The dust has settled on the 2025 college football season, and what a season it was. It has now been nearly ten days since Indiana lifted the trophy in Miami, capping it all off with a win over the Miami Hurricanes.
This past week marked the end of the FCS season and featured the two semifinal games at the FBS level. With only one college football game left this season, Miami and Indiana both have a shot at glory, while the other 134 FBS teams sit at home hoping next year will be theirs.
The Quarterfinals were not kind to me. After just one incorrect pick in the first round of the playoffs, I was reward with just one correct pick in the second round. Oregon saved me from getting skunked, but I did lose both my national runner up and champion. Maybe I am becoming more of an "expert" each and every day. Before we get into the games that matter, we'll have our last installment of Will's Corner for the 2025 season.
Will's Corner
BYU 25, Georgia Tech 21 BYU looked good early, driving the ball 74 yards on their opening possession—only to get stopped on fourth down. But they responded by scoring on their very next drive and looked as if they would be firing on all cylinders all day. That would not be the case. After Georgia Tech scored to take a 14–10 lead, BYU’s Cody Hagen muffed the ensuing kickoff and gave the Yellow Jackets the ball inside the 10-yard line. Georgia Tech capitalized and took a 21–10 lead into halftime, leaving BYU in need of yet another second-half comeback to avoid a disappointing end to the season.
The third quarter didn’t bring much hope, as the only promising drive ended with an abysmal fade attempt by Bear Bachmeier that resulted in an interception in the end zone. A stout BYU defense gave the Cougars a glimmer of hope, and the offense stepped up when it mattered. BYU scored early in the fourth quarter and converted the two-point attempt to make it a three-point game. After forcing back-to-back three-and-outs, BYU’s offense once again delivered, driving 70 yards to take the lead with under two minutes to play. Thanks to the earlier two-point conversion, the game became a four-point margin instead of three, meaning Georgia Tech needed a touchdown. After forcing the Yellow Jackets into a fourth-and-15 from their own 16-yard line, quarterback Haynes King connected on a 66-yard completion to set Georgia Tech up with a chance to tie the game. BYU defensive back Evan Johnson, who was beaten on the long play, redeemed himself four plays later by intercepting a fourth-down pass in the end zone to seal the win.
BYU finishes the year 12–2, with both losses coming to Texas Tech. They went 2–2 against ranked opponents and deserve credit for a road win at Arizona, who was unranked at the time but now sits inside the top 20.
Illinois 30, Tennessee 28 One of the more peculiar games of the bowl season saw Tennessee play poorly for long stretches yet still have a chance to win at the end. Trailing 10–7 at halftime after a missed field goal, the Vols had only three true possessions in the first half, one of which was a three-and-out. An early fumble by Joey Aguilar on a sack led to a scoop-and-score, extending Illinois’ lead to 17–7. The two teams traded touchdowns before Tennessee returned a kickoff for a score to take a 28–27 lead late in the fourth quarter. The defense, however, couldn’t get the stop it needed, as Illinois marched down the field and kicked a 29-yard field goal as time expired to win the game.
Tennessee ends the season with a disappointing 8–5 record. Missed opportunities against Georgia, Alabama, and Oklahoma will leave a sour taste heading into the offseason. Roster turnover will be the big storyline for the Vols, and all eyes will be on the team Josh Heupel assembles for next year.
Washington State 34, Utah State 21 In the first game of the post–Jimmy Rogers era, Washington State aired it out and let it fly. What started as a slow opening turned into an offensive onslaught in the second half. The Cougs racked up 628 total yards of offense and built a 34–14 lead before Utah State added a late garbage-time touchdown. The outcome was never in doubt, and you could argue Wazzu left a few points on the field.
Washington State finishes the season 7–6, with close losses to Ole Miss, James Madison, and Virginia. Early-season defensive breakdowns and an inexplicable loss to Oregon State stand out as the biggest blemishes. Once again, roster construction looms large with the departure of Jimmy Rogers. New head coach Kirby Moore appears to be a strong fit in Pullman, but the focus now turns to what he can build, especially with the Pac-12 returning next year and a clear path to the playoff ahead.
If any of you have questioned why I have authority to write a blog, I would like to point out that I went 3/4 on my first round picks this year and am currently ranked right around 200,000 in the ESPN bracket pool. Not too shabby if you ask me.
Alabama at Oklahoma
The 2025 College Football Playoff started off with a bang with the Friday night showdown between the Crimson Tide and the Sooners. A rematch of the mid-November game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama looked to get revenge for their only home loss of the year. Meanwhile, Oklahoma looked to keep it rolling as they came into the game winners of four straight. Alabama hadn’t lost to the same team twice in one season since the 19th century, and Oklahoma looked to spoil that streak.
The game started slowly as an early Sooner drive stalled, and Alabama’s offense picked up right where it left off two weeks ago—stuck in the mud. Alabama’s first three possessions resulted in just nine plays, 12 yards, and a whopping four minutes and four seconds off the clock. Meanwhile, John Mateer was putting on a show for the home crowd, one the likes of which hadn’t been seen since before his hand surgery. Two medium-length darts, capped off by an eight-yard designed run, saw Mateer strut into the end zone to give Oklahoma a 7–0 lead. A bad punt soon after led to good field position and resulted in a field goal, making it 10–0. Mateer then orchestrated another 63-yard drive that was capped off by a seven-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Sategna to put the Sooners up 17–0.
The Palace on the Prairie could not have been more rocking. Alabama still looked stuck offensively, while Oklahoma seemed to have turned a corner in finding ways to move the ball and score. Lotzier Brooks decided to come alive and announce his presence to the Oklahoma defense—and the Alabama offense, for that matter. Brooks had three catches for 44 yards, capped off a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. His final catch came on a crucial fourth-and-two from the Oklahoma 10-yard line. Catching the ball right at the sticks, Brooks unleashed a series of jukes and jabs to wind his way into the end zone and put the Tide on the board.
Oklahoma’s offense then stalled after an early first down, and a dropped snap on the punt out of nowhere set Alabama up with prime field position. Oklahoma’s stout defense held strong and forced a 35-yard field goal, keeping a touchdown between them and the Tide. With the ball and the lead and just over two minutes until halftime, Oklahoma looked poised to close the half with control and head to the locker room firmly in charge.
Except that didn’t happen. In fact, the worst possible thing happened for the Sooners.
On second-and-13, Mateer dropped back and fired to the short side of the field looking for Keontez Lewis. The problem was that Mateer threw a hitch while Lewis ran a go route. Alabama defensive back Zabien Brown read it perfectly and capitalized on the communication miscue. Brown took it 50 yards to the house, swinging all the momentum to the Crimson Tide.
Lotzier Brooks stayed hot in the second half, hauling in a 30-yard dime from Ty Simpson on Alabama’s second possession of the third quarter to give the Tide a 24–17 lead. At that point, Alabama had scored 24 unanswered points and showed no signs of slowing down. A field goal on their next possession made it 27–17, and thanks to two Oklahoma three-and-outs, Alabama had rattled off 27 straight points and taken a chokehold on the game.
With 15 minutes left, it was do-or-die time for Oklahoma. They needed a score, or time would become their biggest enemy. Mateer picked himself up and rose to the occasion, leading a 75-yard, eight-play drive capped off by a 37-yard touchdown pass. The energy returned to the stadium, and the crowd had reason to believe again. A stop could put Oklahoma right back in position to take the lead.
After giving up a long pass to start the drive, a huge sack on third down was exactly what the Sooners needed. The defense had done its job and handed the ball back to the offense.
The offense didn’t want it.
They gained one yard on three plays and punted it right back to Alabama.
That punt didn’t make it out of Oklahoma territory, giving Alabama a short field that they turned into six just four plays later. Now down 34–24 with under 10 minutes to play, Oklahoma needed to move quickly. Unfortunately, the problem that plagued them all season returned at the worst possible time. Their offense couldn’t find any rhythm. A three-and-out featured a massive sack on Mateer, forcing another punt. A promising drive on the next possession stalled inside the red zone. Still, down 10, a field goal would help.
Tate Sandell had been reliable all year, entering the game 23-for-24, with his lone miss coming back in September.
He missed.
With no timeouts remaining, that miss felt like the nail in the coffin. It didn’t matter that Alabama failed to gain more yards and punted again. It didn’t even matter when Sandell missed another kick. Alabama could simply run out the clock and shift its focus to Indiana and the Rose Bowl.
While I’m not surprised by the outcome, I am surprised by the road that got us there. The drastically different starts from each team weren’t on my bingo card. I expected Alabama to start slowly, but Oklahoma hadn’t shown anything to suggest they would start fast. Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle threw the kitchen sink in the first quarter, and it worked. Whether he got conservative afterward or Alabama’s defense adjusted is hard to say. Alabama struggled to generate pressure early while rushing four, but those same four were getting home consistently in the second half. It almost felt like Oklahoma ran out of gas midway through the second quarter.
Alabama, meanwhile, started exactly as expected. They had -3 rushing yards in the first half and were only tied thanks to a blocked punt and a defensive touchdown. Without those, they’re likely down double digits. Something clicked in the second half as the Tide ripped off their longest run since playing ULM—though it was still only 30 yards. Ty Simpson never looked fully comfortable, missing wide-open receivers, and Alabama’s pass catchers must have coated their gloves in baby oil. Open, covered—it didn’t matter. Balls were hitting their hands and bouncing off all night.
