As the Kansas City Chiefs hoist their third Super Bowl banner in five years, the Baltimore Ravens will have a front-row seat to what could have been – not that every day didn’t bring its own reminders of last year’s AFC championship game loss, and that was before the NFL decided to kick off the 2024 season with a rematch.

Which is why, before kickoff Thursday night, the Ravens will be subjected to one final deep cut. Then they can finally go about beginning to settle the score from a 17-10 defeat at home.

‘Any game I play in, I feel like it’s a revenge game,’ quarterback and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson said. ‘So, I’m not just going to look at this game like it’s a revenge game. Anybody we’ve played, no matter if we’ve beat them or lost to them in previous years, I just want to win.’

In one offseason, the most noticeable changes between the two teams came on Baltimore’s defense. Former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Linebacker Patrick Queen (Pittsburgh Steelers) and safety Geno Stone (Cincinnati Bengals) signed with AFC North foes, while edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney left to join the Carolina Panthers.

The players who remain on the team, linebacker Roquan Smith said, will carry the loss into the opener.

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‘It’s about having that and putting that in your back pocket and just using that as motivation on top of the motivation that’s already there,’ Smith said. ‘Being able to do exactly what we do and knowing that this is the first game on the schedule, and (the Chiefs) are in our way of what we want for ourselves. So, it’s just about going out there and handling business as business should be handled.’

Emotions will be high, head coach John Harbaugh said.

‘Those things are always in play,’ Harbaugh said. ‘It’s an emotional game. It’s an emotional sport. It’s an emotional life, isn’t it? The things that you have in your life that you care about that are important to you, and you want to do well, and you want to be successful.’

Safety Kyle Hamilton said that remaining even-keeled on the emotions front helps him play his best. But some realities are unavoidable.

‘You can’t ignore the situation, who you’re playing against,’ Hamilton said, ‘and you have to respect them at the same time.’

More than two weeks before the opener, scout-team tight ends wore a yellow No. 87 jersey on it. Game planning to stop Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce can’t be simulated in practice, but adding a detail like that gives Baltimore defenders another learning point.

The Chiefs carved the Ravens’ defense on the first two drives of the last matchup, but Baltimore’s defense stood stout for the rest of the game and allowed just one more field goal the rest of the way. The bigger issue was the offense’s lack of production, as well as its three turnovers, against the Chiefs’ defense.

Kansas City’s unit, led by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, finished the 2023 season ranked second in scoring, yardage and sacks. The Chiefs were fifth in blitz frequency, and it was by sending pressures at Jackson that they threw the MVP off his game. Jackson was 20-for-37 with a touchdown, interception and fumble against the Chiefs.

The fumble came against a four-man rush, as Charles Omenihu beat left tackle Ronnie Stanley on the edge and knocked the ball loose from Jackson’s blind side. Harbaugh said the team, mainly offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Jackson, has been coming up with a plan to be ready for what they know the Chiefs will do.

‘When a team comes after you and blitzes, you have to meet them. You have to meet them where you stand,’ Harbaugh said during training camp. ‘Stand your ground and then attack them. That’s what you have to do. We’ve been working hard at that – we always have.’  

In May, Jackson said any meaningful revenge against the Chiefs won’t happen unless the Ravens send Kansas City home for the offseason in a playoff matchup. What matters most to him and his teammates is winning their own Lombardi Trophy.

‘We lost at the end of the year,’ Hamilton said. ‘Nobody remembers the AFC championship runner-up from 10 years ago. We’re trying to be that team that everybody remembers.

‘It is what it is. Had a good year, but we have to do it again.”

The cardiac arrest Damar Hamlin suffered on Jan. 2, 2023, gripped the nation and united the sports world as we all hoped for a positive outcome. Hamlin not only survived the life-threatening incident, but the Buffalo Bills safety played in five games the very next NFL season.

Now, two seasons removed from the frightening episode, Hamlin is entering Week 1 a starter for his team with budding confidence and joy.

‘I’m feeling confident, man,’ Hamlin on behalf of Invisalign, who’s worked with over 500 NFL players through their treatment program, told USA TODAY Sports. “Being able to just believe in yourself and knowing who you are. …I’m just locked in trying to do my best one day at a time.”

Coaches noticed during offseason workouts and training camp that Hamlin was playing freer 20 months after his cardiac arrest as the Bills prepare to host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1.  

