Texas, Miami re-creating glory days of decades past, trouble in the SEC and more drama in Week 2
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David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
We’ve been here before. It’s September, which is the time of year when we can announce, for a few days at least, that a formerly great program has risen from the ashes to reassert its dominance. In a small sample size, we see visions of better days.
Miami has been back before. It never lasts.
Texas is back nearly every September, and that hope ends quicker than the average Matthew McConaughey nude bongo solo.
For more than a decade, the “they’re back” moment has been less a proclamation than the setup to a joke, with fans all too certain the punchline will come soon enough.
But on this September Saturday, it doesn’t feel like a joke.
Texas didn’t simply beat Alabama 34-24 in Tuscaloosa. The Longhorns threw haymakers, following each Tide touchdown with their own, getting up off the mat to stare down Nick Saban like Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania. This wasn’t a fluke. Texas was the more talented team with the far better quarterback.
A year ago, Quinn Ewers starred as the frontman for Austin’s top Molly Hatchet cover band (Prolly Hatchet) but was, at best, a case in mediocrity at QB. Then he got a haircut and returned to the Horns for 2023 as a genuine star. Ewers threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns, torching the Alabama secondary — including routinely attacking All-American Kool-Aid McKinstry. Not since Hi-C released Ecto Cooler in 1989 has anyone delivered such a blow to Kool-Aid.
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) September 9, 2023
Just as Texas and Alabama kicked off, Miami was putting the finishing touches on its own impressive win over an SEC power. The Hurricanes spotted Texas A&M 10 points to start the game, but then turned the screws on Jimbo Fisher, with QB Tyler Van Dyke tossing five touchdown passes in a 48-33 win.
It was, at long last, proof of concept for coach Mario Cristobal’s promised revival of the Canes, a defining win against a team that, just a year ago, had utterly stifled Miami’s offense.
That the teams on the wrong end of these momentous wins both belonged to the mighty SEC was its own unlikely statement.
For Alabama, all the concerns about an offense without a clear identity and a defense that had softened in recent years were on display against the Longhorns.
For the Aggies, the loss to Miami was so decisive that Bobby Petrino likely offered to interview for Jimbo Fisher’s job on the plane ride home.
The SEC has six nonconference losses in two weeks already, including four to the ACC. (Though, if commissioner Greg Sankey just wants to expand and add North Carolina, Florida State, Miami and, um, Wake Forest, we can chalk it all up to the grind of a tough SEC schedule.) According to ESPN Stats and Information, this marks the first season since 2002 in which Alabama, LSU and Florida have an L by the end of Week 2.
What a brave new world this could be.
There are 12 weeks remaining, of course, and the story of a college football season never plays out just as we’d expect. September foreshadowing is as likely to be a red herring as it is honest data on a trend line.
Still, for this week at least, 2023 felt something more akin to the glory days of decades past.
Texas looks to be back.
Miami looks to be back.
It’s either the start of a genuinely fun season or the sign that precedes the horsemen’s arrival in the Book of Revelation.
Colorado’s instant turnaround and Nebraska’s never-ending rebuild
Sequels so rarely live up to the original, but Colorado‘s second act against Nebraska was, if anything, a more emphatic performance for coach Deion Sanders’ team.
Colorado demolished Nebraska 36-14 on Saturday, as Travis Hunter again made an impact on both sides of the ball with three catches for 73 yards and four tackles, Xavier Weaver looked like an emerging superstar with 10 catches for 170 yards, and Shedeur Sanders followed up his 500-yard passing performance against TCU with another 393 yards and three touchdowns. And while Week 1’s win over the Horned Frogs hardly showcased an elite defense, the Buffaloes held Nebraska to just 11 completions and had four takeaways.
But as with most genuinely good sequels, the real entertainment is less in what we learned of an already established hero but more in the complexity of the antagonist.
And in this case, Nebraska offered no complexity. The story of the Cornhuskers is simple: They’re bad.
