OSWEGO, N.Y. — Super DIRT Week’s popular Friday Night Lights qualifying program saw Jimmy Phelps, Matt Sheppard and Mat Williamson notch $4,000 victories in the headlining big-block modified Triple 30s portion of the program.

Tim Fuller got the drop on fast-timer Belly Decker when round one went green but the third-starting Phelps soon flexed his muscle, jumping to second the next time around, then snaring the lead on lap nine.

From there, he was home free, with the crowd turning their attention to Mike Mahaney, who was working on Fuller for second. It took a few dives into the turns, but he finally got under Fuller and started closing on Phelps but couldn’t quit catch him.

They finished that way with Decker third, ahead of Fuller, Max McLaughlin, Marc Johnson, Demetrious Drellos, Tim Sears Jr, Kyle Coffey and Jessey Mueller.

The top eight, not counting Decker and Fuller who were already locked in, made the feature.

“That’s some car,” said Phelps.  “We’ve got to tweak on it but we’re definitely in the ballpark for Sunday!”

Polesitter Matt Sheppard dominated the second 30-lapper, with Eric Rudolph’s charge from fifth to second providing the interest. He got close to Sheppard late in the race in traffic but a lap-22 yellow flag got Sheppard out of traffic and from there he and Rudolph ran in line to the checkers.

Anthony Perrego was third, ahead of Duane Howard, Pat Ward, defending 200 winner Larry Wight, Ryan Godown, Chris Hile, Brett Hearn from 26^th and ageless Jimmy Horton.

“We were lucky in traffic a few times,” declared Sheppard.  “It was a bit scary at times, but it was good practice for Sunday.”

In the nightcap, Williamson ran unchallenged from green to checkers, though Billy Dunn did get close to him once when he got bogged down in heavy traffic.

But once he saw clear track, the young Canadian was gone, leading Dunn, Tom Sears Jr., Dave Marcuccilli, Kenny Tremont Jr., Ryan Susice, Danny Johnson, Jack Lehner, Gary Tomkins and Alan Johnson into the 200.

“I’m just the lucky one who gets to drive this thing,” offered Williamson. “It’s a pleasure to drive for Buzz Chew and his guys.”

South Australia 5 for 527 (Cooper 188*, Carey 117, Tremain 2-42) trail Victoria 6 for 616 dec (Maddinson 224, Pucovski 123, Harris 116) by 89 runs

South Australia duo Tom Cooper and Alex Carey made barnstorming centuries against some very generous Victorian bowling as the game descended into a farcical stalemate on a concrete-like pitch at the Junction Oval.

The match almost seemed like it had turned into a village game following Carey's dismissal early in the last session when it became clear South Australia would not declare to try and set up a result. Victoria skipper Peter Handscomb brought both himself and Marcus Harris into the attack to bowl a mix of dubious offspin and medium pace unchanged for most of last session until James Pattinson came on to bowl offspin. Handscomb exchanged words regularly with Cooper as the game ground to a halt late in the day. The Redbacks reverted to conventional batting against the declaration-style bowling as both sides became frustrated at the inability to create a result on a surface that has yielded 1143 runs for just 11 wickets.

"We were trying to get a game going," Handscomb said after the day's play. "We thought 350 off 80 overs was going to be a fair target to chase and they weren't having it. That was it we couldn't come to an agreement on a pretty flat wicket."

"I'm just annoyed the game is dead. I've got to put my bowlers back out there for time on feet for a pointless game. We as we could have been competing for something tomorrow."

It appears the two teams were about 50 runs apart on what was a reasonable target. Cooper was unsure what took place behind the scenes and spent most of the last session as a conduit between Handscomb and the Redbacks hierarchy.

"I guess I was caught in the middle of it as the messenger," Cooper said. "They obviously couldn't come to a compromise. Unfortunately that's how it panned out. Going into the day we were under a lot of pressure to keep ourselves in it and not fold under the pressure of a massive first innings total.'

The Redbacks were under pressure just after lunch on day three having crawled to 4 for 185 in the 76th over after Travis Head fell to Glenn Maxwell for 51 off 184 balls, his slowest half-century in first-class cricket.

Carey immediately showed his intent trying to reverse-sweep Maxwell. Victoria took the second new ball but both Carey and Cooper started finding the boundary with increasing regularity. Handscomb turned back to spin from both ends but kept the field up.

Carey and Cooper made 172 runs in 28.5 overs before tea. Cooper hit Jon Holland twice into the windows of the second storey of the pavilion. Carey slog-swept and reverse-swept with impunity as there were no men out deep on either side of the field. Holland switched ends to bowl down breeze and Cooper hit him for three more sixes, including one to bring up his 13th first-class century.

Having been 439 runs behind at lunch, South Australia went to tea only 259 runs behind. It had been a deliberate ploy from Victoria to try and accelerate the game to possibly set up a fourth-innings chase on a surface that simply won't break up in the cool conditions. But the partnership moved much quicker than Victoria expected and they reset at tea.

Carey reached his third Shield century just after tea off 99 balls. He has two hundred and two fifties in his last five first-class innings but they have come in a span of 11 months, as he had spent majority of that time playing limited-overs cricket.

He finally fell driving in the air straight to cover off Chris Tremain. The partnership yielded 207 runs in just 35.5 overs. Tom Andrews made his third first-class half-century, and undoubtedly his easiest given he faced Handscomb and Harris throughout. Cooper cruised to 188 not out and Andrews reached his highest Shield score of 75 not out. South Australia finished the day only 89 runs behind.

