Joao Pedro’s interview with Sky Sports yesterday was really fascinating on a number of fronts.
He noted how he was working hard to be able to play twice a week as he adapted to the intense rhythm of Champions League football. He also spoke about two Italian managers he had – Roberto De Zerbi who brought him to Brighton, and now Enzo Maresca who has brought him to Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca speaking on Sky Sports.
“I think both have a passion, they love football, they are very smart, but De Zerbi is more aggressive. Not in a bad way,” the striker said.
“The way both think, it is very easy to understand what they want, but I think Enzo knows how to manage sometimes between the players.
“The way he talks is more understandable. Enzo is more composed but both managers are really offensive. They like to play with the ball and want to have the ball in the whole game so it’s very good for me. I think they are similar but also they are different.”
While Joao Pedro picked Maresca’s man management as superior, he did give major credit to De Zerbi for having pushed him on the the next level as a player:
“When I was at Watford I was a little bit comfortable with my position. When I moved to Brighton he pushed me every day,” the striker said.
“He said things like I could be a top striker in the world. From that I started to believe in that. I started to believe if I work every day hard I could be a top striker.”
Chelsea are now reaping the rewards of De Zerbi’s work on the South Coast.
What happens in Vegas could affect the biggest moments of your career.
Haiden Deegan’s aggressive tactics proved exactly that, as he and Jo Shimoda crashed just as the clock reaches four minutes remaining in Moto 2 of the final race of the SMX World Championship at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
And one could say that Deegan had half a million things on his mind. The champion in the 250 division wins $500,000 in prize money, and last weekend, Deegan had that in jeopardy after he and Levi Kitchen crashed in the second turn during Moto 2 in St. Louis.
Haiden Deegan races in St. Louis last weekend during the 2025 SMX World Championship Playoffs.
But there should be another half a million things on his mind as well. Deegan was originally slated to be one of the three entries for this year’s Motocross of Nations next month at Ironman Raceway, a track where Deegan won both motos and the overall in Pro Motocross last month.
Granted, that was in the 250 division. This would also be his first professional event graduating to the premiere 450 class, with a balanced schedule between both bikes in 2026, only meaning that the couple months of off-season training would be crucial to prepare himself for a bike with twice the power.
Now, he sits on a couch for the next several weeks in a sling.
Jo Shimoda and Haiden Deegan crash while battling for the lead in 250 Moto 2.
Deegan would not continue and appears to have injured his shoulder.
The AMA announced after the race they would investigate the collision for reckless riding. pic.twitter.com/LlUMimsosc
Instead of using his skills to ride into the sunset and dominate the second moto, he injures himself playing his own game.
Looking at the top riders in the 450 class, that’s a mind game that will never succeed.
“His dad Brian talked exactly about this scenario with me,” said NBC Sports reporter Will Christien during the live Peacock broadcast. “He said, ‘All I want is for him to stay healthy through this.’ It’s not worth the injury. It’s not worth setting back next season or Motocross of Nations. This is obviously the very last thing that they wanted in this scenario.”
Other industry members took to social media to voice similar opinions as well.
Just so weird to me. If you’re Deegan, why not just ride and smoke everyone. Lose the series but everyone knows you’re the guy. Make no enemies and dont look douchey. Race MXoN and be Captain America?
“Just so weird to me,” said MXG on Twitter. “If you’re Deegan, why not just ride and smoke everyone. Lose the series but everyone knows you’re the guy. Make no enemies and dont look douchey. Race MXoN and be Captain America?”
“Kids, let this be a lesson to you–if you can’t win the right way, try to win it (expletive) way and then when [that] doesn’t work, just quit I guess,” PulpMX host Steve Matthes sarcastically said.
Even earlier that night, Deegan was the aggressor in a collision with Ryder DiFrancesco. While it wasn’t any fault of Deegan’s as DiFrancesco washed out entering the sand section, some may consider the aggressive riding of Deegan to be over the line that could have avoided this crash that ended DiFrancesco’s night early.
