COLUMBUS, Ohio -- While many outside the program were waiting to see No. 2 Ohio State unveil yet another potent offense against an overmatched opponent, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day was waiting for this -- the game when the passes weren't sailing through the air with precision and ease to future NFL draft picks, when the offense had to grind it out with the running game, and the defense made the difference.

Day got the ugly 21-10 win against No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday night, and in spite of the sluggish offense, he got something else he was looking for.

"That was something we spent a lot of time in the offseason saying, 'We have to be able to win ugly on offense, we have to stop the run on defense,'" Day said. "They all count the same. And you have to figure out based on who you're going against, how do you want to win that game? When you have that versatility, man, it's going to pay off down the road."

Ohio State's offense, which was No. 1 in the country last year in offensive efficiency, underwhelmed compared to the lofty preseason expectations that pegged the Buckeyes as a strong favorite to finish in the College Football Playoff. With leading receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba sidelined from an injury he suffered in the first quarter, Ohio State struggled early against a gritty Notre Dame defense.

The Irish, led by popular first-year head coach Marcus Freeman, a former Ohio State linebacker, came into Ohio Stadium and before an announced crowd of 106,594 gave the Buckeyes all they could handle until late in the fourth quarter. Ohio State, which won games last season by an average margin of 29.1 points, was held scoreless in the second quarter and trailed 10-7 at the half.

It wasn't until less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that Ohio State solidified the win -- thanks in large part to a 14-play, 95-yard drive that took 7:06 off the clock and gave the Buckeyes the 21-10 lead.

"We were struggling early on, just trying to get a connection, trying to build that rhythm, but towards the end, we started to get it, started clicking more," said quarterback C.J. Stroud, who completed 24-of-34 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. "It's kind of weird being out there again to be honest, seeing the fans, dealing with all of the outside noise, just trying to lock in."

In the fourth quarter, Stroud completed 9-of-10 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. While it wasn't exactly a splashy Heisman performance, he reminded everyone of his playmaking abilities.

Ohio State entered this season as the No. 2 team after losing to rival Michigan and finishing No. 6 in large part because of the offensive firepower returning from a team that led the nation in scoring and yards per play last year. The Buckeyes have multiple Heisman hopefuls, including Stroud and running back TreVeyon Henderson, but when Smith-Njigba was injured in the first quarter the Buckeyes were off-kilter early. Last year, Ohio State averaged 27.2 points in the first half, the most of any team in the FBS. They had seven Saturday night.

"Early games are a little bit clunky," Day said, "and losing Jaxon threw us off a little bit."

The defense, which was the trouble spot for Ohio State last year, was the highlight on Saturday night. It was a strong debut for first-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who was hired from Oklahoma State. The Irish finished with 253 yards and punted on their last six possessions.

"We were called soft all last year and we had to sit there and just eat," Ohio State defensive back Lathan Ransom said.

Day said the toughness was something the entire team was looking to prove.

"We wanted to be known as something other than just talented," he said.

Notre Dame's game plan was to hold onto the ball, control the clock and keep the Buckeyes' offense off the field. They were able to do that in the first quarter, but finished with only 3-of-13 third down conversions.

Day said he could see more teams trying to do that this fall, but he's not concerned about the passing game moving forward. Ultimately, there were other, lesser-known players who emerged for Ohio State on Saturday night, like former walk-on Xavier Johnson, whose 24-yard touchdown grab put Ohio State up 14-10 late in the third quarter.

"I love these guys," Johnson said, "so with my legs empty, with all that, none of that mattered. It was all for the team and the glory of God. ... I was in position to do what I was coached to do."

In the end they all were -- even if it wasn't pretty.

"It's been a huge emphasis to win this way," Day said. "And it starts with defense. You can play really good strong defense like we played tonight, and we can run the football -- we know we'll throw the ball, we know that -- but if we want to go where we need to be and reach our goals, we need to be able to do those two things."

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama quarterback Bryce Young began his Heisman Trophy defense on Saturday with six touchdowns in a season-opening 55-0 win over Utah State.

He joined Tua Tagovailoa as the only players in Alabama history with six or more touchdowns in a single game.

Young completed 18 of 28 pass attempts for 195 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. All of his passing touchdowns came in the first half.

