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And now, 20 final thoughts from Week 9, which saw a storm in Lawrence, snowballs in Fort Collins, and probably a lot of sunburn in Jacksonville.
1. The College Football Playoff’s first Tuesday night rankings of the season happen to take place on Halloween this year, but the teams at the top of the traditional polls had had little scare through the first eight weeks of the season. We needed someone to deliver the first, landscape-changing surprise to one of the main competitors.
We needed the mighty Kansas Jayhawks.
2. Just 14 months ago, the idea that Kansas could beat Oklahoma in football would have been completely unthinkable. But Lance Leipold’s miraculous turnaround instilled so much confidence in Lawrence that Saturday’s 38-33 upset of the sixth-seeded Sooners (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) seemed historic but not out of character. The Jayhawks (6-2, 3-2) had picked up four lopsided home wins, while Oklahoma suffered a scare at the hands of UCF the week before. Still, Kansas’ first win over Oklahoma since 1997 and first top-10 home win since 1984 had serious consequences for both the Sooners and the sport.
3. No Power 5 team is eliminated immediately with a loss, and in fact, both Oklahoma’s 2017 (vs. Iowa State) and 2019 (vs. K-State) CFP teams suffered a loss to an unranked opponent in October , turned around and topped the table . But the Sooners have definitely looked lethal since Red River, and star LB Danny Stutsman left Saturday’s game with an ankle injury. It would be particularly bad timing if he can’t play next week.
That’s because it’s Bedlam Week – possibly the last ever after 117 meetings between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. And it’s in Stillwater where red-hot Oklahoma State (6-2, 4-1) will fume in a bid to ruin OU’s final season in the Big 12.
Almost every participant receives a mulligan. But not two.
4. Kansas die-hards have suffered from moments like this for 12 years – no more than three wins in a season from 2010-21. But I fear they won’t be able to keep their savior for long. The 59-year-old Leipold, who is 12-9 since last season, is already considered a coveted player by Michigan State and perhaps Northwestern. And it’s looking more and more like there’s going to be an opening in Ann Arbor. I’m sure Kansas AD Travis Goff will go to the mat to try to keep him, but in the new “Power 2” landscape, it will be terribly difficult for the Kansas coach to get almost any job at the Reject Big Ten.
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5. No. 1 Georgia (8-0, 5-0 SEC) has likely eliminated any mystery as to who will be at the top of this week’s early CFP rankings. The Dawgs beat rival Florida (5-3, 3-2) 43-20, marking the two-time defending champions’ 25th straight victory. QB Carson Beck (19 of 28 with 315 yards, two TDs and no INTs) did his best. He didn’t seem to miss injured star Brock Bowers, thanks in part to a healthy Ladd McConkey. The veteran receiver had six catches for 135 yards, including a catch-and-run for 54 yards.
Kirby Smart’s team is still missing a decisive win, but has only played one close game all season. However, it hosts No. 16 Missouri (7-1, 3-1) next week, which will feature by far the best offense the Dawgs have ever faced.
6. Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson has struggled to stay healthy since his breakout freshman season, but he served up a reminder of how special he can be on Saturday night in Madison. In his return after missing the last three games, the junior recorded 24 carries for 162 yards, including a game-winning 33-yard touchdown, as the third-ranked Buckeyes (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) won 24-10 won at Wisconsin (5-3, 3-2). It must be a refreshing sight for Ryan Day, whose team ranked 94th nationally in yards per carry (3.9). But make no mistake, Marvin Harrison Jr. is still Ohio State’s undisputed MVP. He had six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
7. Wherever No. 4 Florida State (8-0, 6-0 ACC) is ranked is probably the safest bet at this point to clinch a CFP spot. Led by quarterback Jordan Travis (22-for-35, 359 yards, three TDs), running back Trey Benson (80-yard TD) and wide receiver Keon Coleman (two TD catches), the Noles showed again in the 41st game on Saturday a dominant performance -16 win at Wake Forest (4-4, 1-4). They’ll be heavily favored in their next three regular-season games (Pitt, vs. Miami, vs. North Alabama) before closing at Florida, and even if they fall once, they’ll have the blowout LSU win in the bag.