Victoria also had two sub fielders throughout the day. Nic Maddinson was hit on the middle finger on his left hand while fielding at short leg when Cooper whipped a low full toss straight from Pattinson at him as he ducked for safety. He left the field in the middle session and didn't return. Aaron Finch did not field at all after hurting his back while batting on day two. Victoria medical staff are confident it is nothing more than spasms and he did not field as a precaution.

Earlier in the first session, Henry Hunt fell for 75 on debut. He advanced at Holland but was beaten in flight by a beautiful piece of bowling and was stumped by a mile.

Stumps Queensland 153 all out & 5 for 186 (Burns 52, Labuschagne 48, Copeland 2-39) lead New South Wales 9 for 288 dec (Warner 125, Bertus 53, Gannon 5-94, Neser 2-56) by 51 runs

A fighting half-century from Joe Burns helped Queensland hold off New South Wales' charge to victory momentarily on a rain-affected third day at the Gabba.

Only 63 overs were possible on the third day after the game was delayed due to the rain that had fallen overnight. The Blues declared their innings closed on their overnight score to lead by 135 runs.

The Bulls second innings started cautiously and they lost Matt Renshaw lbw to Trent Copeland with the total on 22. Copeland trapped the left-hander on the front foot from around the wicket despite Renshaw getting a good stride forward.

Usman Khawaja made an elegant 24 with four boundaries before being undone by Sean Abbott. The right-arm quick angled in from around the wicket and nipped one away to scratch the outside edge as Khawaja was half-forward.

Burns and Marnus Labuschagne steadied with a 56-run stand and all but erased the lead. But after reaching a patient half-century, with just four boundaries, Burns was tempted into driving Copeland only to edge it to second slip where Steve Smith held a comfortable catch. That sparked a mini-collapse as the Bulls lost 3 for 32. Harry Conway continued his form from the first innings to take his tally to seven wickets for the match.

The first was fortunate with Charlie Hemphrey strangled down the leg-side. The second was a superb piece of bowling, finding the edge of Sam Heazlett with one that angled in and nipped away late.

Labuschagne held firm making a composed unbeaten 48 to steer the Bulls to stumps alongside Jimmy Peirson who remained on 21.

Big picture

When most of us think of CPL star power on the domestic player front, the first names that roll off the tongue are of Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Sunil Narine and the like. But this year's tournament has suggested that a change of guard maybe on the cards, with none of those big names taking part in the final, to be played between perennial bridesmaids Guyana Amazon Warriors and a resurgent Barbados Tridents.

In past years, the Amazon Warriors have fallen short after building their team around overseas stars like Rashid Khan, Martin Guptill and Chris Lynn. Most of their additions during draft time in 2019 may have flown under the radar, but coach Johan Botha has cultivated incredible chemistry to produce the most remarkable winning streak in CPL history, currently standing at 11 matches.

Yes, the Amazon Warriors have their share of established talent. Captain Shoaib Malik has provided metronomic consistency in the middle order with 313 runs at an average of 78.25. Imran Tahir's manic sprints have shown few signs of slowing down with each wicket celebration, leading the team with 15 scalps. Chris Green has been miserly and incisive with his new-ball offspin. Nicholas Pooran, Sherfane Rutherford and Shimron Hetmyer have provided the muscle and flair to give them the late kick when needed.

ALSO READ: Amazon Warriors' perfect ten, and other remarkable T20 streaks

But their improbable record is equally due to the contributions from a number of unheralded and often underappreciated players. Brandon King was taken in the ninth round of the 2019 draft in the traditional US$ 15,000 slot but he is the tournament's leading scorer with 453 runs. Romario Shepherd was taken a round later in the US$ 10,000 position but has needled opposition batsmen with 12 wickets to stem momentum in the middle overs. Chandrapaul Hemraj lasted until round 13 in a US$ 5,000 slot, yet has been a handy foil for King at the top of the order and has also chipped in with key overs of left-arm spin in the powerplay, like the 3 for 15 to plough through the defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders.

The Tridents' record has a few more blemishes, but their formula to reach the final has not been much different. Johnson Charles, discarded by West Indies in 2016, has powered their starts with a team-leading 376 runs. In the same vein as Malik, Tridents captain Jason Holder has been a source of inspiration not just with his 14 wickets, third-highest in the tournament, but for shrewd bowling changes and some special fielding, especially at long-on and long-off in the slog overs.

Though the management misfired with their first overall selection at the draft in the form of Alex Hales, who has yet to score a fifty, coach Phil Simmons has made wise decisions in his choice of replacement players after the draft. Shakib Al Hasan's nuggety knocks and tidy spells have been a late-season bonus. JP Duminy has been a reassuring presence in the middle order and fired the tournament's fastest fifty against the Knight Riders. Harry Gurney's variations have thrown big-hitters out of sync at the death.

The Tridents' bargain shopping has trumped the Amazon Warriors' by some distance too. Raymon Reifer, who iced the semi-final against the Knight Riders by trapping Seekkuge Prasanna for his tenth wicket of the season, was taken in round 14 for US$ 5000. The Tridents mined a diamond in the final round with their US$ 3000 ICC Americas pick, taking USA's Hayden Walsh Jr., who is not only the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 21 in eight matches, but has been the event's most electric fielder. Just ask Pollard, who fell victim to a momentum-shifting run-out by Walsh Jr. on Thursday night.

Saturday night might not be as raucous an occasion at the Brian Lara Academy without the host franchise involved. But there's no doubt it will be a memorable one as the Amazon Warriors pursue perfection while the Tridents try to pull off an upset.

