
How shocking upsets and near misses of Week 6 impact conference, CFP races
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Bill ConnellyOct 5, 2025, 06:55 PM ET
Close- Bill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.
On Oct. 26, 1985, UTEP pulled one of the biggest upsets in WAC history, holding BYU’s Robbie Bosco to 15-of-35 passing with four interceptions and upsetting the No. 7 Cougars — the defending national champions — in a 23-16 shocker. BYU had won 30 of its previous 31 games heading into the game, and UTEP had begun the season 0-6.
Until Saturday, that was the last time a team that was 0-4 or worse had knocked off a top-10 opponent. But almost 40 years after that wild upset at the Sun Bowl, a sparse Rose Bowl crowd witnessed an upset under similar circumstance. UCLA’s 42-37 win over Penn State was the most stunning result of the 2025 season to date, and combined with Florida’s 29-21 win over Texas in The Swamp — a much more normal upset, as far as those things go — it severely wounded the College Football Playoff odds of what were the top two teams in the preseason AP poll.
The rest of Week 6 was more about missed upset opportunities than shockers, but taking down the preseason top two is quite the paradigm shifter. Let’s look back at the most important developments of Week 6.
The biggest upset in 40 years (by one definition, at least)
Each week in my Friday preview column, I search for what I call the Chaos Superfecta, in which I look for four carefully curated games with pretty big point spreads and mash them together into a much more upset-friendly number. This past Friday, I declared that we would be taking down a Big Ten favorite, noting that there was only a 55% chance that Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois and Nebraska all would win. As it turns out, I wasn’t aiming high enough. UCLA’s pregame win probability, per SP+, was 2.1%; the Bruins’ upset was actually too chaotic to be considered for the Chaos Superfecta.
We know how huge upsets tend to play out. The losing favorite turns the ball over too many times (usually with a healthy dose of bad luck), settles for too many field goals and bottoms out on third or fourth down. They win a majority of the plays but lose the wrong ones.
Penn State did lose a fumble to start the second half, and the Nittany Lions’ combined 5-for-12 performance on third and fourth down wasn’t terrible but wasn’t amazing either. But the Nittany Lions produced a 52.6% success rate*, well above the national average of 44.8%, and they averaged a healthy 6.3 yards per play.
(* Success rate: How frequently an offense is gaining 50% of necessary yardage on first down, 70% on second and 100% on third and fourth.)
Drew Allar, so maligned for big-game performances through the years, was quite good, completing 19 of 26 passes for 200 yards and rushing 10 times (not including one sack) for 89 yards. Aside from an early three-and-out, PSU moved the ball well all game until an all-timer of a fourth-and-short stop by UCLA’s defense in the final minute.
The culprit, instead, was a Penn State defense that has been as good as virtually any in the nation over the past four seasons.
Since the start of 2022, only five teams have gained at least 430 yards on the Nittany Lions: No. 5 Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State in 2022, No. 11 Ole Miss in 2023, No. 1 Oregon in 2024 … and UCLA on Saturday. That’s the same UCLA team that gained just 326 yards on New Mexico in Week 3 and 220 against Utah in its season opener.
Well, I guess it wasn’t the same UCLA. This one had Jerry Neuheisel calling plays after offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri followed fired head coach DeShaun Foster out the door this past week. Neuheisel’s notice was short enough that he hadn’t even mastered the headset yet.
UCLA OC Jerry Neuheisel had never practiced with the headset before today’s game – but it all worked out 😂 pic.twitter.com/oVelZaEa7c
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 5, 2025
Neuheisel called the game like UCLA played it: with nothing to lose. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava has spent much of his career looking as though he’s torn between showing off his athleticism and trying to be a pro-style QB prototype by staying in the pocket and making plays with his arm. That has resulted in far too much indecision and far too many sacks over the last season and a half. But he was unlocked Saturday, taking his customary three sacks but otherwise rushing 13 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns. He moved the chains on third down four times with his arm and four times with his legs.
The Bruins sliced down the field for a touchdown to start the game, recovered a surprise onside kick and took a 10-point lead before Penn State could actually touch the ball. They outgained the shell-shocked Nittany Lions by a 285-92 margin in the first half, in part because PSU got the ball only three times, and took a 27-7 lead into halftime. But when the Nittany Lions scored a touchdown, then blocked a punt for another score, to cut the lead to 27-21 midway through the third quarter, it was fair to assume what was going to happen next: Here’s where the slow-starting favorite shifts into gear and wins by two touchdowns, right? Even ESPN’s in-game win probability model shifted to favor the Nittany Lions.
