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The rumors of Lincoln Riley and USC’s demise have been greatly exaggerated… for now. 

In a had-to-have-it spot, the Trojans notched the biggest win of the Riley era, knocking off No. 2 Ohio State 30-18 in a game that wasn’t as close as the scoreline might suggest. 

A week after getting stuffed in a locker by a nasty Wisconsin defense, USC came alive on Halloween night. Trent Mosley ripped off a huge catch-and-run touchdown on the second play of the game. Mark Bowman’s 70-yard catch, hurdle, and back-breaking run went down as a play of the year contender. At seemingly every turn, everything came up USC. 

No. 2 Ohio State entered the Coliseum with a backup quarterback and exited with a second loss to its name, throwing the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff hopes into disarray. 

Ohio State’s offense played fine, but ultimately couldn’t cash in when it needed to. Quarterback Luke Fahey was serviceable. The Buckeyes gained 204 yards on the ground. Jeremiah Smith was predictably good, finishing with 10 catches for 83 yards and one touchdown. 

Ohio State came out on the losing end because its defense did not hold up its end of the bargain. It’s as simple as that. 

With the win, USC kept its CFP hopes alive, even if the Trojans’ remaining schedule looks daunting. 

Suddenly, a two-loss Ohio State team with a backup quarterback looks far less formidable. Could the Buckeyes find themselves on the outside looking in with another loss over the final month of the season? 

Georgia flattened Florida 27-8 in the World’s Largest Cocktail Party and put the country on notice in the process.

This game featured a vintage Georgia defensive performance. The Bulldogs terrorized both Florida quarterbacks for four quarters. They held the Gators to 54 rushing yards on 28 attempts. Couple that with the stellar pass rush and a few timely forced turnovers, and you have one of the most complete defensive performances we’ve seen out of a college football team in a big game this season. 

The Florida offense was all out of sorts from the very beginning. Aaron Philo threw two early interceptions, one of which came on the ultimate YOLO play. Tramell Jones Jr. was a bit better but couldn’t generate much pop. The offensive line gave up four sacks and 11 tackles for loss, and honestly, if you told me it was more than that, I’d believe you. 

Georgia’s passing offense wasn’t stellar, but it didn’t need to be. The run game was elite, and the Bulldogs managed the game perfectly. Georgia will undoubtedly need to show more prowess in the pass game in the later months of the season, but perhaps that’s a different challenge for a different day. 

With the win, it’s not a stretch to suggest that Georgia is the best team in college football.

Top-ranked Miami had its hands full for 60 minutes, but staved off a plucky North Carolina team and escaped Chapel Hill with a 38-35 win to remain undefeated. 

The Hurricanes were clinical on offense and came up clutch at every turn. Heisman contender Malachi Toney chipped in a pair of touchdowns, even if he was limited compared to his most recent outings. Quarterback Darian Mensah did a nice job staying on schedule and distributing the football for four quarters. The Hurricanes’ offensive line also held up well against a good Tar Heels’ pass rush. 

Despite the predictably good offensive showing from Miami, the defense got worked for most of the night. North Carolina quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. had arguably the best game of his career, finishing with 341 yards and four touchdowns. But on the biggest drive of the game, Miami came up clutch, notching a crucial strip sack that allowed the Hurricanes to put the game to bed. 

A loss is a loss, but North Carolina should feel great about Saturday night’s showing. OC Bobby Petrino called a heck of a game, and if it weren’t for that late-game strip sack or if the Tar Heels had recovered one of three consecutive onside kick attempts at the end, this one might’ve had a different outcome. 

Miami can now look ahead to a monster matchup against fifth-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend next weekend. Gird your loins…that’s going to be a big one on a weekend filled with big ones.

Saying that college football delivers something new every week might be a stretch, but that was certainly true in the Indiana-Minnesota game. 

With 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Gophers thought they had knocked off the defending national champs after drilling a 60-yard (!) field goal. The fans went nuts. The kicker celebrated like he had won the Super Bowl. The Hoosiers looked stunned, and everybody, and I mean everybody, thought the Hoosiers were going down. 

But in the spirit of Halloweekend, the Hoosiers conjured up some witchcraft and answered with a 60-yard bazooka field goal of their own at the end of regulation to force overtime. 

In overtime, Indiana backup quarterback Grant Wilson laced a beautiful back-shoulder touchdown to Charlie Becker to put the Hoosiers up seven. Then, the Indiana defense answered the bell and squashed the Gophers’ rebuttal to survive with a 23-16 win.

Two things can be true: Indiana deserves a ton of credit for finding ways to win. At the same time, we need to have a serious discussion about the outlook for this offense with starting quarterback Josh Hoover being injured and playing poorly. 

Indiana moves to 8-1 with the come-from-behind victory and is still in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten title race. This is not last year’s Indiana, but they keep winning ugly, and there’s something to be said about that. 

Texas Tech’s defense played with its hair on fire, lived in the backfield, and turned the tide in the Red Raiders’ 34-26 bounce-back win over No. 22 Arizona. 

The Red Raiders’ defense gets the game ball in this one. Despite giving up a few big passing plays, this unit dominated up front and did an excellent job of making Arizona one-dimensional. Texas Tech’s defense finished with five sacks and eight tackles for loss, with every single one of them coming in a big spot. 

Backup-turned-starting quarterback Thomas Castellanos added some juice to the Texas Tech offense with his live-wire rushing abilities. He churned out 117 yards and one score on the ground. The decision to turn to Castellanos paid off Saturday…but it’s difficult to deny his limitations as a passer. Was this a flash-in-the-pan moment or a sign of things to come for the Texas Tech offense? You be the judge. 

