What’s next for the Senators after sale to Michael Andlauer?
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
Selling the Ottawa Senators generated more drama than an episode of Netflix’s “Selling Sunset.”
For months the Senators’ saga played out like a reality series cliché: billionaire bidding wars, high-stakes negotiations, celebrity cameos and, in the end, one clear winner.
In Ottawa’s case, it was transportation tycoon Michael Andlauer — heading a group of additional investors — who emerged victorious, offering a reported $950 million earlier this month to successfully sign a purchase agreement for the Senators. That deal remains subject to NHL approval.
Andlauer, 58, had been involved with the sale process in Ottawa from its start last November. The Canadian businessman is a self-made billionaire with long-term, winding roots in the hockey community. Born in France but raised in Montreal, Andlauer grew up loving the Canadiens, a passion that would set the table for future investments.
In 2003, Andlauer became a part owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs — Montreal’s then-American Hockey League affiliate — and in 2004 purchased a majority stake in the club. By 2009, Andlauer had graduated to the big leagues by buying a minority share of the Canadiens as part of a collective helmed by Geoff Molson (if Andlauer’s bid for the Senators gets over the line, he will have to divest all interests in the Habs moving forward).
Andlauer wasn’t the only candidate eagerly pursuing Ottawa, either. Sources confirmed to ESPN that Andlauer’s was one of four final bids for the Senators at the agreed-upon May 15 deadline. The other pitches came from California-based businessman Neko Sparks (who was supported in part by musical recording star Snoop Dogg), entrepreneurs Jeffrey and Michael Kimel, and billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos. Canadian real estate corporation The Remington Group — backed in part by actor Ryan Reynolds — had also been in the mix much of the way before bowing out in early May.
Now, some seven months after the Senators’ “For Sale” sign went up, there is pending stability for the franchise — at least when it comes to ownership. Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe tweeted Tuesday that it was “great to meet” with Andlauer and that they had a “great conversation about the future of Ottawa and the Senators.”
Once Andlauer is, as expected, anointed into his new role, there are plenty of questions to be answered about the team’s present and future that will set it up for a kind of success that Ottawa has been lacking — but that former owner Eugene Melnyk had always envisioned for his beloved Senators.
How the Senators came up for sale
Melnyk was a standout businessman in his own right.
His passion, though — as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman often stated — was tied up in Ottawa.
Melnyk purchased the Senators in 2003 for $130 million and fronted the organization until his passing on March 28, 2022, after a long illness. Under Melnyk, the Senators made one Stanley Cup Final appearance, in 2007, and again reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2017. Ottawa also weathered its share of lean seasons in between and after those highlights; the Senators haven’t been back to the postseason since that run to the conference finals six seasons ago.
After Melnyk’s death, the franchise passed to his daughters, Anna and Olivia. They, along with the Senators Sports and Entertainment board of directors, made the “necessary and prudent step” to place Ottawa on the market in November, with an included caveat that anyone attempting to purchase the Senators would not be able to move the team away from Ottawa. Seeing the Senators stay put in Canada’s capital was important to Melnyk and to Bettman.
Despite Ottawa’s standing as a lower-revenue club by league standards, there was never any desire on Melnyk’s part to see his franchise go to another town. That portion of his legacy will be protected now under Andlauer’s leadership.
If the Senators are to remain in Ottawa, it won’t be without some projected changes — on and off the ice. Andlauer and his investors will have to wait to get started, but once they have approval to move ahead, their schedule should be jam-packed giving Ottawa the makeover it has long needed by answering some hard-hitting questions about the franchise’s next steps.
Where will the Senators play?
When Melnyk bought the Senators in 2003, his transaction included taking control of the team’s arena in Kanata, Ontario, a suburb about 30 minutes outside of Ottawa. The Senators had been housed in the arena now named Canadian Tire Centre since it opened in 1996. That location became increasingly at odds with the Senators’ ability to fill their rink for every home game. During his ownership tenure, Melnyk tried to build Ottawa a new home closer to the city’s downtown in the hopes it would not only be a strong business investment but also give the Senators a greater spotlight (and produce higher profits).
When the National Capital Commission began requesting proposals in 2015 to redevelop the downtown LeBreton Flats, Melnyk quickly got involved. By 2016, Melynk and the RendezVous LeBreton Group partnership (with Trinity Development Group) pitched the NCC on a project that included not only the site of a new arena but also housing, parking and recreation facilities to benefit the entire community. Their plan ultimately came apart in 2018 when dueling lawsuits between Trinity and Melynk’s camp put development plans on hold, and the NCC’s subsequent attempt to put the sides through mediation to work out their differences failed.
The NCC again asked for bids in 2022 on the LeBreton Flats space. The Senators went back to the well with another pitch, and in June 2022 the NCC announced that Ottawa’s proposal had been selected for the site; a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Senators-led Capital Sports Development Inc. at the time, and a lease agreement was expected to be produced by fall of this year.
That, of course, all took place before Andlauer took over. Capital Sports has continued working with NCC on the LeBreton redesign, but it will fall to Andlauer how — or if — he wants to proceed with what the group had originally proposed for the LeBreton land.
The NCC has yet to confirm that it has spoken with Andlauer about his plans — that conversation is likely pending NHL approval of his purchase anyway — but in a statement, the NCC declared, “we look forward to working with Mr. Andlauer and his partners on a lease agreement for a future major events centre at LeBreton Flats.”