Saturday’s loss was the 18th in Nebraska’s past 23 games. Jeff Sims, the quarterback coach Matt Rhule handpicked to lead the Huskers’ resurgence, was dreadful for the second straight week, turning the ball over three times. The defense, which held up well early, fell apart down the stretch.
The only thing that looked much different from past Nebraska misery on Saturday is that the game was never actually all that close.
There are still nits to pick with the Buffaloes. In their two otherwise impressive wins, they’ve allowed 12 sacks and rushed for just 1.7 yards per carry. And it’s certainly possible Colorado has yet to see a truly challenging opponent.
A year ago, however, the Buffs were an embarrassment, hardly capable of taking the field without tripping over their own shoe laces. Now, you have to squint to find any flaws in their game.
0:31
Colorado forces big interception, celebrates on turnover throne
Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig snags the interception as Colorado takes over with good field position.
The problems at Nebraska are so much bigger — bigger, perhaps, than they were even a year ago, amid embarrassing losses to Northwestern and Georgia Southern and, well, Huskers fans don’t need reminders.
Two games isn’t enough to judge a rebuild, of course. Rhule has a long history of winning college football games, and life gets at least marginally easier in the next couple of weeks.
But Sims is now 7-18 as a starting QB with 39 touchdowns and 37 turnovers. Is there a reason to think that résumé changes in the months to come?
Those Blackshirts on defense, once the soul of one of the great programs in the country, have been beaten down by one showing of offensive ineptitude after another.
And while the party in Boulder is just getting started, hope for Nebraska still feels like it’s a long ways off.
Pac-12 keeps humming
No league stays perfect forever, even if “forever” for that league is about eight more months.
So it was that the Pac-12’s undefeated start to the season came to a halt in Week 2, when Arizona fell to Mississippi State 31-24 in overtime.
And yet, Week 2 was another reminder that, in what sure seems like its last season of existence, the Pac-12 isn’t going out without some fireworks.
Oregon overcame a 27-18 deficit and picked off its former QB Tyler Shough three times, including a 45-yard pick six with 45 seconds left to seal a 38-30 win over Texas Tech.
Washington State knocked off No. 19 Wisconsin.
UCLA dominated San Diego State.
Utah escaped Baylor, Colorado was exceptional again, and the Washington Huskies are tossing touchdown passes like Oprah giving away cars.
USC‘s game ops even get credit for being way cooler than the officials. Listen, Stanford had no chance to win this game, and the people just wanted to listen to “Free Bird.”
“No foul for false start, music was playing distracting the players.” ?
That’s a new one ? pic.twitter.com/tX0p0SLAfU
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 10, 2023
Michael Penix Jr. has now thrown for 400 or more yards in four of his past six games. At Rutgers, that’s called “a good century.”
Dante Moore looks like an emerging star at UCLA, throwing for 290 yards and three touchdowns against San Diego State on Saturday.
USC is already a video game on offense. This kind of stuff is just terrifying.
TO. THE. HOUSE. ??@zachariahb03 X @uscfb pic.twitter.com/YeUB2rRl2b
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 10, 2023
Even with Saturday’s losses, the Pac-12 figures to have six teams ranked in the top 20, which gives the league a good case as the nation’s best.
And sure, Stanford looked awful and Cal lost. But that’s the ACC’s problem.
Heisman Five
We’re two weeks in and, honestly, the hardest part is deciding how many Colorado players to include among the Heisman favorites.
1. Colorado do-it-all star Travis Hunter
Hunter had three catches for 73 yards on offense, four tackles and a PBU on defense, and singlehandedly swayed the international markets to send corn futures plummeting. It was a thorough beating of Nebraska.
2. USC QB Caleb Williams
Williams threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns against Stanford. Oh, that was just in the first half. If he keeps doing this to teams he’s going to ruin his Heisman chances by never playing in the second half.
3. Florida State QB Jordan Travis
Travis had just two touchdowns against Southern Miss, but only one of them was to Keon Coleman, so the degree of difficulty was higher. Regardless, Florida State rolled 66-13.
4. Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders
Sanders has 903 passing yards and six passing TDs through two games. Last year, Colorado as a team had 2,075 passing yards and 10 passing TDs. That puts Sanders on pace to top the Buffs’ season totals from 2022 before the end of this month.
5. Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman
Hartman’s Notre Dame career so far: Three wins, 10 touchdowns, no picks, one rib necklace. Your move, Caleb Williams.
Big Ten vibe check
It was another dull week atop the Big Ten, as Michigan and Ohio State were favored by a combined 83 points. So the results were less about wins and more about vibes.
After all, just a week ago, Ohio State’s offense scuffled against Indiana and, while the Buckeyes won easily, there were some reasonable concerns. So, what did we learn in Week 2? Maybe not much more than we did in Week 1. It was an easy 35-7 win over Youngstown State, and Kyle McCord threw for three touchdowns, but really, Ohio State spent the bulk of the second half on cruise control.
The Buckeyes have scored 58 points so far, which is their fewest through two games since 2014.
Oh, they also won the national title in 2014. Ryan Day really is playing chess when the rest of us are playing Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
As for Michigan, the Wolverines topped UNLV 35-7 in their second of three games without head coach Jim Harbaugh, who spent the afternoon running the chain gang of a high school football game and then, we assume, sifting through his collection of old MAD Magazines so he could do all the fold-ins.
Jim Harbaugh spent the morning working the chains at his son’s football game. pic.twitter.com/RPqy4m4DkI
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 9, 2023
J.J. McCarthy tossed two touchdown passes and Michigan had 300 passing yards for the second time in its past three games — something it had done just twice in its prior 16.
Meanwhile, the Michigan defense has allowed 10 total points so far this season, and with Bowling Green and Rutgers on deck, that number might not move much anytime soon.
Historic win for Iowa
It wasn’t easy, but anything else wouldn’t have felt fitting, as Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz picked up career win No. 200 with a 20-13 victory over rival Iowa State.
During the course of Ferentz’s 200 wins, Iowa has scored upward of 600 total points on offense, including 13 on Saturday. The defense added a pick-six, which for reasons we cannot fathom still counts toward Brian Ferentz’s quest for 25 points per game — the number Iowa has to hit for the younger Ferentz to keep his job.
Cade McNamara, the QB brought in from Michigan to invigorate the passing game, threw for 123 yards and a pick. Iowa averaged nearly 4 yards per rush. It was truly a fireworks display.
The Hawkeyes nearly blew a 20-3 lead, which actually might have been a brilliant turn for its offensive coordinator. Overtime would’ve given OC Brian Ferentz a chance to pad an extra three, maybe six points to his total. Alas, it was not to be.
Instead, his quest for 300 — 25 points over 12 games — stands at 44. Since Oct. 1 of last year, Iowa has hit that magical 25-point mark just once.
Still, the Ferentz family has lots to celebrate after such a historic win, and we assume Kirk & Co. will all have a blast at Applebee’s, while Brian naps in the backseat of the car.
Under-the-radar play of the week
The race for the best big-guy touchdown of the season is already over. Colorado Mesa’s Cooper Mumford recovered a fumble on a trick play, scrambled outside, then tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass.
0:39
An O-lineman tossing a TD? That’s not something you see every day
Colorado Mesa OL Cooper Mumford picks up a loose ball behind the line of scrimmage and recovers by throwing a touchdown pass.
Under-the-radar game of the week
Once upon a time, Luke McCaffrey was a QB prospect for Nebraska. A lot has happened since then. McCaffrey ultimately transferred to the Rice Owls, lost a QB competition, and moved to wide receiver. Nebraska also gave up on playing a quarterback.
On Saturday, McCaffrey reminded the college football world that he may not have been an elite QB, but he’s a heck of a player.
McCaffrey hauled in a 34-yard touchdown pass with one hand, giving Rice a 21-0 lead.
0:26
Rice’s Luke McCaffrey makes ridiculous one-handed TD grab
Luke McCaffrey, brother of 49ers running back Christian, hauls in a jaw-dropping catch to increase Rice’s lead over Houston.
