The Arizona Cardinals fined their coach, Jonathan Gannon $100,000 for a sideline altercation the 42-year-old had with running back Emari Demercado during the team’s Week 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The incident occurred when Gannon approached Demercado after the 26-year-old running back inexplicably lost the ball just ahead of the goal line for what should have been a 72-yard touchdown. Instead, the ball rolled out of the back of the end-zone for a touchback.

Gannon delivered a heated message to Demercado before hitting him hard on the right arm as he walked away.

Gannon told reporters Monday he had apologized to both Demercado and the team for his actions.

‘I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great about it, honestly,’ Gannon said.

‘I just told them, I kind of let the moment of what happened get the better of me there,’ Gannon added of his message to the team. ‘Obviously, I try to be emotionally stable and calm because my job is to solve problems during a game and lead the charge on that. So, it’s not really who I am, who I want to be, and I told the guys that today.

‘So, it’s a mistake by me, and it’s just like everybody in there, everybody made some type of mistake yesterday, which culminates to why we didn’t win the game. We can’t let it happen moving forward.’

Gannon becomes the first NFL coach to be fined for an altercation with a player since 2022, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians was fined $50,000 for striking Philadelphia Eagles safety Andrew Adams in the helmet during a wild-card playoff game.

The NFL will not be taking any action against Gannon after the Cardinals fined him, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

‘We have been in contact with the NFLPA, and the club which addressed the matter,’ the NFL said. ‘There is no further action from the league.’

The university released a plethora of new logos on Tuesday, Oct. 7 that will be used beginning in spring 2026. Most notably, Texas Tech’s primary ‘double T’ logo has a new look. The current iteration is beveled with red, white and black on it to give it a 3D look. The ‘modernized’ one released is rather flat with red and white, similar to the school’s old look used through the 20th century.

‘The clean, flat design of the new Double T logo combines many of the traditional aspects of the Texas Tech’s primary mark with a modernized twist that features proportional design elements and updated colorways,’ the university said in a statement.

Other logos introduced include a new Red Raider look, updated ‘guns up’ logo and Raider Red-sports specific marks.

The updated logos come after Texas Tech said it did a brand audit done with creative agency LDWW, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as Adidas. It plans to introduce a new branding and style guide in spring.

Reaction to Texas Tech new logo

Normally, people applaud when teams or universities embrace tradition and retro looks. While that’s what the Red Raiders did, not everyone on social media loved the new look Texas Tech will go with. People noted it doesn’t look modern and seems rather plain compared to what it currently has.

However, not all reactions were bad, with some people loving the design, as well as the secondary logos that feature the Red Raider and the Texas state outline. The retro look was also something fans had been wanting for some time, so it seems the people that really care about Texas Tech are happy.

The SEC used to feature college football’s most powerful bullies. Not anymore.
Texas squanders NIL riches, fails to live up to frontrunner status.
SEC still full of playoff contenders, but teams playing catchup to Ohio State, Miami.

Blame NIL if you must, but that’s not the full telling of this story.

Blame transfer free agency. Blame Nick Saban’s retirement. Blame the combination of these ingredients that spawned an uprising of parity.

The SEC lacks a clear-cut national championship frontrunner. How come? Well, assign blame to whichever culprit suits your narrative.

Just don’t forget to also blame Texas.

Because, the NIL landscape is tailor-made for Texas. In this pay-for-play era, who’s outspending the Longhorns, the supposed crown jewel of this past round of conference realignment?

“We’re navigating the NIL space, I think, as good or better than anybody,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” before the season.

Well, bravo, Bevo. The Longhorns can thump their chest as NIL champions. Does that come with a trophy? It’ll be the only one this team wins.

With Texas flopping, the SEC lacks a dominant frontrunner

If Ohio State became the first program to openly buy a national championship, then Texas was supposed to be the second.

Then, the games started, and Texas revealed itself to be a pricey pretender. The Longhorns went the way of Pets.com, an overhyped investment gone splat.

The five-star quarterback named Manning looks overwhelmed. The offensive line is feeble. The defense is permeable.

The SEC once supplied 13 national champions in a 17-year span and trumpeted its superiority ad nauseam, but this iteration of the conference lacks a bully.