After the race, the AMA posted they would review the incident for a potential penalty for reckless riding. Deegan already has a written warning from earlier this year after crashing into teammate Cole Davies at Denver, which per the AMA rulebook, could result in a points penalty. The Playoffs also add an additional factor to penalties, concluding that since Las Vegas was a triple points night, the points penalty and fine could also become three-fold.
BREAKING: Haiden Deegan suffers a broken collarbone from his Moto 2 crash with Jo Shimoda.
Even more regarding AMA penalties? Seth Hammaker lost the SMX World Championship to Shimoda by a mere five points, the same amount he was penalized from Round 1 in Charlotte for jumping on a red cross flag. But instead of playing with his food, Hammaker would go out and win the last moto of 2025, taking the checkered flag in Moto 2 of the 250 class at Las Vegas.
“[Hammaker’s] proving himself to be a force to be reckoned with,” said seven-time SMX champion and current Peacock broadcaster James Stewart.
Some lessons are learned the hard way. It’s not to say Deegan needs to slow down. If anything, he should keep training to ride faster and smoother. It’s not to say Deegan should choose better words during his interviews, aside from his fine from Denver, or change his personality. It’s not because he can’t or because he won’t learn lessons like these, but because the premiere class demands it.
The premiere class is smarter than that, and that’s why it’s filled with champions across the gate.
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Brenner Souza scored in each half and Evander Da Silva Ferreira notched three assists to lead FC Cincinnati to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.
Cincinnati (18-9-4) closed within two points of the first-place Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference with three matches remaining in the regular season.
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Evander set up Ender Echenique in the 12th minute and the 21-year-old forward scored for the first time in his sixth appearance and fourth start.
Evander collected another assist and Kévin Denkey notched his second of the season on Brenner’s goal for a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute. Brenner scored his third goal this season — on Evander’s 13th assist — for a 3-1 lead in the 88th minute.
Joseph Paintsil scored for the sixth time this season to get the Galaxy within 2-1 in the 39th minute. Defender Mauricio Cuevas scored in the first minute of stoppage time — with an assist from Paintsil — for the final margin. It was his second netter of the campaign and his third in 46 career appearances. Paintsil’s helper was his third.
The Galaxy were forced to play a man down after Isaiah Parente was tagged with a red card in the 53rd minute.
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Evan Louro totaled six saves in his second start this season for Cincinnati after starting once last season.
Novak Micovic saved seven shots for the Galaxy.
The Galaxy will host Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Cincinnati returns home to play Orlando City on Sept. 28.
WWE returned to Indianapolis for Wrestlepalooza from Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday evening. The show featured AJ Lee’s first in-ring action in a decade, Brock Lesnar demolishing John Cena, and Stephanie Vaquer claiming the vacant Women’s World Championship. In the inaugural main event of WWE’s ESPN era, Cody Rhodes was successful in his title defense against Drew McIntyre, and The Vision also earned a win over Jimmy and Jey Uso.
Here are our five biggest takeaways as momentum picks up toward Crown Jewel Perth.
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1. John Cena’s redemption tour hits another bump
John Cena’s entrance was everything this final run was meant to be. Good Guy John maintaining the “Never Give Up” mantra, embodying the childhood hero he’s established himself to be. What happened next, though, felt like we’d been transported back to a time when Lesnar and Cena were tussling over the world championship — one day Cena is overcoming Lesnar, the next Lesnar is putting him in the ground, taking Cena to suplex city and ending his night with slew of F-5s.
The latter is exactly what played out on the screen Saturday night, with Cena wholly unable to overcome Lesnar, who fits the bill as a real-life supervillain. If the finish wasn’t enough, Lesnar continued to put his stamp on the night with another F-5 on Cena for good measure. What’s unclear is where WWE goes from here. Was this the first of many Cena vs. Lesnar matches down Cena’s final stretch before retirement, or was this just a pit stop meant to give Lesnar an edge before he goes after someone like Cody Rhodes and WWE gold?
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The crossroads we’ve reached after this one is significant, with Cena now in single-digit dates before calling it a career.