Speaking of Alabama receivers, Ryan Williams needs to be studied. Williams had three targets, one catch, and five yards, along with at least one drop. His disappearance is mind-boggling. From one of the most explosive players in the country to a complete non-factor in a playoff game is stunning. Germie Bernard also finished with just three catches. If not for Horton and Brooks, Alabama’s season would already be over.
Credit where it’s due—Alabama was the better team. But they have some serious soul-searching to do before their next matchup. It’s wild to see a Kalen DeBoer–led team struggle this much offensively. As DeBoer prepares to face the program that gave him his first Power Five coordinator job, he needs to iron out the issues quickly—or risk getting exposed once again on the biggest stage.
Photo courtesy of Todd Van Emst/Heisman Trust/Pool image
This post will dive deeper into all of the first-round playoff games and lay out my full bracket prediction. Think you have better ball knowledge than me? Join my group and put your knowledge to the test.
Heisman Trophy
Fernando Mendoza is the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner, becoming the first player from Indiana to win the award. Mendoza finished with 643 first-place votes, the largest margin of victory since Joe Burrow won in 2019. Diego Pavia finished second with 189 first-place votes, while Jeremiyah Love came in third with 46.
While Mendoza didn’t put up the gaudy numbers that past winners have, something I pointed out as a trend two weeks ago, he did lead Indiana to a perfect 13-0 record and a Big Ten championship. The average viewer couldn’t name another player on Indiana’s offense, and that alone tells you who the leader of that team truly was.
This also creates a fun footnote in Heisman history: the last four Heisman winners have all played in the Pac-12 at some point in their careers. Long live the Pac-12—and shoutout to this year’s Pac-12 champions, Washington State.
The playoff is set, the conferences have been won, and now we wait for the second year of the 12-team format to commence. Let’s take a look at how each team won its conference and talk about the 12 teams that made the cut — and, more importantly, those that didn’t.
The Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Championship game led off an action-packed Saturday of college football from AT&T Stadium in Texas. BYU looked to avenge its only loss of the year—a fairly ugly one against Texas Tech. This was a true win-or-go-home game for the Cougars, and they couldn’t afford another slow start like the one they had back in November in Lubbock.
After forcing a punt on their first defensive possession, the Cougars drove 90 yards in 14 plays, perfectly split 7–7 between run and pass, capped off by an LJ Martin touchdown run to open the scoring and give BYU a 7–0 lead—something they never had in Lubbock. Texas Tech answered with a long drive of its own, but two false start penalties inside the BYU 15 stalled the possession and forced the Red Raiders to settle for three.
BYU now had the opportunity to continue their early momentum. Instead, they went three-and-out after falling behind the sticks immediately. Texas Tech took that defensive boost and rode it into a 33-yard touchdown pass to Coy Eakin. Behren Morton threw a beautiful ball to the front corner of the end zone, where Eakin reeled it in. The confusing part was the officiating: the side judge threw his hat—signaling the receiver had gone out of bounds on his own—then appeared to miss potential contact downfield, and ultimately spotted the ball at the 1-yard line despite Eakin never coming close to stepping out. It looked like Eakin might have gone out of bounds ten yards into his route, but it was unclear whether he was forced out or simply ran out on his own. Regardless, it was a great throw and catch, wrapped in classic Big 12 officiating chaos.
BYU’s offense still couldn’t find traction, holding the ball two more times in the half and managing just one first down each possession. One of those drives featured probably the second-worst fake punt in BYU history: on 4th-and-7, punter Sam Vander Haar rolled out under pressure and attempted a pass into triple coverage. It fell incomplete, and even if it had been caught, it would have been five yards short. The play had no chance from the start.
It didn’t immediately cost BYU—Texas Tech missed a field goal—but the Cougars’ third straight unsuccessful drive allowed Tech to tack on a field goal before halftime, making it 13–7. BYU wasn’t out of it, and they were set to receive the second-half kickoff.
The Cougars seemed to regain their early energy, driving into Texas Tech territory before Will Ferrin hooked a 45-yard field goal. BYU’s defense responded, forcing an incompletion on 4th-and-2 inside the red zone, and handed the ball back still down just one score.
Then the wheels fell off.
Three plays into the next drive, linebacker Ben Roberts batted a pass into the air and intercepted it. Texas Tech scored on the next play. After two punts one, by both teams, the Cougars had the ball again. On their second play, a slow-developing play-action pass left Bear Bachmeier exposed, and he was hit from behind, losing the football. BYU held Tech to a field goal, but on the very next snap, Bachmeier threw another interception—again to Roberts, this time on a one-handed grab over the middle. Texas Tech touchdown. And on BYU’s next play from scrimmage, LJ Martin took a check-down pass, found a crease, and then fumbled the ball right back. Another Tech field goal followed.
In the blink of an eye, BYU went from trailing by six to trailing by 27. Ball game.
Texas Tech caps off arguably the best season in program history and secures a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff by winning its first Big 12 title.
As the regular season comes to an end, the excitement level in college football is only just heating up. In this week’s blog, I’m going to highlight the final week across each conference and preview next week’s conference championship games. I’ll also give my final thoughts on who I believe should win the Heisman Trophy, and wrap up by outlining what should be an outstanding College Football Playoff this year.
The South Eastern Conference
Things started early Friday for the SEC as Ole Miss handled the Egg Bowl with ease. Jumping out to a first-quarter lead gave the Rebels the cushion they needed to coast to yet another victory over Mississippi State. This is now Ole Miss’s fifth win in their last six tries—their only defeat coming in Mike Leach’s final coached game before he passed away two weeks later. Ole Miss finished the season 11–1 and 7–1 in conference play, with their only loss coming on the road at Georgia, a game they actually led entering the fourth quarter. The win set them up for a potential trip to the conference title game if both Texas A&M and Alabama lost.
Georgia had the afternoon slot on Friday in a game that did not matter for SEC title implications; win or lose, they were already locked into Atlanta since their game against Georgia Tech is not a conference matchup. Good Old Fashioned Hate lived up to its name, turning into a true slugfest that featured six field goals and just one touchdown. Neither team could capitalize on the other’s mistakes, and Georgia escaped with a 16–9 win. They also finished 11–1 and 7–1 in SEC play, their lone loss coming at home to Alabama. Thanks to holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Ole Miss, the Bulldogs could sit back, relax, and wait to see who they would face in the conference title game.
Texas A&M needed only to win their final game to go 8–0 and reach their first SEC title game. The problem? They had to do it on the road in Austin—where Texas has won 47 of the previous 61 meetings. The trend continued. A&M’s first-half lead disappeared quickly after halftime, and two fourth-quarter interceptions by Marcell Reed sealed their fate. The Aggies suffered their first loss of the season in their final game. Oddly enough, the loss might not be the worst thing for them; now eliminated from the SEC title game, they gain an extra week of rest and will almost certainly host a first-round playoff game.
With the A&M loss, an Iron Bowl win would send Alabama back to the SEC Championship for the first time since 2023. While that might not sound like a long drought, Alabama hadn’t missed back-to-back SEC title games since 2010–2011. On paper, this year’s game against Auburn should have been an easy win, but Jordan-Hare at night brings chaos. The 5–6 Tigers tied the game at 20–20 early in the fourth quarter. Alabama then produced a nearly eight-minute drive that included two fourth-down conversions—the final one a fourth-and-two at the Auburn six that resulted in a touchdown. Had they failed, Kalen DeBoer would be sitting on the hottest seat of the century. Auburn still had a shot, driving down the field with under a minute to play, but as star receiver Cam Coleman fought for extra yards, the ball was punched out, sealing Alabama’s trip to yet another SEC title game.
Elsewhere in the conference, Vanderbilt earned its first 10-win season in school history with a strong second half against in-state rival Tennessee. Oklahoma used a late touchdown pass to Isaiah Sategna to beat LSU by four and keep their CFP hopes alive. Kentucky and South Carolina both embarrassed themselves in rivalry games against ACC opponents, while Florida flipped the script and beat theirs. Arkansas finished the season 0–8 in SEC play after a 14-point loss to Missouri, officially earning the title of worst SEC team of the year.
Next week’s title game in Atlanta is a rematch of the September 27th meeting in Athens, where Alabama won a second-half defensive battle 24–21. Since then, both teams have rolled—minus Alabama’s performance against Oklahoma. Georgia hasn’t had a real scare, and Ty Simpson has blossomed into a true Heisman contender. Georgia is nearly a lock for the CFP regardless of the result, but things aren’t as simple for Alabama. Currently sitting as the last at-large team in the field, a loss to Georgia would give them a third loss. It’s hard to imagine the committee punishing them for playing an extra game they earned, but if I were Alabama, I wouldn’t test that luck—especially not with a blowout. Georgia has never beaten Alabama in an SEC title game, but I think that streak ends this year. Give me the Dawgs in a 27–17 win.
The week before Rivalry Week is a traditionally slow week of college football. While it is before Rivalry Week, there are usually a few big rivalries played, this year only one was played between Stanford and Cal. Most handled their non conference opponents with ease, some with less than ease but still won. And 22 of the top 25 won their games, the other three weren't too fortunate.