He also ran five times for career-high 100 yards and a touchdown. His previous career high for rushing was 42 yards against Tennessee last season.

"I just try to do whatever's best for the team, whatever the defense gives me," Young said of running the football. "But that was definitely interesting. It definitely wasn't something I was planning."

Young said he wasn't used to breaking long runs. He had one run of more than 60 yards.

He joked it was "a new place for me making cuts and stuff downfield."

A junior, Young is seeking to become the first back-to-back Heisman winner since Ohio State's Archie Griffin in 1975.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said that while Young missed a few reads in the passing game, "I thought he played really, really well."

Saban said Young has done a good job preparing for the season and that his leadership has been "phenomenal."

"We couldn't be more pleased with his performance," Saban said.

Alabama goes on the road to Texas next weekend. The Longhorns are led by coach Steve Sarkisian, who was the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator from 2019-20, including Young's freshman season.

Two of Young's touchdown passes against Utah State went to transfer Jermaine Burton.

Alabama reloaded via the transfer portal this offseason, adding not only Burton from Georgia but also wide receiver Tyler Harrell from Louisville, running back Jahmyr Gibbs from Georgia Tech, offensive lineman Tyler Steen from Vanderbilt and defensive back Eli Ricks from LSU.

The Crimson Tide also return outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who won the Bronko Nagurski Award last season, which goes to the best defensive player in college football.

A possible No. 1 overall pick in next year's NFL draft, Anderson had five tackles, including one tackle for loss. He also had one quarterback hurry.

Alabama's 55-0 win represented the largest margin of victory in a season opener under Saban. The previous record was 46 points, which was done twice against Western Carolina in 2007 and USC in 2016.

To endure an offseason as a college football fan is to live within an ecosystem of daily panic, nearly constant tumult and, on the plus side, the occasional heated debate over what to name a chicken. These are fraught times for the sport, when each day brings the possibility of a star player switching teams or a marquee program swapping leagues. Since Kirby Smart hoisted the national championship trophy nine months ago, we've all been desperate for something solid -- or at least something marginally more stable than Auburn's athletic department.

And so, at long last, we were given actual football, and Week 1 delivered a necessary injection of stability. It was a reminder that sometimes the things we think we know are actually true.

Georgia is still good. After an offseason in which the Dawgs sent enough players to the draft to qualify as a better source of NFL talent than the Jacksonville Jaguars, surely, they would take a step back without Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean & Co., right? Nope. Instead, Georgia welcomed Oregon to Atlanta with an absolutely soul-crushing demolition of the No. 11 team in the country. A year ago, Dan Lanning was coaching the Bulldogs' defense. This time, as Oregon's head coach, he was on the receiving end of a thrashing that must've felt entirely too familiar. And Stetson Bennett, it turns out, is still so much better than anyone seems to understand. The Bulldogs signal-caller threw for 368 yards and then (we assume) retired to a leather chair, donned a smoking jacket and cracked open a bottle of 1945 Château Mouton-Rothschild.

Bryce Young and the Crimson Tide are still good too. Alabama may have fallen in last year's title game, but it didn't fall far. Young, who finished last season with exactly zero rushing yards (Side note: Can we please stop counting sacks as rushing attempts?) showed off his wheels on Saturday against Utah State, scampering 63 yards for a touchdown as part of a six-TD day.

Young's closest competition for this year's Heisman Trophy delivered a stirring drive to save Ohio State from a near upset too. C.J. Stroud spent much of Saturday night frustrated by Notre Dame's stout defense, but with the game on the line, the QB came up big. Stroud helped engineer a 14-play, 95-yard drive touchdown drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes in the fourth quarter, and the Buckeyes topped the Fighting Irish 21-10.

Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams looked perfectly comfortable in their new digs at USC, picking up right where they left off at Oklahoma. Williams tossed two TDs -- both to Pittsburgh transfer Jordan Addison -- and led the Trojans to a 66-14 win over Rice.

Iowa punted 10 times and won. Utah ensured the Pac-12 blundered away its playoff hopes before Labor Day. UMass lost by 32. Same as it ever was.