Rice appeared to have the game in hand, up 28-0 at the half, but Houston had other ideas.
The Cougars roared back, scoring the final 28 points of regulation, including two touchdowns in the last four minutes, to send the game to overtime.
The two teams traded touchdowns in each of the first two frames of OT, but while Rice connected on its 2-point try, Houston failed to, giving the win to the Owls.
McCaffrey finished the game with 99 yards and two touchdown grabs, and Rice nabbed its first win in the intra-city rivalry with Houston since 2010.
Four downs
Maryland was nearly doomed by a slow start against Charlotte, falling behind 14-0 and trailing 14-9 at the half. Could Charlotte coach Biff Poggi have caused this by, say, pulling the fire alarm in the Terps’ hotel, forcing an evacuation, then changing the AM/PM setting on all their alarm clocks? Did he possibly do this while wearing a Speedo and drinking Olde English out of a foam dome helmet? No, it’s not likely, but with Poggi, we’re ruling nothing out. Either way, Maryland came back and won 38-20.
A year ago, North Carolina and Appalachian State played in a shootout for the ages, with the Heels prevailing 63-61 after the two teams combined for 62 fourth-quarter points. Saturday’s rematch wasn’t quite as explosive, but the Heels and Mountaineers did rack up more than 1,000 total yards as UNC missed a late field goal that would’ve won the game, but held on to prevail in double OT.
Tulane was without star QB Michael Pratt for its matchup with Ole Miss. Typically when things go bad in New Orleans, we recommend having a few hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s and hoping it’ll all work out, but the Green Wave foolishly shrugged off that option and instead sent Kai Horton out for the start instead. He held his own for a half, but things fell apart after the break, with Jaxson Dart (267 yards, 2 TDs) leading Ole Miss to a 37-20 win.
Clemson got off to a miserable start against Charleston Southern, with a pick-six by Cade Klubnik putting the Tigers in an early 14-7 hole. Klubnik & Co. figured things out in the second half, however, and outscored the Buccaneers 42-0 to close out the game. Klubnik finished with 315 yards and four touchdowns, and afterward Dabo Swinney passed around to each media member a beautifully designed note card with the words “I told you so” in hand-written calligraphy.
A minor victory
In life, great success begins with a small step forward. Perhaps that will be true, too, for the NAIA’s Texas College Steers.
In Week 1 of the season, Texas College was walloped 90-0 against Texas-Permian Basin (which, in fairness, is among Texas’ finest basins).
In Week 2, a similar result seemed in the offing. At the end of the third quarter, Central Arkansas (an inherently middling Arkansas direction) led 70-0, but our beloved Steers wouldn’t go down without a fight.
After a Texas College interception, Central Arkansas started a drive pinned deep in its own territory. That’s when Steers legend Dylan DuBois delivered a play for the ages. On a handoff to the tailback, Dubois delivered a hit in the end zone for a safety.
And thanks to Dubois’ patented last-second magic, the final score was Central Arkansas 70, Texas College 2.
Did you say ‘Utes’?
No Cam Rising? No problem. Well, OK, a few problems. But Utah‘s offensive woes against Baylor on Saturday weren’t enough to keep the Utes from moving to 2-0 on the season.
Baylor led 13-3 midway through the third quarter, but coach Kyle Whittingham pulled his starting QB, Bryson Barnes, and went with freshman Nate Johnson, who engineered a late comeback. Johnson completed 6 of 7 throws for 82 yards and added another 32 yards on the ground, including a touchdown — one of two Utah scores in the game’s final two minutes.
Still, Baylor nearly stole the win.
After Jaylon Glover scored to give Utah a 20-13 lead with 17 seconds to play, Baylor connected on a 47-yard throw to Hal Presley, setting up one final heave to the end zone with one second left on the clock.
Technically, the pass fell incomplete. But that’s not how Baylor fans will remember it.
1:52
Baylor’s last-ditch drive cut short by controversial no-call
Sawyer Robertson connects with Hal Presley to set up one last chance for Baylor, but it comes up short in the end zone.
