Vaughn Dalzell shares his College Football Top 25 Week 4 Poll following the multiple top 10 upsets in Week 3.
After Notre Dame’s second loss, the Irish are reeling and have problems aplenty
Marcus Freeman's team has lost its way early in the season again. Is this version of Notre Dame resilient enough bounce back like the others?
Brewers become first MLB team to clinch playoff spot this season
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers have grown accustomed to outperforming forecasts every year, but this season might represent their most remarkable accomplishment yet.
During a season in which they have built the best record in the majors, the Brewers reached their latest milestone by becoming the first team to clinch a playoff berth.
According to MLB, the New York Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday sealed at least a National League wild card for Milwaukee. The Brewers responded by displaying the tenacity that helped get them to this point, as they rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 in 10 innings Saturday night.
This marks the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the Brewers have qualified for the playoffs, though they haven’t won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018. They had made a total of two postseason appearances from 1983-2017.
“It’s kind of the culture that we’ve developed here,” slugger Christian Yelich said Friday after the Brewers' 8-2 victory over the Cardinals. “It’s taken a lot of people to do that, a lot of consistency kind of at the top, guys that care about winning and winning players that have come up. A lot of young guys have done a really good job over the years. There’s been pieces that have come in and come out, but each year we kind of find our identity as a team and find ways to win.”
Milwaukee now will chase its third straight NL Central title as well as the top overall playoff seed.
The Brewers lead the division by 6 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs, who lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. The Cubs own the tiebreaker.
Milwaukee has a two-game lead over NL East-leading Philadelphia in the race for baseball's best record, and the Brewers hold that tiebreaker.
This was supposed to be the season in which the Brewers took a step back.
They traded two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams to the New York Yankees and lost one of their top position players when shortstop Willy Adames signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Giants. They were 25-28 and 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs on May 24, but they’ve gone 65-30 since.
The Brewers entered Saturday ranked second in the majors in runs and ERA. That combination has Milwaukee poised to challenge for the best record in franchise history. The Brewers already set a club mark with a 14-game win streak this summer.
Milwaukee’s top regular-season finish was 96-66 in 2011. The Brewers have made only one World Series apeparance, back when they were in the American League and lost to St. Louis in seven games in 1982.
A couple of early-season trades paid huge dividends.
Quinn Priester was pitching for Boston’s Triple-A affiliate at the start of the season when the Brewers acquired him. Priester, who had a 6-9 career major league record before the trade, has gone 13-2 with a 3.25 ERA for Milwaukee.
Priester won his 12th straight decision Friday, and the Brewers have won each of the last 18 games in which he’s appeared. According to Sportradar, the last pitcher to win at least 12 consecutive decisions within a single season was Gerrit Cole, who won 16 straight with the Houston Astros in 2019.
In mid-June, the Brewers traded pitcher Aaron Civale to the White Sox for first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who had been sent to the minors after hitting .189 in 48 games with Chicago. Vaughn entered Saturday with an .860 OPS in 54 games with Milwaukee.
Plenty of others also have contributed.
Brice Turang was the NL player of the month in August. Isaac Collins entered Saturday with a .372 on-base percentage as a 28-year-old rookie. William Contreras has surged since the All-Star Game and remains one of the game’s top-hitting catchers. Rookie Caleb Durbin, one of the players acquired in the Williams trade, has solidified Milwaukee’s third-base situation.
Freddy Peralta had a string of 30 straight scoreless innings. Yelich is on pace for a 30-homer, 100-RBI season. Brandon Woodruff made a successful return from the shoulder injury that sidelined the two-time All-Star pitcher for the entire 2024 season. Jacob Misiorowski, one of the game’s hardest throwers, made enough of an impression to earn an All-Star Game appearance after getting called up in mid-June. All-Star closer Trevor Megill and setup man Abner Uribe form one of the majors’ best bullpen duos.
They’ve all come together by living up to manager Pat Murphy’s season-long message: Win tonight. The idea is that it makes no sense to worry about what happened in the past or to look too far ahead. Just worry about taking care of business right now.
The plan has worked better than just about anyone outside of Milwaukee’s locker room could have expected.
“We’re not built like some of these championship teams are built,” Murphy said. “I can mention budgets if you want to. That oftentimes indicates superstar players. We’re not built like the Phillies. We’re not built like the Mets. We’re not built like even the Cubs. We’re not built like that. We’re built with a bunch of guys who want to go out and play with that ‘win tonight’ attitude.”
