Browsing: CFB

Ty Simpson and the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide were upset by the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners 23-21 on Saturday, setting up major movement in the College Football Playoff rankings.

The home SEC loss dropped Alabama to 6-1 in conference play and 8-2 overall, while John Mateer and the Sooners improved to 4-2 in the conference and 8-2 on the season.

Simpson threw for 326 yards with one touchdown and one interception, completing 28-of-42 passes. He connected with Josh Cuevas for a touchdown and 80 yards, while Daniel Hill added two rushing scores and finished with 60 yards on the ground.

Mateer threw for 138 yards on 15-of-23 passing and added a rushing touchdown with 23 yards on the ground.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was called out after the SEC upset loss on Saturday.

Oklahoma’s offense and defense set the tone in the first quarter, putting up 10 points while forcing two three-and-outs and delivering a pick-six to keep Alabama scoreless.

The Crimson Tide responded in the second quarter with two touchdowns, while Oklahoma added one of its own. Bama missed a late field goal that stalled its momentum heading into halftime trailing 17-14.

Alabama held Oklahoma State to a field goal in the third quarter while adding a touchdown of its own to take its first lead of the game at 21-20 heading into the fourth.

Oklahoma State answered with a field goal to move ahead 23-21, and a clutch fourth-and-six stop from the defense with 50 seconds remaining sealed the win.

Alabama will host the 3-8 Eastern Illinois Panthers next Saturday.

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The Aggies are unbeaten, which is as good as any place to start. At this point of the year, only a handful of teams can say the same.

Of the wins Texas A&M has accumulated, beating Notre Dame in South Bend is unquestionably the biggest resume boost. While many early victories tend to age poorly, that likely won’t be the case here.

At the end of the season, assuming the Irish keep winning against lesser competition, this victory will serve as a resume boost.

While Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida and Arkansas weren’t ranked opponents at the time, the outcomes (and wins) were still meaningful and noteworthy. In fact, A&M is currently ranked No. 1 in Strength of Record, according to ESPN.

With wins of 41-40 and 16-10, the Aggies have been victorious in a variety of ways. Offensively, they rank just outside the top 25 in scoring and top 20 in total offense, although quarterback Marcel Reed adds an element of explosiveness few teams can match at the position.

The defense currently ranks outside the top 50 in terms of scoring, which is a surprise considering this is Mike Elko’s specialty. While the Aggies had shown improvement on this side of the ball, allowing Arkansas to score 42 points last week was a setback.

It’s worth noting the Aggies will play at LSU before the first ranking is released, which could serve as another quality win, especially on the road.

As of now, this is the only unbeaten team in the nation’s best conference. That’s certainly worth something.

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Arch Manning and the No. 21 Texas Longhorns narrowly escaped with a 16-13 overtime road win over Kentucky on Saturday, capped by a game-winning field goal.

Despite a sluggish offensive performance, the Longhorns improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in SEC play, while the Wildcats dropped to 3-3 and remain winless in the conference at 0-4.

Manning struggled to spark the offense, completing 12-of-27 passes for 132 yards with no touchdowns and posting negative rushing yards. Quentrevion Wisner accounted for Texas’ lone touchdown on the ground.

Manning and Texas left fans underwhelmed with their performance on Saturday despite pulling off the overtime victory.

In overtime, a gutsy fourth-and-goal miss by Kansas allowed Texas to win with a walk-off field goal, with fans praising the Longhorns’ defense for the goal-line stop.

One touchdown in the second quarter, a field goal in the third and late field goal highlighted Texas’ offensive struggles, as the Longhorns managed just eight first downs and 171 total yards during regulation.

Heading into Saturday’s game, Manning had completed 63 percent of his passes, totaling 1,317 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions, while taking 10 sacks on the season.

They opened the AP preseason poll as the No. 1 ranked team in college football before a Week 1 loss to Ohio State. A 29-21 defeat to unranked Florida dropped them out of the rankings entirely, but a gutsy win over No. 6 Oklahoma the following week helped them climb back in at No. 21.

With a narrow overtime win over Kentucky, it would not be a surprise to see them bounced from the top 25 rankings once more.Â

Texas will hit the road to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs next Saturday.

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Texas Tech’s hopes of an undefeated season came to an end on Saturday as the No. 7 Red Raiders fell short against Arizona State in upset fashion, 26-22.

Texas Tech had been dominant all season up until Saturday’s matchup, but being without starting quarterback Behren Morton proved to be detrimental. Morton was available only in an emergency while dealing with a leg injury.

