Aaron Rodgers evidently wasn’t the only missing piece for the New York Jets.

Apparently, Davante Adams might be the guy who’s needed to complete a Super Bowl puzzle that hasn’t been solved in nearly 56 years.

Rodgers and what’s unmistakably his offense were responsible for yet another largely uninspiring performance Sunday in London – a 23-17 loss to the still-undefeated Minnesota Vikings that couldn’t be casually dismissed by first-game jitters for the legendary quarterback on his surgically repaired Achilles or wet and windy Meadowlands weather that’s bound to rear its disruptive head again in the future.

Nope, this was largely disjointed play from a unit that just can’t seem to get in sync. Yet.

If only gifted wideout Garrett Wilson could slide into a WR1A role, where he might not have to be reliant on those oh-so-tough back-shoulder catches that Rodgers and Adams turned into an art form during eight years together with the Green Bay Packers. If only Allen Lazard, another former Packer who’s seemed like Rodgers’ most trusted target this season, was in a WR3 role and drawing dime backs instead of nickels or even top corners. If only the costly drops weren’t so prevalent. If only Rodgers wasn’t resorting to throws a four-time MVP typically doesn’t make – like targeting tight end Tyler Conklin amid end-zone triple-team coverage – an indication a player who’s often been risk-averse during his 20-year career is pressing.

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

If only there was someone to settle Rodgers, who missed numerous throws Sunday, regularly displayed his unmistakable frustration, often held the ball too long behind a still-jelling offensive line – exposing what seems an increasingly frail lower body and in the face of a ferocious Vikes pass rush – and threw his third interception (tying a career-high, one a crushing pick-six) on what still might have been the game-winning drive in the game’s final minute. But he foolishly opted to test former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore with another low-percentage throw, on third down no less, to Mike Williams – a player on the comeback from ACL reconstruction with whom Rodgers has had little time to build chemistry and hardly looked ready for this opportunity.

‘We’re playing below our potential,’ said Rodgers afterward.

‘Too many mental errors. Just too many mistakes in general. That’s hard to overcome, and then, you know, for me, I’ve got to take care of the football. Can’t turn the ball over three times and win in this league.’

Yet that someone who can help this talented team reach its potential is out there – and pretty readily available.

If Adams’ divorce from the Las Vegas Raiders isn’t yet official, the separation is already in effect. Yes, he’s 31. Yes, he has a tender hamstring. He’s also got a four-season streak of at least 100 catches and 1,100 yards, the first two with Green Bay and in 2023 despite the Silver and Black’s lingering quarterback issues. And he has that invaluable mind meld with Rodgers that produced scores of first downs, touchdowns and wins over the years because the duo could connect almost at will outside the confines of X’s and O’s.

‘I love Davante Adams. I can’t wait to play with him,” Rodgers said at a celebrity golf tournament over the summer.

“Again.’

But there’s basically no more time to waste in manifesting ‘again.’

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The Jets are 2-3, which already means they need to make a steep climb to postseason – only 22.5% of teams with that record have overcome such a start since playoff expansion to 12 teams in 1990, though 11 have managed it the past three years (when the 14-team field has been in effect). Gang Green does have an extra third-round selection in next year’s draft, which should provide needed flexibility to consummate a deal with a Raiders organization hamstrung by its disgruntled star and more clearly in rebuild mode than ever. And Adams apparently wants to rejoin his buddy, but even he’ll likely need some time to acclimate to the NYJ and reacclimate to Rodgers and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

Asked Friday about a possible reunion with Adams, Rodgers said: ‘I don’t know how much I can say about it.

“There’s tampering. I still have a close friendship with him. We spend time in the offseason together. He’s a great guy, a great player, and the rest is out of my hands.’

Maybe. But it’s not like Rodgers doesn’t have a direct line to Jets general manager Joe Douglas, who, like head coach Robert Saleh, is clearly under pressure to deliver – owner Woody Johnson making no bones about his expectation to win extensively in 2024.

Would importing Adams stunt the growth of Wilson, a third-year player who will soon be in line for a huge contract extension and who’s already hinted at some frustration to his limited route tree this year? Perhaps – though it might also liberate him given the likelihood he’d see so much more single coverage. Would such a move hinder the long-term future of the team at large? Perhaps – but the Rodgers-era Jets most definitely can’t afford to be one Achilles in and one Achilles out over the rest of this season and maybe next depending on how long the 40-year-old would-be savior remains with them. They need to be “all in” in a way the Dallas Cowboys just are not – and acquiring Adams, who has no contractual guarantees beyond this season, shouldn’t preclude Douglas (or whomever is running this team in a year) from keeping its foundational young core (Wilson, Sauce Gardner, Breece Hall, Jermaine Johnson II) at least largely intact.

