the fat accumulated while Boston cycled through heads of baseball ops. Ben Cherington took over from Epstein in 2011 and won a World Series in 2013. Two years later, the Red Sox hired Dave Dombrowski over him. Ten months after Dombrowski won a World Series, he was fired and replaced by Bloom, who lasted four years.

Any objective assessment would note that perhaps the problems originated with organizational instability — that the Red Sox had grown bloated, in part at least, because they so often made changes. Regardless of how it came to be, the recommendations included the elimination of jobs across multiple departments. Around 50 people were fired last year, sources said. The professional scouting department was gutted. Some of the positions wound up being filled, but it was clear to those who stayed and went: This was Breslow’s team, and now he would remake it in his own image.

Since the cuts, Breslow’s circle of trust has been small and his reliance on the team’s analytical model heavy, according to sources, leaving some longtime employees embittered. Breslow loyalists fear the consequences of that, with one saying: “There are definitely turncoats internally plotting against Bres.”

The Devers trade only heightened the palace intrigue. Front office officials from other teams mostly lauded the deal for Boston, looking at San Francisco’s willingness to take on the remaining $254 million over the next eight-plus seasons as a win for the Red Sox. But models exist to strip the emotion out of decision-making and use decades of history — and dozens of other inputs about players’ skills gleaned from the cameras that track their every move — to objectively analyze. There is no accounting for a fan base’s adoration of a player.

“Boston absolutely botched this entire Devers situation,” one rival official said, “and somehow it all resulted in them getting to dump what was both an underwater contract and a distraction while also getting a bunch of value back in return.

“It was like, ‘Oops, we overpaid for a decade of our bat-only star, pissed him off publicly, then continued to bungle every subsequent opportunity to get things right. Why don’t you give us a controllable midrotation starter and your first-round pick from last year and help us get out of it?’ “

At the same time, a rival general manager said, “These are the Boston f—ing Red Sox. You don’t trade your stars.”

It’s a fair point. The Red Sox’s competitive-balance-tax payroll topped out in 2019 at $243.7 million. Each of the past two years, they ran a CBT payroll that ranked 12th in the big leagues. The Devers trade puts them comfortably under the CBT threshold. Perhaps they reallocate the money at the trade deadline. Perhaps they don’t.

That the reinvestment is even a question is what really gnaws at Boston fans: They see with abundant clarity that the Red Sox did not learn their lesson from the failed Betts trade. In a market like Boston, financial flexibility is a red herring, playing for the future a false prophet. When the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets and New York Yankees and, yes, even the San Francisco Giants balance today and tomorrow, it has to be about now and the future. The plight of the large-market team in an uncapped sport is that it has zero excuses not to act like one.

Breslow’s investment in his process is wholesale; he believes, regardless of the opinion of outsiders or adversaries within, that he is the right person with the right plan to turn the Red Sox into champions again. He knows that the return for a player with more than a quarter-billion dollars owed will not add up to the quality of the player independent his contract — that the savings are regarded an asset every bit as important as Harrison or Tibbs.

The Miami Marlins made the same compromise when they shipped Giancarlo Stanton and the remaining $290 million on his deal to the Yankees for a pittance of talent — but what Breslow doesn’t understand is that this scenario likens one of the proud franchises in baseball to a bottom-feeder. An organization with Boston’s financial might should be the one acquiring superstars others can’t afford, and waving away that advantage is the truest waste of all, one that opens up the organization to criticism that no amount of championships over the past quarter-century can rid.

That’s why the Devers deal has unleashed such a poisonous recourse. With Boston fans frothing to consume any nugget that reinforces their belief in Breslow’s incompetence, the discussion around the Devers deal has devolved into falsehoods taking root. There are small ones, like Devers being mad at Campbell for volunteering to play first base — he wasn’t mad, multiple sources said — and bigger ones like the report claiming that a person who interviewed with the Red Sox for a baseball operations job went through five rounds of AI-only questions.

The team was concerned enough to release a statement Wednesday night shooting down the report, and three sources familiar with the team’s hiring practices said they use a company called HireVue, which uses AI to ask questions and record video, to screen prospective employees early in the hiring process. Other organizations around baseball use the same software.