After years of enduring Pac-12 officiating, this must have felt like an early welcome into the Big 12 for the Utes. What looked like a clear defensive pass interference didn’t earn a flag, and the Utes escaped 20-13.
Irish keep ACC streak alive
Notre Dame is not going to join the ACC. Oh, sure, it’s technically a full voting member and spent a portion of this summer nudging the league to add Cal and Stanford, ostensibly for the good of college football, but make no mistake, the Irish are only here to bring the ACC down from the inside.
On Saturday, the Irish toppled NC State 45-24, with Sam Hartman — the ACC’s all-time leading passer whom the Irish swiped from Wake Forest this offseason — throwing for four touchdowns.
It was the first time in 17 games NC State has allowed more than 30 points. The last QB to do it? That’d be Sam Hartman.
Notre Dame has now won 29 straight regular-season games vs. the ACC. Syracuse, which joined the ACC full time in 2013, has just 26 total wins against the conference since then.
Indeed, since the Irish joined the ACC in all sports but football — they typically play five games per year against the conference — in 2014, they’ve racked up 42 ACC wins. Only Clemson, Pitt and Miami have more. The other 11 full-time ACC members have been left in Notre Dame’s dust.
If the ACC were the cast of “Succession,” Notre Dame is Tom Wambsgans. He was welcomed into the family, pushed for a big merger to go through, then stole all the power for himself. (Side note: Miami is definitely Cousin Greg, right?)
This is all incredibly problematic for the ACC, but it’s worth remembering that, starting next year, SMU, Stanford and Cal can also lose games to Notre Dame.
You know, for the good of the league.
Bad day in the First State
Delaware was the first state to ratify the U.S. constitution on Dec. 7, 1787. It’s been mostly downhill since then, save Elena Delle Donne and a few good shows at the Bottle & Cork. But Saturday might have been the state’s nadir.
The Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens visited Penn State, and it didn’t go well. The Nittany Lions won 63-7.
The Delaware State Hornets visited Army, and it didn’t go well either. The Black Knights won 57-0.
If you’re keeping track, that means the two Division I teams from Delaware lost by a combined score of 120-7.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, however. All the big name, image and likeness money in Delaware is being funneled through its famous chicken farms right to Florida State, keying that program’s return to greatness.
The #FloridaState program is being funded by a shady Delaware chicken farmer. pic.twitter.com/WHAok0ZH3n
— Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses) August 20, 2023
We knew once they started opening Wawa locations in Florida, it was only a matter of time before this happened.
Big bets and bad beats
Well, we think it’s safe to say Georgia has lost its edge. The Bulldogs allowed Ball State to drive down the field and boot a meaningless 27-yard field goal with 9 minutes, 5 seconds to play, making the score 45-3. That’s how it ended, which meant UGA (-42) hit the spread right on the nose.
Wake Forest opened its win over Vanderbilt with an interception that set the Deacons up with a first-and-goal at the 10. They settled for a field goal. Wake got the ball with seven seconds left in the first half and moved into field goal range, but it missed a 44-yarder. Vandy had four plays inside Wake’s 3 but turned the ball over on downs. Wake had a first-and-goal at the Vandy 2 but fumbled. None of that made much difference in the Deacons’ impressive enough 36-20 win, but all those miscues were worth noting if you bet the over, which came up a half-point shy (56.5).
Syracuse led Western Michigan 45-7 at the half, having scored on its first seven drives of the game. With 52 points already on the board, it was fair to say the game was trending pretty heavily toward hitting the over of 56. So, what happened in the second half? One stinking field goal. Syracuse punted four times (and kicked the aforementioned field goal), while Western Michigan turned the ball over on downs on both of its final two drives deep into Orange territory.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR argued in its latest court filing that Michael Jordan is suing the stock car series to earn a permanent charter that no other teams possess, and that neither 23XI Racing nor Front Row Motorsports has suffered any harm by racing as “open” entries.