Instead, UCLA immediately drove 75 yards for a touchdown, and when PSU scored in response, UCLA went another 75 yards for a score. Things got tense late, and the Nittany Lions, down 42-35 in the final minute, had a chance to tie the game up. But Scooter Jackson led a host of defenders in stuffing Allar on fourth-and-2, and the Bruins saw out the unbelievable upset.
Even if you had told me in advance that UCLA would win this game, I would have given “Allar plays well, but the defense gets torched, and the Nittany Lions lose at the line of scrimmage on almost every key occasion” betting odds of about +1000. Penn State was without injured star linebacker Tony Rojas, but my goodness, the school didn’t spend unearthly sums of money prying defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from Ohio State to give up 42 points to UCLA.
This was only James Franklin’s third loss as a favorite of 14 or more points at Penn State — he’s now 56-3 in such games, a 0.949 win percentage that is better than almost any other team in the country. Maybe the Nittany Lions were just due an absolute nonsense performance; maybe no one can limit uncertainty to such an upset-proof degree.
Regardless, this is a devastating loss. With back-to-back games against Ohio State (second in SP+) and Indiana (third) coming up in November, the Nittany Lions were already looking at probably needing to at least split those games to feel good about their playoff chances. Now they probably have to beat both the Buckeyes and Hoosiers, and with their SP+ rating falling off a cliff following Saturday’s result, they’re projected to have only a 1.6% chance of winning out to reach 10-2.
This was the all-in year for Penn State, with the school ponying up not only for Knowles but also to keep stars such as Allar, running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton in town for one more season. Now their most likely record, per SP+, is 7-5, and their Big Ten title odds are currently 11th in the conference, lower than those of even Iowa or Maryland.
Big Ten title odds, per SP+
Ohio State 26.9%
Oregon 25.8%
Indiana 17.7%
Michigan 9.7%
USC 5.1%
Washington 4.3%
Illinois 3.6%
Nebraska 2.9%
Iowa 1.3%
Maryland 1.2%
Penn State 0.6%
Oof.
Florida over Texas, aka the rise of the disappointing QB
One of the stories of September was how many high-upside quarterbacks were falling miles short of expectations. When I ranked all the power-conference quarterbacks last week, Texas’ Arch Manning ranked 41st, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik ranked 54th, UCLA’s Iamaleava ranked 58th and Florida’s DJ Lagway ranked 61st. All were mega-blue-chip recruits, Klubnik and Iamaleava had piloted playoff teams last season, Lagway had flashed signs of true-freshman brilliance down the stretch and Manning began this season as the betting favorite for the Heisman. All were among the bottom 40% of P4 QBs.
On Saturday, Iamaleava torched Penn State, and Klubnik went 22-of-24 for 254 yards and four touchdowns as Clemson absolutely pasted North Carolina. Lagway, meanwhile, drastically outdueled Manning as Florida toppled Texas.
Against what had been the No. 1 defense in the country, per SP+, Lagway completed 21 of 28 passes for 298 yards and two scores, and after suffering far too many sacks and turnovers in September, he threw one pick with no sacks. Jadan Baugh rushed for 107 yards, and blue-chip freshman Dallas Wilson caught six passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including this utterly ridiculous 55-yarder.
0:25
Freshman Dallas Wilson makes unbelievable 55-yard TD catch
Dallas Wilson is able to stay inbounds after the catch and runs in for the Florida touchdown.
The Gators averaged 7.0 yards per play with a 48% success rate against a defense that seemed even more elite than Penn State’s. Only two turnovers and two field goals kept Florida under 30 points. Lagway has consistently pressed this season, trying far too hard to make something happen for a struggling team. On Saturday, he was wonderfully in control.
Manning, meanwhile, had yet another frustrating game. He did complete passes of 22, 26, 33, 38 and 42 yards, with a 36-yard run to boot, but he was just 16-of-29 for the game and threw two picks with six sacks. He continues to lose his footwork and misfire on loads of passes when pressured, he continues to get absolutely no help from his offensive line, and he continues to trust his athleticism too much to bail him out of trouble.
Texas has played five games this season: three against teams ranked 97th or worse in SP+ and two against teams ranked 33rd or better. Texas is 3-0 against the former but 0-2 against the latter. Life in the SEC gives the team plenty of chances to stockpile marquee wins if it gets its act together. But the Longhorns have fallen to 20th in SP+, thanks to an offense that currently ranks 53rd, and saying they still have 5-0 Oklahoma, 5-0 Texas A&M, 4-1 Georgia and 5-1 Vanderbilt on the schedule sounds far more threatening than hopeful. At this point, the Longhorns’ most likely projected record is 7-5, and they’re currently 10th on the SEC title odds list.