Even so, the acknowledgment that it could be true speaks to the state of the Red Sox. The day after the trade, when Breslow and Kennedy held media availability, they acknowledged the flaws in their process — particularly Breslow needing to better communicate with players.

The handling of Devers was an easily avoidable mistake that devolved into a franchise-altering decision. Knowing your personnel is paramount, and whether it’s an unwillingness to meet Betts where he was or dealing Chris Sale to Atlanta only to see him win the National League Cy Young Award last year or moving Devers because of what comes down to a lack of communication, it screams for a self-audit.

Earlier this year, Carl Moesche, a Red Sox area scout in the Pacific Northwest, was logging off a Zoom and said, “Thanks, Bres, you f—ing stiff.” The comment was heard by those in the virtual room. Moesche was fired. His words were catnip to those aggrieved by the Devers trade. And if a low-level employee’s gripe can turn into a rallying cry for paying customers, it might be time for an attempt to eliminate chaos from the franchise’s playbook.


RAFAEL DEVERS IS going to play first base for the San Francisco Giants. Maybe not this weekend, when the Red Sox come to town, but it will happen soon. And as much as those in the anti-Devers camp point to the double standard, one person close to him said there’s another takeaway to glean.

“Sometimes it’s not the message,” he said. “It’s how the message is delivered.”

The message from the Giants was clear: We’re thrilled you’re here, and we see the importance of transparency. Buster Posey, the future Hall of Famer who took over Giants baseball operations over the winter, and manager Bob Melvin walked Devers through the state of the franchise. With Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman signed for six more years, the Giants see Devers as a first baseman and DH. San Francisco’s best prospect, Bryce Eldridge — whom the Red Sox initially targeted in discussions with the Giants before recognizing that the Giants would not budge from their position that he would not be in any Devers deal — plays first and is expected to debut in the major leagues this season. When that time comes, Devers will know.

Which is all he really wanted in the first place. The original sin of opacity spiraled into a mess of the Red Sox’s own making. Devers didn’t exactly acquit himself well, but the onus is on the franchise to create an environment in which players gravitate toward selflessness. Breslow and Kennedy said the lack of “alignment” between the organization and Devers — they used the word a combined 14 times in Wednesday’s news conference — left them with no choice but to trade him. They spoke of building a championship culture. But no player determines that culture single-handedly: It starts with ownership, filters down through management and manifests itself through players bought into ideals and values.

There is no clearer reminder than Devers’ willingness to play first base in San Francisco. The Giants did not care that Devers’ deal might not age well. After being spurned by Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani in free agency, they needed a middle-of-the-order bat to win now and gladly went underwater to capture it. Modern organizations are not defined by their models as much as their risk-reward matrices.

Assessing the trade on returns in 2025 alone is short-sighted, although it illustrates the push and pull between now and future. The Red Sox’s future remains bright, and in other regards they’ve made savvy decisions. In Crochet, they targeted a front-line starter, gave up tremendous prospect value and signed him to an over-market extension. In Carlos Narváez, Breslow acquired the Red Sox’s catcher of the present and future — from the Yankees no less — for Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, a soon-to-be-22-year-old right-hander in High-A. While the eight-year, $60 million contract for Campbell has not paid dividends — he was optioned to Triple-A on Thursday after struggling for the past six weeks — evaluators remain bullish that he’ll mature into a middle-of-the-order force.

Until then, though, his demotion just adds a layer to the Devers story. If not for Boston’s belief in Campbell’s ability to succeed at the big league level in 2025, Bregman could have manned second base, Devers third — and he would still be wearing a Red Sox uniform instead of chatting up Barry Bonds behind the Giants’ batting cage. That image stuck in the craw of those pained by the trade. If Devers is going to talk shop with a legend, it should be David Ortiz.

But it isn’t. Ortiz lamented the trade — and Devers’ role in it — as much because Devers could have been, should have been, just like him: a Red Sox hero. Instead, he is a San Francisco Giant, ready to stand in against his former teammates, waggle his bat and do what too many have had to: find his peace somewhere other than Boston.