Form guide

Guyana Amazon Warriors WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Barbados Tridents WLWWL

In the spotlight

Coming into CPL 2019, 24-year-old Brandon King had just one fifty and 267 runs in 14 career T20 innings. But he has four 50-plus scores in his last seven matches. He broke Russell's record on Sunday for the highest score in CPL history, bashing an unbeaten 132 off 72 balls with 11 fours and ten sixes. It was an innings that brought coach Botha to tears, but the tournament's most improved batsman was restrained in his celebrations, an indication that he may have bigger plans in store for the final.

Hayden Walsh Jr. entered the season as the back-up legspinner to Sandeep Lamichhane, the same role he served when the pair was together in 2018 at St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. But when Lamichhane left after the sixth match for national duty with Nepal, Walsh Jr. got an opportunity to come back into the line-up and exploded with a five-wicket haul against the Knight Riders. Walsh Jr. now has a CPL-best 21 in eight matches, has never taken fewer than two wickets in any game, and is a spark plug at backward point.

Team news

The only reason the Amazon Warriors may change the line-up that beat the Tridents in the qualifier is if they feel they need another variation bowler at the death. Ben Laughlin is a candidate if so, but if it ain't broke, they are unlikely to fix it.

Guyana Amazon Warriors (probable XI): 1 Brandon King, 2 Chandrapaul Hemraj, 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Shoaib Malik (capt), 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Keemo Paul, 8 Chris Green, 9 Romario Shepherd, 10 Odean Smith, 11 Imran Tahir

The Tridents leadership will be sweating over Duminy's fitness after he had to retire hurt with what appeared to be a hamstring injury during his innings on Thursday against the Knight Riders. If he can't go, the most likely alternative is Justin Greaves, who scored a half-century earlier this season when Hales left temporarily for the T20 Vitality Blast final.

Barbados Tridents (probable XI): 1 Alex Hales, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 JP Duminy/Justin Greaves, 6 Jonathan Carter, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Raymon Reifer, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Hayden Walsh Jr., 11 Harry Gurney

Pitch and conditions

The Tridents fielders looked like they were on ice skates at times in the outfield, which had excessive dew after Thursday's qualifier playoff was pushed back to 8.15pm local time due to transportation problems the Tridents experienced making the drive south from Port-of-Spain to Tarouba. But the final is scheduled for a 5pm start, making the dew less of a factor. The Brian Lara Academy pitch has regularly been challenging for batsmen, and scoring more than 150 batting first hasn't been easy.

Stats and trivia

• The Tridents' only CPL title came in 2014, when they beat the Amazon Warriors in the final in St Kitts by eight runs (DLS method). Current Amazon Warriors captain Malik was Man of the Match in the final for the Tridents, scoring an unbeaten 55 off 42 balls. That loss by the Amazon Warriors was the second of four runner-up finishes, including last year.

• The tournament's leading wicket-taker has been a part of the champion squad on three occasions: Krishmar Santokie (16) for Jamaica Tallawahs in 2013, Dwayne Bravo (28) for Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in 2015, and Fawad Ahmed (22) for the Knight Riders in 2018. Only once has the tournament's leading scorer played for the champion team: Colin Munro (567 runs) in 2018 for the Knight Riders.

Quotes

"If you start thinking about going into a bigger game then you add extra pressure on you. Since we have so many youngsters, my message is still the same. When you come to the ground, whatever responsibilities you get, just try to handle them not thinking about how this is a final because then your brain is only working towards a trophy."
Shoaib Malik on the pressure to end undefeated

"The beauty of our performances so far in this tournament is we've held on in close games. We also lost some close games but the majority of our games we held our nerve and been able to come out on top."
Jason Holder on the Tridents' resilient run to the final

Andy Flower has left the ECB after 12 years at the organisation.

Flower, who led England to their first men's ICC tournament win in 2010 and their first away Ashes win since 1986-87 later in that year, was first employed as Peter Moores' assistant coach in 2007. He became head coach in 2009, and after stepping down following the disastrous 2013-14 Ashes campaign, took up a role as 'technical director of elite cricket', giving him responsibility for the England Lions team.

An ECB statement said that Flower had left "to pursue other opportunities", and he said that he would still be based in England.

Flower described his time at the ECB as "a real privilege", and picked out the World T20 win in 2010, the away Ashes win, and victory in the 2012-13 series in India as three highlights.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Jones waved goodbye to Dallas Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones on his way to the end zone last Sunday, and now the Green Bay Packers running back can wave goodbye to more than $10,000.

Jones said Friday that the NFL fined him $10,527 for "taunting/unsportsmanlike conduct."

He was not penalized on the field for the play, which came on the third of his franchise record-tying four touchdown runs in Sunday's 34-24 win over the Cowboys. Jones had 182 yards of total offense in the victory.

"I can't say it was worth it, but the picture is a dope picture," Jones said. "I can't argue with that. I'm going to have that blown up one day in my house. I definitely got a nice picture out of it, but it hurts my pocket a little bit. I want that money."

Jones said he would appeal the fine, hoping it might get reduced as a first-time offender.

After the game, Jones claimed he didn't even realize that he waved at the Cowboys' defender. He still claims he was "just in the zone."

"Throughout the game it gets chippy, and I'm not a guy who starts talking trash," Jones said. "But once you start talking trash to me, I usually don't stop. I'm going to let you know when I make a play."