But if these Jets are going to maximize their promise by reaching Super Bowl 59 in the Big Easy next February, they can’t afford to wait any longer on what seems like an easy, if big, decision.

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

(This story has been updated to include new information.)

The Jets brought their baggage to London but couldn’t leave the bad injury luck back home.

Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was injured in the third quarter of the New York-Minnesota London matchup and exited the field briefly after taking an awkward hit. Rodgers seemed to injure his left leg, which was folded up underneath his body on the hit by a Vikings defender.

Rodgers would finish out the game vs. Minnesota, but the Jets would go on to lose, partially thanks to Rodgers’ three interceptions on the day. The final interception, thrown to Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore, turned out to be the game-sealing one.

By his own admission, Rodgers entered the Week 5 matchup slightly banged up. Unfortunately for the passer, that trend seemed to continue in London.

Here’s the latest on Rodgers:

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

Aaron Rodgers injury update

Following the game vs. the Vikings, Rodgers said he is dealing with a low-ankle sprain. That didn’t prevent him from finishing the game, leaving optimism for his availability in Week 6.

The Jets quarterback took a rough hit that saw his left leg folded up underneath him. He was slow to get to his feet and clutched the back of his left leg, but would eventually make it off the field and walk to the sidelines under his own power.

Rodgers headed for the blue medical tent but reversed course and ended up back on the field after a roughing the kicker penalty extended the Jets drive.

Rodgers looked hobbled following his return but still was able to orchestrate a scoring drive for the Jets, which ended in a field goal.

Following the drive, the veteran quarterback entered the blue medical tent for further evaluation.

This story will be updated.

Tyasha Harris’ 20 points led five players in double figures Sunday as the Connecticut Sun rallied in the second half to force a decisive fifth game in their WNBA semifinal series with the Minnesota Lynx, earning a 92-82 win in Uncasville, Connecticut.

The winner of Tuesday night’s contest in Minneapolis will advance to the WNBA Finals against top-seeded New York. The Liberty closed out two-time champion Las Vegas 76-62 to win their best-of-five series 3-1 earlier in the day.

Connecticut tied this series at 2-2 by shutting down Minnesota’s potent offense in the second half. The Lynx missed their first 10 3-point attempts after hitting nine in the first half. And the Sun controlled the lane, earning a 50-30 advantage in paint points.

DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas each added 18 points for Connecticut, with Thomas chipping in 11 assists and eight rebounds. DiJonai Carrington scored 15 points and Marina Mabrey came off the bench to tally 10.

Napheesa Collier put up game highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, while Natisha Hiedeman came off the bench to add 16 points. Courtney Williams contributed 11.

Connecticut outscored the Lynx 24-19 in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 15 points down the stretch. It hit 53.7 percent of its field goal attempts.

Looking to close out the series, Minnesota got off to a good start behind Collier. She scored nine points in a span of about 4 1/2 minutes as the Lynx established a 22-12 lead before settling for a 22-15 advantage after one quarter.

Minnesota kept converting in the second quarter, restoring 10-point margins on three different occasions. When Connecticut got within four points, Hiedeman quieted the crowd by swishing a running 30-footer from the left wing as time expired for a 50-43 halftime cushion.

The Sun made their move in the third quarter. They took the lead for good with 2:40 left when Bonner turned Carrington’s pass into an alley-oop layup, and Thomas drove for a layup with 1.2 seconds remaining for a 68-63 lead going to the fourth period.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. edged out Brad Keselowski in NASCAR overtime at Talladega Superspeedway, winning the Cup Series’ YellaWood 500 in a photo finish Sunday in Lincoln, Alabama.

Following a lengthy red-flag period, Stenhouse led Keselowski on the restart, but Keselowski pulled ahead in Turn 3 on the final lap.

However, William Byron’s hard push gave Stenhouse the momentum he needed in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing car to beat Keselowski by 0.006 of a second for his fourth career win and first since the 2023 Daytona 500.

Byron’s third-place finish advanced him to the Round of 8. Kyle Larson and Erik Jones rounded out the top five.

After manufacturer-oriented pit stops with 20 laps left, Austin Cindric and Stenhouse topped the field, but the Big One happened on Lap 184 for the fourth caution and a red-flag condition.

Race leader Cindric, who opened the day in last among the dozen title pursuers, was shoved by Keselowski’s Ford, which had been tapped by Joey Logano in a chain reaction of multiple cars bumping to trigger the backstretch chaos.

The 28-car accident, the largest ever at Talladega in Cup history, also involved championship hopefuls Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez.

Reigning series champ Ryan Blaney wrecked at the end of Stage 2 and finished 39th, saddled with his seventh DNF of 2024.

In the second race of the postseason Round of 12, Suarez was lapped early and quickly lost positions in the draft. The No. 99 driver tried to squeeze into the high lane, was clipped by the No. 78 of BJ McLeod and spun untouched on the backstretch.