“It’s to be expected,’ Bills head coach Sean McDermott said of Hamlin playing with less tension and apprehension. ‘An increased focus from a year ago, increased urgency and really just getting back to what he was. … It’s to be expected, again, with [respect to] the situation that he went through. It’s fun watching him have fun out here. I think he’s been able to do that, and you can tell he means business.”

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The Bills endured an offseason makeover that saw established starters depart the team, including wide receiver Stefon Diggs, center Mitch Morse and safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.

Hamlin remains friends with his former teammates and credits Diggs for helping him regain the confidence to return to football. He told USA TODAY Sports he plans to send the now Houston Texans wide receiver a new chain soon.

“I appreciate him. He’s a big part of getting myself back into this journey I’m on,” Hamlin said of Diggs. “He helped me shape my life. Just watching him be himself, I was able to, like, get my hunger back. I’ll forever, like, love him differently.”

Because of the all the Bills’ roster changes, Hamlin is slated to have an increased role this year in the Buffalo’s defensive backfield. McDermott told reporters Wednesday that Hamlin will start against the Cardinals.

“His focus was like, ‘I want to go win a job. I want to prove that I can start and help and make plays,’” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. “That’s been his focus: ‘Micah and Jordan are gone. There are new faces around, and don’t forget about me. I can still do it.’”

Hamlin hasn’t registered a start since the 2022 season that changed his life. He produced a career-high 91 tackles in 2022 and two tackles in limited action this past season. This year, though, Hamlin is in line to see plenty of time on the field.

Regardless of the role or amount of snaps he receives this year, Hamlin’s grateful to be healthy enough to play football at a high level in what will be his fourth season in Buffalo.

“I’ve been through so much in my life that I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to still be here,” Hamlin said. “I stay grounded in the fact of knowing that, you know, I’m still here for a reason, and just trying to spend as much time as I can trying to align with the purpose of still being here is like everything to me.”

A 17-year-old suspect in the shooting of San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall has been charged with attempted murder and two other felonies, officials announced Tuesday.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement that the suspect will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon and because of the public safety risk, prosecutors will look to have him held in custody.

The teen is also being charged with assault with a semiautomatic weapon and attempted second-degree robbery in the incident, which occurred Saturday afternoon in the city’s Union Square area.

Police say Pearsall, 23, was walking to his car when the suspect noticed his ‘expensive watch,’ San Francisco Police Sgt. Frank Harrell told the San Francisco Chronicle.

During a struggle, the suspect’s gun went off, shooting Pearsall through the chest and wounding the suspect’s arm.

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The teen, from Tracy, California – approximately 60 miles east of San Francisco – was arrested about a block from the scene, police said.

Pearsall was taken to the hospital and was released on Sunday. The 49ers put the rookie wide receiver from Florida on the non-football injury list on Monday to allow him to recover from the gunshot wound and a shoulder injury that had limited him in training camp, team GM John Lynch said Tuesday.

Lynch added that it ‘was nothing short of miraculous’ that Pearsall wasn’t hurt worse.

He credited police Sgt. Joelle Harrell for quickly responding and keeping Pearsall calm, using his shirt to put pressure on the chest wound and using her baseball cap to press against the bullet’s exit wound.

‘He’s doing so much better today than he was yesterday,’ Lynch said. ‘Just really, really miraculous.’

Lynch said the Niners still expect Pearsall, the 31st overall pick in this year’s draft, to be able to contribute to the team this season.

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Nick Saban sometimes referred to stories about his Alabama team that he viewed as too positive as ‘rat poison.’ He could be grumpy and cantankerous, particularly during his days as coach of the Miami Dolphins. Then, he told the media he wasn’t going to coach the Crimson Tide.

‘I guess I have to say it,’ Saban said. ‘I’m not going to be the Alabama coach.’ Spoiler alert, etc.

Bill Belichick once treated the media like we were a plague. As in bubonic.

Now, in a genuinely hilarious switch, Saban and Belichick are both media stars. It’s difficult to put into words how remarkable this is.

When Saban went on the Paul Finebaum Show last month, the host said what many of us in the media were thinking: ‘Some people have labeled you as a media guy. Still hard for me to get used to.’

Belichick and Saban joining the media is like Darth Vader joining the Rebel Alliance. Or Donald Trump getting a cabinet position inside a Kamala Harris administration. Belichick and Saban have to be laughing at us media folks. Just hysterically laughing at us. They are now making millions using the medium they once often scolded or in Belichick’s case clearly despised.

And now? Saban is an analyst on ESPN. Belichick is doing so many media things he’s more media than anyone else in the media.

