It’s back. The first full college football weekend of the season brings joy and fills the void of fans who have been waiting more than seven months for the return of the sport they love.

The hard part about the start of season is trying to sort out what will happen on the opening week. With departures to the NFL, incomings and outgoings through the transfer proter and coaching changes, there’s a lot to sort out and some surprises sure to come when teams take the field Saturday. But where will they take place?

That’s why the USA TODAY Sports college football staff is here. Matt Hayes, Jordan Mendoza, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Blake Toppmeyer weigh in with their bold predictions for Week 1 of the college football season:

From Taylor Swift to Jordan Hudson

With Taylor Swift now officially off the market, ESPN moves to North Carolina coach Bill Belichick’s girlfriend/muse Jordon Hudson as its new obsession. During a standalone, Monday night primetime game, no less. Oh, and TCU wins the game. — Matt Hayes   

TCU spoils Bill Belichick’s North Carolina debut

Despite all the weird offseason attention, there’s plenty of hype of what North Caorlina can be with a genius in Bill Belichick in charge. It will be an electric first game taking the spotlight on Labor Day, and it could propel the Tar Heels to a statement win. However, a dangerous TCU team is coming to town, led by quarterback Josh Hoover. He knows how to make big plays, and there will plenty of them Monday night. TCU finds itself in another trap of playing against a team debuting its highly anticipated coach. The Horned Frogs don’t flop again, and get the Belichick era in Chapel Hill started with a loss. — Jordan Mendoza

ACC flexes muscle against LSU, Notre Dame

The ACC flexes its muscle with two high-profile wins: Clemson beats LSU to set the tone for a title run and Miami upsets Notre Dame behind a strong debut from quarterback Carson Beck. While the showdown in Columbus will dominate headlines coming out of Week 1, notching these victories against major competition will boost the ACC’s credibility and play a big part in where the league’s representatives land in the playoff race. — Paul Myerberg

Alabama gets put to the test by Florida State

If you were to write the recipe for an early upset the college football season, all the elements are there for Florida State. The Seminoles are easily overlooked by Alabama players after their two-win season. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide will be playing in a hostile environment with a quarterback making his first start. This shapes up as a defense struggle for four quarters, so do be surprised if Alabama is fighting to avoid a shocking loss. — Erick Smith

Pac-12 ghosts revived in Utah, UCLA clash

The spirit of #Pac12AfterDark will be alive and well Saturday night when former conference foes UCLA and Utah renew acquaintances at the Rose Bowl (11 p.m. ET, Fox). The last time they met in 2022, the Bruins snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Utes in a 42-32 shootout. Both teams will be breaking in transfer QBs so the score might not be quite as lofty this time, but we have a hunch it will be worth losing a little sleep. — Eddie Timanus

Garrett Nussmeier takes Heisman lead after LSU beats Clemson

Arch Manning will show promise in a loss at Ohio State, but after LSU wins at Clemson, Garrett Nussmeier will claim front-runner status in the Heisman Trophy odds, and the Tigers will skyrocket to the No. 2 spot in the polls. — Blake Toppmeyer

Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter showed promise but missed opportunities to run, according to Deion Sanders.
The Buffaloes’ defense struggled, giving up nearly 500 yards and failing to capitalize on early turnovers.
Sanders remains optimistic despite the loss and looks forward to improvements in the next game against Delaware.

BOULDER, CO – Colorado football coach Deion Sanders admitted he had tears in his eyes before Friday night’s season-opening game against Georgia Tech.  

In previous years, he would take a pregame walk on the field with one or two of his sons: quarterback Shedeur and safety Shilo.

But both are gone now, having moved on to other pursuits. So he found it touching when another player, receiver Isaiah Hardge, came up to him before kickoff and said ‘let’s take the walk’ in their place.

‘That was a wonderful moment, man,’ Sanders said after his team lost the game, 27-20. ‘It’s a moment that I will never forget, never, because it was not like I initiated it.

