Digging in on 31 tasty morsels from a full Week 7 menu
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Bill Connelly
Are you a fan of the old reliable or new weirdness? Do you go for a good, old-fashioned corny dog at the State Fair of Texas or do you seek out the new oddity, like this year’s Ox’cellent Cornbread Sliders or Deep Fried Carbonara?
Regardless of your taste, Week 7 of the college football season has you covered. If you like a nice blue-blood helmet game, the Red River Rivalry pits the preseason No. 1 team (Texas) against the current No. 6 (Oklahoma). Michigan heads to USC for a Rose Bowl-adjacent battle. Georgia plays Auburn! Florida plays Texas A&M! Plenty of big-name games everywhere you look!
The biggest game of the week, however, is Indiana at Oregon. Weird! Alabama at Missouri might be No. 2, and it’s possible that no game has more direct College Football Playoff implications than USF’s Friday evening visit to North Texas. An ambitious college football geek should head up to Denton before Red River!
Week 7 gives us both what we think we need and what we really, really want instead. Something for everyone. Here’s everything you need to know about another loaded weekend.
All times are Eastern; games are Saturday unless otherwise noted.
Fun new dishes
Helmet games are great. It’s nice heading into a given season with certain landmarks like OU-Texas that you know will draw attention. But there’s a buzz that comes with games of surprising gravitas, and three conferences will give us one of those this week. With assistance from the new food items at this year’s State Fair of Texas, let’s lean into all three.
The Lobster Three Ways of the Week (surprisingly fancy!)
No. 7 Indiana at No. 3 Oregon (3:30 p.m., CBS)
Oregon and Dan Lanning have grown accustomed to this “big game” thing. This will be the eighth time the fourth-year head coach has led the Ducks into a top-10 vs. top-10 battle. They’re 4-3 in such games so far, with all the losses to eventual CFP finalists. Indiana, meanwhile, has played four such games ever. Half of them happened last season, and the next one the Hoosiers win will be the first. In terms of known gravitas, we know who has the advantage.
Granted, Oregon’s win at Penn State two weeks ago looks a little different after the Nittany Lions’ loss at winless UCLA, but it seemed to give us a pretty accurate impression of the Ducks: They’re super efficient with quarterback and current No. 2 Heisman betting favorite Dante Moore leading the show on offense, but they’re not incredibly explosive. The defense combines three-and-outs — they’ve forced them on 50.9% of possessions, third in the FBS — with elite big-play prevention. I mean, of course this is an awesome team: It has won 19 of 20 games!
The spotlight, then, is on Indiana. Can the Hoosiers perform better than they did at Ohio State (38-15 loss) or Notre Dame (27-17) last year? They haven’t really given us any reason to doubt them in 2025: They’re third in SP+; they’re first in success rate* on offense and second on defense; and they beat a current top-20 team (otherwise-unbeaten No. 17 Illinois) by 53 points three weeks ago.
(* Success rate: how frequently an offense is gaining 50% of necessary yardage on first down, 70% on second down, and 100% on third and fourth downs.)
The offense generates most of the headlines, with quarterback and No. 7 Heisman betting favorite Fernando Mendoza throwing to Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. and handing off to Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black. The Hoosiers have a lot of ways to stay on schedule, and they’ve done it better than anyone else in the sport thus far.
Aside from the occasional big-gainer to Cooper, explosiveness isn’t necessarily a strength here, and the two teams that kept the big plays tamped down — Old Dominion and Iowa — held them to 23.5 points per game and 5.6 yards per play.
The Hoosiers’ defense is the star of the show, though. Illinois scored 10 points at 3.6 yards per play against Indiana but has averaged 42.4 points and 7.0 yards per play against everyone else. Everywhere you look, Indiana has multiple stars, with ends Kellan Wyatt, Mikail Kamara and Stephen Daley; linebackers Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy; and safeties Louis Moore and Amare Ferrell. Plus star corner D’Angelo Ponds is expected to play after missing time with injury.
The Big Stage Game is the only test Indiana didn’t pass last year, but the Hoosiers get another chance to show out Saturday. We know Oregon will.
Current line: Ducks -7.5 | SP+ projection: Ducks by 6.2 | FPI projection: Ducks by 5.2
The Meat Lovers Crunch Wrap Calzone of the Week (might be new and different, might taste like a typical calzone)
No. 8 Alabama at No. 14 Missouri (noon, ABC)
On the first Monday night of the 1975 season, Missouri went down to Birmingham and pummeled No. 2 Alabama, 20-7. Bama had won 22 straight regular-season games, but led by tailback Tony Galbreath, the Tigers rushed for 206 yards to Bama’s 31 and made a 20-0 halftime lead hold up with surprising ease. “They ran up and down the field as though they were playing a barber’s college,” Alabama coach Bear Bryant said. “They ate us on the line of scrimmage.”
The win assured Mizzou of something rare: a series lead on the Tide. The Tigers were 2-1 all time against Bama when they joined the SEC in 2012. They’re now 2-6. In five meetings as SEC mates, Bama has swept by an average score of 39-10. But Saturday will be the Tigers’ best shot at a win in 50 years.
Alabama has rebounded from a dismal Week 1 loss to Florida State, winning four straight and beating ranked opponents in the last two weeks. Quarterback Ty Simpson leads my Heisman horse race, and an inefficient run game has improved since Jam Miller‘s return from injury. But running isn’t how you beat the Mizzou defense. In two games against power-conference opponents (Kansas and South Carolina), the Tigers have allowed opposing running backs to average just 1.3 yards per carry, but they also gave up 10 completions of at least 20 yards. The Tigers have the best pass rush the Tide have faced, but if they can’t pressure Simpson, the dynamite receiver trio of Germie Bernard, Ryan Williams and Isaiah Horton (combined: 192.8 yards per game, 15.1 per catch) will do damage.
A Missouri win Saturday might end up looking a lot like the 1975 game, with the Tigers controlling the ground game (and the YAC battle) on offense and defense. So far, tackling Mizzou’s Ahmad Hardy has been just about the hardest task in college football. Hardy leads the nation with 730 rushing yards, and 460 of those have come after contact.
Hardy has had more carries of more than 25 yards (five) than carries with lost yardage (four), and 212-pound backup Jamal Roberts averages even more yards per carry (7.3) than Hardy (7.1).