With 10 circuits left on the 2.66-mile superspeedway in 60-lap Stage 1, Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Ford found the front and edged Stenhouse, Byron and Larson for the top bonus points as the field kept the racing clean.

As Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford won the 10 bonus points in Stage 2, a significant development occurred with his two teammates, Blaney and Logano, on Lap 122.

After being nudged by Bowman, Blaney’s No. 12 bounced off Shane van Gisbergen on the inside, angled right and headed nose-first into the frontstretch wall in a hard crash.

Blaney’s wreck was terminal and collected Chastain, whose No. 1 Chevrolet caught fire in Turn 1. Logano, Denny Hamlin and Reddick were also hit with damage.

It is far too soon to tell whether Kalen DeBoer is going to be a good enough football coach for Alabama, but he’s going to do wonders for the state’s diamond-producing industry. Every Saturday in the fall under DeBoer’s watch, there are going to be enough clenched fists, jaws and other orifices within a 300-mile radius of Tuscaloosa to make De Beers consider a rebrand.

That’s just how DeBoer rolls. It’s always going to be a high-wire act. Through five games as Nick Saban’s replacement, we are seeing all the same stuff – good and bad – that we saw from DeBoer’s teams at Washington. 

Bold playcalling that borders on reckless at times. Receivers making video game plays down the field. Defense that is often, um, questionable. And games that resemble the last few laps of the Indy 500 when everyone is exhausted and the drivers just throw all strategy out the window and start passing each other, hoping that they end up in front when the finish line comes. 

DeBoer won eight football games that way last year at Washington, and it often didn’t matter how good or bad the competition was. But it was enough to get the Huskies to the national championship game, which earned DeBoer an offer to replace Saban at college football’s preeminent program. 

But there’s a little thing called regression to the mean, and it hits like a bout of food poisoning that gets you out of bed in the middle of the night and makes you never want to eat another meal in your life. 

When you live as dangerously as DeBoer has done at both Washington and Alabama, you will eventually end up bent over a toilet. For Alabama fans who don’t remember much before Saban arrived in 2007, violent puking might even be preferable to what they watched Saturday in a 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt. 

HIGHS AND LOWS: Alabama’s upset leads Week 6 winners and loss

ANCHOR DOWN: Kalen DeBoer won’t live down loss to Vanderbilt

What does this result, and the first half of DeBoer’s debut season, say about Alabama?

It says that while the Crimson Tide is still good, it’s the kind of good that a lot of programs can achieve. More reminiscent of those fun, flawed and ultimately beatable Lincoln Riley teams at Oklahoma than the impenetrable Alabama run that lasted more than a decade under Saban. 

The reality is – and of course it’s unfair to compare anyone to the greatest of all time – Saban never had a loss this bad in any of his 17 seasons. And, yes, that includes the infamous Louisiana-Monroe game in 2007.

The context of that game was Saban’s first season when the program was in pretty bad shape, had no expectations and the team had pretty much mentally checked out in mid-November. This was an Alabama team ranked No. 2 and coming off an epic win over Georgia, which took the familiar DeBoer route: Up 28-0, down 34-33, then back in front on a 75-yard touchdown with a little more than two minutes to go. 

Does he know that Alabama fans can’t take this kind of cardiac abuse? It’s not even funny and cute when they win. But when they lose? When they’re just another good team in a conference full of good teams that has a near-equal chance of winning or losing on any given Saturday?

Sure, it’s not good to lose to Vandy for the first time since 1984. But the way Alabama has been playing defensively this season, it could have been anyone. And that’s not going to fly. It didn’t really work for any Alabama coach before Saban, and it sure as heck isn’t going to work for one after him. As great as the job is, the overwhelming freak-out that is coming for DeBoer this week will perfectly illustrate why so many people in college football thought anyone following Saban was setting themselves up for failure. 

Alabama’s two-week whiplash against Georgia and Vandy suggests this is going to be a wild season with a lot more unexpected results as we head toward the first 12-team playoff. 

But DeBoer was hired largely because last year it seemed like he couldn’t lose. Was his absurd record in one-score games part of some secret winning sauce, or was it just an unsustainable run of luck that Alabama will pay the price for? 

Let’s be honest. Finding out is going to be torture for Alabama fans. That’s why they’re No. 1 in the Misery Index, a weekly ranking of which fan bases are feeling the most angst. 

Four more in misery

Oklahoma State: A big reason Mike Gundy has lasted nearly two decades in Stillwater is that the truly bad stretches of football have been few and far between. Before this year, Gundy has experienced a three-game losing streak just four times in his career. But this season’s slump looks like it might be headed toward calamity after a 38-14 loss at home to West Virginia. The Cowboys were completely depantsed in this one, as West Virginia piled up a 558-227 edge in yards and averaged a ridiculous six yards per rush on 65 attempts. Oklahoma State is now 0-3 in the Big 12 and has been out-scored by a cumulative total of 102-53.