Astros receive injury scare as 9-time All-Star Jose Altuve leaves game with right foot discomfort
ATLANTA — The Houston Astros received an injury scare in Saturday night's 6-2 win over the Atlanta Braves when nine-time All-Star Jose Altuve was pulled after complaining of right foot discomfort.
Altuve singled to right field in the third inning and then was forced out at second on a grounder hit by Jesús Sánchez.
“He came in and he said ‘My foot is bothering me,’” said Astros manager Joe Espada. “So I took him out, just being cautious.”
Altuve remained in the dugout during the game but was being checked by a team doctor after the game and was not available for comment.
“We want to keep an eye on it and see how it is tomorrow,” Espada said.
Altuve is a key for the Astros, who began Saturday night's schedule tied with Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Altuve is hitting .264 and leads Houston with 25 homers. Altuve, 35, has been durable, ranking first with 144 games played and 552 at-bats. He has driven in 70 runs to rank second on the team.
Altuve, in his 15th season with Houston, has 2,378 career hits, ranking behind only Hall of Famer Craig Biggio's 3,060 on the franchise records. Earlier this season, Altuve passed another Hall of Famer, Jeff Bagwell, for second place on the team's career hit list.
No. 16 Texas A&M beats No. 8 Notre Dame 41-40 on late TD strike
Texas A&M beat a Top 25 team on the road for the first time since knocking off then-No. 3 Auburn on Nov. 8, 2014.
Takeaways from Week 3 of College Football: Clemson falls again, Georgia remains top dog in SEC
College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And Week 3 absolutely delivered, from the field storm in Atlanta to a thriller in South Bend and everything in between.
Texas A&M beats Notre Dame: How Fighting Irish miscues helped Aggies to comeback win
In what was a back-and-forth game all night, a series of late Notre Dame miscues ultimately helped Texas A&M to a come-from-behind road win:
Misery Index: Dabo Swinney’s Clemson program isn’t the top-tier operation it used to be
Swinney's Tigers were expected to compete for a title this season. Instead, they're 1-2 and look lost. It may be a long season at Clemson.
After Clayton Kershaw's shaky start, Dodgers go on scoring spree to beat Giants
Teoscar Hernández pumped his fist. Ben Rortvedt let out a scream. Mookie Betts put some oomph on the end of the Dodgers’ arm-waving, hip-shaking, hit celebration.
After struggling for so long in high-leverage situations, the team’s offense finally had reason to celebrate.
For weeks now, the Dodgers have technically been in a tight division race.
The real battle, however, has often been with themselves.
At a time of the year typically dedicated to scoreboard watching and monitoring the standings, the team had instead been preoccupied by its own inconsistent play. Chief among their recent problems: Capitalizing on scoring opportunities.
In a 13-7 defeat of the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, they finally vanquished those demons.
Read more:Shaikin: Why Andrew Friedman's October test is looming with Dodgers
After trailing by three runs early, and reaching rock bottom again after coming up empty with the bases loaded and no outs in the second inning, the Dodgers mounted the kind of rally that had so often been missing during their lackluster second half of the season, scoring six runs in the top of the fifth inning to key what felt like a statement win.
“A lot of guys put together really good at-bats,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “We found a way to keep the ball moving forward, keep moving to the next guy. It was really impressive.”
Early in Saturday’s game, the Dodgers (83-65) had honed a sound approach. They stressed Giants ace Logan Webb. They stayed alive in two-strike counts. They worked long at-bats and put runners on base.
The missing ingredient, as usual, had been the big hits needed to build a big inning. Then, in the top of the fifth, it all so suddenly — and refreshingly — flipped.
That’s what happened in the second, when Webb wiggled out of trouble by getting Miguel Rojas to hit an infield pop-up and Rortvedt to roll into a double-play, preserving the 4-1 lead the Giants had taken against Clayton Kershaw in a 36-pitch first inning.
“It’s real easy, if you don’t get any runs in that inning, to sit there and start pouting and start letting the emotion take over,” Muncy said. “It’s tough to dig out of that hole."
This time, however, the Dodgers came back from the dead.
The turnaround started in the third, when Shohei Ohtani bat-flipped a leadoff home run that traveled 454 feet (the longest of his 49 long balls this season) and Hernández belted an RBI double off the wall with two outs.
That momentum carried into the fifth, when the Dodgers’ recently unproductive offense suddenly — and refreshingly — flipped the bases-loaded script.
