BRISTOL, Tenn. – Matt DiBenedetto has confirmed he will not return to Leavine Family Racing next season.

DiBenedetto, who took over driving duties of the No. 95 entry for the team this season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, confirmed the news via a Twitter post on Thursday morning.

“I got the devastating news that I will not be able to return to Leavine Family Racing next season,” DiBenedetto said in his statement. “I can’t express how thankful I am for Bob (Leavine), Sharon, Matt Diliberto and everyone at LFR and Toyota for allowing me to do exactly what I set out to do, which was showcase my talent.

“It has been exciting for us as a team to get top-fives, top-10s and lead the most laps in the Daytona 500.”

pic.twitter.com/rTkPcQoqCk

— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) August 15, 2019

This is DeBenedetto’s fifth full season at NASCAR’s top level. He previously drove for BK Racing and Go Fas Racing, earning four top-10 finishes between 2015 and 2018.

DiBenedetto joined Leavine Family Racing this year and has put together the best season of his career. In 23 starts this year he has earned two top-five and four top-10 finishes. He also led 49 laps in the Daytona 500, more than anyone else.

Leavine Family Racing has not confirmed who will replace DiBenedetto in the No. 95 Toyota next season, though reports indicate it is likely to be NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor Christopher Bell.

United States women's national team co-captain Megan Rapinoe says players have not closed the door on resolving their equal pay dispute with U.S. Soccer out of court, but any conversations with the federation must begin with women's players receiving equal pay to their male counterparts.

Rapinoe and teammate Christen Press appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" on Thursday, a day after mediation between the U.S. Soccer Federation and the 28 members of the women's team who filed a gender discrimination suit in March reached an impasse. Both sides issued strongly worded statements of frustration following the breakdown.

"We're always open to hearing that conversation if they're ready to have it," Rapinoe said on NBC. "That's the only federation we can play for. We're the only team that they have. ... So we're sort of tethered together in that way. But at any point if they want to have a serious conversation and are willing to not only talk about paying us equally and valuing us in that way, but actually doing it and showing us that they'll do it, our ears are always open.

"I don't think anybody wants to go to litigation. But with that said, we're very confident in our case."

A letter dated Aug. 12 -- signed by all 28 players involved in the lawsuit and sent to U.S. Soccer officials as mediation began -- outlined optimism for a resolution, but Press said Thursday that the two sides never progressed past the primary philosophical difference.

"I think, unfortunately, it was just the concept of paying us equally," Press said of where mediation broke down. "We never even got past that. We were very hopeful in our discussions with them that they were going to take our proposals and our positions seriously, which is simply that every game that we play, we get compensated the same way a man would for playing or winning that game. And it broke down right there."

Rapinoe and Press reiterated throughout their appearances on the morning television shows that players seek full equality of pay.

"When we play a game and we win that game -- or we tie that game or we lose that game -- that we should be paid the same as our male counterparts," Rapinoe said on NBC. "I don't think that that's an unrealistic or unreasonable ask to have equality."

Most recently in an open letter from president Carlos Cordeiro released on July 29, U.S. Soccer has long used the word "fairly" rather than "equally" as the baseline of its position on pay.

Complicating the issue is that the men's and women's teams operate with separate collective bargaining agreements and separate pay structures. Rapinoe acknowledged Thursday the "realities are different" for the two teams, but she insisted there is little flexibility.

"This isn't bargaining," Rapinoe said.

Both sides voiced frustration at Wednesday's impasse.

"We always know there is more we can do," U.S. Soccer said in its statement after mediation broke down. "We value our players and have continually shown that, by providing them with compensation and support that exceeds any other women's team in the world."

No new mediation is currently scheduled to prevent the dispute from reaching a federal court. The dispute is therefore unlikely to be resolved before the U.S. begins preparations for the 2020 Olympics.

U.S. Soccer named former World Cup winner Kate Markgraf as its first general manager for the women's national team. Markgraf will run the search for a coach to replace Jill Ellis, who will step down at the conclusion of the team's current Victory Tour. The new coach will then have to prepare the team for Olympic qualifying, likely in January or February of next year.

Press offered no hint Thursday that players would look to use Olympic participation as leverage and said past results -- with the World Cup the most recent example -- demonstrated their ability to separate off-field issues from on-field performance.

"I think that we've shown that we're able to do a lot of work off the field and still have successful results," Press said. "This has been going on -- this fight actually has been going on forever. I think being part of being on the women's national team means that you're taking part in this torch-carrying for women. And we take a lot of pride in that, and it gives us a great purpose."

Faith begins when reason ends. You get to the outer limits of your rational tether and then you take that big leap. It's not necessarily a bad thing: Belief is central to sports. History is filled with stories of those who believed in themselves, thereby achieving great things. There's also a rich trove of "outside the box" thinkers who are rewarded when they defy conventional wisdom and mainstream opinion to do things differently, whether in terms of tactical innovation or recruitment approach.

Then again, relying on faith more than reason can also amount to a whole lot of smoke and mirrors. And Manchester United's summer transfer campaign requires a leap of faith, because reason and evidence won't get you far enough. Certainly not if you want to divine some kind of path forward in the medium term.

