Week 7 - Sunday Storylines

Ducks over Bucks - Rarely do great games get truly bizarre endings, but that was the case Saturday night between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Oregon.

With just a mere six seconds and one timeout remaining, Ohio State trailed by one point, in desperate need of at least 10 yards in hopes of attempting a manageable field goal. Ohio State transfer quarterback Will Howard dropped back with six seconds left, assessed the defense, decided to scramble…and slid with zeroes on the clock to gift Oregon the 32-31 victory.

Bizarre barely scratches the surface. It felt like the lights were too bright for Howard.

Ending aside, what a game! 100% goes down as a Game of the Year contender.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning coached a helluva game. From the onside kick call in the first half to the clock management down the stretch, I thought he did a great job and finally notched that signature win.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel did about as much as you could ask for. He finished 23/34 for 341 yards and 2 touchdowns, including another on the ground. The super senior was poised, calm and controlled the entire night, which is something he hasn’t always shown so far this season.

Ohio State got away from the run game down the stretch, which was pretty odd. Freshman phenom Jermiah Smith was predictably awesome. What a fun player he is and will continue to be.

This one was a fantastic game overall with a weird ending. I can’t wait until we get this rematch later in the season.

Bayou boys - As Scott Van Pelt eloquently tweeted, “Every game there feels like it’s hanging on by a thread. Teeteering on madness or mandated by voodoo.”

Dark magic or dastardly playcalling, it was Garrett Nussmeier and the LSU Tigers that outlasted Ole Miss in a late-night banger. In a delightfully tasty matchup between Top 15 teams, this one had the feel of a classic, SEC showdown.

A back and forth affair for much of the game, it was LSU that got the last laugh. After orchestrating a bonkers final drive and insane thread-the-needle-level throw on a touchdown, you could tell Nussmeier and the crowd were feeling it.

In overtime, the vaunted Ole Miss offense stalled and had to resort to a 57-yard field goal to put three points on the board. The very next play, Nussmeier threw a 25-yard dot for a walk off 29-26 win in Death Valley. What a game and what a performance from my QB1, Garrett Nussmeier.

Penn State prevails - Penn State wins the Jekyl-Hyde award for the day.

After a first half of sleepy, nothingness on offense, the Nittany Lions got hot and stayed hot in the second half, using 24 second-half points (plus three in overtime) to outlast USC 33-30.

Despite the listless performance in the first frame, it was PSU quarterback Drew Allar who orchestrated a masterful late-game drive to tie the game.

Shoutout to Penn State tight end Tyler Warren for the all-world performance. Warren finished with an eye-watering stat line of 17 catches for 224 yards and 1 amazing, leaping touchdown on a trick play. Dude Alert!

Make no bones about it, this is a brutal loss for USC and head coach Lincoln Riley. At 3-3, the Trojans are out of the Big 10 and national picture and it’s not even mid-October yet. Keep an eye on Lincoln Riley and the hot seat.

Red River riot - No. 18 Oklahoma offered nothing on offense and got thoroughly boat raced in the Red River Rivalry today against No. 1 Texas. Despite a first-quarter INT, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was largely a steady ship in a sea of Brent Vendables-dialed-up chaos.

The Longhorns finished with 177 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, more than Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins could throw in the air.

OU is down its top five wideouts and it showed. The receiving core got very little separation all day and Hawkins didn’t have a ton to work with. The offense looked anemic in the 34-3 blowout loss.

Turnovers in Tuscaloosa - South Carolina lived and died about five times in the fourth quarter of its dramatic 27-25 loss on the road at No. 7 Alabama.

In a game dominated by turnovers (six total between the two teams), it was South Carolina who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. After a prayer of a touchdown pass, USC quarterback LaNorris Sellers missed a wide receiver on a two-point conversion that would’ve tied the game.

The very next play, the Gamecocks recovered a squirrelly, swirling onside kick with under a minute to play, breathing life into a dead late rally. But Sellers turned it over again, this time on a deep throw near the endzone.

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe did not have his best game. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer did not coach his best game. But the Crimson Tide persevered and bounced back in a game it absolutely had to have. It’s onto Tennessee next week for the Alabama faithful.

Almost Gator bait - For the second straight week, the high-flying Tennessee offense was stuck in the mud. This time around, however, the 8th-ranked Vols got crafty on defense and run game and found a way to win, outlasting Florida in overtime 23-17.

Tennessee freshman phenom Nico Iamaleava had a tough night, finishing with just 169 yards and an intercpetion. Fortunately for the Vols, it was the run game that put them in a position to win. Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson eclipsed the century mark and added three touchdowns to his season total in the win.

Florida did a great job of mucking this thing up, but definitely should’ve gone for two down the stretch. Major missed opportunity for head coach Billy Napier and the Gators.

Clones keep spinning - Earlier in the week, I teased that I thought West Virgnia could give No. 11 Iowa State a pretty hard time, and boy was I wrong.

Rocco Becht and the Cyclones took care of business, scoring 14 fourth-quarter points en route to a somewhat comfortable 28-16 win on the road in Morgantown. Winning a night game in Morgantown is never easy, which makes this a good win for Iowa State.

Becht is fun. Iowa State is fun. The Big 12 is really fun.

Luck of the Irish - Notre Dame might be back, ladies and gentlemen.

