Welcome to Survival Saturday.
Each season, there is at least one of these, a day that makes the college football world’s collective heart beat uncontrollably from brunch to dinner.
Four top-25 teams won in overtime. Another three ranked teams claimed wins by three points or fewer. It started with Alabama’s (shaky) rebound from the Vanderbilt loss — a two-point win over South Carolina that wasn’t so pretty. It ended with Kansas State coughing up a big lead and then holding on for victory at Colorado.
In between, LSU, Penn State, Illinois and Tennessee all won in extra time. Our new No. 1 Oregon took down Ohio State by a point. Pitt remained unbeaten with a two-point win over Cal.
There were blowouts, too, of course. Texas bossed around Oklahoma to set up a titanic clash next week against Georgia in Austin. Clemson pounded Wake Forest. And Notre Dame throttled Stanford.
Halfway through the season, 11 teams remain undefeated. That list includes Iowa State, Army, Navy and Indiana!
Many fan bases did not survive Saturday. Rutgers, after starting 4-0, dropped a second straight game. North Carolina and Mack Brown lost a fourth straight. Billy Napier and Florida managed to cough away an upset on the road in Knoxville.
Did your team survive?
Let’s get to the Top 10!
1. Oregon Ducks
This week: beat Ohio State 32-31
Next week: at Purdue (on Friday)
QB Dillon Gabriel, in his sixth season and at his third school, re-introduced himself to the college football world if anyone had forgotten about him. He tore through Ohio State’s secondary, threw for 341 yards, tossed two touchdowns and ran for a 27-yard game-changer of a score. It has put the Ducks in the driver’s seat of the Big Ten title race and serves as the best victory of the season by any team so far, just ahead of Alabama’s win over Georgia and Georgia’s win over Clemson.
2. Penn State Nittany Lions
This week: beat USC 33-30 in overtime
Next week: Bye
Who says you can’t take a bus an hour and then fly five hours across the country and win an overtime game? That’s what the Nittany Lions did. Storming back from a 20-6 halftime deficit to deliver a gut punch to coach Lincoln Riley in his third year (the Trojans are 3-3 and quite a mess). The buzz you hear is from the hype around the Nov. 2 game against Ohio State at Happy Valley (the Buckeyes look susceptible, especially defensively).
3. Texas Longhorns
This week: beat Oklahoma 34-3
Next week: vs. Georgia
QB Quinn Ewers’ return started rusty but ended brilliantly. But it was the Longhorns’ defense that really won this game. The Sooners had a single drive of more than 19 yards the entire game and punted a whopping six times. Steve Sarkisian has the Horns primed for the highly billed home matchup against Georgia next week.
4. Miami Hurricanes
This week: Bye
Next week: at Louisville
After a nice restful week off, Cam Ward and the Hurricanes take their show back on the road with a game at Louisville next Saturday. A glance at the second half of UM’s schedule reveals zero (for now) top-25 ranked teams. Collision course with Clemson in the ACC championship games? Perhaps.
5. Georgia Bulldogs
This week: beat Mississippi State 41-31
Next week: at Texas
Kirby Smart’s team has played some surprisingly tight games. Another came Saturday against the worst team in the SEC. Remember the one-point win over Kentucky and the loss to Alabama? The Bulldogs are not necessarily their dominant selves. They’ll need to be next Saturday.
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
This week: lost to Oregon 32-31
Next week: Bye
The Buckeyes slipped two spots but firmly remain in our Top 10. After all, they went blow for blow on the road with the Ducks. But the defense needs work. Oregon picked on Ohio State’s secondary much of the night, especially cornerback Denzel Burke. They’ve got a bye week to figure things out before hosting Nebraska. Penn State, Michigan and unbeaten Indiana remain on the slate. Could Ohio State actually miss the College Football Playoff?
7. Clemson Tigers
This week: beat Wake Forest 49-14
Next week: vs. Virginia
Oh, look, another Clemson blowout. Since their season-opening loss to Georgia, the Tigers have now won the next five games by outscoring their opponents 243-96. That’s an angry bunch. Clemson’s offense is humming. Against Wake, they had a 100-yard rusher, a 100-yard receiver and a 300-yard passer. QB Cade Klubnik hasn’t thrown a pick in 10 quarters and has tossed seven touchdowns over that stretch.
8. Iowa State Cyclones
This week: beat West Virginia 28-16
Next week: vs. UCF
The Cyclones are 6-0 for just the second time ever, they’ve got one of the nastiest defenses in the country and have a remaining regular season schedule that’ll include just one ranked team (Kansas State). Should we be talking about Matt Campbell’s team in the playoff? QB Rocco Becht is playing as well as anyone, and ISU’s defense hasn’t allowed more than 21 points this season.
9. BYU Cougars
This week: beat Arizona 41-19
Next week: vs. Oklahoma State
In their second year in the Big 12, the Cougars are atop the league and are 6-0 on the season with some pretty solid wins at SMU and over Kansas State. They avoid the only other undefeated team in the Big 12 this season (Iowa State). Are we heading toward a BYU-Iowa State Big 12 title game? Maybe!
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
This week: beat Stanford 49-7
Next week: at Georgia Tech
Things are going as planned for the Irish (except for that inexplicable home loss to Northern Illinois). God himself (a lighting delay in the second half) couldn’t stop the Irish from rolling over the Cardinal. Look at Notre Dame’s schedule and tell me where the Irish lose another game. They’re on a path to an at-large berth.