After a walk from Betts, a single from Freddie Freeman and a walk from Muncy chased Webb from the game, Hernández came to the plate against Giants reliever José Buttó.
Hernández quickly fell behind to newly inserted Giants reliever José Buttó, taking a first-pitch fastball before fanning on a slider out of the zone. But after laying off another slider in the dirt, Hernández got a mistake, with Buttó leaving a fastball up and over the plate. Hernández lined it to the gap, where center fielder Luis Matos struggled to get a bead. It dropped in under Matos’ diving attempt, rolling past him for a two-run double that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.
“Getting closer to October, everybody is trying to do the little things, not trying to do too much and just getting on base for the next guy,” said Hernández, who was one of three Dodgers hitters to record three hits and lead the way with three RBIs.
"That was a big difference today. Everybody was into the game. It didn't happen in the second inning, but we came back and started fighting again, every at-bat and scored some runs."
Indeed, from that point on, the floodgates burst open. Michael Conforto lifted a sacrifice fly to right. Rortvedt lined another two-run double to left-center. Betts bounced a run-scoring single up the middle.
By the time the side was retired, 11 Dodgers had come to the plate. Eight had reached safely. Six had come around to score.
An exorcism, exhale and sigh of relief for the Dodgers’ long-scuffling offense.
“That was awesome,” said Kershaw, who exited after the third. “For them to grind out at-bats — especially after me putting them in a hole after the first inning — getting guys on base, not trying to do too much, taking what they’re giving you, walks, hits, all the things, it was really impressive.”
Over their 26-33 stretch since July 4, the Dodgers had lost so many games like this one, letting bad outings from starters or wasted opportunities early in games send them into spirals that lingered for days (and sometimes weeks) after.
But on this night, every moment of adversity was met with an answer.
After Kirby Yates gave back three runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Dodgers responded with another three-spot in the sixth punctuated by an RBI double from Rojas. When the bullpen needed someone to calm the waters, rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski produced 2⅓ scoreless innings.
Even on a day that Will Smith was placed on the injured list (finally being shelved after battling a bone bruise on his hand for the last 10 days) and Muncy left the game after taking a pitch to the head (he passed postgame concussion protocols, and will have a scheduled day off Sunday), the Dodgers didn’t wilt.
Instead, their lineup finally produced as expected, going seven for 15 with runners in scoring position, producing 11 of their 23 combined hits and walks with two strikes, and fueling a win that keeps the team 2½ games up in the National League West standings — all while helping ease concerns about their recently inconsistent offense.
“I just don't see why we can't do that, as far as approach, on a nightly basis,” manager Dave Roberts said. “With two strikes, you got to give something up. And I think for me tonight, I saw us give up the pull side. And then you're starting to get hits to the big part of the field, hits the other way to the other gap, winning pitches. We did that all night long. Good stuff."
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo Top 10: Georgia claims No. 1 spot after classic Week 3 win over Tennessee
Smart and the Bulldogs just find a way to win, especially against the poor Tennessee Volunteers. And that puts them on top of our weekly rankings.
No. 16 Texas A&M scores with 13 seconds left to beat No. 8 Notre Dame 41-40
A bobbled snap on Notre Dame's late point-after attempt ultimately cost the Fighting Irish, who fall to 0-2.
Florida’s loss to LSU has Billy Napier leading the SEC coaching hot seat. He isn’t alone
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Steve Sarkisian gives honest review of Arch Manning ‘athlete football’ vs UTEP
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian gave an honest answer about Arch Manning's performance against UTEP on Saturday, Sept. 13. What he said:
Top-20 Penguins' Prospects 2025: Defenseman Exceeds Expectations, Eyes NHL Roster Spot
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
With more talent in the system than Pittsburgh has had in years - and 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft - top prospects lists are becoming more competitive and more difficult to discern. Since the prospect pool is deepening, The Hockey News - Pittsburgh Penguins takes a look at the top-20 prospects in the organization.
Ville Koivunen easily could have taken this spot, and it was even further evidenced by his toying with everyone else during the Penguins' first exhibition game at the 2025 Prospects Challenge. Rutger McGroarty could have slotted here, too, and that would have been a pretty safe choice considering his common place at the top of most Penguins' prospects lists.
Maybe this is too bold, maybe it isn't. But Harrison Brunicke has done nothing but impress so far in his short tenure as part of the Penguins' organization to the point that it seems like I'm running out of things to say.