Oh, Week 1 had its share of surprises, but not the "Hey, is that your car rolling into the lake?" type of surprises that this offseason seemed to provide on a weekly basis. Instead, we got Anthony Richardson's star turn at Florida, helping Billy Napier win a nail-biter against No. 7 Utah in his debut with the Gators. We got the utter madness of North Carolina and Appalachian State scoring so much in the fourth quarter that Mack Brown lost his fine motor skills. We got a punt blocked by a guy standing too close to the punter and Delaware's coach dropping an F-bomb on live TV to celebrate a win over Navy.

It was all exactly the type of weird we expect from Week 1 of the college football season.

There's something inherently comforting about knowing that, once the season kicks off, all those pesky decisions about super conferences and transfer windows fade into the ether, like so many Notre Dame upset bids, and disappear. And what we're left with is good old college football, filled with the weird and wild and wonderful and, perhaps when we need it the most, give us exactly what we expected.

That's the beauty of this sport. For all the chaos and craziness, the glory of a fall Saturday always feels the same.

Who's this year's Cincinnati?

It's never too early to wonder which Group of Five team spends the year complaining about being overlooked by the playoff committee. So, who might it be in 2022?

Well, probably not Cincinnati. The Bearcats still looked sharp despite the exodus of talent to the NFL after last year's Cinderella playoff appearance, but it wasn't enough to take down Arkansas, who clearly brought the good stuff to the party Saturday.

Instead, perhaps it's Houston. The Cougars opened the season ranked No. 24, and after falling behind 21-7 at UTSA, they rallied to a 37-35 triple overtime win. On the downside, three OTs was bound to interfere with Dana Holgorsen's dinner reservations, so it wasn't all good news for Houston.

A sleeper candidate might be Air Force. The Falcons crushed Northern Iowa (which, for reference, was nowhere near the ugliest team from Iowa on Saturday), and is favored, according to FPI, in each of their remaining games, too.

How about Coastal Carolina? The Chanticleers beat Army 38-28, while Grayson McCall threw three touchdowns. Coastal has a manageable schedule and some delightful haircuts and it's about time the playoff committee started taking haircare into consideration.

Checking in on notable offseason storylines

Is Texas back?

Maybe! The Longhorns cruised to an easy win over Louisiana-Monroe, with Quinn Ewers throwing two TD passes in his debut. Sure, beating ULM doesn't prove much, but given Texas' history against teams like -- oh, let's say, Kansas -- this still marks an important step forward.

Is the Pac-12 in line for a playoff berth?

No! As always, the Pac-12 was kind enough to largely eliminate itself from the playoff discussion in Week 1 with losses by Utah and Oregon. Kevin Warren smells a buyer's market.

Is Vanderbilt the best team in the country?

Maybe! We can't officially say no since the Commodores are 2-0 (matching last year's win total) but given its rather lackluster win over FCS Elon, it's fair to wonder if, in fact, they're still a year away from toppling Alabama.

Has Scott Frost been fired yet?

No! Frost finally got a win, even if it wasn't pretty and it came against FCS North Dakota. Nebraska went to halftime tied at 7, but Casey Thompson found his groove in the second half and the Huskers won 38-17.

Has Bryan Harsin been fired yet?

We don't think so! Auburn won with ease against FCS Mercer, though that doesn't necessarily mean a few Tigers boosters didn't find some cash in their couch cushions and decide to make a change anyway. We can never be sure.

Maybe just pay the up-charge next time

This season, the ACC will play 10 road games against teams outside the Power 5. No other Power 5 league plays more than three. And yet, this isn't new. By year's end, the ACC will have played nearly as many such games (64) in the playoff era as the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC have combined (78).

The first three of these road trips came Friday, when Virginia Tech first got stuck in an elevator then shot itself in the foot, losing to Old Dominion 20-17 in head coach Brent Pry's debut.

On Saturday, North Carolina and NC State both came within inches of suffering the same fate on the road vs. American Athletic Conference foes.

UNC needed approximately 36 narrow escapes in the final moments against App State to avoid embarrassment.

NC State looked even worse. The Wolfpack blew back-to-back drives in which they had the ball at the 1-yard line with a chance to go up 14, then watched ECU score late, miss a PAT, get a stop, drive into field goal range, then miss another kick. NC State hung on for the 21-20 win that, while a victory in the standings, surely deflated much of the preseason hype the team had gotten as a possible dark-horse playoff candidate.