“He came to me and said, ‘Let’s go.’ That’s what this college football thing is about. It’s about love. It’s about peace, forgiveness, trials, tribulations. It’s a tremendous journey that we just want these kids to develop into men. Hopefully what transpired tonight will bring us closer together as a team, as well as challenge us to go to the next level and fix what was broken.”

Deion Sanders has a lot to fix

∎ Colorado gave up a 45-yard touchdown run from Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King with 1:07 remaining, a score that broke a 20-20 tie by exposing the Buffaloes’ new-look defense.

∎ The Buffs gave up 463 total yards, including 320 rushing yards, in front of a sold-out crowd of 52,868 at Folsom Field.

∎ Their new quarterback, Kaidon Salter, also threw the ball at times when he should have run, Sanders said. He finished with 43 rushing yards on 13 carries.

At the same time, this was Sanders’ first game back since having his cancerous bladder removed in May.

He said he “felt darn good during the game” and still liked what he saw from his team.

“I’m optimistic on everything,” Sanders said. “We’re definitely going to be fine. I’m not concerned about that. We could have won that game. It’s not like we got our butts kicked.”

What did Deion Sanders say about his new QB?

He said Salter was a “little nervous” but did well, except for one main thing. Sanders wanted Salter to be the “dual threat” QB Salter was at Liberty, with the ability to burn opponents with his legs and arm.

“Couple times he could have ran, and he decided to throw,” Sanders said. “It was like, dawg, you’re a dual threat, you know what that mean? Like, use your legs. But man, he’s a great kid and he played his butt off. I’m proud of him in a lot of aspects.”

Salter completed 17 of 28 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown, which came on the game’s first possession – an 8-yard throw to receiver DeKalon Taylor. His best drive came in the fourth quarter, when he capped a 75-yard possession with a 7-yard touchdown run to help tie the game at 20-20 with 8:25 left.

Salter was the only quarterback who played for CU. Freshman recruit Julian “JuJu” Lewis did not, even though Sanders previously said Lewis would play occasionally depending on game situations.

Salter agreed with Sanders afterward.

“Most definitely, I feel like I could have used my legs better,” he said.

What happened on Colorado’s final drive?

After King helped put Georgia Tech ahead, 27-20, Salter took over with 1:07 remaining at his own 25-yard line. Colorado had two timeouts left but never used them.

Why not?

“I think we got out of bounds a couple of times so we didn’t have to take ‘em,” Sanders said.

He also said, “We were just really trying to preserve them till we certainly needed them.’

Instead of preserving precious seconds by using those timeouts, Colorado wasted chunks of that final minute by running around and letting the clock tick down. The Buffs ran five plays to get to the 50-yard line − three complete passes, a 5-yard run from Salter on third-and-1 and a deep throw that didn’t connect.

With three seconds left, Salter then tried a final Hail Mary pass from the 50, which fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired.

What happened with the Colorado defense?

The Buffs missed Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who played cornerback and receiver before moving on to the NFL. In his place, cornerback DJ McKinney intercepted a pass from King in the first quarter, but the Buffs couldn’t convert it into points.

The defense actually came up with three straight turnovers to start the game, including two fumbles. The problem for the Buffs was that they netted only one touchdown from all of that– Salter’s touchdown pass on his first possession. It gave Colorado its only lead of the game at 7-0, less than three minutes after kickoff.

After that, the Georgia Tech offense just kept gashing the Buffs with motion, counter plays and guard pulls. By halftime, the Yellow Jackets led 13-10 and had 18 first downs, compared to five for CU.

‘Maybe it messed with our eyes a little bit,’ Colorado linebacker Reggie Hughes said of Georgia Tech’s offense.

Sanders joked that his team turned King into a Heisman Trophy candidate. King scored all three of Georgia Tech’s touchdowns on runs of 4, 17 and 45 yards. He finished with 156 yards on 19 carries. He also threw for 143 yards on 13-of-20 passing.

“It’s hard to applaud the defense when we gave up darn near 500 yards,” Sanders said. “That’s kind of tough.”

His team now faces Delaware at home Sept. 6.

“We will do better next week,” Sanders said.

