Carolina Panthers rookie tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders needed to be carted off of the field during the team’s Week 12 clash with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Panthers were driving down the field in the final seconds of the first half when Sanders caught a 10-yard pass from quarterback Bryce Young. As the tight end leaned forward to secure a first down on his reception, he was upended by Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and landed on the top of his helmet.

Sanders was able to move around after the tackle but remained on the ground before medical personnel came to attend to him. The trainers brought out the backboard and cart for the rookie and carted him off of the field.

Ja’Tavion Sanders injury update

Sanders exited the Panthers’ Week 12 game against the Chiefs late in the second quarter after landing on his head during a tackle.

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About 20 minutes later, the team designated Sanders out for the game with a neck injury. According to Panthers writer Darin Gantt, he has also been taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

Panthers TE depth chart

With Sanders out for the remainder of the game, here’s how the Panthers’ depth chart looks at tight end for the remainder of the Week 12 matchup:

Tommy Tremble
Feleipe Franks

Tremble was the Panthers’ third-round pick in 2021. Franks is a former quarterback that the Falcons signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He transitioned to tight end in 2022 and signed with the Panthers last offseason.

This story will be updated.

Rico Carty, who played 15 seasons in the major leagues and won the 1970 National League batting title with the Atlanta Braves, has died at the age of 85.

A family friend confirmed to Listín Diario, a newspaper in Carty’s native Dominican Republic, that the former outfielder and first baseman died Saturday night in an Atlanta hospital.

‘Carty was one of the first groundbreaking Latino stars in the major leagues, and he established himself as a hero to millions in his native Dominican Republic, his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, and the city of Atlanta, where he was a beloved fan favorite,’ the MLB Players’ Association said in a statement.

Carty was born in the Dominican baseball hotbed of San Pedro de Macoris, signing with the Milwaukee Braves and making his MLB debut in 1963.

He finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting the following season, hitting .330 with 22 home runs and 88 RBI.

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Carty’s best season came in 1970, when he led the NL with a .366 batting average and .454 on-base percentage, with 25 homers and a career-high 101 RBI. He earned his only All-Star berth that year.

‘Few players in franchise history connected with Braves fans like Rico Carty,’ the team said in a statement posted on social media. ‘A fan-favorite almost instantly after the club arrived in Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966, Rico left an indelible mark on the Braves organization.’

He was traded several times before his playing days were over and ended up playing for six different teams. He finished his career with a .299 average, 204 home runs and 890 RBI in 1,651 games.

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The Charlotte Hornets will likely be without a key contributor this season. 

Forward Grant Williams is expected to miss significant time after suffering an injury late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game in Milwaukee, which the Bucks won 125-119.

Williams shot 43.9% from the field this season, while averaging 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 29.9 minutes of play through the first 16 games. The 10.4 points per game is a career high for the sixth-year player, who was a first-round pick for the Boston Celtics in the 2019 NBA draft.

Here’s the latest on Williams’ injury:

All things Hornets: Latest Charlotte Hornets news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Grant Williams’ injury update

The Hornets announced that Williams’ MRI results revealed that he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his right knee. He is expected to undergo further evaluation of his knee.

Williams will be listed as out indefinitely until additional information on his status is provided, according to the team.

Grant Williams’ responses after injury

‘Appreciate all the love and support from those who have reached out,’ Williams said in a post on X. ‘Time to goto work it’s all we can do.’

Grant Williams’ career stats

Through 5-plus seasons, Williams averages 7.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists, while shooting 45.2% from the field and 37.7% from 3-point range.

Williams played his first four seasons with the Celtics before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks following the 2022-23 season. He was then traded to the Hornets on Feb. 8, 2024.

The New York Jets may be angling for their seventh starting quarterback in five seasons if recent rumors come to pass.

Aaron Rodgers has had something of a nightmare stay in Florham Park since his 2023 trade landed him in a Jets uniform. After playing just four snaps in 2023 and 11 games in 2024, his tenure as leader of Gang Green may soon come to an end.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Jets passer faces an ‘uphill battle’ to return as starting quarterback come 2025, signaling a relatively quick divorce for the two sides.

As far as whose decision it is, Rapoport reports that the decision is up to Jets owner Woody Johnson; should Rodgers continue to underperform down the stretch, then Johnson will consider pulling the plug on the experiment.