More ACC Cannibalism
Georgia Tech was the first ACC team with a chance to punch its ticket to the conference title game. All the Yellow Jackets had to do was win a home game against a Pitt team that had been blown out by Notre Dame the week before.
While Pitt was blown out, that loss wasn’t a conference game, and the Panthers also sat near the top of the ACC standings with just one conference loss. People expected a close game, but I don’t think anyone — certainly not me — expected Georgia Tech’s first five drives with Heisman hopeful Haynes King to produce one first down, eleven total yards, and an interception. And when they got the ball for the sixth time, they were already down 28–0.
Pitt came out swinging, clearly intent on making a statement, and they did just that. They moved the ball with ease throughout the first and second quarters. Their defense brought pressure, flustering King in a way no one else had all season, forcing bad throws and capitalizing on mistakes from the former Heisman contender.
The Yellow Jackets fought back, though, scoring twice before halftime to cut the Panthers’ lead in half. Just a week ago we watched Texas A&M come back from 30–3 — why not Georgia Tech from 28–0? When Tech forced a punt to start the second half, it felt like a touchdown drive would bring the stadium fully back to life. As they marched into the red zone, you could almost feel the building belief, the energy rising with each snap.
Then King dropped back from the Pitt 5-yard line, felt the pressure, and forced a throw into the end zone. It was intercepted and returned 100 yards by Braylan Lovelace. What could have been a seven-point game instantly became a 21-point deficit again, and all that momentum Georgia Tech had spent a quarter building vanished in seconds.
A resilient Yellow Jacket defense still fought to get the game back within seven with just over four minutes remaining. They hadn’t allowed a touchdown since early in the second quarter, and one more stop would have given the offense a chance to tie or even win the game. Instead, a defensive breakdown at the worst possible time opened a lane for Pitt running back Ja’Kyrian Turner, who sprinted 56 yards for the game-sealing score.
So what does this mean for the ACC title race? Three teams now sit at 6–1 in conference play: Virginia, SMU, and Pitt. Virginia plays Virginia Tech this week, SMU faces Cal, and Pitt plays Miami. I’m not going to pretend I can predict the outcomes — especially in this conference — but if next week somehow avoids ACC cannibalism, the title game would be Virginia vs. SMU. Miami, the highest-ranked ACC team, is essentially eliminated from both the conference title game and the CFP. The ACC should at least be thankful that the American Conference’s chaos is even worse; otherwise they’d have to sweat out whether they’d get a playoff spot at all.
I believe the ACC champion will still get into the playoff. However, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the champion won’t finish inside the top 12. That would leave them stuck as the 11-seed, forced to travel into a hostile environment to face a top-tier opponent desperate to prove they deserved a first-round bye.
As the clock inches closer to the finale of the regular season, you can feel the hands speeding up across college football. For some teams, their personal clocks have already struck midnight — dreams fading as the magic wears off. Others are still out on the dance floor, the music blaring, refusing to let the night end. No one knows exactly when last call will come, but one thing is certain: if you’ve got a chance to make a move, now is the moment to take it.
Drama in the SEC
It seemed the clock might have struck midnight in Norman three weeks ago when the Sooners couldn’t finish a second-half comeback against Ole Miss. Combine that with the embarrassing loss to Texas two weeks earlier, and Oklahoma suddenly had no margin for error with a brutal stretch of games still ahead. Fast-forward two weeks, and road trips to Neyland and Bryant-Denny usually go about as well as a bad dream.
This looked like the perfect setup for Alabama to notch another ranked win and strengthen Ty Simpson’s Heisman case. But a former Heisman frontrunner returning from injury had other plans.
John Mateer capitalized on a muffed punt by Alabama receiver Ryan Williams, scooping it up and sprinting 20 yards to give Oklahoma a 17–7 lead midway through the second quarter. Alabama answered with a touchdown of its own, but a blocked field goal as the half expired meant the Tide went into the locker room trailing for only the second time all season. A crisp 75-yard touchdown drive on their first possession of the second half briefly restored order.
And then the Tide’s offense decided it was done for the day.
Alabama’s next three drives produced a total of 15 yards, two punts, and a fumble. Fortunately for them, Mateer and the Sooners weren’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard either—but they were steady enough to kick a field goal and retake a 23–21 lead.
Down two with seven minutes left, Alabama needed its first consistent drive of the afternoon. Starting at their own six-yard line, the Tide steadily moved the ball until the first play after the two-minute warning, when Simpson was sacked by linebacker Kip Lewis—the first negative play of the series, and the one that knocked them off script. Faced with fourth-and-six under a minute to play, Simpson’s pass to Ryan Williams was broken up, and Oklahoma stunned Alabama for the second straight year.
Alabama, meanwhile, enters a much stranger situation. Despite also sitting at 8–2, this was their first conference loss. They still have to visit Auburn—and no matter how bad Auburn is, Jordan-Hare is where rational football goes to die. If Alabama wins and Ole Miss beats Mississippi State, Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss would all finish 7–1 in conference play (and maybe Texas A&M if they upset Texas). At that point, the SEC tiebreaker apparently comes down to “record against the highest-placed common conference opponent,” which is a very official way of saying “good luck figuring that one out.”
How far Alabama drops in the rankings will be interesting, especially with one of their losses now looking terrible. There will absolutely be SEC/Alabama bias baked into the discussion, but Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama hasn’t exactly made the playoff committee’s job obvious.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a follow-up on my midseason predictions for conference champions. In the two weeks since, almost all of those predictions have gone up in smoke. Outside of a handful of top teams, nobody seems interested in grabbing the season by the horns. Wishy-washy play and losses to teams they shouldn’t be losing to have left a long list of programs stuck in limbo, unsure whether this year is shaping up to be a success or a letdown.
Week 11 added even more teams to that dreaded middle space, and it let a few others escape it in ways we haven’t really seen this season.
Turmoil on the Atlantic Coast
Just one week after ACC front-runners Georgia Tech and Miami suffered losses to unranked opponents, the hypothetical storm made landfall again. This time it swallowed then-undefeated Virginia and one-loss Louisville, both losing at home to make the pain sting even more.
But the clock struck midnight. The Cavaliers couldn’t escape the Demons of Wake Forest.
Virginia went just 3-for-14 on third down, and the nine points on the scoreboard told the same story. Yet, down only seven with two and a half minutes left, they still had a chance to rewrite the whole afternoon. They marched down the field and set up a third and six from the Wake Forest 8. An errant throw that was somehow caught kept the drive alive, but Trell Harris couldn’t get out of bounds. With no timeouts, Virginia scrambled to the line for a fourth and three snap with 13 seconds left. The fade fell incomplete, and Jahmal Edrine couldn’t outjump the three Demon Deacons draped around him.
Almost at the exact same moment, one state to the east, Louisville found itself tied 23-23 with Cal. After a shanked punt by the Golden Bears, the Cardinals were just ten yards from their kicker’s range with a timeout to spare. One smart play from veteran quarterback Miller Moss was all they needed. Instead, he was sacked, Louisville burned their last timeout, and a short in-bounds completion afterwards killed any shot at a game-winning field goal. Overtime beckoned.
Louisville went backward on its first possession and settled for a field goal just to extend the game. It was good, but the defense still had to deliver. Knowing what you need to do and being able to do it are two very different things. Cal marched straight down the short-field overtime setup, never losing yards, and faced a fourth and goal from the three. Justin Wilcox kept his offense on the field. Jacob De Jesus dove into the endzone, putting the final stamp on his 153-yard night and giving Cal the win.
The ACC now has four teams sitting at 5-1 in conference play: Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pitt, and SMU. Duke sits at 4-1, though the Blue Devils just dropped their third non-conference game to fall to 5-4 overall. With only three weeks left before the conference title matchup is decided, the race is wide open. But the idea of any champion finishing inside the top 12 feels almost as unlikely as predicting which team will even get there. If not for the chaos happening in the American and Mountain West, the ACC would be sweating bullets about whether they’ll get even one team into the playoff.
I’ll be rooting for Duke to make a run. Imagine a team that lost to Tulane and UConn crashing the playoff party.
I’m going to start today by saying that ESPN is an absolute joke.
If I ever had any aspirations of writing for ESPN in the future, I’m probably putting an end to those chances right now — but I have to say it.
As a YouTube TV customer, I was informed that all Disney-owned networks would be taken off the air because of a contract dispute. I was then flooded with what can only be described as shameless propaganda across every ESPN platform, with employees begging fans to “save their networks.”
I firmly believe this is no coincidence. ESPN recently launched a new streaming service — separate from the ESPN+ I already pay for — called ESPN Unlimited, which gives access to all ESPN channels.
Why are there two streaming services from ESPN, you ask? One word: money.
Now, ESPN wants to charge Google more to carry their content on YouTube TV, and Google didn’t agree. This whole dispute just happens to perfectly highlight ESPN’s new streaming platform — one they can promote heavily, get people to sign up for, and then jack up the price later.
When I first subscribed to ESPN+ back in 2020, I paid $60 a year. My most recent bill was more than double that — an increase of over 100% in less than five years. Don’t be fooled. ESPN and Disney are the villains here, trying to squeeze more money out of consumers while caring less and less about the actual product they put out.