Mizzou boasts plenty of physicality, but aside from occasional deep shots to receiver Marquis Johnson, this offense is based far more around efficiency than explosiveness. In the last couple of Bama games, however, it’s been chunk plays or nothing against the efficient Tide. Bama records almost no tackles for loss or sacks, but sacks are the primary way of stopping Missouri: The Tigers rank 95th in sack rate allowed. When upright, Beau Pribula completes 76% of his passes, keeps the chains moving and forces teams to endure further doses of Hardy and Roberts.
Current line: Bama -3.5 | SP+ projection: Mizzou by 1.6 | FPI projection: Bama by 3.4
The Pop Rocks Margarita of the Week (let’s get silly and loud)
No. 24 USF at North Texas (Friday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2)
The odds are in the American Conference’s favor at the moment. The Allstate Playoff Predictor currently gives six teams from the Group of 5 a 7% or greater chance of reaching the CFP, and four of those teams — Memphis (39.5%), North Texas (14.5%), USF (10.4%) and Tulane (7.7%) — are from the American. Spectacularly explosive Old Dominion (20.1%) and unbeaten UNLV (8.6%) could still take the mantle, but for now it’s the American’s show. And its No. 2 and No. 3 contenders face off Friday night before the first sellout crowd ever at DATCU Stadium.
USF has the résumé mid-majors dream of. After walloping last year’s G5 representative, Boise State, in Week 1, the Bulls took down Florida the next week. They couldn’t offer much resistance against Miami, but they’ve beaten two overwhelmed opponents by a combined 117-40 since. And their big-play capabilities are ridiculous, especially those of receivers Chas Nimrod and Keshaun Singleton (combined: 661 yards at 20.0 per catch). There’s a major all-or-nothing component to this offense — it’s 95th in success rate but fifth in yards per successful play — but the “all”s are spectacular. Defensively, it’s turnovers or bust: The Bulls have forced 11 of them. They can create some negative run plays, too, but their statistical profile is otherwise pretty underwhelming.
North Texas has its best defense in quite a while — potentially faint praise considering the Mean Green haven’t ranked higher than 105th in defensive SP+ since 2018 — but the offense is the show. It ranks ninth in points per drive with heavy efficiency, almost no turnovers (three in five games) and excellent red zone execution (10th in red zone TD rate). Backs Makenzie McGill II and Caleb Hawkins average 6.0 yards per carry over 21 carries per game, and quarterback Drew Mestemaker is completing 68% of his passes with no picks and almost no sacks. Even when they’re behind schedule, they’re not really behind schedule because Mestemaker catches them up. North Texas has scored at least 33 points in every game and has allowed more than 30 just once. That’s a pretty good combination, though USF is comfortably the best team the Mean Green have played to date.
Current line: UNT -1.5 | SP+ projection: UNT by 6.6 | FPI projection: UNT by 0.8
Reliable old standbys
The biggest games of the week might be a little strange and experimental, but there are plenty of comforting matchups to assure that you keep your bearings. I mean, does college football get any more reliable than OU vs. Texas, Georgia vs. Auburn or Ohio State vs. a solid-but-probably-not-good-enough Big Ten foe?
The Corny Dog of the Week (safe, reliable state fair fare)
No. 6 Oklahoma vs. Texas (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Red River is both one of the most even and one of the most momentum-based rivalries you’ll see. For Texas to win for the third time in four years, the Longhorns will have to endure a strange matchup of excellent defenses and incomplete offenses.
Points per drive
Texas: 63rd on offense, fifth on defense
Oklahoma: 48th on offense, second on defense
OU quarterback John Mateer is racing to return from recent hand surgery; he was listed as probable on this week’s initial injury report, which caused the betting line to move swiftly toward the Sooners. Backup Michael Hawkins Jr. was fine against an admittedly almost Division II-worthy Kent State defense last week, but even with Mateer healthy, OU has gone unbeaten because of its defense.
Texas’ Arch Manning has yet to play well against an SP+ top-100 defense, which is pretty scary considering OU’s currently ranks second. Manning has flashed moments of excellence with his legs, but he took six sacks against Florida last week, and his numbers when pressured are pretty dismal.
Florida’s pass rush ranks 75th in sack rate; Oklahoma’s ranks first. We can talk about the Sooners’ disappointing run game and whether either Mateer or Hawkins can find enough success against a strong Texas defense. But until Texas proves it can actually keep pressure off Manning — or Manning proves he can perform well under duress — I’m not sure anything else matters.
Current line: OU -1.5 (flipped from Texas -2.5 on Sunday) | SP+ projection: OU by 7.6 | FPI projection: Texas by 2.8
The Fried Mac ‘n’ Cheese Bites of the Week (intriguing at first, predictable in the end)
No. 1 Ohio State at No. 17 Illinois (noon, Fox)
Ohio State’s mission is to win, not to entertain. The Buckeyes have won their last three games by an average of 34-6, and their defense, first in SP+ last season, has grown even more suffocating. They rank first in points allowed per drive, and the next red zone touchdown they allow will be the first all year.
Illinois’ offense is hot, at least. Since their humiliation against Indiana, the Illini have responded with near perfection: Luke Altmyer has completed 81% of his passes for 718 yards in two games, with wideouts Hank Beatty and Collin Dixon doing loads of damage. Granted, Washington ranked first nationally in points per drive before playing Ohio State and managed just six points. But if Illinois can do just enough damage that OSU quarterback Julian Sayin has to force the issue a bit, we could learn something useful about the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s run game isn’t nearly as dangerous as usual, but Sayin is completing 80% of his passes and never has to take any risks. Knowing the other team will never score, the Buckeyes can just wait opponents out, and eventually receivers Jeremiah Smith and/or Carnell Tate will break through and ice the game.
Current line: OSU -14.5 | SP+ projection: OSU by 13.8 | FPI projection: OSU by 10.7
The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Nachos of the Week (relatively predictable but could upset your stomach)
No. 10 Georgia at Auburn (7:30 p.m., ABC)
It’s danger time on the Plains. Auburn has lost 13 of 15 to Georgia and heads into this one having lost two in a row overall. The Tigers were competitive at both Oklahoma and Texas A&M because of strong defense but failed to even slightly protect Jackson Arnold (or persuade him to get the damn ball out of his hands faster). He was sacked 14 times in the two games, and Auburn scored a total of 27 points. Strangely, Georgia might offer a reprieve: The Dawgs rank just 115th in sack rate and 89th in yards allowed per dropback. They dominate against the run, but this might be Kirby Smart’s worst pass defense as a head coach or defensive coordinator.