NASCAR also indicated in its 34-page response filed late Monday that it has buyers interested in the six charters that have been set aside as a federal judge decides if the two teams can have them back for the remaining 11 races of this season. NASCAR is prepared to immediately begin the process of allocating the charters elsewhere.
These latest arguments are part of the ongoing federal antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI and Front Row against NASCAR in a fight over charters, which are essentially franchise tags. 23XI, owned by retired basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, were the only two organizations out of 15 not to sign extensions on new charter agreements.
All the teams were fighting to have the charters made permanent during more than two years of extension negotiations, but NASCAR refused and its final offer was through 2031. 23XI and Front Row won a temporary injunction to be recognized as chartered as the case heads toward a Dec. 1 trial date.
The injunction was eventually overturned, appealed by the teams, and U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell will hear arguments Aug. 28 on the matter. 23XI and Front Row as “open” teams do not receive the same financial percentages as chartered teams.
A rulebook change in July after the chartered status was stripped from the two organizations ensured that the six cars aren’t in danger of not qualifying for a race; starting spots are guaranteed to the 36 chartered cars in every 40-car field.
“Mr. Jordan has said he wants to use the litigation to grant him a permanent Charter that no other team has,” NASCAR alleged.
23XI and Front Row have maintained they will continue to race even if they must do so as open teams. NASCAR has argued that when the two organizations did not sign the extensions they lost all rights to charters and the sanctioning body should be free to move them.
“Plaintiffs’ theoretical inability to obtain Charters post-trial also does not justify NASCAR from selling or transferring Charters, because Plaintiffs do not have Charters now because of their own strategic choice,” NASCAR said in its filing. “Plaintiffs had multiple opportunities to acquire 2025 Charters, and they squandered them.”
NASCAR also argued that a court cannot order the private company into a partnership with teams it is not interested in doing business with. Another argument by NASCAR is that 23XI and Front Row have not been harmed by not being chartered because their drivers have not left the team and the rule change protects them from missing races; Tyler Reddick of 23XI has clauses in his contract that he can leave if his car is not chartered.
Additionally, NASCAR said it pays teams a higher percentage than even Formula 1 does and that its payout structure to teams proves it is not a monopoly because it was increased first by 28% in the 2016 charter agreement, and then by 62% in the 2025 agreement.
“NASCAR pays Teams more than even Formula 1 as a percentage of profit,” NASCAR said. “Plaintiffs ignore the pay raises the Teams received. Instead, they focus on a text during negotiations for the 2025 Charter that said an internal version of the May 2024 draft contained ‘zero wins’ for Teams.
“Plaintiffs ignore that the actual May 2024 draft proposed to Teams carried forward the biggest win for the Teams — a massive pay increase — that was set out in the December 2023 draft. It also gave Charter holders an opportunity to obtain any improved extension terms NASCAR offered to third parties and increased Teams’ ability to receive investor funding, among other benefits.”
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Jesse Rogers
Both of MLB’s 2025 Cy Young favorites came from humble pitching beginnings. Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes started his meteoric rise to stardom at the Air Force Academy, while Detroit Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal came of age at Seattle University. Neither place screams baseball immortality, but both pitchers could be flirting with historic achievements for the rest of their careers provided they stay healthy.
Skenes was the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, while Skubal won the American League Cy Young Award last season — and their paths recently crossed as the 2025 All-Star Game starting pitchers in Atlanta. As they head down the stretch with the opportunity to collect more hardware this season, ESPN asked their teammates, team personnel and Skubal and Skenes themselves what makes the two best pitchers in the sport so special.
“Really advanced stuff and fill up the strike zone; they go right at guys,” Tigers starter Casey Mize said, summing up the feelings of those who have watched both aces. “So, they’re in advantageous counts a lot, applying a lot of pressure. The biggest thing to worry about is getting jumped early in counts, so they have to be good early on. But it feels like when they get strike one, the at-bat is over.”
‘He’s a guy that you can talk to when he’s starting’
The similarities between the two pitchers begin with the vibe they generate throughout the stadium when it’s their turn to pitch. There’s a different feeling in the clubhouse on a Skenes or Skubal day because of how games play out when they’re on the mound.