Time will tell whether Andlauer & Co. like what they hear or whether their ears are bent elsewhere.
Will Andlauer overhaul Ottawa’s front office and coaching staff?
There’s no timeline on when, exactly, the Senators’ sale will (or won’t) be finalized. It might not be until September. What we do know is that Andlauer and his group will have nothing to do with Ottawa’s business at the NHL draft in Nashville next week, or when free agency opens July 1.
Let’s fast-forward. We’ll continue to assume that Andlauer’s business is handled without a hitch and his deal is formally accepted. When the ink is eventually dry, what will Andlauer make of the Senators’ front office and coaching personnel?
Pierre Dorion was hired as general manager by Melnyk in 2016; he is signed through the 2024-25 season, with an option for the club to extend him one additional year. Dorion, in turn, hired coach D.J. Smith in 2019; he’s signed until the end of this coming season, and Ottawa has the option to extend him through 2024-25.
The Senators have reached the postseason only once under Dorion (on that run to the Eastern Conference finals) and haven’t been at all since Smith stepped behind the bench. Will the lack of success by his GM-coach combination spur Andlauer to hire replacements?
Andlauer has ties to Steve Staios, who was president and general manager of the Bulldogs when Andlauer owned that team, and they won two Ontario Hockey League championships together. Staois is currently employed in hockey operations for the Edmonton Oilers, but he might easily be wooed to Ottawa if Andlauer made room for him as GM.
If Andlauer opted for a change in that position, it would likely fall on the incoming executive to decide Smith’s fate behind the bench. Again, given the uncertain timeline for the sale to get pushed through and Smith’s limited time remaining under contract, there could even be a mutual parting of the ways in the coming months.
Another situation to monitor involves Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson. The club’s former captain suited up for Ottawa from 1994 to 2013 and, after his retirement, was briefly a senior adviser for the Sens from 2015 to 2017. Alfredsson has recently stated his desire to hold a “meaningful role” in Senators hockey ops again under the team’s new management. Andlauer reportedly met with Alfredsson earlier this week, too.
Will the Sens’ prospective new owner take Alfredsson up on his desire for an expanded position with the club?
How will the Senators’ new ownership affect players?
Ottawa hasn’t seen the playoffs in six years, but the Senators are closer than ever to returning.
Ottawa has drafted well in recent years, bringing captain Brady Tkachuk, forwards Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson, and defensemen Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson — among others — into the fold. That group is poised to carry the Senators back into contention. In fact, Ottawa might have surged into a playoff spot last season if injury troubles — including losing top forward Josh Norris for most of the season — hadn’t piled up.
That’s all in the past. Andlauer will be focused on assessing the Sens’ next chapter.
Naturally, any management and coaching decisions will impact what Ottawa does with its roster. The Senators do have some key choices to make before the 2023-24 campaign kicks off, though.
Dorion swung for the fences bringing in forward Alex DeBrincat via trade last summer; the pending restricted free agent isn’t expected to re-sign long term in Ottawa, and attempting to broker a deal that benefits the Senators in some way has to be a priority. Then there’s the team’s goaltending. Cam Talbot is headed to unrestricted free agency. Anton Forsberg ended last season on injured reserve but was playing well beforehand. Can Forsberg be anointed the Sens’ next starter? Or will they look elsewhere for help on that front?
In the bigger picture, what will Ottawa’s identity be? Andlauer has experience in the hockey world and will no doubt arrive with opinions on team structure. Those thoughts will clearly have an effect on whom he wants to populate those personnel roles; his vision for the team must match that of whoever is in charge of setting the team up for on-ice success.
All we can do at this stage is speculate on how many alterations Andlauer will see fit to make and how quickly he’ll want to make them. However, given that Andlauer has been a minority owner in the league for years — with another Atlantic Division club, no less — he’s going to be intimately familiar with where Ottawa has failed and thrived during its six-season postseason drought. That potentially cuts down on how long it will take Andlauer to put the wheels of change in motion for Ottawa that directly affect how the Senators look on the ice in the years to come.
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David Hale
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.
Fewest completions in a win over Alabama since 2008:
FSU – 9, today
Okla – 9, Wk13, 2024
LSU – 10, Wk10, 2011
Mich – 11, bowl, 2024
Aub – 11, Wk14, 2013
Aub – 13, Wk14, 2010So, 3 all-time Saban classics (Cam, 9-6, Kick 6) and 3 of DeBoer’s 14 games as Bama HC.
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) August 30, 2025
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.
Pierrot, by Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1718-19 pic.twitter.com/dHRfgGYzPP
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 30, 2025
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.
Deion Sanders indeed has a portable toilet next to Colorado’s bench, to accommodate him following bladder reconstruction surgery.
And it’s sponsored. pic.twitter.com/GegvViVJQC
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 29, 2025
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.
A total of 37,594 in attendance today at The Rent!
The largest crowd since 2013 🫡 pic.twitter.com/FTGYFP1Spa
— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) August 30, 2025
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.
LOVE HAPPENS IN MAYO LAND 💍 pic.twitter.com/WBLqschvhb
— Duke’s Mayo Classic (@DukesMayoBowl) August 30, 2025
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
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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