Missouri: Ranked No. 11 in the preseason based mostly on a friendly schedule and the carryover hype from last year’s 11-2 record, this team has done nothing on the field to justify any College Football Playoff talk much less a national ranking. In fact, after an uncompetitive 41-10 loss at Texas A&M, the Tigers look like one of the season’s biggest flops. Even worse, A&M coach Mike Elko accused Missouri of faking their own bulletin board material. It emanated from a social media post from Missouri receiver Theo Wease, who arrived at his College Station hotel to find a Texas A&M blanket and note purportedly from Aggies corner Mike Lee that said, “Get used to this blanket. It will be real tomorrow.” Elko said the “gift” did not come from Lee or anyone at Texas A&M and suggested it was an inside job by Drinkwitz to pump up his own player. If true, it would be the most interesting thing about Missouri’s season so far. 

Purdue: Ryan Walters has always been a fast climber, a hotshot assistant who was 30 years old when he got his first defensive coordinator job, earned almost universal praise for his work at two schools and then landed as a head coach in the Big Ten at 37. It hasn’t gone particularly well. How does someone who has done nothing but succeed handle a failure of this magnitude and with this much at stake for his career? Walters is 5-12 at Purdue, but Year 2 has been a major backslide. After a putrid 52-6 loss to Wisconsin, Purdue is 1-4 and has been outscored 184-44 by FBS opponents. Though Purdue fans have been here before – being reminded of the Darrell Hazell years isn’t a good thing – this program has had a pretty solid track record overall since the late 1990s. It can’t afford and shouldn’t tolerate sliding to the bottom of the conference – especially as rival Indiana celebrates a 6-0 start under first-year coach Curt Cignetti. 

Alabama-Birmingham: The ocean of empty seats at three-year old Protective Stadium said it all Saturday. The Blazers fan base has checked out on Trent Dilfer, whose poor performance is only matched by his arrogance in alienating a group of people that have tolerated a lot of bad football over the years. A week after Dilfer’s tone deaf “It’s not like this is freakin’ Alabama” comment – as if UAB fans needed to be reminded of that – his team didn’t do much to soothe the controversy in a 71-20 loss to Tulane. 

Though Dilfer apologized – sort of – during the pre-game coaches show and claimed that fans took it the wrong way, it’s hard to see this marriage lasting too much longer. This isn’t the old UAB. They’ve got a new stadium and practice facility. They’ve got a fan base that wants to win. They should be one of the better programs in the American Athletic. Instead, both Dilfer and athletics director Mark Ingram are going to be on the hot seat, and it’s got to be infuriating for UAB fans because it was so unnecessary. 

Worse than just a run-of-the-mill coaching failure, Dilfer was an unprepared celebrity dropped into a college program despite having no credentials or experience to suggest that he could do the job. Sure, he was an NFL quarterback and a TV commentator, but his coaching experience was limited to a few years at a private high school in Nashville – and it shows.  

Miserable but not miserable enough

Southern California: Will Trojans fans give the program a mulligan for its first go-round in the Big Ten? We’re about to find out because this season has quickly devolved from promising to whelming to massively underwhelming. Whatever toughness threshold USC seemed to have crossed in its season-opening win over LSU seems irrelevant now after melting down late twice in the last three weeks. First it was giving up an 89-yard touchdown drive to lose at Michigan. Now it’s a fourth-quarter no-show against Minnesota, which turned on a Miller Moss interception with 10 minutes left when USC was poised to take a two-score lead. Instead, the Gophers’ 24-17 win leaves USC at 3-2. But the more alarming stat is that Lincoln Riley has lost seven of his last 12 games. 

TCU: The further we get from the 2022 season, the more surreal it will seem that the Horned Frogs played for a national championship under Sonny Dykes. Has any program squandered momentum so quickly and dramatically after appearing on the sport’s biggest stage? A 30-19 loss at home to Houston, which had previously looked like the Big 12’s worst team, leaves TCU at 3-3. After the game, Dykes was at a loss to explain it and said he needed to do a better job of getting the team excited to play. Has the culture turned complacent that quickly? 

East Carolina: It’s stunning how often the Pirates have appeared here the past few years, but it’s also appropriate. This used to be one of college football’s giant-killing programs with a great fan base and a long tradition of winning games. But the reality is that East Carolina hasn’t been that program for a decade and nobody can really explain why. Even coach Mike Houston, who once seemed like a slam dunk hire after winning an Championship Subdivision national title at James Madison, has floundered during his five-year stint. After ECU’s 55-24 loss to Charlotte, Houston has won just five of his last 18 games and the clamor for change is beginning. 