8th. No. 8 Oregon (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) turned in an impressive performance Saturday, dominating two-time Pac-12 champion Utah 35-6 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the Utes (6-2 , 3-2) had won 18 straight and 27 of the last 28. It’s hard to say who was more impressive: Ducks QB Bo Nix, who completed 14 of his first 15 passes to take a 21-3 lead, or Oregon’s dominant defense, which fended off Utes QB Bryson Barnes twice and held them to 2.8 Yards per rushing attempt held. That last-second heartbreaker in Seattle two weeks ago only seems to have made the Ducks stronger.
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9. No. 5 Washington, meanwhile, was an enigma after the win at Oregon. First, the previously unstoppable offense needed a pick-six from defense to beat Arizona State 15-7. Then on Saturday in Palo Alto, Stanford QB Ashton Daniels (31 of 50, 367 yards, one TD, no INT) nearly beat Michael Penix Jr. (21 of 38, 369 yards, four TDs, one INT). The Huskies survived 42-33 only after the Cardinal (2-6, 1-5) suffered a dropped pass on a late fourth down.
At the end of the day, Washington (8-0, 5-0) remains undefeated, but may want to rediscover its early-season mojo before next week’s trip to face Caleb Williams at the Coliseum.
Speaking of…
10. USC’s terrible defense is more than just a punchline. It offers quality entertainment. In Saturday’s wildest game – one in which the teams emerged from the locker room after halftime to play the final snap of the second quarter – the Trojans (7-2, 5-1) rallied from deficits of 28-17 and 43:29 to win 50-49 at Cal after the Bears scored and missed twice with 58 seconds left. Remember, the Bears (3-5, 1-4) are without their third quarterback of the season, redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza, and had a fifth-string tailback at the end of the day. They had four turnovers.
And they still managed to produce seven TD drives.
And yet, despite what feels like a month of chronic dysfunction, USC is a half-game behind Washington for first place in the Pac-12, and the Huskies are coming to town next weekend.
11. As if the Pac-12 wasn’t already full of quarterbacks, Arizona’s Noah Fifita has put his name in the conversation. On Saturday night, the redshirt freshman threw a 40-yard TD in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats (5-3, 3-2) defeated 11th-ranked Oregon State (6-2, 3-2) by 27 -24. Fifta finished the game 25 of 32 for 275 yards, three touchdowns and a pick. Since Fifita took the lead against Washington in Week 5, Arizona has become a far more formidable team, having now beaten ranked teams in consecutive games. Jedd Fisch’s team is one win away from reaching its first bowl game in six years.
12. A week after a 27-0 second-half loss at Alabama, No. 17 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2) bounced back with a hard-fought 33-27 win at Kentucky (5-3, 2-3). . . Vols running backs Jaylen Wright and Dylan Sampson combined for 195 yards on 28 carries, and QB Joe Milton had arguably his best performance since last year’s Orange Bowl, finishing 18-21 with 228 yards and a TD. Most impressively, Tennessee’s defense held Wildcats running back Ray Davis to 42 yards rushing on 16 carries.
The Vols are mostly limited to playing spoiler down the stretch, with No. 1 Georgia coming to town on Nov. 18.
13. There’s currently a five-team tie at the top of the Big 12, and four of those teams play one of the others next week. In addition to Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, No. 7 Texas (7-1, 4-1) hosts Kansas State (6-2, 4-1). The Horns survived their first test without injured QB Quinn Ewers and easily defeated BYU (5-3, 2-3), 35-6. Redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy had two turnovers early but finished the game strong. Texas may have its hands full against the ferocious Wildcats, who beat Houston 41-0 on Saturday and have gone nine quarters since their last touchdown.
The surprise Big 12 contender: Iowa State (5-3, 4-1), which was supposed to have a rebuilding year but has won its last three. The Cyclones host Kansas next.
14. It was a tough day for Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi. Two years after winning an ACC championship, the Panthers fell to 2-6 with a terrible 58-7 loss at Notre Dame. Making matters worse, an out-of-context post-game quote in which Narduzzi appeared to disparage his players went viral on Twitter, catching the attention of several of them who retweeted it. The full quote was more innocuous, with Narduzzi saying in part, “It starts with me. ‘I didn’t train well enough today,'” but the damage was done, prompting him to send a tweet of his own reinforcing the message : “I am 100% responsible for today’s defeat.”