Thankfully, thanks to my loving parents who still pay for cable, I was able to log into the ESPN app through their account and watch games yesterday.
And speaking of ESPN’s “innovations,” they’ve been bombarding us with Multiview ads — bragging about a feature they didn’t even invent and are years late to implement. So, I decided to check it out. During the morning window of college football, the only Multiview options available? European soccer.
What. A. Joke.
No One is Safe November
Enough about large corporations trying to ruin the great sport we love — let’s get back to young adults moving the football up and down the field and filling the pockets of… different large corporations tied to education.
As the calendar turned to November, chaos reigned across college football. Outside of the top two teams in the nation, it was pure madness. Six ranked teams lost to either unranked or lower-ranked opponents — three of those losses coming inside the top 10. Even teams that survived, like Georgia, Virginia, Louisville, Michigan, and USC, didn’t do so without at least a little anxiety along the way.
One of the key games of the week featured Vanderbilt, riding high on their newfound top-10 ranking, traveling to Texas to take on a Longhorns team I had all but written off as an SEC contender. With Texas’s soft SEC schedule to this point — their only quality win coming against an Oklahoma team I was already skeptical of — I didn’t think Arch Manning had it in him to deliver in a big game. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt had been riding the ever-energetic (and maybe cocky) Diego Pavia to a 7–1 start. The last thing I expected to see after three quarters was a 34–10 Texas lead.
Texas came out firing, scoring on their first play from scrimmage and forcing a turnover on their first defensive possession. When Eli Stowers finally found the end zone for Vanderbilt, it only cut into a 21-point lead. It seemed like the game was out of reach when Vanderbilt scored to make it 34–17 in the fourth quarter. But a one-play drive made it 34–24, and suddenly the Commodores had life. Another touchdown cut the lead to three, and with no timeouts left and under a minute to go, Vanderbilt’s upset hopes came down to an onside kick. Executed perfectly, the ball pinballed around between Longhorns and Commodores until it looked like Vanderbilt’s special teams would fall on it—only for it to be knocked out of bounds by no more than six inches. The comeback fell short, and Texas held on.
Texas now finds itself 4–1 in SEC play, with its only loss coming to Florida — a result that looks worse every week. Not playing Alabama or Ole Miss (both ranked ahead of them) helps their chances of reaching Atlanta for the second straight year. They do, however, still face Georgia and Texas A&M in two of their remaining four games. The task is simple: just win.
Vanderbilt’s luck seems to have run out. Now 3–2 in conference play, they’ll try to rebound, with only Tennessee remaining as a ranked opponent. A 10–2 season is still very much in play, which would be the first in program history. That might not be enough to reach the playoff, but it would certainly spark a conversation.
As we are just one week away from the first reveal of the College Football Playoff Rankings, it is hard to believe that we are already 2/3 of the way done with the regular season. No need to fear though, with the newish playoff structure, we still have three months left of college football! That means crazy finishes and more blog posts!
The South Eastern Conference
As conference races start to take shape, this week’s post dives deep into each Power Conference, along with the usual look at the Group of Five race. We start with the conference where it just means more — the SEC.
Currently, the SEC frontrunner is a team from Texas that’s undefeated both in conference play and overall. No, not the preseason No. 1 from Austin — it’s the Aggies from Texas A&M. Starting the season ranked No. 19, the Aggies have ridden a relatively favorable SEC schedule to an 8–0 start. That doesn’t discount their early-season road win over Notre Dame, but Saturday night’s win in Death Valley (yes, the real Death Valley based on results this year) was their first victory against a ranked SEC opponent.
A night game in Baton Rouge should never be taken lightly, no matter how much LSU is stumbling right now. Marcel Reed has been outstanding for the Aggies, while head coach Mike Elko has guided them to mostly comfortable conference wins. With just three SEC games left — and a bye week before their matchup with Missouri — Texas A&M once again controls its own destiny for a trip to Atlanta. It didn’t work out last year, but they’ll look to redeem themselves this time around.
After a dreadful Week 1 showing, Kalen DeBoer and Alabama have rattled off seven straight wins, including five in SEC play — four of them against ranked opponents. The Tide have shown both grit and dominance along the way, though they nearly slipped up this past week against a reeling South Carolina squad. Thanks to a late drive led by Ty Simpson to tie it, and a costly fumble by Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers, Alabama escaped in a game they probably shouldn’t have won. Still, DeBoer keeps wearing the black hoodie, and the Crimson Tide keep winning.
Their remaining conference games — LSU and Oklahoma at home — look favorable given both teams’ recent struggles. The final game, however, will test every Alabama fan’s nerves: the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium. No one ever really knows what will happen there.
Georgia and Ole Miss sit right behind the top two teams at 4–1 in SEC play. Georgia’s lone loss came to Alabama, while Ole Miss’s came to Georgia. The Bulldogs had a bye this week and now head into the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party. Their only remaining ranked SEC opponent is Texas (don’t worry, we’ll get to them). A big matchup with in-state rival Georgia Tech looms, but that won’t affect conference standings.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, let Oklahoma hang around this past weekend before pulling away comfortably in Norman. With no ranked opponents left and only one road game remaining — the Egg Bowl to close the year — a 7–1 conference finish is very much on the table for the Rebels.
The real surprises of the SEC might be the two teams sitting at 3–1 in conference play — for very different reasons. Vanderbilt finds itself as a top-10 team after knocking off another top-15 opponent in Missouri. Diego Pavia has been everything they needed — a steady leader with playmaking ability — and all phases of the game are clicking.
They face the other 3–1 team this week: the Texas Longhorns. Somehow, after all that’s happened, Texas isn’t out of it. But man, it hasn’t been pretty. A one-score win over Kentucky and a double-overtime victory against Mississippi State make their 3–1 mark feel more like 4–4. Unlike the teams above them, Texas has a brutal remaining schedule: four SEC games left, three against top-10 opponents. Margin for error is nonexistent — especially with a quarterback still searching for his rhythm.
Missouri, Oklahoma, and LSU all looked strong early in the year, but the tide has turned for each of them. Missouri’s struggles were somewhat expected, and Oklahoma always felt like they were living on borrowed time. LSU, though, has been flat-out disappointing. They lost a night game in Death Valley and now get Alabama as a reward. Brian Kelly seems to have lost the reins — and fans were calling for his job after blowing a halftime lead to Texas A&M.
After starting 5–0, Oklahoma looked like a dark horse. I thought they might not win another game — and while they proved me wrong by beating South Carolina, their final stretch is brutal: Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU. Even with Missouri and LSU sinking, those are far from guaranteed wins.
South Carolina might be the biggest disappointment of all. I had them pegged for a playoff run, and now they sit at 1–5 in SEC play and 3–5 overall. That’s a nightmare outcome for Shane Beamer and a team that entered the season with sky-high expectations.
My preseason pick to win the SEC was Texas — along with a bunch of other so-called “college football experts.” We couldn’t have been more wrong about the Longhorns and Arch Manning. My midseason pick now? Alabama.
I’m not sure how all the tiebreakers will shake out for the SEC title game, but one thing’s certain: it’s going to be an exciting finish down South.
The BIG 10 Conference
The conference of the Midwest (and now the West Coast) has gone about 75% the way experts predicted. The big glaring misfire? Penn State.
One of last year’s final four in the 12-team playoff, the Nittany Lions were expected to take the next step under James Franklin with veteran quarterback Drew Allar — maybe even make a real run at the national championship. Fast-forward to Week 9: Franklin is unemployed, Allar is out for the season, and Penn State is 0-4 in conference play. Hard to imagine it going much worse in Happy Valley — or maybe, at this point, Sad Valley. But hey, look on the bright side: they now get to face the top two teams in the country in back-to-back weeks!
The other big surprise of the season in the Big Ten is Indiana traveling across the country and beating Oregon in Eugene. The Hoosiers now sit at 5-0 in conference play, fully controlling their own destiny for a spot in the conference title game. Unlike last year, when they needed help to reach Indianapolis (help that never came), this time Indiana has a great chance to play for — and possibly win — their first conference championship in 58 years.
Ohio State finds itself exactly where it wants to be: No. 1 in the country and 4-0 in conference. That Week 1 win against Texas looks worse and worse with each passing week, and when you dig into their schedule, their only other ranked win is against Illinois — an Illinois team that just got waxed by Washington. Then again, Ohio State beat Washington too, so it all balances out, right?
Once again, a final-week matchup in the Big House against Michigan looms large. It’s likely to be their only remaining ranked opponent, meaning win or lose, Ohio State’s playoff spot looks secure — but their place in the Big Ten title game isn’t quite locked in yet.
Michigan and Iowa are a quiet 4-1 in conference play, while Oregon also sits at 4-1, though a bit deflated after its loss to Indiana. Iowa and Oregon’s only losses came to those same Hoosiers, while Michigan stumbled on its cross-country trip to the Coliseum in L.A. Iowa and Oregon meet November 8th, and the outcome will likely end one team’s title hopes. The winner will still need help, but they won’t be out of it by any means.