Troy: Here’s a trend to keep an eye on in the transfer portal era. In the past, winning Group of Five programs had a chance to keep the momentum going even if they lost their coach to a bigger school. But now, it’s a whole lot harder. Jon Sumrall won 23 of 27 games at Troy and took a better-paying job at Tulane, which nobody would hold against him. But 20 players transferred out after he left, including a few to Tulane and several others who went to power conference programs. Now, just like that, Troy is 1-5 after a 38-17 loss to Texas State. Is it better to have these dramatic ups and downs or to just be pretty good and have nobody show much interest in hiring your up-and-coming coach? 

Kennesaw State: A newcomer to the FBS level, they’re just not ready for this. They may not be ready for anything. The Owls were once one of the top FCS programs. Now they’re 0-5 after a 39-point loss to Jacksonville State and almost certainly the worst team in Conference USA, which convinced Kennesaw State to join after they lost a bunch of teams in conference realignment. As of now, the Owls are doing nothing in this division other than diluting the product and handing out easy Ws.  

(This story was updated to change a video.)

College football fans should have known. Any time the schedule looks like a dud, something spectacular happens. (hello, friends in Nashville, Fayetteville, College Station, and Seattle). Let’s just hope next week’s plethora of big matches live up to the hype (they hardly ever do).

Some of the biggest upsets this season have gone by the wayside because the team pulled off the miracle and lost in quick succession the next week. That’s college football for ya.

The same goes for grading from last season: High marks will only be given to the spectacular, and failing grades have no chance of being reversed.

Last week’s top marks went to Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter with another ridiculous play, and a cheerleader who nailed an Oklahoma player during pre-game and failing grades went to an Ole Miss player who needs to take acting classes.

Here is the Week 6 analysis of how fans, teams, players, and coaches fared: 

See what had happened was….

Going to keep this one short and sweet. Temple football, from a sure tie or win to a heartbreaking loss in an instant, via a tush push epic failure.

Not exactly Jalen Hurts: F

The worst and best of the rest

APB on Vandy’s goalpost

Music City moshpit: A++++

Cheerleader or safety?

Go, fight, punish: A

Jeremiah. Smith.

 Ryan. Williams.

Mossin’: NFL bound (in a few years)

Honorable mention

Ringling Bros. job opening: A+

Flapjacks on the gridiron

IHOP approves: A

All Eyez on Big Red

Uniform wars: Transfer to FIT

College GameDay at its best

Signs, signs, everywhere the signs: Hallmark is hiring

They said it

‘4th-and-1 in the Super Bowl at the 1, I’m giving your ass the ball!’ Nick Saban to Marshawn Lynch on College GameDay

***

Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly on the difference between a coordinator and head coach.

‘You can go to the bathroom between series if you have to.’

***

‘Tony Rojas! Football is life!’ FOX play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson praising the Penn State linebacker while also channeling his inner ‘Ted Lasso.’

Stats for you

1: Wins against Top 5 ranked opponents by Vanderbilt in its history. The Commodores had lost their previous 60 such matchups before upsetting Alabama.

9: Army’s winning streak, the longest in the nation.

18: Consecutive wins for Wisconsin over Purdue.

47: Seasons since an FBS kicker made two 60-yard field goals in the same season. Temple’s Maddux Trujillo nailed a 60-yarder Saturday against UConn to go along with a 64-yarder earlier in 2024.

107: Temperature at kickoff for Kansas-Arizona State game in Tempe. The game started at 5:05 p.m. local time.

1,031: Rushing yards through five games for Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty has also scored 16 rushing touchdowns.

The Dog of the Week

Tulane at UAB

Now to the game

This weekend’s unfortunate sight for sore eyes comes to you courtesy of Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, which the name of the venue did the Blazers absolutely no favors in protecting them from an absolute tail-kicking from the visiting and appropriate moniker Tulane Green Wave.

All is not lost on UAB; they have at least won one game this season, albeit to FCS Alcorn State, something three other FBS teams (UTEP, Kent State, Kennesaw State) can’t yet brag about. And it will presumably get worse before head coach Trent Dilfer even thinks about putting a smile on his face, at least when he is on a football field, when they take a trip to West Point next Saturday to take on undefeated Army.

The pups at least got in a couple of naps trying to understand how this game went so badly so quickly. Let’s recap: UAB couldn’t run it, couldn’t stop the run, and turned the ball over three times. Yep, that just about covers it when the final score is 71-20.

Restricted free-agent goaltender Jeremy Swayman signed an eight-year, $66 million contract with the Boston Bruins on Sunday morning.

The deal comes on the heels of Swayman declaring that he wants to ‘be a Bruin for a long time.’ It also comes two days before Boston plays its season opener on the road against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

‘Hey fans, ‘Sway’ here,’ Swayman said in a video posted by the Bruins to social media. ‘I’m so excited to be back. I cannot thank you for all of your support throughout this entire process but we got a lot of new beginnings to start and I cannot wait to get going.’