In all, the ACC has lost 20 road games outside the Power 5 in the playoff era -- three more than the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 combined -- and it's certainly doing little to help the reputation of a league that's in dire need of some good vibes.

So, why does the league keep doing it?

The first answer is money. Promising a home game for Group of Five opponents saves ACC teams the cost of paying for a one-off visit to their stadium, though there's a good argument to be made that the cost of taking an L in one of those games is even bigger. The ACC has essentially decided to sit on a plane with a suitcase on its lap rather than pay to check a bag.

The second answer is politics, and while the state legislature didn't directly force North Carolina or NC State to visit their small-school neighbors, critical funding from the state is often a part of the decision making. Not every state legislature rewrites laws at a coach's request (hi, Georgia!).

Still, politics and money matter to everyone, but the ACC is unique in its approach, and so the biggest answer might simply be philosophy. The league's top football brands -- Clemson and Florida State -- have played just one road game outside the Power 5 in the playoff era. Look to the SEC, where Vanderbilt is responsible for the bulk of its road trips outside the Power 5, and Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia and LSU have played just two such games combined.

As one ACC administrator put it, "it's risky business" playing these games for legitimate football brands, and there's very little reward even if it all works out well.

Under-the-radar play of the day

Wyoming kicker John Hoyland had a chance to cap a wild, back-and-forth game in regulation with a 44-yard field goal try for the win. Technically speaking, he missed.

Wyoming with a doink off the top of the upright! ? pic.twitter.com/VLHNSqgEKV

— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 3, 2022

That this doesn't count as an automatic walk-off win at any point in the game feels like a real flaw in the rule book. After all, what's tougher -- kicking a football between two uprights 18.5 feet apart, or dropping that kick onto the very tip of one of those uprights? We're simply choosing to value the wrong things.

The good news is Hoyland got his shot at redemption in double OT, connecting on a 30-yarder to give the Cowboys a 40-37 win.

Under-the-radar game of the day

James Madison officially joined the FBS with its opener against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, and the Dukes made sure there wasn't much drama to the festivities, marching to an easy 44-7 win.

So, if you're scoring at home, JMU now has as many wins over FBS opponents in one game at this level than UConn has since 2018.

Heisman Five

There's little point in making any broad pronouncements after just a week of games, but we think it's safe to say Bryce Young is still good and all UMass players have officially been eliminated.

1. Alabama QB Bryce Young

"The Wire" summed up Week 1's impact on the Heisman race nicely: "The king stay the king." Young threw five TD passes and ran for another, racking up 295 total yards despite barely playing more than a half.

2. Georgia QB Stetson Bennett

Bennet threw for 368 yards against the No. 11 team in the country. That's a pretty good follow-up to a National Championship game.

3. Alabama LB Will Anderson Jr.

This play is illegal in 17 states. My word.

OH MY WILL ANDERSON ? @AlabamaFTBL pic.twitter.com/aaLMD057eW

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 4, 2022

4. USC QB Caleb Williams

In his USC debut, he averaged 11.3 yards per pass and also 11.3 yards per rush. That's good balance.

5. Florida QB Anthony Richardson

Fun fact: Cam Newton once played at Florida. Fun fact No. 2: Richardson might be the second coming. He threw for 168, ran for 104 and scored three times in the Gators' win over Utah.

Hey, these guys aren't so bad

In the Pac-12, it was USC's dip into the transfer portal that drew the most attention, but there's a case to be made Arizona may have benefited even more.

The Wildcats were a national punchline for the better part of the past three seasons, finishing 2021 with a 1-11 record. But this offseason, Arizona dipped into the deep end of the transfer portal and added some key players, including QB Jayden de Laura and receiver Jacob Cowing.

The results were felt immediately with an impressive 38-20 win over San Diego State in Saturday's opener. The passing game dominated, with de Laura throwing four touchdowns, while Cowing hauled in three of them, part of a 152-yard day.

Arizona's 38 points were the most the team had scored since November 2019, while San Diego State has now allowed 38-plus in two of its last three games after 46 straight holding opponents below that total.

