Five of the AP Top 7 went down on the same Saturday, and the poll was blown wide open. The result was a brand-new No. 1, a reshuffled top tier, and a few heavyweight programs left to pick up the pieces after one of the wildest weekends the sport has seen in a while.
Miami came through the chaos untouched. It took double overtime and one highly controversial last play, but the Hurricanes did what so many others couldn’t: they survived Florida State. Even without facing a ranked opponent yet this season at the time of play, Miami’s spotless record and the carnage around it pushed the pollsters to give the Hurricanes 40 first-place votes and the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2002.
Right behind them, BYU delivered one of the statement wins of the year. Bear Bachmeier put together a complete night, throwing for a touchdown, running for two more, and even catching a score in No.
8 BYU’s stunning upset of No. 2 Notre Dame.
The Cougars jumped to No. 2 for the first time since the school’s 1984 national championship season, and they also gave the Big 12 a major boost. The league now has a real path to getting two teams into the College Football Playoff, with Texas Tech looking like the other candidate after a confident dismantling of Arizona State.
That sets up a very real possibility of a Big 12 title game between Texas Tech and BYU, with playoff spots more or less in hand.
In the Big Ten’s marquee matchup, Ohio State stopped Indiana’s 22-game winning streak with a 19-15 grind. The Buckeyes entered the day with one loss and badly needed to avoid another in Bloomington, and they managed that.
But the win came with a major concern: quarterback Julian Sayin left with a throwing-shoulder injury, and the timing could hardly be worse with USC and Nebraska on the road and Oregon and Michigan coming to Columbus. Jeremiah Smith can do just about everything a receiver can do, but even he needs a quarterback capable of getting him the ball.
That remains an open question now.
Tennessee also made a loud case to be taken seriously. The Vols leaned on defense, running the ball, and takeaways in a 24-point showing against Alabama that felt like a turning point.
DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns, Tennessee forced four turnovers, and the defense held Alabama to just 10 points and 2 yards per carry. The reward was a jump to No. 11, while Alabama fell seven spots to No. 13 after back-to-back losses.
With more production from the quarterback spot, Tennessee suddenly looks capable of making noise in both the SEC and the playoff race.
Florida had a completely different kind of breakthrough. Backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr., in his first career start, threw two touchdown passes as the Gators erased a 14-point deficit and beat No.
7 Texas 27-24 in Austin. Florida’s defense was just as important.
It sacked Arch Manning five times, forced a late fumble that sealed the win, and held Texas to 173 passing yards in what was a striking turnaround for a secondary that had been the SEC’s worst coming in. The Gators snapped a two-game skid, picked up their first road win over a top-10 opponent since 2012, and returned to the AP poll at No.
- Texas slid 12 spots to No.
Then came the biggest jolt of all: Auburn took down No. 1 Georgia.
Unranked and trailing by two touchdowns early, the Tigers scored 24 straight points and finished the upset with Alex McPherson’s 34-yard field goal as time expired. Byrum Brown rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown, while Georgia coughed it up three times, including a costly late fumble by Gunner Stockton.
The win snapped Georgia’s streaks against Auburn and unranked teams and gave new coach Alex Golesh a major lift. Georgia, which had just climbed to No. 1 after an emotional win at Alabama, looked worn down.
Kirby Smart had admitted the Bulldogs might have been spent, and the performance matched that concern. Favored by more than three touchdowns at home, Georgia tied the game with under three minutes left, then fumbled near midfield and watched Auburn set up the winning kick.
The Bulldogs dropped to No. 5 after one week at the top.
And then there was Texas. The loss to Florida brought the criticism of Arch Manning right back to the surface, the same questions that followed him since he was a high school recruit and people wondered whether his ranking had more to do with the name on the back of the jersey.
Steve Sarkisian made it clear changes could be coming. “Everything is going to be evaluated,” he said.
“Everything means everything.” At this point, Manning has been evaluated.
He looks like a very average quarterback.
In Other News...
Rece Davis Turns BYU Win Into Bigger Officiating Fight
The fallout from BYUs win over Notre Dame kept moving well after the final whistle, with ESPNs Rece Davis taking aim at the officiating mistake that ended the game with the Irish out of time for one last snap. The Big 12 later acknowledged the error, saying one second should have remained on the clock and promising a review of the replay officiating process, which only added to the sense that the finish was about more than just one result.
Davis also tied the episode into a broader conversation that has been simmering around the College Football Playoff expansion debate, using the clock mishap as another example of why the sport keeps getting pulled into bigger questions about fairness and control. For BYU, the win stands, but the way it ended has ensured the discussion will linger well beyond one Saturday night. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Got The Statement Win Fans Dreamed About
Bear Bachmeier gave BYU the kind of all-around performance that can change the way a season feels, helping the Cougars outlast Notre Dame in a 28-24 win that should resonate well beyond one Saturday. The sophomore quarterback was effective as a passer and a runner, and the offense found another steady presence in tight end Walker Lyons, who kept showing up as a reliable target when the game tightened up.
The result pushed BYU all the way to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25, a sign of how much national respect the Cougars earned with the victory. For a team trying to prove it belongs in the top tier, the bigger question now is how this performance carries over, because statement wins only matter if they become part of a pattern. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Suddenly Faces A UCF Test That Could Shake Its Playoff Push
BYUs win over Notre Dame did more than add a marquee result to the rsum. It also gave the Cougars a significant lift in ESPNs Football Power Index projections, which now see a much clearer path to 11 wins and a College Football Playoff berth than they did before kickoff against the Irish. The model has BYU at 70.7% to beat UCF and 70.6% to make the playoff, a sharp jump from roughly 33% in the wake of the Notre Dame matchup.
Still, the numbers come with the usual caveats, especially for a team whose playoff case is being compared against the rest of the Big 12. FPI can brighten a forecast quickly after one statement win, but BYU still has to keep backing it up on the field, starting with a UCF test that could say plenty about whether this surge is real or just the kind of projection that changes again as soon as the schedule turns. [Read more 🡒]