2. Stephanie Vaquer is the chosen one
Almost from the moment she made her WWE debut, Stephanie Vaquer had the look and the aura of someone who would be world champion. The fact that it’s happened in just over a year is shocking considering the level of talent across the WWE women’s roster. What isn’t shocking is that Vaquer put on an absolute barnburner Saturday night in Indy.
Iyo Sky may be WWE’s MVP this year, consistently putting on exceptional matches regardless of who’s across the ring from her and raising the bar by the week. Sky fed Vaquer well, pulled the crowd along, and felt like a legit threat to claim the vacant women’s world title. As the champion now, though, Vaquer has no shortage of challengers — and she could be well on her way to a lengthy title run.
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3. Couples retreat lives up to the hype
CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch and AJ Lee all carry the star power to have been the primary focus of Wrestlepalooza. But after a lengthy time away from the ring, the only question was whether Lee could keep pace with the trio of WWE’s top acts. She did that and more on Saturday, serving as the focal point of a great story between WWE’s two power couples.
Punk and Rollins felt like they took a backseat to their partners, who stole the spotlight with drama and action that kept fans off their seats. This one felt almost as perfectly executed as it could have been. The only question I have is why Lynch was terrified every time Lee was tagged into the ring. For someone who’s consistently referenced as arguably the greatest women’s wrestler of all-time, there feels like a better way for Lynch to put over Lee’s in-ring stature.
Now let’s see which of The Vision’s two titles are put on the line first, as this rivalry has no end in sight.
4. What’s a champion without a true challenger?
Coming out of his win over Cena, it was always going to be interesting to see how Cody Rhodes navigated his next title challenger. The problem with the existing roster is WWE lacks a big-time challenger who feels like a legitimate threat to take that title. Drew McIntyre fulfilled his position, kicking in Rhodes’ head and earning a win over Randy Orton, but it always felt like the cart would stop there.
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I already alluded to Lesnar potentially moving on to Rhodes after his win over Cena, because at this point there’s not much else that feels like a real challenge to the champ. That would have to come after Crown Jewel Perth, though, as WWE announced post-event that Rhodes is slated to take on Rollins for the Men’s Crown Jewel Championship on the Oct. 11 PLE.
5. One step forward for the Vision, one step backward for the Usos and LA Knight
Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed continue to make the most of their opportunities as they find their footing alongside Paul Heyman and Seth Rollins. Their combined stock has arguably never been higher as both men continue to be positioned as the future of WWE. That being said, it feels like their rises have come at the expense of guys like Jey Uso and LA Knight, who have taken considerable steps backward from where it feels like they should be.
It’s not clear the purpose Knight is playing in this rivalry as he fluctuates between offering a helping hand to Jey Uso and laying him out. If the direction was an odd-couple tag team, that would be one thing. But bringing Jey and Jimmy back together seems to have either ruled that out or dragged out when it happens. This one doesn’t feel like it’s working.
Indiana showed that the easiest way to quiet complaints about an easy non-conference schedule is to absolutely blow out a top-10 opponent in your Big Ten opener.
The No. 19 Hoosiers jumped out to a 35-7 lead in the first half on the way to a 63-10 win over No. 9 Illinois on Saturday night. The win should cement Indiana as a serious contender for the College Football Playoff once again given the Hoosiers’ remaining schedule.
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Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza threw twice as many touchdowns as incompletions in the first half. A week after he was 19-of-20 for 270 yards and five touchdowns against FCS-level Indiana State, Mendoza was 15-of-17 passing for 220 yards in the first two quarters and threw four touchdowns to four different receivers.
Indiana didn’t open the scoring with a passing TD, however. D’Angelo Ponds put the Hoosiers up 7-0 after he recovered his own blocked punt for a touchdown.
Illinois tied the game on its next possession thanks to a blown coverage on a 59-yard pass play. From there, the Illini couldn’t do anything right.
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Indiana’s defense recorded five sacks of Illinois QB Luke Altmyer in the first half. Altmyer was efficient when he had the chance to throw, but far too often he was having to deal with the pass rush in his face.
