Yahoo Sports AM: Deion's dazzling debut, Americans take center stage at US Open

👋 Good morning! Welcome back. It's Tuesday, Sep. 5. This is Kendall Baker in Washington, D.C. I'm joined by Jeff Tracy, who's in Brooklyn.

Let's sports...

Max Verstappen after winning the Italian Grand Prix. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Max Verstappen after winning the Italian Grand Prix. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

HEADLINES

🏎️ Make it 10: Max Verstappen won Sunday's Italian Grand Prix for his 10th consecutive victory, the longest winning streak in F1 history.

⛳️ Rosters set: Europe captain Luke Donald announced his Ryder Cup picks, setting the stage for the showdown in Rome later this month.

⚾️ Urías arrest: Dodgers starter Julio Urías was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence on Sunday.

🎾 Streak snapped: Iga Świątek's fourth-round loss ended her US Open title defense and dropped her from world No. 1, where she'd been ranked for 75 straight weeks.

🇺🇸 USA prevails: Led by top-ranked amateur Gordon Sargent, Team USA rallied at St. Andrews to beat Great Britain & Ireland and win its fourth straight Walker Cup.

See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.

Deion Sanders celebrates a touchdown against TCU. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Deion Sanders celebrates a touchdown against TCU. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) (Ron Jenkins via Getty Images)

ONE WEEK DOWN, MANY MORE TO GO

Deion Sanders and Colorado won the weekend, marching into Fort Worth and stunning No. 17 TCU, 45-42, to silence all the doubters.

Sanders: "I keep receipts," the coach snapped after Saturday's win. "I've been talking about it ... and you didn't believe me. We got a couple guys that should be front-runners for the Heisman right now."

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports: "It took Deion Sanders nine months, one rushed recruiting cycle and a single game to turn 2023 — at least temporarily — into the Season of Prime. ... Nebraska is now on slate Saturday. Fox is broadcasting it. Everyone is paying attention."‌

ICYMI…

  • Dabo's Durham disaster: Duke crushed No. 9 Clemson, 28-7, on Monday night in a historic win for the Blue Devils. The Tigers have lost three of their last four games for the first time in 12 years.

  • Beatdown at Disney World: No. 8 FSU scored 31 consecutive points in the second half to cruise past No. 5 LSU, 45-24, in Orlando. It's the fourth year in a row that LSU has lost its opening game.

  • Texas stunner: Texas State shocked Baylor, 42-31, for their first win over a Power Five opponent. Baylor entered as a 27.5-point favorite.

  • Emotional return: Virginia RB Mike Hollins led his teammates out of the tunnel against Tennessee in his first game since being wounded in an on-campus shooting last November.

  • 13-0: The Pac-12's final season is off to a perfect start. For the first time since 1932, every team won its season opener (and USC is already 2-0).

Looking ahead: ESPN's "College Gameday" heads to Tuscaloosa this Saturday for an early-season blockbuster, as Alabama (-7.5) hosts future SEC rival Texas.

🎶 Must-see video:Virginia Tech's first "Enter Sandman" entrance of the season (YouTube)

Taylor Fritz (L), Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. (AP and Getty/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
Taylor Fritz (L), Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. (AP and Getty/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

THREE AMERICAN MEN REMAIN

For the first time since 2005, three American men are in the US Open quarterfinals. And all three are in action today, Jeff writes.

Taylor Fritz: The son of two pro tennis players, Fritz's star potential first emerged in 2015, when he was named ITF junior world champion. He's yet to drop a set at this tournament… maybe it's the Chipotle.

  • Ranking: No. 9

  • Age: 25

  • Hometown: San Diego

  • Best major finish: Quarterfinals (2022 Wimbledon)

  • Today's opponent: Novak Djokovic (0-7 record against him)

Frances Tiafoe: The son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, Tiafoe spent his childhood playing and sleeping at the tennis facility where his father worked. Last week, he became the first American man since Andre Agassi (2002-05) to reach the fourth round of four straight US Opens.

  • Ranking: No. 10

  • Age: 25

  • Hometown: Hyattsville, Md.

  • Best major finish: Semifinals (2022 US Open)

  • Today's opponent: Ben Shelton (first head-to-head match)

Ben Shelton: 15 months ago, he won the NCAA title at Florida, where his father was the coach. Now, he’s the youngest American man to reach the US Open quarters since Andy Roddick in 2002, and his rocket serve (149 mph!) is the talk of the tournament.

  • Ranking: No. 47

  • Age: 20

  • Hometown: Gainesville, Fla.

  • Best major finish: Quarterfinals (2023 Australian Open)

  • Today's opponent: Tiafoe

💬 Tiafoe: "American tennis is looking really great right now. The guys are finally catching up to the women."

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mookie Betts. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mookie Betts. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports) (USA Today Sports / reuters)

ACUÑA VS. BETTS: WHO YA GOT?

The Braves (90-46) established themselves as the team to beat in the NL over the weekend, taking three of four from the Dodgers (84-52) in a star-studded Hollywood affair, Jeff writes.

