Sports
Texas is college football’s new No. 1 team. What have we learned, and what’s still unclear?
Texas is back … at No. 1.
For the first time in nearly 16 years, the Longhorns are atop the Associated Press Top 25, surpassing Georgia when the latest poll was released on Sunday. That achievement has little tangible meaning now for the Longhorns; how they fare in their inaugural season of SEC play will determine how realistic their national championship expectations are. Still, it’s a landmark achievement for a program that has been through the wringer since its last appearance at No. 1 on Oct. 26, 2008.
Through the first three weeks of this season, Texas has been dominant. But there’s still a lot to learn about the 2024 Longhorns, who host Louisiana-Monroe in their nonconference finale on Saturday before their SEC schedule kicks off on Oct. 5.
And last Saturday, they got even more interesting, when starting quarterback Quinn Ewers went down with an oblique injury and Arch Manning came in to lead the rest of a blowout win against UTSA.
Let’s assess what we know — and what we don’t — about what is currently the best team in the land.
What we know
We can stop asking if Texas is back.
For years after ESPN play-by-play man Joe Tessitore declared, “Texas is back, folks!” when Tyrone Swoopes scored a game-winning touchdown against Notre Dame to open the 2016 season, the phrase was used as a punchline by opposing fans while the Longhorns spun their wheels.
Last year’s appearance in the College Football Playoff was Texas’ best season since 2009, and three games into this year, the undefeated Longhorns show no signs of slowing down. The roster is loaded, the coaching staff is stable and Texas’ recruiting is top notch. It’s still premature to say the Longhorns will repeat their 2001 to 2009 run, when they went 101-16. The new 16-team SEC will be a bear for years to come.
But the foundation is set and the pieces are in place for Texas to consistently be in the hunt for championships if the Longhorns can keep the machine running the way it is now.
The Longhorns are in great hands at QB.
Texas already had one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Quinn Ewers. He was playing better than he ever has in a Texas uniform before an oblique strain knocked him out of the Longhorns’ 56-7 win over UTSA on Saturday.
But all is well because the Longhorns also have Arch Manning.
The redshirt freshman with the famous last name has been the subject of intense curiosity ever since he emerged as a recruit, but before this season, he only had 27 college snaps to his name. His appearance in the season-opening 52-0 win over Colorado State included four series, 26 snaps and his first career touchdowns, but on Saturday, we got a real dose of what Manning looks like with the first team.
In just 29 snaps across two-plus quarters, he was magnificent. He threw four touchdown passes and showed off impressive speed on a 67-yard touchdown run. He operated the offense cleanly and efficiently, took care of the ball and didn’t commit major unforced errors.
Yes, it was an overmatched UTSA team that Manning faced, and no, it’s not always going to look as easy for him as it did on Saturday night. But so far, Manning’s skill set and command of the position is impressive. He looks plenty capable of leading the Longhorns for however long they need him to if Ewers is out for a game or two.
Don’t expect this to become a quarterback controversy while Ewers is sidelined. Ewers, who has three years of experience in this offense, is one of the team’s leaders and one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He, too, was once the No. 1 recruit in the country and is a potential first-round NFL Draft pick.
Manning is superbly skilled and talented but has only taken 82 college snaps. When Ewers returns from injury, he will still be QB1.
GO DEEPER
Arch Manning transferring from Texas never would have made sense
The new receivers are stellar.
One of the Longhorns’ biggest questions entering this season was how they would replenish their receiving corps after all three of their 2023 starters — Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington — were drafted. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian hit the portal and the recruiting trail to address those losses, adding transfers Isaiah Bond (Alabama), Matthew Golden (Houston) and Silas Bolden (Oregon State) and signing four high school receivers, headlined by five-star prospect Ryan Wingo.
Through three games, Bond and Golden have quickly established themselves as impact players. Bond leads the team with 13 catches for 215 yards; Golden is second on the team with 12 catches for 125 yards. Each have three touchdown catches, and Golden also serves as the primary kickoff returner.