The most college football thing of the week

Greg Schiano made this an impossible choice in Week 1.

On one hand, Schiano reached elite level galaxy brain coaching on Rutgers' first series of the game Saturday against Boston College, which the Scarlett Knights played without starting QB Noah Vedral.

Schiano's QB on first down: Johnny Logan, who's technically listed as a tight end. (He ran for 4 yards.)

His QB on second down: Gavin Wimsatt. (He handed off. Gain of 3.)

His QB on third down: Evan Simon. (He threw incomplete.)

Add a delay of game, and Rutgers could officially claim that its first drive included more QBs than yards gained.

But that wasn't the end of the ridiculous (or sublime, depending on your perspective) from this game.

Midway through the first quarter, Wimsatt converted a third-and-5 with a completion to the BC 10-yard line, setting up a first-and-goal. Three plays later, Rutgers punted.

Yes, you read that right.

A 2-yard run was followed by an offensive pass interference flag, a holding call, a false start and a sack. By fourth down, Rutgers set up shop at the BC 43-yard-line, and called in the punter.

Punting from the 43? Eh, it happens. Punting from the 43 because it's 4th and goal? That's Rutgers football. pic.twitter.com/VEchjgAQxs

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 3, 2022

The wildest part? It all worked out. BC threw a pick on the next drive, and Rutgers turned the interception into 6 points -- the long way.

And lest anyone assume all of this wasn't perfectly scripted, the Scarlet Knights pulled off a come-from-behind 22-21 win following a 12-play, 96-yard touchdown drive with 2:43 to play. Just like Schiano drew it up.

Big bets and bad beats

The total for Iowa-South Dakota State closed at 42, the lowest total for any game Saturday at the time of kickoff. And perhaps if they'd played 43 overtimes, they might've taken a run at that number. Instead, the final score -- 7-3 without a touchdown -- came up 32 points shy.

On the flip side, the total for North Carolina at Appalachian State was just 56, a number both teams covered on their own. In fact, they actually combined for 62 points in the fourth quarter alone -- a tally that, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, was just one point shy of the FBS record for a fourth quarter, set by Navy and North Texas in 2007.

Georgia is good. This isn't news. But Georgia is particularly good -- for bettors, in particular -- when it plays a non-conference game vs. a Power 5 foe. With Saturday's dominant 49-3 win over No. 11 Oregon, the Bulldogs have covered six straight against non-SEC Power 5 teams, winning by an average of 37 points. The Georgia defense has allowed just one touchdown -- vs. Michigan with 4:25 to play in a game already in hand -- in its last four.

Layne Hatcher's 10-yard TD pass on third-and-6 with 2:23 to play had absolutely no impact on Texas State's ugly loss to Nevada. But it did bring the score to 38-14 -- a total of 52 points -- in a game with an over/under set at 51.5. And if you had your under ruined because of a meaningless Texas State Bobcats TD, well... welcome to football season. We're just getting started.

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev says fans can expect the unexpected when he meets fellow firebrand Nick Kyrgios in the US Open last 16 in New York.

Both players have a reputation as being combustible and are not afraid to speak their minds to umpires or even fans.

"On the court we never really had any fight or anything, which can change any moment," said Medvedev.

The 26-year-old Russian, who has lost three of the pair's four meetings, added: "You never know what's going to happen in the future, we are both quite electric.

"I don't think we are friends. When I say 'friends', we haven't been to the bar together but I feel like we respect each other a lot.

"It's 3-1 to him but I'll try to do better this time and it'll be a great match for people to watch."

Medvedev has had spats with Flushing Meadows crowds in the past, although he seemed to have won them over by reaching the 2019 final and beating Novak Djokovic in last year's final to lift his maiden Grand Slam title.

Australian Kyrgios, meanwhile, has courted countless controversies, and has already been fined $7,500 this week for spitting and swearing in his win over Benjamin Bonzi - after which the Wimbledon runner-up complained that a fan was smoking marijuana.

"I know a lot of people hate my game, the way I do things, they way I go about it," said 27-year-old Kyrgios, who beat Medvedev in their most recent meeting at the Canadian Open in August.

"I always thrive on it. I never want to forget all the things people say. I always carry this chip on my shoulder.