SEC title odds, per SP+
Ole Miss 17.0%
Alabama 15.5%
Oklahoma 15.5%
Missouri 11.7%
Texas A&M 9.9%
Georgia 7.3%
Tennessee 6.0%
LSU 5.7%
Vanderbilt 3.3%
Texas 2.8%
The Horns will have a shot at an immediate rebound against Oklahoma in Dallas on Saturday, but any hope Texas fans can derive from their team likely facing Sooners backup quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is offset by the fact that OU ranks second in defensive SP+, 16 spots higher than the Florida defense that just made Manning’s life hell.
Missed opportunities in Tallahassee and Tuscaloosa
Turnovers have been at the root of many upsets through the years, but turnovers also prevented a couple of underdogs from making favorites sweat Saturday.
No. 10 Alabama 30, No. 16 Vanderbilt 14
A lot of Saturday’s Bama-Vandy game in Tuscaloosa played close to the typical upset script. Alabama moved the ball with ruthless efficiency overall but suffered a few negative plays and an ill-timed turnover and scored touchdowns on just one of its first five red zone trips. The Crimson Tide let Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt hang around in exactly the type of way teams often end up ruing. But unlike last season, Vandy couldn’t hold up its end of the upset bargain.
Pavia lost a fumble at the Bama 8 as the Commodores were attempting to expand an early 7-0 lead, then Pavia was picked off by Keon Sabb at the Bama 7 early in the fourth quarter, when Vandy, down 20-14, had a chance to take the lead again. As efficient and gutsy as Pavia can be, you can’t waste opportunities like that. Bama scored 10 late points to pull away.
Now, Bama was easily the superior team. The Tide outgained the Dores by 153 yards and 0.9 yards per play, with a better success rate (49.3% to 46.3%) and more big plays (gains of 20-plus yards on 10.1% of their snaps to Vandy’s 5.6%). Jam Miller, who missed most of September because of injury, rushed 22 times for 136 yards, and Ty Simpson‘s primary receiver trio — Ryan Williams, Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton — combined for 15 catches and 246 yards. But they left the door ajar with their red zone failures, and it felt almost surprising when Vandy didn’t take advantage.
In the past two weeks, Bama has beaten Georgia for a second straight year and avenged last year’s loss to Vandy. The challenges are only beginning — the Tide’s next two opponents (Missouri and Tennessee) are each in the SP+ top 10, and both LSU (17th) and Oklahoma (fifth) will visit Tuscaloosa in November — but these were two huge hurdles to clear, and they’re in good shape in the SEC race because of it.
No. 3 Miami 28, No. 18 Florida State 22
Through the first four games of 2025, Florida State might have had the best scripted plays in college football. Over the first 15 plays of a game, the Seminoles were averaging 10.5 yards per play, first in the country. For that matter, their first four snaps Saturday night gained 51 yards as they quickly drove into Miami’s red zone. But the momentum ceased. Over their next 37 snaps, they averaged just 3.5 yards per play with two turnovers. And after a third turnover, they found themselves down 28-3.
Without the turnovers, however, they might have had a chance. The FSU defense did its part, more or less, losing receivers Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels for a quartet of big gains but otherwise allowing just 3.3 yards per play over 55 snaps and forcing five punts with three three-and-outs. Miami scored just enough that, when FSU’s offense finally got going late, the Noles couldn’t quite catch up, but without the self-inflicted wounds, the ending might have been much more interesting. Regardless, after a tough overtime loss to Virginia last week — the Cavaliers beat Louisville in OT as well Saturday — FSU didn’t give itself a shot at a rebound opportunity.
At the heart of FSU’s sudden regression has been a relative loss of form for quarterback Tommy Castellanos. Even as the Noles began the season brilliantly, I couldn’t shake the memory of last year, when Castellanos followed a brilliant start at Boston College with a collapse.
Castellanos’ first three games of 2024: 83.5 Total QBR, 64.8% completion rate, 9.5 yards per dropback, 8.5% sack rate
Rest of the season: 17.9 Total QBR, 59.8% completion rate, 5.9 yards per dropback, 11.6% sack rate
Castellanos and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn fit beautifully together, and his ceiling is higher at FSU than it was at BC. But after an almost perfect three-game start, it appears opponents are once again adjusting well to his unique skill set. Virginia and Miami both hemmed him in and forced him to throw more passes instead of scrambling for downfield yards, and it limited his effectiveness.
Castellanos’ first three games of 2025: 92.5 Total QBR, 71.1% completion rate, 13.8 yards per dropback, 0.0% sack rate
Last two games: 58.9 Total QBR, 55.8% completion rate, 6.3 yards per dropback, 4.9% sack rate
It’s still baffling that Bama didn’t understand the assignment in the season opener and allowed Castellanos to repeatedly escape the pocket, but Virginia and Miami put him in more awkward situations. FSU should still score plenty of points and win plenty of games — SP+ gives them a 66% chance of finishing 8-4 or better, which is a massive rebound after last year’s 2-10 collapse. But any hopes of an ACC title charge or playoff bid are pretty much toast.