Bolden has been a rotational receiver but has been a reliable punt returner, a role he starred in at Oregon State. The biggest revelation at the position has been Wingo, who has quickly become a big-play dynamo. Six of his seven receptions have been for 15 or more yards, including three for 30 or more yards. He also had a 55-yard run against Michigan on a reverse. Wingo is averaging 31.5 yards per touch.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been around a guy, through three games, that has had the explosive play ability that he’s possessed,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters on Monday. “He’ll tell you … he’s not a finished product. We’re still working on a lot of the details in his game, but he definitely has a very, very bright future.”
At tight end, the absence of Ja’Tavion Sanders, another NFL Draft pick, has also been smoothed over, but not with a transfer. Senior Gunnar Helm has emerged as a reliable pass catcher with 10 receptions for 189 yards.
So far, the passing game hasn’t missed a beat.
Texas’ depth is as advertised.
Coming into the season, Sarkisian said he wanted give snaps to as many players as possible early in the season — including first-half snaps — to help solidify depth for what he hopes is a title run deep into January. So far, that plan has played out as he hoped.
Through three games, no defensive player in the front seven has played more than 40 snaps in a single game, according to Pro Football Focus. Much of that is a function of the Longhorns gaining commanding leads, but even in the Michigan game, where Sarkisian shortened the rotation on both offense and defense, most of the defensive players played 40 snaps or fewer.
Texas went three-deep at most positions on defense against Colorado State and UTSA and in a handful of areas on offense in those two games. Even against Michigan, the Longhorns were able to get a solid helping of second-teamers in the game.
Sarkisian pointed out that against UTSA, 77 of Texas’ 120 players played, six players scored touchdowns, nine players carried the football and 11 caught a pass. On defense, 28 players recorded a defensive statistic.
They have a capable defense.
Losing key players like defensive linemen T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, linebacker Jaylan Ford and cornerback Ryan Watts to the draft left at least some doubt as to whether the Longhorns would be as stout defensively as they were in 2023, when they ranked third nationally in run defense and second in third down conversions. It’s not as dominant as it was then, but it’s still a solid unit: The 2024 Longhorns rank 11th in third down defense and 44th in run defense.
And in the most important area — points allowed — Texas has excelled. The Longhorns have allowed just 6.3 points per game.
“We tackle really, really well,” Sarkisian said. “We’re attacking the football right now. Defensively, we’re creating turnovers and they’re having a lot of fun.”
They’re much better in the red zone.
Last season, red zone offense was one of the Longhorns’ biggest weaknesses. They ranked 120th nationally in red zone touchdown rate, finding the end zone on just 50.8 percent of trips inside the 20. This year, they’ve completely reversed the trend, ranking seventh nationally by scoring touchdowns on 14 of their 16 red zone trips. Sarkisian attributed the improvement to his team’s discipline, minimizing self-inflected errors in that part of the field, as well as simplifying his red zone call sheet to focus on a smaller set of plays that Texas has feverishly repped.
What we don’t know
How will Texas hold up in the SEC?
So far, everything points to the Longhorns being an SEC title contender. The Longhorns are big in the trenches, fast on the perimeter and deep at key positions thanks to the roster Sarkisian and his staff have built since his first year at Texas. But it’s one thing to prepare for the grind of an SEC schedule and another to endure it. Will the run defense hold up every week? Can Texas win its clunkers in conference play the way it did in its final Big 12 campaign, particularly against Houston and Kansas State? The Longhorns will need the mental discipline to get up for every opponent.
Can the Longhorns play from behind?
The Longhorns have not trailed in a game all season. Over 180 minutes of game action, Texas has only been tied for 21 minutes and 43 seconds, according to TruMedia. The Longhorns have led the rest of the time they’ve been on the field. How will they respond when they are in a hole, particularly in the second half?
How good is the run defense?