But first, let's deal with the aspects of United's summer that were not leaps of faith.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka may have just one Premier League season as a starter under his belt, but he has shown more than enough in the past year to suggest he belongs at this level. Add the fact that he's 21, which means you'll either amortize the fee over a decade of service or, if he comes up short, still get a fair chunk of your money back thanks to the Premier League midtier's insatiable hunger for competent English footballers.

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Extending Marcus Rashford's contract also falls into the no-brainer category. It's true that a reported £200,000 a week is a hefty pay package, but a striker of comparable quality and age (21) probably would have cost close to that in wages, plus a massive transfer fee. What's more, he's Mancunian, he's likeable, he's a good professional and he's homegrown, all of which tick marketing and "club values" boxes as well.

Harry Maguire, at £80 million, is a bit more of a stretch but still no more than a calculated risk for a club of Manchester United's financial might. There's enough of a body of work there to suggest that, at worst, he'll be an upgrade over the guys he's replacing. He turns 27 this season, so you probably won't get much resale but at best, he'll be one of the top central defenders in the league for six or so years.

Move along the reason-to-faith continuum and the needle moves a little further into the "faith" category.

Daniel James has excited many and he too seems like a thoroughly likable guy. At £15 million (plus potential bonuses), he wasn't overly expensive to poach from Swansea, either. But he turns 22 in November and made his league debut only a year ago. Compare him to another Welsh winger, Liverpool's Ben Woodburn, and you'll note that he has four international caps to Woodburn's 10. Note that Woodburn is nearly two years younger and plays his league football in League One this season.

Maybe the Welsh FA are fools. Maybe James is a late bloomer. Maybe coaches and scouts just missed out on him. Maybe United spotted something beyond his absurdly good goal that went viral last year, but there's no denying that it's rare for players at that fee and with that résumé to have a lasting impact at Old Trafford. Again, it takes a leap of faith, in both James and United's scouting, that he won't turn into the Welsh David Bellion.

David De Gea's new contract -- agreed to but apparently not yet signed -- is a leap of faith either way. If the club signs off on paying him £110 million over the next six years, the leap of faith is that they believe the real De Gea is the one from two years ago, not the one from last season (who was humdrum, by his standards). Any way you slice it, that's an enormous wage, particularly since it's not as if Europe's other big boys were beating a path to his door: most are already well-served between the sticks.

(Of course, if there's a more sinister reason why he has reportedly yet to sign, like holding out for even more money or running down his contract, then that's even more worrying, though truth be told, the mishandling of De Gea's deal in letting it go this far predates the summer.)

Cycle backward and there was the appointment of the manager.

As an interim boss to muck out Jose Mourinho's mess, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was just fine. But giving him a permanent deal (three years, no less) in April when they could have spent another two months evaluating him (and deciding if there were better options out there) was another massive leap of faith.

How about the striking department and the decision to let Romelu Lukaku go without replacing him, and to do it at the very end of the English transfer window? United have five forwards on their books, which sounds ample until you remember that one of them (Rashford) has never started more than 36 games in all competitions or scored more than 13 goals. Another (Anthony Martial) does double duty as a winger and has started fewer than half of United's league games over the past three seasons. Then there's Alexis Sanchez, who is coming off a Copa America, scored only twice in all competitions last year and has generally been a bust since moving to Old Trafford.

United's other two forward options, Tahith Chong and Mason Greenwood, are 19 and 17 respectively and had eight appearances, one start and no goals between them heading into this season.

There are many leaps of faith in there. You need to believe that Rashford and/or Martial can double their productivity, just like that. You need to be confident that Sanchez can regain his mojo (a seriously long shot), and you need to believe that Greenwood and/or Chong can step up.

(Greenwood, especially, is a highly rated prospect but he turns only 18 this season. Reason and history suggests 18-year-olds don't generally contribute greatly even when we're talking GOAT candidates. Lionel Messi had 25 appearances and eight goals the year he turned 18. Cristiano Ronaldo clocked in at 31 and five. Sure, there are players who blossomed at a tender age -- Michael Owen, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar -- but they're the exception. Are you sure you want to take that leap of faith with Greenwood?

Maybe the biggest leap of faith of all is in midfield.

Compared to a year ago, United lost Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera this summer and neither was replaced. Instead, your leap of faith is that Scott McTominay -- who is 22 and started only nine league games last season on a pretty average team by United standards -- will blossom or, if that doesn't happen, that 31-year-old Nemanja Matic, whose output declined sharply last season, will turn back the clock. Or that Fred, who struggled in his first season at Old Trafford and started only 10 of 29 games with Solskjaer in charge, will go back to being the player he was in Ukraine. Or that Andreas Pereira, now in his sixth season at the club (he has seven league starts to show for it) will suddenly, at 23, go to the next level.

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(You'll note at this point that I haven't mentioned the club's most expensive player, one Paul Pogba. I have faith, as does the club, that he won't leave between now and the end of the Spanish transfer window and that he'll have a strong, productive season. Many do not.)

There's nothing wrong with faith. It comes down to trust. The people making the decisions at the club, from Ed Woodward to Solskjaer to assistant coach Mike Phelan, to the gaggle of scouts and coaches on the payroll, see these guys every day and do this job for a living. If you trust them enough to take that leap of faith, then great. Maybe they'll be vindicated.