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Week 1 showed us offseason narratives mean nothing until games are played

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Week 1 showed us offseason narratives mean nothing until games are played

During the long, dark months between the end of one season and the beginning of another, we tell each other stories, because we need something to fill the void. We dress those stories up, calling them things like “way too early” rankings, preseason predictions or scalding hot takes, and we sustain them with statistics, data and historical perspective. But ultimately, they are at best educated guesses and, at worst, outright lies.

Then Week 1 comes along and college football delivers us a heaping dose of the truth, exposing our deceptions to the world like the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert.

On Saturday, college football’s truth still seemed hard to believe.

We’ve spent months burnishing the image of our next Heisman Trophy winner, Arch Manning. Only, in Week 1, Manning’s offense was overwhelmed by the defending champs, as Ohio State dumped Texas 14-7.

We’ve spent the summer laughing incredulously at Florida State ‘s Tommy Castellanos, seemingly the only player foolish enough to poke the bear by taunting Alabama when, in fact, he was a fortune-teller. Nick Saban couldn’t bail out the Crimson Tide on Saturday, and the Seminoles, buried after a 2-10 season a year ago, toppled Bama in convincing fashion 31-17.

We’ve heard all offseason Clemson was the class of the ACC, a nearly perfect team built around loads of returning talent that, after Dabo Swinney lost a bet with Tom Allen on who’d win the three-legged race at the team’s annual team picnic, even added players from the transfer portal. On Saturday, however, Clemson’s offense looked woefully similar to those stagnant offenses of years past. LSU‘s defensive front steamrollered its way to a 17-10 win in what used to be Clemson’s Death Valley, which must now be referred to as Critical-but-Stable Condition Valley due to the stakes of this matchup between two teams with the same nicknames for their stadiums.

Yes, Saturday’s results revealed that all our offseason narratives were no different than the description on a John Mateer Venmo transaction — dangerous, hilarious and completely made up.

In Columbus, the preseason No. 1 Longhorns couldn’t crack the scoreboard for the first 56 minutes of action. This was to be Manning’s coming-out party after two years in waiting behind Quinn Ewers; instead, the day belonged to new Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, a man hired only so Ryan Day wouldn’t have the weirdest-looking beard on staff. Patricia’s defense had an answer for everything Texas threw at it, holding Manning to just 17-of-30 passing, picking off a critical third-quarter pass to set up the decisive touchdown and stuffing the Horns on fourth down four times — including twice inside the 10-yard line.

It’s not that Ohio State’s offense wowed. A unit that proved deadly in last year’s College Football Playoff en route to a national championship mustered just 203 total yards — the Buckeyes’ worst regular-season output since 2015. But new quarterback Julian Sayin avoided any catastrophic mistakes and delivered a 40-yard dagger to Carnell Tate in the fourth quarter despite no one even knowing who his uncles are. If it wasn’t an emphatic endorsement for the 2025 version of Ohio State, it was a reminder the Buckeyes will not be swept aside without a fight.

In Tallahassee, Kalen DeBoer took another huge step toward having the word “tarmac” appear on his Wikipedia page. Since toppling Georgia last September and climbing to No. 1 in the AP poll, the Tide are just 5-5 overall, and Saturday’s loss to Florida State — a team that finished 2-10 a year ago — marks a new nadir.

In the aftermath, DeBoer was left scrambling for answers, saying, “There’s no excuse about what happened. We’ve got to play our style of ball. Last year isn’t this year. You’ve got to focus on the moment …” and there’s a long run past midfield by Castellanos.

Castellanos had promised a win, saying in June he saw no way Alabama could stop him. Lo and behold, he was right. The signal-caller who was benched at Boston College just a year ago ran all over an Alabama defense that seemed utterly flustered at times, despite FSU’s game plan including just nine completions.

But it was FSU coach Mike Norvell who delivered his own truth in the fourth quarter. After a year in which he aged on the sideline the way a president does over two terms, Norvell promised he wouldn’t let this team roll over in the face of adversity. After Alabama charged back to within one score, FSU faced a fourth-and-1 at its own 36, and Norvell decided to go for it. It was a decision that would have been lambasted if it had failed and the Tide tied the game, but Alabama transfer Roydell Williams plunged ahead for 4 yards, FSU capped the drive with a touchdown, and Norvell’s message to his team couldn’t have been more clear. This year is different.