The third-year pro said he thought he might get fined for throwing another one of his touchdown balls to his twin brother, Alvin, a former Baltimore Ravens linebacker who was in the stands with more than 30 family members and friends. The Jones brothers grew up in El Paso, Texas.

"They do fine you for throwing the ball [into the stands] and I was surprised I didn't get fined for that," Jones said.

The campaign for the 2019 Heisman Trophy appeared to be a two-man race heading into the season: last year's runner-up, Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, versus the golden-boy prototype and reigning national champion, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence.

To be sure, neither has been eliminated from contention -- Tagovailoa's early-season numbers suffer when compared to last year's early-season numbers and very little else, and while Lawrence has underachieved a bit (he's 14th in Total QBR at the moment), we're not going to care as long as he picks up the pace moving forward.

There are more than two players in serious contention, though. Ohio State's Justin Fields got a chance to prove himself in Week 6, taking on a dominant Michigan State defense, struggling for about a quarter and then thriving. And in Week 7, all eyes will be on two more candidates: Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts and LSU's Joe Burrow. Both will play in rivalry games key to their respective teams' national title hopes, and both could face their stiffest defensive tests to date.

OU's offense is otherworldly (again)

Texas Tech has already played against three of what SP+ deems the top 13 offenses in the country. Arizona (ninth in offensive SP+) scored 28 points on Tech (nine below its season average) and averaged 5.9 yards per play (1.4 below). Oklahoma State (13th) was held scoreless on its first nine possessions before eventually getting going and ending up at 35 points (five below its average) and 5.5 yards per play (1.2 below). Tech performed far better than the average against these two offenses and has earned a top-40 ranking in defensive SP+.

Oklahoma, first in offensive SP+, scored on eight of its first nine possessions against the Red Raiders.

Arizona and OSU averaged 31.5 points on Tech, and OU scored 34, at a nuclear-grade 12.4 yards per play, in the first half alone. Tech tried to stay assertive near the line of scrimmage, but Sooners rushers still averaged 7.2 yards per carry in the first half as Hurts completed 75% of his passes.

For all of its blue-chippers, Texas currently ranks 66th in defensive SP+, quite a bit worse than Tech. The Longhorns have faced three power-conference offenses and given up at least 30 points each time. Even worse, their defensive backfield resembles a MASH unit -- of the top four returning tacklers in the secondary, two are out (safeties Caden Sterns and Josh Thompson) and one is listed as probable after missing the past two games (B.J. Foster).

Predictably, then, Texas is battling a big-play problem. On blitz downs (second-and-super-long, third- or fourth-and-5 or more), the Longhorns rank 101st in success rate allowed and 128th in big-play rate. On passes thrown more than 20 yards downfield, they are giving up 18.7 yards per attempt with a 98.7 QBR. (Here's a reminder that 100 is the top possible QBR rating. Yikes.) That is horrifying to think about when facing Oklahoma. Hurts is averaging 20.1 yards per attempt, with a 99.4 QBR, on such passes this season.

What can Texas do to slow down Oklahoma?

Based on what has worked to either slow down OU down or straight-up beat the Sooners in recent years, here's a general blueprint. Whether or not UT can follow it is a completely different topic.

1. The best defense is a ball-control offense. If the Sooners' offense doesn't have the ball, it can't score, right? Texas snapped the ball 17 more times than OU in the Horns' 2018 upset victory, and over the past two seasons, five opponents have run 17 more plays than the Sooners: Baylor in 2017, and Army, Baylor, Texas and West Virginia last season. In those games, OU's average scoring margin is plus-9.6. In all other games, it'a plus-18.1.

Texas has the offense to play a hell of a game of keepaway once more. The Horns are fourth in offensive SP+ and have two of the best efficiency options in the country in Sam Ehlinger's rushing and Devin Duvernay's receiving. Ehlinger keepers moved the chains on second-and-6, second-and-2 (twice), third-and-3, and fourth-and-2 in last season's win, and that was vital to UT's ball-control efforts.

Duvernay, meanwhile, has been the breakout receiving threat of 2019. The former blue-chipper has finally lived up to his billing, leading the Horns with 45 catches, 463 yards and four touchdowns, but that doesn't tell the whole story: He also has an 85% catch rate thanks to heavy use of quick sideline passes, and he has a 68% success rate -- he's taking those horizontal passes and getting up the field. Among the 28 players with at least 50 pass targets this season, both his catch and success rates are No. 1. He's basically taking long handoffs and doing massive damage with them.

2. Don't get burned short. The deep ball is obviously a terrifying issue for the Longhorns heading into this game, but Hurts throws about only four of those per game. Where OU kills you is by turning rushes and short passes into long gains. Running backs Trey Sermon, Rhamondre Stevenson and Kennedy Brooks are averaging 19.8 carries and 174 rushing yards per game, and not including sacks, Hurts is rushing 10.6 times per game for 106.8 more yards.

On passes thrown between zero and 10 yards downfield, meanwhile, Hurts is completing 78% and averaging 13.6 yards per completion. Few teams create yards-after-catch opportunities for their playmakers the way the Sooners do, and they have as many playmakers as ever. WRs CeeDee Lamb, Charleston Rambo and Jadon Haselwood: 9.2 catches and 208 receiving yards per game.

Pursuit, however, is a Texas strength. The Longhorns rank 15th in rushing SP+, and within that same zero- to 10-yard pass range, they are giving up only a 60% completion rate and 8.1 yards per completion, and with six interceptions to boot. Linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch and (healthy) defensive backs Brandon Jones and Jalen Green have been particularly effective at pursuing and tackling in space.