"I have it all in the back of my head when I'm playing. I want to be there. I want to be on prime time. I want to be on that screen, the screen they're all watching."

Defeat for Medvedev, who is yet to drop a set after three matches this week, would mean he will lose his world number one ranking after the US Open.

"He managed to get the better of me there (Montreal) for sure, especially I would say in terms of clutch moments," Medvedev added.

"I know what I have to do. Serve well, try to get to the tie-break, try to get opportunities on his serve. He also knows what he will do. Hopefully I can play my best game."

Fifth seed Casper Ruud's meeting with unseeded Frenchman Corentin Moutet begins Sunday's action on the Arthur Ashe Stadium at 17:00.

Andy Murray's conqueror Matteo Berrettini opens play against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at 16:00 on Louis Armstrong Stadium, which later hosts 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta against 27th seed Karen Khachanov.

In the women's last 16, fifth seed and Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur's match with Veronika Kudermetova follows Medvedev-Kyrgios in the night session on Arthur Ashe.

Earlier on Sunday, 18-year-old American Coco Gauff faces China's Zhang Shuai and Alison Riske-Amritraj plays France's Caroline Garcia before Ajla Tomljanovic - who ended Serena Williams' career - takes on Liudmila Samsonova.

New York Mets right-hander Max Scherzer left his start earlier than expected Saturday against the Washington Nationals because he felt "fatigued" on his left side, the team said.

Scherzer looked sharp on the mound, with his fastball clocked as high as 96 mph, but he lasted just five innings and 67 pitches, departing with the score tied 1-1. The Nats went on to win 7-1.

Scherzer said afterward that it was a "precautionary move," given the left oblique strain that caused him to land on the injured list earlier this season.

"It wasn't anything specific," Scherzer said. "I don't have a strain, it's just the left side was getting tired a lot quicker than usual.

"Was there a scenario where I could pitched the sixth and be OK? Yeah, that could've happened. But if I went out there in the sixth and I got hurt, there's no way I could come in here and look the guys in the face and say that I made the right decision. Better to be safe than sorry in this scenario."

Mets manager Buck Showalter said the team is hopeful Scherzer will make his next start.

"He probably could've continued to pitch, but we didn't think it was a good idea," Showalter said.

"He didn't ask to come out. You know Max is never going to do that. ... Just didn't think it was a good idea to push it."

Scherzer retired the side in order in the fifth, getting Ildemaro Vargas to tap the ball back to him for an inning-ending groundout. Upon entering the Mets' dugout, he was seen walking down the tunnel toward the clubhouse with a team trainer following closely behind him.

Scherzer, who was replaced by Tommy Hunter to start the sixth, allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

CHICAGO -- Dylan Cease had fans on their feet, hoping he would get that final out and complete the no-hitter.

The White Sox's ace would have loved nothing more than to deliver. Instead, his bid ended just a little short.

Cease came within one out of his first career no-hitter, and the streaking Chicago White Sox pounded the Minnesota Twins 13-0 on Saturday night.

Cease got a huge ovation when he came out to start the ninth. With fans standing, he struck out Caleb Hamilton swinging on a 1-2 slider and retired Gilberto Celestino on a fly to center.

Luis Arraez, who leads the American League with a .318 average, then dumped a line-drive single into right-center on a 1-1 pitch, ending Cease's bid for Chicago's third no-hitter in as many years. Lucas Giolito tossed one against Pittsburgh in 2020, and Carlos Rodón did it against Cleveland on April 14, 2021.

"Obviously, it's disappointing," Cease said. "But that's the game."

After a meeting on the mound, Cease struck out Kyle Garlick to finish his first career nine-inning complete game. He threw a seven-inning shutout against Detroit in 2021.

Teammates lined up outside the dugout and high-fived Cease as he walked off. Fans chanted "Cease! Cease!" during a TV interview and showered him with more cheers as he left.

"It would have meant a lot," Cease said. "It's obviously an incredibly difficult feat to achieve. It definitely would have meant a lot."

Cease said he didn't feel he had his sharpest stuff in the early going. He didn't strike out anyone until the fifth inning, but wound up with seven in the game. The right-hander threw 103 pitches, 68 for strikes.

