The Sooners have spent the offseason focusing on improving the offense after averaging just 354.3 yards per game last season.

While Brent Venables worked to improve all position groups with transfers, the most important layer of improvement might be at quarterback, the one spot they didn't dip into the portal in the offseason.

Quarterback John Mateer struggled last season after returning from a broken hand suffered early in the year. The fifth-year senior is looking to put his improvement on display against the Miners.

"I didn't play that well, and toward the end of the year, I don't think I did," Mateer said. "I'm motivated not because of the outside, how people view it. I'm not motivated by the perception. I'm motivated by the way I play in the film. The film doesn't lie, and I cringe when I watch the film. Last year, it's just true, so I get an opportunity to go out and play my best football."

They return plenty of experience up front, though there was some shuffling on the line during preseason camp with the injury to center Jake Maikkula.

After starting games at both tackle and guard as a freshman last season, sophomore Ryan Fodje gets the nod there.

It will also be the first game for Oklahoma's new-look tight ends group under Jason Witten. The longtime Dallas Cowboys star brought in Hayden Hansen from Florida and Rocky Beers from Colorado State.

On defense, the Sooners return the bulk of the unit that powered last season's run to the playoffs.

That includes middle linebacker Owen Heinecke, the former walk-on who broke into the starting lineup in early November and became perhaps Oklahoma's best defender down the stretch. Heinecke (12 TFLs, five sacks in 2025) was granted a temporary injunction over the offseason, making him eligible this season.

The Sooners' entire starting defense Friday will likely be made up of players who began their collegiate football careers at Oklahoma.

"I love that," Venables said. "It speaks volumes."

While the Sooners are coming off a 10-3 season and a trip to the CFP, UTEP is coming off a 2-10 season. The Miners have not had a winning season since 2021. UTEP is looking to take a significant step forward in its third year under Scotty Walden.

The Miners added quarterback EJ Colson Jr. from Incarnate Word, who threw for 2,142 yards last season, accounting for 19 touchdowns.

To hang in the game, UTEP needs to protect Colson.

"They get after the quarterback," Walden said of the Sooners' defense. "They don't have to bring six or bring seven to get home. ... They can rush four but they can give you the illusion or the simulation that they're going to bring more."

It's still unclear if UTEP safety Solo Barnes, who had 66 tackles and a pair of interceptions last season, will be eligible for Friday's game despite being granted a temporary restraining order last week.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Walden said.

deGrom (10-9) allowed just one single and no walks. The 38-year-old veteran struck out eight while rebounding from an Aug. 25 start against the Chicago White Sox in which he surrendered eight runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Justin Foscue homered for the Rangers, who won their second straight game and pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Cleveland Guardians for the third and final American League wild card.

Gage Jump (6-9) went 4 1/3 innings and yielded seven runs on six hits for the A's, who dropped their fourth straight game. He walked three and struck out two.

Lawrence Butler singled in the second inning for the visitors' only hit against deGrom, but he was erased on a double play.

After Nimmo singled and Jake Burger doubled to begin the bottom of the second, Elias Diaz drove in the game's first run two batters later with a groundout. Freeman followed with a run-scoring single to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

In the third, Corey Seager worked a one-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Nimmo's two-out single, pushing the margin to three.

Foscue led off the fourth with a 417-foot homer, his 10th of the season, extending the lead to 4-0.

After Ezequiel Duran singled in the fifth, Seager and Wyatt Langford walked to load the bases. Nimmo hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0 and chase Jump. Chris Roycroft entered in relief and allowed Burger's RBI single and Evan Carter's run-scoring groundout to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead.

Against Jose Suarez in the eighth, Logan O'Hoppe doubled with one out and scored on a single to left by Freeman.

In the ninth, the Athletics' Carlos Cortes singled and Jonah Heim doubled off Ben Peoples before Darell Hernaiz's sacrifice fly scored the visitors' only run.

Tyrone Taylor, Nico Hoerner, Carson Kelly, Matt Shaw, Seiya Suzuki and Michael Conforto also homered for Chicago, which also hit 62 home runs in August, the most of any month in NL history.

Cubs starter Clay Holmes (6-6) threw five shutout innings, allowing five hits, striking out eight and walking two.

Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison (10-4) was tagged for 10 hits and a season-high nine runs in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two.

Cooper Pratt singled, homered and drove in two runs for Milwaukee, which had won four of five.

The Cubs had a runner on first with two outs in the first when Taylor clubbed a home run far up the bleachers in left for a 2-0 lead.