Wrote TheAthletic’s Richard Deitsch and Andrew Marchand: ‘Belichick is everywhere. He’ll be a regular guest on Pat McAfee’s show, he has a permanent guest spot on ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli,’ he’ll play a role on the CW’s ‘Inside the NFL,’ he has a 30-minute show with Peyton Manning on ESPN+ that will focus on that week’s ‘Monday Night Football’ matchup; he’s hosting ‘Coach with Bill Belichick’ – a weekly football analysis show for Underdog Fantasy that will run on YouTube – and he’ll be doing some work with SiriusXM during the NFL season. This dude has become Ryan Seacrest in one offseason.’

Marchand estimated Belichick was making some $10 million for all of his media endeavors.

We’ve seen anti-media guys before join (speaking of Vader) the dark side before, but nothing in existence comes close to this. Particularly with Belichick.

Belichick was stubbornly analog in a media world that rapidly changed around him. He was a Flintstone in Jetsons universe. He could get away with it because he won 10 million Super Bowls.

He was so anti-media it at times became a running joke. ‘We’re on to Cincinnati’ developed into a legendary meme.

When it became public in 2016 that Belichick once wrote a note to then-President-elect Donald Trump, he was forced to address the note in a press conference.

‘I’ve received a number of inquiries relative to a note that I wrote to Donald on Monday. Our friendship goes back many years,’ Belichick said. ‘I think anybody who’s spent more than five minutes with me knows I’m not a political person. My comments are not politically motivated …

‘To me, friendship and loyalty is just about that,’ he added. ‘It’s not about political or religious views. I write hundreds of letters and notes every month. It doesn’t mean that I agree with every single thing that every person thinks about politics, religion or other subjects. But I have multiple friendships that are important to me, and that’s what (the letter to Trump) was about.’

But then, stunningly, he answered every follow-up question about the letter with one word: ‘Seattle.’ That was New England’s next opponent.

Here’s the interesting thing about Belichick. In one-on-one interviews, he can be remarkably charming and is extremely intelligent. I interviewed Belichick for a biography about Jim Brown and it was one of the best interviews I’ve ever done.

Belichick and Saban are close friends for many reasons with perhaps one of those reasons being how they view the media. They both saw it as a tool to be used, to send messages to their players. Especially Saban. He said this explicitly to Finebaum.

‘What message do I want to send,’ Saban said, speaking of the purpose of his press conferences, ‘to our fans, to our players, and in general, to reinforce the culture of our program.’

Now, the ultimate insiders are on the outside. Not so curmudgeonly. Not so aggressive. They are practically kind and sweet now when watching them do their media jobs.

Welcome, fellas. Good luck.

Losing more games than any team in major league history – a distinction the Chicago White Sox will earn sometime in the next three weeks – is nothing to which anyone aspires. Nor is it anything these White Sox have not actively tried to prevent.

Instead, it has been a battle of withering resolve vs. on-field reality and it is abundantly clear which side has prevailed.

Any hopes of contention ended tacitly after 22 losses in their first 25 games, officially when they were mathematically eliminated Aug. 17, a date more associated with midsummer dreams than autumn reality.

Any hint of stability ended when they mercifully fired manager Pedro Grifol on Aug. 8, after he piloted them to a 28-89 record, only for interim manager Grady Sizemore to follow with a 3-20 mark with a roster further desiccated by the trade deadline.

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And so, for a team that’s 31-109, that’s 7-48 in its last 55 games, that’s a worst-in-history 4-38 since the All-Star break, that’s been outscored by more than 300 runs and that will shatter the 1962 Mets’ record of 120 losses unless they can break character and win 11 of their last 22 games, the team fight has given way to individual battles of will.

Even for the losingest pitcher on the losingest team in modern history.

“I think the biggest takeaway is being able to look myself in the mirror and say that I was pretty diligent in my routine. That I continued to work every day and that every time I took the mound, I was putting my best foot forward and ready to compete,” says right-hander Chris Flexen, who broke a modern major league record Monday when the White Sox lost their 20th consecutive game in which he started.

“Sometimes that’s half the battle itself. The biggest thing is you’re never out of the fight, really. Even amidst your struggles, you have to continue to fight.”

Yet night after night, it’s never a fair fight.

Chicago is last in the American League with a 4.90 ERA, last in the major leagues in walks issued and walk rate, OPS (.615), runs scored and home runs. And game after game, the stat sheet is vividly illustrated on the diamond.