Indiana’s early playoff case
The Hoosiers were the surprise team in last season’s College Football Playoff after an 11-1 regular season in coach Curt Cignetti’s first season last the school. Indiana started the season 10-0 before a loss at Ohio State and a loss at Notre Dame in the first round of the playoff.
Indiana was impressive over that 10-game win streak. Though the Hoosiers didn’t play a ranked team before the Buckeyes, their only win by fewer than two scores came in a 20-15 victory over Michigan.
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A similar playoff recipe could play out again in 2025. After a non-conference schedule that featured Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State, Indiana has trips remaining to No. 6 Oregon and No. 2 Penn State but there are no other ranked teams on the schedule.
Despite the weak non-conference slate, 10-2 with losses to the Ducks and Nittany Lions should be more than enough to make the playoff. Especially if Indiana keeps blowing out opponents.
Illinois’ chances take a hit
Saturday might have been a swing game for the College Football Playoff. Illinois entered the game in basically the same position as Indiana. And even if the Illini only lose to Ohio State the rest of the way, it’s hard to see how they would be ranked ahead of the Hoosiers at the end of the season.
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After a home game vs. No. 25 USC next Saturday, Ohio State is the only ranked team remaining on Illinois’ schedule. Illinois could be well on the way to back-to-back 10-win seasons under Bret Bielema. But unless Indiana or the other Big Ten heavyweights stumble, the Illini may find themselves as the best of the non-playoff rest again. It’s hard to recover from such a big loss.
CARROLLTON, Ga. (AP) — TJ Lester rushed for 108 yards with a touchdown, Jordan Dees had two receiving touchdowns and West Georgia defeated Eastern Kentucky 33-12 on Saturday night.
Dees scored on a 31-yard reception to make it 7-3 and had a 28-yarder from Davin Wydner 11 seconds before halftime for a 21-12 lead.
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Festus Davies had a 53-yard scoop-and-score and a sack for a safety for the Wolves (4-0).
Wynder threw for 95 yards, completing 8 of 11 passes, five to Dees for 84 yards.
Eastern Kentucky quarterback Myles Burkett completed 21 of 41 passes for 203 yards and an interception.
Brayden Latham scored on a 45-yard run for the Colonels (1-3).
The Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates continued their three-game series at beautiful PNC Park in Pittsburgh this afternoon. Luis Morales took the mound for the A’s against Bubba Chandler for the Bucs.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Nick Yorke hit his first homer of the season to left field. In the bottom of the third, Bryan Reynolds homered on a fly ball to right center field.
Bubba Chandler kept the A’s hitters completely off balance. Through five innings the A’s have mustered just one hit, have not drawn a walk and have struck out six times. In the top of the sixth, Chandler was pulled and replaced by Braxton Ashcraft. I’m sure the A’s hitters were not upset to see that change! Although he was equally effective in keeping the bats silent.
Tyler Ferguson replaced Morales in the bottom of the seventh. Morales logged a quality start even if he is in line for the loss. His final line was six full innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits, and two walks He struck out four. Ferguson tossed a 1-2-3 inning. The A’s still trailed 2-0 headed to the top of the eighth inning. Ashcraft has breezed through the A’s lineup almost as easily as Chandler.
Brady Basso replaced Ferguson for the bottom of the eighth. The A’s went down weakly in the ninth. The A’s only managed one hit and struck out thirteen times in the 2-0 loss.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2014 with a 38-10 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.
The Bulldogs navigated sloppy play for most of the game but pulled away late in the win. Mississippi State trailed 3-0 after the first possession and led just 14-10 going into halftime before outscoring the Huskies 17-0 in the second half.
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The ground game is what got the Bulldogs there as they averaged 6.0 yards per carry 49 attempts for 292 yards against a defense that has been stingy against the run. NIU (1-2) came into the game surrendering just 74.0 yards per game, including holding Maryland under 100 yards a week ago.