Michigan looks to be in a good spot after its ground game dominated this past weekend, earning a convincing win over not their biggest rival — but one that led to their biggest rival (Michigan State) losing to their biggest rival. Yeah, try to wrap your head around that one. As if Michigan-Ohio State needed any more juice, there’s a good chance this year’s matchup could once again decide who heads to Indianapolis — just like it did three straight years before last season.
USC still has an outside shot at the title game, but its loss to Illinois keeps aging poorly as the Illini’s hot start cools off. Meanwhile, Minnesota, Nebraska, Washington, and Northwestern are all having good seasons, but they’re probably too far behind the top tier to make a real run.
My preseason pick to win the conference was Oregon. They’ve played well, but based on current standings, I don’t think they make the title game. My midseason pick? Ohio State over Indiana in the Big Ten Championship.
Week 8 was a defining moment for many teams across the country. With major rivalry games and pivotal ranked matchups on the slate, the postseason picture began to take clearer shape as contenders separated themselves from the pack.
The Holy War
I’m going to start this week’s blog post with my alma mater, Brigham Young University, and their biggest game of the year — against Utah. In this rendition of the Holy War, we got a ranked matchup between Utah and BYU for the first time since 2009, and a conference matchup in Provo for the first time since Utah joined the Pac-12 and BYU went independent in 2011. BYU had won the last two meetings, and you have to go all the way back to August 2019 to find the last time Utah came out on top.
Utah closed as a 5.5-point favorite on the road this year, and I’ll highlight the game before getting into my thoughts. The first quarter was scoreless, with each team possessing the ball twice — but underneath that, there was plenty going on.
BYU got the ball first and, after moving the chains once, stalled and was forced to punt. Utah then unleashed a 12-play drive, moving the ball at will. BYU’s defense struggled with assignments, leaving receiver Ryan Davis completely wide open for a 22-yard gain at one point. Utah’s only negative play was a false start on their first snap, which cost them just three yards because of how backed up they were near their own end zone.
Eventually, Utah faced a 4th-and-1 at the BYU 12. I understand what Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was thinking — they had forced a punt and were driving easily, so seven points would be huge — but in a rivalry where every point matters, going for it there was definitely a choice. Utah called a jet sweep to Daniel Bray, which had gone for 29 yards earlier in the drive. The only problem: BYU cornerback Mory Bamba sniffed it out immediately and shot across the field to make the tackle for loss, giving the ball back to the Cougars.
BYU then had their turn to drive. After a sack on quarterback Bear Bachmeier, they faced a long third down. A quarterback draw left BYU in a similar predicament to Utah’s — a 4th-and-short, this time near midfield. Running back LJ Martin slipped on the play, giving the ball back to Utah. It didn’t hurt BYU, though, as their defense forced a three-and-out and got the ball back as time wound down on the first quarter.
The start of the second quarter brought fireworks. BYU hit back-to-back passes to star receiver Chase Roberts totaling 43 yards, the latter a beautiful throw from Bachmeier for a touchdown that gave BYU a 7–0 lead. Utah responded with a drive to the BYU 28, where they lined up for a field goal — but BYU coach Kalani Sitake called a timeout just before the kick. After Utah’s practice kick missed, Whittingham sent his offense back out to go for it on 4th-and-7. Quarterback Devon Dampier’s pass fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs again.
Utah’s defense forced a three-and-out, then finally drove for a touchdown, finding Ryan Davis wide open once again to tie it 7–7.
Utah’s defense forced yet another three-and-out and was about to get the ball back with just over two minutes left — and a chance for a two-for-one, as they were set to receive the second-half kickoff. Too bad Mana Carvalho muffed the punt.
BYU now had the ball 40 yards from the end zone with plenty of time. Things looked good as BYU converted a 4th-and-1 inside the 15-yard line with a minute left. Then all systems broke down. With no timeouts, they kept running the ball and, worse, didn’t seem to have secondary play calls ready. They wasted nearly 35 seconds on one two-yard run. Nonetheless, they managed to spike the ball with six seconds left, and Will Ferrin hit a 26-yard field goal to give BYU a 10–7 halftime lead. Bachmeier was visibly frustrated with the clock management — and rightfully so, it was abysmal.
The third quarter, on paper, looks eerily similar to the first: zero points. But diving deeper, Utah put together a 9-play, 66-yard drive that included a wild sequence — a Dampier pass to Dallin Bentley, who ran 25 yards before the ball was ripped out, only to fall directly into teammate Tobias Merriweather’s hands, who took it another 25. Once again, Utah found itself inside the BYU 10 on 4th-and-3. Dampier was stuffed on a quarterback keeper, turning it over on downs yet again. Noticing a trend?
A promising BYU drive stalled, and Utah got the ball back. This time, they didn’t bother inching downfield — Daniel Bray took a jet sweep 49 yards to the house to make it 14–10. BYU responded quickly with a 5-play, 81-yard drive capped by a 12-yard Parker Kingston run.
Now with just over 10 minutes to go and BYU leading 17–14, Utah needed something big. The only consistent play had been that jet sweep to Bray, but Utah shifted to a heavier passing look — and BYU was ready. Pressure forced errant throws, and on 2nd-and-13, Dampier lobbed a questionable jump ball that BYU’s Tanner Wall tracked perfectly and intercepted.
BYU capitalized, burning five minutes off the clock before Bachmeier ran through Utah defenders on a 22-yard touchdown scramble on 3rd-and-11 to make it 24–14.
In desperation mode, Utah failed to convert a 4th-and-15. BYU took over inside the Utah 30 with a chance to deliver the knockout punch — but Sitake went for it on 4th-and-5, and a 25-yard fade fell incomplete, giving Utah one more chance. Utah scored, but after an awful onside kick attempt, BYU recovered and kneeled it out for the 24–21 win.
I’ll be the first to admit: I didn’t think BYU was going to win this game. After watching these two teams win in dramatically different ways last week, I was worried about Utah’s physicality overwhelming BYU. That wasn’t the case. This was the first time a team rushed for over 200 yards against Utah since last year’s Holy War.
On paper, the stats make it look close, but Utah’s penalties, two turnovers, and 1-for-5 mark on fourth down doomed them. The turning point in discipline came when Utah led 14–10 and two-way star Lander Barton lowered his head and hit Bachmeier directly in the facemask after the throw. It checked all the boxes for targeting — and in what might have been the fastest review I’ve ever seen, the officials agreed. While it’s a tough spot for Barton, your captain and defensive leader has to know better in a close fourth-quarter game.
Bachmeier took care of the football and made smart plays, taking just two sacks compared to Dampier’s three. He’ll need to keep that up as BYU — now sitting atop the Big 12 — heads on the road to face Iowa State and Texas Tech, with a bye week in between. The physicality they showed tonight is exactly what they’ll need to keep this stretch going.
Now let’s talk about Utah. This was not good. A team that prides itself on being built in the trenches just got beat at its own game. The defense, while solid early, crumbled late, allowing BYU to move the ball at will. There needs to be a serious look at Whittingham’s decision-making — particularly his fourth-down aggression. In a rivalry where field goals often decide outcomes, refusing to take the points was unacceptable.
Utah fans can complain that their season’s over, but let’s be honest — they might not be as dominant as they remember. Since joining the Power Five ranks in 2011, Utah has just one 10-win regular season — and no, it wasn’t in either of their Rose Bowl years. The idea that Utah could go 13–0 like they did twice in the Mountain West isn’t realistic and hasn’t been for a long time.
Whittingham’s injury report antics and his refusal to talk about BYU or Bachmeier during the week don’t help, either.
To make matters worse, naming Morgan Scalley as “head coach in waiting” might be the dumbest move possible. That’s basically saying nothing will change when Whittingham retires — just more of the same mediocrity. Utah rode the high of two 10–4 seasons that ended in Rose Bowl losses and dug themselves into a rut of stale leadership. In today’s rapidly changing college football landscape, that’s mind-boggling. Heck, Penn State fired James Franklin after three bad weeks, while Utah seems committed to the same staff no matter the results.
Utah now falls to 4–9 since joining the Big 12 — a far cry from the “running the conference” talk their fans were pushing.
Week 7 brought a great slate that helped determine which teams are for real and which ones probably should’ve let their star quarterback rest another week to let his hand heal. Nonetheless, we’re in the full swing of the college football season, with teams racing to become bowl eligible as quickly as possible. This week served as the appetizer for what’s to come over the next month and a half.
Indiana University- Football School
Indiana and football have been synonymous with losing for nearly the entirety of college football history. In fact, the Hoosiers still hold the record for the most FBS losses by any program — a record that may soon be in jeopardy, as Northwestern sits only three losses behind them. Indiana football hadn’t had a coach with a winning record during their time in Bloomington in the post–World War II era. That is, until Curt Cignetti showed up.
Cignetti’s famous line is “Google him,” and when you do, you find exactly what he says: winning records everywhere he’s been. From IUP (Division II) to Elon (FCS) to James Madison (Sun Belt), his track record proves one thing — he wins. Many didn’t doubt his ability, but taking the job at Indiana was a different challenge. He was entering a conference loaded with perennial powerhouses. Teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and even Michigan State have enjoyed decades of success. Adding former Pac-12 schools USC, Oregon, and Washington didn’t make the task of winning in the Big Ten any easier. That’s why last year’s run to the College Football Playoff shocked people across the country. It was soon picked apart with criticisms of Indiana losing their biggest games in noncompetitive fashion. Losing star quarterback Kurtis Rourke to graduation left Indiana in an uncertain spot, where many — myself included — thought regression was inevitable.