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

NEW YORK – Relief is the best way to explain how Coco Gauff is feeling, considering in her last match at the US Open, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 second-round victory over unseeded Donna Vekic, she was crying on the bench, unable to figure out why her serve was once again betraying her and searching for answers on the fly.

Gauff set those concerns aside Saturday and is into the fourth round for the fourth straight year with an efficient and dominant 6-3, 6-1 win in the third round over No. 28 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland, who failed in her attempt to reach the final 32 of a Grand Slam tournament for only the second time.

The No. 3 seed and 2023 US Open champion had only four double faults in the match after combining for 18 in the first two rounds. Her serve looked cleaner from the beginning, winning 71% of her first serves, and she didn’t need to be overpowering with her forehand, as she only had 12 winners. Much has been made of her hiring biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan just a week before this tournament to help address her issues with her serve.

‘It’s been an emotional week,’ Gauff said after the match, ‘but I think I needed those tough moments to move forward. I was putting so much pressure on myself, but today I showed I was really having fun out there. I think for me, I guess I’m more proud of, like, the mental effort of things and trying to remember the things that we worked on in practice. Today I definitely think was a step in the right direction. I would love to continue to build and improve on that.’

The 21-year-old Gauff now moves on to face No. 23 seed Naomi Osaka, and she now has 74 wins in Grand Slam matches before the age of 22. Since 2000, only Maria Sharapova (85) has more.

The last time the two played at the US Open was in 2019, when Osaka won their third-round match 6-3, 6-0, in which a then 15-year-old Gauff was making her Arthur Ashe Stadium debut and was emotional after the match.

‘Naomi and I, we aren’t super close or anything, but we’re definitely friendly with each other. I support her from afar in all the things that she’s done on and off the court,’ Gauff said, adding she would hope to play Osaka on Ashe at night again. ‘It would be a cool kind of deja vu type of situation, but hopefully it will be a different result.’

After Frech won the first game of the second set, Gauff exerted her dominance, forcing Frech into 29 unforced errors for the match, with Frech sometimes shaking her head in frustration or staring at the baseline after another ball went out of play.

Gauff started the match dominating, going up 3-0, before Frech rallied after Gauff double-faulted into the net to break serve. It was tied at three games each before Gauff went on another rally to close out the set, winning three straight games.

She had little trouble in the second set after losing the first game, easing her way through her now confident serve, finishing the set in 20 minutes.

BOULDER, CO — Colorado entered its 2025 season opener against Georgia Tech dogged by a slew of questions about how it would fare without reigning Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, both of whom are now in the NFL.

By the end of the night, there was another question that loomed much larger.

While trying to mount a last-minute drive to tie the game, the Buffaloes didn’t use their two remaining timeouts. They reached midfield with three seconds remaining, but a desperation heave from quarterback Kaidon Salter didn’t connect with a receiver in the end zone, cementing a 27-20 loss.

The sequence raised criticism of third-year head coach Deion Sanders, who only said so much in his post-game news conference to alleviate doubts about how he orchestrated the game’s final minute.

“I think we got out of bounds a couple of times,” Sanders said. “We didn’t have to take them. That’s what transpired. We got out of bounds I think on both sidelines. That’s what happened. After the first, I think we got a good play and we caught the ball, I think, for nine yards. We had one yard to go, so if you get the first down, the clock stops. It don’t make sense to really use your timeout in that sense.”

Sanders’ recollection of the drive didn’t line up entirely with how it actually transpired.

A Salter pass to running back Micah Welch resulted in a 2-yard loss for Colorado on the first play of the possession, with Welch getting brought down in bounds with 1:02 to play. Rather than calling one of his two timeouts, Sanders allowed the clock to run and the Buffaloes didn’t get the snap of their next play off until only 45 seconds remained.

Though an 11-yard completion to Hykeem Williams got Colorado within one yard of a first down, and an automatic clock stoppage, Sanders again didn’t use a timeout, causing 11 seconds to elapse between the end of one play and the start of the next. A 5-yard scramble from Salter got the Buffaloes a first down at their own 39-yard line with 18 seconds left, but it shaved another 11 seconds off the clock, a chunk of which came from Salter running to the sideline rather than going down in bounds.