Swayman, 25, posted a 25-10-8 record with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage last season while playing on a one-year, $3.475 million contract awarded by an independent arbitrator. He was the only RFA in the NHL who remained unsigned.

Swayman is now the Bruins’ No. 1 goaltender following the June trade that sent Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators.

All things Bruins: Latest Boston Bruins news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Swayman has a 79-33-15 record, a .919 save percentage and a 2.34 goals-against average in parts of four seasons with Boston. He and Ullmark shared the William M. Jennings Trophy in 2022-23 after they combined to give Boston the fewest goals in the NHL.

He was 6-6 in 12 playoff starts last season with a .933 save percentage and 2.15 GAA.

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Beat Georgia one Saturday, lose to Vanderbilt the next.

No team has had a week quite like No. 2 Alabama. After earning the most impressive win of September by knocking off the Bulldogs, the Crimson Tide kicked off October with a loss at Vanderbilt that qualifies as one of the most shocking upsets in SEC history.

Led by a near-perfect performance from quarterback Diego Pavia, a ball-control game plan that kept Alabama’s offense on the sideline and two big takeaways, the Commodores knocked off Alabama 40-35 for the first win in program history against a top-five opponent. The win was the program’s first against the Tide since 1984.

The toast of the town last week, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer now has to manage the fallout from an epic flop. You can hear the Alabama fans from here: No, this would have never happened under Nick Saban.

That’s a fact. Vanderbilt scored 13 points in four meetings against the Saban-era Tide but had 13 points at the end of the first quarter on Saturday. Up 23-14 at the break, the Commodores weathered an Alabama surge and then delivered the dagger with a touchdown to make it 40-28 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Alabama — that this was an elite team, with an elite offense, an elite quarterback, an elite head coach and the chance to improve every week on the way to an SEC championship. This loss erases all of the good vibes coming out of the win against the Bulldogs and threatens to engulf DeBoer’s first season.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt put on a master class on how to pull off an upset against an opponent with a massive talent advantage.

The Commodores controlled the clock, holding possession for over 40 minutes. They avoided any turnovers. Alabama ran 46 plays to the Commodores’ 73, including 53 on the ground; they had more carries than the Tide had plays, period. They were unique enough on offense to wobble the Alabama defense. At times, the Commodores took what they wanted against a defense and staff that had no answers.

And they were helped by the obvious: Alabama thought they were going to roll. Would that mindset have happened under Saban? The answer is moot. Saban is gone, and things just aren’t the same.

For this, Alabama is by far the biggest loser from Week 6 of the regular season:

Winners

Ohio State

The No. 3 Buckeyes’ first test of the season went down smoothly in the second half. The first wasn’t great: OSU led just 7-0 against Iowa at the break after committing two turnovers with another turnover on the downs. But the offense came alive in the second half, sparked by freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and established veteran Emeka Egbuka with a boost from the Hawkeyes’ own giveaways. Smith made a ridiculous one-handed touchdown grab to make it 14-0 five minutes into the third quarter, quarterback Will Howard ran one in after an Iowa fumble and Egbuka scored twice in the second half and three times overall as the Buckeyes pulled away to win 35-7.

Washington

Almost nine months after losing the 2023 national championship to Michigan, Washington made a Big Ten statement with a 27-17 win at home against the No. 10 Wolverines. Michigan made a needed quarterback change, bumping veteran Jack Tuttle into the lineup after trying out Alex Orji, and Tuttle was better until a painful interception late in the fourth quarter that helped seal the Huskies’ win. After a bit of a sloppy start dotted with painful losses to Washington State and Rutgers, the Huskies got a must-have win in advance of a tough run of games in Big Ten play.

SMU

SMU has been an unexpected success story as new members of the ACC. The Mustangs moved to 5-1 with a 34-27 win at No. 22 Louisville and is one of three 2-0 teams atop the conference standings, along with No. 14 Clemson and Virginia. (The Cavaliers are another great story under third-year coach Tony Elliott.) SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings had a career day against the Cardinals, setting new career bests with 281 passing yards and 113 rushing yards to go with a touchdown. Because this team might end up being an interesting addition to the postseason race: SMU plays Stanford, Duke, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Virginia and California in the second half.

Florida

Is beating Central Florida 24-13 the moment that Billy Napier saved his job and booked another season as Florida’s head coach? Let’s get serious. Napier is headed toward the end of his tenure after three seasons and the Gators are probably still headed for another year short of the postseason. But let’s give some credit here: UCF had this game circled but never had a chance in what was easily the Gators’ best performance of the season. Beating the Knights is good for business in general — losing to a program UF views as an in-state upstart would’ve been really tough to swallow — and is the team’s second win in a row heading into a brutal seven-game stretch that includes games against Tennessee, Georgia and Texas.