If the Horns can limit damage within this range, they could at least force Hurts and the Sooners to convert a few more third-and-mediums than they've grown accustomed to facing. Just a few punts or field goals, combined with Texas' own prolific offense, could tip the balance in UT's favor even if the defense still gives up some deep shots. Anything less than a touchdown is a break of serve.

SP+ projection: Oklahoma 42, Texas 30. Turn a couple of those projected Sooners touchdowns into field goals, and we've got a hell of a game on our hands.

LSU: the new OU

According to both passer rating and QBR, Burrow's worst game of 2019 came against Utah State last Saturday. Here are his "worst" stats: 27-for-38, 344 yards, five touchdowns, one interception, a 185.3 passer rating and a 79.0 QBR in a 42-6 victory. The horror.

At some point early in LSU's win over Texas, I found myself growing angry. With the Tigers' revamped and wide-open passing game clicking on all cylinders even against a blue-chip-heavy secondary, I started getting mad that LSU hadn't moved to this offense years ago. We were deprived of seeing more fireworks over a longer period of time. What might Odell Beckham Jr. have done in this offense? Jarvis Landry? Brandon LaFell? Would it have made Malachi Dupre a first-round pick or something?

Through five games, Burrow is completing 78% of his passes with a 216.2 passer rating that grades out worse than only Hurts (231.3) and the guy Hurts sat behind at Alabama last season (Tagovailoa, 225.2). He's fourth in Total QBR behind only those two and Fields. If the Tigers win enough to get to play 14 or 15 games this season, Burrow might top 5,000 passing yards and 50 touchdowns.

Receiver Justin Jefferson is on pace for 1,400 receiving yards, Ja'Marr Chase nearly 1,200, and Terrace Marshall Jr. nearly 800, and both Chase and Marshall have missed a game. (Marshall is listed as doubtful for Saturday's game.)

The LSU passing game has been a revelation, and it has peeled defenders out of the box, allowing running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to raise his per-carry rushing average from 4.5 to 5.5 yards and his success rate from 44% to 60%. Plus, as I wrote earlier in the season, when the Tigers faced a vital possession late in the win over Texas, they didn't waver from their plan: They let Burrow keep winging the ball around, and it produced the clinching touchdown.

Neither LSU nor OU has faced a test like Florida's defense, though

Well-traveled Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has a defense built totally in his own image. The Gators are fifth in defensive SP+, powered by an aggressive pass rush (fifth in sack rate, sixth in blitz-downs sack rate) and a red zone assault (first in points allowed per scoring opportunity, eighth in power-rushing success rate).

The Gators force the issue and make plays everywhere on the field, from behind the line (Louisville transfer Jonathan Greenard has 6.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and 8.5 run stuffs, plus a pick and three pass breakups) to deeper downfield (seven Florida DBs have defensed at least two passes so far, and three have defensed at least four).

This is a pure "something's gotta give" matchup. Though this LSU passing game stands out with deeper passing, so does Florida's defense:

• Passes behind the line of scrimmage: Burrow 130.1 passer rating, Florida 108.5 passer rating allowed

• Passes 0-10 yards downfield: Burrow 180.3, Florida 102.0

• Passes 11-20 yards downfield: Burrow 267.6, Florida 146.6

• Passes 21+ yards downfield: Burrow 335.2, Florida 38.6

Burrow is an incredible 12-for-19 for 419 yards and five scores on those deep shots; Florida opponents thus far: an incredible-in-its-own-way 3-for-16 for 70 yards, one score and three picks. You don't have much time to look downfield, and when you do, Gators defensive backs are ready.

SP+ has liked Florida more than Vegas so far this season and has been justified in its infatuation. Though the line for this game opened around LSU plus-14 and has mostly hung in the 12.5- to 13.5-point neighborhood, SP+ projects LSU by only 7.7. Florida will force Burrow to be more patient than he has had to be this season, and if he forces the issue a bit, it could lead to mistakes we haven't seen from him since last season.

Of course, even without Marshall, Burrow's receivers might have the talent that allows him to force the issue. And if Florida's struggling offensive line gets overwhelmed -- the Gators rank just 105th in rushing SP+ and 115th in rushing success rate -- and banged-up quarterback Kyle Trask is under constant duress, the LSU offense might not have to do as much to prevail anyway. LSU has more advantages and is favored because of it. But this is a type of test the Tigers haven't faced yet this fall.

This has been one of the nation's weirdest rivalries of late; the lower-ranked team has won three straight -- No. 22 Florida beat No. 5 LSU in Gainesville last season, unranked LSU beat No. 21 Florida in Gainesville in 2017, and No. 21 Florida beat No. 16 LSU in a "home game" in Baton Rouge in 2016. (It was first postponed because of Hurricane Matthew, then it got rescheduled in a swirl of strange logistics. There was a big, dumb hubbub about it.) The series has been a good reminder that the unexpected frequently occurs; that could mean either a huge LSU victory, with Burrow emerging as the Heisman favorite, or yet another upset.

SP+ projection: LSU 32, Florida 24. I wouldn't be surprised if both teams ended up a touchdown or so below that.

Week 7 playlist

Here are 10 games -- at least one from each weekend time slot -- that you should pay attention to if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend, from both an information and entertainment perspective.

All times Eastern.

