A perfect Berkeley paradox: Big-money college football and an antiestablishment protest
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Kyle Bonagura
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Kyle Bonagura
ESPN Staff Writer
- Covers college football.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Attended Washington State University.
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Adam Rittenberg
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Adam Rittenberg
ESPN Senior Writer
- College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
JEFF TEDFORD LOOKED out of his office window and saw helicopters circling. Below, a crowd had gathered to watch the last holdouts finally descend from an oak tree beside California Memorial Stadium. TV news vans lined Piedmont Avenue in Berkeley, and rooftops across campus filled with people hoping for a glimpse of what was happening.
Tedford, Cal‘s most successful coach of the modern era, had grown accustomed to the odd scene. Twenty-one months earlier, activists began a tree-sit in December 2006, with some actually living in trees, to protest the removal of an oak grove next to the stadium, part of a long-planned seismic retrofit and facilities upgrade project. The demonstration called itself Save the Oaks.
The patch of campus had embodied one of the many contradictions of Berkeley — a place where an environmental protest and big-time college football could unfold on opposite sides of the same stadium wall.
“It was like a fricking circus,” Tedford said recently. “My office was about a hundred feet from the trees, so I got to see most of it and hear most all of it.”
Over time, the grove transformed into a small treetop village. Platforms appeared between branches. Ropes and pulleys dangled from above. Zip lines stretched from tree to tree, connecting the makeshift outposts like a canopy freeway. Eventually, the tree-sit had become an international curiosity.
The impasse had lasted nearly two years — from the 2006 Big Game to the start of the 2008 season. Cal football surged at the time, entering the top 10 in 2006, and rising to No. 2 nationally following a 5-0 start in 2007. Meanwhile, there was a photo shoot of naked protestors in the trees.
As Save the Oaks entered its final stage, university workers surrounded the last occupied tree with scaffolding, layering it upward until it reached the lingering protestors, with tarps above to shield them from whatever might fall. When the scaffolding rose, so did a temporary staircase inside. UC Berkeley police chief Vicky Harrison was lifted into the air in the basket of a cherry picker, and addressed the demonstrators.
“I said, ‘OK, guys, you had a good run. Let’s do this the easy way,'” Harrison said recently. “And then, of course, I did a little threatening where I basically said, ‘I’ve already talked to the district attorney. If anybody gets hurt, if any of the officers get hurt, if any of the tree guys get hurt, there’s going to be not misdemeanor charges, but felony charges.'”
The last protestors conceded. It was over.
“It ended very peacefully,” Harrison said.
Seventeen years later, as Tedford is set to be inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame when the Golden Bears host North Carolina (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), the memory still feels surreal. Tedford, Cal’s all-time winningest coach, built a team that, at times, hovered on the cusp of national contention, all while yards away from one of the strangest protests in college sports history.
CALIFORNIA MEMORIAL STADIUM is nestled into Strawberry Canyon, butting up against the Berkeley Hills. On clear days, fans in the upper rows get views of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. The stadium opened in 1923, and it sits atop the Hayward Fault, regarded as one of the Bay Area’s most serious seismic threats.
In February 2005, Cal announced plans to “renovate and seismically strengthen” the stadium, citing both safety due to the fault line and the need to modernize its athletic facilities, which were located within the stadium. These facilities, used daily by Cal athletes, included weight training, nutrition and sports medicine areas.
The proposal called for a 142,000-square-foot training facility along the west wall of the stadium, which would service football and 12 other Cal athletic programs.
“The everyday facilities, what we now call football operations building, wasn’t up to par,” said Sandy Barbour, Cal’s athletic director at the time. “There were life safety issues, and there were football day-to-day conditions for student-athletes — frankly, day-to-day conditions for student-athletes across the 31 sports at Cal.”
There was another incentive for Cal to accelerate the stadium project: Keeping Tedford. Cal won 10 games in 2004 and nearly reached the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1959. Tedford had become one of the nation’s hottest coaches, and his contract had a clause that if Cal hadn’t broken ground on a new facility by a certain date, his buyout to leave would drop significantly.
“We needed to be able to show the commitment to Jeff, to our program and frankly, to the community, that Cal was going to be serious about having sustained success in football,” Barbour said.
But this is Berkeley, a college town where placards and megaphones trump helmets and shoulder pads. Pushing through a major athletics facilities project wouldn’t be so simple.
First came the lawsuits. In the fall of 2006, the city of Berkeley, the California Oak Foundation and the Panoramic Hill Association, a neighborhood group, all filed suits related to the project. (They would later be consolidated into one.) A fourth lawsuit would be filed by Save Tightwad Hill, which represented fans who watched games from the hill overlooking the stadium, without paying for tickets.
The lawsuits led to a temporary restraining order from the Alameda County Superior Court, which effectively protected the grove from being demolished as hearings, filings and appeals followed over the next year and a half.
“The court cases just kept dragging out,” said Nathan Brostrom, Cal’s vice chancellor at the time.
The resistance took a turn on Dec. 2, 2006, Big Game day, when Cal hosted rival Stanford. That morning, several people came to the oak grove marked for removal and made camp. Among them was Zachary RunningWolf, a local activist who had run for mayor in Berkeley. He told The Berkeley Daily Planet newspaper that if University of California regents approved the removal, “They’re going to have to extract me from this tree, because that’s the only way I’m going to leave.”
Brostrom was living in a house above Memorial Stadium with his wife and six kids. On Big Game morning, Brostrom was making pancakes when Harrison called: Nathan, we’ve got a couple people up in the trees.
“I was thinking it was fans from the night before or something,” Brostrom said. “She said, ‘Well, they’re protesting.’ I said, ‘Let’s just get them down. It’s Big Game. There’s going to be 70,000 people there in a few hours.’ And she said, ‘Well, it’s not quite that easy.'”
Brostrom walked to the grove and spoke with RunningWolf and another person. There was nothing to indicate this would be an extended protest.
“We thought it was going to be short-lived,” Brostrom said. “We really thought it was starting to be the cold, wet winter, and it wasn’t going to last.”
That analysis turned out to be a significant miscalculation.
THE PEOPLE WHO climbed up, and ultimately lived in, the oaks outside the stadium would become the faces of the movement. But the protest had several layers.
“It had nothing to do with support or lack thereof for the university athletes, much less the teams,” said Karen Pickett, a longtime forest activist who assisted with Save the Oaks. “While the campaign was at odds with the university’s decision-makers, the Board of Regents, et cetera, there was never an issue with the students, much less the players.”
The organizers viewed the removal of these trees as symbolic of how Cal operated, and if no one stood up, Cal would continue to “plow over the city government,” Pickett said.