All things Jets: Latest New York Jets news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Johnson’s frustration with the trade is said to be ‘palpable,’ according to Rapoport.

Rodgers, who turns 41 in December, isn’t just holding off Father Time, but has also been battling injuries this season. Visibly hobbled throughout the year while dealing with knee, hamstring and ankle injuries, Rodgers has reportedly refused to undergo medical testing and scans to determine the extent of the damage.

The injuries may explain some of Rodgers’ inefficiencies this season. He’s still thrown 17 touchdowns to seven interceptions, but the eye test hasn’t provided a passing grade for Rodgers and the Jets offense at large.

The Jets are 3-8 in 2024 and a playoff longshot, despite a sluggish AFC. New York holds a relatively easy schedule the remainder of the season, but haven’t been able to move past inconsistencies on both sides of the ball since Week 1. That’s resulted in the firing of head coach Robert Saleh. General manager Joe Douglas was next to get his walking papers as New York looks to reboot yet again.

New York is on its bye in Week 12, and returns to action in Week 13 vs. the Seahawks at home. That could be the start of the final countdown for Rodgers in green and white.

Beneath Mack Brown’s incomparable charm and irresistible folksiness lies a cold-blooded, calculating politician with an ego the size of Texas.

That’s not a criticism, but rather a compliment. You have to be incredibly talented not just as a football coach, but as a human being, to pull off what Brown has pulled off over a 40-year career. And we’re not talking about winning a national championship in 2005. 

At 73 years old, long past the point where his contemporaries have either quit or been pushed out of their last coaching jobs, Brown still thinks he’s the best person on Planet Earth to be the head football coach at North Carolina. 

He’s wrong, of course. Incredibly wrong. Embarrassingly wrong, as Saturday’s 41-21 loss to Boston College showed. 

And yet, Brown is apparently going to run the same play he did 11 years ago when it was obvious to everyone but him that it was over at Texas. Instead of bowing out gracefully and handing off to the next generation, Brown is going to force North Carolina to fire him. 

Will they? Who knows. But a report this week from CBS Sports laid out how Brown has been telling people that he plans to return in 2025. And in an interview with Sirius XM, Brown framed his thoughts on retirement through the lens of helping the young people in his program. 

‘When I see one with his head down or he’s got some joy because his sister won a contest or won a basketball game or he lost a girlfriend or flunked a test or dropped a ball on Saturday, that’s my purpose,” he said. “My purpose is to fix him and try to help him get to a better place.” 

Brown continued: “There will be a day I wake up and say, ‘You know what? Somebody else should be doing this.’ And I haven’t gotten to that yet.”

UP AND DOWN: Winners and losers from Week 13 in college football

It’s a compelling story, but it’s also nonsense. If Brown really believes his purpose in life isn’t to win football games but to impart life lessons and inspire teenagers to do great things in life, there are multiple outlets for him that don’t require finishing ninth in the ACC or collecting a $5 million annual salary.

It’s harsh, but true. Given all he’s accomplished and how much money he’s made in coaching, Brown shouldn’t need to be nudged into retirement. If he could step outside himself for even a second and see the reality of where he is in his life, and where North Carolina’s program has been under his leadership since coming out of the TV booth in 2019, it would be a no-brainer. 

But old men clinging to power, even when all the evidence suggests they should hand it off and spend the rest of their days enjoying the spoils of a life’s work, is a tale as old as time. Brown, sadly, is no exception.

North Carolina is 6-5 and hasn’t moved the needle much since he came back to the sidelines five years ago. The program is stagnant. His second stint with the Tar Heels wasn’t a failure, but it wasn’t a success. There is enough data to suggest that North Carolina needs to thank Brown for his service and move on. 

But there’s no easy way to do that when Brown is making it clear that he’s not going to play ball. Either North Carolina’s administration is going to have to do something really ugly now, or Brown is going to delay the inevitable by another year. 

Which way will it go? Who knows. There’s still one week left in the season, and perhaps something can be done to bring Brown to his senses between now and next week when the Tar Heels finish the season against North Carolina State. 

It’s time for change at North Carolina, but getting the head coach on board with a succession plan seems like a heavy lift at this point. That’s why the Tar Heels are No. 1 in the Misery Index, a weekly measurement of which programs are feeling the most angst. 