Georgia’s offense moves efficiently but doesn’t make loads of big plays. The run game has been decent, but the Dawgs could be without both starting tackles — Monroe Freeling (ankle) and Micah Morris (back) are listed as questionable. Arnold might simply be broken, but it wouldn’t take too many decent pass plays to make this one uncomfortable for a Georgia team that really doesn’t want to suffer Loss No. 2 this early.
Current line: UGA -3.5 | SP+ projection: UGA by 4.6 | FPI projection: UGA by 3.5
The Chopped Brisket Sandwich of the Week (beefy but lacking pizzazz)
Florida at No. 5 Texas A&M (7 p.m., ESPN)
Two weeks ago, the defensive coach in Mike Elko emerged. Fresh from a 41-40 track-meet win at Notre Dame, his Aggies established a far more conservative streak.
First three A&M games: 71.0 total points per game, 7.0 yards per play, 5.2 yards allowed per play
Last two games: 33.0 total points per game, 6.1 yards per play, 3.7 yards allowed per play
In their first three games, A&M ran the ball just 39% of the time. In wins over Auburn and Mississippi State, that surged to 63%. The Aggies took more time between plays too. On both offense and defense, they sacrificed aggression for control. Granted, this nearly backfired when they dominated Auburn but couldn’t pull away. But last week’s 31-9 pummeling of Mississippi State was their best overall performance of the season.
Now comes a Florida team that also played its best game a week ago. The Gators’ defense pummeled Arch Manning early and often, and quarterback DJ Lagway played by far his most relaxed and effective game of 2025. The Gators still didn’t run the ball that well, and that’s been the easier way to move against A&M, but if this is the new Florida, Texas might not be the only team it upsets.
Current line: A&M -7.5 | SP+ projection: A&M by 10.0 | FPI projection: A&M by 6.7
The Red Velvet Cheesecake on a Stick of the Week (comforting and familiar, albeit in a confusing vessel)
No. 15 Michigan at USC (7:30 p.m., NBC)
Michigan and USC have played 11 times, and nine were in the greater Los Angeles area. Of course, eight of those were at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena; for just the second time, they’ll meet in USC’s L.A. Coliseum home.
After a bye week following the loss at Illinois, USC will define its season one way or the other playing Michigan and Notre Dame back-to-back. The Trojans’ offense still ranks first nationally in points per drive and yards per play, but the defense has slipped to 89th in rushing success rate allowed. You know what Michigan will do constantly if you can’t stop it? Run the ball. Justice Haynes has five 100-yard games in five tries.
Current line: USC -2.5 | SP+ projection: USC by 3.0 | FPI projection: USC by 4.8
This week in the Big 12
Texas Tech’s recent levels of dominance could be taking some of the mystery out of the Big 12 title race — per SP+, the Red Raiders currently have a 38% title shot, and no one else is above 13%. But it’s still early. Four Big 12 teams are 2-0 in conference play, with another seven at 2-1 or 1-1. From those 11 teams, we get three head-to-head matchups Saturday evening.
Kansas at No. 9 Texas Tech (7:30 p.m., Fox)
Have we finally found a Texas Tech weakness? It took a few games. Red zone offense was a major issue against Houston last week — the Red Raiders scored TDs on just two of eight red zone trips, and they’re now 103rd in red zone touchdown rate for the season. That can cost you a game somewhere at some point, at least if you’re making fewer than eight trips.
Tech otherwise remains a juggernaut — top 10 in offensive and defensive success rate and top 15 on third downs on both sides of the ball with bigger big plays than its opponents. That doesn’t leave teams with many avenues for an upset. But KU’s defense is solid in the red zone, and quarterback Jalon Daniels escapes pressure beautifully. If he can make plays while Tech is kicking field goals, we could have a game.
Current line: Tech -14.5 | SP+ projection: Tech by 15.4 | FPI projection: Tech by 7.0
No. 18 BYU at Arizona (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Arizona’s offense has been pretty mediocre this season, but the Wildcats are 4-1 because they’ve resurrected the Desert Swarm defense. They rank fourth in yards allowed per play, combining loads of negative run plays with loads of incompletions and interceptions. BYU freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier has passed every test thus far, but if he’s ever going to look like a freshman, it will come against a defense like this.
Of course, BYU’s defense is equally good at forcing mistakes — the Cougars are 15th in stuff rate and third in interception rate — and while BYU has given up an increasing number of points in each game, Arizona has played only one top-50 defense, per SP+, and scored only 14 points against Iowa State.
Current line: BYU -1.5 | SP+ projection: BYU by 3.5 | FPI projection: BYU by 5.1
No. 21 Arizona State at Utah (10:15 p.m., ESPN)
Arizona State hasn’t lost to a Big 12 team in nearly a full calendar year, but the Sun Devils are almost an afterthought in the title race, because of both Texas Tech’s hot start and their own cold start. They’ve rebounded since a loss to Mississippi State, but with Utah and Tech in the next two weeks, they need to be close to a finished product.
ASU’s defense has evolved into a sharp, bend-don’t-break unit, pouncing on mistakes and preventing big plays, but Utah almost has a bend-don’t-break offense with heavy efficiency and almost no big plays. How does that play out? And with quarterback Sam Leavitt listed as doubtful to play, can ASU establish enough of a rhythm in the run game, where Utah has suffered some glitches this year?
Current line: Utah -5.5 | SP+ projection: Utah by 10.8 | FPI projection: Utah by 5.3
Week 7 chaos superfecta
We’re once again using this space to will chaos into existence, looking at four carefully curated games with pretty big point spreads and mashing them together into a much more upset-friendly number.
I feel as if we should claim an honorary victory for last week — we aimed to take down a Big Ten favorite and got one with the UCLA-Penn State game that I wasn’t nearly brave enough to add — but technically we failed and fell to 3-for-6 for the season. But the two-week losing streak ends here. SP+ says there’s only a 46% chance that No. 9 Texas Tech (83% win probability against Kansas), No. 11 LSU (78% against South Carolina), No. 12 Tennessee (80% against Arkansas) and No. 16 Notre Dame (89% against NC State) all win. Someone important is going down.
Week 7 playlist
Here are some more games you should pay attention to if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend, from information and entertainment perspectives.
Friday evening
Rutgers at Washington (9 p.m., FS1). We’re putting this ridiculous long-distance matchup on a Friday night for the second straight year, but last year’s game was pretty awesome, and this year’s could be a track meet. Rutgers ranks 17th in points per drive but 99th in points allowed per drive; Washington ranks fourth and 81st, respectively. We love points on a Friday night.