Last season, Texas was elite at stopping the run, allowing just 2.9 yards per rush and 82.4 rush yards per game. This year, opponents have found more room to run, averaging 3.5 yards per rush and 108.7 rush yards per game. It’s not as though the floodgates have opened. Texas is still in the top half of Power 4 teams in run defense, and the Longhorns held the one ranked opponent they faced, run-heavy Michigan, to just 80 rushing yards. But it will be worth watching how the Longhorns fare when they face higher-caliber opponents who try to run right at them.
Can the running backs hold up?
Texas has had significant hits to the running back depth chart this season.
The Longhorns lost starting running back CJ Baxter and true freshman Christian Clark to season-ending injuries in training camp. Jaydon Blue was next up as the starter and has performed well when available, but he missed the UTSA game.
Sophomore Tre Wisner has been solid, and Gibson has been an encouraging option as a true freshman. Getting Blue back to full health will provide a boost. The longer Texas can keep the trio of Blue, Wisner and Gibson healthy, the better.
Beyond those three, Sarkisian moved receiver Ryan Niblett to running back and has also given carries to walk-on Colin Page and transfer Velton Gardner, a former SMU running back that Texas pulled from the portal in August after the Baxter and Clark injuries.
How will they fare in crunch time?
In each of their first three games, the Longhorns entered the fourth quarter leading by at least three touchdowns. As they enter SEC play, those margins won’t always be so wide, and their mettle will be tested. Texas’ mid-October two-step against Oklahoma and Georgia figures to be first true challenge on the schedule.
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Jerry West’s legend was so well established when he retired from the Los Angeles Lakers in 1974 that he’d already been the inspiration for the NBA’s logo. Half a century later, West remains seventh all-time in points per game and holds the points-per-game record for a playoff series, numbers even more remarkable because he did it without the three-point shot.
But, of course, West wasn’t done. As a scout and general manager, he was a key architect of the Showtime Lakers teams of the 1980s and later acquired both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to build another dynasty. West also was an executive for the Golden State Warriors in their heyday, providing crucial advice on player personnel.
Through it all, however, West struggled with depression and a sense of self-loathing, and had trouble with intimacy, much of it a by-product of a hardscrabble childhood in West Virginia with a domineering father.
That dichotomy, his outer success and inner turmoil, are the heart of “Jerry West: The Logo,” a new documentary for Prime Video, from “black-ish” creator Kenya Barris, directing his first documentary.
Kenya Barris in “Jerry West: The Logo.”
(Prime)
“I’m from L.A. and was a fan of the Showtime Lakers growing up,” Barris says, so he put his name in for the project figuring he’d at least get to meet a hero. “But we immediately hit it off and I felt a kinship with him.”
That ability to connect was part of West’s magic, as attested to by the string of NBA legends who pay tribute to him in the documentary, including Lakers such as Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Pat Riley and O’Neal, along with Steph Curry and Michael Jordan.
Vlade Divac was traded by West to secure the rights to Bryant, but he selected West to introduce him at his Hall of Fame induction. In a recent phone interview, Divac praised West as “a father figure when you needed it and a friend when you needed it. He was very honest and he cared about people and helped you achieve your goals. He’s one of the best guys I ever met. Period.”
Barris, who did extensive interviews with West before the Laker icon died in 2024, spoke by video recently about making the documentary, which also includes NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledging for the first time that West was the sport’s logo. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Jerry had already opened up about his life in his memoir, “West by West,” but do you think this was still cathartic for him?
His book really drew me to doing the documentary because it was so honest. I think the idea of him actually saying these things out loud in front of a camera with his kids and his grandkids around was a catharsis for him.
Did he feel he was nearing the end?
Jerry would say, “I feel like I’m in God’s waiting room.” He didn’t like getting old because he was so much in touch with his body as an athlete — he could jump higher and run farther than his friends. When I first met him, he was on the treadmill and jogging with weights. He was in his 80s but was saying, “I used to be able to jog with more weights.”
He was feeling old but I don’t think that he thought he was about to pass.
Was he annoyed by his depiction in HBO’s Lakers series “Winning Time,” which generated controversy in 2022?