Army and Navy

The two service academies continue to excel and set up the possibility of the rivalry’s most hyped meeting in generations. Army put Tulsa to bed early and cruised to a 49-7 win behind 321 rushing yards and an impressive 26.7 yards per pass attempt. Navy took care of business against the third wheel in the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, beating Air Force 34-7 to snap the Falcons’ four-game winning streak in the series. The Black Knights and Midshipmen are a combined 10-0 for the first time since 1945.

Indiana

No. 24 Indiana has spent enough time under the radar — this is a team worthy of praise amid one of the best starts in program history and deserving of a legitimate spot among the contenders for an at-large playoff bid. After beating Northwestern 41-24, the Hoosiers are 6-0 for the first time sine 1967 and locked into bowl play for the sixth time since 1993. Remade this offseason with a number of top transfers from the Group of Five, led by former Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke, Indiana is averaging 47.5 points per game and has topped the 40-point mark in all three games in Big Ten play.

Losers

Missouri

Facing a legitimate team on the road for the first time, Missouri was blasted by No. 21 Texas A&M in a 41-10 loss that reveals the Tigers as College Football Playoff pretenders while underscoring the Aggies’ obvious improvements under new coach Mike Elko. While never seen as a team legitimately capable of winning the conference championship, Missouri was expected to benefit from an expanded postseason format that could have space for every SEC and Big Ten team with fewer than three losses during the regular season. After starting league play with a double-overtime escape against Vanderbilt and getting run off the field by A&M, the Tigers can no longer be taken seriously in the playoff debate.

Southern California

Life in the Big Ten isn’t going to be easy. The No. 15 Trojans expected tough, nationally relevant games against Michigan, Ohio State and the like, but Minnesota? That was one of the Big Ten also-rans USC was supposed to step right over on the way to the top third of the conference and annual playoff contention. That may be the case in the future; it’s not the case in 2024. Despite the Golden Gophers’ stupidity and attempts to give this game back to USC, the Trojans lost 24-17 after giving up a short fourth-down touchdown run with under a minute left. Three games in Big Ten play, two of them losses, are beginning to show USC what it’ll be like to navigate through a conference with more depth and fewer outs than you’d ever find in the Pac-12.

Florida State

Hey, another loss for Florida State. This one was a little more understandable. The Seminoles never really sniffed Clemson in a 29-13 loss that puts another big dent in any lingering bowl hopes with six games left in the regular season. There was a change at quarterback but no noticeable change from an underachieving offense: Brock Glenn averaged 5.6 yards per attempt as the replacement for an injured DJ Uiagalelei and FSU managed just 22 yards on 23 carries. Now 1-5, the Seminoles still have to play Miami and Notre Dame, so making the postseason will require something close to a miracle.

Oklahoma State

This season has come undone in a flash. Two weeks ago, Oklahoma State was No. 15 in the nation heading into the Big 12 opener against then-No. 10 Utah. Three games later, the Cowboys are an even 3-3 and at the bottom of the conference standings. If losses to the Utes (22-19) and No. 20 Kansas State (42-20) showed how far Oklahoma was from the top of the league, Saturday’s 38-14 loss at home to West Virginia says something worse: With the offense struggling and the defense falling apart, the Cowboys have gone from a possible at-large team to scrambling for six wins down the stretch.

North Carolina State

They’re nowhere near Florida State’s level of disaster, but NC State has to counted among the biggest disappointments in the Power Four at 3-3 and winless in the ACC at the midway point of the regular season. Ranked No. 22 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, the Wolfpack have wins against Western Carolina, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois; blowout losses to Tennessee and Clemson by a combined 65 points; and a really puzzling 34-30 loss on Saturday to Wake Forest, which had been floundering out of the gate but stole a road win with two touchdowns in the final eight minutes.

Alabama-Birmingham

UAB isn’t Alabama, as coach Trent Dilfer said after last week’s loss to Navy. Yeah, the Blazers aren’t Alabama A&M, either. The worst coaching hire of this and maybe any decade continues to pay off miserably for UAB, which dropped to 1-4 after losing 71-20 to Tulane. (Not a misprint.) It turns out that hiring an unqualified, arrogant, unproven former NFL quarterback to run one of the most consistently successful programs in the Group of Five was, in fact, an awful decision. That’s being way too nice: Dilfer was handed a winner, pure and simple, and turned this winner into a punchline. The UAB fan base deserves much better than this.

(This story was updated to add new information and change a video.)

LOS ANGELES — For six seasons, the baseball world wondered what it would be like to see Shohei Ohtani, one of the most electric baseball players of this generation, in the MLB playoffs. 

The San Diego Padres found out the hard way.