Hoerner then stepped up and homered over the same fence in left to make it 3-0.

The Cubs continued to add on during the opening inning, as Michael Busch followed with a double and he scored on a single by Kelly to make it 4-0.

The Cubs rallied with two outs again in the second with Suzuki reaching on a single and Bregman then blasting a home run to left for a 6-0 lead.

Harrison managed to get through the third without allowing a home run, but Suzuki and Bregman hit back-to-back homers with one out in the fourth to extend the lead to 8-0.

Chad Patrick walked in a run later in the inning that was charged to Harrison, making it 9-0.

After the Cubs were sat down in order in the fifth and sixth innings, the Brewers got on the scoreboard with Pratt's two-run homer in the seventh to cut it to 9-2.

Kelly led off the bottom half of the inning with a home run, and Shaw went deep after Miguel Amaya was hit by a pitch to make it 12-2.

Chicago answered a run by Milwaukee in the eighth with two more home runs in its half of the inning, a pinch-hit three-run shot by Conforto and Bregman's third of the game to make it 17-3.

Jeffers went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, and Taj Bradley (10-6) struck out nine while allowing one run in seven innings as the Twins won their second game in a row. Bradley permitted four hits and walked three.

Minnesota's Walker Jenkins and Kody Clemens also homered while Luke Keaschall had two hits and three runs.

Tigers starter Jackson Jobe (1-2) gave up five runs, four earned, on six hits in five innings. He walked two and fanned four. Hao-Yu Lee homered and singled for the Tigers, who took their 10th loss in 12 games.

Minnesota grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Keaschall led off with a double to left field, went to third on Brooks Lee's groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly from Clemens.

Clemens' solo shot into the right field seats doubled the advantage in the fourth.

The Twins tacked on three more in the fifth inning. Keaschall reached when third baseman Hao-Yu Lee bobbled the ball, then stole second with Clemens at the plate. Clemens worked a 12-pitch plate appearance to draw a walk. Jeffers followed, mashing a fastball 420 feet to left field to push the gap to 5-0.

The Tigers got on the board in the top of the sixth on a home run from Hao-Yu Lee into the Minnesota bullpen.

Detroit reliever Yilber Diaz struggled as he replaced Jobe to start the sixth. He walked Royce Lewis to open the inning, and with one out, he issued back-to-back four-pitch walks to Walker Jenkins and Keaschall, loading the bases.

Brooks Lee followed with a single deep to right field that drove in Lewis, Jenkins and Keaschall, widening the Twins' lead to 8-1.

Jeffers connected for his second home run of the game opening the seventh, putting a slider just over the wall in left field.

Jenkins added to the rout in the eighth with his first major league home run off Zach McKinstry, who switched from right field to the mound to start the inning. After Kaelen Culpepper walked, Jenkins knocked a two-run shot off the right field pole.

Story's one-out single came against Cooper Criswell (2-2) and drove in Eli White. Leadoff hitter Nick Sogard laid down a sacrifice bunt, and the Mariners issued two intentional walks before Story came through.

Aroldis Chapman (3-4) pitched a scoreless top of the 10th for Boston, which trailed 8-5 after seven innings and 8-7 after eight. Ceddanne Rafaela, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to set up extra innings.

Story also had two hits and three RBIs, while Sogard and Roman Anthony each collected two hits and two runs as the Red Sox won for just the second time in six games.

Randy Arozarena had four hits, including a solo home run and a double, and drove in four runs for the Mariners.

Cal Raleigh also homered while Dominic Canzone had two hits and two RBIs for Seattle, which has lost its past five games.

Boston received a two-run home run from Jarren Duran and a solo home run from Mickey Gasper, who was recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Monday when Boston placed first baseman Wilson Contreras on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. Gasper hit six home runs during 12 major league games in August.

Julio Rodriguez's RBI double gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the first, but Gasper's home run tied the game in the bottom of the first.

After Duran hit a two-run shot that gave the Red Sox a 3-1 lead in the second, Arozarena went deep to trim the margin to 3-2 in the third. The game was tied 3-3 after Arozarena's RBI single drove in Cole Young in the fifth.

Rafaela hit a two-run single that put Boston up 5-3 in the fifth, but Seattle took the lead by scoring four times in the sixth. Arozarena produced a two-run single, and Canzone added a two-run double to give the Mariners a 7-5 lead.