Oh, where art thou, Saban?

Texas might possess the SEC’s most talented — or, at least, the most expensive — roster, but it’s not performing like the conference’s best team. With the SEC’s preseason frontrunner playing like a paper tiger, the SEC is left battling for fourth place, staring up at Ohio State, Miami and Oregon. Those three programs are crushing it in the NIL space, and their stars are playing like stars.

SEC teams chasing Ohio State, Miami, Oregon

The SEC is no land of paupers. It takes more than a few shekels to assemble the transfer hauls like the ones amassed by Mississippi and LSU, the latter of which joins Texas in failing to deliver a return on investment.

It takes a war chest to amass a five-star-studded roster like the one at Texas.

The SEC, though, surrendered some of its advantage after the rules of engagement evolved to allow above-board pay-for-play and transfer free agency.

From the 2006 through the 2022 seasons, five SEC programs won at least one national championship. In that span, just three programs not within the SEC won a national title: Florida State. Ohio State. Clemson (twice). That’s it.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s SEC 13, and everybody else four.

Saban had a big hand in that. His Crimson Tide delivered six of those 13 national championships, but the SEC’s dominance didn’t stop at the GOAT.

The SEC ruled the four-team playoff, and the Bowl Championship Series that preceded it, with a well-honed strategy: Sign and stockpile talent, retain talent, develop talent. It’s a Jimmies and Joes game, as Darrell Royal used to say, and the SEC attracted the richest supply of five-star Jimmies and four-star Joes.

Sure, someone like Jimbo Fisher would wisecrack about what maybe did or didn’t go on under the hood during this run of dominance, but let’s not diminish the SEC’s reign of terror or how it pulled it off.

In the SEC, recruits could expect to find gleaming facilities, elite competition, accomplished coaches who built a track record for developing NFL talent, and fan bases with unbridled passion. Games are played in cathedrals full of 100,000 screaming fans.

Who could blame blue-chippers for staying in the South or flocking there from other parts of the country?

“They say girls are prettier here, air’s fresher and toilet paper is thicker,” then-Missouri wide receiver T.J. Moe said before the Tigers’ first season in the SEC.

Elite prospects wanted to play for Saban and Alabama so badly, they waited their turn on the second string before a starting spot opened. In some seasons, Alabama’s ‘B’ team probably would have been a Pac-12 frontrunner.

You know what happened next. Transfer rules relaxed, and who wants to sit the bench when another school dangles an NIL deal and a starting opportunity? It’s not just that, though.

Miami didn’t go from the Pinstripe Bowl to the penthouse just by buying up second-stringers. It plundered Carson Beck, one of the nation’s best quarterbacks, off Georgia’s roster, and installed elite receivers around him, better receivers than Beck had at Georgia.

There’s money everywhere, not just in the South. Out in West Texas, billionaire oil tycoon Cody Campbell tried to buy a playoff bid for Texas Tech, and he might just pull it off.

The deepest collection of talent remains in the SEC. Texas A&M — oh, sweet crude! — is staging an uprising. Ole Miss keeps rearing its head. Even as Texas stumbles, Georgia wobbles and Alabama searches for its cloak of invincibility, the league, top to bottom, is sturdy.

Arizona State could attest to that. The Sun Devils lost to Mississippi State this season.

Missouri turned back Kansas. LSU beat Clemson. Tennessee walloped Syracuse. Texas A&M toppled Notre Dame.

There were a few gaffes, sure. There’s bound to be in a 16-team conference, but, six weeks into the season, the SEC has 10 teams ranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll. The conference enjoys an advantage on the Big Ten in the quest to stockpile the most playoff bids.

Even after NIL, free agency and conference realignment reshaped the sport, the SEC’s well runs deep as ever. It just lacks a superboss.

Blame two-loss Texas. The Longhorns wasted their war chest.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

For the first time in 16 days, the Detroit Tigers will play a home game Tuesday afternoon when they host the Seattle Mariners in Game 3 of their American League Division Series.

The Tigers finished the regular season on the road with series against the Guardians and Red Sox before returning to Cleveland for the wild-card round and playing the first two games of the ALDS in Seattle. And my how things have changed over those 16 days.