Current line: UW -10.5 | SP+ projection: UW by 12.0 | FPI projection: UW by 7.5
Early Saturday
Pitt at No. 25 Florida State (noon, ESPN). FSU set the bar a little too high with the early win over Bama, but the Noles still have a 1-in-3 chance of finishing 9-3 or better, per SP+, so there’s still plenty to shoot for. Pitt, meanwhile, looked spectacular last week after handing the reins to true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel. A win in Tallahassee would make the Panthers sleeper ACC contenders.
Current line: FSU -9.5 | SP+ projection: FSU by 3.8 | FPI projection: FSU by 8.1
UCF at Cincinnati (noon, FS1). Cincinnati has won four in a row since its season-opening loss to Nebraska, and the Bearcats are projected favorites in their next three. UCF produces some of the biggest big plays in the country, however, which makes it a serious candidate to pull a random upset at some point.
Current line: Cincy -10.5 | SP+ projection: Cincy by 9.2 | FPI projection: Cincy by 5.3
Louisiana at James Madison (noon, ESPN2). We’re gearing up for eight words I never thought I’d have a reason to type: an Old Dominion-James Madison game with playoff implications. That’s a week away, but first JMU’s dynamite defense has to deal with backs Bill Davis and Zylan Perry and an excellent Louisiana run game.
Current line: JMU -17.5 | SP+ projection: JMU by 17.7 | FPI projection: JMU by 12.0
Washington State at No. 4 Ole Miss (12:45 p.m., SECN). OK, this probably isn’t one you’ll need to focus on for very long. But any excuse to watch Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss in action is a good one. Wazzu defensive end Isaac Terrell is worth the price of admission too.
Current line: Rebels -31.5 | SP+ projection: Rebels by 34.3 | FPI projection: Rebels by 34.7
Saturday afternoon
Arkansas at No. 12 Tennessee (4:15 p.m., SECN). The (interim) Bobby Petrino era begins again at Arkansas, and the Hogs will take their ultra-explosive offense to Knoxville to face a Tennessee team that has overachieved against offensive projections but underachieved against defensive projections in every game. I’ll be disappointed if this game produces under 65 points.
Current line: Vols -11.5 | SP+ projection: Vols by 13.5 | FPI projection: Vols by 10.7
TCU at Kansas State (3:30 p.m., Fox). It’s danger time for Kansas State. The Wildcats have lost four games by a combined 13 points; they’re clearly competitive and solid, but they’re projected underdogs in their next three games. Without an immediate rebound, a frustrating season could become something far worse. TCU, meanwhile, remains in the Big 12 hunt but can’t afford a slipup after the Week 5 loss at Arizona State.
Current line: TCU -1.5 | SP+ projection: TCU by 8.2 | FPI projection: TCU by 1.8
No. 22 Iowa State at Colorado (3:30 p.m., ESPN). This is a spectacularly backhanded compliment, but Colorado is a strong 2-4. The Buffaloes have been competitive in three of four losses and make more big plays than their opponents. Iowa State wins with efficiency but got gouged by Cincinnati’s big-play offense last week. This is probably a get-right game for the Cyclones, but there’s reason for paranoia.
Current line: ISU -2.5 (down from -4.5) | SP+ projection: ISU by 5.3 | FPI projection: ISU by 3.3
NC State at No. 16 Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., Peacock). Notre Dame has shifted into gear, overachieving against SP+ projections by 19.9 points per game during a three-game winning streak. The Irish can’t let up, but NC State can shift into Bully Mode and make life really physical and frustrating thanks to RB Hollywood Smothers and an aggressive run defense.
Current line: Irish -23.5 | SP+ projection: Irish by 19.5 | FPI projection: Irish by 19.5
Nebraska at Maryland (3:30 p.m., BTN). Two 4-1 teams with very different vibes: Maryland was up 20-0 on Washington last week but collapsed and watched its unbeaten record disappear, while Nebraska handled its business against Michigan State and ranks in the top 25 in points scored and points allowed per drive. Can the Terps pull off an immediate rebound, or will NU’s push for a first 10-win season in 13 years continue?
Current line: NU -6.5 | SP+ projection: NU by 3.0 | FPI projection: NU by 4.1
Air Force at UNLV (3:30 p.m., CBSSN). Playing at Wyoming on a bed of hailstones sounds absolutely miserable, but UNLV survived the experience with relative ease, winning by 14. Now comes a visit from Air Force and new star quarterback Liam Szarka. The Falcons’ awful defense will probably prevent this from going down to the wire, but these two offenses are ridiculously fun to watch.
Current line: UNLV -7.5 | SP+ projection: UNLV by 6.7 | FPI projection: UNLV by 12.6
Navy at Temple (4 p.m., ESPN2). Temple hasn’t won more than three games in a season since 2019, but veteran head coach KC Keeler has the Owls at 3-2 and dreaming of a return to the postseason. Backs Jay Ducker and Hunter Smith could give unbeaten Navy fits, though it’s fair to assume Navy quarterback Blake Horvath and dual-threat WR Eli Heidenreich (413 receiving yards, 232 rushing yards) will give the Owls’ defense even more problems.
Current line: Navy -9.5 | SP+ projection: Navy by 13.2 | FPI projection: Navy by 2.5
Virginia Tech at No. 13 Georgia Tech (3:30 p.m., ACCN). Following the Week 3 upset of Clemson, Georgia Tech underachieved against SP+ projections twice in a row. After a bye-week refresh, it hosts an interim-coached Virginia Tech team that has started to run the ball and rush the passer well but will probably suffer too many glitches for an upset bid.
Current line: GT -14.5 | SP+ projection: GT by 16.8 | FPI projection: GT by 9.4
Northwestern at Penn State (3:30 p.m., FS1). After the worst and most unexpected loss of the James Franklin era, Penn State tries to get right against Northwestern before a rugged three-game stretch — at Iowa, at Ohio State, Indiana at home — either salvages or further wrecks the season.
Current line: PSU -21.5 | SP+ projection: PSU by 21.2 | FPI projection: PSU by 16.9
Saturday evening
South Carolina at No. 11 LSU (7:45 p.m., SECN). Maybe the biggest now-or-never game of a week full of them. South Carolina fell off course with losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri and is a projected underdog in the next five games; the Gamecocks still have LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart, though, and they will remain major upset threats. LSU, meanwhile, got a bye week after losing to Ole Miss to fix whatever’s wrong with the offense; with trips to Vanderbilt, Alabama and Oklahoma remaining, the Tigers can’t afford a home upset.