So, without further ado, here he is at the top of my list as the Penguins' No. 1 prospect.
#1: D Harrison Brunicke
There are so many things to like about how Brunicke plays the game.
Selected in the second round (44th overall) by the Penguins in 2024, Brunicke, 19, was the final return piece of the blockbuster deal that sent Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes prior to the 2024 NHL trade deadline. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound blueliner - coming into the draft - was known for his ability to shut down the opposition, and his two-way upside was intriguing.
Then, there was training camp in 2024. Barely anyone prior to training camp gave Brunicke a second thought after the draft, and he quickly began to get people's attention. Only 18 at the time - and a few months removed from the draft - Brunicke put on such an impressive training camp that the Penguins kept him through to the end, as he nearly made the team out of camp and earned at least a nine-game trial.
And one year later, drafting Brunicke in round two - which, the pick used on him was originally a conditional first - is looking like a steal.
When looking at the raw numbers, nothing jumps out like crazy. Brunicke had five goals and 31 points in 40 games last season for the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL - he missed a huge chunk of the season due to a broken wrist - and he got the call to the AHL after his junior season and put up two points in 10 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS).
Bruno with an absolute SNIPEEE pic.twitter.com/IxuZ3gHR81
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 26, 2025
But a lot of it is about the process for Brunicke. Even if the points aren't piling up yet, his skating is top-notch, his ability to evade defenders is elite, he is great in his own zone and on the penalty kill, he defends well one-on-one, he excels in transition, he plays with some edge, and he dominates the offensive blue line like clockwork. Brunicke's a very cerebral player, too, as his reads are excellent in all three zones and he knows how to find the open man with a first pass.
What is most impressive about the blueliner from South Africa, though, is the way he skates with the puck. Brunicke explodes in transition and glides effortlessly as he takes the puck end-to-end, blowing by opponents and creating scoring chances off the rush. It's easy to see how his skating is miles above pretty much everyone around him, and it's the best quality of his game.
The Penguins' organization is wildly impressed by Brunicke, and when asked about his growth this past year, there has been no hesitation from anyone to speak glowingly about him. In fact, when I asked WBS head coach Kirk MacDonald about Brunicke's growth from the beginning of his AHL stint to the end of it - when he recorded a goal and two points in two playoff games and played in the top-four for WBS over some guys who had spent the entire season there - he started his response before I could even finish my question.
“Huge,” MacDonald said. “Honestly, it was. Credit to him, he figured it out quick. Came in initially, and - you know, he had junior habits where you can just skate by people and hold on to the puck for a long time - I thought he did a really good job with the last couple of regular season games and the playoff stint. He was moving pucks quick, jumping into the rush… that goal he scored in the playoffs was outstanding. The less he does in certain areas, the more he accomplishes just by making a really good first pass, activating and jumping in the rush."
Penguins' Director of Player Development Tom Kostopoulos also didn't hesitate to praise Brunicke's growth and ability to apply constructive feedback immediately.
"I think he took the constructive criticism and was able to apply it right away,” Kostopoulos said. “If you watched his games in Wilkes-Barre, there was growth, but it took off. It was impressive how he grew into the games in the playoffs. He looked very confident for a young kid.
“So, we’re really excited about his potential that he’s got to be a really good two-way defender with offensive upside.”
The NHL and NHLPA is still pushing for the CBA's new CHL-AHL rule this season, which would allow one 19-year-old CHL player per season to play in the AHL on loan. If the rule gets pushed through this year, there is no doubt that Brunicke would - more than likely - be the beneficiary, as he's clearly outgrown junior hockey and is ready for the AHL.
For One Penguins' Top Prospect, New AHL-CHL Rule Could Prove CrucialOn Tuesday, the NHL released its transition schedule for the new rules under the Collective Bargaining Agreement that is set to take full effect during the 2026-27 season.
But if it doesn't take effect - and Brunicke manages to have an even more impressive training camp than he did last season - the Penguins will have some tough decisions to make. They already have Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Matt Dumba, and Connor Clifton on the right side, and it would certainly take a lot for Brunicke to assert himself into a starting NHL role. But, if he wouldn't crack the NHL roster, he would need to be sent back to Kamloops, where he'll have to remain until the end of his junior season - and which risks stunting his development and opening the door for him to lean on bad, high-risk habits.
Brunicke has made it clear that his goal is to stay in the NHL this time around. The Penguins desperately need top-end talent on the blue line in their system, and Brunicke is the one with the most promise. If he develops to his potential, he could be a top-pairing defenseman, should be a top-four defenseman, and might see a floor as an effective bottom-pair blueliner.