ACC title odds, per SP+
Miami 32.9%
Duke 15.7%
Georgia Tech 13.4%
Virginia 12.4%
Louisville 9.4%
SMU 6.6%
Pitt 5.2%
Florida State 1.2%
FSU fans probably would have welcomed an 8-4 record before the season began, but the win over Bama set a bar too high for the Seminoles to clear.
Cincinnati over Iowa State and the new Big 12 race
No. 11 Texas Tech 35, Houston 11
Hey, guess what: Texas Tech looked fantastic again. Even while settling for too many field goals (like Alabama), the Red Raiders still led previously unbeaten Houston by at least 12 points for the game’s final 46 minutes, more than doubled the Cougars’ yardage (552-267) and cruised to victory. They’re projected favorites by double digits in every remaining regular-season game, per SP+, and have a 36% chance of reaching 12-0. They have better conference title odds than any other power-conference team.
Big 12 title odds, per SP+
Texas Tech 38.2%
BYU 12.7%
Cincinnati 10.0%
Utah 9.8%
Arizona State 7.2%
TCU 5.1%
Arizona 5.0%
Iowa State 4.4%
Kansas 3.9%
Overall, the Big 12 slate was as chaotic as ever, with three games decided by one score — including a last-second goal-line stand for Kansas (27-20 over UCF) and a last-minute field goal for Baylor (35-34 over Kansas State). Unbeaten BYU didn’t look amazing against West Virginia on Friday night but never really had to sweat either, and Baylor, TCU and Kansas were able to overcome early-season losses and remain in the title race.
Cincinnati 38, No. 14 Iowa State 30
Iowa State couldn’t remain unbeaten, however. The Cyclones allowed points on all of Cincinnati’s first-half drives, fell behind 31-7 and couldn’t get closer than nine points until the final two minutes. Cincy’s Evan Pryor and Tawee Walker combined for 167 rushing yards in the first half alone, quarterback Brendan Sorsby did Sorsby things (214 passing yards, 64 rushing yards), and Cincinnati won its fourth straight game since a Week 1 heartbreaker against Nebraska. This wasn’t a flawless performance — the Bearcats committed a mind-numbing run of penalties early in the fourth quarter and gained just 53 yards in their first 16 second-half snaps before putting the game away with a long Caleb Goodie touchdown — but it established their spot in the title race, and if the defense can more frequently perform as it did in the first half Saturday, they could remain in the race for a while.
This week in SP+
The SP+ rankings have been updated for the week. Let’s take a look at the teams that saw the biggest change in their overall ratings. (Note: We’re looking at ratings, not rankings.)
Moving up
Here are the 10 teams that saw their ratings rise the most this week:
Old Dominion: up 5.2 adjusted points per game (ranking rose from 65th to 50th)
Ball State: up 4.6 points (from 129th to 126th)
UConn: up 4.5 points (from 77th to 66th)
Florida: up 4.3 points (from 47th to 33rd)
New Mexico State: up 4.2 points (from 128th to 121st)
Pitt: up 4.1 points (from 41st to 30th)
UCLA: up 4.1 points (from 100th to 87th)
Northwestern: up 4.0 points (from 80th to 71st)
Akron: up 3.7 points (from 131st to 128th)
Notre Dame: up 3.6 points (from 19th to 8th)
Florida, UCLA and Northwestern all enjoyed course corrections after strong performances, and SP+ was particularly impressed with what Notre Dame did to Boise State — by the stats, the Irish’s 28-7 win looked like a 33-point win. But can we talk about Old Dominion for a second? Quarterback Colton Joseph is averaging 15 yards per completion and 8.3 yards per carry and is up to 17th in Total QBR, and the 5-1 Monarchs’ only blemish was a competitive loss against Indiana. They beat Virginia Tech, and their average score against three non-power-conference opponents is 41-7. They play James Madison in two weeks in what is quickly becoming one of the biggest Group of 5 games of the season.
Moving down
Here are the 10 teams whose ratings fell the most:
Penn State: down 6.4 adjusted points per game (ranking fell from 4th to 16th)
Mississippi State: down 5.0 points (from 27th to 43rd)
Minnesota: down 4.5 points (from 45th to 60th)
Vanderbilt: down 4.1 points (from 11th to 21st)
Boston College: down 4.1 points (from 75th to 86th)
Oklahoma State: down 4.1 points (from 103rd to 116th)
North Carolina: down 4.0 points (from 86th to 101st)
Coastal Carolina: down 4.0 points (from 123rd to 129th)
Iowa State: down 3.9 points (from 26th to 37th)
Florida International: down 3.9 points (from 121st to 127th)
We saw a number of terribly disappointing teams continuing to fall this week — Boston College, Oklahoma State, North Carolina, Coastal — but it probably isn’t a surprise to see which team leads this list. Penn State still ranks 16th overall but only because it takes a while to fall from near the top.