The grove also held significance for different groups. Some claimed it was located on a Native American burial ground. Others reasoned it was a wildlife corridor. The trees were planted as part of the stadium’s original construction that honored World War I, which carried significance for some in the community.
“These former faculty and current faculty would talk about how it was like this last quiet, peaceful spot that was on the edge of campus where they could go,” Pickett said. “It was a small area and yet, biologically and in other ways, it was very important to a lot of people, and a lot of other species.”
Kingman Lim, a recent Cal grad working as an arborist, saw members of the Save the Oaks group on campus and immediately became interested. Lim cared deeply about the environment, and also had tree-climbing and safety experience.
He began setting up platforms and assisted those climbing up.
“The beginning felt so exciting and inspirational,” Lim said. “The students were there and we had the local community coming out. There were biologists and ecologists. We saw foxes coming through when we first started, and birds and deer. I would go up regularly, weekly, for months and months.
“The beginning was a good feeling. The big, bad university looked like the bad guys for a little while.”
Jack Gescheidt was a photographer living in San Francisco, and he had started taking nude pictures of people in and among trees. He came across a New York Times story about the oaks demonstration in Berkeley and drove over to check it out in early 2007.
Gescheidt met an organizer who loved the idea of a photo shoot and the media attention it would generate.
“I said, ‘Look, they don’t need to be naked. If that’s too kind of outrageous and too stereotypical and kind of distracts from the point of, we need to save these trees, it’s not about getting people naked,'” Gescheidt recalled. “But he’s like, ‘No, you’re gonna do it. Let’s do it.’
“God bless Berkeley.”
They set a date: March 17, a Saturday morning. Gescheidt arrived early to set up and met with a campus police officer, who politely said that any demonstrators, including Gescheidt, could be subject to arrest. Gescheidt relayed that message to the group of about 150 demonstrators and asked who was still willing to participate. About 75 hands went up.
Then came what Gescheidt calls the “dressed rehearsal,” where subjects assemble for the photo with their clothes on. Mindful of the television news cameras and police, Gescheidt wanted to minimize how much time the demonstrators were actually naked. He then instructed them to remember their spots, undress and return for the shoot.
“There was one woman living on a platform and she naked-hugged the tree that she was on,” Gescheidt said. “There was another guy who came down lower, get this, he’s hanging upside down, with one leg, not both legs, like a trapezoid, one leg hooked over a branch, about 15 feet in the air. If he fell, he’d break his neck. And he was just comfortable doing that, because he was living in the trees. They are in the photograph at the top of the frame, still in the trees.
“When that happened, I’m like, ‘This is so f—ing cool!'”
Gescheidt titled the photograph “Last Stand.” The shoot went off without any outbursts or arrests.
There were other notable scenes at the grove, including one in January 2007 when former Berkeley mayor Shirley Dean, then 71, climbed up to a platform, and sat there alongside Berkeley city councilwoman Betty Olds, 86, and Sylvia McLaughlin, 91, co-founder of the environmental advocacy group Save The Bay.
They had a bullhorn to communicate to the crowd and media below, and held a “Save the Oaks” banner.
“We have 250 years of life experience between us,” Dean told the media that day. “Nobody’s going to cut us down, and no one’s going to cut down these trees.”
WHEN THE 2007 season arrived, the protest outside Memorial Stadium had become part of daily life on campus — and few people were subjected to it quite like Tedford, who would sleep in his office up to five nights a week.
“It wasn’t a nuisance at first, but then it became one, because we had constant patrol and police down there and they had spotlights on them,” Tedford said. “The generator was running all night long and all the noise that they’d make, beating the drums.
“You could see all kinds of crazy stuff going on, these people in the trees and going on their zip lines from treehouse to treehouse.”
The proximity to the football offices made the spectacle impossible to avoid, but the coaches tried to minimize the distractions. It soon became a problem in recruiting.
“You have a prospect and his family sitting in my office talking,” Tedford said, “and [outside the window] they were filling up these large five-gallon buckets of feces and pouring them down on the cops or whoever was down below, and they had to wear rain gear down below, because of the stuff being poured down on them.
“So the stench was kind of just blowing into the office and drums are banging and they’re screaming, and you’re sitting there with a prospect and their family like a hundred feet away from it trying to say, ‘Oh, this is a great place.’ It was just one of the obstacles in trying to recruit that I’m positive no one else had to deal with.”
While Tedford did his best from his office to keep the football program on track, Harrison, the university police chief, was trying to manage what was happening below. Efforts to limit the protest — cutting off ropes or supplies — weren’t greeted well.
“They would drop their personal waste onto the officers or the folks that we had that were going in to cut the lines,” Harrison said. “And that was not very pleasant, as you might imagine.”
That dynamic led to an unusual truce.
“If they would lower their waste every day so that they couldn’t be hoarding it to use against us, we would allow their ground support to provide them organic fresh food,” Harrison said. “That’s the kind of thing I never thought that I would be negotiating.”
Cal meanwhile entered the season ranked No. 12 in the AP poll — its fourth straight appearance in the preseason top 20 — with a team that featured several future NFL Pro Bowlers, including receiver DeSean Jackson, center Alex Mack, safety Thomas DeCoud and running back Justin Forsett. The Bears would open the season against No. 15 Tennessee, who had an estimated 20,000 fans travel to Berkeley.
Heading into the game, Harrison said the police department received all sorts of suggestions for how to deal with the protestors.
“We were getting postcards and letters from all across the country,” Harrison said. “We got a lot from the Tennessee fans — a lot of comments about chainsaws and fire hoses.”
Upon arrival, Vols fans couldn’t believe what they saw.
“I literally remember them standing on the sidewalk, looking up and going, ‘This would never happen in Knoxville,'” Barbour said.
The Bears won 45-31. On a national prime-time broadcast, ABC’s Brent Musburger gleefully said, “There’s a little bit of a controversy here. There are some aging hippies in the oak trees right here behind me and one of the spokesmen is Chief RunningWolf.”
ABC aired a short interview clip with RunningWolf, and Musburger referred to the university’s offer to plant three new trees for every old one removed.
“Three-for-one is a very good deal if you are a tree-hugger,” he quipped.
It was a perfect Berkeley paradox: big-money college football and an antiestablishment protest, unfolding in the same space.
Over the next few weeks, Cal built momentum and rose to No. 2 in the AP poll — its highest ranking since 1951 — right behind LSU after three more straight wins. But junior quarterback Nate Longshore went down with an ankle injury that would keep him out of a pivotal game against Oregon State and severely limit his mobility for the rest of the season.