Leading the charge on the ground for Mississippi State was South Alabama transfer Fluff Bothwell, who notched 100 yards for the first time in his Bulldogs career. Bothwell rushed 17 times for 101 yards and Davon Booth scored two touchdowns to lead the way. Xavier Gayten came in and had four carries for 45 yards and scored a touchdown late in the game.
Blake Shapen was 12 of 20 for 160 yards and a touchdown and had 11 carries for 51 yards. The Bulldogs had 452 yards of total offense and overcame 11 penalties for 104 yards. Mississippi State was 4-for-4 on 4th downs.
NIU had 267 yards of total offense with 125 yards on the ground. Jahron Manning made seven tackles to lead the way for the MSU defense and Isaac Smith had six tackles fand his first career interception. Mississippi State had 6.0 tackles for loss.
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Big picture
The Bulldogs have a major matchup with No. 15 Tennessee next week and Saturday looked the part of a trap game. In the second half, Mississippi State woke up and got the job done to set up a big one against the Volunteers.
Northern Illinois has played spoiler before against Power 4 opponents. On Saturday, they had everything fall into place in the first half to repeat a game like they had against Notre Dame a year ago. This time, they came up short.
Up next
Mississippi State hosts Tennessee on Saturday.
Northern Illinois hosts San Diego State on Saturday.
Brian Daboll needs to come up with some answers for the New York Giants, quickly.
He led the team to a playoff win in his first season as head coach but has been 9-27 since. A recent report from Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda says Daboll could be close to the end of his tenure in The Big Apple if he doesn’t lead the Giants back to their winning ways.
If Daboll was ousted who would be some good candidates to replace him?
Candidates to replace Brian Daboll as head coach
Bill Belichick
The six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach has a history as a member of the Giants and facing against them.
New York was where Belichick began his career in 1979 as a special teams coach. He became the defensive coordinator in 1985 where he helped lead the Giants to two Super Bowls before leaving for Cleveland in 1990.
He also lost two Super Bowls to New York in 2008 and 2012 as the head coach of the New England Patriots.
But would he change his mind a year later after trudging through the college ranks as a coach at UNC? Maybe he views New York as further in the rebuild and if Daboll was fired it would give Belichick the green light.
Steve Spagnuolo
Spags is another coach that has history with the Giants. He was defensive coordinator for the team and even served as interim head coach for four games in 2017.
Unlike Belichick, he hasn’t been considered seriously for head coaching opportunities in recent years. He’s won four Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator, one with New York and three with Kansas City, but hasn’t been reported as a candidate often.
Spagnuolo was a head coach for the Rams from 2009-2011 where he compiled a 10-38 record. Would New York give him another shot to prove himself in a lead role?
It would be a sharp turn from the offensive-minded Daboll but that could be what the Giants need.
Joe Brady
This would be a rewind of the same circumstances that brought the Giants their old head coach.
Daboll was once the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, hailed for his work in developing Josh Allen. Joe Brady has seen much of the same success since joining Buffalo as a quarterbacks coach in 2022. He was eventually promoted to OC in 2024.
Brady, unlike the other two candidates list here, has never held a head coaching job. He gained notoriety as LSU’s passing game coordinator when the Tigers won the national title in 2019.
He could bring fresh ideas and a young face to an offense that could soon be led by rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Regardless of any candidate’s resume, Daboll is still the head coach of the Giants entering week 3 of the season. He could be replaced as late as the end of the season or right the ship and retain the job.
One thing is certain, wins are expected and soon in New York.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — On Friday afternoon, as the Texas Tech team plane circled downward toward this place, Will Hammond peered out of the window.
There, thousands of feet below him, stacked on the horizon, the Wasatch mountain range rose to meet the blue sky.
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He felt right at home.
“Mannnnn,” he said to himself from the plane, “the mountains!”
If Hammond seemed especially comfortable here on Saturday morning as his Texas Tech Red Raiders beat Utah, 34-10, if he looked unbothered by the rocking crowd, if he appeared calm and in command despite the pressures of a one-score fourth-quarter game, perhaps it is because he knows this place better than most.
Hammond — the hero backup quarterback on this day — spent each summer among these mountains, where his parents were born and where his extended family still resides.