Things are different at LSU, too. While so much of the college football world had grown to love Brian Kelly’s annual Week 1 postgame press conferences in which he’d raise a podium over his head while decrying his lack of a ground game and yelling “Hunk smash!” this year’s Bayou Bengals actually played hard from start to finish and finally snagged a season-opening win.

In what was billed as a showdown between arguably the two best QBs in college football, it was the LSU defense that stole the show, tormenting Cade Klubnik throughout and holding Clemson to 31 rushing yards. Clemson’s last 19 plays were all passes, and Klubnik was under pressure on nearly all of them. Swinney may insist on bringing his own guts, but he keeps leaving his rushing attack at home.

So here we are, still not quite through with the opening scenes of the 2025 season, and we’ve already upended the Heisman race, slayed a giant and left Kelly with a smile on his face. What were the odds?

Of course, that’s the point, right? After an offseason in which conference commissioners tried to codify their own stories in the form of scheduling metrics, guaranteed playoff bids and TV revenue splits, a real Saturday of games is the respite from the narratives, a reminder that the games remain blissfully unpredictable.

After all, to paraphrase Lester Bangs from “Almost Famous,” the only true currency in this bankrupt world of college sports is the jokes you share with someone else when watching Alabama lose as a 14-point favorite again.

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Notes from the road | Best of Texas-Ohio State

Week 1 vibe check

Each week, major upsets, emphatic wins and stellar performances grab the headlines around the college football ecosystem, but there are also many smaller storylines that matter just as much. We try to capture those here.

Trending up: Trendy fashion choices

Georgia Tech upended Colorado on Friday 27-20, but the real buzz was all about the attire of return man Eric Rivers, who took the field dressed as though he was the lead singer of Talking Heads during the “Stop Making Sense” tour or had just been selected sixth overall in the 1999 NBA draft.

If the Yellow Jackets have any sense of humor at all, Rivers should line up for his first scrimmage play next week rocking a pair of parachute pants.

Trending down: Bad fashion choices

To honor the city of New Orleans on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane had hoped to don its 2005 uniforms for its game against Northwestern on Saturday. The Wildcats denied the request, which led to a 23-3 whooping by the Green Wave and some spicy comments from Tulane coach Jon Sumrall afterward.

“When you disrespect the city of New Orleans, you’re going to run into it,” Sumrall said. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, but don’t disrespect the city of New Orleans.”

In contrast, after Florida State’s QB disrespected the city of Tuscaloosa this offseason, Alabama responded by writing a sternly worded letter to its commissioner insisting that, instead of a nine-game slate, the SEC move to a 12 conference games so this can’t happen in the future.

Trending up: In-game ad revenue

Deion Sanders delivered on his promise to have a portable toilet on the sideline for Colorado’s game against Georgia Tech, and he even got it sponsored by Depend.

While we’re certainly glad to see Sanders is feeling better, the Buffs’ loss makes this sponsorship feel as though it’s one of the worst on-field marketing disasters since Red Lobster sponsored Les Miles’ ill-fated sideline seafood tower during the 2015 Texas Bowl.

Trending down: The middle seat from ATL to SYR

Tennessee‘s offense certainly didn’t look any worse off after waving goodbye to Nico Iamaleava. Transfer Joey Aguilar threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-26 win over Syracuse.

This, of course, was bad news for whichever member of the Orange had to sit next to Syracuse coach Fran Brown on the flight home, as Brown famously refuses to shower after a loss. Luckily, for just an additional $29.95, Spirit Airlines will furnish the team with one of those “new car smell” air fresheners to hang above Brown’s seat.

Trending up: Short road trips

UConn packed the house at Rentschler Field with its largest crowd since 2013.

This could certainly be in response to fans getting excited after last year’s 9-4 campaign. Or it could be that the opponent, Central Connecticut State, drove up attendance. CCSU is actually closer to Rentschler Field (12 miles) than is UConn (24 miles).