Led by true freshman quarterback Kevin Riley, Cal took a 14-13 lead over Oregon State at halftime. Then, the stadium received an update from across the country.
“We come out after halftime, and I hear on the loudspeaker that LSU had just lost,” Tedford said. “And so the fans kind of went crazy because that meant we’re in line to be No. 1.”
But Cal couldn’t close out Oregon State, losing 31-28 in one of the most disappointing games in program history. The Bears would lose five of their next six games to finish 7-6.
Through it all, the tree protest dragged on. What began with a few demonstrators on Big Game weekend in 2006 stretched through two winters. Brostrom remembers many conversations with Harrison and Cal chancellor Robert Birgeneau about removing the demonstrators, but they concluded there wasn’t enough police to keep people out of the grove.
Without legal approval, Cal couldn’t begin construction, either.
“I remember thinking to myself one night after we’d done a big community group or a booster group or something, if I have to stand up in front of a group one more time and say, ‘As soon as the judge gives us the go ahead, we will be underway,’ I’m gonna puke,” Barbour said.
AS TIME WENT on, the core group who started the movement began to thin out. Many of the final holdouts were no longer locals or Cal-affiliated. They had come from other parts of the country, drawn by the media attention and the symbolic weight of the standoff. It became increasingly difficult to argue their continued presence represented people in the community.
Lim witnessed the demographics and vibe change in the grove. A split occurred between those who lived in the trees, like RunningWolf, and other organizers who dealt with public/media messaging but weren’t there around the clock. Lim felt caught in the middle.
“Over time, that inner division and the deterioration of our image ended up giving us a lot harder time gaining support for the movement,” Lim said. “It turned into this anarchist kid homeless camp in the trees, which was OK, but took away from the message, so to speak. It was like, ‘We’re never going to leave?’
“It turned into this attrition thing that no one liked.”
By the end of the summer of 2008, the various court cases had finally run their course, and on Aug. 28, a superior court judge ruled the university could proceed with its project, and an appeal was denied the following week.
As Cal prepared to leave for a game at Washington State on Sept. 6, Tedford was told to expect the grove to look much different when he returned. When the trees were taken down, the final four protestors migrated to the last oak standing — where the scaffolding was erected to allow police to fetch them from the top.
“It was so cool to watch how they did it, because they built the scaffolding all the way around the tree, all the way up, and then they just peacefully walked up, got them and they peacefully walked down,” Tedford said.
At the bottom, the final four holdouts were arrested on misdemeanor charges of trespassing, violating a court order and illegal lodging.
“Once we won the court case, we had bulldozers ready, and we just started to bulldoze the site,” Brostrom said. “The team was coming back from an away game, and I remember the players were so excited to see the tree coming down and construction starting.”
The university won. The protesters lost. Or maybe it was the other way around.
Pickett was on the East Coast when the final oak came down, but she would eventually visit the site.
“I think it was [famed environmentalist] David Brower who said that all our victories are temporary, but our losses are permanent,” Pickett said. “It was a righteous campaign. There’s no doubt in my mind that it was worth fighting, even though it took a big chunk of people’s lives.”
Lim also attended the final tree removal, mainly to ensure the arborists were operating correctly and safely. He still works in Berkeley as an arborist.
“Twenty years later, I’m looking back on it and thinking, the public, regular people, thought that the whole fight was absolutely ridiculous and everyone should just go home and let the trees get cut, you’re wasting everyone’s time and money,” he said. “I admit now that I understand that perspective, where at the time I was sure this was the most important thing, ‘Why isn’t everyone getting behind this and speaking up?’
“I’m sad the students won’t experience the trees the way that I did. But that’s also what happens in life. People adapt, people move on.”
WHEN TEDFORD RECRUITED Mack in 2003, he told him about Cal’s facilities plans and Mack bought in. But because of the years of lawsuits and protests, construction didn’t begin until 2010, and the Simpson Center and renovated Memorial Stadium didn’t open until 2012 — long after Mack had graduated and begun his 13-year NFL career.
On Friday, Mack and Tedford will both be honored as they enter Cal’s athletics Hall of Fame together.
“He jokes with me that I told him we were going to have a new facility, and his career came and went, and there’s still no facility,” Tedford said. “But I think the protests were kind of proof that we were moving forward with something.”
The university ultimately got what it wanted. Yet even with all the upgrades, Cal hasn’t finished a season ranked in the AP poll since 2006 — the same year the tree-sit began.
There have been flashes — a few hot starts, some Jared Goff magic, the occasional upset — but not the sustained success that once seemed inevitable under Tedford.
After being fired from Cal in 2012, Tedford spent five seasons, over two stints, as the head coach at his alma mater, Fresno State, before stepping away due to health concerns before last season. By eliminating the stress and anxiety that came with coaching, Tedford said his health has improved dramatically.
Last month, Tedford traveled to see Cal play at Boston College and attended some Cal events leading up to the game. He spoke at a tailgate and traded stories with several longtime fans. Inevitably, the tree-sit came up several times.
“It’s nice to get back acquainted with the Cal people now … and kind of relive some of those great memories that we had there,” Tedford said.
Tedford can laugh about the protests now. For Harrison, the police chief, they stand as a parody come to life.
“How Berkeley can you be?” she said. “You couldn’t have scripted that.”
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Bill Connelly
How do you take a typical big October Saturday and make it even better? By making every big game a toss-up.
Week 8 of the college football season gives us four ranked-versus-ranked battles — an enormous SEC tripleheader and Notre Dame-USC. My SP+ ratings project all four games to finish within 3.1 points. Then, there’s the Holy War (BYU-Utah), too. All in all, there are 60 FBS games this weekend, and 32 are projected within one score. We should get at least a couple of classics among the big games, and the thing that separates college football Saturdays from anything else — sheer depth of action — should be on overwhelming display.
There are stakes, too! The SEC race is a giant, puddly mess and should achieve only so much clarity Saturday. Notre Dame-USC could be a College Football Playoff eliminator of sorts (and, oh yeah, it might be the last Notre Dame-USC game for a while). The Big 12 and ACC each have a couple of huge, title-related games, and we’ve got hierarchy-establishing battles in the Sun Belt and Mountain West.
It’s a lot! Let’s make some sense of it! Here’s everything you need to follow in a blood pressure-unfriendly Week 8.
All times are ET and are on Saturday unless otherwise noted.
The SEC tripleheader of Greg Sankey’s dreams
The SEC has no team in the current SP+ top four, but it has eight of the next nine and 10 of the top 19. The conference title race and the race for playoff spots are up for grabs, especially if Alabama stops producing loads of close-game magic.