“You just know the other team isn’t going to do very much,” Tigers infielder Zach McKinstry said when it’s a Skubal day. “Defense is kind of boring that game.”
As a smiling teammate Spencer Torkelson added, “You can almost be blindfolded playing behind him.”
Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham has his own way of recognizing when Pittsburgh’s ace is pitching. It begins when Pham gets dressed to come to the park.
“He wears a suit to the field, so I started trying to keep up with him on ‘Skenes Day,'” Pham said. “I call out Skenes Day by wearing a suit with him so he’s not the only one.
“And we normally don’t need to score a lot of runs that day.”
Despite Skenes’ formal attire and nasty stuff, it stands out to his teammates that Skenes is still approachable when it is his day to take the mound.
“He’s a guy that you can talk to when he’s starting,” Pham stated. “I’ve played with guys, when they’re starting, you can’t talk to them, which I feel is bulls—. But he’s not like that.”
Skubal exhibits that trait, as well, according to Detroit infielder Zach McKinstry. Skubal will talk to teammates like it’s any other game.
The confidence in each pitcher’s crafts allows for a normal day, according to the players in both locker rooms.
The Tigers also get an extra jolt of energy during their pennant race as they play meaningful games down the stretch: Comerica Park comes alive when their ace takes the mound.
“Every jersey you see is a No. 29 jersey,” McKinstry said. “They love him. And he loves what he does. And we love to play behind him.”
‘We play a defensive position, but he makes it look like offense’
If there is one difference between Skubal and Skenes, it is that Skubal is in attack mode more than anyone in the league. He leads MLB in throwing his first pitch for a strike at 70% of the time. Overall, he throws strikes 55% of the time — good for third most in baseball.
Being in the zone so often is one reason Skubal is third in the majors in innings pitched this season, after finishing eighth in that category last season.
“When it gets to those later innings, you do feel like he has a chance to go the distance,” Tigers reliever Will Vest said. “It’s because he’s so efficient with his pitches.”
Skubal has pitched at least seven innings in 10 starts this season, including his signature outing: a 13-strikeout shutout against the Cleveland Guardians on May 25. That performance still resonates in the Tigers’ clubhouse three months later, especially after his last pitch registered at 103 mph.
“The aggressiveness,” Mize explained. “We play a defensive position, but he makes it look like offense. He’s going at everybody. He doesn’t care. That game illustrated that.”
Skenes, on the other hand, ranks 33rd in first-strike percentage (62.1) with a full arsenal that allows him to attack hitters differently.
“He has a larger tool box,” Pirates assistant pitching coach Brent Strom said. “It enables him to have weapons against different types of hitters. He pitches to his strengths.”
According to Baseball Savant, Skenes has thrown seven different types of pitches this season — as compared with Skubal’s five — and Skenes’ swinging-strike percentage ranks seventh. It all adds up to a pitch mix that keeps hitters baffled, even when they get pitches to hit.
“It’s full-on ‘here it is, hit it,'” Pirates catcher Joey Bart said. “He’s not scared of anyone.”
‘Everything is by the numbers, and he leaves nothing to chance’
Every player, no matter the position, has a routine to prepare for competition. But Skenes is especially unique in that regard.
One day, between starts, Pham asked to stand in the batter’s box while Skenes threw a bullpen session.
“Then the next day, I asked who’s throwing a pen because I needed to test out my contact lenses again,” Pham explained. “And Skenes says, ‘Hey, I’m throwing a pen.'”
Pham gave him a confused look, knowing Skenes had thrown the day before.
“He’s like, ‘Yeah, I throw every day, except for the day before my start,'” Pham recalled. “When I found that out, I was like, yeah, he’s different. I’ve never seen anybody do that.”
Strom noted that not every bullpen session is built the same. There’s purpose to the preparation.
“His work is very organized,” Strom said. “Very thoughtful. Everything is by the numbers, and he leaves nothing to chance. He’s very cerebral. He understands what’s necessary.”