Tuesday night, White Sox pitchers loaded the bases in four of the first five innings against the Baltimore Orioles, allowed 16 baserunners before recording 15 outs and lost 9-0, getting outscored 22-3 in two games against a first-place team.

It was loss No. 109, and there’s a strong likelihood the one after 109 was less than 24 hours away. The White Sox must fight those feelings of doom, yet they’re understood with greater clarity for those who have escaped the South Side.

“It is tough, because you don’t feel any motivation sometimes,” says Orioles outfielder Eloy Jiménez, traded to Baltimore from Chicago on July 30. “Even when you want to motivate – ‘Oh, we cannot lose today’ – it is a little bit tough. I hope things get better for them next year. Because that was the team I grew up with, came up with. And it was a good team.

“But these last two years have been a real struggle. I hope everything goes better for them next year.”

Yet the remains of this season linger. Tuesday, Sizemore earned another rite of passage as a first-time manager, earning his first ejection, joined moments later by veteran outfielder Andrew Benintendi.

The White Sox allowed three runs to score when third baseman Miguel Vargas – acquired from the Dodgers at the trade deadline – crashed into Benintendi after the left fielder tried calling him off Jiménez’s fly ball, allowing three runs to score. Three innings later, another popup in the exact same spot landed between three fielders.

It is enough to compel even the freshest-faced manager to seek an early shower.

“We just want the right calls to be made,” says Sizemore, who was never ejected in his 10-year playing career. “The wrong calls were being made, for both teams. I get it: The game’s getting out of control and we’re down a lot. But our guys are still hitting. They’re not trying to give up their at-bats.”

Even as 31-108 gives way to 31-109.

‘Most days, it doesn’t seem real’

Perhaps riding out this ignominious season would sting more if Sizemore saw it coming. Just a year ago, he was not working in the game, until former Cleveland teammate Josh Barfield recommended him for a job with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ front office.

With the club at its league-mandated staff limit, the only gig available was a $15-an-hour internship under GM Mike Hazen. Sizemore, 41, accepted.

Getting back in the game enabled him to follow Barfield, hired as an assistant GM in Chicago, to the White Sox for a job on Grifol’s coaching staff this spring. By the first week of August, the manager’s office was his.

“Most days, it doesn’t feel real. It still feels like it’s not happening or I’m dreaming of the whole experience,” says Sizemore, a three-time All-Star with Cleveland who produced a 33-homer, 38-steal season in 2008. “But it’s been a fun ride. I’ve really enjoyed everything that comes along with it – working with the guys, working with the staff, competing every night and trying to embrace it and have fun with it.

“I was completely surprised. I had no feeling or indication of anything. I didn’t really know what to make of it. It felt like a dream or a joke at the time.”

Injuries – most notably microfracture knee surgery that cost him the 2012 and 2013 seasons – ended his career after 2015, when he was just 32. Yet he was a dynamic player in his day, one his current charges remember, and his low-key demeanor seems suited for the moment.

“A guy that everybody really respects,” says veteran pitcher Chad Kuhl. “Everybody respects the career he had, the person he is. It seems to carry over into his role. It seems like he’s the same guy. It’s been a smooth transition.”

For Sizemore, managing is, as he puts it, “as close as you can get to being back on the field without actually playing,” and thus it partially slakes his competitive thirst.

Yet Sizemore was placed in a peculiar spot come Aug. 7, with a historically bad team that a week earlier saw several of its last viable parts stripped at the trade deadline. The wins and losses would now go down on his record.

And he had little choice but to create the impression that this was a reboot, even if the personnel was the same – worse, even – than the group that produced a 28-89 mark to that point.

“Trying to put out the most positive message I could,” he says of his first days in the manager’s office. “Tell them this is an opportunity to reset, to put everything behind us starting today. Not focus so much on the results but the process and getting better each day. Try to play together and have fun and the normal cliches you hear throughout your career when things aren’t going good.

“You can still go out there and compete and have fun against the best teams in the league. We’re not going to hand it in every night.”

All falls down

But that’s a challenge when the franchise, from even a 5,000-foot view, had long gone to pot. The industry consensus – that owner Jerry Reinsdorf rode and died for too long with club president Ken Williams and GM Rick Hahn – is now being borne out on the field.

It’s startling when you consider the club is just three years removed from a 93-win season and an AL Central title. Seven All-Stars – Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Lance Lynn, Carlos Rodón, Reynaldo Lopez, Garrett Crochet and Liam Hendriks – dotted the pitching staff alone.