Current line: LSU -9.5 | SP+ projection: LSU by 12.1 | FPI projection: LSU by 6.3
Iowa at Wisconsin (7 p.m., FS1). Iowa is eight points from an unbeaten record but is 3-2 instead. That’s more than Wisconsin can say, though. The Badgers showed some brief life after handing the QB reins to Southern Illinois transfer Hunter Simmons last week, but they still lost to Michigan by two touchdowns and have been outscored by 55 points against three power-conference opponents.
Current line: Iowa -3.5 | SP+ projection: Iowa by 6.0 | FPI projection: Iowa by 3.1
Late Saturday
New Mexico at Boise State (9:45 p.m., FS1). Jason Eck and his super-underdog Lobos couldn’t get the job done at San José State last week, and their run defense is shaky enough that Boise State should be able to feast on the ground. UNM is crafty, however, avoiding negative plays and going for it constantly on fourth downs. If BSU is looking ahead to next week’s UNLV game, the Lobos could strike.
Current line: BSU -16.5 | SP+ projection: BSU by 13.3 | FPI projection: BSU by 9.4
Smaller-school showcase
Let’s once again save a shoutout for the glorious lower levels of the sport. Here are three games you should track.
Division III: No. 7 Wisconsin-Platteville at No. 17 Wisconsin-River Falls (2 p.m., local streaming). Another trip to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference? You’re damn right! Conference play began last week with two awesome ranked-versus-ranked battles, and we get another one with quarterback Nathan Uselding and Platteville heading to River Falls. The host Falcons dropped a heartbreaker in Oshkosh last week, and it’s hard to come back from starting 0-2 when you have a seven-game conference schedule.
SP+ projection: UWP by 6.4.
FCS: Alabama State at No. 14 Jackson State (3:30 p.m., ESPNU). We could have a pretty dynamite Celebration Bowl this year, with the MEAC’s NC Central and the SWAC’s Jackson State and Alabama State all 31st or better in FCS SP+. JSU and ASU meet in Jackson on Saturday. A dynamite run game led by Ahmad Miller and Travis Terrell Jr. (combined: 150 rushing yards per game, 8.1 per carry) could give JSU a slight edge, but ASU QB Andrew Body is an impressive dual threat.
SP+ projection: JSU by 7.6.
FCS: No. 9 Southern Illinois at No. 1 North Dakota State (3:30 p.m., ESPN+). On one hand, this is a top-10 matchup, and those are always worth tracking. On the other hand, NDSU has been head and shoulders above everyone else in the FCS this season — shocking, right? — and I’m not sure even a top-10 team can keep up in Fargo. SIU quarterback DJ Williams is another super-fun dual threat, though.
SP+ projection: NDSU by 20.3.
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Bill Connelly
Week 7 gave us a perfect set of games for wrapping up the first half of the college football regular season.
Ohio State solidified its best-in-the-country status. Indiana and Texas Tech proved that they weren’t even slightly interested in fading away after a fast start, while Penn State proved it wasn’t slightly interested in a rebound, then fired its coach 15 days after he led the No. 3 team in the country onto the field.
Georgia won another very silly SEC game with nothing but grit and guile (and, yes, some fortunate calls). Ty Simpson once again came through exactly when Alabama needed him to, further positioning himself as a major Heisman contender. Texas pulled off exactly the kind of season-saving win that Red River often provides. And USF Bulls further enhanced a résumé that, aside from a pesky loss to Miami, is easily the best the Group of 5 has to offer.
With seven weeks down and seven more to go before Championship Week, let’s step back and take stock. Who have been the best players and coaches of the year to date? Who has most defied (or fallen most short of) preseason expectations? Let’s recap Week 7 by recapping all of the season’s first seven weeks.
Jump to a section:
Coach of the year | Biggest disappointment
Top offensive players | Top defensive players
Heisman race | SP+ risers, fallers
Favorite games
Midseason coach of the year: Curt Cignetti
Fourteen years ago, a midlife crisis of sorts sent Curt Cignetti to Indiana, Pennsylvania. He had established a pretty cushy career as an assistant coach and had spent 2007-10 as Nick Saban’s receivers coach and run game coordinator at Alabama. But he didn’t want to be an assistant anymore. “I was hitting the big 5-0,” he told me a few years ago, “and I was tired of being an assistant coach. … I was just ready to be a head coach.”
His restlessness took him from Tuscaloosa to a head coaching gig at Division II’s Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where his father, Frank Cignetti Sr., had coached for 20 years with two D-II title game appearances. “It was a big risk,” Cignetti said. “It was an unconventional risk. There were many mornings early on when I woke up and thought I was nuts for doing what I did. That’s probably a move not too many people have ever made in this profession. But it worked out. Sometimes you’ve got to bet on yourself.”
Yeah, I’d say it has indeed worked out. After six years, 53 wins and three playoff appearances, Cignetti moved up to the FCS’ Elon, which had gone a combined 11-46 over the previous five seasons. He immediately led the Phoenix to back-to-back playoff appearances. That brought him to James Madison, where he went 33-5 in three seasons at the FCS level, then 19-4 in the Dukes’ first two years after jumping to FBS. And that, in turn, led him to the Big Ten in 2024. Well, sort of. It led him to Indiana, a program that had gone 9-27 in the three years before his arrival. The Hoosiers had never won double-digit games in a season, and in the previous 50 years they had played just two games as a top-10 team, losing both.
On Saturday, the Hoosiers beat No. 3 Oregon, 30-20, in Eugene. It ended the Ducks’ 23-game regular-season winning streak and their 18-game home winning streak. And this wasn’t some sort of smash-and-grab, turnovers-based upset. The Hoosiers actually gave up a fourth-quarter pick-six, in fact. No, they beat Oregon by beating them, allowing just 64 yards in the second half and, aside from a single 44-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, 213 yards for the game. Even with the pick-six, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza outdueled Oregon’s Dante Moore, a onetime Heisman front-runner, and Hoosiers receiver Elijah Sarratt, one of many players to follow Cignetti from JMU a year and a half ago, torched a previously untouchable Oregon secondary for eight catches, 121 yards and a touchdown.
This was Indiana’s first-ever top-10-versus-top-10 win in five tries. It was also the Hoosiers’ 17th win in 19 games under Cignetti. The Hoosiers reached the first 12-team College Football Playoff last season, and the lessons they learned along the way have positioned them for a return trip. The Allstate Playoff Predictor currently gives them a 92% chance of reaching the CFP; only Ohio State (95%) has better odds. This is a new time for college football, with legal player compensation and open player movement completely redefining how roster management works. And no one has made it work better for himself than the guy who set off for a different Indiana a decade and a half ago.
