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Good morning! Today, we are indeed choosin’ Texas. Inside:

College Football: A classic, a shocker and an inside track

I often feel like Week 2 is one of the best weeks of the college football season. Nothing that happened yesterday changed that feeling.

In the biggest matchup of the season, No. 4 Texas came back from a 23-3 deficit to stun No. 1 Ohio State in the last minute, 24-23. This was a disaster for the Longhorns until it wasn’t. The first half was one ignominy after another, starting with a fumble on UT’s first play from scrimmage and continuing from there. Arch Manning watched drops from his two top receivers, Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo, which resulted in an interception and a missed touchdown. But Manning and friends broke down the OSU defense in the fourth quarter, scoring touchdowns on their last three possessions as the Buckeyes wilted. Those drives:

15 plays, 91 yards, touchdown
13 plays, 72 yards, touchdown
12 plays, 73 yards, touchdown

The key moment among many? A missed 45-yard field goal by Ohio State’s Connor Hawkins, when Ohio State led by six with just over four minutes left and had a chance to push the lead to two possessions. Buckeye fans will think about this result — and some of coach Ryan Day’s game management calls — for a long time. Texas fans will think about Manning, who now has a proper signature win. The Horns are your (early) national championship favorite.

In the season’s splashiest upset to date, No. 6 Oregon went down at Oklahoma State, 39-31. The Ducks made a litany of mistakes: a wide-open drop on a fourth down, a different, overaggressive fourth-down call by Dan Lanning that didn’t work and a series of breakdowns in QB run defense. But how about them Cowboys? After bottoming out last year and firing longtime coach Mike Gundy, the program now has proof of concept under new steward Eric Morris. The coach brought QB Drew Mestemaker and many others from last year’s No. 1 scoring offense at North Texas. The vision came together as students carried the goalposts out of Boone Pickens Stadium. Big 12 contender? Why not? Trouble in Eugene?

In a game with huge playoff stakes, Boise State stormed past Memphis, 38-20. This was a battle for non-power conference playoff frontrunner status, and for a while, it looked good for Memphis on Boise’s blue turf. The Tigers had a 14-point lead but wore down against Boise tailback Dylan Riley, whose 206 yards (on just 19 carries) keyed a 35-3 run to close the game. The Broncos have the inside track to the Group of 6 playoff spot.

Another notable: Michigan 17, No. 11 Oklahoma 10. Bryce Underwood got the headlines this week, but Oklahoma’s John Mateer was borderline unplayable in this game and may present the bigger question mark for his team. More.

That’s a non-exhaustive list. Jason Kirk has a broad overview of Week 2 in his Until Saturday newsletter. Sign up here, and the latest edition will soon appear here. We move.

News to Know

Julian Finney / Getty Images

Rybakina has Sabalenka’s number

Elena Rybakina was set to become world No. 1 in tomorrow’s rankings even if she lost to Aryna Sabalenka, but now her case is downright categorical. The Kazakhstani 27-year-old got the better of Sabalenka in a Grand Slam final for the second time this year — 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 — by protecting her serve and pinning her opponent deep with hard hits up the middle. It’s a first U.S. Open title and third major for Rybakina, whose dramatic backstory you can read more about here. Sabalenka was going for a three-peat and was gracious but also clearly frustrated at finishing the Grand Slam season empty-handed for the first time since 2022.

No cakewalk for Team USA

The FIBA Women’s World Cup delivered the Olympic gold medal rematch that many expected, but the context around today’s game (2 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and HBO Max) is a little surprising. Team USA — the four-time defending champs — survived a pool play scare against Italy and yesterday advanced via their smallest margin in a semifinal in two decades (76-66 against Spain). France — which lost the gold in Paris by one point — was comparatively dominant (86-64 over Germany) and … might be the favorite? Busy TV slot — see below — but this is worth tracking even for casual fans.

More News
White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley resigned amid an internal investigation into verbal harassment allegations that include racial and sexist comments, per sources. Full story here.
Two tight ends agreed to extensions that put them among the NFL’s highest-paid at the position: the Packers’ Tucker Kraft and the Raiders’ Michael Mayer.
Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska said her family’s apartment was hit by a Russian missile, destroying everything but a Roland Garros towel. The images she posted are horrifying.
Ukrainian women’s basketball player Kate Koval will play for Baylor after receiving a transfer waiver from the NCAA when LSU signed a Russian player. Full story here.
Twins prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez belted a 420-foot homer in his first MLB plate appearance before telling reporters he cried when he got the call-up. These stories never get old.
The Texans and quarterback C.J. Stroud are pausing contract negotiations until after the season, a source told The Athletic.
Thank goodness there were no injuries in this scary pit-road crash during a race in NASCAR’s second tier. Check out the 40-second mark of the video.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” gave Ted Cruz nearly 10 minutes to talk about his college sports bill. The Texas crowd was not overly friendly toward its senator.
An Akron fan won the chance to script the Zips’ first offensive series against FCS foe Robert Morris … and it ended after four plays with a fumble. “Execute!” — him, probably.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

Sarah Stier / Getty Images

📺 Manchester United vs. Manchester City
9 a.m. ET on Peacock
The Manchester derby is back. So, as Adam Crafton reports, is the city of Manchester.

📺 U.S. Open men’s singles final
Alexander Zverev (1) vs. Ben Shelton (8)
2 p.m. ET on ESPN
Last year around this time, I asked some of our tennis writers a question. Who would be the next American man to win a grand slam, breaking a drought that dates to 2003? Matthew Futterman answered: “Ben Shelton, sometime between now and the end of 2027.” Today, Shelton tries to prove that true at Arthur Ashe Stadium. After taking down Carlos Alcaraz in the quarters and Francis Tiafoe in an all-American semifinal, Germany’s Zverev is the last man in his way. Zverev won his first slam earlier this year at the French Open.

📺 Whichever NFL game you want
Starting at 1 p.m. ET on Fox and CBS
Full schedule here, featuring 13 games.

Get tickets to games like this here.

Pulse Picks

Most-shared stories on The Athletic last week:

Ben Shelton edges out Carlos Alcaraz in thrilling latest U.S. Open finish in history
How cherry juice became the Premier League’s latest must-have supplement
A Little League coach’s advice to his team went viral. Anyone can appreciate the message
What went wrong with the grass at the Bills’ new stadium? “Somebody fell asleep”
Why Michigan got 1 second put back on clock before controversial win vs. WMU

🎥 We also have a useful, quick video version of that cherry juice story. Watch here.

Grand Central is a portal to the U.S. Open. It’s also a hidden tennis club.

College football’s oldest player is a full-time pastor named Justin Buzzard, who turns 48 tomorrow.

Can red-light therapy treat brain injuries? Some research shows “striking” results, as Mirin Fader writes.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The man who ran onto the field waving a Palestinian flag during Friday’s Yankees-Mets game. (Story now includes a comment from him.)

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.