Friday

No. 20 Virginia at Miami (8 p.m., ESPN)
Before my master plan succeeds and we get rid of all FBS divisions, we have some unfinished business in the ACC Coastal: We need our longstanding "a whole bunch of teams tie for the lead at 4-4" fever dream to come to fruition. My friend Justin Moore (@tfgridiron on Twitter) simulated thousands of scenarios, and basically all of the 4-Win Critical Mass results require a Miami victory. So go Canes. (If UVa wins, the Coastal is very much the Cavaliers' for the taking.)
SP+ projection: Miami 27, Virginia 21

Early Saturday (beside OU-Texas)

South Carolina at No. 3 Georgia (noon, ESPN)
The Gamecocks wrecked Kentucky the last time out, then got a bye to rest Ryan Hilinski's elbow. They're banged up on the defensive front, which probably means bad, bad things against UGA, but this could be a better test than the line (which has been in the mid-20s all week) suggests.
SP+ projection: Georgia 36, South Carolina 17

Villanova at James Madison (1:30 p.m., FloSports)
The biggest FCS game of the week: No. 8 at No. 2. Both teams have top-five defenses, per SP+, and Villanova probably won't run the ball as well as it has been. That means the game could be decided by the play of quarterback Daniel Smith, a Campbell transfer who has helped bring life back to the Wildcats' offense.
SP+ projection: James Madison 31, Villanova 20

Saturday afternoon

No. 1 Alabama at No. 24 Texas A&M (3:30 p.m., CBS)
Kellen Mond and A&M have failed in their first couple of attempts to take down a contender, but the opportunities keep on coming. Bama's young defense might be struggling by its standards ... but the Tide still rank 11th in defensive SP+ (gosh, the embarrassment) and still have an offense capable of putting 50 on anyone.
SP+ projection: Alabama 35, Texas A&M 21

Michigan State at No. 8 Wisconsin (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network)
This is the third top-10 defense (per SP+) Wisconsin has faced so far, and the Badgers are basically 1-for-2. They did whatever they wanted against Michigan but got stymied by Northwestern, and State is more than capable of playing a Northwestern-like, defense-and-field-position game. Tricky test here.
SP+ projection: Wisconsin 29, Michigan State 17

Washington State at No. 18 Arizona State (3:30 p.m., Pac-12)
For now, the Pac-12 South race is headlined by Utah and USC -- the Utes are the best team (16th in SP+), and the Trojans have the head-to-head win. But if things get weird, the Arizona schools could get involved. Utah (37th in SP+) is 1-1 in conference play, and ASU (34th) has a chance at a big home win here.
SP+ projection: Arizona State 29, Washington State 28

Saturday evening (beside Florida-LSU)

Nebraska at Minnesota (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1)
I called these two teams high-upside mysteries in my Big Ten West preview this summer, and they're only slightly less mysterious now. But after some closer-than-expected victories early on, Minnesota is coming off of its best performance (a walloping of Illinois), and Nebraska figured out a way past Northwestern. Great time for this matchup.
SP+ projection: Minnesota 35, Nebraska 26

No. 10 Penn State at No. 17 Iowa (7:30 p.m., ABC)
SP+ has a sense of humor: On the 15th anniversary of the most famous Iowa-Penn State game (the Hawkeyes' mind-boggling 6-4 win in 2004), SP+ projects PSU ... as a 6.4-point favorite with a 64% win probability. Too soon. (By the way, if quarterback Sean Clifford keeps up his hot streak against this defense, and the Nittany Lions win, it's time to treat them as title contenders -- if you aren't already.)
SP+ projection: Penn State 28, Iowa 22

USC at No. 9 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m., NBC)
USC's Kedon Slovis is back in the lineup after missing most of two games, and if he's the Slovis who beat Stanford, this could be a thriller. Beating the Irish through the air is pretty difficult, and Notre Dame is obviously the far more known entity here, but what a wild card the Trojans have been so far this season.
SP+ projection: Notre Dame 34, USC 25

Late Saturday

Hawai'i at No. 14 Boise State (10:15 p.m., ESPN2)
This is the perfect late-night Mountain West Conference game. Last time we saw Hawai'i, the Rainbow Warriors were beating Nevada by 51 points in Reno. Now they get a chance at a Boise State team that, frankly, has been cruising along in about third gear since the season-opening win over Florida State. The Broncos better bring it.
SP+ projection: Boise State 36, Hawai'i 26

NEW ORLEANS -- Zion Williamson had just finished another layup at the rim while dealing with contact from the Utah Jazz's Ed Davis. The announced sold-out Smoothie King Center crowd sprang to its feet, reveling in what the New Orleans Pelicans rookie was doing in his preseason home debut.

The foul was called, and Williamson stepped to the line as he was about to finish off a 12-0 New Orleans run.

Josh Hart calmly walked up to him at the line and grabbed his right biceps. He, like many others on Friday night, was just admiring the strength of the No. 1 pick.

"You can't compare it to nobody," Hart said. "Nobody can do that. He does a really good job of being able to use his body. I mean, he's a force."

When Williamson checked out with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter, the Pelicans had turned an 11-point deficit into a 113-109 lead. The Pelicans' reserves -- mainly players who will play on the team's G League affiliate -- held on against Utah's reserves for a 128-127 win.

Williamson finished with a game-high 26 points in just over 23 minutes while shooting 9-of-12 from the field and draining his only 3-point attempt.

In his past two preseasons games, Williamson is shooting 21-of-25 overall. It was his second consecutive game with at least 25 points while shooting 75% from the floor.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the only other players to have multiple games like that in the past 20 years in the preseason are Rudy Gay (2015, Kings), Kevin Martin (2008, Kings) and Shaquille O'Neal (1999, Lakers).

In the past 20 years, only two other rookies have done it once -- Gordon Hayward and Dejuan Blair.