On Saturday, the league gets the tripleheader of its dreams: Three ranked-versus-ranked battles, all relative toss-ups. The results could establish a bit of a hierarchy within the conference, or they could make things even messier. (As always, I root for the latter.)
No. 5 Ole Miss at No. 9 Georgia (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Last year, Georgia muscled its way to the SEC title, boasting less upside than we’re used to seeing but grinding out victories. But the Dawgs’ high floor was no match for Ole Miss’ high ceiling: The Rebels dominated the line of scrimmage and posted a shockingly easy 28-10 win; it was Georgia’s worst loss since 2019.
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Highlight: No. 16 Rebels keep playoff hopes alive with win vs. No. 3 Georgia
Ole Miss wins the turnover battle, highlighted by stripping the ball from the Bulldogs in the final minutes to solidify a 28-10 win and stay relevant for the College Football Playoff.
If Georgia starts slowly again, Ole Miss might lay down the hammer again. UGA trailed Auburn by 10 points in the first quarter, Alabama by 14 in the second and Tennessee by 14 in the first. That Gunner Stockton and the Dawgs fought back to win two of those three is another reminder that Kirby Smart teams will always be tough as hell. But they lost to Bama, and they might not be able to afford more than one additional defeat. At some point, they have to play well.
Ole Miss messed around last week, stumbling through early miscues and needing a late stop to beat Washington State 24-21. Maybe the Rebels were looking ahead to UGA? This is a pretty big game, and not only because the Rebels haven’t won in Athens since 1996. They’re one of only two remaining unbeatens in the parity-soaked SEC, and a win here would put them in excellent position to reach their first SEC championship game.
Georgia holds the advantages on the ground, while Ole Miss controls the air.
When Georgia has the ball
Yards per carry (not inc. sacks): Georgia offense 79th, Ole Miss defense 106th
Yards per dropback: Ole Miss defense 36th, Georgia offense 59th
When Ole Miss has the ball
Yards per carry: Georgia defense sixth, Ole Miss offense 63rd
Yards per dropback: Ole Miss offense fifth, Georgia defense 64th
Georgia should exploit Ole Miss’ shoddy run defense, but the Rebels could counter that with a big passing advantage. Trinidad Chambliss distributes the ball well to five or six receivers, and even after playing against Auburn’s destitute passing game, Georgia still ranks 117th in sack rate. Chambliss will likely have time to find open guys.
Current line: UGA -7.5 | SP+ projection: UGA by 1.8 | FPI projection: UGA by 5.3
No. 11 Tennessee at No. 6 Alabama (7:30 p.m., ABC)
One of my go-to measures is postgame win expectancy. It takes a look at the predictive stats a game produces — the stuff that feeds into SP+ — and says, “With these stats, Team A would have won this game X% of the time.” It’s a good way of measuring if a team is winning in a sustainable way or if good fortune is involved.
In wins over both Georgia and Missouri, Alabama’s postgame win expectancy was under 30%. The Crimson Tide handily lost the explosiveness battle against UGA and was both less efficient and less explosive than Mizzou, but won both games with the right combination of clutch-play success. That’s tough to sustain over a long season, though Kalen DeBoer’s 2023 Washington team did just that while reaching the national title game. If you have the right quarterback play and close-game execution, you can pull one over on the stat gods for a little while. The stat gods always get their comeuppance — as in 2024, when DeBoer’s Bama looked like an 11-win team on paper but went 9-4 — but you can ride it out for a bit.
The close games probably aren’t going to stop. Of Bama’s next six games, five are projected within 8.1 points. The Tide will require a lot more of what we saw against Missouri, when Ty Simpson didn’t produce dazzling stats (23 completions for 200 yards with four sacks) but completed some brilliant passes on third- and fourth-and-long.
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Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Missouri Tigers: Full Highlights
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Missouri Tigers: Full Highlights
Simpson has gotten help from running back Jam Miller of late, though he is questionable for Saturday (concussion protocol). The defense got carved up on a couple of drives but controlled Mizzou for a large run in the middle of the game.
Tennessee is in pretty good shape, playoff-wise; the 5-1 Vols are projected favorites in each game after this. But their defense, so excellent last year, ranks just 78th in points allowed per drive. Luckily for the Vols, they’re 12th on offense. They are efficient via run and pass, and RB DeSean Bishop and WRs Chris Brazzell II and Mike Matthews are big-play machines. But if Simpson made key passes against Georgia’s and Mizzou’s defenses, it’s pretty hard to see Tennessee stopping the Tide when it counts.
Current line: Bama -7.5 | SP+ projection: Bama by 2.2 | FPI projection: Bama by 6.1
No. 10 LSU at No. 17 Vanderbilt (noon, ABC)
LSU’s defense, problematic for years, has allowed more than 10 points just once, combining great pass coverage with great ball pursuit and allowing the 5-1 Tigers to mostly overcome their worst offense of the Brian Kelly era. Vandy, meanwhile, won its first five games by an average of 32 points before red zone turnovers spoiled an upset bid against Bama. The Commodores’ defense is unexceptional, but the offense ranks second nationally in success rate. Quarterback Diego Pavia keeps the offense moving (and grinds out some hard rushing yards), while running backs Sedrick Alexander and Makhilyn Young are averaging 7.5 yards per carry.
Close games will determine the SEC’s CFP bids; five of Vandy’s last six games are projected within 6.5 points, per SP+, and four of LSU’s last six are within 4.5. The loser of this one will likely have spent its final mulligan and will have to win a lot of coin-flip games to stay in the hunt.
Current line: Vandy -2.5 | SP+ projection: Vandy by 0.4 | FPI projection: Vandy by 2.7
For the Jeweled Shillelagh (and playoff hopes)
No. 20 USC at No. 13 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m., NBC)
I’m struggling to get past the idea that we might lose Notre Dame-USC, at least for a little while, for embarrassingly silly reasons. Just in case sanity doesn’t prevail, we deserve a barn burner Saturday night.
In a rivalry based on long-term momentum swings, Notre Dame has held the advantage for most of the past 15 years, but this one appears relatively even on paper. Since losing its first two games by a combined four points — both to current top-five teams (Miami and Texas A&M) — Notre Dame has won four games by an average of 30. The defense had big-play issues early on but has allowed 27 total points in the past three weeks and should keep improving now that corner Leonard Moore is healthy again.
Quarterback CJ Carr has been absolutely dynamite. Despite being a redshirt freshman, and despite substandard performance from the offensive line — which has allowed quite a few negative run plays and merely average pressure numbers — he’s 11th in Total QBR. On third-and-7 or more, Notre Dame ranks second nationally with a 44% conversion rate. Carr’s ceiling is spectacularly high.
