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    • Oregon, Ohio State Top List
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    Oregon, Ohio State Top List

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    This Big Ten heavyweight fight went the distance.

    In one of the most important games of the regular season, Oregon hit a 19-yard field goal with just under two minutes remaining and edged Ohio State to make a case for No. 1 in the U.S. LBM Coaches Poll next week.

    On the final drive of the game, OSU drove into Oregon’s red zone before a key offensive pass interference call wiped out any chance of a potential game-winning field goal attempt. The Buckeyes lined up at the Ducks’ 38-yard line with six seconds left, ending when quarterback Will Howard scrambled up the middle and came to a stop as time expired.

    It was a battle of quarterbacks, elite offenses, often incredible receiver play and just enough defense for the Ducks to pull off perhaps the most meaningful regular season victory in program history.

    Howard was 28 of 35 for 326 yards and three touchdowns, one on the ground. Dillon Gabriel had one of the best starts of his well-traveled career, hitting 23 of 34 throws for 341 yards and three scores of his own. The two teams combined for 963 yards of total offense.

    The new look Big Ten has a new leader. After spending most of the past few decades at or near the top of the Pac-12, the No. 3 Ducks are clearly built for life in this conference and a run at the national championship.

    The two teams could meet again in the Big Ten championship game, if not a third time in the College Football Playoff. But the immediate takeaway from Saturday night’s thriller is simple: These are two extremely elite teams worthy of being considered among the very best in the Bowl Subdivision.

    Beating OSU gives Oregon tremendous leeway when it comes to the playoffs. Even if there was a collapse along the way, a team with two losses and wins like this would have a very strong argument for an at-large bid. That kind of stumbling block seems very unlikely.

    While extremely survivable, the loss is humiliating for the Buckeyes. Oregon was the newcomer; the Buckeyes were the established Big Ten powerhouse. The result tells us something about the Big Ten’s pecking order and how the league has been strengthened by the expansion additions this season. The loss was Ohio State’s first in conference play against a team other than Michigan since losing to Purdue in 2018.

    OSU and the Ducks lead the way for Saturday’s biggest winners and losers:

    Winners

    Texas

    It wasn’t the prettiest performance, especially in a tough first quarter, but No. 1 Texas took care of business with a 34-3 rivalry win against No. 16 Oklahoma to remain the only undefeated team in the SEC. After missing two games due to injury, quarterback Quinn Ewers had 199 yards passing and ran and threw for a touchdown, while the running game earned 177 yards on 30 carries. The win in Red River capped another very good defensive performance from a unit that entered the weekend ranked second nationally in yards given up per play: Texas held the Sooners to 237 yards on 3.4 yards per play, with a good part of that distance came with the game well in hand.

    Iowa

    Iowa scored 40 points in a very nice win against Washington, and if you don’t think that’s a big deal, you may not be familiar with the Hawkeyes’ recent history. Iowa had not scored 40 points against a Big Ten opponent since dropping 51 points against Maryland on Oct. 1, 2021. Last year’s team scored a total of 131 points in 10 regular-season games, including a shutout loss to Michigan for the Big Ten. championship. While the Hawkeyes were helped by a few short fields in the fourth quarter, they are clearly better on this side of the ball; that makes them a threat to virtually any opponent the rest of the way.

    Buffalo

    Buffalo is making a lot of noise under new coach Pete Lembo. A few weeks after upsetting Northern Illinois, the Bulls defeated the MAC favorite with a 30-15 victory against Toledo. Two factors determined the unrest: one: a plus-two lead in the turnover margin, and two: a dominant performance on both sides of the line. Buffalo ran for 230 yards on 52 carries while holding the Rockets to just 46 yards on 1.8 yards per rush. Lembo once did wonders at Ball State and is doing the same for the Bulls.

    Louisiana-Monroe

    ULM has been to just one bowl game in program history, losing the 2012 Independence Bowl, but may be planning a postseason trip after moving to 5-1 with a 38-21 win against Southern Mississippi. New coach Bryant Vincent has done an extremely impressive job taking over a program with no recognizable track record and an even more spotty recent past. ULM went 8-36 in the four years before his arrival, including a winless 2020 season that ranks among the worst by any team in FBS history. Vincent previously served as interim coach at Alabama-Birmingham and had a chance to win the permanent job that went to Trent Dilfer. How did that decision work out for the Blazers?

