MILWAUKEE — Bob Uecker’s Hall of Fame broadcasting career began only after the Milwaukee Brewers initially hired him as a scout.
Former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig said it didn’t take long to realize Uecker might be better suited for a different role.
“The first scouting report Bob sent back here had mashed potatoes and gravy all over it,” Selig recalled Sunday during a pregame ceremony honoring the man who broadcast Brewers games for 54 seasons, became a national celebrity for his trademark sense of humor and died Jan. 16 at the age of 90.
The star-studded celebration was hosted by former NBC broadcast partner Bob Costas and featured Hall of Famers George Brett, Ted Simmons and Robin Yount as well as Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich.
“To say he loved this team, this city, and this state would be an understatement,” the Uecker family said in a statement. “Milwaukee was his home, and the Brewers were an extension of his family. Seeing that love reflected back means more than we could ever put into words. There is something truly special about this community, and Bob felt it every single day.
“Thank you for welcoming him into your lives, for making him part of your families, and for holding him in your hearts.”
All the Brewers players wore special tribute uniforms with “UECK” instead of their own names on the back of their jerseys for Sunday’s game to honor the man who probably is more synonymous with the franchise than any particular player.
The entire team joined Uecker’s relatives behind the mound before Bob Uecker Jr. threw out the first pitch to Yount. The game featured commemorative baseballs and bases honoring Uecker.
The celebration of life comes with the Brewers owning the best record in baseball as they chase their first World Series title.
“Nobody would have enjoyed this more,” principal owner Mark Attanasio said. “I believe he’s still with us, but I really miss him.”
American Family Field’s broadcast wing above the press box was renamed the Bob Uecker Broadcast Center. Uecker’s name already appeared on a medallion alongside all the Brewers’ retired numbers, but it was updated Sunday to include his name and a single microphone.
Memorabilia including photos and various examples of his plaid sports coats were displayed all over the concourses.
John Colson, a partial season-ticket holder from Milwaukee, was already waiting outside the ballpark entrance well over 3½ hours before first pitch.
“Bob Uecker was my entire childhood,” Colson said. “Just memories of listening to the games on the radio, coming to the games. Bob Uecker’s Mr. Baseball. He was Mr. Brewers. It’s not the same without him.”
Colson wore a T-shirt with the message, “Juuuust a bit outside,” honoring Uecker’s famous line as broadcaster Harry Doyle in the movie “Major League.” Other fans in the sellout crowd wore plaid sport coats or Brewers jerseys with Uecker’s name.
A look at some of the incredible Bob Uecker memorabilia on display throughout the ballpark today 🥹 pic.twitter.com/P8pzIl7TTU
Uecker also was beloved by players who treasured his regular appearances in the locker room to swap stories or offer encouragement.
“Whether it was your first day in the big leagues or you’d been there for 10 years, he treated you as though you were his friend his entire life,” Yelich said. “I think that was one of his real gifts, making people feel like they were best friends and he’d known them forever.”
That meant treating even a player coming up from the minors no differently than an American president.
At a news conference before the pregame ceremony, Costas told the story of how former President Richard Nixon was watching a Brewers-Yankees game and asked Yankees owner George Steinbrenner if it would be possible to meet Uecker. After Uecker spoke to Nixon, broadcast partner Pat Hughes asked what it was like to meet the president.
“Ueck says, ‘You know, Richie’s not a bad guy,'” Costas recalled.
Uecker was best known nationally for the dry wit he showed on talk-show appearances with Johnny Carson and in the “Major League” movies, Miller Lite commercials and the television show “Mr. Belvedere.” Some of his “Mr. Belvedere” and “Major League” colleagues were on hand for this ceremony.
But the people honoring him Sunday also paid tribute to his baseball knowledge.
Although Uecker made his career .200 batting average a frequent target of his self-deprecating humor, Simmons said the broadcaster’s status as a former backup catcher gave him remarkable perspective. After the Brewers acquired him before the 1981 season, Simmons said Uecker offered pointers on handling Milwaukee’s pitching staff.
“I said, ‘You’ve got to tell me how these guys think, where they’re at because they need help and I need help,'” Simmons said. “That’s how we started out. From there, it was great.”
Costas and Selig said Uecker’s broadcasting skills were underrated. Selig said it was a treat to listen to the ninth inning of Uecker’s broadcasts in games the Brewers were winning.
“Most of the country outside of Wisconsin knows him from Johnny Carson and the ‘Major League’ films, but if he never said one thing that was funny and you just judged him as a baseball announcer — especially on the radio — Hall of Fame-caliber baseball announcer,” Costas said.