Of course, USC’s Jayden Maiava ranks first in Total QBR. He’s completing 72% of his passes at 15.1 yards per completion. That’s quite the high-end combination.
Maiava has done plenty of damage against bad defenses, but the Trojans topped 30 points against Illinois and Michigan, too. It helps to have a run game you can lean on, and USC’s might be the most underrated in the country. Backs Waymond Jordan, Eli Sanders and King Miller have combined to average 191.7 yards per game and 7.0 per carry. Jordan and Sanders got hurt against Michigan — they’re both likely out Saturday — so Miller, a walk-on redshirt freshman, went for 158 yards. That says great things about the O-line, especially considering it has been battling some injuries.
That leaves the USC defense. A consistent liability in Lincoln Riley’s nine years as a head coach, the Trojans have been mostly solid this year, but they got beat for some long passes against Michigan State and Illinois. That will probably happen Saturday, too, but if they can hold the Irish to 31 points or so, Maiava & Co. could top that.
Current line: Irish -9.5 (up from -7.5 on Sunday) | SP+ projection: Irish by 3.1 | FPI projection: Irish by 5.1
This week in the Big 12
There’s nothing I enjoy more than a nice, silly Big 12 title race, and Texas Tech’s current dominance levels suggest at least half of the Big 12 championship game matchup is as good as settled. That could change, obviously, but when you lose your quarterback to injury twice in three games and extend your lead by 20-plus points in both games, you’re proving something. We’ll see if the Red Raiders can keep proving something against the defending conference champs.
Regardless of Tech’s dominance, there are two spots available in Jerry World, and the fight for the other spot (at least) is up for grabs. The winner of Saturday night’s Holy War in Provo, Utah, will become the favorite to land that one.
No. 7 Texas Tech at Arizona State (4 p.m., Fox)
Arizona State was hit-and-miss early last season, then lost a game with quarterback Sam Leavitt injured. That summarizes this season as well. Leavitt should return after missing last week’s loss to Utah, and if the Sun Devils hit the gas like last year, everything’s still on the table.
Last week was pretty demoralizing, though. Leavitt’s presence wouldn’t have done much to stop Utah from scoring touchdowns on six of seven possessions. The Sun Devils rank 71st in points per drive and 94th in points allowed; they simply might not have enough to offer.
A few weeks ago, Texas Tech pushed around Utah just like the Utes did to ASU. Even if quarterback Behren Morton (questionable) can’t go, Will Hammond has played well — he isn’t as consistent a passer, but he offers far more with his legs. And either way, ASU still has to score on a defense ranked fifth in points allowed per drive and featuring two of the best defenders in college football (linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and edge rusher David Bailey).
Current line: Tech -7.5 (down from -10.5) | SP+ projection: Tech by 15.5 | FPI projection: Tech by 7.3
No. 23 Utah at No. 15 BYU (8 p.m., Fox)
Utah has responded as well as possible to the blowout loss to Tech. Outmuscled at the line of scrimmage by the Red Raiders, the Utes have done all the pushing since, walloping West Virginia and Arizona State by a combined 90-24. They aren’t creating many big plays — an issue for years — but quarterback Devon Dampier & Co. are second in rushing success rate and eighth in passing success rate. BYU’s defense also is pretty efficient, though the Cougars have allowed an increasing point total in every game this season. At some point, that becomes an obvious problem, but this is the second-best defense Utah has faced.
Of course, Utah’s defense is by far the best Bear Bachmeier has faced. The unbeaten BYU freshman quarterback came through with his legs in last week’s comeback win over Arizona, but he also went 12-for-29 passing with two interceptions. Utah’s defense is awesome at the front (where end John Henry Daley is a breakout star) and back (where the Utes rank sixth in completion rate allowed).
Current line: Utah -3.5 | SP+ projection: Utah by 0.5 | FPI projection: BYU by 0.3
The ACC title race takes shape, too
As with Texas Tech in the Big 12, Miami’s fast start has established a clear front-runner in the ACC title race. But two teams will make the ACC championship game, and five are unbeaten early in ACC play (Miami, Georgia Tech, Duke, Virginia and SMU). They’re among six teams, along with Louisville, who have at least a 7% chance at the conference title, per SP+.
Conveniently, four of those six teams are playing head-to-head this weekend.
Louisville at No. 2 Miami (Friday, 7 p.m., ESPN)
Louisville is 4-1 and a projected favorite in six of its last seven games. The Cardinals appear likely to post at least nine wins for the third straight time under Jeff Brohm. The defense has been excellent, and running back Isaac Brown remains one of the most explosive in college football.
The Cardinals still feel pretty disappointing this season, though, at least on offense. Brown and Duke Watson have been slowed because of injuries, and quarterback Miller Moss struggled on several dropbacks in their loss to Virginia. The offensive line is allowing loads of negative plays. All’s forgiven if they win Friday night, but they’ll have to raise their game.
This is about where things went awry for a fast-starting Miami team in 2024, but with Rueben Bain Jr. and Mohamed Toure anchoring a far more stable defense and the offensive line living up to hype, the Hurricanes don’t seem interested in allowing that to happen again. Granted, the offense hasn’t been quite as effective as it has gotten credit for, mainly due to a lack of explosiveness — they’re 13th in success rate but just 126th in yards per successful play. Carson Beck hasn’t been amazing on third downs either, and if Louisville can knock the Hurricanes off schedule, the Cardinals’ dynamite pass rush could impact the game. But Louisville will still need to steer out of the mud and start scoring points.
Current line: Miami -13.5 | SP+ projection: Miami by 7.9 | FPI projection: Miami by 12.4
No. 12 Georgia Tech at Duke (noon, ESPN)
In Duke’s first big home game of 2025, the Blue Devils suffered five turnovers against Illinois in a 45-19 loss. They won a majority of the game’s plays but were on the wrong end of all the catastrophes. (They seemed to let that loss beat them the next week, too, falling behind 24-3 to Tulane before losing by seven.)
Now comes another big home game. The Blue Devils have won their first three conference games by an average of 43-19, and Darian Mensah, responsible for three of those five Illinois turnovers, has been increasingly dominant.
Georgia Tech has drifted a bit in the other direction. The Yellow Jackets remain unbeaten, but after early wins over Colorado and Clemson, they’ve underachieved against SP+ projections for three straight games. They can still run the heck out of the ball with QB Haynes King and RBs Jamal Haynes and Malachi Hosley, but they are struggling to knock opponents off schedule and rush the passer. Duke can defend the run and stay on schedule beautifully.