This being college football, we can’t ever live in the present tense — we always have to spin it toward the future. Expect loads of “Cignetti to [insert big-name school]???” rumors in the coming weeks, especially since he’s a Pennsylvania guy and Penn State suddenly, and rather shockingly, has an opening. Who knows, maybe he’s destined to end his career somewhere closer to home. But let’s embrace the present tense; Indiana has, in this very moment, become one of the surest things in college football. I could type that out another 100 times, and it would still give me a jolt of surprise every time.
And besides, considering how many times he’s bucked what conventional wisdom would have told him to do, there’s nothing saying he won’t remain in Bloomington, creating his own football Valhalla, for a few more seasons.
Biggest disappointment (and most shocking firing): Penn State
Last offseason, in a strange moment of stasis, only five power-conference teams changed head coaches (North Carolina, UCF, Purdue, Wake Forest and West Virginia). With the House settlement and the age of player compensation approaching, financial caution was the name of the game. (Well, sort of. We still saw 22 coaching changes at the Group of 5 level.)
Apparently, however, when our offseasons aren’t crazy enough, the pressure builds and ferments and takes us to a very strange place. At the midway point of the season, we’ve already seen five power-conference teams fire their head coaches: Virginia Tech, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Arkansas and, as of Sunday, Penn State. Wisconsin will probably be making a move soon — especially after Saturday’s humiliating 37-0 home loss to Iowa — and lord only knows if or when the SEC (Florida? Auburn?) or ACC (Florida State? North Carolina?) might further join the party. Let this be a lesson to our future selves: If we don’t hit the pressure release button quickly enough, things get wild.
It was painfully obvious where things were headed with Penn State after the Nittany Lions suffered their third straight loss and their second straight as a massive favorite. They came achingly close to beating Oregon two weeks ago but fell in overtime and evidently never recovered. Even after the shocking loss to winless UCLA, it was fair to assume they would return home, get right against Northwestern, and move on to a semi-respectable 8-4 or 9-3 season. Instead, the offense no-showed in the middle of the game, the defense no-showed late, quarterback Drew Allar was lost for the season to injury and Northwestern prevailed 22-21.
Even if we knew a split would probably end up happening at some point, Franklin’s sudden firing is a jarring development, both because of how close Penn State came to saving itself — even with unacceptably poor play over the last two weeks, the Nittany Lions are basically three plays away from an unbeaten record (just as they were a play away from the national title game last year) — and how quickly the end came. Franklin led the No. 3 team in the country onto the field 15 days ago! Now he’s unemployed.
His incredible run of steady success, with two nine-win seasons at Vanderbilt (the school’s only two in the last century) and five top-10 finishes in the last nine full years at Penn State, will almost certainly earn him another power-conference job pretty quickly. But his nearly decade-long inability to get PSU over that final hurdle meant this season had now-or-never vibes from the beginning. As soon as the school realized that “never” was the verdict, it made a move, $49 million buyout be damned.
As is the zero-sum nature of sport, I guess, the emerging top-five prowess of teams like Indiana and Texas Tech meant that someone had to be ejected from the top five to make room. Preseason No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Penn State and No. 4 Clemson are a combined 10-8, and while both Texas (with a Red River thumping of Oklahoma) and Clemson (with blowouts of cratering North Carolina and Boston College teams) have both recently gotten their feet back underneath them a bit, Penn State did the opposite. Goodness, what a stunning ending.
The 10 best offensive players of the season
It’s fair to assume that, when Ohio State actually needs Jeremiah Smith to do something, he will. The obvious No. 1 in our preseason player rankings, Smith has gotten plenty of fresh air and easy calisthenics of late as the Buckeyes have won their opening six games by an average of 37-7. But in four games against power-conference opponents, he’s also caught 26 balls for only 233 yards — that’s 9.0 yards per catch and 58.3 yards per game.
The Buckeyes know as well as anyone that the goal here isn’t to entertain — it’s to peak in December. Smith & Co. are well on their way. But it’s hard to say Smith has actually been one of the best offensive players of 2025 when he hasn’t actually done anything. Here are the 10 who, to my eyes, have best combined skill and actual production.
1. OL Francis Mauigoa, Miami. Consider Mauigoa a placeholder for the Miami line as a whole. The Hurricanes rank second in pressure rate allowed and 16th in stuff rate allowed; they really haven’t had to ask quarterback Carson Beck to do much — he’s averaging just 28 passes per game and 11.9 yards per completion — because they’re always on schedule and never uncomfortable. Best offensive line in college football.
2. QB Jayden Maiava, USC. He wasn’t amazing in Saturday’s 31-13 win over Michigan (265 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT), but he was still very good, and for the season he’s a comfortable No. 1 in Total QBR, just as he was No. 1 on my P4 QBs list two weeks ago.
3. QB Ty Simpson, Alabama. Since the season-opening dud against Florida State, Alabama has played in five games, and Simpson has made my weekly Heisman top-10 list five times. He has a 16-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio for the season, and since the start of Week 2, he ranks third nationally in completion rate (76.0%), fourth in touchdowns (14) and sixth in Total QBR (87.2).
4. RB Ahmad Hardy, Missouri. Bama played ball control well enough against Mizzou — 38:33 time of possession, 75 snaps to 56 — that Hardy and Jamal Roberts combined for only 17 carries Saturday. (Hardy had 12 for 52 yards.) But he’s still on pace for 1,700 rushing yards, and he’s still an absolute yards-after-contact star.
5. QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana. He was steady in wins in two of the most raucous road environments in the country (Iowa and Oregon), and he’s almost untouchable at home. It was easy to wonder if Cignetti could conjure more transfer magic after losing some key pieces, including quarterback Kurtis Rourke, from last year’s remarkable run. Instead, Mendoza waltzed in and raised the bar.
6. QB Carson Beck, Miami.
7. RB Cam Cook, Jacksonville State.
8. QB Demond Williams Jr., Washington.
9. RB Justice Haynes, Michigan.
10. WR Danny Scudero, San Jose State.
The 10 best defensive players of the season
In FBS vs. FBS games, teams averaged just 21.8 offensive points per game (and 23.0 total) in Week 1 but have hit at least 25.0 (and 25.9) in every week since. Offenses have found their rhythm to a degree, but if I were to rank the top overall units in the sport, I would probably have four defenses (Ohio State’s, Texas’, Oklahoma’s and Indiana’s) in the top five. Similarly, if I were making a “10 best overall players” list, I might have six or seven defenders.