But when it comes to reason, that's another matter. Reason, when you have the sort of resources United have, would have suggested a different path, one with fewer leaps of faith and a couple more reasonable certainties. Provided, of course, the conspiracy theories being peddled in the darkest corners of the internet aren't true and Man United's goal is to genuinely restore the club to a status befitting its history and achievements over most of the past three decades and not simply to milk it further commercially while making the balance sheet look better in case a prospective buyer turns up.

Either way, it could be a long season at Old Trafford.

St Lucia Zouks will make a return to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), replacing St Lucia Stars for the upcoming season.

Zouks was the name of the original franchise from St Lucia when the league was launched in 2013. In 2016, Stars replaced Zouks, but last week the CPL terminated its participation agreement with Royal Sports Club, LLC, the entity that operates the St Lucia franchise.

CPL didn't elaborate on the reasons behind Stars' termination, but said it was "in the process of establishing and operating a new franchise to be based in St Lucia" for the upcoming season, which begins on September 4.

Jay Pandya, the chief executive and owner of Royal Sports Club, LLC, termed the CPL decision "an attempt to bully us", one which, he said, the franchise would fight legally. "CPL Limited has absolutely no basis, legal or otherwise, to terminate our contractual rights to operate St Lucia Stars," Pandya told ESPNcricinfo. "We vehemently dispute CPL's decision and will use all means necessary to vindicate our rights. This is an attempt to bully us, plain and simple. We are confident in our position and look forward to securing justice against CPL's blatantly illegal act in the appropriate court of law."

More to follow...

Enoch Nkwe, South Africa's interim team director, has long been inspired by the feats of Pep Guardiola, the former Spanish football international who famously coached Barcelona to success while still in his 30s. Nkwe is 36, slightly younger than Guardiola was when he took charge at Barcelona, and is faced with what is as daunting a prospect as winning La Liga: a tour of India.

"I understand that it's going to be a big challenge, but I strongly believe that we can really make an immediate impact," Nkwe said at the first official press conference of his (albeit temporary) appointment. "And if it doesn't happen, it's not going to be the end of the world. There's always a big picture to everything."

Given South Africa's recent football-style restructuring of the national men's side, the comparison between Nkwe and Guardiola is particularly apt. "He's on another level," Nkwe said of Guardiola. "I've followed his work over the last couple of years. I just enjoy how he really backs his philosophy, his values as a person as a coach, and tries to set new boundaries and break records. That really encourages me, and when I see opportunities like this, it really excites me.

"There's a lot of things you can always learn from different sporting codes. Just watching his growth over the years, having started coaching one of the biggest clubs in the world at the age of 37, it really did motivate me that, if he can do it, it is possible.

"More details will come out in the near future with regards to what the big picture is going to be, so that everyone can start understanding what the actual plan is going to be post-cricket World Cup" Enoch Nkwe

"Certain things could take a while, and I don't know how successful we can be in a short period of time, but I believe that we can make a quick turnaround. I strongly believe that we have the players to. But we need to identify the areas that held back the team not to perform to their full potential, and get them to perform as soon as possible."

Time is not something that Nkwe has a lot of right now. In exactly one month, South Africa will play the first match of a tour of India that includes three T20Is and three Tests. He will have to hit the ground running, but he has at least worked with several of the current South Africa players in different circumstances, coaching Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen at the Lions, Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock at the Under-19 level, and Dean Elgar with South Africa A.

The interim nature of his role - and indeed, the short-term nature of many roles in CSA's set-up at the moment - won't make things any easier for him. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty in South African cricket at the moment, which is perhaps inevitable in times of flux, but the large-scale reshuffles have only added to the confusion over where, exactly, South African cricket is headed. Even team selection was unclear - until today.

"I'm also the interim convener of selection," said CSA's acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, on Thursday, by way of an explanation as to who would be selecting playing XIs on the India tour. "So I'm acting and interim. And then we have the interim team director as an interim selector. And then we also have the captain, who is not interim, as a selector. So that is currently the selection panel."

Nkwe is at least positive about the challenge ahead and seems to have an idea about the future of South African cricket - even if he's not giving away the details just yet. "Yes [the tour] is going to be a tough one, but there is a big picture," he said. "More details will come out in the near future with regards to what the big picture is going to be, so that everyone can start understanding what the actual plan is going to be post-cricket World Cup. From my side, it's very exciting, and I'm looking forward to this trip."

Distancing himself from previous coach Ottis Gibson's focus on fast bowling, Nkwe drew attention to his playing experience as an allrounder in domestic franchise cricket, saying, "Talking from my experience, as a professional cricketer I was an allrounder, so I'm always open to all departments. That's how I've been leading sides over the years. Really understanding different departments of a team."

But like Gibson, Nkwe's mandate is simple: win. "The mandate for the national team and Enoch as team director is obviously to win and be successful in India," van Zyl said. "Very important is that the Test series is the start, for us, of the Test championship, so the mandate can't be different than getting off to a good start. The appointment of Enoch as interim team director is because CSA believes that he has got the characteristics that can do exactly that."