Current line: Duke -1.5 | SP+ projection: Tech by 0.3 | FPI projection: Duke by 2.9
A pair of elimination games (of sorts) in the Group of 5
Per the Allstate Playoff Predictor, five Group of 5 teams have at least a 5% chance of reaching the CFP: Memphis (43%), USF (30%), Tulane (11%), UNLV (8%) and Boise State (6%). Memphis and USF have easier games that were relegated to the Playlist below, but BSU and UNLV face off, and a maddening Tulane takes on an Army team capable of just about anything.
UNLV at Boise State (3:30 p.m., FS1)
Since the start of 2023, UNLV is 26-8 — 0-3 against Boise State and 26-5 against everyone else. Is this the year the Rebels finally clear the Boise hurdle?
BSU’s four wins and two losses have come by an average of 24 points. Either it has all worked or it all hasn’t — that’s how things go when your offense is inefficient but explosive and you make sure your opponents are the same. The Broncos make every game a big-play contest.
UNLV is all-or-nothing in a different way: all offense, no defense. The Rebels are averaging more than 38 points per game but allowing nearly 30. They seek turnovers to an almost self-destructive degree and give up 6.3 yards per play. But with quarterback Anthony Colandrea, running back Jai’Den Thomas and receiver Jaden Bradley, they can keep up with anyone in a big-play contest.
Current line: BSU -12.5 (up from -10.5) | SP+ projection: BSU by 7.0 | FPI projection: BSU by 5.7
Army at Tulane (noon, ESPNU)
“We’re a really sloppy football team that finds ways to win games. And I’m going to lose my mind because we’re so immature. We’ve got to grow up fast.” That’s what Tulane’s Jon Sumrall said after last week’s narrow 26-19 win over East Carolina, and, well, that about summed it up. The Green Wave boast major upside and two power-conference wins, they’ve been inconsistent and have slipped to 64th in SP+. But they’re still 5-1! If they shift into gear, they could easily be in the CFP.
Army lost to Tarleton State and got blown out by ECU but also beat Kansas State and won its past two games by 35 combined points. The Black Knights can’t even slightly pass, but they don’t lose yards and the defense prevents big plays. Can Tulane summon maturity and move to 6-1?
Current line: Tulane -9.5 | SP+ projection: Tulane by 7.8 | FPI projection: Tulane by 11.2
Week 8 chaos superfecta
We’re once again using this space to will chaos into existence, looking at four carefully curated games with pretty big point spreads and mashing them together into a much more upset-friendly number. And we’re in a funk! The sport has had plenty of chaos, but the superfecta’s gone 0-3 since a 3-1 start.
It’s time to rectify that by taking down a Big Ten favorite. SP+ says there’s only a 32% chance that Maryland (72% win probability over UCLA), Nebraska (74% over Minnesota), Oregon (85% over Rutgers) and Indiana (95% over Michigan State) all win. It’s rally time!
Week 8 playlist
Here are some more games you should pay attention to if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend, from both information and entertainment perspectives. (Don’t worry, I’m not trying to convince you to watch Iowa-Penn State. Our relationship means too much to me to do that to you.)
Friday evening
No. 25 Nebraska at Minnesota (8 p.m., Fox). Two fun, young QBs — Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola and Minnesota’s Drake Lindsey — have, with help from top-30 defenses, led their teams to a combined 9-3 record, but Nebraska is looking for more. The Huskers have a 30% chance at a 10-2 finish or better, per SP+; that would be their first such season in ages and would theoretically insert them into the playoff race.
Current line: Nebraska -8.5 (up from -6.5) | SP+ projection: Nebraska by 10.2 | FPI projection: Nebraska by 7.2
North Carolina at California (10:30 p.m., ESPN). North Carolina got a bye week to read all those “How it’s all gone wrong for Bill Belichick” stories. This is one of only two remaining games in which they’re not projected as a double-digit underdog. If they can’t get past Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Cal — also coming off a bye week — they might not get past anyone.
Current line: Cal -10.5 | SP+ projection: Cal by 8.7 | FPI projection: Cal by 7.5
Early Saturday
No. 14 Oklahoma at South Carolina (12:45 p.m., SECN). OU rushed John Mateer back to action, but he was rusty and overwhelmed against Texas. South Carolina’s defense has stabilized significantly and could offer resistance, but at some point, the Gamecocks’ offense, currently 123rd in points per drive, needs to show up. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers isn’t getting much help, but he’s not helping himself enough, either.
Current line: OU -5.5 | SP+ projection: OU by 8.8 | FPI projection: OU by 1.1
Washington at Michigan (noon, Fox). I’m still confused by the lack of pollster love for 5-1 Washington. The unranked Huskies got far fewer AP votes than either two-loss Illinois or two-loss Michigan, but they can theoretically rectify that with a win in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines’ offense has no-showed in both losses, but Washington games can turn into track meets pretty easily.
Current line: Michigan -6.5 | SP+ projection: Michigan by 2.4 | FPI projection: Michigan by 4.5
Baylor at TCU (noon, ESPN2). The Revivalry is a Last Chance Saloon situation for a TCU team just 1-2 in Big 12 play. It’s probably noteworthy that BU’s Sawyer Robertson and TCU’s Josh Hoover will be passing against defenses that rank 103rd and 101st, respectively, in yards allowed per dropback. This game better have at least 70 combined points. (It did last year.)
Current line: TCU -2.5 | SP+ projection: TCU by 7.8 | FPI projection: TCU by 3.2
Saturday afternoon
No. 4 Texas A&M at Arkansas (3:30 p.m., ESPN). Texas A&M has mastered the art of simply sitting on games, leaning heavily on a dynamite offensive line and pass rush and waiting for opponents to fall over. Arkansas just lights every game on fire; the Razorbacks have scored at least 31 points in five games and allowed at least 32 in four straight. They’ve almost beaten three ranked teams now — they’re dangerous, if self-destructive, underdogs.
Current line: A&M -7.5 | SP+ projection: A&M by 9.0 | FPI projection: A&M by 5.4
SMU at Clemson (3:30 p.m., ACCN). After terribly disappointing September campaigns, both Clemson and SMU — last year’s ACC championship game competitors — have stabilized with a pair of comfortable ACC wins. Clemson has been a bit more demonstrative, but the Tigers, at 2-2 in the ACC, are playing from behind; with a slight upset, SMU would be 3-0 in ACC play and back in the title conversation.