His replacement, Will Hammond, had just 167 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

After trailing by double digits for most of the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders managed to find the end zone and make it a five-point game with just under four minutes. They then got the stop they needed on defense before a punt return gave them great field position.

Texas Tech made the most of it, scoring at the two-minute mark to make it a 22-19 game following a two-point conversion.

The Red Raiders needed just one stop to escape with a win, but the Sun Devils had other plans. Sam Leavitt led Arizona State down the field, converting a 4th-and-2 to keep the drive alive.

From there, the Sun Devils got to the goal line on a defensive pass interference call, and running back Raleek Brown punched it in for what would be the game-winning touchdown. The Red Raiders could not respond with a game-winning drive on the other end.

The upset win stunned college football fans.

The loss is by no means detrimental to Texas Tech’s College Football Playoff hopes. The Red Raiders are still in the mix for the Big 12 Championship and could realistically still get an at-large bid to the CFP if they win out.

They’ll try to right the ship against Oklahoma State next week.

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The No. 10 LSU Tigers dropped a 31-24 road decision to the No. 17 Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday, and their College Football Playoff hopes took a massive hit in the process.

With a 5-2 record overall and a 2-2 mark in the SEC, the Tigers will already be hard-pressed to reach the SEC Championship Game, and it is likely they will need to go undefeated the rest of the way to have any chance at the CFP.

Following a second loss in the past three games, LSU was trolled on social media by fans who dismissed the Tigers’ likelihood of reaching the playoff:

Not surprisingly, head coach Brian Kelly was the subject of criticism as well, especially given LSU’s defensive failures throughout Saturday’s contest.

LSU allowed 399 yards of total offense, 20 first downs and didn’t force a turnover. Additionally, Vandy won the time of possession battle 36:31-23:29.

On top of that, the Commodores scored points on six of their first eight drives, and the Tigers did not force a punt until the fourth quarter.

After such a listless defensive performance in a hugely important game, fans made their feelings known about Kelly with some even calling for his firing:

In the midst of his fourth season as the head coach at LSU, Kelly has yet to win more than 10 games in a season, win an SEC title or qualify for the CFP.

Given that LSU has consistently been among the best and most talented teams in the SEC over the past couple of decades, the expectation every year is for them to vie for a conference title and a national championship.

That hasn’t been the case during the Kelly era, and barring a spectacular finish to the season that includes wins over No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 6 Alabama and No. 14 Oklahoma, LSU may be on the outside looking in once again.

While LSU is already essentially on the brink of CFP elimination, Vanderbilt is looking like a legitimate threat to make its first-ever CFP appearance.

Under head coach Clark Lea, the Commodores are 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC, and Saturday’s win could push them into the top-10 conversation.

Perhaps the biggest reason for their success has been the play of quarterback Diego Pavia, who is a Heisman Trophy candidate.

LSU had no answers for Pavia’s dual-threat ability Saturday, as he threw for 160 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for another 86 yards and two scores.

Vandy looks to be for real, but it can prove that is the case even more over its next two games against No. 16 Missouri and No. 21 Texas.

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A second early bye week might not have been enough time for Bill Belichick to solve the problems with UNC’s offense.

The Tar Heels returned from the break only to fall behind 14-10 in Saturday’s first half against Cal.

North Carolina was outgained 163-152 through two quarters as college football fans questioned why the program’s head coach ability to recover from the early deficit.

North Carolina’s opening drive ended in lost fumble from Shanard Clower. It took Cal just four plays to run the ball in for a touchdown the other way.

UNC tied the game on an 18-yard touchdown run from Benjamin Hall later in the quarter, although Belichick’s defense was unable to stop Jacob De Jesus from putting the Golden Bears back in front with a one-handed touchdown reception.

The Tar Heels held the Golden Bears without a point in the second quarter, but had to settle for just a 41-yard field goal of their own.

Belichick’s team went into the break still trailing four total punts in the final three minutes of the half.

North Carolina is off to a 2-3 start to the season, most recently having dropped consecutive blowouts to UCF and Clemson.

Belichick’s debut season as a college coach has been further marred by off-field drama surrounding his and general manager Michael Lombardi’s management of the program.

The UNC head coach will look to get positive media attention back on the field by leading his team to a comeback victory in the second half of Saturday night’s ACC matchup.

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On Thursday, journalist Pablo Torre reported that North Carolina general manager Michael Lombardi traveled to Saudi Arabia in August to fundraise for the program.