In fact, he is 100 percent responsible for his failure to refill his QB room after Kenny Pickett. Former Penn State backup Christian Veilleux, who replaced former Boston College starter Phil Jurkovec a few weeks ago, threw four picks against the Irish.
15. Georgia Tech (4-4, 3-2 ACC) continues to be the hottest, coldest team in the conference. In their last four games, the Jackets suffered a terrible 38-27 loss to Bowling Green; upset 17th-ranked Miami in the infamous no-kneel game; lost 38-23 at home to Boston College; and beat No. 17 North Carolina 46-42 on Saturday. Sixth-year running back Dontae Smith, old enough to have played for Paul Johnson, rushed for a career-high 178 yards on 22 carries, including a 70-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter as Tech pulled away recovered from a double-digit deficit.
In two weeks, Mack Brown’s Tar Heels (6-2, 3-2) went from playoff disaster to Pop Tarts Bowl frontrunners.
16. First Virginia Tech fell into mediocrity under Justin Fuente, then it went 3-8 in Brent Pry’s first season, and this year it started 1-3. The once stable program appeared to be lost at sea. But the Hokies (4-4, 3-1) have come back to life with three lopsided wins in their last four games. Thursday night’s 38-10 win over Syracuse – a game in which they led 30-3 at halftime – brought back shades of BeamerBall: Tech rushed for 318 yards, Tucker Holloway returned a punt 57 yards and the defense scored eight Sacks and a safety.
The Hokies now have a great opportunity to go bowling, a once-a-year rite for this program. In contrast, the struggling Orange (4-4, 0-4) lost in four consecutive games. Dino Babers lasted for eight years despite only having two successful seasons. Things aren’t looking good for him at the moment.
17. In one of the most dominant performances by any team this season, ACC-bound SMU (6-2, 4-0 AAC) outscored Tulsa (3-5, 1-3) 52-3 before halftime to finish with one 69 -10 win. QB Preston Stone, the former four-star recruit who then-coach Sonny Dykes convinced to stay home despite offers from countless Power 5 prospects, went 15 of 20 for a season-high 371 yards and three touchdowns. The Mustangs aren’t ranked in the top 25 like Air Force and Tulane, but could certainly earn a spot in the New Year’s Six if they win the AAC. They are currently in a three-way tie with Tulane and UTSA, neither of which faces SMU in the regular season.
18. They won’t see James Madison in a New Year’s Six bowl or any other bowl (they’re in the second year of their FBS transition and therefore ineligible), but the 25th-ranked Dukes came up with one on Saturday Going 8-0 with a 30-27 win over Old Dominion. The longer this streak goes on, the angrier people will get at the NCAA for refusing to budge from its eligibility rules, but without the deterrent, there would likely be a flood of completely unprepared FCS programs trying to make the same move, just to crawl back after a few years. The NCAA probably doesn’t like how easy James Madison makes the process look.
On the other hand, first-year FBS member Sam Houston is now 0-8.
19. Northwestern interim coach David Braun has done a great job of stabilizing a team that was 1-11 last season and saw longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald fired this summer amid an ugly hazing scandal. QB Brendan Sullivan had the game of his career so far: He went 16-for-23 with 265 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 56 yards (5- 3, 2-3). Braun was North Dakota State’s defensive coordinator this time last season. No one would have blamed him if this team had been 2-10, but on the contrary, Northwestern doesn’t have much of a chance of reaching a bowl game.
20. Finally, Matt Rhule’s Huskers won three straight games for the first time since 2016 with a 31-14 win over Purdue (2-6, 1-4) (5-3, 3-2) and are now one win away removed first bowl trip since same season. The constant was their defense. Since a 45-7 loss to No. 2 Michigan, Nebraska has allowed an average of 10 points per game in wins against Illinois, Northwestern and Purdue.
However, Rhule benefits from the fact that the Big Ten West is beyond terrible this season. Nebraska is one of four teams in the division ranked in the 100s nationally in offense, and three of them – the Huskers, Iowa and Minnesota – are tied for first place in the division.
But after living through the disaster of the five-year Scott Frost era, please let Huskers fans just enjoy this.
(Top photo: Denny Medley / USA Today)