Nkwe certainly got the Lions to click quickly, guiding them to success in both the CSA 4-Day Series and T20 Challenge during his first season in charge. He also led Jozi Stars to success in the inaugural Mzansi Super League, and has worked in a variety of environments, including in the Netherlands and at the Global T20 Canada.

"Wherever you go, whatever environment you get confronted with, there's always going to be certain challenges," he said. "The last year has been very meaningful and massive in my own coaching career as a person."

The trip to India, in charge of a team in transition, is not a suicide mission, he insisted. "I don't feel it's a suicide mission, to be honest. Personally, as a coach, I was asked a similar question when I took over the Lions. I strongly believe that every challenge is an opportunity for a person to thrive, or the team to thrive. It's important for us as team management that we create that thriving environment as soon as possible."

Misbah-ul-Haq is set to lead a 17-day training camp for 20 Pakistan cricketers starting next week. The pre-season camp, according to a PCB media release, has been organised with a view to an upcoming year in which most of Pakistan's international commitments will be in the five-day format, with one eye on the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which begins on September 12. Fourteen of the 20 Pakistan cricketers called up are centrally contracted players. Two days of fitness testing will be followed by by the conditioning camp, which runs from August 22 to September 7.

Misbah, whom the PCB release has termed the "camp commandant", will "craft the training programme and overlook of the camp until the recruitment process has concluded. During the pre-season camp, the players will undergo fielding drills and net sessions, along with fitness and other cricketing activities.

"The camp has been set up to prepare the players for a competitive and challenging domestic and international cricket season, which is expected to begin with the prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 12 September."

It is not clear whether much can be read into the PCB giving Misbah the responsibility in the absence of a coaching set-up. When the PCB decided not to renew the contracts of head coach Mickey Arthur and his entire coaching staff, there was some media speculation that Misbah could be given the top job, though it is worth noting he has yet to complete the coaching badges or acquire the necessary experience the PCB is looking for in the next head coach.

It is more likely, perhaps, that Misbah's reputation for high levels of fitness well into his 40s as a Test cricketer have resulted in the PCB hand-picking him as an ideal candidate for the job. In 2016, when Misbah was the Pakistan captain, the side underwent a rigorous training regime with the Pakistan military at an academy in Abbottabad before a tour of England. When Misbah scored a century in the first Test following that course, he famously dropped to his hands and knees and reeled off ten push-ups on the Lord's turf, in tribute to the people who had put Pakistan through such a gruelling schedule, and as proof of his physical prowess.

Azhar Ali will join the camp after concluding his stint with Somerset, while Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman have been exempted to allow them to complete their time with their respective counties in England.

Zakir Khan, Director of International Cricket at the PCB, said: "This conditioning camp is of great significance. The players will undergo strenuous training sessions to prepare for a demanding season, which will see Pakistan spend 30 of their 42 cricket-playing days in Test cricket.

"Misbah-ul-Haq, who has been Pakistan's most successful captain, understands the arduous demands of the format in this day and age. With the advent of the World Test Championship, the PCB wants Pakistan to turn up with their best red-ball game when they face Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series at home."

Players called up

Centrally contracted: Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.

Non-centrally contracted: Asif Ali, Bilal Asif, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Rahat Ali and Zafar Gohar.

United States women's national team co-captain Megan Rapinoe says players have not closed the door on resolving their equal pay dispute with U.S. Soccer out of court, but any conversations with the federation must begin with women's players receiving equal pay to their male counterparts.

Rapinoe and teammate Christen Press appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" on Thursday, a day after mediation between the U.S. Soccer Federation and the 28 members of the women's team who filed a gender discrimination suit in March reached an impasse. Both sides issued strongly worded statements of frustration following the breakdown.

"We're always open to hearing that conversation if they're ready to have it," Rapinoe said on NBC. "That's the only federation we can play for. We're the only team that they have. ... So we're sort of tethered together in that way. But at any point if they want to have a serious conversation and are willing to not only talk about paying us equally and valuing us in that way, but actually doing it and showing us that they'll do it, our ears are always open.

"I don't think anybody wants to go to litigation. But with that said, we're very confident in our case."

A letter dated Aug. 12 -- signed by all 28 players involved in the lawsuit and sent to U.S. Soccer officials as mediation began -- outlined optimism for a resolution, but Press said Thursday that the two sides never progressed past the primary philosophical difference.

"I think, unfortunately, it was just the concept of paying us equally," Press said of where mediation broke down. "We never even got past that. We were very hopeful in our discussions with them that they were going to take our proposals and our positions seriously, which is simply that every game that we play, we get compensated the same way a man would for playing or winning that game. And it broke down right there."

Rapinoe and Press reiterated throughout their appearances on the morning television shows that players seek full equality of pay.

"When we play a game and we win that game -- or we tie that game or we lose that game -- that we should be paid the same as our male counterparts," Rapinoe said on NBC. "I don't think that that's an unrealistic or unreasonable ask to have equality."

Most recently in an open letter from president Carlos Cordeiro released on July 29, U.S. Soccer has long used the word "fairly" rather than "equally" as the baseline of its position on pay.

Complicating the issue is that the men's and women's teams operate with separate collective bargaining agreements and separate pay structures. Rapinoe acknowledged Thursday the "realities are different" for the two teams, but she insisted there is little flexibility.