Trending down: The Group of 5

On Thursday, the Group of 5’s playoff picture was upended when No. 25 Boise State — the lone ranked team outside the Power 4 — was stomped by USF Bulls 34-7. Then on Friday, the defending American champion, Army, fell in embarrassing fashion to FCS Tarleton State.

This could leave the door wide open for a surprise team from the Group of 5 to make a playoff run, but unfortunately Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti already called dibs on the spot and invoked the “no take backs” clause of his proposed playoff plan, so … congratulations Maryland. You’re in now.

Trending up: Upstaging celebrities

Much was made of the engagement of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift earlier this week, but the Kansas City Chiefs tight end didn’t manage the most romantic proposal of Week 1. That honor goes to this guy, who popped the question in the only truly romantic way possible: with mayonnaise.

We assume the wedding will be officiated by an anthropomorphic Pop-Tart, they’ll exit the reception by riding on the back of the Wake Forest Demon Deacon’s motorcycle, and they’ll honeymoon at the Bahamas Bowl which, this season, is probably being played in Little Rock, Arkansas for some reason.

Trending up: Lincoln Riley’s job security

USC thumped Missouri State 73-13, racking up nearly 600 yards of total offense and rushing for six touchdowns.

Riley would like to remind everyone that even if they get shut out against Georgia Southern next week, he would still be averaging 36.5 points per game, and that’s pretty good.

Trending down: Life expectancy for K-State fans

One week after seeing their team fall to rival Iowa State in the verdant hills of Ireland, Kansas State fans nearly suffered an even bigger indignity at the hands of a school mostly surrounded by cornfields, as North Dakota took a 35-31 lead into the final minute of the game.

Avery Johnson rode to the rescue this time, however, engineering a 10-play touchdown drive capped by a 6-yard completion to Joe Jackson to escape with a 38-35 win. Johnson threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns in the game and is now listed as the emergency contact on 86% of Kansas residents’ medical forms.

Trending up: The First State

Delaware toppled Delaware State 35-17 on Thursday, the Blue Hens’ first game as an FBS member.

With fellow newcomer Missouri State getting blown out by USC, that means that Delaware alone has the best winning percentage in FBS history (minimum one game). It’s the most exciting thing to happen in to the state since the new Hot Topic opened at the Concord Mall.


Under-the-radar game of the week

Entering Saturday’s action, Kent State had lost 21 straight games. The program was in shambles, and its last head coach, Kenni Burns, had been fired and (possibly) replaced by an AI program developed by some MIT dropouts who thought they were playing Minesweeper and accidentally coded a football algorithm.

And yet, the football gods smiled upon the Golden Flashes in Week 1, delivering a win in truly epic style.

Trailing 17-14 to Merrimack, a school that exists only in a child’s imagination, a player named — this is true — Da’Realyst Clark ran back a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, putting Kent State up 21-17 with 5:28 to play.

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Merrimack Warriors vs. Kent State Golden Flashes: Full Highlights

Merrimack Warriors vs. Kent State Golden Flashes: Full Highlights

Sure, Kent State has Texas Tech, Florida State and Oklahoma — all on the road — in its next four games, but that’s of little importance today because, for the first time in nearly two full calendar years, the Golden Flashes are victorious. Turns out, that AI that thinks the Greek god of wisdom is Toyotathon knows a little something about football after all.


Under-the-radar play of the week

During pregame celebrations in Eugene on Saturday, the famed Oregon Duck took a nasty spill and lost his duck head, exposing the human underneath. While that was good for a laugh, the mascot’s reaction was truly impressive, as he sprinted a solid 25 yards at full speed wearing feet made out of felt, all while (we assume) screaming, “Look away! Look away! I’m hideous!” before returning to his secluded lair beneath an opera house.

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Oregon Duck loses his head and scampers off

Oregon Duck loses his head and scampers off


Heisman five

On one hand, Arch Manning saw his Heisman odds tumble after struggling in a 14-7 loss to Ohio State. On the other hand, at least he’s unlikely to have the Heisman stolen from him by Charles Woodson now, so he has got that going for him. Which is nice.