Colorado began the drive with a sizable task, trying to go 75 yards in 67 seconds to tie the game, but the precious seconds saved by timeouts could have helped it advance farther up the field and give it more than just a Hail Mary attempt on the final play.

Instead, the Buffaloes fell to 0-1 to start the season — and their coach left the field with two unused timeouts in his pocket.

“We were just really trying to preserve them for when we needed them,” Sanders said. “I don’t want to go home with timeouts. They don’t do me no good. But you’ve got to be strategic, as well. Just burning timeouts just to burn them just so you guys won’t say nothing, that don’t make sense at all.”

NEW YORK — ‘Welcome to the show,’ Taylor Townsend said to a cheering Arthur Ashe Stadium late Friday night, ready to embrace a newfound popularity.

Townsend entered this US Open, well-known in tennis circles as a competitive player, friendly with nearly every player on tour, and most recently part of a dominant doubles pairing with Katerina Siniakova, who has won two Grand Slam championships in the past year.

Earlier this week, after beating Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1 in the second round, both players approached the net for a customary post-match handshake, and words were immediately exchanged, in which Ostapenko, who is from Latvia, had an issue with Townsend not apologizing for a net-cord, in which a player wins a point when the ball accidentally hits the net.

Ostapenko soon went to social media to explain her side, even going so far as to deny she is racist, after internet trolls implied that she was because of her post-match behavior.

Townsend, the No. 1 doubles player in the world, found supporters on her side, including two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka, who called Ostapenko’s comments ‘just terrible.’

‘It’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport,’ Osaka said. ‘But if you’re like genuinely asking me about the history of Ostapenko, I don’t think that’s the craziest thing she’s said.’

But Townsend, who is Black, has refused to let distractions get in the way of the goal of winning championships, and she showed that Friday after dismantling No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round in singles for the first time in six years.

‘It’s bigger than me,’ Townsend said after the match. ‘It’s about the message. It’s about the representation. It’s about being bold and being able to show up as yourself, and I did that tonight. You guys saw the real Taylor Townsend tonight.’

The real Taylor Townsend, a Chicago native, recalls more than a decade ago, when the US Tennis Association did not fund her tournament appearances due to concerns about her fitness. She is also the mother to her four-year-old son, Adyn Aubrey Johnson, whom she dedicated her victory over Andreeva to.

As Townsend puts it, the last 48 hours after the Ostapenko incident haven’t been hard at all because she ‘made for this type of stuff’ and ‘because I stood in my truth.’ And honestly, she hasn’t had time to think about it because she is still competing in the doubles tournament.

Indeed, Townsend, who is the 139th-ranked singles player in the world, is using the dust-up with Ostapenko to remind people that she is not about to be quiet about anything, and standing up for yourself is essential.

‘Sometimes, I feel like in society, especially people of color, we are expected to be silenced, or sometimes, there are times where we have to decide and be very strategic as to when we speak up, and in these type of moments, it’s important for me to speak up, not only for myself but for my culture,’ Townsend said.

‘No matter what, no matter what attention comes or whatever, I think it’s about being unapologetically yourself, be happy in who you are and never allow anyone to take you out of your character and who you are as a person.’

Townsend has her work cut out for her if she wants to advance to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in her singles career. On Sunday, she takes on two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejčíková, who defeated Emma Navarro in an exciting three-set match.

With another victory, whether in doubles or singles play, she can officially put the issue of not being recognized behind her, gaining thousands of new followers on social media with each passing day.

‘It’s a different type of exposure, my social media and all of the people being able to have access and things to say,’ Townsend said. ‘I said to my team, ‘Dang, I didn’t know this many people had my phone number.”

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The 2025 college football season is a chance for a fresh start for both Alabama and Florida State.

Alabama struggled in its first season after Nick Saban’s retirement, going 9-4 under first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, their fewest wins in a season since 2007. That mark was a resounding success compared to what the Seminoles endured, going from the top 10 of the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll to a stunningly poor 2-10 record that included just one win against an FBS opponent.