Who won the Heisman this week?
I am once again awarding the Heisman every single week of the season and doling out weekly points, F1-style (in this case, 10 points for first place, 9 for second, and so on). How will this Heisman race play out, and how different will the result be from the actual Heisman voting?
Here is this week’s Heisman top 10:
1. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA (17-of-24 passing for 166 yards and two touchdowns, plus 150 non-sack rushing yards and three TDs against Penn State).
2. Julian Sayin, Ohio State (23-of-27 passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns against Minnesota).
3. Eli Heidenreich, Navy (eight catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns against Air Force).
4. Luke Altmyer, Illinois (19-of-22 passing for 390 yards and a touchdown, plus 20 non-sack rushing yards against Purdue).
5. Jakobe Thomas, Miami (5 tackles, a sack, an interception, two pass breakups and a forced fumble against Florida State).
6. Colton Joseph, Old Dominion (17-of-30 passing for 315 yards and four touchdowns, plus 67 non-sack rushing yards and a TD against Coastal Carolina).
7. Blake Horvath, Navy (20-of-26 passing for 339 yards and three touchdowns, plus 130 non-sack rushing yards and a TD against Air Force).
8. Ty Simpson, Alabama (23-of-31 passing for 340 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT, plus 21 non-sack rushing yards against Vanderbilt).
9. Carnell Tate, Ohio State (nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown against Minnesota).
10. DJ Lagway, Florida (21-of-28 passing for 298 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT against Texas).
Iamaleava was the obvious choice this week, but Sayin is starting to make an admittedly easy job — throwing to Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate — look really, really easy. In four games since the Buckeyes’ win over Texas, he has completed 88 of 106 passes (83%!) for 1,187 yards with 14 touchdowns and three picks, none in the past two games. He can still be fooled occasionally (which makes sense since he’s a redshirt freshman), but it’s becoming increasingly rare.
Honorable mention:
• David Bailey, Texas Tech (3 tackles — all TFLs, 2 sacks, a forced fumble and a QB hurry against Houston).
• Carson Beck, Miami (20-of-27 passing for 241 yards and four touchdowns against Florida State).
• Hank Beatty, Illinois (five catches for 186 yards and a touchdown against Purdue).
• Jordan Gant, Akron (32 carries for 176 yards, plus 28 receiving yards and a touchdown against Central Michigan).
• Mason Heintschel, Pitt (30-of-41 passing for 323 yards and four touchdowns, plus 42 non-sack rushing yards against Boston College).
• Cashius Howell, Texas A&M (3 tackles, all sacks, and a pass breakup against Mississippi State)
• Cade Klubnik, Clemson (22-of-24 passing for 254 yards and four touchdowns against North Carolina).
• Jam Miller, Alabama (22 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown, plus eight receiving yards against Vanderbilt).
• Naeten Mitchell, New Mexico State (10 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 pass breakups and a pick-six against Sam Houston).
Through six weeks, here are your points leaders:
1. Ty Simpson, Alabama (24 points)
2. Luke Altmyer, Illinois (16)
3T. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (15)
3T. Taylen Green, Arkansas (15)
5. Jayden Maiava, USC (12)
6T. Jonah Coleman, Washington (10)
6T. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA (10)
6T. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (10)
6T. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt (10)
6T. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor (10)
With four top-10 appearances in the past five weeks, Ty Simpson, the No. 4 overall betting favorite, has built a bit of a cushion for himself as we approach the midway point of the season. (Betting favorite Carson Beck has yet to make an appearance on our list, which is odd.) Meanwhile … hello there, Luke Altmyer! He has finished second and fourth in the past two weeks while going a combined 39-of-48 for 618 yards and three touchdowns. Since getting stomped by Indiana, the Illinois offense has been nearly unstoppable.
My 10 favorite games of the weekend
1. UCLA 42, No. 7 Penn State 37. Obviously.
2-3. FCS: Georgetown 27, Morgan State 24; Division II: West Liberty 47, West Virginia State 41. The smaller-school ranks gave us a pair of Hail Mary-esque finishes this week.
First, after watching an early 14-0 lead turn into a late 24-21 deficit, Georgetown’s Dez Thomas II found Jimmy Kibble for a 49-yard score to take down Morgan State at the buzzer.