But as the bottom fell out in the second half of an 81-81 2022 season and a 101-loss ’23 campaign, all but Crochet are gone from that group of pitchers, and he’s very likely to be traded in the offseason.

Two years of losing – and dealing stars like Cease – have buttressed the farm system, now ranked eighth by Baseball America. Yet the club’s player development acumen remains an open question, most notably with top shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery stalled out at Class AAA.

Reinsdorf opted to promote first-year GM Chris Getz from within rather than fully clean house. Any Crochet trade will be the latest referendum on Getz after he dealt Cease in March, netting pitching prospect Drew Thorpe.

That won’t do this group any good as it fights ignominy. The White Sox have used a club-record 60 players this year – breaking last year’s mark of 56 – and the open auditions aren’t going any better. Tuesday’s game marked the fourth time since Aug. 4 they’ve issued nine walks in a game, as starter Nick Nastrini fell to 0-7.

Some numbers belie a little hard luck, though.

Take Flexen. His 5.36 ERA would be second-highest in the majors if he had three more innings pitched to qualify for the ERA title. Yet he’s a sturdy veteran starter who deserves a little better, particularly during a five-start stretch spanning June and July, when he posted a 3.64 ERA, and turned in four quality starts.

The White Sox lost all of them.

Of course they did: They also lead the majors with 31 blown saves and with 42 losses in games they’ve scored first. Yet there are no innocents in this clubhouse, which might strangely keep the group more cohesive than you’d imagine.

“Whether it be a tight ballgame or a blowout, we show up the next day ready to compete, ready to work. I think that’s been the biggest thing, to fight through,” says Flexen. “It’s not that it’s not there, but you try to get through the external distractions, put your best foot forward and continue to show up and compete and fight for each other.

“I think it helps unify a little more. Everyone’s struggling too, right? So we’re all in it together. The more we’re able to pull for each other and play competitive baseball, that’s what helps you try to get out of it at some point.”

And then someone like Travis Jankowski comes along.

The White Sox were trailing the Texas Rangers 4-3 with one out in the ninth inning on Aug. 28 when Andrew Vaughn clubbed a pitch deep to left field at Guaranteed Rate Park. A five-game losing streak was about to end in glorious fashion – on a walk-off home run.

Yet the 6-2 Jankowski extended his lanky frame over the fence, brought the ball back and robbed Vaughn. Jankowski called it a “once-in-a-lifetime play.”

The White Sox called it their 103rd loss, sixth in a row in a skid that’s still active, at 12 games. To go along with losing streaks of 21 and 14 games earlier in the season.

“Nothing stands out as bad as that,” says Flexen. “From the other side, unbelievable catch. But for us, struggling to have a moment to put a game away, and we get a three-run home run robbed from us to win a ballgame.”

And so it goes. These White Sox have 22 games left, after which more tinkering and trades and certainly some very mild free agent additions will occur, being that this team is years from contention. Sizemore’s future is also an open question, even as he feels, to some extent, that simply getting back in the game is a significant win.

For now, it’s a matter of mind over nearly two dozen games that don’t matter – save for avoiding a death march into the record books.

“I’ve been there. I’ve been on last-place teams. I’ve been on first-place teams, ones in between. There isn’t any situation these guys are going through that I haven’t lived or seen firsthand,” says Sizemore. “I feel like I can relate to them on that level.

“I think the beauty of this game is there’s always tomorrow. It’s a long season. It’s a grind. But there’s always something to play for. The only way to get better is to play together and play for the guy next to you.”

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1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …

There’s no denying it now. In a matter of months, FSU has become FIU.

From national championship contender in 2023, to becoming the third FBS team in 45 years to lose twice as a double-digit favorite to start the season. 

From whining about playoff worthiness to humbling back-to-back losses to ACC welterweights Georgia Tech and Boston College.

From the blueprint to navigating the new world of NIL and free player movement in the transfer portal, to what in the wide world of sports is going on here?

“We’ve been knocked down,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said after the latest gut punch Labor Day night from Boston College. “We know how to get back up.”

They shouldn’t be in this position in the first place. The genesis of this colossal collapse at the worst possible time (more on that later), is the decision Norvell made in late December of 2023. 

He decided to offer a scholarship — and therefore, the starting job — to nomadic quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Full of momentum and winner of 19 consecutive regular-season games, Norvell took his white-hot program and threw a heavy, wet blanket on it.

He could have signed Cam Ward. He could have signed Will Rogers or KJ Jefferson or anyone who hadn’t proven to be just another guy at two previous stops (Clemson, Oregon State). 