"This isn't bargaining," Rapinoe said.

Both sides voiced frustration at Wednesday's impasse.

"We always know there is more we can do," U.S. Soccer said in its statement after mediation broke down. "We value our players and have continually shown that, by providing them with compensation and support that exceeds any other women's team in the world."

No new mediation is currently scheduled to prevent the dispute from reaching a federal court. The dispute is therefore unlikely to be resolved before the U.S. begins preparations for the 2020 Olympics.

U.S. Soccer named former World Cup winner Kate Markgraf as its first general manager for the women's national team. Markgraf will run the search for a coach to replace Jill Ellis, who will step down at the conclusion of the team's current Victory Tour. The new coach will then have to prepare the team for Olympic qualifying, likely in January or February of next year.

Press offered no hint Thursday that players would look to use Olympic participation as leverage and said past results -- with the World Cup the most recent example -- demonstrated their ability to separate off-field issues from on-field performance.

"I think that we've shown that we're able to do a lot of work off the field and still have successful results," Press said. "This has been going on -- this fight actually has been going on forever. I think being part of being on the women's national team means that you're taking part in this torch-carrying for women. And we take a lot of pride in that, and it gives us a great purpose."

Video has surfaced of an April incident in which UFC fighter Conor McGregor appears to punch a man in a bar in Dublin.

In the video, published Thursday by TMZ Sports, McGregor is shown pouring drinks. The video cuts to a few minutes later, when McGregor pumps his fist in the air before throwing a jab at a man seated at the bar.

McGregor is shown being escorted out of the video frame. The man remained in his chair.

Police in Ireland told TMZ Sports that they are still investigating the incident and that no arrests have been made.

In April, the Irish Mirror reported that the punch was preceded by a verbal exchange. The video posted by TMZ, which is believed to be of the same incident, did not include sound.

The incident is yet another over the past year-plus involving the former UFC champion.

In April 2018, McGregor was arrested for his involvement in an incident at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. He was caught on video throwing a metal dolly into the window of a bus stationed at a loading dock; he ultimately served five days of community service as part of a plea deal.

In October, he was involved in a brawl after his submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in Las Vegas and was suspended six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

In March, McGregor was accused of smashing and stealing a man's phone. Those charges were dropped in May.

Also in March, The New York Times reported that McGregor was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault in Ireland. There have been no announced updates in the case, and McGregor has not been charged.

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. -- Chris Vaughn kept checking the time. As afternoon inched toward evening on March 7, Vaughn began to worry.

One of the fastest players in the nation was running late. That night, Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore would receive the Paul Hornung Award, given to the most versatile player in college football. The award would be presented at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville, across the Ohio River from Moore's hometown of New Albany, Indiana.

As the ceremony approached, Moore hadn't gone missing. The Purdue star was at Aspirations Fitness Institution, the gym where Vaughn trains athletes on Louisville's south side.

"Grinding, drenched in sweat, lifting, running, getting in and out of cuts, catching tennis balls, like he's a nobody trying to walk onto the team," Vaughn recalled. "That's still the mentality he has. He literally has to be there at 6 o'clock, and he's in the block at 4 p.m., pouring out sweat.

"I'm telling him, 'You've got to go, you've got to get out of here.'"

That's the first thing to know about Moore, the first true freshman in Big Ten history to earn consensus All-America honors. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound receiver also was Big Ten Freshman of the Year ... and the league's wide receiver of the year ... and first-team All-Big Ten as both a wide receiver and returner ... and broke Purdue's record for single-game all-purpose yards (313) in his collegiate debut against Northwestern ... and set Purdue's single-season all-purpose-yards record (2,215) ... and became just the third player in Big Ten history to eclipse 100 receptions in a season (114, ranked second in league history behind fellow Boilermaker Chris Daniels' 121 in 1999) ... and ...

"I'm not here for awards," Moore said, a phrase he repeated during an interview with ESPN. "There's a bigger goal, you know, to all of this."

The next thing to know about Moore, similar to the first, is that there's intent and preparation behind everything. This may be hard to square with a player so naturally gifted, whose seemingly unscripted routes around the field draw comparisons to Reggie Bush ... from Reggie Bush.

But Moore has mapped out practically every step in his football career, especially the one that few players in his situation are willing to take. He picked Purdue over Texas, where he had originally committed, and other brand-name programs. He picked the school that had less but provided more.

"You've got to leave a legacy. You go to those big-time schools and you're another guy," Moore said. "You're a priority here. If they tell you they want you, they want you. This isn't fake. If they tell you you're going to play early, they're not lying to you. I want to play with some guys who have a lot of hunger and are the underdog. I've been the underdog my whole life. I'm not the tallest. I'm not your typical receiver at this level."

JAMARCUS SHEPHARD SAW the number and knew what it meant.

In April 2017, Moore clocked a 4.33 in the 40-yard dash at the Chicago-area regional for The Opening, a top recruiting showcase event. Moore dominated testing and earned an invitation to The Opening Finals.

Before that spring, he had drawn interest from Group of 5 schools and a handful from the Power 5, including Purdue. Moore and his cousin Gino Rowen had barely left the parking lot after The Opening when Oregon and Ohio State called.