Raleigh's home run, his 20th of the season, pushed the lead to 8-5 in the seventh.

Story hit a two-run double to make it 8-7 with two outs in the eighth. Boston tied the game in the ninth when Anthony tripled and scored on Rafaela's sacrifice fly to left.

His fourth multi-homer game of the year gave Lile 20 round-trippers on the season for Washington, which took three of four from Miami.

Lile was named Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .458 with 11 hits, three homers, 10 RBIs and five walks from Aug. 24-30.

Matt Waldron (2-2) pitched three scoreless innings of relief for the win.

With Washington trailing 3-2 in the seventh, Nasim Nunez bunted for a hit, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Josh Ekness (1-2) came on to face Lile, who rocketed a 1-0 pitch off the facade of the second deck in right to put the Nationals ahead 4-3.

The Nationals added more. Abimelec Ortiz walked and when Andres Chaparro singled, Ortiz raced for third and scored on right fielder Esteury Ruiz's throwing error. Chaparro took second on the play and scored on a Brady House single to make it 6-3.

The Marlins loaded the bases on singles by Otto Lopez, Griffin Conine and Javier Sanoja to start the eighth. Erik Tolman replaced Waldron and struck out Kyle Stowers before getting Leo Jimenez to ground into a double play.

Tolman struck out the side in the ninth to complete his first major league save.

Heriberto Hernandez led off with a walk against Luis Perales in the fourth. With one out, singles by Agustin Ramirez and Sanoja loaded the bases. The runners moved up on a wild pitch by Perales and Miami led 1-0. Stowers singled up the middle, scoring Ramirez and Sanoja to make it 3-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, Andrew Pinckney singled with one out and Lile hit an opposite-field homer to left center to pull the Nationals within 3-2.

Nationals infielder CJ Abrams was scratched with back tightness.

Marlins starter Ryan Gusto allowed a run on four hits over 4 1/3 innings.

Will Dion led off a bullpen game for Washington with three scoreless innings.

Returning from a fractured right hand that kept him out since July 9, Vientos hit three home runs for Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday while appearing on a rehab assignment. He carried over the power display with a solo shot in the seventh inning on Monday as the Mets won for the second time in six games.

Winning for the first time since April 5, 2019, with the San Diego Padres, Stock (1-3) tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed five hits and no walks while striking out four.

Kodai Senga notched his fifth save in five chances with a scoreless ninth inning, striking out Yandy Diaz looking to end the game.

A.J. Ewing had two of New York's 10 hits.

Tampa Bay's Chandler Simpson and Liam Hicks each had two hits and an RBI. Junior Caminero extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games.

Rays starter Ian Seymour (9-6) yielded three runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out 10 and walked none as the Rays had a four-game winning streak end.

The Mets broke through in the fourth after Bo Bichette hit a leadoff double. Carson Benge's single moved the runner to third, and Bichette scored when Vientos grounded into a double play.

In the fifth, Tampa Bay had the bases loaded and no outs before Stock came up big. He retired Taylor Walls on a foul popout, struck out Diaz and forced Jonathan Aranda into a lineout that left fielder Christopher Morel nearly misplayed into a hit.

Morel ended the following inning by cutting down Simpson at second base. The Tampa Bay speedster singled, hesitated and was thrown out trying to leg out a double.

Vientos led off the seventh with his 12th homer, bashing Seymour's changeup 418 feet to left-center field for a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, after Casey Legumina replaced Seymour on the mound, Francisco Alvarez hit an RBI single to pad the advantage.

The Rays trimmed the deficit to 3-2 on RBI singles from Hicks and Simpson in the eighth.

Seymour fanned the side in the first inning on 10 pitches, missing an immaculate inning with a first-pitch ball to No. 3 hitter Benge. He recorded seven strikeouts in the first three frames.

The win in the opener to the three-game series snapped San Diego's three-game losing streak.

Jackson Merrill went 2-for-4 with an RBI and robbed Sal Stewart of a home run in center in the third inning.

The Padres broke a scoreless tie in the fourth against Cincinnati starter Brady Singer (5-13) when they opened the inning with six consecutive hits against the right-hander.

Machado began the rally with a single to left. France and Merrill followed with singles for a 1-0 lead.

Xander Bogaerts continued the rally with a two-run double to left, increasing the lead to 3-0. Dustin Harris capped the outburst with a run-scoring single that scored Bogaerts and put San Diego up 4-0.