Cignetti brought in transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Cal and took the Hoosiers to Eugene for their first true road test. Indiana had handled Illinois earlier this year, but that was Illinois — not one of the Big Ten’s heavyweights. Oregon, still riding high after beating Penn State in State College, looked like the ultimate test of whether Indiana was for real. While that Penn State win has lost some luster as the Nittany Lions continue to falter, a road trip to Oregon is still one of the toughest assignments in college football — especially when you have to fly three-quarters of the way across the country to get there.
To be frank, Indiana dominated this game. A quick drive at the end of the half allowed them to capitalize on an Oregon missed field goal and kick one of their own, giving the Hoosiers a 13-10 lead at halftime. Indiana came out strong in the second half, not allowing Oregon to move the ball more than 25 yards on any drive. The Ducks’ only second-half points came from a short field goal off a drive that began in Indiana territory and a pick-six. The 30-20 final score doesn’t tell the full story — in reality, Indiana played in a way that looked more like a 35-13 kind of win.
What does this mean for Oregon? It’s not the end of the world by any means, but it is their first conference loss as members of the Big Ten and their first home loss since Washington beat them back in 2022. Oregon avoids both Ohio State and Michigan this regular season, gets to host USC (who reenters the rankings this week), and finishes the year at Washington. The margin for error is now zero if they want to repeat as Big Ten champions, but their playoff hopes are still alive.
Indiana also avoids both Ohio State and Michigan this year, leaving them with no more ranked opponents on the schedule. What was supposed to be a marquee matchup at Penn State has lost its luster following the firing of James Franklin. Heck, their biggest remaining game might be against UCLA. The Hoosiers are now in prime position to play for their first conference title since 1967. Whatever happens the rest of the way, earning the program’s first road win against an AP Top-5 team has solidified Curt Cignetti as a legitimate Power Five coach — and he’s proven that Indiana is here to compete. The only question now is whether he’ll stick around or jump at one of the bigger jobs that will inevitably open soon.
Some of you might be wondering — it’s almost Monday afternoon, so where is the College Footblog post? Week 6 just happened to fall on the same weekend as the Seattle Mariners’ ALDS series openers — something I couldn’t miss. As a result, this week’s post will arrive a day late. But have no fear: Week 6’s “sleepy” slate delivered plenty of drama.
Top Ten Teams with no key wins?
This week looked to be just a stepping stone for Penn State and Texas. Both teams found themselves in the top ten despite already having a loss — Texas to the No. 1 team in the country, Ohio State, in Week 1, and Penn State to the then-No. 2 Oregon just last week. Both teams were either looking to continue their slow roll toward tougher competition or get back in the saddle after a tough loss.
We’ll start with Penn State and James Franklin. For all the ridicule he gets for not being able to beat the top teams each year, Franklin has done a tremendous job beating up on the teams he’s supposed to. This week looked no different as the Nittany Lions traveled all the way to the West Coast to play the shipwreck known as UCLA. After starting 0-3 and losing to two Mountain West schools, UCLA fired head coach DeShaun Foster and opted to continue the season by letting fans submit play calls through a QR code on the jumbotron. They soon found out that wouldn’t work because, well, no one shows up to the games. So they handed the interim job to Tim Skipper, with Jerry Neuheisel helping call plays. Every good college team has a former kicker calling plays, right?
UCLA entered the game 0-4 with no sign of a win on the horizon. Their remaining home games were all against undefeated or one-loss teams — including this week’s matchup, as Penn State came to town off a gut-wrenching overtime loss to Oregon. The spread closed at 25.5; no one in their right mind thought this game would be worth watching. CBS announcers Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson had to be thinking, “We traded packed SEC stadiums for this?” as the camera panned across a quarter-full Rose Bowl before kickoff.
UCLA got the opening kickoff, and it was immediately clear that Nico Iamaleava was playing like early-2024 Tennessee Iamaleava. An 11-play touchdown drive followed by a 7-play field-goal drive gave UCLA a 10-0 lead over Penn State. Not only was that the Bruins’ largest lead of the year — it was their only lead of the year. After Penn State went 10 plays and 75 yards for a touchdown, I thought, “Okay, they’ve settled in. They’ll take it from here.” I was wrong. UCLA unleashed a second quarter that saw them score three times while Penn State punted and turned the ball over on downs. Going into halftime, the UCLA Bruins led 27-7. Let me say that again another way: UCLA had a twenty-point lead over the No. 7 team in the country.
A blocked-punt touchdown by the Nittany Lions in the third quarter cut the lead to 27-21 — the closest margin since the start of the game. But even in the face of adversity, UCLA marched down the field to extend the lead to 34-21 right before the fourth quarter. Another 13-play drive that burned nearly half the fourth quarter put UCLA up by 14 with about six minutes left. Penn State answered, but UCLA found itself facing a 4th-and-1 at its own 35 with just over two minutes to play — a chance to ice the game. Not sure if this was a play call from the kicker, but it looked like it. A designed QB run was not the time they wanted Iamaleava to revert back to his UCLA self, losing yardage and giving Penn State the ball in prime position to tie it.
Luckily for UCLA, Drew Allar might be even worse. On 4th-and-2, he kept the ball on what might have been the worst read-option decision of all time. I’ll give UCLA credit — the jet-sweep option looked like it would’ve been blown up too — but when the QB is staring down two defenders right in front of him, he’s usually taught to give that ball.
A late “pitchy-pitchy-woo-woo” effort by the Nittany Lions came up short, and UCLA held on to beat No. 7 Penn State, 42-37. Now let’s talk about what this means. Tim Skipper, who’s been a head coach for about three weeks, now has as many top-ten wins as James Franklin does in the past eight years! (I’m not counting Boise State as a top-ten team last year — that ranking was inflated.) If I were a Penn State fan, this would be unacceptable. To lose to a team having its plays called by a kicker — with no coach, no fans, and no hope — is brutal.
Penn State’s wins this year have come against FIU, Nevada, and FCS Villanova. They fall from No. 7 all the way out of the rankings this week.
On the other hand, UCLA played great — but that doesn’t change the nature of their remaining schedule or how they’ve looked in their other four games. Only time will tell if Nico has figured something out and will play like his Volunteer self, or if he’ll continue his UCLA ways. Penn State, who began the year ranked No. 2, now finds itself unranked. Hard to imagine it could get any worse for anyone else…
Photo Courtesy of Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Week 5 delivered. All the talk leading up to the weekend was about the slate—and how sorry we should feel for the guys being dragged to weddings. All I can say is, if you weren’t streaming during the bride and groom’s first dance, you missed out. Every day, every window, there was great action to soak in.
Flashy Friday
Friday brought us three enticing matchups: an ACC showdown in Charlottesville, a Big 12 clash in Tempe to determine an early frontrunner, and a quirky meeting in Corvallis between a current Power Five school that used to be Group of Five and a former Power Five program that now feels more like Group of Five.
Florida State, fresh off a win over Kent State, traveled to Virginia hoping to keep their bounce-back season rolling. After a cupcake stretch since the Alabama game, this marked their first real test and first taste of ACC play. Virginia, meanwhile, came in confident with their only loss being a road nailbiter at NC State. The Seminoles quickly fell into a 14–0 hole midway through the second quarter before exploding in the final seven minutes of the half for three scores. Thanks to a late Cavaliers drive, the teams entered halftime tied at 21. They traded touchdowns through the third and fourth quarters, sending it to overtime knotted at 35.
The first OT was forgettable, with neither side moving the chains and both settling for field goals. Then the chaos began in double OT. Virginia marched the 25 yards in four plays for a touchdown—but then sent out the kicking unit. Somehow, in the fifth season under the new rules, no one on the Cavaliers sideline seemed to realize a two-point try is mandatory in the second overtime. The refs bailed them out by resetting the play clock rather than penalizing them. As you can imagine, Mike Norvell was not exactly calm about that. I agree with him—the rules are the rules, and the Cavs should’ve been flagged. Still, they regrouped and converted the two-point try.
Florida State answered with their backs against the wall. On third down, QB Tommy Castellanos fired to Duce Robinson. The pass slipped through his hands at the front of the end zone, bobbled all the way to the back, and appeared to be controlled just before he stepped out. But on replay, the ball shifted one last time after Robinson had landed, and the officials ruled it incomplete. The right call, in my opinion. That set up a do-or-die fourth down. Castellanos launched a prayer that was intercepted, sealing a wild Virginia win.
The field rush that followed was elite. With no barrier to hop, it looked more like a basketball court storm than a football field rush—instantaneous and chaotic. Was it 100% safe? No. Did some students cross the line, like the one flipping off Castellanos? Sure. But overall, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some old heads on X made it out to be. Reports even surfaced of Virginia students boxing out others to protect Florida State WR Squirrel White from being trampled. If true, that just cements it: best field storming of the year so far, and maybe one of the best of the decade.
Week 4 brought both highs and lows, depending on the team. It gave some programs the chance to step into the spotlight for the first time and test their new rosters and play-callers against worthy opponents. For others, it offered redemption from earlier losses. And for teams that already had a signature win, it was an opportunity to continue their dominance. Some teams thrived in Week 4, while others wished they could rewind to Weeks 1–3—or even back to the offseason.