"I was upset and I was very angry," said Shephard, Purdue's wide receivers coach and Moore's lead recruiter. "I said, 'Oh my goodness, here comes everybody else.' They're all going to realize now that he's a big-time player."

Shephard was right. The offers came, "cascading in, like an avalanche," said Andrew Coverdale, who coached Moore as offensive coordinator at Trinity High School in Louisville.

In late June, Moore committed to Texas -- he had family there and liked the business school and the coaches -- but didn't shut things down.

"Even after that commitment," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said, "he was constantly evaluating the scene and making sure that decision was the right one. You just got a sense that he wasn't 100 percent for sure, which was good news for us."

Vaughn, a former Louisville wide receiver who has trained more than 100 FBS players, showed Moore several player profiles: the five-star who picked the five-star program and faded, the can't-miss who became a missing person on the depth chart, and guys like AJ Dillon. Purdue fans should send thank-you notes to Dillon, a running back who committed to Michigan before flipping to Boston College in December 2016. Dillon earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 2017.

"As things got closer, [Moore] said, 'I want to be that guy. I want to go somewhere where I can really leave a mark, go play for a coach that I trust,'" Vaughn recalled. "In the recruiting game, there's some bulls--- in everything. You've got to figure out whose bulls--- is the most believable."

Moore knew about Brohm, a former standout quarterback at Trinity High. Brohm also starred at Louisville and helped coach Vaughn there. Moore also cross-referenced what coaches had told him about his potential role. In Brohm's case, Moore studied Jackson Anthrop, who led Purdue in receptions (47) in 2017.

"As we were watching film," Moore said, "I would realize, 'Purdue is doing everything that they said they were going to do. They're going to make it work.'"

Added Shephard: "He did an excess amount of research to figure out that this was the spot for him."

In December 2017, Moore decommitted from Texas. Several weeks later, he stood alongside his family in San Antonio, behind four caps. Three represented teams (Alabama, Ohio State and Florida State) that had combined for 11 national championships since 1992.

He grabbed the fourth.

"He wasn't chasing the logos," Rowen said. "He wanted to play."

RONDALE DASEAN MOORE arrived June 9, 2000, five weeks premature.

"They say premature babies are the strongest," Rowen said, "because they come out having to fight."

Rowen chose Moore's middle name and has been a major presence from the start. He's technically Moore's first cousin, but, at 20 years older, became more of a big brother or uncle. Anyone who knows Moore knows about "Uncle Gino."

A former football standout at New Albany High, Rowen introduced Moore to sports: flag football, basketball, track. Rowen once proposed gymnastics after seeing Moore effortlessly execute flips.

Basketball initially won out. Moore played AAU ball with Romeo Langford in elementary school. As sophomores at New Albany High, Moore and Langford, a McDonald's All-American and eventual NBA first-round draft pick, won a state championship. But immediately after, Moore pivoted away from basketball, his first love.

"I knew the odds weren't in my favor, as far as height goes," Moore said.

He dove into football training with Vaughn, who saw ingredients in Moore, just raw ingredients.

"Back then, he didn't even know what a hitch route was or what a slant route was," Vaughn said. "It was, 'Get out the way and give Rondale the ball' on jet sweeps or something like that. He didn't understand route concepts, how to run routes, obviously anything as far as coverages or reading defense."

They worked on technique and toughness. Moore would carry tires with bloodied hands. Vaughn kept ripped shirts around the gym, and had Moore wear them.

"He literally would grab me, and I'm just hand-fighting, trying to get his hands off," Moore said. "He was like, 'You don't like when people have their hands on you,' and I said, 'No,' and he's like, 'Well, don't let 'em touch you.'"

The second part of Moore's football education took place at Trinity, the 25-time state champion, where he transferred before his junior year. Ruled eligible for the regular season after the transfer, Moore spent most of the fall attached to Coverdale.

Before the season, Moore attended early morning quarterback meetings. He watched practices from the press box and then reviewed them in Coverdale's office.

"We do things really conceptually, so it was like an English-speaker learning Cyrillic," Coverdale said. "He had to know a whole new alphabet, a whole new sentence structure, a whole new way of seeing the field. He never backed down from the workload. He never wanted you to give him the answer if he could figure it out himself.

"He was a quick study. Having knowledge of the game was very, very important to him."

"Every day, he makes a cut and you're just thinking, 'How do you do that?' It's unreal. If I tried to do that, I'd break my leg."

Purdue QB Elijah Sindelar

Moore played in only four games in 2016, but averaged 23.2 yards per reception with nine touchdowns. But the big schools stayed away. Coverdale called and left messages: I've got a kid, you don't know about him yet, but when the lights go on, he's going to blow up. The calls went unreturned.

Moore attended two camps at Louisville -- his then-dream school -- but didn't get an offer.

"A slap in the face," he said. "I was like, 'I don't know what else I'm supposed to do. I've shown you my worth. You're offering the same guys at different places, and we're the same stature. I'm a little lost.'

"To this day, it will always be a chip on my shoulder, you gotta feel me."

TO BE FAIR, college coaches weren't the only ones initially unimpressed by Moore.