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita had a strong showing, but fizzled down the stretch of the fourth quarter. He’s an extremely fun and effective quarterback, but perhaps it was too much to ask him to deliver when he was running for his life most of the game. 

With the loss, the Wildcats are likely out of the Big 12 title race, but could still have a part to play in deciding what program makes that game, with a home matchup against No. 6 Utah still on the docket. 

Texas Tech is still in the thick of the Big 12 title race. That’s about all you can ask for this time of year. 

Iowa State and Oklahoma State channeled some serious 2010s Big 12 energy, combining for 100 points in a game that featured plenty of hilarious swings of momentum. The Cyclones walked it off with a 34-yard field goal as time expired to knock off No. 24 Oklahoma State 51-49.

Cyclones’ running back Aidan Flora put on his Superman costume and ripped off 221 yards and two touchdowns. Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker finished with 323 yards and five touchdowns. Defense was 100% optional in this one, and frankly, I respect it. 

Iowa State has been much better than expected. A tip of the cap to first-year head coach Jimmy Rogers. 

Oklahoma State is an excellent watch as a neutral, but that defense needs some serious work.

Syracuse brought the juice in a tasty 30-27 come-from-behind victory over No. 19 SMU. Fran Brown-led teams feel good for one of these per season. The Orange got some solid quarterback play from Steve Angeli, and defensively, did a nice job of letting Kevin Jennings put a little too much dip on his chip.

With the loss, SMU is almost certainly out of the ACC title game picture. Tough scene for Rhett Lashlee and the Mustangs. 

Elsewhere, Wake Forest throttled Virginia 51-7 to move into second place in the ACC title game race. The Demon Deacons have won their last four games by a combined 187-31, with all four wins by at least 24 points. Wake Forest is playing big-boy football right now, and should not be messed with! 

On Sunday, Florida State parted ways with head coach Mike Norvell. Giving up two passing touchdowns to a Clemson team that had two the entire season before Saturday’s win over the Seminoles was the final nail in the coffin.

Despite the terrible results as of late, this is a premier job in college football. It should be fascinating to see who Florida State targets this offseason.

What more can you say about Nebraska? 

ICYMI, Nebraska choked away yet another game in the fourth quarter, this time against a very average Washington team. 

At every turn, this football program snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. They wilt in fourth quarters. They invent new painful ways to lose every week. I’m starting to wonder if this program is a social experiment in how to lose close games.

Give your Husker fan friends a big ol’ hug. They need it right now. 

No. 20 Boise State outlasted Texas State 46-45 in the most haywire game of the weekend slate. 

The Broncos led 28-3 at halftime and looked to be in firm control of the outcome. Then the Bobcats roared back with 22 third-quarter points, before a ludicrous fourth quarter that featured 38 combined points, six touchdowns, and four missed two-point conversions. 

Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen left the game on crutches with a lower-body injury. His replacement, Max Cutforth, led a spirited comeback, finishing with 131 yards and three touchdowns, all of which came in the second half. 

With the win, the Broncos retain the top spot in the race for the Group of 6 CFP spot. 

Elsewhere in the G6, Fresno State thumped Oregon State 38-22.

Braden Atkinson coughed up two fumbles and superstar wideout Jess Legree had his most modest outing of the season. 

The loss likely eliminates the Beavers from CFP contention. What a crazy upset in the wee hours of Sunday morning! 

Last week, Iowa lost a befuddling game to Minnesota. This week, the Hawkeyes took out all of their frustrations in a 30-0 beatdown of Wisconsin. 

Iowa ripped off some big plays. Quarterback Hank Brown had an excellent game. The defense played the best game of the season in a big-time spot.  Don’t look now, but if Iowa can keep from stubbing its toe, there’s a legitimate path for the Hawkeyes to make a Big Ten title game appearance. What a time to be alive. 

Elsewhere across the Big Ten, Oregon put its foot on the gas in a 34-26 win over No. 20 Northwestern. 

This game was a tale of two halves. Chip Kelly schemed up some excellent plays in the first half. Aidan Chiles looked amazing. It felt like Northwestern would pull away for a comfortable victory. 

But out of nowhere, Oregon turned up on offense. The Ducks’ receivers suddenly became unguardable, and quarterback Dylan Raiola had one of his best outings in an Oregon helmet. Raiola iced the game with an insane Patrick Mahomes-esque jump pass. Sometimes the jokes just write themselves. 

Sixth-ranked Utah was in an obvious letdown spot, and it didn’t matter one bit. The Utes drilled Cincinnati 49-25, further cementing their status as the Big 12’s most dominant team so far this season. 

Utah ran for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Devon Dampier tallied 260 passing yards and three touchdowns. The offensive line dominated from start to finish, no small feat considering the competition. 

Next week, Utah will square off with BYU for the biggest Holy War ever. Give me all of that! 

College Football Week 9 delivered another round of upsets, close calls and big questions about the teams at the top of the rankings. Seven Top 25 teams went down, including Ohio State in an upset loss to USC, and we're back to sort through the fallout from another unpredictable Saturday.

We start with USC's statement win over the Buckeyes and what it means for both teams moving forward. Then, we turn to Georgia's impressive showing against Florida, Miami's narrow escape against North Carolina and the growing questions about how to evaluate the nation's top contenders. Is Georgia making the strongest case for No. 1? How worried should Miami fans be about their defense?

Elsewhere, Indiana finds another way to win, Texas Tech makes a statement against Arizona, and we dig into the teams that deserve more respect as the College Football Playoff race takes shape. Plus, more Week 9 takeaways, our latest Dude Alerts and a look ahead to an enormous Week 10.

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