Cease walked Jake Cave in the third and Gilberto Celestino in the sixth for Minnesota's only other baserunners. Cave was erased when Gary Sanchez bounced into a double play. Celestino was stranded when Cease struck out Arraez.

Catcher Seby Zavala said he started thinking about a no-hitter in the third inning.

"I started counting outs," he said. "I felt like we had something going on."

Minnesota's Gio Urshela said Arraez was just the person to break up the bid.

"Yeah, he's the perfect guy for that situation if you want to break a no-hitter," he said. "That was the perfect guy for that."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

World number four Carlos Alcaraz marched into the US Open last 16 with an impressive straight-set victory over American hope Jenson Brooksby.

Ninth seed Andrey Rublev came through a final-set tie-break against Denis Shapovalov to set up a fourth-round meeting with Britain's Cameron Norrie.

Rublev won 6-4 2-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-6 (10-7) in a four-hour epic.

Norrie beat Danish teenager Holger Rune in straight sets earlier on Saturday to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time.

Alcaraz, meanwhile, will face either Britain's Dan Evans or Marin Cilic in the last 16 after his ruthless disposal of home favourite Brooksby.

"In the tough moments, break points, I played really aggressively - I was there all the time and I made the most of my opportunities," said Alcaraz.

The 19-year-old Spaniard won the key points in the opening two sets, converting three of six break chances and only dropping serve once.

Brooksby, 21, threatened a fightback by breaking serve twice to go 3-0 up in the third set but that simply spurred Alcaraz on to produce his best tennis of the match.

He reeled off six successive games to progress despite almost literally running his shoes into the ground as he was forced into a mid-game change of footwear.

"It is the third time I have broken my shoes - as you can see I ran a lot to get all the balls so it is normal for me," the third seed joked in his on-court interview.

American Frances Tiafoe, always a crowd favourite at Flushing Meadows, delighted the home fans again by beating 14th seed Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-4.

He will now play either 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal or Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who meet in the night session on Arthur Ashe.

Italian 26th seed Lorenzo Musetti was knocked out by Belarusian Ilya Ivashka, who won 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-3. Ivashka faces Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner or American Brandon Nakashima next.

Rublev and Shapovalov steal show on Grandstand

Russia's Rublev, playing under neutral nationality because of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and Canada's Shapovalov produced one of the contenders for match of the tournament on the Grandstand court.

There was little hint of the drama to come when the players traded the opening two sets in little over an hour before Shapovalov edged ahead by winning the third-set breaker.

Rublev kept himself in the match by finally converting his fifth set point to level at two sets apiece and looked last-16 bound when he broke 19th seed Shapovalov at 4-4 in the decider.

However, the 23-year-old saved three match points with some blistering groundstrokes before breaking back on the way to a deciding tie-break.

The tie-break was a microcosm of the match as Rublev's accuracy prevailed over Shapovalov's power. The Canadian sent down 23 aces to the Russian's nine across the match and 75 winners to 38 - but also hit 72 unforced errors compared with Rublev's 37.

Rublev took advantage of Shapovalov's mistakes to build up an 8-5 lead and despite the Canadian saving a fourth match point, the fifth proved beyond him as the victor sank to the ground in a mixture of relief and exhaustion before sharing an emotional embrace with his beaten foe as the crowd rewarded both players with a standing ovation.

For many players, achieving a lifelong dream of playing on the PGA Tour has come down to 18 holes. 

Justin Suh holds the Korn Ferry Tour Championship's 54-hole lead at 17 under, but he won't be playing the final round with the anxiousness of not knowing his fate for next season  — he already secured his Tour card. 

Tano Goya, however, is one of those players for whom a good or bad round Sunday at Victoria National Golf Club can decide their Tour destiny. 

The 34-year-old Argentine came into the KFT Championship 64th on the points list and needed a big week to move inside the Finals 25 and notch Tour status for 2022-23. 

Despite playing professionally since 2007, Goya has only 69 PGA Tour-sanctioned starts to his name. Just five of those came on the PGA Tour, with 40 coming on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica and 24 this past year on the KFT, where he recorded one top 10. 

But in arguably the biggest event of his career, he's one stroke back of the lead and on the verge of claiming one of the 17 Tour cards at stake this week  — and this is exactly why he kept pushing through the hardships. 