Williamson has done it twice in three games with two more left to play.

Of those 21 makes in the past two games, 20 have come around the goal. And apparently, it doesn't matter who is at the rim -- even if it's reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

Williamson attacked the rim several times with Gobert in the paint. He was fouled twice, hit the layup twice and once missed a floater over Gobert but followed his own miss up with a two-handed putback slam.

"You gotta give him respect, two-time Defensive Player of the Year," Williamson said. "Just gotta go in there strong and try to finish."

Gobert said he made sure he didn't give Williamson a chance to dunk on him but complimented the 19-year-old's game, saying he has a "great future ahead of him."

"He's kind of surprisingly agile," Gobert said. "I think he catches a lot of people off guard because of that. He can change direction pretty quick."

His teammates weren't surprised at Williamson's willingness to go at the 7-foot-2 Gobert.

"I love it. I love it," Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram said. "He's strong enough to do it and he has the confidence to do it. That's something we need from a guy with that talent right there. You can't teach that. The confidence in him to go out here and go against those guys every night is big, even in preseason."

The Pelicans improved to 3-0 this preseason, but it was the second game in a row New Orleans gave up at least 100 points in three quarters and faced a double-digit deficit entering the fourth.

Again, much like they did against Chicago on Wednesday, the Pelicans stormed back. But coach Alvin Gentry knows that's not a sustainable formula for winning games.

"We have to get better in our defense, but we're trying to put in a new system and this team is not a good team to play when you don't have all of your defense in," Gentry said.

Utah shot 59% overall and made 19 of 38 3s. Even in the fourth quarter when the Pelicans made their comeback, the Jazz were 12-of-25 from the floor.

Late rotations seemed to hurt the Pelicans, as Utah struck time and time again with corner 3-pointers, going 10-of-19.

"That's one of the best-executing teams in the NBA," Gentry said. "Even when you're really solid with them defensively, they'll find a weakness. They are rolling Gobert to the basket, it forces you to pull in. When they do, they do a great job of finding the guy on the weak side."

Pelicans rookie Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who said the Jazz made the right read "like 97 percent" of the time, was New Orleans' second-leading scorer with 22 points.

He played in the first half for the first time this preseason, but he watched from the bench as Williamson knocked down a 25-footer.

"I am a Zion believer," Alexander-Walker said. "Anything he does, I'm right behind him 100 percent. If he wants to shoot wide-open 3s and knock it down, by all means keep doing that. It's only going to make the team better."

ST. LOUIS -- Washington Nationals 20-year-old sophomore sensation Juan Soto has made headlines all season with his prolific production at the plate, but his between-pitch antics, when he often grabs his crotch, have become a topic of discussion as well.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas decided to give Soto a little taste of his own medicine Friday.

In a crucial at-bat with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the fifth inning in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, Mikolas got Soto to ground out to first base, then waited near the first-base line as Soto handed his gear to his first-base coach. When Soto turned around, Mikolas made a quick gesture of his own.

Mikolas admitted to the gesture after the Nationals' 2-0 victory but said it was in good fun.

"He has a routine where he shuffles around the box and adjusts his cup or whatnot, and I was just having fun out there, just kind of giving it back to him in a good-natured, ribbing kind of way," he said. "There was no intent to be mean or start anything out there."

Mikolas did say he waited for Soto to turn around.

"I wanted to wait for him to see me do it," he said. "Kind of poking the bear a little bit. Again, just having fun with it. It's one of those things he does. Hitters do all their stuff, so it's fun as a pitcher to give it back to a hitter every once in a while."

Soto didn't sound amused by Mikolas' taunt.

"To me it's not good," Soto said. "I don't care. He can do whatever he wants. We're going to keep going."

Asked before the game about Soto's routine and how veteran players around the league have responded to it, Nationals manager Dave Martinez said, "I said this before -- at first when I saw him doing it, I thought, you know, it's a little, you know. But then after talking to him and watching him, it's a routine that he uses to get to the next pitch. I mean, when you talk to him, he really feels like that's his batter's box, he owns that batter's box.

"And when he does that, it's basically just saying, 'Hey, I'm going to get back in here and I'm going to get ready to hit the next pitch.' If he misses one or whatever or if he takes one, it's just his way of saying, 'Hey, this is my batter's box, it's part of the game, we got a game, it's me against you, and I'm going to try to beat you.'"

Cardinals Game 2 starter Adam Wainwright was also asked about Soto before Friday's game.

"He does have a lot of things he does that make him uniquely different than everyone else," Wainwright said. "I don't know what else to say about that. I think his team probably loves the edge and the mentality that he brings to every single at-bat. Doesn't seem like he gives too many at-bats away. So whatever he's got to do mentally to get into the right spot to make good swings is what he's going to do. And on my side of it, I'm going to do the exact same thing. So that's the way he competes."

In their division series against Atlanta, the Cardinals had some issues with Braves phenom Ronald Acuna Jr. after Acuna's bat flip in Game 1. Acuna and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina exchanged gestures the rest of the series, with Molina making a throat-slash gesture after one victory in response to a similar gesture from Acuna the game before.

With Game 2 set for Saturday afternoon, it won't be long before Soto and the Cardinals renew acquaintances.

ST. LOUIS -- They traveled as slow as 66 mph and no faster than 93. Some cut, some ran, some fluttered, and somehow, hardly any of them came back with any authority. Anibal Sanchez -- the forgotten member of a renowned rotation, a statistical marvel at this stage of his career -- baffled the St. Louis Cardinals on a night when it seemed as if the Washington Nationals were destined for defeat.