The Los Angeles Dodgers slugger ignited his offense with a thunderous three-run home run that propelled his team to a 7-5 victory over their rival in Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series. He proved in his playoff debut that his 10-year, $700 million contract is worth every penny.

“I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game began, and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Ohtani said. 

The first inning was a sight Dodger fans have seen often in recent postseason appearances. Its starting pitcher – this time Yoshinobo Yamamoto – got lit up before the sun even set in Southern California. A Manny Machado home run capped off three runs in the top of the frame for the Padres and the Dodgers were unable to answer in their first time up to the plate.

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But all those struggles changed in the bottom of the second. In the most meaningful at-bat so far of his career, Ohtani took Dylan Cease to right field, threw his bat and yelled as the raucous Dodger Stadium crowd watched the ball go over the right field wall and tie the game.

No, the swing didn’t win the game. Los Angeles fell into another deficit the following inning, but another offseason signing came up big. Teoscar Hernandez, an underrated signing before spring training, hit a two-run single in the fourth inning that gave Los Angeles a lead it held onto for the remainder of the game.

The new acquisitions were exactly what the Dodgers needed when they’ve faltered far too often.

In just the first game of this series, the Dodgers scored seven runs. Last season, when the Dodgers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the offense scored only six runs in three games and the stars were nowhere to be found. In 2022, when San Diego won three in a row to eliminate them, it only scored seven runs in three defeats.

Just when it looked like it was going to be the start of another tough October in Los Angeles, Ohtani was there to change the narrative.

“It’s just got the momentum back for us and just gave us life,” manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani’s home run. “From pitch one, the fans were just engaged, were in it. I felt that energy and I think Shohei feeds off that. But that was just a huge hit.”

Even though it was Hernandez who hit the go-ahead run, he took no credit for leading the team to a win. He deferred all of that to his leadoff hitter.

“(Ohtani) is the guy that is going to guide us through all this, and we will follow and try to stay and play at the same level,” Hernandez said. 

Ohtani said he was very pleased to get the home run off a pitcher like Cease, especially since he’s been solid against the Dodgers this season. In two starts against Los Angeles, he pitched 10 ⅔ innings and gave up four runs on eight hits with 10 strikeouts total, but hadn’t allowed a Dodgers hitter to hit one over the fence.

Padres manager Mike Shildt said Cease had a really good first at-bat against Ohtani, when he got him to fly out in the first inning. But he said he put the pitch – a four-seam fastball at the top of the strike zone – in a spot they didn’t like and Ohtani made him pay. 

“It’s just about execution, right? You got to be even finer against really good players,” Shildt said. “We just got something that was out over and he was able to get the bat on.”

While it was his first MLB postseason game, Ohtani is no stranger to the bright lights. He won a title while playing in Japan, and who could forget the performance he put up for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in 2023, when he was named the tournament MVP?

The slugger said it’s tough to compare his past experiences with his current situation, but he knew the intensity picked up a notch. 

“I thought it was pretty exciting,” Ohtani said.

That excitement certainly took the burden off Yamamoto after he gave up three runs in the first and two more in the second before he was pulled. 

Yamamoto said he was appreciative that the offense picked him up. The bullpen also stepped up big for Los Angeles. After San Diego got five runs on five hits in the first three innings, it failed to score again and only got two more hits and struck out seven times in the final six frames.

The fellow Japanese star said he is going to go back to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong. If this series ends up going four or five games like several people expect, he is likely to be called on again to take the mound. He added he was just falling behind early in at-bats, but there may have been something else playing into it; Roberts said it appeared like the Padres picked up on what Yamamoto was delivering.

“There are some things that I think that we’re going to dig into because I think at second base, they had some things with his glove and giving away some pitches. So we’re going to clean that up,” he said. “It’s on us to kind of clean that up and not give away what pitch is going to throw. We’ll clean that up internally.”

Still, Saturday was all about Ohtani. Not only was there extra attention to Saturday being his first MLB playoff game, but he was coming off the hottest stretch of this season. Since that day in Miami when he became the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, he had a .628 batting average with six home runs and 20 RBI. If there are runners in scoring position, it’s been pretty much a guarantee Ohtani is going to bring them home.

There was no telling if Ohtani would be able to keep it going. He even admitted it’s tough to get comfortable playing that first playoff game when you’re coming off the layoff the top two seeds in each league are given and clearly haven’t helped Los Angeles the past two seasons.

But these games are the reasons why Ohtani chose to spend the next decade with the Dodgers. He was excited to be in a “high intensity environment” and if he can deliver just like he did in Game 1, he may be able to get the Dodgers back to glory.

“He certainly has that switch, that focus that goes to excitement vs. nerves and feeling pressure and trying too hard,” Roberts said. “I just really have never seen a guy in the biggest of moments come through as consistently as he has. It’s really impressive. I don’t know how he does it.”