1. S Caleb Downs, Ohio State. It’s a shame Downs doesn’t play a natural, box score-filling position because this would be a pretty fun year for a defensive player to make a Heisman run — and not just a Travis Hunter-style two-way player. Downs, however, is content to simply do his job better than any player in the sport. Need an extra run defender? He’ll meet you in the backfield. Lock someone down in the slot? Yep, he’ll do that too. He’s otherworldly. (And he should still start returning punts again and show up for some offensive snaps, Ryan Day! A Heisman run’s still on the table! The lane’s wide open, let’s go!)
2. LB Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech. For all the talk about the difference standout transfers have made for Texas Tech, the best player on this 6-0 Red Raiders team has been in Lubbock even longer than the current coaching staff. Rodriguez, a senior who transferred to town back in 2022, has been a dynamite do-it-all man, leading the team in tackles (50) and recording 5.5 TFLs, 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack, 2 INTs and 3 pass breakups.
3. DT Rueben Bain Jr., Miami. I must say, I laughed out loud when I saw that Bain, a 270-pound defensive lineman, is tied for the team lead in tackles. He makes a tackle for basically every eight snaps he’s on the field, which is pretty wild considering how much offenses try to avoid him altogether. His pressure rate is an elite 16.6%, and his interception against Notre Dame was one of the most delightful (and important) plays of the season.
4. S Louis Moore, Indiana. Moore left Indiana for Ole Miss in 2024, then returned and sued for an extra year of eligibility. Now the 24-year-old might be the second-best player on the second-best team in the sport. A modern college football story!
5. DE Cashius Howell, Texas A&M. A&M’s defense has enjoyed a recent renaissance, allowing 12 points per game in its last three contests, but the Aggies have had an elite pass rush all year thanks to Howell, who has already enjoyed two three-sack games and has eight for the season.
6. DE Vincent Anthony Jr., Duke.
7. CB Hezekiah Masses, California.
8. CB Leonard Moore, Notre Dame.
9. DE Caden Curry, Ohio State.
10. CB Elijah Green, Tulsa.
Midseason Heisman points race winner: Ty Simpson
Each week near the bottom of this column, I award the week’s Heisman, doling out weekly points, F1-style (in this case, 10 points for first place, 9 for second and so on). Here is this week’s Heisman top 10:
1. Demond Williams Jr., Washington (21-of-27 passing for 402 yards and two touchdowns, plus 143 non-sack rushing yards and two touchdowns against Rutgers).
2. Cameron Dickey, Texas Tech (21 carries for 263 yards and two touchdowns, plus 16 receiving yards against Kansas).
3. Tucker Kilcrease, Troy (30-of-39 passing for 415 yards and five touchdowns, plus 25 non-sack rushing yards against Texas State).
4. Taylen Green, Arkansas (21-of-31 passing for 256 yards and two touchdowns, plus 98 non-sack rushing yards and a touchdown against Tennessee).
5. David Bailey, Texas Tech (six tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble against Kansas).
6. Ty Simpson, Alabama (23-of-31 passing for 200 yards and three touchdowns, plus 32 non-sack rushing yards against Missouri).
7. Desmond Reid, Pitt (8 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns, plus 45 rushing yards against Florida State).
8. Desmond Purnell, Kansas State (5 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack, 2 interceptions — including a pick-six — and 2 pass breakups against TCU).
9. King Miller, USC (18 carries for 158 yards and a touchdown, plus 14 receiving yards against Michigan).
10. LJ Martin, BYU (25 carries for 162 yards and a touchdown against Arizona).
Granted, he did it against Rutgers’ increasingly listless defense — the 3-3 Scarlet Knights are potentially going to waste their best offense in ages because they can’t stop anyone — but Demond Williams Jr. did something we almost never see late Friday night.
Here’s a list of players to combine 400 passing yards with 140 non-sack rushing yards in a game in the past 10 years:
• Williams
• Lamar Jackson vs. Syracuse in 2016
Granted, Jackson topped 200 rushing yards in that game, but anytime you can do something comparable to that quarterback and that game, you get to top the week’s Heisman list. Even in a week that also saw Cameron Dickey ripping off multiple long touchdown runs, Tucker Kilcrease leading an incredible second-half comeback and Ty Simpson making some of the most clutch passes of the season.
Honorable mention:
• Micah Alejado, Hawai’i (34-of-54 passing for 413 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, plus 32 non-sack rushing yards and a TD against Utah State).
• Anthony Colandrea, UNLV (20-of-32 passing for 361 yards and a touchdown, plus 62 non-sack rushing yards and two touchdowns against Air Force).
• Cam Cook, Jacksonville State (31 carries for 218 yards and two touchdowns, plus 15 receiving yards against Sam Houston).
• Jalen Garner, Houston (7 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and a pass breakup against Oklahoma State).
• Haynes King, Georgia Tech (20-of-24 passing for 213 yards and a touchdown, plus 60 non-sack rushing yards and two touchdowns against Virginia Tech).
• Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (20-of-31 passing for 215 yards with one TD and one INT, plus 40 non-sack rushing yards against Oregon).
• Danny Scudero, San José State (10 catches for 180 yards and four touchdowns against Wyoming).
• Nadame Tucker, Western Michigan (seven tackles, 3.5 sacks against Ball State).
Through seven weeks, here are your points leaders:
1. Ty Simpson, Alabama (29 points)
2. Taylen Green, Arkansas (22)
3. Demond Williams, Washington (19)
4. Luke Altmyer, Illinois (16)
5. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (15)
6. Jayden Maiava, USC (12)
7T. Jonah Coleman, Washington (10)
7T. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA (10)
7T. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (10)
7T. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt (10)
7T. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor (10 points)
It’s still early, and of the current top four Heisman favorites, per the ESPN BET odds — Carson Beck, Ty Simpson, Fernando Mendoza and Jeremiah Smith — two haven’t made the top 10 of our weekly list even once. Things are obviously still pretty uncertain. But Simpson’s consistently steady performances have put him in front in the points race. The second half of the season always carries far more weight than the first when it comes to awards and whatnot, but Bama needed Simpson to raise his game after the trip to Tallahassee, and he has very much done so.
Largest SP+ risers and fallers
The SP+ rankings have been updated for the week. Since we’re in midseason mode, it seems like a pretty good time to look at which teams have moved up and down the most since the preseason.
Moving up
Here are the 10 teams that have seen their ratings rise the most since August. Naturally, teams that started lower had more room to rise, but a couple of projected good teams have taken turns toward greatness.