Later in the day, UNC vice chancellor for communications Dean Stoyer confirmed as much to Brendan Marks and Christopher Kamrani of The Athletic.

Stoyer called it an “exploratory fundraising trip” and said it came “at the invitation of the Saudis,” per that report. It was not funded by university or athletic department funds but rather by the Saudi government, and it did not result any sort of agreement, though Marks and Kamrani reported it was unknown if further communication has taken place.

Per that report, “Lombardi’s trip is not the first time in recent years that North Carolina has explored alternative revenue streams to subsidize its athletic department. According to public records obtained by The Athletic, athletic director Bubba Cunningham had several meetings in 2023 with private equity firms ‘regarding all things college athletics, revenue generation, and conference realignment,’ according to one email thread. Cunningham and UNC ultimately opted not to move forward with any such negotiations after preliminary discussions.”

Marks and Camrani also noted that Colorado assistant coach Trevor Reilly bankrolled his own trip to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Dubai last year to seek out potential foreign state investors.

The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund has continued to involve itself in athletics across the globe, bankrolling LIV Golf and owning the English Premier League’s Newcastle United, among other ventures. It is also buying video game company Electronic Arts, alongside two other investors, for $55 billion.

The PIF’s various entries into the world of sports has come under heavy criticism, however, for being a sportswashing program aimed at sanitizing Saudi Arabia’s human-rights violations.

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ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit has Indiana ranked as the No. 1 college football team just ahead of defending national champion Ohio State after the Hoosiers’ 30-20 road win at then-No. 3 Oregon last Saturday.

Herbstreit made his remarks on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday.

“They deserve all the credit in the world,” Herbstreit said in part. “In fact, this week I have them at No. 1 in the country, but just slightly ahead of Ohio State just because of what they did against Illinois and against Oregon, especially on the road in Oregon.”

Indiana crushed (then) No. 9 Illinois 63-10 on Sept. 20 and followed that up three weeks later with a statement win over the Ducks.

The Hoosiers showcased their resiliency in that one after quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw a pick-six that helped tie the game at 20 early in the fourth quarter.

However, Mendoza then led Indiana on a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped by an eight-yard touchdown toss to Elijah Sarratt. Indiana intercepted Oregon quarterback Dante Moore twice down the stretch, and in between, Hoosiers kicker Brendan Franke knocked home a 22-yard field goal for the 30-20 lead.

Right now, Indiana is ranked third in the Associated Press poll behind No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Miami. Ohio State received 50 first-place votes, while Miami had 13 and Indiana received three.

The Hoosiers have made a dramatic rise up the poll after starting the year at 20th.

Led by head coach Curt Cignetti and Mendoza, a Heisman Trophy candidate, the Hoosiers have started the 2025 season with a 6-0 record.

The Hoosiers could also very well finish this season 12-0 and roll into the Big Ten Championship Game. Only one of the remaining six teams on their schedule, 4-2 Maryland, has a winning record.

Indiana will look to keep it rolling on Saturday when the team hosts Michigan State.

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When Penn State hit the big red button on Sunday, it did more than just alter the trajectory and future of Penn State football. It sent a shockwave that will be felt in boardrooms, closed offices and booster text chains around the country. It gave ammo to unhappy donors in other places.

More specifically, it ensured that the upcoming hiring cycle will be one one of the wildest and most compelling in recent years.

Indeed, it’s about to get very, very weird. (And very expensive.)

Here’s what we know. Penn State, after firing James Franklin following the team’s third consecutive loss, reportedly costing the school a cool $49 million in the process, is now in the market for a new football coach.

The Nittany Lions began the season ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll. Three consecutive losses to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern, however, ended the push for a national championship. It also ended Franklin’s tenure, which was ripe with unmet potential.

Penn State invested a small fortune in this year’s team through the coaching staff and NIL. It will spend another fortune to remove the coach tasked with overseeing it all. It will now spend another small fortune to find a coach capable of leading one of the best jobs in all of college football.

That’s precisely where the intrigue begins. Regardless of how Penn State might be performing presently, this is a destination job overflowing resources and prestige. It’s a program that will likely garner interest across college football and the NFL.

It’s a job that will be in high demand. But it’s not the only job that will be in high demand.

Presently, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Oregon State and UAB are looking for new head coaches. (Oregon State and UAB also reportedly made moves on Sunday.)

While these jobs aren’t at the same level as Penn State, they are very capable positions that will attract plenty of interest.