Don’t blame DJU for this mess. Norvell and his staff share in it, too.

They knew Uiagalelei and how he played, and ― just like every other coach ― believed they could fix him. In the age of the vertical passing game ruling football at all levels, Norvell — who had made nearly every right decision in rebuilding the FSU program — chose a quarterback a team can win with, not a quarterback a team wins because of.

You win because of former FSU star Jordan Travis, you win with Uiagalelei. At least, that was the idea.

For the next eight months, Norvell spoke about DJU’s work ethic and leadership, and FSU’s ability to surround him with players to help him and the team reach lofty goals. Then the season began, and what had played out the previous four seasons for DJU showed up again.

In two games, Uiagalelei has missed three touchdown throws, all three throws that quarterbacks at this level of college football have to make. His accuracy is shaky, and the offense — like Clemson and Oregon State prior — plays with a lack of urgency.

You’re not winning games when your quarterback is completing 58% of his passes and averaging less than 7 yards per attempt. But it’s not all DJU. We should’ve seen this coming from last season, when bowl game opt-outs left FSU with its current roster minus transfer portal signings — and it lost by 60 to Georgia in the Orange Bowl. 

So the idea was to supplement the Orange Bowl team through the portal, and then give DJU the keys to the machine. The problem: Keon Coleman, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Tatum Bethune, et al, aren’t walking through that door year after year after year.

Nor was Travis (also a portal addition), whose elite play at the most important position on the field erased so many mistakes on both sides of the ball. 

But here’s the portal catch: a majority of the unloved and unwanted of the portal are there for a reason. It either didn’t work at their previous school, or they’re looking for a one-shot money grab before leaving for the NFL. It’s a crapshoot any way you look at it. 

Norvell has threaded the needle the last two seasons with additions that seamlessly transitioned. Now here we are, with an overwhelmed quarterback, and a misfit, suddenly wayward roster void of leadership grown within the program. 

Everything that once worked with the influx of transfer portal additions now looks like a discombobulate mess. The Seminoles can’t run the ball, they can’t stop the run. 

They’ve left everything in the lap of DJU, who has proven over and over that he’s not a quarterback you win because of.

Now he’s not a quarterback the Noles can win with, either.

2. The fall and the consequences

Don’t think a collapse in 2024 won’t affect FSU’s much-publicized desire to leave the ACC and find a home elsewhere. 

Three people in the industry or connected Big Ten have told USA TODAY Sports over the last three months that a partnership with FSU — which is suing the ACC to gain release from the league and its media rights deal — is “not realistic” for multiple reasons. Those people asked to not be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

At the top of the list is that FSU “has proven to be a poor partner,” according to a Big Ten person, and, “What will they do if they don’t get their way here? Will they sue their partners again?”

Now there’s another issue, one pertaining to performance. Conference expansion is as much about performance as fit. An elite program ― which FSU was building back toward — is difficult to overlook.

After the Big Ten added USC and UCLA in June of 2022, and after league officials quickly realized two more were needed from the West Coast schools if the opportunity arrived, Oregon and Washington were identified and added a year later. Not so much because of philosophical fit, but because of on-field performance and fit. 

Nearly half of the Big Ten presidents, a person told USA TODAY Sports last fall, wanted Stanford and California because of their prestigious academics and fit. But Oregon and Washington won out because performance now carries as much weight as fit. The person did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Already on shaky ground with the Big Ten, FSU simply can’t afford for the product to tank — giving the Big Ten one more reason to not entertain a future relationship.

3. The quick fall, epilogue

Change must come at the quarterback spot, no matter how much NIL money has been invested in DJU.

FSU has an open date to prepare for a dangerous Memphis team — and elite quarterback Seth Henigan — arriving in Tallahassee on Sept. 14. That’s 11 days to get another quarterback (redshirt freshman Brock Glenn or freshman Luke Kromenhoek) ready to play.   

The Noles simply can’t continue playing a quarterback who completed 4 of 15 passes beyond five yards for 56 yards against Boston College. And worse, completed 12 of 14 attempts in the first half against Georgia Tech — but averaged negative air yards per attempt.

If it’s going to change this season, it has to begin now. The Noles can’t afford to roll out DJU again and expect different results. 

FSU’s very football lives — and its unstable conference membership future — may depend on it.

“It’s on me,” a visibly shaken Norvell said after the Boston College loss. “I have to get this fixed.”  