Singer was tagged for four runs on 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander dropped his fourth straight decision and finished August with an 0-3 mark over six starts, and a 5.29 ERA in the month.

The game was delayed 14 minutes prior to the top of the fifth when home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez left the game with heat exhaustion and dehydration, resulting in elevated blood pressure and blurred vision. Three umpires worked the remainder of the game, with D.J. Reyburn moving from third base to behind the plate. The game-time temperature was 90 degrees, with 61% humidity.

King (9-9) recorded six strikeouts and allowed just four hits, thanks in large part to his ability to work out trouble. The Reds had runners on second and third in the first with one out and couldn't score. Cincinnati also put runners on first and second in the next two innings and still couldn't score.

Appropriately, King worked out of a first-and-second jam in his final inning when TJ Friedl flew out to right to end the sixth. For King, it was his fifth consecutive quality start while running his scoreless innings streak to 15 2/3 innings dating back to Aug. 19 against the New York Mets.

Chancellor Julio Frenk announced Jarmond's departure in a letter to the UCLA community and named longtime Los Angeles Lakers executive Tim Harris as the Bruins' new CEO and director of athletics.

The change comes five days before UCLA begins its first football season under Bob Chesney and two years after the school entered the Big Ten.

"UCLA Athletics currently carries a significant financial deficit, and its current path is not sustainable," Frenk wrote. "Now is the moment to build a model for Athletics that protects the breadth of our program, creates new opportunities for student-athletes and coaches, and supports itself through the revenue it generates."

Harris, a UCLA alumnus and former student-athlete, spent more than 35 years with the Lakers and served as the franchise's president of business operations. He will work pro bono in the interim role and has been tasked with developing additional revenue through licensing, partnerships and other ventures.

Jarmond, who arrived from Boston College in 2020, leaves after six years overseeing an eventful period in Bruins athletics. UCLA announced in 2022 it would leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, with the move becoming official in July 2024.

"I am grateful to Martin for his extraordinary service to UCLA and for his leadership over the past six years," Frenk wrote. "During his tenure, UCLA's student-athletes continued to achieve at the highest levels, including three NCAA championship titles last year."

The football program also underwent considerable turnover during the latter portion of Jarmond's tenure.

After Chip Kelly left following the 2023 season, Jarmond promoted former UCLA running back DeShaun Foster to head coach. Foster went 5-10 and was dismissed three games into his second season after an 0-3 start.

Jarmond subsequently hired Chesney away from James Madison in December. Chesney went 21-6 over two seasons with the Dukes, winning the 2025 Sun Belt championship and leading James Madison to the College Football Playoff.

Chesney's first UCLA team opens Saturday at California.

According to ESPN, UCLA owes Jarmond approximately $6.5 million on his contract.

Having rejoined the team Monday, Marte spoke with the aid of an interpreter and said he planned to apologize to his teammates "like a man" for his decision not to show up for a road series against the Boston Red Sox.

"I'm going to stand in front of my teammates like a man. I'm going to ask for forgiveness. We're all human. We all commit mistakes," said Marte, who said a "moment of frustration" led him to decide not to report to the team at Fenway Park.

"I'm the type of person that when something's going on in my life," Marte added, "I don't like to talk about it."

Marte, 32, did not report to the ballpark Aug. 17 after traveling with the Diamondbacks from Atlanta to Boston as part of a six-game road trip. Manager Torey Lovullo was left in the dark about his lineup until 20 minutes before game time.

The team subsequently put Marte on the restricted list, before he was moved to the 10-day injured list because of left knee inflammation.

"In that instance, I failed (Lovullo) by not showing up," Marte said of his Aug. 17 decision. "That morning I woke up, my body was in pain, and I just couldn't react. No one made the decision for me. I'm the one who made the decision to not show up."

Marte did not address his reported sighting at a Phoenix-area casino during a Diamondbacks game while he was on the injured list. And when asked if he had anything to say to Arizona fans, he shook his head no.

Marte's agent met with Lovullo and Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen to hash things out after Marte's no-show in Boston.

Monday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies will be Marte's first appearance since Aug. 16. He is in the D-backs' lineup, batting cleanup as the designated hitter.

A three-time All-Star and former National League Championship Series MVP, Marte had been the subject of an odd absence before. His home in Arizona was robbed the night of the 2025 All-Star Game, and he chose to travel to his native Dominican Republic in the aftermath, missing the Diamondbacks' first three games after the All-Star break. He apologized for his decision to leave the team following a report that some teammates were unhappy with him.