Costas specifically mentioned Uecker’s final sign-off after the Brewers allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 4-2 loss in the decisive game of their NL Wild Card Series loss to the New York Mets. Uecker, who had battled small cell lung cancer throughout last season, closed the broadcast by saying, “that one had some sting on it.”
“When you hear Ueck signing off — he didn’t always wear his heart on his sleeve — but it was so poignant,” Costas said. “He was disappointed for the team because it was such a heartbreaking loss. But he also knew these were the last words he’d ever speak as the voice of the Brewers, and his voice was not as strong, and he wasn’t quite as sharp, but it was still Bob Uecker. When you listen to that, even though he doesn’t frame it that way, that’s about as poignant a valedictory as any broadcaster has ever given.”
Texas quarterback Arch Manning left the game after his helmet appeared to bounce off the ground at the end of a 13-yard run on the first play of overtime in the No. 22 Longhorns’ 45-38 victory at Mississippi State on Saturday.
Manning dropped back to throw on the play but scrambled up the middle when he couldn’t find an open receiver. As Manning dove while being tackled by safety Isaac Smith, he was hit from behind by defensive lineman Kedrick Bingley-Jones.
Texas right tackle Brandon Baker tried to help Manning up, but the signal-caller struggled to get on his feet and sat on the field, sending trainers out to get him. Manning was in the medical tent at the end of the contest.
Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t have an update on Manning after the game, telling reporters, “We’ll find out more when we get back to Austin.” Sources confirmed to ESPN that Manning suffered a concussion.
Backup quarterback Matthew Caldwell came in and threw a 10-yard touchdown to Emmett Mosley V to finish the Longhorns’ stunning comeback, in which they rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.
According to ESPN Research, the Longhorns were the first SEC team to rally from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win since South Carolina came back from 17-0 down to beat Missouri 27-24 in two overtimes in 2013.
After a slow start, Manning had perhaps his best performance at Texas, completing 29 of 46 passes for a career-high 346 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. He also ran for a score. He went 12-for-20 for 166 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, becoming the first Texas quarterback with at least 150 passing yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter since Sam Ehlinger in 2019.
Trailing 38-21, Manning gave the Longhorns some life when he threw a 21-yard touchdown to Mosley to cut Mississippi State’s lead to 38-28 with 9:34 to go.
Texas’ defense came up with two sacks to force a three-and-out on the Bulldogs’ next possession, and the Longhorns reached the MSU 5-yard line. Texas had to settle for Mason Shipley‘s 26-yard field goal that made it 38-31.
After another three-and-out from the Bulldogs, Texas’ Ryan Niblett returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 38 with 1:47 left in regulation.
The Longhorns will host No. 10 Vanderbilt next week.
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.
NORMAN, Okla. — Six days after his team squandered a fourth-quarter lead on the road at Georgia, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said he spent Friday night speaking to his players at length about “overcoming adversity” ahead of the No. 8 Rebels’ Week 9 visit to Oklahoma.
Adversity struck again at Oklahoma-Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. This time, Ole Miss responded and flipped the script, riding a resurgent defense and a fourth-quarter scoring drive led by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss to a crucial 34-26 win over the 13th-ranked Sooners.
“We’re up two scores last week at Georgia — where they never lose except Alabama — and we didn’t finish it off,” Kiffin said afterward. “We got knocked down. And so that same situation happens today on the road; [ranked] team, No. 1 defense in the country. Can we be stronger in those situations, especially defensively? For that to happen, it’s really cool.”
Blanked in the fourth quarter at Georgia a week ago, the Rebels outscored Oklahoma 9-0 across the last 15 minutes, allowing just 84 yards of offense over that span and forcing Sooners quarterback John Mateer into incompletions on 10 of his final 15 throws, including a Hail Mary attempt that failed to reach the end zone in the closing seconds.
The victory marks Ole Miss’ first road win over a ranked SEC opponent under Kiffin. The Rebels are also 6-0 following a loss since the start of the 2023 seasons, according to ESPN Research.
Chambliss, in his sixth start for Ole Miss, completed 24 of his 44 pass attempts for 315 yards and accounted for 53 rushing yards on 12 carries. According to ESPN Research, the outing marked Chambliss’ fourth game of 300 passing yards and 50 rushing yards this fall, leaving him tied with former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (2012) for the second most such performances by an SEC player over the past 30 years.
With the Rebels trailing 26-25 in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, Chambliss orchestrated an 11-play, 75-yard drive that drained 4:31 of game clock, capped by his eight-yard touchdown pass to tight end Trace Bruckler with 11:39 remaining. The Rebels never trailed again.
