Gianni Spetic grew up an Ohio State fan. Saturday night in Austin, with 105,044 people watching, the Texas kicker lined up the extra point that would decide the game and thought about a teacup.
The cue comes from a Texas analyst named Matt Moran. "It's kind of just placing the cup in your head," Spetic said afterward, "and you've got to be smooth to the ball."
Smooth to the ball. It went through.
The Rundown
Texas 24, Ohio State 23. The Longhorns trailed 23-3 going into the fourth quarter and scored 21 unanswered. They woke up Sunday ranked No. 1 with 56 first-place votes. Ohio State dropped to sixth.
Rybakina d. Sabalenka, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Elena Rybakina won her first US Open in 2 hours 21 minutes, ending Sabalenka's 19-match run at the tournament and her 99 straight weeks at No. 1. The winner's cheque was $5.5 million, the largest ever paid to a Grand Slam singles champion.
Mariners 19, Athletics 1. An 18-run margin, the largest in Seattle franchise history, on 23 hits, their most since 2004. Michael Arroyo's first career home run got lost in it.
The Sit-Down
Teacup, meet dynasty
Texas was down 23-3 entering the fourth quarter against the best team in the country, and won by one.
Per Sportradar it was the largest fourth-quarter comeback against an AP No. 1 on record. The winning points came on a one-yard touchdown run by a Texas running back named Hollywood Smothers, his second of the quarter, with 25 seconds left.
Arch Manning finished 23 of 37 for 196 yards, a line that looks ordinary until you know he completed 11 of his final 15. He had history with this opponent. "I couldn't lose to them again," he said. "I had nightmares about that game last year."
Ohio State had the ball, the lead and the clock, and kicked none of it into a two-score cushion. Connor Hawkins missed from 45 with 4:21 to go. "We had them on the ropes and didn't finish," Ryan Day said.
The Take — One-point games get filed under luck, and this one had plenty of it, but Texas scored on three straight possessions against a defense that had allowed one field goal in three quarters. That is not variance. Ohio State stopped playing to win somewhere around the middle of the third, and a kicker who grew up rooting for them made them pay for it.
— Landen Hull
Pond scum
Oklahoma State beat Oregon 39-31, 728 days after its last win over an FBS opponent.
The same Oregon team beat them 69-3 a year ago. Oklahoma State fired Mike Gundy three games into last season, finished 1-11, lost to Tulsa in Week 1 this year, and arrived Saturday on a 21-game losing streak against FBS teams with 91 new players on the roster.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker broke a 75-yard run on the game's first play and finished with 426 total yards.
Afterward the students tore down the west goal post and carried it to Theta Pond, where Oklahoma State goal posts have gone to die for generations. The stadium speakers played "Shout" while they walked. That is the song Oregon plays at Autzen between the third and fourth quarters.
The Take — Oregon fell fifteen spots to No. 21 and will be fine. The number worth keeping is 91. Eric Morris rebuilt a roster from scratch in one offseason and beat a top-ten team with it in his tenth month on the job, which tells you how quickly a bad program can stop being bad now, and how little last season predicts.
Chasers
Two rounds, one belt: Ryan Garcia stopped Conor Benn at 1:25 of the second in Las Vegas, keeping the WBC welterweight title in his first defense. Announced sellout: 18,855. Benn went to hospital for observation.
Eight quarters, one touchdown: Michigan beat No. 11 Oklahoma 17-10 behind a defense that has now allowed a single touchdown all season. Kyle Whittingham left Utah in December on a five-year, $41 million deal, and so far it looks cheap.
Eleven thousandths: Lando Norris took pole for the Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid's new Madring circuit by 0.011 seconds over Kimi Antonelli, his third pole in four rounds.
Welcome to the neighbourhood: North Dakota State won its first Mountain West game 38-32 at Air Force. The Bison won ten FCS national titles between 2011 and 2024 and are 3-0 in their first season up.
Call It
US Open men's final: Alexander Zverev vs. Ben Shelton
Today · 2:00 p.m. ET · ABC
Zverev has won all five of their meetings, none at a major. Shelton would be the first American man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick in 2003. Who takes it?
Tap to pick in N1. Free. No odds. Just bragging rights.
Quick Sip
Saturday gave Elena Rybakina her third Grand Slam title, and she is now one Roland Garros away from the career set. She won the Australian Open in January. Which major did she win first, back in 2022? (Answer at the bottom.)
One Number
33
Runs the Brewers scored against Cincinnati across Friday and Saturday, winning 20-0 and then 13-9. It is the most Milwaukee has scored in any two-game span in franchise history, beating the 32 they put up in July 1990.
The Weekend Watch
When | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
Sun 2:00 p.m. | US Open men's final: Zverev vs. Shelton | ABC |
Sun 3:00 p.m. | NASCAR Cup at Gateway | USA |
Sun 8:20 p.m. | Cowboys at Giants | NBC |
Mon 8:15 p.m. | Broncos at Chiefs | ESPN |
What else we're watching
The goal post, the pond, and the song — FOX Sports
Seattle's biggest win ever, by 18 — FOX 13 Seattle
Quick Sip answer: Wimbledon, in 2022.
Bottoms up. See you Wednesday.