HAIL MARY TO KIBBLE FOR THE WIN!#HoyaSaxa #HoyaBold #DefendTheDistrict #SISU https://t.co/CLGmxgiUPv pic.twitter.com/C2VrowGbMW
— Georgetown Football (@HoyasFB) October 4, 2025
Then, at the end of a 40-point fourth quarter that had already given us an 80-yard Antevious Jackson-to-Hunter Patterson touchdown pass, Jackson found Osama Hurst for 40 yards to turn a tie game into a West Liberty win.
BALLGAME! West Liberty beats West Virginia State on the final play of the game – a 40-yard TD pass from Antevious Jackson to Osama Hurst. Hilltoppers 47, Yellow Jackets 41. #MECFB pic.twitter.com/8exKcZ1yLF
— Mountain East Conf. (@TheMountainEast) October 4, 2025
4. Arkansas State 31, Texas State 30. Oof, Texas State. The Bobcats’ defense mostly shut Arkansas State down for three quarters and took three separate leads in the fourth. But ASU drove the length of the field to tie each time, and when Lincoln Pare scored to give Texas State the lead with a minute left, Tyler Robles missed the PAT after a poor snap. That opened the door, and Jaylen Raynor‘s short touchdown with seven seconds left — plus Clune Van Andel‘s PAT — gave the Red Wolves an upset win to start Sun Belt play.
5. Baylor 35, Kansas State 34. OOF, K-State. The Wildcats have now lost four games by a combined 13 points. They led this one 31-17 with nine minutes left and were driving to basically put the game away, but Jacob Redding‘s 66-yard pick-six with 4:28 left gave the Bears a sudden lead. Luis Rodriguez‘s 22-yard field goal made it 34-32 KSU, but Connor Hawkins booted in a 53-yarder at the buzzer, and Baylor moved to 2-1 in Big 12 play.
6. Washington 24, Maryland 20. I’m not going to lie: I stopped paying attention to this one when Maryland went up 20-0. Apparently Maryland did too.
7-8. Division III: No. 5 Wisconsin-La Crosse 23, No. 10 Wisconsin-Whitewater 20 (2OT); No. 17 Wisconsin-Oshkosh 21, No. 12 Wisconsin-River Falls 17. You know how I’m always nagging you about keeping up with the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in Division III? If the first week of this year’s title race is any indication, the nagging isn’t going to cease anytime soon. The conference featured a pair of ranked-versus-ranked matchups, and both were thrillers.
After nearly 60 minutes of defensive dominance in Oshkosh, the offenses perked up late. Kaleb Blaha’s 2-yard run with 1:21 left capped a 92-yard drive and gave River Falls a 17-14 lead, but Oshkosh drove 66 yards in eight plays, and Quentin Keene’s 7-yard strike to Clayton Schwalbe gave the Titans a last-second win. But that was the mere undercard: The headliner in Whitewater, played in front of 20,167 — the second-largest on-campus crowd ever for a Division III game — saw La Crosse overcome a 17-0 halftime deficit and send the game to overtime with a late Gabe Lynch touchdown. Overtime was a field goal festival, but after Christian Powell recovered a strip-sack fumble, La Crosse earned a big walk-off road win with a 36-yard field goal from Michael Stack.
9. FCS: Western Carolina 23, Wofford 21. I should have probably given Western Carolina’s Taron Dickens a spot on the Heisman list above. He did, after all, complete 46 straight passes Saturday, an NCAA single-game record. Granted, they were mostly short passes — he finished 53-for-56 for 378 yards — and he needed every one of them to overcome three long Wofford touchdowns. But Marcus Trout‘s 34-yard field goal with 23 seconds left assured Dickens’ record day wasn’t in vain.
10. Division II: No. 8 Augustana 29, Sioux Falls 28. Sioux Falls was on its way to both a top-10 upset and a win in the Key to the City rivalry as the Cougars led 28-10 heading into the fourth quarter. But Augustana charged back, with two Richard Lucero Jr. touchdown passes sandwiching a 52-yard Jake Pecina field goal. Lucero’s 24-yard strike to Isaiah Huber gave Augie the lead with 1:18 left, and USF’s last-minute desperation drive stalled out near midfield.
Honorable mention:
12. Buffalo 31, Eastern Michigan 30 (OT)
13. No. 24 Virginia 30, Louisville 27 (OT)
14. Division II: Ferrum 28, Shorter 25
15. FCS: Dayton 35, Morehead State 28
16. Troy 31, South Alabama 24 (OT)
17. Western Kentucky 27, Delaware 24 (Friday)
18. Florida 29, No. 9 Texas 21
19. Division II: Minnesota State-Moorhead 40, Minot State 37 (OT)
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Sports
Sullivan’s debut as Rangers coach spoiled by Pens
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1 hour agoon
October 8, 2025By
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Greg WyshynskiOct 8, 2025, 12:06 AM ET
Close- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
NEW YORK — Mike Sullivan coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for 10 seasons, leading them to two Stanley Cup championships. On Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, he watched them ruin his debut as the New York Rangers‘ latest head coach.