Bart recalled Skenes’ early days with the club after getting called up in May 2024. The catcher recognized the detailed preparation of the former LSU star even then, including how Skenes readied for his very first outing against the Chicago Cubs.
“I remember the first pregame meeting last year,” Bart said. “He ran the meeting in his debut. I was like, ‘Go ahead and take it, dude. You got it.’ He has been groomed for this.”
That kind of intense and directed preparedness has gained attention and admiration around the league, and it is what Skubal identified as Skenes’ most impressive trait.
“He seems like he has his routine and preparation already figured out at a young age,” Skubal said. “It took me until I was 26 to be a good big league baseball player and figure that out. And he’s doing it at 23. That’s four years faster than me. Yeah, that’s really impressive.”
‘He just wants to show that there is something memorable about greatness’
There’s an aura of self-assuredness to Skubal that stands out as compared with even other aces, according to those around him. He has been called a “bulldog” with a “killer” mentality by his teammates: He won’t back down, no matter the circumstance.
“He comes after you,” Torkelson said. “In big situations, he trusts his best stuff. You kind of know what you’re going to get, and it’s still hard to hit.”
That confidence enables Skubal to put himself in pitcher’s counts (0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 2-2) 45.7% of the time, more than any other hurler in the game, according to ESPN Research. And until you show you can hit one of his best offers, he’ll just keep throwing it. He has 93 strikeouts on his changeup, second only to Philadelphia Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez.
That mindset is what stands out most about Skubal to Skenes.
“He can go after hitters straight up,” Skenes said. “He gets them out quickly, which is why he pitches deep in games. He does that better than anyone else in the game. But it starts with going right at them. That takes confidence.”
Skubal has a commanding presence, according to Tigers play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti. It doesn’t hurt that his size (6-foot-3 and 240 pounds) naturally creates some intimidation when he is on the mound, but he makes himself known whenever he is in the game.
“On the day the All-Stars were announced last year, the Tigers were in Cincinnati, and he struck out [Elly] De La Cruz and there was this big primal scream — and that’s this indelible memory for me,” Benetti said of Skubal. “Because that is a guy that people hear about that there’s noise about, and he wants that.
“He ends innings and outings at 102 mph because he just wants to show that there is something memorable about greatness, is the way I would put it. He has greatness.”
TAMPA, Fla. — Giancarlo Stanton will return to the New York Yankees‘ lineup Tuesday night after missing three games with what the team described as general soreness, manager Aaron Boone told radio station WFAN.
Stanton will play right field in one of the two games against the Tampa Bay Rays, but Aaron Judge is not expected to appear in the outfield in either.
There is no set timetable for Judge’s return to the field. He was scheduled to test his right elbow with long toss Tuesday.
“I don’t know yet,” Boone said. “What I’ve said is I’m waiting on the trainers to say, ‘Thumbs up.’ He’s expected to long-toss again today, so I don’t expect it here in Tampa. Could it be Boston? Maybe. I just don’t know yet.”
Boone added that Judge might not regain full throwing strength this season.
“I don’t think we’re going to see him throwing like he normally does at any point this year, but that’s OK,” Boone said. “We’ve got to feel like he can go out there and protect himself.”
The Yankees are coming off a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and hold a three-game lead for the final American League wild-card spot. Offensively, they will be satisfied if Judge can simply remain productive at the plate. Since being activated from the injured list Aug. 5, Judge has been limited to designated hitter duties. He entered the week batting .333 with 39 home runs, 91 RBIs and a 1.134 OPS, all among the league leaders. His home run Sunday was his first extra-base hit since returning.
Judge’s inability to play the field has reduced the team’s flexibility. Stanton is batting .299 with 12 home runs, 34 RBIs and a .953 OPS this season, but his long injury history makes any outfield assignment a risk. He did not debut until mid-June because of tendinitis in both elbows. After playing three straight games in the outfield last week, he missed three consecutive games with soreness. He has declined to specify where the discomfort occurred.
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