The Irish took care of business in a big way today, dismantling Stanford to the tune of 49-7. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard looked good and tossed a trio of touchdowns in the blowout win, proving that he can, in fact, throw the ball forward passes when needed. Big development!

We know the Irish defense is elite, but if the offense can look this good moving forward, the Irish might be back in College Football Playoff contention again.

Champaign Supernova - There’s drunk. There’s really drunk. And then there is whatever was going on between Purdue and No. 23 Illinois.

The Fighting Illini jumped out to a comfortable 24-3 halftime lead and looked in cruise control. But after some apparent halftime bong rips, the boys from Champaign forgot to play football and squandered the sizeable lead.

Purdue stormed back to take a late lead and it took a heroic late-game drive from Illinois to force overtime. In overtime, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer threw a strike for a touchdown on the first play of the period. Purdue immediately answered before electing to go for two.

The two-point conversion failed horribly and Illinois held on for a wild 50-49 rivalry game win. Breathe, Fighting Illini fans. Breathe.

Vandy wins again! - A week after shocking the college football world with its upset victory over Alabama, Vanderbilt followed it up with…another huge victory! Anchor Down, baby!

In a matchup with fellow upset-minded Kentucky, the Commodores did just enough to hold on and secure a 20-13 win in Lexington and move to 4-2 on the season.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was predictably efficient and a wiley coyote in the backfield, running the offense perfectly en route to a pair of touchdowns. The Commodores’ running backs also chipped in over 100 yards on the ground.

Vanderbilt is just a giant pain in the ass team and that’s a very fun thing for college football.

Superweapon Loading… - The Pitt Superweapon is getting stronger. Tell a friend to tell a friend, that the Pitt Panthers are 6-0 after its win over the CALgorithm.

The NardDog has the boys playing hard and Pitt has officially entered the ACC title race chat.

UNC gets stung - Things have been hard for North Carolina lately. Really hard.

On Saturday, UNC hung around against a ground-and-pound-heavy Georgia Tech team and did some respectable things on offense. But with less than 30 seconds to play, the wheels fell off the wagon in a big, big way.

With the game tied at 34-all and only 24 seconds to play, Georgia Tech running back Jamal Hayes broke off a 68-yard house call to knock off the Tar Heels 41-34. The big play was a gut punch in every way.

What a brutal loss in a string of brutal losses for Mack Brown and North Carolina.

BYU ballin’ - No. 14 BYU made light work of Arizona, beating the Wildcats 41-19 and moving to 6-0 on the season.

Head coach Kelani Sitaki is proving his worth in getting this team to play this well. The Cougars were tabbed to be bottom dwellers in the Big 12 and his team has been anything but.

Is the world ready for Big 12 champion BYU?

Clemson keeps winnin’ - Quietly, Clemson is now 5-1 and laying waste to every opponent not named Georgia. The Tigers are officially back on my radar.

Offensive juggernaut Iowa? - Hey, what do ya know, Iowa scored 40 points in a football game. That’s not something you can say every day.

Big win against a Washington team that just beat Michigan last week.

Dilfer’s dumps - UAB was woeful once again and got hammered 44-10 at the hands of a now 6-0 Army team.

Get Trent Dilfer the heck outta the paint, man. He stinks. What a disaster hire for the UAB administration.

ULM! - ULM is 5-1. I repeat, ULM is 5-1. What a fantastic story for the boys from Monroe!

Friday Night Lights - Friday nights have delivered some awesome football this season, and this week was no different. In Utah quarterback Cam Rising’s triumphant return to action, it was Arizona State who stole the show in the 27-19 upset over the 16th-ranked Utes.

ASU and head coach Kenny Dillingham are one of the best stories in college football this season. The Sun Devils were picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 and are instead 5-1 and on track for a bowl game and maybe more.

ASU’s devastating run attack got to the Utes on Friday night, with running back Cam Skateboo finishing with 158 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. For Utah, the story was about Rising and his poor play. The super senior threw 3 INTs and completed less than 50% of his passes. Yikes.

Unless things get crazy, this loss might knock Utah out of the College Football Playoff race.

Big game Buffalo - Buffalo recorded a monster win in its 30-15 upset over conference leaders Toledo. Credit where credit is due, first-year head coach Pete Lembo is doing a really nice job so far.

The result of this game could play a role in who makes the MAC title game. Let’s keep an eye on this space.

+1 unit overall on the season.

Georgia Tech vs. +6 North Carolina -1 unit (brutal, brutal beat)

Southern Miss vs. ULM OVER 41.5 +1 unit

-2.5 Ole Miss vs. LSU -1 unit

SID Sports - Don’t forget to subscribe to Griffin Olah’s SID Sports newsletter. As a former Divison I sports information director, Olah has a great grasp of the sport and I really enjoy his work.

2201 Kimball Ave | Cameron Morgan - 2201 Kimball Ave is essential reading for all followers of Kansas State football. As a lifelong K-State fan and former player, Cameron brings a unique and thoughtful approach to the analysis of the Wildcats' football team. His newsletters are rational and insightful and I genuinely learn something new with every newsletter.

Split Zone Duo | Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson and Steven Godfrey - SZD is essential reading and following for CFB ball knowers. Godfrey, Richard and Alex are the Holy Trinity for college football analysis and insight. Each member brings a unique flavor to the conversation, which makes for insightful and downright hilarious banter about the sport we all love. If I had someone ask me where to start for smarter college football coverage, this SZD is where I'd send them.