Colin Simmons didn’t just star in Texas’ 20-17 win at Tennessee. He took over the game and made the kind of impact that can wreck an offense’s entire afternoon.
The Texas edge rusher was everywhere from the opening snap, carving through an overmatched Tennessee offensive line and finishing with five sacks, eight total tackles and a forced fumble. That sack total was more than 40 FBS teams had entering play Saturday, and ESPN Insights said Simmons became the first FBS player in the last 20 years to record five sacks against a ranked opponent.
His pressure helped fuel a Texas defense that completely bottled up a Tennessee offense usually known for fireworks. The Volunteers’ only touchdown came on a punt return, and that snapped a streak that had lasted since 2019. Texas also followed up last week’s shutdown of UTSA, when it ended the Roadrunners’ 74-game streak of scoring an offensive touchdown.
Simmons even found a way to make the penalty announcer part of the show. After one sack in the first half, he was flagged for unsportsmanslike conduct, producing one of the more memorable penalty calls of the day.
Colin Simmons was called for an unsportsmanslike conduct penalty after a sack on 3rd down. pic.twitter.com/JO0CH6aeOf
- ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 26, 2026
Steve Sarkisian will probably live with the celebration if Simmons keeps producing nights like this in SEC play.
Elsewhere, Louisville gave everyone a familiar reminder of what this team can be. One week after beating SMU in a dramatic game, Jeff Brohm’s team came home and laid an egg against Wake Forest.
The Cardinals, who had run for 286 yards at 8.7 yards per carry against SMU, never got their ground game going this time. Wake Forest’s 78th-ranked rushing defense controlled the line, holding Louisville to 75 rushing yards on 38 carries.
That forced Louisville to lean on Lincoln Kienholz, who threw 36 passes. The Ohio State transfer has looked sharp in the starting job, but that kind of script was never going to be ideal for the Cardinals.
The loss also served as another reminder of Louisville’s strange range. The Cardinals beat SMU and put themselves in a strong position in the ACC race, helped by a very manageable schedule that avoids Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Clemson. But Saturday showed the other side of the coin: this is a team that can beat almost anybody and lose to almost anybody in the same month.
Then there’s Jeremiah Smith, who is starting to look like a serious threat to the NCAA’s single-season receiving touchdown record. The Ohio State star caught four touchdown passes against Illinois, and the Illini’s repeated man coverage looked like a bad bet from the start.
The current FBS record for touchdown catches in a season is 27, set by Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech in 1998. Smith already has seven through four games, and if Ohio State keeps making a deep playoff run, he’ll have plenty of chances to keep climbing. If future opponents keep lining up in man coverage, that chase could get interesting fast.
In Other News...
Louisvilles Loss Exposed A Problem Fans Wont Want To Ignore
Wake Forest left Louisville with a loss that was built on balance, not just one hot phase. The Deacons were effective on both sides of the ball and got enough from special teams to keep the Cardinals from finding a rhythm, while Louisvilles offense ran into real resistance at the line of scrimmage. The defense was particularly sturdy against the run, and several players on that unit earned strong marks for what they did between the tackles.
On the other side, the blocking picture offered some clues about where Louisville still has work to do. The interior of the offensive line held up well in pass protection, and Drayden Dickmann showed up as a useful piece in run blocking, but the edge of that protection remains a point to watch. For a team trying to establish more consistency week to week, the difference between the inside and outside of the line may end up mattering more than the final score suggested. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Suddenly Has An Offensive Concern It Cant Ignore
Louisvilles setback against Wake Forest did more than knock the Cardinals out of the AP Poll after Week 4 of the 2026 season. It also sharpened the focus on an offense that suddenly has less margin for error, especially with Jeff Brohm trying to keep the team positioned for a potential ACC Championship run if it can clean things up before the schedule gets harder.
Brohms postgame update added another layer of uncertainty when he said Lincoln Kienholz has something without spelling out what it is. The Cardinals now head into this weekends matchup with North Carolina State needing answers as much as production, and their standing in the ACC picture has already slid to No. 7, which makes the next stretch feel even more consequential. [Read more 🡒]
Louisvilles Playoff Dream Just Took A Brutal Turn
Louisville spent the first part of the season looking like a real ACC and College Football Playoff threat, building momentum with a strong start and stacking up wins that put the Cardinals firmly in the conversation. The loss to Wake Forest changed the math in a hurry, but it did not erase the fact that Louisville still has a route back into the picture if it can keep winning and push its way to the ACC title game.
ESPNs Allstate Playoff Predictor made the setback feel even more severe, dropping Louisville from 22% to 4% after the defeat. With little margin for error now, the next road game at North Carolina State takes on added weight, because the Cardinals can still chase the same ceiling they had before, but every step from here has to come with a sense of urgency. [Read more 🡒]