By the end of the day Saturday, one of those clean slates will have an early blemish.

Watch Alabama vs. Florida State live with Fubo (free trial)

A marquee matchups of a loaded Week 1 slate will take place in Tallahassee, Florida, where No. 8 Alabama will take on Florida State in Doak Campbell Stadium in a meeting of two of the most historically decorated programs in college football.

Will the Seminoles and coach Mike Norvell be able to escape the immense hole they dug for themselves last year? Will the Tide be able to offer some reassurance that they can remain a national powerhouse even without Saban intensely roaming the sideline?

USA TODAY is bringing you live updates, scores and highlights from the game. Follow along.

Alabama vs Florida State live score

This section will be updated throughout the game

Alabama vs Florida State live updates

Florida State jerseys

Florida State will don its classic gold-garnet-gold garb its opener against Alabama at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Alabama football depth chart

Here’s a look at Alabama’s depth chart vs Florida State for their Aug. 30 matchup.

What time does Alabama vs Florida State start?

Date: Saturday, August 30
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Doak Campbell Stadium (Tallahassee, Florida)

What channel is Alabama vs Florida State on today?

TV: ABC
Streaming: ESPN App ∣ ESPN+ ∣ Fubo (free trial)

Alabama vs Florida State predictions

Colin Gay, Tuscaloosa News: Alabama 31, Florida State 17New quarterback and new offensive coordinator on a big stage starts Alabama football’s 2025 season. Expect some bumps along the way, but, especially with a defense in the second year under Wommack’s tutelage, Alabama should be able to make a statement in Week 1.
Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat:Alabama 34, Florida State 17I think this game will be closer than many expect in the first half as the Seminoles get a home crowd boost at the newly renovated Doak Campbell Stadium, and Alabama’s Simpson takes a few drives to settle in. However, the Tide pull away in the second half with the trio of star receivers making impact plays.

Alabama vs Florida State injury updates

Alabama running back Jam Miller, the Crimson Tide’s leading rusher last season, will miss the game after suffering an upper-body injury earlier this month.
Alabama defensive tackle Tim Keenan III will ‘probably not’ be ready for the season opener due to a lower-body injury he sustained in practice this week, coach Kalen DeBoer said on August 27.

Who is starting for Alabama at quarterback?

Ty Simpson will be Alabama’s starting quarterback heading into the 2025 season. He’s taking over for Jalen Milroe, the Tide’s starter each of the past two seasons who is now in his rookie season with the Seattle Seahawks.

Who is starting for Florida State at quarterback?

After last season’s disastrous 2-10 run, Florida State went out and got a new quarterback, adding Boston College transfer Thomas Castellanos. Castellanos threw for 3,614 yards, 33 touchdowns and 19 touchdowns the past two seasons with the Eagles, along with 1,307 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.

Alabama schedule 2025

Here’s the Crimson Tide’s full 2025 schedule and results:

Saturday, August 30: at Florida State
Saturday, September 6: vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Saturday, September 13: vs. Wisconsin
Saturday, September 27: at No. 4 Georgia
Saturday, October 4: vs. Vanderbilt
Saturday, October 11: at Missouri
Saturday, October 18: vs. No. 18 Tennessee
Saturday, October 25: at No. 13 South Carolina
Saturday, November 8: vs. No. 9 LSU
Saturday, November 15: vs. Oklahoma
Saturday, November 22: vs. Eastern Illinois
Saturday, November 29: at Auburn

Florida State schedule 2025

Here’s the Seminoles’ full 2025 schedule and results:

Saturday, August 30: vs. No. 8 Alabama
Saturday, September 6: vs. East Texas A&M
Saturday, September 20: vs. Kent State
Friday, September 26: at Virginia
Saturday, October 4: vs. No. 10 Miami
Saturday, October 11: at Pitt
Saturday, October 18: at Stanford
Saturday, November 1: vs. Wake Forest
Saturday, November 8: at No. 6 Clemson
Saturday, November 15: vs. Virginia Tech
Friday, November 21: at NC State
Saturday, November 29: at No. 17 Florida

Sport scientist Amanda Visek’s research suggests that ‘fun’ is a key element in athletic development, not just a cliché.
Coco Gauff’s experience at the US Open highlights the importance of psychological safety and support from coaches and the crowd.
Focusing on the process of improvement, rather than solely on winning, can lead to greater long-term success and enjoyment in sports.