In fact, Hammond is a practicing Mormon.
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“It was a perfect opportunity,” Hammond said with a smile.
Hammond misfired on just three passes out of 16 on Saturday (one of those was a dropped touchdown). He threw for 169 yards, two touchdowns and ran for a 32-yarder in a second-half outburst that saw one of the offseason’s most talked-about programs (the big-spending Red Raiders and their rich roster) turn a 10-3 halftime lead into a walloping win.
Afterward, coach Joey McGuire — brazenly honest about his team’s spending — gestured verbally to those who funded the roster. It was easy. After all, the donors were all present here, scattered across the room where he held his news conference: Cody Campbell, Gordon and Joyce Davis, and Clay Cash.
“We have the best boosters in the country by far,” McGuire says. “We have some incredible guys who went all in. My job was and is — we’ve got a long way — to create this team and get them to care and love each other. We use what everybody else is saying to prove them wrong.”
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Texas Tech, its coach, administrators and donors have made no secret about it: They spent tens of millions in the spring and this fall on a roster full of four- and five-star Texas high school talent and a group of college all-stars plucked from other programs.
In fact, during the on-field celebration seconds after the victory, Campbell, the most front-facing of those donors, raised his arms to an adoring Tech cheering section in the southwest corner of Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“Thank you, Cody!” a man from the stands yelled down.
Do you think this is weird or awkward? Well, welcome to the NIL Era of college athletics, where donors are (legally) funding rosters after decades of repression, where athletes are earning compensation, where coaching tenures hinge on such resourcing.
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Texas Tech is all in, to the tune of as much as $40 million over this full calendar year to all of their athletes (that includes front-loaded cash last spring and revenue-share this fall).
Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond runs against Utah during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Jeffrey D. Allred)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The Red Raiders, despite their openness about the cash flow, are using the media coverage as motivation. They know teams across the country, even their opponents, will point toward their roster payroll and their big boosters as the reason for victories.
Instead, they point to a tightly knit locker room that, McGuire says, showed up Saturday.
It makes no difference why players signed with Texas Tech, says the team’s tackle leader, Jacob Rodriguez, a quarterback-turned-linebacker. Whether it’s “Coach McGuire or money, it doesn’t matter now,” he said. “It’s about love.”
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Love, heart, strength, endurance — use whatever term. The bottom line: The most hated team in the Big 12 out-muscled one of college football’s historically tough programs. Texas Tech’s starting defense has now allowed one touchdown in four games.
“We showed the world what we are capable of,” defensive tackle Lee Hunter said. “We take pride in somebody trying to run over us. We work hard to stop the run. You want to beat us — change your game plan.”
McGuire’s team outrushed Utah 173–101, intercepted dynamic quarterback Devon Dampier twice and got a dazzling day from a quartet of receivers and two quarterbacks.
Yes, two quarterbacks.
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One minute into the second half, starting quarterback Behren Morton sustained a hit to the head and neck area, was taken to the locker room and didn’t return. After the game, McGuire suggested that his quarterback would be fine. Morton celebrated with coaches and players in the locker room, in fact.
In a one-score game, in came Hammond, a redshirt freshman from Austin who had more than 30 family members in the stands here. In fact, one of his relatives is holding a baby shower here this weekend — the family event coinciding with Hammond’s return to this place.
He seemed awfully comfortable in the shadow of those mountains.
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A third-and-long pass with the playclock nearly expiring? Not a problem.
A spinning, tackle-breaking run for a first down? Absolutely.
A rocking road environment, a tight fourth-quarter game, a stifling defense before him? So what, who cares, no sweat.
After all, this is his home away from home, his summer escape and his family’s origins. He stepped off the podium after a brief news conference to take a call in the hallway. It was another media request.
Good luck to the interviewer — Hammond is a man of few words, not necessarily shy but short with his answers. He’s loud in his actions. He wakes up every morning before 5 a.m. and heads straight to the football facility for work. At night, he meditates — something, he says, that helps with his focus and confidence.