Sullivan admitted it was a peculiar feeling having Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and others he coached in Pittsburgh suddenly become his opponents.
“I mean, obviously it’s different. It’s different. I knew that was going to be the case,” he said after Pittsburgh’s 3-0 victory on the opening night of the 2025-26 NHL season. “But I’m excited about the group we have here in front of me with the Rangers. I’m looking forward to working with this group.”
The Rangers were shut out by goalie Arturs Silovs (22 saves) and watched forward Justin Brazeau score two goals in the Penguins’ win. They were outshot 15-5 in the third period and couldn’t muster anything consistent offensively in Sullivan’s debut.
“Well, I think my first observation is we got a long way to go to become the team we want to become. Some of it I think we can iron out, but certainly we’ve got a ways to go,” said Sullivan, who will coach Team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Italy. “I’m not going to overreact to it. It’s one game. We’ve got a lot of hockey to play,” he said. “So is it disappointing? Yeah. We’re going to see what we can take from it. We’ve got to move on.”
Sullivan and the Penguins agreed to part ways in April despite his being under contract through the 2026-27 season. Hired in 2015-16, Sullivan was the franchise’s most successful coach with 409 wins, only the 14th coach in NHL history to win 400 games with one team. Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 with Sullivan.
Days later, after he left the Penguins, Sullivan was hired by the Rangers to replace coach Peter Laviolette, signing a five-year contract that made him the NHL’s highest-paid coach. Sullivan, 57, had previously served as an assistant coach with New York from 2009 to 2013, during which time he coached Rangers GM Chris Drury as a player.
Penguins captain Crosby acknowledged it was a different feeling having Sullivan behind the Rangers’ bench instead of his.
“I just go out there and compete, but it’s always weird that first little bit,” he said.
For Crosby, it wasn’t just seeing Sullivan coaching the opponents. Sullivan brought former Penguins assistants David Quinn and Ty Hennes with him to New York.
While Sullivan took the loss against his former team, new Penguins coach Dan Muse earned a victory against his. Muse was an assistant coach under Laviolette for two seasons in New York and reportedly interviewed for the vacancy before Sullivan was hired. Crosby was happy to get Muse the win.
“Every team will tell you, especially early in the season, it’s not going to be perfect. You’re just trying to be on the same page as much as possible. And I feel like he prepared us well to start the year,” Crosby said.
Pittsburgh had Crosby, Malkin and Letang in its starting lineup, three players who have been on the Penguins team together since 2007.
“We had three guys that have been playing together for 20 years, and I thought it was important that they get to start the game together,” Muse said.
Sports
Sasaki ‘primary option’ at closer, says Roberts
Published
3 hours agoon
October 8, 2025By
admin
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Alden GonzalezOct 7, 2025, 11:14 PM ET
Close- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki hasn’t been officially declared the closer, but he might as well be. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Sasaki is “definitely the primary option now” in the ninth inning, but that is also contingent on his workload.
“We have to win X amount of games [to secure a championship], and he’s not going to close every game,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s workout from Dodger Stadium. “It’s just not feasible, so, you’ve got to use other guys.”
Roberts attempted to do that in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday night, deploying Blake Treinen with a three-run lead in the ninth inning. But Treinen allowed the first three batters to reach, cutting the Philadelphia Phillies‘ deficit to a single run. Alex Vesia followed by facing three batters, retiring two. Sasaki then entered the game and recorded the final out in what amounted to his fifth major league relief appearance since transitioning to the bullpen in mid-September.
The Dodgers entered the postseason with a leaky bullpen they hoped to shore up with starting pitchers, most notably Sasaki but also Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw and, at times, Tyler Glasnow. The likes of Treinen, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech — the latter two currently recovering from injuries but expected to be available for a potential National League Championship Series — were expected to anchor a dominant bullpen. All of them, to varying degrees, have fallen out of favor, but Roberts will inevitably have to trust them again at some point.
“If there’s a world where you can use five pitchers and finish a postseason and win the postseason, I think a lot of people would sign up for that,” Roberts said. “But that’s impossible. So you’ve got to use your roster at certain times and kind of pick spots where you feel best and live with whatever outcome. But that’s just the way it goes to win, for us, 13 games in October.”
In hopes of winning at least one, the Phillies, coming off back-to-back losses in Philadelphia, will turn to veteran right-hander Aaron Nola with their season on the line in Game 3 on Wednesday. Nola, 32, navigated a career-worst year in 2025, going 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA. But Phillies manager Rob Thomson will deploy lefty starter Ranger Suarez behind Nola, with Cristopher Sanchez fully rested for a potential Game 4.