Your early-round opponents at a tennis grand slam can be some of your toughest.

Part of the reason is the atmosphere, which this week and next finds the world’s best in the sport standing square in the middle of New York City’s Arthur Ashe Stadium before more than 20,000 spectators.

But what you also face, especially as a top-ranked competitor, is an adversary charged with the excitement of the challenge you pose. He or she has little to lose.

US Open No. 3 seed Coco Gauff played unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic, whom Gauff had beaten in straight sets at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The idea of facing Gauff again, though, gave the Australian a chance to play at a higher level, to rise up to the challenge Gauff presented.

In other words, applying the research of sport scientist Amanda Visek, it was an opportunity for fun.

Gauff, a two-time grand slam winner, had endured a wave of double faults in recent weeks. She had made what seemed like a drastic change by switching coaches just days before the year’s final major tournament.

And yet she had similar intentions.

“I’m definitely very excited,” Gauff told ESPN before she stepped onto center court for the first round. “Obviously, a little bit nervous, but I’m just gonna go out there and have fun.”

What Visek has learned in studying what makes sports fun is that the answer is far from a cliché. Her groundbreaking “Fun Maps” study that included male and female soccer players of varying ages and skill levels in 2015, found it to be a state of being that goes hand in hand with athletic development.

What Gauff discovered over three difficult sets against Tomljanovic, and two nights later in her excruciating win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the second round, is at the essence of Visek’s latest published paper studying fun determinants in tennis.

It’s Visek’s first study about an individual sport, and it confirms what she has learned about sport after sport.

‘It’s actually simpler than we might think,’ says Visek, an associate professor at The George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health in Washington. “It’s not, ‘What makes it fun for Steve is different than from Amanda,’ and then you’ve got to jump through all these hoops to make it an individualized experience unique to him or her.

“Not at all. Instead, there’s very common elements across the experience fundamental to quality sport participation athletes describe as fun.”

Fun, Visek says, doesn’t just happen when you drop your kid off at practice or a game, or get out of a player shuttle at the US Open.

Organizations, coaches, parents and athletes can design for it and, perhaps like Gauff, realize it when they least expect it.

What does having ‘fun’ mean in tennis, and in all sports?

Visek’s original study, “The Fun Integration Theory”, asked youth soccer players (ages 8 to 19) from around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area what made their sport fun. From their responses, 81 fun determinants were identified, which the research team listed on cards they gave to the players to sort and rate in importance.

Based on how the cards were sorted, the determinants were grouped into 11 dimensions of fun (fun factors) and graphically presented on a map.

She has repeated the study design with basketball and ice hockey players in Sweden (84 fun determinants) and now tennis (120 determinants).

The results reveal much of the same about what we find fun about sports, whether we are male or female, consider ourselves elite or recreational players, or are young kids or young adults.

Visek’s study of fun determinants in tennis included 667 male and female junior tennis players (aged 6-19) from the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern areas of the United States. They were represented across racial identities and skill levels and recruited from a broad array of tennis facilities and programs.

Of all the studies Visek has conducted so far, they identified the most fun determinants yet, everything from coaches who help players learn and challenge them; to coaches who care about their progress; to keeping positive energy to persevere through setbacks. There are so many determinants that make the experience fun.

Of primary importance in tennis were fun factors that included determinants of “Match Play,” “Positive Coaching,” “Working Hard & Learning,” ‘Developing Mental Strength,” “Staying Active,” “Sportsmanship” and “Training with a Coach.”

Note the repeated word ‘Coach.’