Regardless, Brunicke has certainly proven himself in his short time with the Penguins and fills a dire positional need for the team - and he only figures to get better. His upside, intrigue, and sharp growth over the last year is what earned him the No. 1 spot on our Top-20 Penguins' Prospects 2025 list.
Now, let's see if he can earn a spot on the NHL roster come training camp.
Top-20 Penguins' Prospects 2025: Biggest Piece In Guentzel Trade Proving HimselfHeading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
The complete Top-20 Penguins' Prospects 2025 list:
- No. 1: D Harrison Brunicke
- No. 2: F Ville Koivunen
- No. 3: F Rutger McGroarty
- No. 4: F Ben Kindel
- No. 5: G Sergei Murashov
- No. 6: D Owen Pickering
- No. 7: F Tanner Howe
- No. 8: G Arturs Silovs
- No. 9: G Joel Blomqvist
- No. 10: F Tristan Broz
- No. 11: F Will Horcoff
- No. 12: F Mikhail Ilyin
- No. 13 F Filip Hallander
- No. 14: F Bill Zonnon
- No. 15: F Melvin Fernstrom
- No. 16: D Emil Pieniniemi
- No. 17: F Avery Hayes
- No. 18: F Cruz Lucius
- No. 19: D Finn Harding
- No. 20: D Peyton Kettles
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Former NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow Dies At 72
Bob Goodenow, the former leader of the NHL Players' Association, has died at 72 years old.
The NHLPA announced Goodenow's sudden passing Saturday evening. No cause of death was given.
Goodenow led NHL players during the 1994-95 and 2004-05 lockouts, when they opposed the implementation of a salary cap.
"The modern NHLPA, and the work it has done to improve the quality of life for thousands of players past and present, is a direct result of the foundation that Bob Goodenow built," the association said in a statement. "His impact on the game of hockey is lasting and profound."
The NHLPA is deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of former NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow.
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) September 13, 2025
Full statement: https://t.co/TNQFtPyDSEpic.twitter.com/zjyDpuUutG
Goodenow joined the NHLPA in 1990 as its deputy executive director. Before that, he captained Harvard's hockey team and later played professionally for the Flint Generals in the now-defunct IHL. He then graduated from the University of Detroit Law School and became a player agent.
He became the NHLPA's second-ever executive director in 1992 after Alan Eagleson, who held the role since 1967, resigned due to allegations of fraud. Goodenow held the position for 13 years.
Goodenow tirelessly worked to educate the players and build trust in the NHLPA's work, the association said.
"During his tenure, Bob was relentless in the fight for players’ rights," the NHLPA said. "He negotiated landmark gains in salary, free agency, pension and health benefits, and he led the players in taking control of their name, image and likeness rights in 1992.
"He also helped to establish pioneering programs, such as player salary disclosure, the second medical opinion program for players, the agent certification program, and he worked with the NHL to implement the Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program for players and their families."
Goodenow also grew the staff of the NHLPA from three to more than 50 employees, built licensing and sponsorship programs, co-founded NHLPA Goals & Dreams where players donate complete sets of new hockey equipment and resources to grassroots programs and, with the NHL, launched the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and brought NHL players to the Olympics for the first times in 1998 and 2002.
In October 1994, Goodenow led the players union in the beginning of a lockout as the NHL and team owners wanted a luxury tax on salaries that exceeded the average.
The lockout lasted until Jan. 11, 1995, for a total of 103 days. A rookie salary cap was introduced, but there was no luxury tax or overall salary cap. The 1994-95 regular season was shortened to 48 games as a result of the lockout.
When that collective bargaining agreement ended in 2004, the NHL wanted a salary cap, while the NHLPA offered a luxury tax, a five percent rollback in salaries and revenue sharing, among other proposals.
With no agreement in time, another lockout began in 2004 and ended up wiping out the full season, meaning the Stanley Cup wouldn't be awarded for the first year since 1919.
In July 2005, the 10-month lockout ended, with some key additions being the salary cap, NHL team revenue sharing, a 24 percent player salary rollback and a gradual decrease to the age a player needed to be to become a UFA from 31 to 27.
"Bob was a skilled attorney and tenacious advocate for the players he represented as an agent and as the head of the Players' Association," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Wendy, their three children, Joe, Katharine and Kerry, and his many friends and admirers throughout hockey.