The show was entertaining, but it really bothered him and he didn’t think it was fair. I think that series might’ve pushed him into wanting to do this, if I’m being completely honest.
“Jerry would say, ‘I feel like I’m in God’s waiting room,’” said director Kenya Barris, who conducted extensive interviews with the Lakers legend before his death in 2024.
(Prime)
He and his family talk openly on camera about his mental health issues. Was it hard to balance that tonally with his great accomplishments in basketball?
I did not want to make something that was morose or a melodrama. But it would not be complete if he didn’t talk about the struggles. When I first met him, he was just coming out of a depression and anyone who’s ever been through that understands that it is actually a struggle. So forming a whole picture of who this character was was really important. And also it was important for his family because they lived through this with him as well. They were sad to see him suffer, but they had suffered through it too.
We wanted to really talk about who this character was and what formed him. Most of who we are is formed between the ages of 0 and 12 and in those years, Jerry saw a lot and went through a lot of stuff.
When his older brother was killed in Korea and his father put the casket by the Christmas tree …
That was crazy. If we could get the audience to understand who this man was, it would give them empathy for everything after.
As a GM [general manager], he was a white guy in this predominantly Black sport, but he came in with a chip on his shoulder, too, and he saw these young players who hadn’t had strong father figures and came from socioeconomically deprived places like he did and he was able to build real relationships with them.
He didn’t want to talk about it a lot in the doc, but he did a lot for civil rights and for players’ advocacy of the NBA, for the Black players, who didn’t have the same voice that he had. But he did it quietly.
Jerry West signed Shaquille O’Neal to the Lakers in 1996 after four years with the Orlando Magic. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Jerry West, left, Kobe Bryant and Lakers head coach Del Harris in 1997. Bryant was acquired in a trade for Vlade Divac. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
One thing the documentary avoids is the contentious relationship with Phil Jackson — who isn’t even mentioned — and the cause of West’s departure from the Lakers right after he built that dynasty. Did he not want to discuss it?
We spoke about it. You can’t have that long a career and not rack up some controversial things. But I did not want this to be a salacious look at the negative accounts. I got in there the idea of a strain with the Lakers, but I wanted to make sure to not defile that relationship based upon certain things that I wasn’t going to dig into. It was not a gotcha sort of documentary. It was more of a tribute to him.
People have wondered if he had stayed on, whether he could have stopped the relationship between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal from going south, and I would have been interested to know what he thought.
We did talk about that. He believes that he could have got them to stay together and he said that he believes they could have gone on and won four or five more championships.
Sports
Mike Breen says fans ‘deserve to be thrown a bone’ as NBA cuts all local broadcasts from the playoffs
NBA playoffs begin, Will anyone stop the Thunder? | The Herd
The NBA playoffs are underway, with the Play-In tournament starting tomorrow. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the heavy favorite to repeat as champions. Colin Cowherd asks if the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, or anyone else can stop the Thunder.
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Mike Breen, the New York Knicks’ play-by-play announcer and star NBA voice with ESPN, is not happy with a key league move heading into the NBA Playoffs.
And he didn’t hold back his frustrations during the Knicks’ regular-season finale on Sunday night.
For the first time in NBA history, all local network broadcasts are being pushed out of the playoffs for nationally televised games. Those networks paid a premium to air the playoffs, but the league had always allowed the local home broadcast to be aired as well as the national TV spots in previous seasons.
ESPN play-by-play sports commentator Mike Breen looks on prior to the game between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 25, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Celtics defeated the 76ers 110-107. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Breen, alongside his longtime partner, Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier, ripped the league’s decision on the final day of his broadcasting duties for the Eastern Conference squad.
“First time ever that no longer can the home team announcers and broadcasters televise the first round,” Breen mentioned during the 110-96 loss to the Charlotte Hornets while broadcasting on MSG.
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“The entire playoffs are exclusive to national TV broadcasters. I mentioned this earlier this season. I think, personally, Clyde, it’s a poor decision. Fans want to hear their home team announcers, at least in the first round. For so many of us, they become part of the family.”