“Having a coach who cares and checks in on players’ mental health matters as much as learning the perfect backhand and hitting a clean, smooth shot!” she writes on social media about the tennis study.

Athletes, even Coco Gauff, want to feel it’s safe to make mistakes

Gavin MacMillan, Gauff’s new coach, was obsessed with sports as a boy in Toronto. He says his father pushed him away from hockey, his favorite one, when he was about 16, by sending him to a tennis academy.

“It was a horrifying experience,” MacMillan told Performance-Plus Tennis in an interview. “It was super humbling … And after I got done playing college, I really started trying to understand what I had failed at and why, what I could have done differently.”

He intricately studied the power serves of Pete Sampras and others. He found similarities in the way Sampras served with the way quarterbacks threw, as well as pitchers who could hit 100 mph with their fastballs. There was an internal rotation of the throwing arm, he noticed, while the other arm created torque in the spine.

He realized he could teach by comparison, but also with an understanding of how difficult the task was. He had lived it.

MacMillan helped world No. 1 and defending US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka rebuild her serve. What we have seen in just over a week of working with Gauff is his human touch.

ESPN reporter Kris Budden, who observed him for 40 minutes on a practice court a few hours before Gauff’s opening match in New York, described a hands-off approach. Budden said the discussion was positive but minimal.

“The only thing that I saw him work on with the serve was some foot placement, but other than that has been very complimentary, visibly applauding her for her serves,” Budden said on air.

Look at the No. 1 most important fun determinant in Visek’s tennis study: A coach that is easy to learn from to help master my skills.

Here are some others that relate to it:

A coach that cares about my progress (3)
A coach that motivates and encourages me when I am doing poorly (8)
Knowing it is okay to make mistakes and fail (45)  
A coach that congratulates me when I hit a nice shot (48)
People cheering after I make a good shot (91)

“It very clearly shows the role of psychological safety,” Visek says. “Across all the studies, the athletes have said, ‘I like learning from mistakes. That makes it fun. I love the opportunity to get coached and get corrected and the opportunity to try again.’

“The opportunity to learn, to improve, to make mistakes, to learn from those mistakes, in a very safe environment, makes it a fun experience versus a threatening experience with abusive coaching.”

When Gauff hit a big shot during the US Open’s first two rounds, MacMillan was on his feet, clapping and cheering along with Gauff’s mother, Candi. But he also encouraged her when she double-faulted.

Here, there was a feeling of responsibility to not let the other down, but also that their partnership would come with ups and downs.

COACH STEVE: 3 steps for dealing with a ‘bad coach’

Building mental strength and finding a social connection is part of the fun

The double faults were mounting for Gauff and Vekic late in the first set. Gauff, who was remaking a crucial part of her game on the fly, wore her duress more acutely.  

As ESPN cameras switched to her sitting in her courtside chair, she was shaking. She clutched a towel to her face and cried.

“You want her to be happy,” analyst Mary Joe Fernandez said. “You want her to be enjoying the competition, the challenge.” 

Play stopped when Vekic led 6-5, and she received medical treatment on her arm. Gauff practiced serves. She looked into the crowd and saw Simone Biles being interviewed.

She thought about how the most decorated gymnast in the world had removed herself from the 2020 Games when she developed ‘the twisties’. Biles returned to the Paris Olympics to win three gold medals. 

“She helped me pull it out,” Gauff said. “I was just thinking if she can go on a six-inch beam and do that with all the pressures of the world, then I can hit the ball. It brought me a little bit of calm, just knowing her story with all the things she went through mentally.”

It was a reminder, as Visek’s latest study lays out, that tennis is a shared human experience. You share it intimately with the opponent who pushes you to play better, but also with the people who support you.

 “People tend to think and talk about tennis as an ‘individual sport,’ ” Visek says, “and I think one of the things that’s really cool that came through the results of the study is if you look across all 120 determinants, very clearly there is a relational and social connection component to the experience that is fundamental to having fun.”

Gauff heard the crowd, which included her mother and coach, get behind her, and she found herself up for the challenge.