“We just didn’t want to feel how we felt last week,” Chambliss said of the win. “We made it that we don’t want to feel that again and that’ll never happen again. We just need to finish games.”
Chambliss and Ole Miss mounted their late comeback only after the Rebels dissected Oklahoma coach Brent Venables’ vaunted defense unlike any team before it this fall across the first half.
The Sooners had not allowed a first-quarter touchdown before Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy broke free for a 28-yard scoring run. Lacy, who ran for 78 yards on 27 attempts, found the end zone again to hand the Rebels a 22-10 lead with 46 seconds remaining in the first half. Behind the legs of Chambliss and Lacy, Ole Miss accounted for more first-half points and yards (258) than Oklahoma had allowed in a single half in the 2025 season.
The Rebels’ control of the game, however, slipped after halftime. A failed fourth-down attempt on Ole Miss’ opening drive of the second half gifted Oklahoma a field goal, and the Sooners burst to a 26-25 third-quarter advantage on a pair of touchdowns from running back Xavier Robinson, highlighted by the sophomore’s 65-yard rushing score. Overall, Oklahoma outgained the Rebels 99-9 on the ground and outscored the visitors 16-3 in the third quarter.
After fumbling its commanding lead, Ole Miss might have seen a familiar script entering the fourth quarter. Instead, less than 24 hours after his Friday night team talk, Kiffin saw the Rebels’ newfound resolve.
“When you’ve had something happen to you previously in a season, seven days ago, and that same feeling comes back today,” Kiffin said. “[It’s] here we go: We’re ahead … games kind of in our control. Oh wait, now they’re scoring a lot easier. We’re not moving like we were. Same Georgia feeling. Crowd started coming alive. And then obviously a much different response by us. And I didn’t feel like they ever kind of freaked out. They had each other’s backs.”
Following Chambliss’ go-ahead touchdown throw, an Ole Miss defense led by junior defensive end Princewill Umanmielen — who logged career highs with six tackles and 1.5 sacks — clamped down. The Sooners gained only nine rushing yards in the final quarter and converted on only two of their final seven attempted conversions on third and fourth down.
“We just took [the Georgia game] as a learning experience,” Umanmielen said. “Unfortunately, we had to take a loss to learn from it. We just took it as a learning experience and got the W today.”
Now, Kiffin & Co. are back on track, returning home at 7-1 (4-1 in conference) and well-positioned to secure the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance later this year.
After downing Oklahoma (6-2, 2-2), Ole Miss will embark on a homestand with matchups against three teams with losing records — South Carolina, The Citadel and Florida — before closing the regular season with a trip to Mississippi State. According to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor, the Rebels hold the seventh-best odds of reaching the 12-team field among FBS programs, vaulted by Ole Miss’ fourth-quarter 180 on the road Saturday afternoon.
“Very different fourth quarters as a team,” Kiffin said. “This was a big win. It was hard.”
Jake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men’s and women’s basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He’s a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at jake.trotter@espn.com and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — No team in college football had won a conference game by 50 or more points this season — other than Indiana.
On Saturday, the second-ranked Hoosiers accomplished the feat for a second time.
One month after destroying Illinois by 53 points, Indiana hammered UCLA56-6.
“We try to play every play like it’s nothing-nothing, game on the line, regardless of the competitive circumstances,” said coach Curt Cignetti. “That’s kind of our mentality.”
Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher picked off Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava on the second snap of the game and returned it for a touchdown.
The Hoosiers led 35-3 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive before resting many of their starters.
Star quarterback Fernando Mendoza sat the rest of the half, as his younger brother, freshman Alberto Mendoza, replaced him at quarterback.
“UCLA is a very capable team,” said Fernando Mendoza, who threw for 168 yards and totaled four touchdowns to remain atop the Heisman conversation. “Teams are always looking for … ‘Hey, do we have that spark? Are we going to be able to come back from this game?’ And so right from the jump, we knew we needed to have an impressive drive … to (douse) their flame and impose our will.”
The Bruins arrived in Bloomington on a three-game winning streak, highlighted by an upset over then-seventh-ranked Penn State on Oct. 4.
But after Mendoza threw an interception off a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage on Indiana’s first offensive possession, the Hoosiers scored touchdowns on seven of their next eight drives.
Cignetti said the combination of Indiana’s running game, producing 262 rushing yards, and its defense, which allowed UCLA to muster only 201 yards total, ultimately broke the Bruins’ will.
“You start to see a team wave the white flag,” Cignetti said. “It usually happens sometime in the third quarter. It may have been what happened here.”
Indiana is the first Power 4 school with two 50-point conference wins in a single season since Clemson in 2018, according to ESPN Research.
The Tigers finished that year 15-0 and won the national championship.