Current line: Clemson -9.5 | SP+ projection: Clemson by 4.4 | FPI projection: Clemson by 3.3
Mississippi State at Florida (4:15 p.m., SECN). Mississippi State got a bye week after its disappointing performance against Texas A&M. Florida acquitted itself slightly better against the Aggies last Saturday, but after that ultra-physical affair, the Gators will have to deal with the ultra-fast MSU attack. Can they get receiver Dallas Wilson, the hero of the Texas game, going again?
Current line: Florida -9.5 | SP+ projection: Florida by 2.6 | FPI projection: Florida by 4.4
Old Dominion at James Madison (3:30 p.m., ESPNU). This one was looking like it might be the G5 game of the week, but JMU’s offense underachieved for a second straight game in a narrower-than-expected win over Louisiana, and ODU self-destructed with five turnovers and three turnovers on downs in a huge loss to Marshall. This is still huge for Sun Belt East title purposes, at least.
Current line: JMU -1.5 | SP+ projection: JMU by 5.4 | FPI projection: ODU by 0.8
No. 22 Memphis at UAB (4 p.m., ESPN2). Granted, there could be some UCLA-style, nothing-to-lose vibes from a UAB team that just fired coach Trent Dilfer. But that’s the only reason to think this one will be close. Memphis is running the ball brilliantly, and the Tigers’ defense is playing its best ball in more than a decade.
Current line: Memphis -22.5 | SP+ projection: Memphis by 27.0 | FPI projection: Memphis by 25.7
Michigan State at No. 3 Indiana (3:30 p.m., Peacock). Granted, UCLA went from winless and hopeless to genuinely exciting overnight, so anything’s possible, but the team UCLA smoked last week — Michigan State — is also looking awfully hopeless. The most interesting thing about this one might be how Indiana responds to its greatest week of news clippings ever. Can the Hoosiers remain focused?
Current line: IU -27.5 | SP+ projection: IU by 26.4 | FPI projection: IU 26.9
UTSA at North Texas (3:30 p.m., ESPN+). North Texas let a huge opportunity slip through its fingers last week thanks to a 3½-minute, 28-0 run by USF in a 63-36 loss to the Bulls. Can the Mean Green avoid a hangover and remain in the American Conference race by taking care of an all-or-nothing UTSA and its all-or-nothing run game (Robert Henry Jr. and Will Henderson III: 1,004 yards at 7.3 per carry)?
Current line: UNT -3.5 (down from -5.5) | SP+ projection: UNT by 4.3 | FPI projection: UNT by 2.0
No. 1 Ohio State at Wisconsin (3:30 p.m., CBS). I can’t believe Wisconsin is making Luke Fickell coach this game before firing him.
Current line: OSU -25.5 | SP+ projection: OSU by 25.4 | FPI projection: OSU by 23.4
Saturday evening
No. 16 Missouri at Auburn (7:45 p.m., SECN). Missouri had a golden opportunity to beat Alabama but couldn’t get the job done. If the Tigers rebound well, the CFP is still in play, but they can’t fall victim to Auburn’s nonsense. Hugh Freeze’s Tigers defended well enough to play Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Georgia achingly close but didn’t have the offense to seal the deal. Will they ever?
Current line: Mizzou -1.5 (flipped from Auburn -2.5) | SP+ projection: Mizzou by 5.5 | FPI projection: Mizzou by 0.7
No. 6 Oregon at Rutgers (6:30 p.m., BTN). Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis is on pace for 3,500 passing yards, and the Scarlet Knights have scored at least 28 points in five of six games. This is an offense capable of leading an upset, but the RU defense is just about Greg Schiano’s worst ever. Think that might hinder them against Dante Moore and the ridiculously efficient Oregon offense?
Current line: Oregon -17.5 (up from -14.5) | SP+ projection: Oregon by 16.5 | FPI projection: Oregon by 11.6
No. 21 Texas at Kentucky (7 p.m., ESPN). Kentucky might be a lost cause at this point — per SP+, the Wildcats’ odds of losing out (4%) aren’t that much lower than their odds of bowling (11%). But they defend the run pretty well and pressure quarterbacks. Either Arch Manning makes good plays against a bad secondary, or Kentucky gets enough stops to make this interesting.
Current line: Texas -12.5 | SP+ projection: Texas by 14.8 | FPI projection: Texas by 10.6
Washington State at No. 18 Virginia (6:30 p.m., The CW). The transfer-driven UVA offense, led by QB Chandler Morris and RB J’Mari Taylor, has scored 30-plus points every week. The Wazzu defense, meanwhile, is confusing: The Cougs have allowed 59 points twice but have allowed 12.5 points per game in their four other games. The Hoos should handle this one, but Wazzu nearly stunned Ole Miss last week.
Current line: UVA -17.5 | SP+ projection: UVA by 13.8 | FPI projection: UVA by 18.9
Florida Atlantic at No. 19 USF (7:30 p.m., ESPNU). This should be the fastest game of the week. In terms of seconds per play, USF ranks first and FAU ranks third. USF is faster, but four FAU games have topped 66 combined points. Even if this is an easy win for the Bulls, it should be pretty prolific.
Current line: USF -21.5 | SP+ projection: USF by 17.4 | FPI projection: USF by 19.6
Late Saturday
Florida State at Stanford (10:30 p.m., ESPN). Florida State’s defense has underachieved for a while now, and the offense has slipped just enough to make that costly. The Noles have lost three games in a row, but while playing at Stanford requires a cross-country trip, it should be a get-right opportunity. The Cardinal’s most likely record right now? 3-9, which was their record the past four seasons.
Current line: FSU -18.5 | SP+ projection: FSU by 19.3 | FPI projection: FSU by 11.1
Smaller-school showcase
Let’s once again save a shout-out for the glorious lower levels of the sport. Here are three games you should track. (Yes, I’m giving you a week off from the WIAC race in Division III, even though No. 4 Wisconsin-La Crosse at No. 14 Wisconsin-Platteville should be pretty fantastic. Actually, watch that one too.)
NAIA: No. 7 Lindsey Wilson at No. 9 Campbellsville (12:30 p.m., YouTube). Led by prolific rusher Davontaye Saunders, LWU holds the No. 1 ranking in NAIA SP+, but the Blue Raiders should face a stiff test in the Battle of Highway 55. Campbellsville is averaging 43 points per game, and quarterback Jett Engle is willing to go for broke, for better (14.3 yards per completion, 14 TDs) or worse (seven INTs).
SP+ projection: LWU by 9.4
FCS: No. 11 North Dakota at No. 12 Southern Illinois (3 p.m., ESPN+). It’s not exactly a playoff eliminator, but it’s close. UND and SIU are 4-2 with losses only to FBS opponents (Kansas State and Purdue, respectively) and FCS heavyweights (Montana and North Dakota State). SIU dual-threat quarterback DJ Williams has five 200-yard passing games and two 100-yard rushing games, and UND’s relentless run game grinds opponents into dust.