MISERY INDEX: Florida is flailing but it’s not all on Billy Napier

HIGHS AND LOWS: Winners and losers from the opening weekend

4. A seminal, Big Red moment

This is why Dylan Raiola signed with Nebraska. Why the five-star quarterback recruit bailed on a commitment to Georgia and decided to redefine a program — instead of being just another cog in the machine. 

A week after a warmup win over Texas-El Paso, it gets real for the legacy recruit this week against bitter rival Colorado.

Raiola looked poised and confident against UTEP, threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns, and most importantly — considering the recent history of Nebraska quarterbacks — didn’t throw an interception or lose a fumble.

Of all the turnover problems at the position over the Scott Frost era, and into Year 1 under Huskers coach Matt Rhule, none underscored the enormity of the situation greater than former quarterback Jeff Sims in 2023. Of the 28 drives he led, 35% ended in a turnover (six interceptions, four fumbles).

That’s about one every three drives, and underscores why Raiola’s clean performance against the Miners was such an important step.

But more than anything, Raiola allows Nebraska to stretch the field offensively, to complete more second- and third-level throws and force defenses to play the entire field. Last season (and every year since its last bowl season of 2016), a limited pass game allowed opponents to dictate the direction of the game.

The Huskers averaged 6 yards per pass attempt last season and averaged nine against UTEP — without showing anything beyond vanilla sets and plays. That all changes this week, when the short, first-level and perimeter throws are supplemented with deep crosses, hi-low concepts and straight go routes. 

And when we see why Raiola’s flip from Georgia was so critical for the future of Nebraska.

5. The Weekly Five

Five coaches (in order of value) Florida should consider if/when it moves on from Billy Napier.

1. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss: The stronger Ole Miss becomes, the less chance anyone has of hiring him. 

2. Jedd Fisch, Washington: Would he leave Seattle for his alma mater after one season?

3. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri: If Tigers reach the College Football Playoff, it will be difficult to convince Drinkwitz to leave.

4. Bobby Slowik, Houston Texans offensive coordinator: He’s 37, he’s a brilliant offensive mind/quarterback coach, and five-star freshman quarterback DJ Lagway needs a reason to stay.

5. Lance Leipold, Kansas: The program builder (and NCAA lower division championship coach) would finally get his blueblood job.

6. Your tape is your resume

An NFL scout analyzes a 2025 draft-eligible player. This week: Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter. 

“Where does he play? That’s the decision he’ll have to make. He’s elite at both, and frankly, there’s more money to be made playing offense. His (representative) will make that clear. He has deep speed, and quick explosion after the catch. Terrific body control with the ball in the air. He’s still growing at the position, and most everything is outside (throws) right now. You have to see more of that route tree, and we probably will over the course of the season. But you’re talking about a rare talent with the potential to be elite at either position.”

7. Power Play

This week’s Power Poll — 12 playoff teams, and four on the outside — and one big thing.

1. Georgia: Goodness gracious, that defense. Just when you think there might be a hiccup (see: 2023 SEC championship game), this group ends all hope of that — and shows two more emerging stars in linebackers Jalon Walker and CJ Allen. 

2. Ohio State: Two more meaningless games (Western Michigan, Marshall) for the offense to build chemistry with three critical new additions (QB Will Howard, RB Quinshon Judkins, WR Jeremiah Smith) before Big Ten play begins.

3. Miami: You fall in love with Cam Ward (and why wouldn’t you?), but I’ll make this prediction: Canes will be ranked top five in the nation in scoring defense at the end of the regular season.

4. Oklahoma State: Remember, the first four spots are reserved for the top four conference champions. So hello, ‘Pokes (who just happened to snap FCS power South Dakota State’s 29-game win streak last weekend). 

5. Alabama: About those wide receiver struggles the last two seasons? Freshman Ryan Williams caught two balls, had two touchdowns in the season opener, and is averaging 69.5 yards per catch. He’s 17 years old and won’t turn 18 until February.

6. Oregon: Overreaction, Week 1: I may be a teeny-weeny concerned about my pick of Oregon winning it all. 

7. Penn State: We see the ‘Nits differently with the new-look pass offense and are forced to wait six weeks until the next test of the season (Oct. 12 at USC).

8. Texas: A dangerous spot for the Longhorns this week. The Michigan defense will be unlike anything Texas has seen since the 2022 Alabama loss. 

9. Notre Dame: So what if the two biggest games are the first and last (at USC) of the season? Let’s enjoy Marcus Freeman further developing into an elite coach.