Four more in misery

Alabama: It’s a strange thing to wake up every Saturday morning and see Nick Saban on a television set laughing, hamming it up and making bad predictions just like any other run-of-the-mill college football pundit. The greatest coach off all time is a spectator these days. But the program he ran for 17 years doesn’t get the luxury of becoming a talking head. Alabama has to carry on with the business of high-stakes football games and living with the consequences of its mistakes. 

The consequence Saturday, after a shocking 24-3 loss at Oklahoma, is that the Crimson Tide’s chances of making the College Football Playoff are on life support. At 8-3, with losses to the Sooners, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, this is already the worst Alabama season since 2007 when Saban inherited a mess from Mike Shula and went 7-6. The only thing for Crimson Tide fans to hold onto is a faint hope that wins over Georgia, South Carolina, LSU and Missouri can get them into the backdoor of the field if there’s chaos in the final couple weeks of the season. 

But make no mistake, this debut from Kalen DeBoer has shown how big of a drop-off there is between Saban and everyone else. DeBoer is a really good coach — he proved it last year taking Washington to the national title game — but he’s just another guy in the SEC who could win or lose on any given day. And it’s not like Alabama is bereft of talent. Alabama’s roster is, at worst, third behind Georgia and Texas in the SEC. If DeBoer misses the playoff this year, you can go ahead and put him on the hot seat in 2025. Alabama fans won’t stand for missing a 12-team playoff very often, if ever. And they’re not wrong or unreasonable for having that expectation. 

Rutgers: Icing the kicker is one of the dumbest concepts in sports, yet coaches fall for it all the time. Coaches like Greg Schiano. Leading Illinois 31-30 with 12 seconds left, Schiano called a timeout right before Illini kicker Ethan Moczulski went into his motion for a 58-yarder that missed badly. Given more time and evidence to re-evaluate his decision, Illinois coach Bret Bielema sent the offense onto the field and scored a game-winning touchdown on the next play. 

Was it a fluke? Probably. But can you blame Schiano for a bad decision that led directly to disaster? Absolutely. These are the little things on the margins that change seasons, and Rutgers comes out on the wrong side of them too often. Since Schiano came back to Piscataway in 2020, he’s 12-32 in Big Ten play. It’s one thing if you’re losing to the league’s heavyweights but holding your own against everyone else. That would be a respectable existence for a program like Rutgers. But you can’t go 20 games under .500 in a league like the Big Ten unless you’re losing a whole lot of winnable games. 

Nobody would say Rutgers is an easy job, but the whole point of bringing Schiano back was that he had a unique understanding of how to navigate the challenges there. From 2005-2011, he arguably overachieved as much as any coach in college football to consistently win eight or nine games a year under difficult circumstances. Now, he’s just treading water while losing way too often against programs of similar resources. 

Virginia: After Clemson won national titles in 2016 and 2018, its coaching staff became an obvious place for desperate programs to poach from. But Dabo Swinney’s coaching tree has shriveled into a collection of branches that are hanging by a thread. Chad Morris, the offensive coordinator who recruited and helped develop Deshaun Watson, was 18-40 as a head coach at SMU and Arkansas. Jeff Scott went 4-26 at South Florida. Brent Venables, one of the great defensive coordinators in the history of the sport, is currently under fire at Oklahoma. And Tony Elliott, who turned down a lot of overtures before taking the Virginia job, has been a significant disappointment at 11-22. 

At this point, there’s no use in analyzing why the former Clemson assistants have struggled collectively as head coaches. Every situation is different, and trying to find a through line between them would be speculative at best. But in Virginia’s case, you have to consider that Elliott’s predecessor Bronco Mendenhall went 8-5, 9-5, 5-5 and 6-6 over his last four seasons before stepping down. Unless Elliott can upset Virginia Tech next week, it’ll be three consecutive losing seasons without many signs of progress. What do Virginia fans hang their hat on these days? Certainly not the basketball program, which is reeling in the wake of Tony Bennett’s retirement. At least they’re still good at swimming and tennis. 

That’s a major stain on Lane Kiffin’s résumé given the opportunity in front of him and the realistic expectations that were put on this Ole Miss team. Kiffin has delivered a lot of success to Oxford, including a 10-3 season in 2021 and an 11-2 record last year. But this new CFP format was supposed to be the the red carpet for Ole Miss’ big national breakthrough, and it just didn’t happen. If you’re an Ole Miss fan, you have to wonder if it ever will.  