    Vanderbilt

    Okay, so the Commodores really exist. If there was any thought that Alabama’s shocking loss last week was a one-off, a 20-13 victory at Kentucky cements Vanderbilt as a legitimate threat for six or more wins during the regular season. Diego Pavia was a little less flashy than against the Crimson Tide but was still great, hitting 15 of 18 throws for 143 yards and two scores with another 53 yards on the ground. Defensively, the Commodores forced two turnovers, made two stops on fourth down and kept the Wildcats’ passing game secret to win back-to-back SEC games for the first time since November 2022.

    Losers

    Alabama

    Sirens, alarms, flares, cuckoo clocks – they’re all going off at the same time amid another eyebrow-raising outcome for Kalen DeBoer and the No. 7 Crimson Tide. Hey, at least they won this time: Alabama came on defense late and held off South Carolina to win 27-25. That’s obviously an improvement from last week’s loss to Vanderbilt. But there are so many signs of concern, including an offensive scheme that worked so well for DeBoer in Washington but hasn’t translated well to the physicality and style of the SEC. Beating the Gamecocks keeps the Tide alive for the SEC championship and a spot in the playoffs, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how they’ll manage to get through the regular season without another two or more losses.

    Mississippi

    Leading 23-16 with just minutes remaining, No. 8 Mississippi gave up the tying touchdown to No. 10 LSU with less than 30 seconds left and then lost 29-26 in overtime. That’s a brutal result for two reasons: first, the Rebels had beaten the Tigers and had chances to take a bigger halftime lead than just 17-13, and second, a second defeat halfway through the regular season effectively serves as an eliminator for any realistic playoff hopes. This self-inflicted loss is reflected in a dismal possession during overtime, with the Rebels committing multiple penalties before scoring a 57-yard field goal. LSU would answer with a touchdown pass on the first play of its possession to get the win. Despite all the hype and fuss surrounding his program, Lane Kiffin hasn’t gotten Ole Miss over the hump and into a permanent spot in the top tier of the SEC.

    Southern California

    USC had No. 5 Penn State trailing 20-6 and on the ropes after a highly effective first half, but crumbled in the second, allowing the Nittany Lions to force overtime and ultimately earn a 33-30 victory. Leading 30-23 with six minutes left, USC gave up a pair of fourth-down conversions to help PSU tie with about three minutes left. During the final line of regulation, USC played for overtime instead of pushing the ball downfield for a chance at the potential game-winning field goal. After USC missed a field goal on the first possession of overtime, the Nittany Lions converted a 36-yard field goal to escape. For Penn State, the comeback win maintains some very strong playoff hopes and avoids the kind of loss that would have raised the stakes surrounding the November matchup with No. 2 Ohio State.

    North Carolina

    These are not normal losses. These are bad, bad, bad losses, each seemingly worse than the last. And that’s saying something, considering North Carolina’s current four-game losing streak started with a 70-50 loss at home to James Madison. And yes, the last one was even worse. After tying Georgia Tech at 34-34 on a 26-yard field goal with 44 seconds left, the Tar Heels allowed Tech running back Jamal Haynes to run 68 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the ensuing drive to lead 41-34 to lose. . UNC is now 3-4 and winless in ACC play.

    Oklahoma

    There are too many flaws for this team to stay in the Top 25. The biggest problem with OU is an offense without a quarterback and no surrounding skill talent — the receiving corps has been decimated by injuries — and appears to be a problem that has been around for a year. At quarterback, Brent Venables and his staff appear to have taken a whiff of former starter Jackson Arnold and don’t seem to know how to produce anything positive behind Michael Hawkins Jr., a more limited passer. The Sooners still have to face the Rebels, No. 18 Missouri, the Crimson Tide and LSU, so getting six wins may be easier said than done.

    (This story has been updated with new information.)

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