On the road, with the closer unavailable, with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin all exhausted from the previous series, Sanchez came within four outs of joining Don Larsen and Roy Halladay as the only men to throw a postseason no-hitter. Instead, he carried the Nationals to what felt like a momentum-shifting 2-0 victory on Friday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium.

"Tonight was vintage Anibal," longtime Nationals corner infielder Ryan Zimmerman said. "I've seen him do that for almost 15 years."

All the ingredients for a no-hitter appeared to be in place. The fastball command was as good as it had been all year, the off-speed pitches were working off it effectively, the outs were recorded efficiently. The only missing component for much of the game was that one highlight-reel catch, the type that tends to manifest itself on nights such as this.

But leading off the bottom of the eighth, it happened. Zimmerman, a strong defensive third baseman who shifted to first base when his shoulder gave him trouble, dove full-extension to his right to snag an 88 mph line drive off the bat of Tommy Edman and preserve Sanchez's chance at the first postseason no-hitter on the road. Sanchez thought back to his last no-hitter, on Sept. 6, 2006, as a 22-year-old rookie for the then-Florida Marlins. That night, Josh Willingham made a diving catch in left field to steal a hit in the fourth inning.

"Always, behind a no-hitter, a good play has to happen," Sanchez said. "And so I said, 'OK. I had it.'"

Sanchez, now 35, had already become the first pitcher to produce postseason hitless efforts of six-plus innings on more than one occasion, a feat he pulled off despite six walks in Game 1 of the 2013 American League Championship Series. With that catch, he needed five more outs, and he would achieve the second-longest personal gap between no-hitters, behind only that of Randy Johnson.

The next batter, Paul DeJong, hit a harmless fly ball on a first-pitch sinker that traveled 90 mph. After that came pinch hitter Jose Martinez, a fellow Venezuelan whom Sanchez called "one of the top hitters." Nationals manager Dave Martinez didn't move. The temperature had dropped below 40 degrees, but the manager didn't want to put anything over the thin sweatshirt he wore at the start of the game. He didn't want to be the jinx.

"I was freezing my butt off," the skipper said.

Sanchez threw a first-pitch strike, as he did to 20 of the 27 batters he faced, but Jose Martinez worked the count full. Sanchez's 103rd offering of the night was an 82 mph changeup near the middle of the platee. Martinez lined it into center field for a base hit, and Sanchez's night was over. Sanchez applauded Martinez as he approached the dugout, then watched Sean Doolittle secure the final four outs in place of Daniel Hudson, who was not with the team because of the birth of his daughter.

"It was just masterful," Nationals catcher Yan Gomes, who started behind the plate because Kurt Suzuki was working his way back from a concussion, said of Sanchez's performance. "He was out there hitting every spot and doing whatever he wanted."

Through eight innings, the Cardinals hit only one ball that traveled 95-plus mph. It was the first time that had happened since Sept. 25, 2016. Previously, Sanchez relied heavily on his two changeups while keeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in check in Game 3 of the NL Division Series, but Sanchez attacked the Cardinals differently. He recorded 13 outs on fastballs, more than he had all season. He mixed a heavy dose of four-seamers, two-seamers, cutters and low-80s changeups. But he also mixed in his mid-70s curve and that patented circle change that sometimes travels in the 60 mph range and is widely known as "the butterfly."

"We've hit some guys before who are off-speed-heavy," Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter said, "but tonight, if you watched the game, the guy just never threw anything over the middle of the plate."

Sanchez's career began with Tommy John surgery as a teenager. A promising rookie season in 2006 was followed by surgery to repair a torn labrum in 2007. He regained his form after nearly two years of rehab, signed an $80 million contract with the Tigers and pitched effectively -- sometimes brilliantly -- in rotations that featured Scherzer, Justin Verlander and David Price.

From 2016 to 2017, Sanchez struggled through a 6.09 ERA in 258⅔ innings. He was demoted to the bullpen, pitched in long relief and accepted an assignment to the minor leagues. In the spring of 2018, the Minnesota Twins released him from his contract in spring training, and Sanchez signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves. There, he paired with Suzuki, who helped him emphasize his cutter and reconfigure the way he sequenced. He emerged again as a dominant figure.

Zimmerman faced Sanchez often when the two competed against each other in the NL East.

"Nobody's gonna throw 94, 95 their entire career," Zimmerman said. "Not many guys can do that. So you have to learn how to pitch. He throws cutters now, he throws changeups to both righties and lefties, he can add and subtract on pretty much all of his pitches. Honestly, there's not very many of those guys left around. Everybody just throws high heaters and breaking balls out of the zone and tries to strike people out. Sometimes I think that works to his advantage."

Sanchez admitted to feeling anxious before he took the mound. He knew he needed to pitch deep into the game, knew he needed to provide a boost after Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin combined for 36 innings pitched between the NL wild-card game and the five-game NLDS.

"I just tried to keep focused on every pitch that I'm going to throw," Sanchez said. "I don't want to miss any pitch in the middle of the zone against those guys."

Sanchez retired the first 10 hitters he faced and allowed only four baserunners -- one on a hit, one on a walk and two via hit by pitch. Dave Martinez has said at every turn that the Nationals boast four elite starting pitchers, not three. He thought Sanchez, 11-8 with a 3.85 ERA this season, never quite got his due.

Perhaps now he might.

"Everybody talks about Stras, Scherzer, Corbin," Martinez said. "Anibal -- he's a big part of why we're here, too."