Miserable but not miserable enough

Pittsburgh: This is an all-systems failure. Pitt was 7-0 and very much in the mix for the ACC title. Now, the Panthers are 7-4 after a 37-9 loss at Louisville. When you look back on this season, none of Pitt’s seven wins to start the season were particularly groundbreaking. The Panthers simply took care of business against weak opponents, which perhaps inflated their record beyond reality. Still, you can’t just collapse like this. 

Stanford: We have given a pass this year to the West Coast teams who entered the ACC under unusual circumstances, but you can’t ignore the manner in which Stanford lost to its most important local rival. After leading Cal 21-7 deep into the third quarter, Stanford completely lost the plot and the Big Game, 24-21, in Troy Taylor’s second season. It’s Cal’s fifth win over Stanford in the last six years, but it’s also a referendum on the state of Stanford football. A decade ago, this was a consistent top-10 program. Now, the 3-8 Cardinal will finish under .500 for the fifth time in the last six seasons while Taylor’s overall record stands at 6-17. 

Oklahoma State: Unless the Cowboys upset Colorado next week, they will finish this season winless in the Big 12. That’s a remarkable sentence when you consider that Mike Gundy went 1-7 in 2005 but proceeded to finish .500 or better in the league 14 times since then. Over his long career, Oklahoma State has been through some ups and downs, but it’s never been this bad after a 56-48 loss to Texas Tech. Even though Oklahoma State sits at 3-8 during a season in which it was picked to finish third in the Big 12, Gundy is digging in. “There ain’t no way the old lady’s letting me retire,” he said. “I have as much energy now as I did when I took this job.” Time will tell whether that’s a good or bad thing. 

Purdue: This awful season in West Lafayette is only matched by Jim Colletto going 1-10 in 1993 and Darrell Hazell going 1-11 in 2013. The common thread between those two coaches is neither lasted very long. We will see how long of a leash Purdue gives to Ryan Walters, the 38-year old who is now 5-18 over two seasons and winless in the Big Ten this year. But when Boilermaker fans watch in-state rival Indiana roll to a 10-1 record and likely playoff berth just one year after hiring Curt Cignetti, it adds even more urgency to the situation. If Purdue can pull the upset over the Hoosiers next week, all will be forgiven. But if not, Purdue has to think seriously about admitting a mistake and looking for a coach who can bring back respectability. 

Arizona: If you’d have told a Wildcats fan in the preseason that their team would be 4-7 while Arizona State is contending for a CFP berth, they’d have laughed in your face. But that’s the reality as the season winds down. The Sun Devils are pressing toward a spot in the Big 12 championship game, while Arizona’s debut season under Brent Brennan has gone off the rails after a 49-28 loss to TCU. Arizona can play the spoiler next week, hosting Arizona State at home in the Territorial Cup. But that’s not the way this was supposed to go with Arizona starting the season in the Top 25 and the Sun Devils way off the radar after the Herm Edwards era. 

(This story was updated to change a video).

Mamma mia!

Baker Mayfield might not be a chef, but he is certainly cooking the New York Giants on Sunday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback led his team to a 23-0 halftime lead in the Meadowlands at MetLife Stadium, but still had time to celebrate.

With just seconds to go before halftime, Mayfield set his GPS destination to the end zone, scampering in for the 10-yard score. Upon arrival, Mayfield, who is always in the mood to troll, began to celebrate in familiar fashion.

Mayfield’s arms rose to the sky with pinched fingers and shaking wrists in Tommy DeVito’s backyard, letting his opposite number know that there’s a new Italian sheriff in town.

The celebration is DeVito’s signature, which was born down the stretch of the 2023 season as the local kid earned folk hero status in the tri-state area. He earned the nickname, ‘Tommy Cutlets,’ courtesy of his Italian heritage and family tailgates outside the stadium at home games.

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Now the only question is whether Mayfield comes out in his post game press conference noshing on some cutlets. If Mayfield wants to stick to his brand, he’ll have them baked instead of fried.

When asked about Mayfield’s celebration after the game, DeVito said, ‘I honestly really didn’t know until somebody just mentioned it in the locker room. They were having a good game. They celebrated. It is what it is. It kind of happened last year and it’s going to happen, I guess.’

The Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams meet on ‘Sunday Night Football’ on the road to the NFL playoffs.

The Eagles stand on the top step of the NFC East, which has turned into a two-horse race as the calendar turned to November. While much ado has been made about the addition of Saquon Barkley, it’s been the Eagles defense — featuring standout rookie Quinyon Mitchell — that has hit its stride.