She pulled out the first set in a tiebreaker and pulled away in the second, firing some of her hardest and most accurate serves of the tournament to close out the match 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

“You guys really helped me a lot so I’m doing this for myself but I’m also doing it for you,” she told the crowd, “and no matter how tough it gets inside, you can do it.”

Minutes later, sitting with ESPN’s Fernandez and Chris McKendry, she said: “It was an emotional match for me, but I think this is something I can relate on for the rest of my career and that feeling that I felt, because I never felt like that on the court before.”  

She was still frustrated by her serve but drew strength from her ground game.

That feeling of “hitting a clean, smooth shot” – the way Gauff felt with a lot of her forehands – ranked No. 15 on the long list of fun determinants in Visek’s study.

“Developing physical and mental strength,” which she needed to execute them, ranked two spots ahead of it.

“There’s been some matches where I feel like mentally, I didn’t put my best foot forward and those losses hurt more than anything,” Gauff said. “It’s like, ‘What if I just settled down or what if I just tried not to give up on myself?’ So today, even when the moments got tough, and it looked like I wasn’t there, I was there. It was just trying to find it.

“I just try to get my best mental effort. In the physical part, you can’t control how you showed up, but the mental part I can. So every day I just try to put that on the court and then when I go home, I can say I left it all out there.”

Focusing on winning alone is secondary; focusing on the process of winning makes more of it possible

Gauff, 21, is known for looking fashionable as she plays.

“Before we go,” McKendry said at the end of the interview, ‘can I just see your nails? Can we end on something fun?”

It turns out though, with what she had just undergone, Gauff already had fun, at least by the end of the match.

“I think I just showed people what it’s like to be a human and I have bad days, but I think it’s more about how you get up after those bad moments and how you show up after that,” she said. “And I think today I showed that I can get up after feeling the worst I’ve ever felt on the court.”

Look at the top fun determinants among tennis players, according to Visek’s study:

A coach that is easy to learn from to help master my skills
Trying my best by giving full effort
A coach that cares about my progress
High and positive energy during practice
Being encouraged to try hard and play my best
Not giving up and persevering from setbacks

Here are the top 25, as published in the International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching:

Similar to Visek’s previous studies, winning falls further down the list. Winning a match is No. 49, winning a tournament No. 50 and winning a set No. 52. However, “winning against someone I have lost to before,” is rated high at No. 11.

Gauff had fallen to Vekic at the Paris Olympics.

“Winning itself, it’s the singular outcome of a competitive experience,” Visek says. “And when you’re playing an opponent, you don’t have entire control over whether you win or lose a match.

“The focus of playing should really be on the process rather than the outcome. If you focus on the process, you make more possible the outcome of winning. The research is really clear here – fun is the accumulation of moment-to-moment experiences that challenge us, that make us better.” 

Gauff said this week she’s “obsessed with the process of getting better.” She looks at her hiring of MacMillan as one that will bring her more long-term success, even if she doesn’t raise this year’s US Open trophy. She has now reached the fourth round.

Here is a scientific explanation of Gauff’s pursuit:

“If you want to win more,” Visek says, “maybe you need to make it more fun.’

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

Lee Corso has a special relationship with the college football world, but his roots with Kirk Herbstreit run deep.

The ‘College GameDay’ staples have sat next to each other at 9 a.m. on College Football Saturdays at the dais for years, and it’s impossible not to feel the bond that emanates from the two of them.

Ahead of what was sure to be an emotional show from Columbus, Ohio on Aug. 30, Herbstreit showed off the lining of his jacket, which honored his broadcasting mentor and friend:

The jacket shows photos of the ‘College GameDay’ crew and Herbstreit and Corso together, documenting their time through the years.

Corso, who turned 90 on Aug. 7, has been with ‘College GameDay’ since its inception in 1987. He became one of the most beloved figures in the sport when the show began to tour in 1993, known for his positive attitude and generally fun demeanor.

Herbstreit, who is not only on ‘College GameDay’ but also serves as the analyst for ESPN’s top game of the week, joined the beloved pregame show in 1996 and has often served as Corso’s file.