SP+ projection: UND by 2.2
Division II: No. 3 West Florida at No. 8 West Alabama (6 p.m., FloCollege). Unbeaten Gulf South rivals face off in Livingston. UWA has topped 50 points in two straight games and doesn’t mind going full-on track meet with big-play receivers Dearrius Nelson and TD Parker. UWF, however, plays a bit more defense: Linebacker Ja’Kobe Clinton and tackle Kevin Roberts have already combined for 20 TFLs.
SP+ projection: UWF by 8.9
LOS ANGELES — It’s easy to take Shohei Ohtani for granted. By now, we’ve settled into the rote comfort: He is the best player on the planet, and that’s that. Ohtani’s baseline is everyone else’s peak. He is judged against himself and himself only.
And it’s human nature that when we watch something often enough — even something as mind-bending as a player who’s a full-time starting pitcher and full-time hitter and among the very best at both — it starts to register as normal.
Which is why his performances on Friday — the unleashing of the full extent of Ohtani’s magic — was the sort of necessary reminder that one of the greatest athletes in the world, and the most talented baseball player ever, is playing right now, doing unfathomable things, redefining the game in real time. And that even when he starts the day mired in an uncharacteristic slump, Ohtani needs only a single game to launch himself into the annals of history.
Where Ohtani’s performance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series ranks on the all-time list of games will be debated for years. In the celebration following Los Angeles‘ 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, though, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stood on the field and said, “That’s the greatest night in baseball history,” and no one cared to argue.
Over the course of 2 hours, 41 minutes, in front of 52,883 fans, with millions watching domestically and tens of millions more in Japan, Ohtani threw six shutout innings and struck out 10 in between hitting three home runs that traveled a combined 1,342 feet, including one that left Dodger Stadium entirely. It was the sort of game that happens in comic books, not real life — and it was a game that completed a championship series sweep and sent Los Angeles to its second consecutive World Series. It was the kind of night that leaves patrons elated they saw it and also just a little ruined because they know they’ll never see anything like it again. Everyone was a prisoner, captive to perhaps the greatest individual game in the quarter-million or so played over the last century and a half.
It was, at very least, one of the finest displays of baseball since the game’s inception, up there with Tony Cloninger hitting two grand slams and throwing a complete game in 1966 or Rick Wise socking two home runs amid his no-hitter on the mound in 1971. And unlike those, this came in the postseason, and in a game to clinch Los Angeles the opportunity to become the first team in a quarter-century to win back-to-back championships.
It wasn’t quite Don Larsen throwing a perfect game — but Larsen went 0-for-2 in that game and needed a Mickey Mantle home run to account for his scoring. It wasn’t Reggie Jackson hammering three home runs, either — because Reggie needed Mike Torrez to throw a complete game that night to make his blasts stand up.
Ohtani is the only player who can do this, the offense and the defense — the mastery of baseball, the distillation of talent into something pure and perfect.
Hours earlier, his day had started by navigating the tricky balance of starting and hitting on the same day. His metronomic routine, such a vital piece of his three MVP seasons (the fourth will be made official in mid-November), is upended completely when he pitches. He budgets for the extra time he needs to spend caring for his arm by sacrificing his attendance at the hitters’ meeting, instead getting the intel he needs from coaches in the batting cage about an hour before the game.
Nobody could tell, when Ohtani arrived in the underground cage Friday, that he was mired in a nasty slump that had stretched from the division series through the third game of the NLCS, a jag of strikeouts and soft contact and poor swing decisions and utter frustration that got so bad earlier in the week he had taken batting practice outside at Dodger Stadium, something he never — like, really, never — does. He had decided to do so on the plane ride back from Milwaukee, where the Dodgers had humbled the Brewers with the sort of starting pitching never seen in a league championship series.
Game 4, his teammates were convinced, was going to be a culmination of that extra cage work and the matching of his pitching peers’ dominance.
“You guys asked me yesterday, and I said I was expecting nothing short of incredible today,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “And he proved me wrong. He went beyond incredible.”
After walking the leadoff hitter, Brice Turang, Ohtani struck out the next three hitters, popping a pair of 100 mph-plus fastballs and unleashing the most confounding version of his splitter seen all year. He followed by obliterating a slurve from Jose Quintana in the bottom of the inning for a home run, the first time a pitcher ever hit a leadoff homer in the game’s history, regular season or playoffs.
The strikeouts continued — one in the third inning, two more in the fourth, preceding Ohtani’s second home run, which left 50,000 mouths agape. In the stands, they cheered, and in the dugout, they whooped, and in the bullpen, they screamed: “The ball went out of the stadium!” Alex Vesia, the reliever who would come in after Ohtani struck out two more in the fifth and sixth innings, could not conceive that a person could hit a baseball in a game that far. Officially, it went 469 feet. It felt like 1,000.
“At that point, it’s got to be the greatest game ever, right?” said Vesia, who did his part to help keep it so. Ohtani allowed a walk and a hit in the seventh inning, and had Vesia allowed either run to score, the sparkling zero in his pitching line could’ve been an unsightly one or crooked two. When he induced a ground ball up the middle that nutmegged his legs, Mookie Betts was in perfect position to hoover it, step on second and fire to first for a double play that preserved Ohtani’s goose egg.
In the next inning, Ohtani’s third home run of the night, and this one was just showing off: a shot to dead center off a 99 mph Trevor Megill fastball, a proper complement to the second off an 89 mph Chad Patrick cutter and the first off a 79 mph Quintana slurve). If it sounds impressive to hit three different pitches off three different pitchers for home runs in one night, it is. To do so throwing six innings, allowing two hits, walking three and striking out 10 is otherworldly.
“We were so focused on just winning the game, doing what needed to be done, I’m not sure we realized how good it really was,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “I didn’t really appreciate it until after. Like, he actually did that?”
Yes. Yes he did. In baseball history, 503 players have hit three home runs in a game, and 1,550 have struck out 10 or more in a game. None, until Friday, had done both. And that’s what Shohei Ohtani does, who he is. For eight years, he has transformed what is possible in baseball, set a truly impossible standard to match, and now, finally, having signed with a franchise capable of giving his talents the largest stage, Ohtani gets to perform when it matters most.
Milwaukee won more games during the regular season than anyone. Regardless of how impotent the Brewers’ offense was this series, they were a very good team, and the Dodgers flayed them. The final game was an exclamation point — and a warning for the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays, whichever survives the back-and-forth American League Championship Series.
Shohei Ohtani awaits. Good luck.
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