When they last took the field at Comerica Park, the Tigers were hearing the boos during what would be an eight-game losing streak that cost them the Central division title. Now, they’re looking to take care of business at home and reach the AL Championship Series.

But first things first. The ALDS is tied after the Tigers took one of two in Seattle. They’ll have veteran Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64 ERA in regular season) on the mound against fellow right-hander Logan Gilbert (6-6, 3.44) of the Mariners.

However, one thing could derail the homecoming excitement in Detroit. A band of thunderstorms is expected to move through the area this afternoon, putting the possibility of a delay or postponement in play.

Where to watch Tigers vs. Mariners Game 3

Game 3 of the American League Division Series is being televised on FS1. Adam Amin will handle play-by-play duties with A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Wainwright as analysts and Tom Verducci reporting from the field.

TV: Fox Sports 1
Streaming: Fox Sports app, Fubo (free trial)

Watch Mariners vs Tigers on Fubo

What time is Tigers vs Mariners game today?

The first game of the American League Division Series doubleheader is scheduled for 4:08 p.m. ET from Detroit.

First pitch coming soon! FINALLY!

At long last, the prophecy has been fulfilled! We will have baseball in Detroit today.

MLB announced that first pitch is now expected to come at 7 p.m. ET.

The game will air on FS1 until the start of Blue Jays-Yankees at 8 p.m. ET. From that point on, the game will air on FS2. It can also be viewed on MLB Network and the FOX One App.

Fans glad about the rain delay?

Although this game has been delayed several hours at this point, many fans have expressed excitement regarding the delay.

The game was originally scheduled to start at 4:08 p.m. ET/1:08 p.m. PT. That was at least an hour before most fans get off work, meaning they would have had to miss part of the game. West coast fans would’ve run the risk of missing the whole game.

However, the delay has not only given fans a better opportunity to watch their favorite games, but has in turn showcased the absurdity of MLB scheduling games when several fans would be unable to attend or watch.

Game could swap to FS2 if rain delay keeps going

The rain delay in Detroit has gone on much longer than anticipated, and it could even start cutting into air time for Game 3 of the series between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees (Blue Jays lead 2-0).

Should that happen, Game 3 of the Mariners and Tigers will shift to FS2, allowing Toronto vs. New York to play out on FS1.

Game 3 still in rain delay

Although Game 3 was supposed to start at 4:08 p.m. ET, it appears that time will not happen. The tarp is still on the field and the rain is still coming down hard.

Per the National Weather Service, the forecast predicts that rains in Detroit will continue through 5 p.m. local time.

Game 3 pitching matchup

In a best-of-5 series, Game 3 tends to be the most pivotal of them all.

Here are the starting pitchers for today’s game:

Tigers: RHP Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64 ERA)
Mariners: RHP Logan Gilbert (6-6, 3.44 ERA)

Gilbert pitched against the Tigers twice this year. He did not record a win or loss in either game. That said, the Mariners went 1-1 in those games with the Mariners scoring nine total runs, and the Tigers scoring eight. Gilbert allowed five runs (three earned) across 10.1 innings pitched in those two games.

Flaherty, meanwhile, pitched just one game against Seattle all year, an 8-4 loss. Flaherty surrendered two earned runs in five innings in that matchup.

Mariners lineup today vs Tigers

Randy Arozarena (R) LF
Cal Raleigh (S) C
Julio Rodríguez (R) CF
Jorge Polanco (S) 2B
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Eugenio Suárez (R) 3B
Dominic Canzone (L) DH
Victor Robles (R) RF
J.P. Crawford (L) SS

Tigers lineup for ALDS Game 3

Kerry Carpenter (L) RF
Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
Colt Keith (L) DH
Riley Greene (L) LF
Spencer Torkelson (R) 1B
Zach McKinstry (L) 3B
Dillon Dingler (R) C
Parker Meadows (L) CF
Javier Báez (R) SS

Detroit weather updates

Tigers vs Mariners schedule for ALDS

Series tied 1-1

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4 – Tigers 3, Mariners 2 (11 innings)
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5 – Mariners 3, Tigers 2
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7 – Mariners at Tigers, 4:08 p.m. ET
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8  – Mariners at Tigers, Time TBA
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10 (if necessary) – Tigers at Mariners, Time TBA

The New York Yankees will attempt to keep their season alive on Tuesday, Oct. 7, as they host the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of their American League Division Series.