Thomson said he went with Nola because of Nola’s strong finish to the regular season — eight innings of one-run ball against the Minnesota Twins — and because Nola is more comfortable starting than coming out of the bullpen. A lefty is typically a better option against the top of the Dodgers’ lineup, but the left-handed-hitting Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman have combined for a 1.056 OPS against Suarez.
“I have trust in both of them, don’t get me wrong,” Thomson said. “But Nola has pitched in some really big games for us in the last couple of years.”
Thomson said center fielder Harrison Bader, who suffered a hamstring strain in Game 1, will be a “game-time decision” on Wednesday. Bader pinch hit in the ninth inning of Game 2 and was replaced by a pinch runner after his single. Starting him as the designated hitter and putting Kyle Schwarber in the outfield is not an option.
“He’s still got to run,” Thomson said of Bader. “If he can run, he’s going to play center field.”
Dodgers catcher Will Smith, nursing a hairline fracture in his right hand, has not started any of the team’s four playoff games but has caught the final innings in each of the first two games of this series. Doing so again in Game 3 makes sense, given that the Dodgers would have the platoon advantage by starting the left-handed-hitting Ben Rortvedt against Nola and later turning to the right-handed-hitting Smith against Suarez. But Roberts said “there is hope” of Smith catching the whole game.
“I’ll make the decision tomorrow,” Roberts said. “Each day, it’s gotten better, so I feel more confident that he’ll be able to start.”
Sports
M’s show off ‘complete team,’ now on cusp of ALCS
Published
3 hours agoon
October 8, 2025By
admin
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Bradford DoolittleOct 7, 2025, 10:13 PM ET
Close- MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Been with ESPN since 2013
DETROIT — The Seattle Mariners have heard it for years. They are the only team that has never made it to the World Series. After a telltale win in Detroit on Tuesday, the Mariners are one win from getting closer to sending that bit of trivia in obsolescence than they’ve been in 24 years.
All it took was an 8-4 win over the Tigers in Game 3 of the ALDS that gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the series and emblematic of what they have become since the roster was boosted by midseason additions.
“Huge game, a lot of momentum,” Mariners starter Logan Gilbert said. “I’ve been saying it for a while: This is the most complete team I’ve been on and seen.”
It was very much a complete victory for the Mariners, who opened an 8-1 lead after a rain delay of nearly three hours before quashing a ninth-inning Tigers rally.
It wasn’t just the pitching of Gilbert or the end of game door slam from closer Andres Munoz or the ongoing long ball heroics of AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh. It was all of that and more.
“One through nine, guys had good at-bats,” Raleigh said. “And that’s kind of what we’re preaching.”
Gilbert put up seven sterling innings, striking out seven. Raleigh hit his second career postseason home run and first on the heels of his historic 60-homer season. J.P. Crawford enjoyed a perfect night in the nine-hole that included a homer. And trade acquisition Eugenio Suarez launched a home run.
“We’ve been battling all along getting to this point,” Suarez said. “Being one step closer to going to the championship, we’re not done with the job yet. We have to continue playing like this.”
The Mariners got contributions up and down the lineup. They scored on the three long balls but also went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position and scored two runs in the third thanks to aggressive baserunning. They quashed Detroit’s late push with a game-ending double play.
The Mariners won by getting contributions across the board, from nearly every player and in every phase of the game.
“That’s the team that we are,” Crawford said. “We create chaos, and we keep the line moving.”
Seattle entered the season drawing plaudits for a standout starting rotation and star players in Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez, but there were concerns about lineup depth and offensive consistency.
The Mariners’ offense improved, but the rotation fell short at times because of injury issues to George Kirby and Gilbert. But in July, the team started to get healthier, and before the trade deadline dealt for Suarez and first baseman Josh Naylor. Suddenly, a roster with clear strengths but just as clear holes started to look very complete.
That revised version of the Mariners was on display in Game 3, moving Seattle one win from reaching the ALCS for the first time since 2001. It’s one victory that will erase a little more of so much bad history.
“We got a tough road ahead of us,” Raleigh said. “Really tough pitching tomorrow. You know it’s going to be a challenge. We got to bring it tomorrow. We can’t take a game off.”
The Mariners will send righty Bryce Miller to the mound in Game 4 on Wednesday. He’ll face Detroit’s Casey Mize and a Tigers team that, in scoring three ninth-inning runs that forced Mariners manager Dan Wilson to summon Munoz from the bullpen, showed that they will not go quietly.
“We’ve earned our way here and we’ve had to play more and more back-against-the-wall-type games,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I know our guys are going to be ready.”
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