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Keep in mind, we just finished Week 7. We haven’t even hit Halloween yet. Prime “firing” season hasn’t even begun, but it will soon. Other marquee, coveted positions are likely to entertain the possibility of moving on from their head coach.

Florida’s Billy Napier, having spent two seconds on the hot seat, is currently 2-4 and has a slew of losable games to come.

Florida State’s Mike Norvell, fresh off a two-win 2024, just lost his third straight game to fall to 3-3 on the year.

Auburn’s Hugh Freeze is finding new and exciting ways to lose football games every week. The Tigers are now 3-3, and they’ll play three ranked teams down the stretch.

Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell just lost 37-0 at home to Iowa to fall to 2-4. The Badgers still play Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana and Illinois. (Yikes.)

Kentucky’s Mark Stoops is 2-3, winless in the SEC and still has games against Texas, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, Vanderbilt and Louisville still to play. (Oof.)

Then there’s Bill Belichick at North Carolina. It’s hard to know exactly how this will shape out, but the possibility that UNC conducts a coaching search for the second consecutive year seems, well, very real.

And there will be more. Will Oklahoma lose patience with Brent Venables if the Sooners’ season falls apart? What smaller FBS schools will make a change? Where will the next great surprise come from?

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The current state of college football is both risky and expensive, and the end result is an unstable environment riddled with immense pressure to win both big and immediately.

Schools with immense booster backing are in a position to stomach bigger buyouts, as Penn State will do now. They are acting because the alternative is potentially more financially unfavorable over a longer period of time.

Had Penn State stuck with Franklin, what would have happened to NIL support? For as unfathomable as it might seem to pay a coach nearly $50 million to go away, the sport’s current state makes this a much easier decision as it once was, regardless of how absurd that might sound.

That pressure is being felt at other programs in unique ways, and it feels like 2025 will serve as a culmination of unmet promises at major universities. Time will tell what happens in the state of Florida and beyond, but the Silly Season, college football’s hiring and firing cycle, is about to be unleashed.

It’s not just the reality of football-crazed schools looking for coaches. It’s the rumors and interviews and speculation that follows. The disruption this cycle is poised to cause it’s going to be seismic.

The guaranteed winner in all of this? Well, that would be the agents. Of course it is.

Those representing clients in demand are about to enjoy one of the greatest opportunities of their professional lives. It will be a feeding frenzy to fill all of these positions. Then it will be another frenzy to fill the positions from the coaches who leave.

Then, the cycle will continue.

Just how crazed this gets, of course, depends on just how many jobs open up, but Penn State has set the tone. Unhappy boosters and fan bases looking for change just saw another administration act in a meaningful way.

Others, soon enough, will follow suit.

While the hiring and firing cycle has been somewhat quiet over the past few years, this will be anything but. If things stayed as it—and they absolutely won’t—the college football world would be thrown off its axis.

Seeing the potential of more significant change across the CFB landscape, however, paints a picture that will be both distracting and all-consuming. Teams cannot afford to wait, not in the era of the transfer portal and NIL.

While the news out of Happy Valley still feels shocking, just wait until you see what this sport has in store next.

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No. 15 Michigan’s three-game win streak came to an end on Saturday night, falling to USC by the final score of 31-13 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Wolverines struggled offensively, as freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood finished 15-of-24 for 207 yards and two touchdowns to go along with an interception.

Fans questioned the job security of Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore after the loss.

The Wolverines trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, but tied the game in the second after Underwood connected with Donaven McCulley for an eight-yard touchdown.

While the Trojans found the end zone later in the quarter to take a 14-7 lead at halftime, Moore’s squad still remained within striking distance.

Michigan’s offense couldn’t find any type of rhythm early in the second half, as its three third-quarter drives ended with two punts and an interception.

The Wolverines also experienced issues defensively, with USC quarterback Jayden Maiava finishing 25-of-32 for 265 yards and two touchdowns while getting picked off once.

The Trojans ended the game with 489 total yards as a team, scoring 17 points in the second half and extinguishing any hope of a Michigan comeback.

USC’s rushing attack was also dominant in the victory, as King Miller picked up a season-high 158 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries. The Trojans amassed 224 yards on the ground overall.

It was a surprising result against a Michigan defense that allowed just 77.0 rush yards per game entering the contest, the third-best mark in the Big Ten.

As for the Wolverines’ offense, they only picked up 17 first downs in the contest and converted a mere two of nine opportunities on third down.

USC now sits at 5-1 with the win, while Michigan fell to 4-2.

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