10. USC: New defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s impact is already remarkable: Trojans are bigger, faster and pursue like they haven’t since the Pete Carroll days. 

11. Ole Miss: Check back in five weeks after six consecutive gimme putts — Middle Tennessee, at Wake Forest, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, at South Carolina — leave Rebels unbeaten and untested.

12. Liberty: Want a reason to watch the Flames? QB Kaidon Salter, who stayed at Liberty despite transfer overtures from Power Four programs.

13. Utah: Two more transition games from injury for QB Cam Rising before the heavy lifting begins Sept. 21 at Oklahoma State. 

14. LSU: Coach Brian Kelly had his Denny Green moment, and it should’ve been worse for a team that hasn’t won a season opener since 2019. Kelly’s teams at Notre Dame responded well to him publicly calling them out. Will it work now?

15. Kansas State: There’s a quarterback named Avery Johnson. Get ahead of the pack and tell your friends you’ve seen the next Johnny Manziel. 

16. Missouri: Another scrimmage against another overmatched team (Buffalo) before an intriguing home game against Boston College. 

8. Ask and you shall receive

Matt:

Why is everyone ignoring the defending national champions? It’s like the last three years didn’t happen at Michigan. — Debbie Franklin, Detroit.

Debbie: 

It’s not so much ignoring Michigan as it is waiting to see how first-year starting quarterback Davis Warren plays in big games. The first is this weekend against Texas in Ann Arbor, and there are more on the way (USC, Oregon, at Ohio State). 

Warren is another of former coach Jim Harbaugh’s handpicked blue-chip quarterback recruits and waited two seasons behind JJ McCarthy to play. If anything, his performance — and the new offensive line’s work — in a closer-than-expected win over Fresno State adds more hesitation. 

Don’t believe the narrative that Michigan was holding back in the season opener and saving plays for Texas. The Fresno State game was tight in the fourth quarter, and Michigan was doing everything it could to win.

The pass game has gone from 9 yards per attempt with McCarthy, to 4.5 with Warren and a rebuilt receiving corps. Outside of tailback Donovan Edwards and tight end Colston Loveland, it’s essentially a completely different offense. 

The defense will face four elite offenses this season, beginning with Texas this weekend. There’s a lot to like about what Harbaugh built and what Sherrone Moore inherited.

Beat Texas this weekend, and everyone will come around to Michigan again. 

9. The numbers game

35. Miami hasn’t had a quarterback drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL draft since 1989. 

That year, Steve Walsh wasn’t selected in the draft, but was a first-round pick in the supplemental draft by the Dallas Cowboys, who forfeited their first-round pick in 1990 to make the selection. 

The last Miami quarterback to be picked in the first three rounds of the official draft was Vinny Testaverde, who went No.1 overall in 1987. 

This is important for two reasons: After Ward’s performance in a season-opening rout of Florida — and his three seasons of tape prior to arriving in Coral Gables — that streak may end in next year’s draft.

It also illustrates the void of NFL talent at the most important position on the field for the once mighty Hurricanes. While Ken Dorsey was a terrific college player in the early 2000s, he wasn’t an elite NFL prospect. 

Since Dorsey, Miami has had a run of forgettable quarterbacks, including Brock Berlin, Kyle Wright, Kirby Freeman, Robert Marve, Jacory Harris, Stephen Morris and … do I need to continue?

Ward is different. The former late bloomer in high school who no one wanted, Ward had to play his first season at FCS Incarnate Word (which only began playing Division I football in 2013), before transferring to Washington State.

He could’ve left for the NFL after his second season at Washington State and likely would have been selected in the first three rounds of the draft. He chose to return for his final season and try to improve his draft position.

Ward was talking to numerous schools this offseason, including Ohio State, Florida State and Miami. He eventually signed with the Hurricanes after the Buckeyes signed Will Howard, and the Seminoles signed Uiagalelei.

10. The last word

Let’s all say a prayer for Marshall, Georgia’s season opener in 2025. 

Since its emergence in 2021 as the nation’s elite program, Georgia has played its three season openers against blueblood programs — and given up a total of nine points. 

Three points to Clemson in 2021, three to Oregon in 2022 and three to Clemson last weekend. The combined margin of victory in those three games: 93-9.

The only non-FBS opener since 2021 was last year’s scrimmage against Tennessee-Martin, when the Skyhawks scored a touchdown in a 48-7 loss.

So that’s the bar for Marshall. 

Matt Hayes in the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at MattHayesCFB.