MVP race: The four-game set featured the top four NL MVP candidates in Ronald Acuña Jr, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson. But with all due to respect to Freeman and Olson, this is a two-horse race.

Acuña: The Braves’ right fielder struggled last year in his return from a torn ACL, but has looked better than ever this season while boasting perhaps the best power-speed combo in MLB history.

  • Historic feat: With 32 homers and 63 steals, he's MLB’s first-ever member of the 30-60 club.

  • Stats: .335/.416/.578 (.994 OPS); 32 HR, 85 RBI, 123 R and 63 SB; 184 hits and 318 total bases; 71 walks and 75 strikeouts; 6.8 wins above replacement (WAR).

  • Head-to-head: He leads the NL in runs, hits, steals, OBP and total bases, and trails only Betts in WAR and OPS.

Betts: The Dodgers' right fielder and 2018 AL MVP quietly put together an excellent campaign before exploding in August to seriously threaten Acuña.

  • Historic month: He's the third player in MLB history with 10 HR, 50 hits, and a .450 average in a single month. The other two? Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

  • Stats: .316/.410/.615 (1.025 OPS); 38 HR, 99 RBI, 117 R and 10 SB; 161 hits and 313 total bases; 78 walks and 94 strikeouts; 7.9 WAR.

  • Head-to-head: He leads the NL in slugging, OPS and WAR, and trails only Acuña in runs and total bases.

🔥 ICYMI… Acuña unleashed a 454-foot, 121.2 mph bomb on Saturday — the hardest-hit ball in the majors this season.‌

Good read:The MLB awards race homestretch guide (The Ringer)

Water Rugby Lausanne. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
Water Rugby Lausanne. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images) (FABRICE COFFRINI via Getty Images)

PHOTO OF THE WEEKEND

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — More than 240 players gathered this weekend for the Water Rugby Lausanne, a three-day tournament on Lake Geneva.

How to play: Teams played five-a-side rugby on the floating field, jumping off the end of the pitch into the lake to score a try.

Penn State's Beaver Stadium was rocking on Saturday. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Penn State's Beaver Stadium was rocking on Saturday. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) (Scott Taetsch via Getty Images)

BIGGEST FBS STADIUMS, RANKED

The two biggest college football stadiums in the country — and seven of the top 10 — hosted games on Saturday to kick off another glorious fall in America.

Top 10:

  1. Michigan Stadium, Michigan (107,601 capacity)

  2. Beaver Stadium, Penn State (106,572)

  3. Ohio Stadium, Ohio State (102,780)

  4. Kyle Field, Texas A&M (102,733)

  5. Tiger Stadium, LSU (102,321)

  6. Neyland Stadium, Tennessee (101,915)

  7. Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama (101,821)

  8. Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium, Texas (100,119)

  9. Sanford Stadium, Georgia (92,746)

  10. Rose Bowl, UCLA (91,136)

Source: NCAA

A Rutgers player attempts a forward pass circa 1910. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
A Rutgers player attempts a forward pass circa 1910. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) (Bettmann via Getty Images)

SEPT. 5, 1906: FIRST FORWARD PASS

117 years ago today, Saint Louis University QB Bradbury Robinson completed the first legal forward pass in football history — a 20-yard TD to break a scoreless tie against Carroll College.

Context: 45 players had died playing high school and college football between 1900 and 1905, leading to calls for the sport to be abolished. But President Theodore Roosevelt called for reform, huddling reps from 60 colleges to discuss new rules to improve safety. Among them: legalizing the forward pass.

  • No college football player owes more to that rule than Case Keenum, whose 1,546 completions at Houston (2007-11) are the most in NCAA history.

  • Tom Brady holds the NFL completions record with 7,753 and is, perhaps not coincidentally, a big Teddy Roosevelt fan.

More on this day:

  • 💔 1972: A Palestinian militant group took 11 members of the Israeli Olympic delegation hostage, ultimately murdering all 11 in the Munich Massacre.

  • 🏈 1994: Jerry Rice scored his 127th TD, passing Jim Brown for the most in NFL history. He'd retire with 208, 33 ahead of Emmitt Smith in second place.

Coco Gauff (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Coco Gauff (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) (Matthew Stockman via Getty Images)

WATCHLIST: TENNIS HEAVEN

Coco Gauff, the queen of the 2023 US Open, joins three American men in today's quarterfinal action.

More to watch:

Aaron Judge hits his 250th home run. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Aaron Judge hits his 250th home run. (Bob Levey/Getty Images) (Bob Levey via Getty Images)

MLB TRIVIA

Aaron Judge made history Friday, becoming the fastest player to reach 250 career home runs (810 games).

  • Question: Whose record did he break?

  • Hint: Their careers overlapped for one season (2016).

Answer at the bottom.

TOP 10 PLAYS OF THE WEEKEND

This weekend's top 10 plays feature three insane catches, three amazing goals, three superb defensive plays and one wild scramble.

Watch all 10.

—-

Trivia answer: Ryan Howard (855 games)

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