Breen added that he understands “the networks pay a fortune for exclusivity,” granted he works for one of those networks on ESPN.
“But fans deserve to be thrown a bone once in a while in terms of letting the home team have a little bit of the first round,” he continued.
The NBA reached a whopping $76 billion broadcast rights deal that kicked in at the start of this season, and it will last for the next 11 seasons. Like other pro sports leagues, the deal is carved out across various platforms, both long-standing networks and streaming.
ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen calls the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
While the NBA got together the deal it liked with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal, Breen hopes it would consider working something out to get local broadcasters back into the fold for the playoffs.
However, he knows how the business is at the end of the day.
“Somehow, if there’s any way they can work out some kind of compromise, I’m not hopeful for that, but it would be wonderful to have it because this is our final telecast of the season,” Breen said.
Breen, now, will focus on his ESPN duties as the lead commentator for the “Worldwide Leader” on the court. His famous “Bang!” call on clutch three-pointers has been synonymous with the biggest moments in the NBA Playoffs for years now, and that will get started very soon as teams in both the East and West gun for their shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy and to call themselves NBA Finals champions.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning Finals champs, are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference once again, while teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers will battle them to be crowned conference champions.
Mike Breen looks on before the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers during Round 2 Game 3 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals 2023 NBA Playoffs on May 6, 2023 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)
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In the East, Breen’s Knicks own the No. 3 seed, while the Detroit Pistons (No. 1) and Boston Celtics (No. 2) had successful regular-season campaigns to earn a top spot heading into the playoffs.
The Play-In Tournament will be the first games for the NBA Playoffs, which will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Then, the first round will split its tipoffs on NBC/Peacock, Prime Video and ESPN.
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SUNRISE, Fla. — New York Rangers goalkeeper Jonathan Quick is calling it a career after 19 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cup championships — with 16 of those seasons and two championships as a member of the Kings.
The 40-year-old goalie told reporters Monday that he would be playing in his final game that night when the Rangers visit the Florida Panthers. It will mark Quick’s 921st game appearance, counting playoffs.
“Tonight will be my last game in the league, and I am looking forward to it,” Quick said following the morning skate ahead at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. “My wife flew down with the kids, my parents will be here. I am looking forward to this last one, try to get one more win here.”
He added of his decision: “It just felt right. Felt like the right time. I put some thought into it.”
Selected by the Kings in the third round of the 2005 draft, Quick became a fixture in front of the net for L.A. during the 2008-09 season. He was a key member of the Kings’ Stanley Cup champion teams in 2012 and 2014, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs with a 16-4 record, a .946 save percentage and 1.41 goals-against average.
Quick won a silver medal as a backup goaltender for the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, although he did not see any playing time. At the 2014 Sochi Games, Quick went 3-2 as the starting goalie for the fourth-place U.S. team.
By March 2023, Quick was the Kings’ leader among goalies in the categories of total games (743), wins (370) and shutouts (57). At age 37, however, he had also lost a step or two. The Kings traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who turned around and dealt him to the Vegas Golden Knights the next day.
Quick saw a decent amount of playing time down the stretch in the regular season because of injuries to the Golden Knights’ goaltenders. He didn’t make it into any games during the team’s championship run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
After spending the last three seasons in New York, Quick is set to make his 70th and final start with the Rangers and add the final numbers to a stat line that currently includes 20,315 saves (18th most all time), 410 wins (12th most) and 65 shutouts (17th).
“He earned the respect of his teammates, coaches and staff members through his work ethic and dedication to his craft,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in a statement posted on social media. “Jonathan is a special person and player, and the entire Rangers organization wishes him — along with his wife, Jackie, and three children, Madison, Carter and Cash — all the best in retirement.”
The Rangers are 33-38-9 and will miss the playoffs for the second straight season. They finish the year Wednesday night at Tampa Bay.
Another key member of the Kings championship teams, Anze Kopitar, also is retiring after this season, following 20 years in the NHL, all with L.A.
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