Teams First Test
Texas Tech traveled to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Utes in a battle of 3–0 teams, both ranked inside the AP Top 20. The Red Raiders were eager to showcase their newly bolstered roster—built in part by a generous donor who poured $30 million into the program. Utah, meanwhile, had also invested heavily in the transfer portal this offseason, hoping to rebound from last year’s 5–7 campaign. Neither squad had faced a true test yet, with Utah’s Week 1 opponent UCLA and Texas Tech’s Week 3 opponent Oregon State both still winless against multiple Group of Five opponents.
For Utah, it was quarterback Devon Dampier’s first chance to prove himself on the Power Four stage. A transfer from New Mexico, Dampier dazzled Mountain West fans last year, but this was the national spotlight—Big Noon Kickoff with a ranked opponent in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Texas Tech opened the game strong, forcing a three-and-out before marching 85 yards in seven plays to take a 7–0 lead. From there, the first half turned sloppy: two fumbles, three interceptions, and a lot of wasted drives. The Red Raiders’ kicker drilled a career-long 58-yard field goal, and it looked like Tech would head to halftime up 10–0. But a late pass interference call set Utah up for a long field goal attempt. The kick sailed nowhere near the uprights, but a convincing flop by the kicker drew a roughing-the-kicker penalty. With a second chance from 15 yards closer, Utah converted to cut the lead to 10–3 at the half.
The third quarter was a punt-fest, with neither side gaining momentum. Utah managed just one first down, and Tech QB Behren Morton left the game after taking a hit in the end zone. That brought in backup quarterback Will Hammond, and suddenly the Red Raiders’ offense came alive. Hammond missed just one throw—a would-be touchdown—and Tech settled for a field goal to extend the lead to 13–3. Utah finally answered with a 75-yard drive capped by a Wayshawn Parker touchdown run, trimming the deficit to 13–10 and reviving the Rice-Eccles crowd with just over 10 minutes left.
But the energy didn’t last. Hammond led Tech to touchdowns on their next three possessions, while the Red Raider defense forced a three-and-out and an interception on Utah’s next two drives. In a blink, the Utes went from being within striking distance to getting blown out at home.
Hammond finished 13-of-16 for 169 yards, two passing touchdowns, and 61 rushing yards—providing the spark Tech needed. The win puts Texas Tech in the Big 12 driver’s seat, with their toughest remaining games at Arizona State and home dates against Kansas, BYU, and UCF. In a league where one (or even two) losses can still get you into the conference championship, the Red Raiders’ NIL gamble appears to be paying off.
For Utah, the loss drops them to 2–8 in Big 12 play since joining the league—and still winless at home. Rice-Eccles is billed as one of the toughest venues in the country, but visiting Big 12 teams have had little trouble. Offensively, the Utes looked uncomfortably similar to last year’s unit under Andy Ludwig, when the weekly question was whether Cam Rising would play. Dampier struggled under pressure, the highly touted offensive line was manhandled in the trenches, and Utah barely cracked 100 rushing yards. The defense held strong for three quarters, but football is a four-quarter game—and the Red Raiders took full advantage down the stretch.
There is a lot about Utah in the past being able to pick up on teams signs and decipher other teams codes. Since the emergence of in helmet radios, which Utah coach, Kyle Whittingham was in favor of, Whittingham's Comments , there seems to be a problem with the offense of the Utes. This is all speculation but Utah needs to figure their offense out fast because they travel to Morgantown next week before a bye and then host Arizona State. If they don't figure it out, Whittingham is looking directly into another disappointing season to say the least.
Week 3 has left me more confused than ever when it comes to watching college football. That’s one of the beauties of the sport, but the more I think about it, the more my mind twists into a pretzel. Teams I thought were good might not be so good, teams I thought had no chance showed signs of life, and don’t even get me started on trying to predict how good individual players are. Even with all the confusion and craziness of the season so far, I feel confident saying UCLA is not very good—and you can take that to the bank.
Not so good, my friend!
In the spirit of Coach Lee Corso, I feel that if he were asked about certain preseason expectations of Heisman hopefuls and playoff contenders, he’d slightly alter his famous phrase to sum up the first three weeks of the season: “Not so good, my friend.”
Clemson, who entered as an overwhelming favorite to win the ACC and snag a playoff bye, is just a second-half comeback against Troy away from being 0-3. After losing to LSU at home in Week 1, they had to travel for their first road game this past week to face an up-and-coming ACC opponent, Georgia Tech, in Atlanta. Once again, the Tigers came out flat and found themselves in a 13-0 hole. After fighting back to tie it at 21-21 with just under three and a half minutes left, Haynes King once again put his body on the line and led the Yellow Jackets on a methodical 36-yard drive that drained the clock. The finish wasn’t without drama, as Georgia Tech had no timeouts left and had to run a field-goal fire drill with roughly 16 seconds remaining. Aidan Birr drilled the 55-yarder—a new career long—to seal the win.
The biggest reason for Clemson’s slow start is their offense. Between play-calling and execution, there hasn’t been much to smile about on that side of the ball. With yesterday’s performance, third-year starter (and fourth-year player) Cade Klubnik now sits at 52/88 for 633 yards with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. That’s a far cry from what Tiger fans were expecting—and an even farther cry from the “experts” who pegged him as a Heisman contender.
Now, the Tigers enter ACC play with almost zero room for error. With Florida State and Miami showing all sorts of life, their only real path back to the playoff seems to be repeating as ACC champions. It’s not the first time a Dabo Swinney-led Clemson team has faced an uphill climb—but this may be the steepest yet.
Notre Dame now starts the season 0-2 for the first time since 2022, Marcus Freeman’s first full year as head coach. While this year’s losses didn’t include a defeat to a far inferior opponent, two early setbacks aren’t what Freeman envisioned for his Irish after traveling to Miami and then hosting Texas A&M.
The defense has been a major question mark. They allowed the Aggies to put up 41 points last night and let the Hurricanes score at will when it mattered two weeks ago. Freshman quarterback CJ Carr has been a bright spot, but without improvement on the other side of the ball, his play won’t make much of a difference. Heisman hopeful Jeremiyah Love has also been a nonfactor, recording only 127 yards on 33 carries this season.
Notre Dame now finds itself in a tough position because of its independence. With no conference championship game and only ranked opponent on the schedule left is USC, their margin for error is already gone—and even if they win out, it still might not be enough.
The Arch Manning hype has officially cooled. He’s started the year 47-of-85 with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. That completion percentage isn’t great—and considering two of Texas’ opponents have been San Jose State and UTEP, people expected much better numbers. Maybe that game in Columbus in Week 1 wasn’t too far off after all.
Garrett Nussmeier also turned in his worst performance of the young season, right after he vaulted to the top of the Heisman odds. He completed only 55% of his passes, threw just one touchdown, and added an interception in LSU’s slogfest against Florida last night. Through three games, he has yet to throw for more than 240 yards in a single outing.
Even teams that haven’t suffered a loss haven’t looked as sharp as they’d hoped. Ohio State only led Ohio 13-3 before finally picking it up in the second half. Penn State let Villanova hang around in the first half as well. Iowa State held just a one-point lead over Arkansas State until a late Cyclone touchdown, and Utah was clinging to a 3-0 halftime edge against Wyoming. Chalk it up to early-season rust, but so far, plenty of teams don’t look nearly as polished as they were advertised to be.
Upsets and G5 Contenders
Four Group of 5 teams knocked off Power Conference opponents this weekend—and none of the games were particularly close. New Mexico put the beatdown on UCLA late Friday night, sparking multiple responses on X from the Big Sky Conference saying they didn’t want UCLA and even a Pac-12 post with a Jerry Seinfeld “what a shame” gif. Old Dominion handled in-state big brother Virginia Tech with ease, leading 31-0 at one point. The Hokies now start the season 0-3—yikes. North Texas also took care of Washington State (don’t worry, the Cougs will get their moment).
USF traveled to Miami for a highly anticipated ranked showdown, but their exhaustion showed. Miami controlled the game from the start and cruised to a comfortable win after a lengthy lightning delay. South Florida still controls its own destiny thanks to the road win over Florida, but hot on their heels is conference rival Tulane. The Green Wave hosted Duke and their former quarterback Darian Mensah, leaving him to wonder if the transfer money was worth it, as Tulane dominated from start to finish. At 3-0, it looks like the AAC is quickly shaping up to be a two-horse race between Tulane and USF.
Meanwhile, South Carolina hosted Vanderbilt to open SEC play for both teams—and it did not go well for the Gamecocks, who entered the week ranked No. 11. A targeting call on a hit against LaNorris Sellers knocked him out of the game with a concussion, and that was essentially all she wrote for South Carolina. Turnovers plagued the Gamecocks as Vanderbilt controlled the ball and the tempo throughout the second half.
It’s striking how different South Carolina looks without its QB1. The offense reminded me a lot of Utah last year after Cam Rising went down—no real movement or threat once Sellers exited, which is a bad sign considering the gauntlet that remains on their schedule. For the Gamecocks’ sake, they’ll be hoping Sellers returns quickly.