"I've been up and down a lot," Goya said after Round 3. "I had a great start of my career, but I went down pretty quickly. Come to a point that you consider maybe doing something else, quitting, but something inside me said, 'No, just kept going and I've just been here today, tomorrow having a chance to make it on Tour. I mean, been working my whole life for it and I'm ready for it."

Though his quest for a Tour card hasn't been as strenuous as Goya's, Austin Eckroat, 23, who like Goya needed to move up almost 40 spots into the top 25 this week, is another name on the precipice of earning Tour status for next season. 

After a standout college career at Oklahoma State where he won a national championship in 2018, Eckroat has played on the KFT the past two seasons, while getting a few sponsor's exemptions on Tour. 

Sitting T-3 at 15 under, Eckroat hopes to extend his strong play through one more round so he no longer has to rely on exemptions to tee it up alongside his college teammate Viktor Hovland.   

Eckroat is tied with Nicholas Lindheim and Michael Gligic. Lindheim entered the week inside the Finals 25, while Gligic, the 36-hole leader, has already locked up a Tour card, but is trying to finish first on the points list to earn full Tour status plus a spot in The Players and U.S. Open. 

A few more near the top of the leaderboard, such as Eric Cole, Carson Young, Brent Grant, Ben Martin and Nick Hardy are one solid round away from earning their cards. 

Other bubble players like Aaron Baddeley, Grayson Murray, Sean O'Hair and Hurly Long will need to move the chains Sunday and may also need some of their competitors to drop. 

Patrick Fishburn was No. 26 coming into this week and played his way into the top 25 with consecutive 67s. However, with a third-round 76, he has his work cut out for him on Sunday. 

Camilo Villegas followed up his course-record 62 with a 73 and fell several spots out of the top 25. 

Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who came into the second round T-2, shot 81 Saturday and now sits T-65, likely costing him a chance at regaining his card.  

It will be a nerve-wracking Sunday, and how a player handles the pressure can be the difference between spending next season on the Korn Ferry Tour, or living out a dream by regularly playing against the world's best on the PGA Tour. 

"It's just at the end of the day when the moment comes, it's all about how much work you put into it," Goya said. "Nothing can save you from it and it's you against the golf course, nothing else."

Robert Lewandowski scored his fifth goal in four LaLiga games for Barcelona and helped his team breeze past Sevilla in a 3-0 win on Saturday, with Raphinha and Eric Garcia both adding a goal each for the visitors.

The win lifts Barcelona to second place in the table on 10 points, two behind leaders Real Madrid.

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For Julen Lopetegui's team, however, it was their third defeat in four games, leaving them with only one point in 17th place.

Roared on by their fans at a sold-out Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, Sevilla enjoyed an impressive start, pressing Barcelona high and cornering their rivals.

But the visitors silenced the crowd in a lightning counter attack in the 21st minute, ending with Raphinha heading in a rebound from a Lewandowski chipped shot that a defender cleared off the line.

Fifteen minutes later, Jules Kounde, playing for the first time against Sevilla after leaving to sign with Barcelona this summer, sent a perfect cross into the box that Lewandowski caught on his chest before striking his volley into the bottom left corner.

The Polish striker, who joined Barca from Bayern Munich in a blockbuster deal this summer, is already LaLiga's joint top-goalscorer, level with Celta's forward Iago Aspas.

Barcelona took control of the match and could have won by a much larger margin. Ousmane Dembele missed a golden opportunity to score a third after a great run right before half-time, but his chipped shot over the goalkeeper sailed just past the left post.

Ten minutes into the second half, Kounde provided another assist, heading a corner at the right post on to Garcia, who thumped home from close range to wrap up the three points.

Lewandowski kept trying to lob the goalkeeper and delivered another attempted chip in a counter-attack in the 73rd minute only to be denied by a defender on the goal again, with Frenkie de Jong almost scoring from the rebound.

The Dutch midfielder shot just wide of the post again five minutes later.

"It was a difficult match but we managed to impose our gameplan, the style that we are working hard to establish this new season," Raphinha told Movistar Plus.

"We need to have the ball and control the matches. That's our identity. But the season is long and there is still a long way ahead of us."