"This kid looks like a child,'" Purdue quarterback Elijah Sindelar recalled of his first meeting with Moore. "He has braces, a baby face and he was shy. My first impression is ... he's short. How in the world are we going to throw to this man?"

After a few practices last summer, Sindelar had his answer. Moore sent defenders the wrong way with cuts and jukes, and would be 4 or 5 yards clear by the time the ball arrived.

"Every day, he makes a cut and you're just thinking, 'How do you do that?'" Sindelar said. "It's unreal. If I tried to do that, I'd break my leg."

Brohm was impressed, too, but wanted to see if Moore's exploits translated on game day. The coach also received a quick answer. Moore dropped his first pass against Northwestern, and then amassed 302 all-purpose yards in the first half, including a 76-yard touchdown run and a 32-yard touchdown reception.

Despite a quiet second half, Moore still broke Otis Armstrong's single-game record by a yard.

"I mismanaged our preparation for him," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "I pulled up his high school video and showed it to our defense, and it was like watching Tecmo Bowl. Nobody could touch his flag. He can run it, he can catch it, he's great in the kick game, he's the full package. I obviously watched and followed him after."

So did others around the league. As Wisconsin players traveled to Chicago for Big Ten media days last month, star running back Jonathan Taylor couldn't stop talking about Moore. "He's truly a fan," Badgers linebacker Chris Orr said.

Moore tied Purdue's record with seven 100-yard receiving performances and had 11 or more receptions six times. On Oct. 20, he caught 12 passes for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns in Purdue's 49-20 thrashing of No. 2 Ohio State at Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue's biggest night of the season meant many things to many people, including one of few players who could have been on the visitors' sideline. When Ohio State finally showed interest, Moore and his team studied the depth chart, saw a backlog of future NFL talents at receiver and decided no.

When announcing his college decision, Moore, always one for a fake, grabbed the Ohio State cap before tossing it aside and donning the Purdue lid.

"It means that much more to him, doing it here," Brohm said. "Just like for me as a coach, it means that much more to say, 'No, we're going to get this done here and figure it out and put in the time when others maybe think that it couldn't happen.'"

Brohm is usually the last to leave Purdue's football building after home games. Last fall, he would always find Moore's family hanging out with Rondale. After Ohio State, they celebrated into the night. "We were up till 4 in the morning, watching SportsCenter, just freaking out, man," Rowen said.

Moore picked Purdue partly because his family, especially his mother, Quincy Ricketts, can come to games. Money is tight, and the "bigger goal" Moore references is providing for his family and Ricketts, ideally with an NFL contract.

"He wants to be the guy in his family that makes it," Brohm said. "Because of that, he's very driven. He's not your typical youngster who just entered college."

It's why Moore tracks his drops more than his touchdowns, remembering the details: a post on his first target against Northwestern, a slant and a screen against Ohio State. Everything he does has a purpose, from offseason training with Vaughn -- during a recent break, they worked daily -- to academics (3.71 GPA as a freshman, third highest on the team) to his bone-crushing handshake.

Records and awards are likely to continue, but they aren't fueling Moore, who has "a way bigger vision."

"He talks about all the hard times he had throughout this process," Shephard said. "So I don't think he'll ever lose his way. This is who he is."

The 2019 college football season is just about here. In fact, thanks to Florida, Miami, Arizona and Hawaii being so gracious and flexible, we'll get to see major college football next Saturday!

And while we're all so very excited about the return of mascot heads, marching bands and tailgates, we're also excited about the actual players.

But who are the most exciting players in college football this season? Who are the guys we can't wait to see because more often than not they'll leave us speechless with a cut, run or catch that will leave their opponents dizzy?

We're glad you asked. Here are the 15 most exciting players heading into the 2019 college football season.

Don't expect to see Trevor Lawrence or Tua Tagovailoa on this list. Yes, they are the two best quarterbacks in the country and we love just about every dazzling throw they sling, but they just aren't as exciting as the players listed below. They are superior in their own ways, just not here.

1. Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue: Maybe the most talented player Purdue has had since Drew Brees, Moore was a monster last year. As a freshman, Moore was the Paul Hornung Award recipient as the nation's most versatile player, breaking the single-season school record for all-purpose yards (2,215) and the school record for most all-purpose yards in a game (313). He tied the school record for most 100-yard receiving games (seven), and caught 11 or more passes in a game six times. He had 1,471 yards of total offense (113.2 per game) and 744 return yards last year with 14 total touchdowns. Of his nation-leading 114 catches last year, 51 went for first downs, and he led the nation with 907 yards after the catch (7.96 per catch).

2. Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama: Once the reigning Biletnikoff winner gets a step on you, you're toast. He averaged 19.3 yards per catch last year and had 14 touchdowns, including eight that went for 25-plus yards. The electric jitterbug also had 23 touches last season that were 12-plus-yard rushes or 20-plus-yard receptions. Of Jeudy's 1,315 receiving yards, 515 came after the catch (7.6 per reception) and he averaged 3.6 yards after first contact.

3. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin: His 4,171 rushing yards are the most by an FBS player through his sophomore year. He leads all active FBS players in rushing at 154.5 YPG and his 6.88 YPC ranks second in school history. He has rushed for at least 100 yards in 22 of 27 career games, owns 12 games of 150-plus yards and eight games of 200-plus. Last year, 48 of his touches were either 12-plus-yard runs or 20-plus-yard receptions.

4. Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson: A true speed demon, Ross hit the 1,000-yard mark last year, averaging 21.7 a catch in the process. When the games meant more, Ross stepped up. He caught 12 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns in Clemson's two playoff games, including a 74-yarder against Alabama in the title game. Ross doesn't just run open, he cuts his way out of trouble, too. Ross led the nation with 5.1 receiving yards per route run and Ross' six scrimmage touchdowns of at least 50-plus yards last season were tied for second most among FBS players. Ross accomplished this on only 46 total touches from scrimmage.

5. Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson: Etienne is the ultimate home run threat. Of his 204 carries last year, 44 went 10-plus yards and 768 of his 1,658 yards came after contact. He led the ACC with 39 touches that were either 12-plus-yard rushes or 20-plus-yard receptions. Oh, and he led the nation with 24 rushing touchdowns, nine of them being 17 yards or longer. Five of those were from at least 40 yards.

6. Laviska Shenault Jr., WR, Colorado: Even with health issues, Shenault still led the Pac-12 with 86 catches last year in only nine games. He caught nine or more passes in seven of those games and averaged 112.3 YPG and more than 11 yards per catch on the season. Shenault, who is fully healthy now, ranked fourth nationally last year with 3.7 yards per route run and was second nationally with 125.1 scrimmage YPG. He also had 52.3% of his receptions go for either a first down or a touchdown.

7. Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma: He left Alabama and is now running a Lincoln Riley offense that produced the past two Heisman winners. Hurts amassed 7,602 yards of total offense with 71 touchdowns in three years for the Crimson Tide. The guy is one of the strongest runners you'll see at the quarterback position and cuts like a skill player in space. With a more run-friendly offense, expect a lot more of this in Norman.

8. D'Eriq King, QB, Houston: Before tearing his meniscus in mid-November, King set the American Conference's single-season record for touchdowns responsible for with 50 and led the nation in points responsible for per game with an average of 27.5. He averaged 332.4 total yards of offense per game last year and was one of only three quarterbacks in FBS history with at least 35 passing touchdowns and 13 rushing touchdowns (36/14). King has caught 59 passes for 504 yards with three touchdowns during his career and returned 10 kickoffs for 254 yards and one touchdown as a freshman.

9. Khalil Tate, QB, Arizona: He has to be healthy and he has to run to stay on this list. Last year, he was a mere afterthought nationally because an ankle injury limited him for most of the year. But when he was moving around in 2017, Tate was a wizard with his legs, becoming the first Pac-12 quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (1,411). The darting and dicing Tate averaged 128.3 rushing YPG that year and captured the nation with the FBS rushing record for a quarterback with 327 yards against Colorado.

10. D'Andre Swift, RB, Georgia: Despite dealing with nagging injuries and playing in a crowded backfield in 2018, Swift still led the Bulldogs with 1,049 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. He averaged 6.4 YPC and tied for second in the SEC with 29 touches that were either 12-plus-yard rushes or 20-plus-yard receptions. In two seasons, Swift has registered 899 yards after contact and 40.6% of his 244 rush attempts have gone 5-plus yards.

11. Isaiah Wright, WR, Temple: Wright was third nationally with 873 kickoff return yards last year and had a touchdown of 99 yards that he made look really easy. He also returned 19 punts for 249 yards and two more scores. Wright caught 33 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns, but his bread and butter was in the return game. He's had 24.2% of his kickoff returns go 30-plus yards, and has five career return touchdowns.

12. Tylan Wallace, WR, Oklahoma State: Wallace was second in the nation last season with 1,491 receiving yards, averaging 17.3 YPC in the process. He had two 200-yard outings last year and 79.1% of his receptions went for either first downs or touchdowns. Twenty-five of his 86 receptions went for 20-plus yards.

13. Grant Delpit, S, LSU: The ultimate ballhawk who can cover an entire defensive backfield or move sideline to sideline, Delpit is a quarterback's nightmare. With a little Honey Badger in him (he's also wearing No. 7 this fall), Delpit is long, rangy and led the SEC with five interceptions, while defending 14 passes last year. He was also very active in the box, registering five sacks on the year and recorded a defensive pressure on 27% of his pass-rushing snaps. Delpit also logged 46 solo tackles in 2018.

14. Chase Young, DE, Ohio State: Young could be the No. 1 pick in next year's NFL draft. Nicknamed "The Predator," Young had 14.5 TFLs and 9.5 sacks last year. The sideline-to-sideline defensive end can chase down the fastest running backs and drop back into coverage if needed. He broke up five passes last year and had 71 defensive pressures on the season, getting 14 in the Buckeyes' win over Penn State.

15. Deon Jackson, RB/KR, Duke: Jackson is one of the most fun players you probably haven't heard of. He led the Blue Devils with 847 rushing yards, caught 23 passes for 253 yards and had nine total touchdowns. He also returned 23 kickoffs for 502 yards (21.8 per return) and recorded at least 107 all-purpose yards seven times last season, including registering 403 against Pitt.