On the flip side, the Commodores are off to a 3-0 start, and after last year’s struggles, the swagger in Nashville has to be at an all-time high. Heck, throw Diego Pavia into the Heisman conversation—because you know he’s going to leave it all out there the rest of the way. Vanderbilt now has a real shot to be 5-0 heading into their October 4th trip to Tuscaloosa.
Co Game of the Week: Texas A&M 41, Notre Dame 40
The Aggies looked for revenge from their Week 1 loss in 2024 as they traveled to South Bend to take on the Irish. Notre Dame got off to a hot start on special teams, blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown to take an early lead. After a defensive breakdown by the Irish, their offense bailed them out with a 7-play, 75-yard drive to retake the lead, 14-7.
The second quarter brought a flood of action, as none of the eight possessions ended in a punt. Texas A&M scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the quarter, only failing to add more points when they ran out of time at the half. Notre Dame answered with a field goal and a touchdown, but costly turnovers—a pick and a fumble—left them trailing 28-24 at the break.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle. Notre Dame managed a touchdown and a field goal, while A&M added two field goals, leaving the score tied at 34-34 with just over nine minutes left. That’s when the Irish put together a classic hard-nosed drive: over six minutes, 75 yards, capped by a 12-yard Jeremiyah Love touchdown run to put Notre Dame up with just under three minutes to play.
Earlier, I noted the last time Notre Dame started 0-2 was in 2022, when Tyler Buchner was their quarterback. He was eventually benched, transferred to Alabama, and famously started the rain-soaked game against USF in 2023. That ended up being his only real action with the Tide before transferring back to Notre Dame to play lacrosse. He won a national championship and spent two years starring on the lacrosse team before rejoining the football program as a wide receiver—and apparently, the holder.
On a perfect snap, Buchner mishandled the hold, and the Irish couldn’t convert the extra point.
That left Notre Dame up just six, giving Texas A&M plenty of life. The Aggies promptly marched downfield, eventually facing 3rd-and-16 at the Irish 20. A defensive holding penalty bailed them out, setting up a fresh set of downs. Quarterback Marcell Reed was stuffed on first down, then followed with two of his worst throws of the night—both prayers that Irish defenders somehow failed to intercept. That left one last chance. On 4th down, Reed found tight end Nate Boerkircher for an 11-yard touchdown. The extra point was no problem, and the Aggies walked away with a dramatic 41-40 victory.
I don’t think there needs to be a conversation about Marcus Freeman, but as I mentioned above, Notre Dame has no room for error now. Texas A&M and Mike Elko, meanwhile, just picked up their signature win and now have a great chance to make the playoff depending on how they navigate SEC play. I won’t call them a shoo-in—because we all know what the Aggies are capable of doing to themselves.
Co Game of the Week: Georgia 44, Tennessee 41
The Volunteers looked to break their eight-game losing streak to the Bulldogs as College GameDay came to Knoxville for this highly anticipated matchup. Traditionally played in November, the game was moved up this year—giving us a marquee showdown in mid-September.
While the end results for Tennessee haven’t been great in recent years, the Vols have always started fast—and this year was no different. Joey Aguilar led a crisp 75-yard drive to open the game with a touchdown. After Georgia answered, Aguilar went deep, hitting Chris Brazzell II on consecutive drives to give Tennessee a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Defensive adjustments by Georgia flipped the script in the second quarter. With more pressure on Aguilar, the Bulldogs dominated the frame, outscoring the Vols 10-0 and trimming the deficit to 21-17 at the half—plus they were set to receive the second-half kickoff. Whatever Georgia had drawn up worked to perfection, as they opened the third quarter with a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to take their first lead of the night, 24-21. Their defense continued to stifle Tennessee until Aguilar finally broke through late in the quarter.
Two straight Volunteer touchdowns gave Tennessee a 35-30 advantage, and when Georgia fumbled deep in its own territory, it looked like the Vols were about to put the game away. The Bulldogs held, however, forcing a 48-yard field goal that Max Gilbert drilled, extending Tennessee’s lead to 38-30 with 6:30 to play.
Georgia answered with a gutsy drive, facing a 4th-and-6 at the Tennessee 26. Instead of a safe play to move the chains, Gunner Stockton launched a back-shoulder fade into the end zone. The throw had guts, the catch had precision, and after converting the two-point try, the game was tied at 38.
Tennessee still had 2:30 to work with, and they marched methodically into Georgia territory. Mixing the pass and a punishing ground attack, they set up for a game-winning kick. A false start while trying to center the ball pushed the attempt back to 43 yards. Gilbert, who had nailed a 48-yarder earlier, couldn’t handle the pressure—his kick sailed well wide, never threatening the upright.
In overtime, Tennessee managed only a field goal, but Gilbert redeemed himself by drilling a 42-yarder. Still, the energy in Neyland carried a sense of dread—because everyone knew what was coming. And they were right. Two plays later, Georgia ran the ball straight into the end zone, sealing their ninth straight win over the Vols, 44-41.
It’s hard to be too upset as a Tennessee fan given the expectations for this season and how the Vols have already surpassed them to a degree. But this one was right there for the taking—and to lose to Georgia in this fashion is gut-wrenching. The key now is to take the positives from this performance and turn the page to the rest of SEC play.
Both games this week came down to the wire and delivered incredible drama. I couldn’t pick just one—making this the first-ever College Footblog Games of the Week.
I was hesitant to highlight Retzlaff’s stat line this week because I think he’s going to have plenty more performances like this—and probably better ones. His ability to come into Tulane on short notice and immediately excel in the offense is impressive. His legs are still his biggest weapon, just like they were at BYU, but his arm keeps defenses honest and gives him the chance to light them up.
Will’s Corner
BYU Bye The Cougars had the week off before traveling to East Carolina this coming Saturday.
Tennessee 41, Georgia 44 You can read about it above. They host UAB next week.
Washington State 10, North Texas 59 This was bad. Bad coaching, bad offense, bad defense, bad special teams—bad everything. Five first-half turnovers led to a 39-point deficit at halftime, despite Washington State actually dominating time of possession and finishing with only seven fewer yards than the Mean Green.
After second-half struggles from Jaxon Potter and Julian Dugger, the Cougs finally turned to Zevi Eckhaus. He led the only touchdown drive of the game, and at this point, I think he should be the starting quarterback moving forward.
This was the worst loss Washington State has suffered since October 18, 2008, when they fell 69-0 to USC. They followed that up with a 58-0 loss the next week and finished 2-10 that season. The one bright spot? They beat UW. And who’s their opponent next week? The University of Washington. I don’t think history is going to repeat itself, though. And it’s no coincidence that next week will mark the first time Martin Stadium sells alcohol—because plenty of Coug fans are going to need it.
AP Poll Reaction
Top 3: All stay the same.
Miami and Georgia leapfrog Oregon.
Tennessee remains at #15 despite loss.
Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, and USC enter the Top 25, replacing South Carolina, Clemson, and South Florida.
Biggest loser: South Carolina, Clemson, South Florida, and Notre Dame all have double digit drops.
Texas A&M jumps into the top 10 with ranked road win.
It seems like the AP voters got the hint after being exposed last week, as Florida received zero votes this time around. However, we still somehow have a winless team in the Top 25. Notre Dame should not be ranked under any circumstances—I don’t care if their two losses came against ranked opponents, they have zero wins.
Vanderbilt cracking the Top 25 at No. 20 is wild, especially when South Carolina isn’t ranked anymore. I guess that’s just the result of SEC cannibalization—beat each other up, and everybody still ends up ranked.
CFB News
AP Poll Voters
AP voters have been getting exposed on X. Fans have been demanding explanations from certain voters, and while those voters have delivered, that doesn’t mean the explanations are any good. You can judge for yourself whether these writers the AP gives power to actually know how to rank college football teams. AP Poll Explanation
College Pre Game Shows
College Gameday announced they’ll be heading to Florida at Miami next week. I think this is an utter disgrace—just plain bad. This makes it 4-for-4 on Gameday choosing SEC schools this season. Gameday used to be a show that highlighted all of college football. Maybe they should just go ahead and rename it SEC Gameday.
Supposedly, they pulled Gameday from Morgantown last week because West Virginia lost the week before. So what about Florida? No one wants to sit through a three-hour program debating whether Billy Napier is getting fired or how Carson Beck has faced “so much adversity” while going 24–3 at Georgia. They had two better options this week with ranked matchups: Illinois at Indiana or Texas Tech at Utah. They dropped the ball here, and if this SEC obsession continues, the lack of Corso on the show could push viewership into the basement. Honestly, even if my wife hadn’t already scheduled us for an Orange Theory class next Saturday morning, I wouldn’t bother tuning in.
Meanwhile, Big Noon Kickoff will be in Salt Lake City for No. 17 Texas Tech vs. No. 16 Utah. That game marks the return of Urban Meyer to Utah, where he coached from 2003–2004.
UCLA and Virginia Tech Coaching Changes
UCLA and Virginia Tech have both fired their head coaches—DeShaun Foster and Brent Pry—after 0–3 starts. With those moves, a 30-day transfer portal window now opens for all players on their rosters. It’ll be interesting to see who takes advantage of the chance to redshirt and look for a fresh start elsewhere.