Toronto took the first two games at home to be on the verge of advancing to the championship series round. The unlikely hero in Game 2 was rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, who was making just his fourth major league start. He struck out 11, walked just one and allowed no hits in 5 ⅓ innings as the Jays rolled to a 13-7 victory.

Toronto turns to trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber (4-2, 3.57 ERA in the regular season) as it looks for the clincher in Game 3. Needing a win to force a Game 4, New York counters with veteran lefty Carlos Rodón, who was tied for second in AL with 18 of them during the regular season.

Where to watch Yankees vs Blue Jays Game 3

Game 3 of the American League Division Series is being televised on FS1. Joe Davis will handle play-by-play duties with John Smoltz as analyst and Ken Rosenthal reporting from the field.

TV: Fox Sports 1
Streaming: Fox Sports app, Fubo (free trial)

What time is Yankees vs Blue Jays game today?

Tuesday’s game is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET in New York

Blue Jays lineup today

George Springer (R) DH
Davis Schneider (R) LF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
Alejandro Kirk (R) C
Daulton Varsho (L) CF
Ernie Clement (R) 3B
Anthony Santander (S) RF
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) 2B
Andrés Giménez (L) SS

Yankees lineup today

Trent Grisham (L) CF
Aaron Judge (R) RF
Cody Bellinger (L) LF
Ben Rice (L) 1B
Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
Ryan McMahon (L) 3B
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Austin Wells (L) C

John Schneider’s message for pundits who thought Yankees would cruise

“Don’t have one. I think we’re just focused on playing our game really. I think that we’re confident when we’re playing our game. It was a good weekend at home, we’re treating this as if it’s a 0-0 series. You can’t take your foot off the gas.

‘I think we do a really good job of kind of worrying about what is important to us, and that’s kind of how we’ve done it all year. That’s kind of how we’ve gotten here. It’s a tight knit group. I think that they’re just going to continue to worry about them.”

Aaron Boone on Yankees’ mindset for Game 3

‘The good thing here down the stretch is we’ve really latched onto this win today. Win today. We almost scratched our way back to win a division, and it was kind of that mindset and that mantra, the final month, six weeks is what happened yesterday. We talk about it in our advance and hitters meeting and things like that or things that come up.

‘But it’s like that’s over with. We won another series, whatever, we didn’t. It’s like let’s go win today. That’s as simple as our focus is, and that’s as small as I want us to keep it regardless of what happened. These guys have done a really good job with that, and whatever happens tonight, I expect they’ll go out and do the same.’

Blue Jays’ good luck charm?

In the past two weeks, the Blue Jays have worn the same hats as the 1992 team, the year of the franchise’s first World Series, five times.

They haven’t lost yet, including the first two games of the ALDS, where they routed the New York Yankees in both games.

They will be sporting that retro cap look tonight as they look to advance to the ALCS with a Game 3 victory over their division rivals.

Yankees vs Blue Jays schedule for ALDS

Blue Jays lead series 2-0

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4 – Blue Jays 10, Yankees 1
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5 – Blue Jays 13, Yankees 7
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7 – Blue Jays at Yankees, 8:08 p.m. ET
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8 (if necessary) – Blue Jays at Yankees, Time TBA
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10 (if necessary) – Yankees at Blue Jays, Time TBA

Deion Sanders stated he does not care about the Cleveland Browns trading quarterback Joe Flacco.
The trade affects his son, Shedeur Sanders, a backup rookie quarterback with the Browns
Shedeur Sanders was drafted by the Browns in the fifth round but has not yet played in a game.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders said ‘I don’t care’ Tuesday when asked about the big NFL trade in Cleveland that could affect his quarterback son Shedeur.

The Cleveland Browns traded quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals, making room for Shedeur to move up the depth chart with the Browns after being drafted by them in the fifth round in April.