Philly’s D has been stout: Entering Week 12, they rank first in the NFL in yards allowed and sixth in points allowed as a unit. That’s a testament to new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who has transformed the defense into one of the NFC’s most formidable.

The Rams have undergone a turnaround of their own. After starting 1-4, Los Angeles has flipped their record and has gone 4-1 since their Week 6 bye.

The Rams, though, still have some work to do in the sluggish but competitive NFC West. Entering Week 12 a game behind the surprising Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles is searching for its first division title since 2021. They’re in prime position to make a run, and Sunday night offers an opportunity to keep their recent hot play going.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

It’s a battle of playoff potentials on ‘SNF.’ USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, highlights and more from the Eagles-Rams matchup below. All times are Eastern.

Rams vs. Eagles start time

Date: Sunday, November 17, 2024
Start time: 8:20 p.m. ET (5:20 PT)

The Rams and Eagles game will wrap up Sunday’s action for Week 12 of the 2024 NFL season with ‘Sunday Night Football’ at 8:20 p.m. ET. 

Rams vs. Eagles TV channel

Cable TV: NBC 
Streaming: Peacock | Fubo

NBC will broadcast the Rams vs. Eagles Week 12 clash. Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play duties during the game, with Cris Collinsworth providing color commentary and Melissa Stark reporting from the sidelines during Rams vs. Eagles. 

 NBC’s weekly ‘Football Night in America’ pregame show will begin at 7 p.m. ET and feature insight from a panel of analysts, including Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett, Chris Simms, Mike Florio, Devin McCourty, Tony Dungy, and more. 

Rams vs. Eagles live stream 

Live stream: Fubo TV | Peacock 

For cord cutters looking for a live stream for the matchup, you can turn to Fubo TV. Fubo TV carries NBC, as well as CBS, FOX, NFL Network and the ESPN family of networks, meaning you can catch NFL action through the remainder of the season. 

Peacock, the proprietary streaming service of NBC, will also carry the game. 

Rams vs. Eagles picks, predictions

Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports staff feels the ‘SNF’ matchup between LA and Philadelphia will turn out:

Lorenzo Reyes: Eagles 29, Rams 24
Tyler Dragon: Eagles 28, Rams 21
Richard Morin: Eagles 29, Rams 23
Jordan Mendoza: Eagles 34, Rams 28

Rams vs. Eagles odds, moneyline, over/under 

The Eagles are favorites to defeat the Rams, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Looking to wager? Check out the best mobile sports betting apps offering NFL betting promos in 2024 including the ESPN BET app and Fanatics Sportsbook promo code. 

Spread: Eagles (-3) 
Moneyline: Eagles (-155); Rams (+130) 
Over/under: 49 

Not interested in this game? Our guide to NFL betting odds, picks and spreads has you covered with “Thursday Night Football” odds and “Monday Night Football” odds. 

New to sports betting? USA TODAY readers can claim exclusive promos and bonus codes with the best online sportsbooks and sports betting sites. 

FEELING LUCKY? Here are the best parlay bets and odds for NFL games this week  

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Looks like Danny Dimes may end up playing in a Bank.

The New York Giants officially waived quarterback Daniel Jones on Saturday. On Sunday morning, multiple reports indicated that the Baltimore Ravens, who play at M&T Bank Stadium, and the Minnesota Vikings, who play at U.S. Bank Stadium, are among the teams most interested in signing him.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported that Jones is expected to clear waivers on Monday at 4 p.m. ET, at which point he would become a free agent. If a team does make a waiver claim for the former first-round pick, it would owe him nearly $12 million this season and would be on the hook for his $23 million injury guarantee in 2025.

Once Jones clears waivers, he will immediately be able to sign with another team on a new contract. Here are the latest rumors on which teams are connected to the former Giants quarterback:

All things Giants: Latest New York Giants news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Daniel Jones landing spots: Latest rumors

The Ravens are the team that have been named the most in reporting from NFL insiders on Sunday morning.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz and Rapoport have all listed Baltimore as one of Jones’ top suitors ahead of his pending free agency, all pointing to various factors. But it’s also far from the only team interested in bringing in the former Giant.

Schefter pointed specifically to the Ravens and Vikings on Sunday morning because of Jones’ willingness to sign with a playoff team. That being the case, the ESPN insider said that ‘what happens in Week 12 is expected to influence his decision.’