1. Oklahoma QB John Mateer

The Washington State transfer completed 30 of 37 passes for 392 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in a 35-3 win over Illinois State, a performance so impressive his friend sent him $50 bucks with the note: “Definitely not because of sports gambling.”

2. Florida State QB Tommy Castellanos

Some would call it ego. Some would call it cockiness. Castellanos would call his offseason commentary facts. After talking smack on Alabama in June, Castellanos backed it up with 230 total yards and a touchdown to take down the Tide 34-17. Given that head coach Mike Norvell is superstitious, we recommend Castellanos keep this up by insisting the Noles will hang 300 on East Texas A&M next week.

3. Georgia QB Gunner Stockton

Stockton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in a 45-7 win over Marshall on Saturday, then we assume he drove his F-150 over to the Burger King parking lot, sat in the back and listened to John Mellencamp cassettes while wearing a denim jacket and promising he’ll never waste his life working in the factory like his old man.

4. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier

After throwing for 230 yards and a touchdown in a win over Clemson, Nussmeier now looks like the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL draft. His dad, Doug Nussmeier, just so happens to be the offensive coordinator of the Saints, and he was in attendance for Saturday’s win. After the game, the younger Nussmeier responded to his dad’s enthusiasm that he could be drafted by the Saints by saying, “Oh, wow, yeah. That sounds great, but really, it’s OK. You don’t need to go to all that trouble. Really. I’m sure there are lots of other quarterbacks who need a good home and, honestly, just focus on them. I’ll go to the Rams. It’s fine. That’ll be fine.”

5. Iowa State QB Rocco Becht

One week after upending Kansas State in Ireland, Becht delivered the Cyclones a dominant victory over FCS power South Dakota, throwing for 278 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-7 win. By federal law, South Dakota now needs to add Becht’s image to Mt. Rushmore in place of Thomas Jefferson.


Notes from the road

How FSU pulled the upset

Florida State coach Mike Norvell talked for months about wanting his team to play with an edge, with desperation, with heart — three key intangibles missing last year during a miserable 2-10 season.

The college football world saw all of that on display in a 31-17 win over Alabama. But perhaps most jaw-dropping was the physical way in which the Seminoles dominated the Crimson Tide up front. After allowing an opening 75-yard drive, the Florida State defense clamped down from there — and allowed just 3 yards per rush for the game.

The revamped offensive line, with four veteran transfers, dominated in its own right — not only opening up holes, but pushing defenders backward at nearly every turn. Florida State rushed for 230 yards, a year after averaging 89.9 yards per game — ranking No. 128 in the country.

“We wanted to be the aggressor, and we were,” Norvell said. “Our players, they rose to the challenge. We talked all year, and I’ve used the buzzwords of edge and desperation. That goes to the heart, and you saw heart tonight. We saw a team that absolutely loves playing this game together and were physically dominant, emotionally together, and they responded. This is a first step, but it’s a big step.”

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Florida State fans storm field after Noles upset Alabama

Florida State fans storm the field after opening the season with a 31-17 win over No. 8 Alabama.

It is a big step because of what happened a year ago. Florida State came off a 13-1 ACC championship season with one of the worst performances in school history. Those outside the program questioned Norvell, questioned the program’s direction. He needed a win like this to remind the general public the Florida State is not what it showed a year ago.

On the flip side is Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who already went into the season with Crimson Tide fans skeptical about him and the direction of the program after a 9-4 debut that ended with a bowl loss to Michigan.

You will remember DeBoer got the Alabama job over Norvell, and now the pressure is rising as the successor to Saban. Alabama lost a season opener by two touchdowns for the first time since 1970.

“There’s no excuses about what happened,” DeBoer said. “Last year isn’t this year, and it’s going to be an uphill climb for us, but you can’t think of it in the big scope of things. You’ve got to focus on the moment. And the next moment is, ‘What happens tomorrow?’ And we’ll find out. We’ll find out.” — Andrea Adelson


Ohio State’s defense came ready

Ohio State opened its national championship defense with a dominating defensive effort. And for the second straight season against Texas, the Buckeyes produced a game-clinching stop.