“Yeah, I got that text during practice,” Sanders said at his news conference Tuesday in Boulder. “I don’t care. I don’t give a darn about the Browns at all. I care about the Colorado Buffaloes. I do love me some Shedeur Sanders, though. Believe that. I care about him. The rest of that mess, I don’t, OK?”

Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel started for the Browns last week in a 21-17 loss against the Minnesota Vikings. He replaced Flacco, who was benched after the Browns got off to a 1-3 start. Gabriel was selected in the third round of the draft in April before Shedeur, who was considered by many to be a first-round talent. Shedeur played under his father at Colorado in 2023 and 2024 but has not played in an official game yet for Cleveland.

“I’m a coach trying to win, just like they’re trying to win games,’ said Sanders, whose team is 2-4 and faces Iowa State on Saturday at home. ‘But I could care less of who they traded.’

Sanders deferred to a friend of his who was at the news conference in Boulder — former Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones.

“As a Bengals fan, I like the trade,” Jones responded.

“He went to the Bengals?” Sanders asked. “I didn’t know that. Oh my God. Bengals ain’t no joke, ain’t they? They trying to win.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

For the first time in the 2025 season, Philadelphia doesn’t check in at No. 1.
One new team entered the top five this week with two more right on the fringe.
Another squad is occupying last place for the first time.

NFL power rankings entering Week 6 of the 2025 season (previous rank in parentheses):

2. Buffalo Bills (2): Perhaps they haven’t beaten anyone of note aside from a fully healthy Ravens squad on opening night. But Sunday night’s loss was uncharacteristic, insomuch as Buffalo’s three giveaways cost them the turnover battle for the first time since the 2023 regular-season finale. A two-game road swing (Atlanta, Carolina) through the NFC South should be therapeutic.

3. Philadelphia Eagles (1): My esteemed colleague Chris Bumbaca wrote it best − Philly can’t (or won’t) feed Saquon Barkley, the best running back on the planet five minutes ago. Currently? Try 53.4 rushing yards per game and 3.2 per carry. And the A.J. Brown issues continues to persist. But let’s not forget this team didn’t truly take flight until October a year ago.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6): They’ve scored at least 20 points in 20 consecutive games, the league’s longest streak. They nearly scored 20 two times over in Sunday’s 38-35 shootout win at Seattle, the Bucs’ latest harrowing, last-minute escape … and one that will further burnish QB Baker Mayfield’s early MVP credentials.

5. Green Bay Packers (4): Beaten up in the trenches and coming off a 40-40 loss − yes, that’s what it was − to Dallas, they needed the week off.

6. Jacksonville Jaguars (14): Liam Coen, Coach of the Year? Devin Lloyd, Defensive Player of the Year? Trevor Lawrence, Comeback Player of the Year? This all seems quite lofty, but give the 4-1 Jags their props, especially after breaking the Chiefs’ 23-game streak of burying opponents they’d led by 14+ points.

10. Denver Broncos (12): Tempting to move them much higher after two impressive wins, including Sunday’s victory in Philly, allayed concerns about their uneven start. Coming off a six-sack performance, the league’s best D continues to shine.

11. Washington Commanders (13): QB Jayden Daniels returned to action and summarily became the first player with at least 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his first 20 NFL games. Good thing he’s right given Washington will play in prime time three of the next four weeks.

14. Kansas City Chiefs (8): Social media informs us that they are winless since Taylor Swift’s new album dropped. Seems like the extent of their problem(s).

15. New England Patriots (22): Their next three opponents have a combined three wins. Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye seem on the cusp of resurrecting this franchise from its recent dormancy.

19. Chicago Bears (18): And now a return to Washington’s Northwest Stadium, scene of the Hail Mary crime that sent this club into a 10-game tailspin a year ago.

22. Arizona Cardinals (19): Third-string running backs are bound to do third-rate things − and for a team that isn’t fortunate enough to be in third place after three straight losses coming on the final play.

26. Cleveland Browns (28): New QB1 Dillon Gabriel could stand to cut it loose a little more next week but did enough to earn a win in his debut.

27. New Orleans Saints (31): WR Rashid Shaheed has scored 15 NFL touchdowns. Their average length covered? How about 50.1 yards. (Hat tip:NFL Network.)