Schultz also listed the Ravens and Vikings as possible landing spots for Jones, as well as the Lions, 49ers and Dolphins.

The Fox insider said those teams would be some of Jones’ best fits not just because of their potential playoff contention, but because of their ability to develop quarterbacks in an offensive system.

Head coaches Kevin O’Connell (Vikings), Kyle Shanahan (49ers) and Mike McDaniel (Dolphins) are known best for their offensive-minded approaches to the game. Each one has also had a track record of success with helping quarterbacks not just develop but thrive in their systems.

Offensive coordinators Todd Monken (Ravens) and Ben Johnson (Lions) have also proven their success at building an offense around the skill set of their team’s respective quarterbacks.

Finally, Rapoport was a third insider to report on the Ravens’ connection to Jones, along with the San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders. All three teams would provide different opportunities for the pending free agent quarterback.

The Ravens, Rapoport said, would bring Jones in as a third quarterback option with the chance to supplant Josh Johnson as the backup to Lamar Jackson. If nothing else, Baltimore would give him the chance to play for a contender in an offense that values speedy, mobile quarterbacks.

San Francisco may be in dire need of a stopgap quarterback as starter Brock Purdy deals with a shoulder injury. Purdy is already missing Sunday’s game against the Packers and could miss more time. Depending on the severity of Purdy’s injury, as well as on how backup Brandon Allen plays on Sunday, Jones could be that option for a team trying to win its third straight divisional title.

The Raiders are intriguing because they’re a team with an immediate need at starting quarterback. After flipping from Gardner Minshew to Aidan O’Connell then back again, Las Vegas could use a new option under center. Jones would have a chance to play immediately and be a bridge quarterback for the rookie gunslinger the team might hope to bring in during the 2025 NFL draft.

Daniel Jones contract

Jones signed a four-year extension with the Giants after the 2022 season. OverTheCap laid out all of the details on the second contract for the former first-round pick.

Term: Four years
Total value: $160 million
Average annual value (AAV): $40 million
Guaranteed money: $82 million

Jones’ deal made him the 15th highest-paid quarterback by total value and AAV. It was 17th among quarterbacks with $82 million guaranteed.

According to Spotrac, the Giants will eat $47.1 million in dead cap this year and $22.2 million next year, saving $19.4 million in cap space for 2025.

With their team holding a commanding 24-3 lead over No. 7 Alabama Saturday night and with under one minute remaining, Oklahoma fans began storming the field at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium to take part in a much-needed celebration near the end of what has been a difficult 2024 season.

The urge was understandable, but there was just one problem — there were still 28 seconds remaining on the clock.

For Kirk Herbstreit, who was calling the game alongside Chris Fowler for ESPN, the scene unfolding in front of him looked more like something on a farm than inside a college football stadium, with the longtime analyst comparing the fans to sheep.

“Do you think they don’t see the clock?” Herbstreit said. “They just see other people running and they just take off, like sheep? They just take off?”

His confusion was merited.

While a victory was assured for the Sooners, coach Brent Venables’ team still had a third-and-6 and more time on the game clock than the play clock.

The field was eventually cleared and Oklahoma took one final knee to seal by far the program’s biggest win of the season. The moment of euphoria will cost the Sooners — literally — as the school will have to pay Alabama $200,000 as a first-time violator of the SEC’s ‘access to competition area’ policy. The fine was double what it normally would have been since the fans rushed the field twice.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t the only game Saturday that included a premature field-storming.

In No. 22 Arizona State’s 28-23 win against No. 15 BYU, Sun Devils fans rushed the field, believing the game was over after an incomplete pass on fourth down that they thought drained the remaining seconds off the clock. Officials, however, determined that one second remained, meaning BYU took over possession and had the chance at a desperation heave to win the game.

The field took 15 minutes to clear and the Cougars’ Hail Mary attempt fell incomplete a few yards short of the end zone.

With the victory, Oklahoma improved to 6-5 and became bowl eligible for the 26th consecutive season.

The loss continued what has been a maddening season for Alabama under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, who took over for the legendary Nick Saban in January. With their latest defeat, the Crimson Tide fell to 8-3, putting their College Football Playoff aspirations in grave danger. It marks the first time since 2010 that Alabama has had more than two losses in a season.

(This story was updated to change a video and gallery).