Despite eight new defensive starters, the Buckeyes flew around all afternoon and flustered hyped Texas quarterback Arch Manning into a stunningly erratic performance.

The Buckeyes did not surrender a play longer than 15 yards until late in the fourth quarter. They also came up huge in the red zone.

In the first half, the Buckeyes stuffed a Manning quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Then in the fourth quarter, cornerback Davison Igbinosun swatted away a Manning fourth-down pass to the corner of the end zone.

“Every time you get a fourth-down stop, it’s like a turnover,” Day said after the game.

After a Texas touchdown with 3:28 to play, the Longhorns got the ball back again with a chance to tie.

But just like last season — when Jack Sawyer’s strip sack and score propelled Ohio State to victory over Texas in the CFP semifinals and to the national championship game — the Buckeyes got the key final stop — as Caleb Downs tackled Jack Endries short of the marker on fourth down.

The Buckeyes’ defensive performance allowed them to ease quarterback Julian Sayin into his first start. Sayin was 13-for-20 for 126 yards and a score in his first start. Unlike Manning, however, Sayin avoided turnovers.

“We were fairly conservative [offensively] because we felt like our defense was playing well,” Day said. — Jake Trotter


Best moments from Texas-Ohio State

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Fierceness beats Journalism to win Pacific Classic

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Fierceness beats Journalism to win Pacific Classic

DEL MAR, Calif. — Fierceness overcame a poor start to win the $1 million Pacific Classic by 3 1/4 lengths at Del Mar on Saturday, beating Preakness and Haskell winner Journalism, who was the 2-5 favorite.

Ridden by John Velazquez, Fierceness ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.00. Trainer by Todd Pletcher, the 4-year-old colt shipped in from New York. He paid $5.20 as the second choice in the wagering.

Fierceness veered sharply in toward the temporary rail leaving the starting gate.

“I got him out of there, but he overreacted by pulling in the other direction,” Velazquez said. “He got straightened out going into the first turn. I was able to save ground behind the leaders. On the back stretch, he was keen to go on, that’s why I moved between horses going into the turn.”

Journalism was last in the seven-horse field before rallying in the stretch but couldn’t catch the winner.

Ultimate Gamble finished third and Indispensable was fourth.

With the victory, Fierceness earned a berth in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at the seaside track north of San Diego in November. He finished second in the race last year.

Nysos, the slight morning-line favorite, was scratched hours before the race when Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert noticed minor bruising in a hind foot. Nysos has had health-related issues throughout his career. He missed most of his 3-year-old season because of nagging setbacks. He was coming off a 15-month layoff when he finished second in the Churchill Downs Stakes on May 3.

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Bama can’t stop Castellanos as FSU stuns Tide

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Bama can't stop Castellanos as FSU stuns Tide

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — New quarterback Tommy Castellanos led a punishing rushing attack for Florida State with 78 yards and a touchdown as the Seminoles stunned No. 8 Alabama 31-17 on Saturday, ending the Crimson Tide’s streak of 23 straight wins in season openers.

Coming off a 2-10 season, Florida State handed a crushing setback to Alabama, which was viewed as a College Football Playoff contender under second-year coach Kalen DeBoer.

Castellanos, a transfer from Boston College, made headlines over the summer after saying legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban wasn’t there to “save” the Tide vs. Florida State in their Week 1 matchup and that he doesn’t “see them stopping me.” He backed up that jab by spearheading FSU’s dominant ground attack while staying efficient through the air, finishing 9 of 14 passing for 152 yards.

Students and fans swarmed the field at Doak Campbell Stadium to celebrate the upset by the Seminoles, who closed as 13 1/2-point underdogs at ESPN BET.

Under new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn — who spent eight seasons as Auburn’s head coach — Florida State was physical from the start, finishing with 230 rushing yards and averaging 4.7 yards per carry. The Seminoles averaged just 89.9 yards during their disastrous 2024 season.

The Crimson Tide had not dropped a season opener since losing 20-17 to UCLA in 2001 under Dennis Franchione, and this defeat will ratchet up the pressure on DeBoer from the demanding Tuscaloosa faithful. His predecessor, Nick Saban, led Alabama to six national titles.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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