1. San Diego State: up 16.2 adjusted points per game (ranking has risen from 103rd to 54th). A 23-point loss to Washington State in Week 2 made it seem like the Aztecs were destined to carry their terrible 2024 form into Sean Lewis’ second season. Instead, they’ve won four straight, three by at least 21 points, and per SP+ they now have a 79% chance of going 9-3 or better.
2. North Texas: up 13.7 points (from 95th to 52nd). Friday night’s midgame collapse against USF was disappointing. The Mean Green, unbeaten to that point, gave up a 28-0 run in just four minutes to turn a potential program-defining win into an eventual 63-36 loss. But they’re still 5-1 with a 57% chance of going 10-2 or better.
3. Vanderbilt: up 13.3 points (from 54th to 19th). Red zone miscues marred a shot at a second straight win against Alabama in Week 6, but the Commodores sure seem like a sturdy and deep team, one capable of winning a few of the many relative tossups on the back half of their schedule.
4. Kennesaw State: up 13.2 points (from 132nd to 93rd). In the Owls’ first season in FBS, they went 2-10 and fired the only coach in the history of the program. In their second season, with Jerry Mack in charge, they’re 4-2 and have the second-best odds of winning Conference USA (per SP+).
5. Texas Tech: up 12.7 points (from 29th to fourth). If Indiana isn’t the story of 2025, the Red Raiders are. For the second time in three games, they lost quarterback Behren Morton to injury and still comfortably overachieved against SP+ projections in a 42-17 win over Kansas. They appear deeper, faster and meaner than anyone else in the Big 12.
6. Indiana: up 11.9 points (from 23rd to third). Cignetti is magic. So is this defense.
7. Old Dominion: up 11.8 points (from 101st to 69th). A week ago, the ultra-explosive Monarchs would have led this list. But even after Saturday’s devastating no-show – a 48-24 loss at Marshall – they’re still in the top 10.
8. New Mexico: up 11.6 points (from 130th to 94th). Jason Eck’s Lobos have mastered the art of the competitive loss, and despite defeats to San Jose State and Boise State in the past two weeks, they still have a 61% chance of bowling, per SP+.
9. Temple: up 11.5 points (from 124th to 88th). First-year coach KC Keeler’s Owls have pretty drastically exceeded projections in four of six games and, at 3-3, shouldn’t have to wait too much longer to top three wins for the first time since 2019.
10. Memphis: up 11.3 points (from 52nd to 24th). This looked like a retooling year for Ryan Silverfield after some heavy turnover. Instead, the Tigers have already zipped past last year’s No. 32 SP+ ranking, and they currently have a 33% chance of getting to 12-0.
Moving down
Here are the 10 teams whose ratings have fallen the most. It probably shouldn’t be surprising that of the top five teams on this list, three have already dismissed their head coaches and the other two have overwhelmed first-year coaches ineffectively working through massive roster turnover. (Penn State collapsed so quickly that the Nittany Lions haven’t even had a chance to fall this far yet.)
1. Oklahoma State: down 14.5 adjusted points per game (ranking has fallen from 57th to 112th). Less than two years ago, the Cowboys were playing in the Big 12 championship game. They’ve now lost 13 straight games to power-conference teams, and the last five have come by an average score of 49-12.
2. North Carolina: down 13.4 points (from 53rd to 103rd). It’s not good when the athletic director who was steered by boosters into hiring your coach already has to give the dreaded vote of confidence after five games.
3. Virginia Tech: down 12.3 points (from 42nd to 86th). Their play has improved a hair since the firing of Brent Pry, but after two seasons of inconsistency, the bottom has dropped out after an offseason of heavy turnover.
4. Oregon State: down 10.7 points (from 75th to 114th). The Beavers have alternated between terribly unlucky losses and absolute duds, and Trent Bray coached his final game Saturday, a 39-14 home loss to Wake Forest.
5. Sam Houston: down 9.9 points (from 109th to 134th). Keeler won 10 games at SHSU, then left for Temple, and with an almost completely flipped roster and no home stadium – the Bearkats are playing an hour away in Houston while their stadium undergoes renovations – Phil Longo’s first season in charge has been a dud.
6. South Alabama: down 9.8 points (from 78th to 117th). Major Applewhite’s second season has been wrecked by portal departures and reasonably competitive losses.
7. Georgia Southern: down 9.4 points (from 80th to 115th). The offense is still sprightly, but the Eagles have allowed at least 34 points in five of six games and have won only twice.
8. Clemson: down 9.2 points (from 10th to 39th). Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have their footing again after easy road wins against two of the other teams on this list, but they’re still 3-3 and have only barely entered the top 40. Now the competition levels ramp up again.
9. Wisconsin: down 9.2 points (from 38th to 72nd). Good early defensive play had the Badgers at 2-0 and 35th after two weeks. But they’ve lost four straight by an average of 32-9, and their next four games are against Ohio State, Oregon, Washington and Indiana. Yikes.
10. Boston College: down 9.2 points (from 62nd to 97th). I thought BC could be pretty physical and competitive this season, but competitive early losses — 42-40 to Michigan State, 28-24 to Cal — evidently broke the Eagles. They were outscored by a combined 89-17 the last two weeks against Pitt and Clemson.
My 10 favorite games of the weekend
1. UNLV 51, Air Force 48. Air Force went on a 21-3 run, then UNLV went on a 16-0 run (which included an 86-yard touchdown pass), and then the back-and-forth began. We saw nine lead changes in the second half, including two in the last 75 seconds. Liam Szarka‘s 9-yard touchdown gave Air Force a 48-44 lead with 1:13 remaining, but UNLV’s Anthony Colandrea raced 19 yards for the go-ahead score 37 seconds later. The Rebels almost left too much time on the clock — the Falcons quickly drove 52 yards to set up an attempt for the game-tying field goal, but Jacob Medina pushed it wide right.
Total combined yards: 1,200. A glorious track meet.
2. Navy 32, Temple 31. Temple nearly doubled Navy in first downs (27-15), limited Blake Horvath to 6-for-16 passing and held the ball for nearly 10 more minutes — against a really good service academy team! That is a feat in itself. The Owls led by 10 in the second half too. But with the game on the line, Horvath did what he has done on so many occasions over the last two seasons: Break into the open field at just the right time.
Horvath House Call!!!
📺 https://t.co/hzHfs5YHD4#RollGoats | @ESPNCFB | @American_Conf pic.twitter.com/nzx1M7lGy8
— Navy Football (@NavyFB) October 11, 2025
3. No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 14 Missouri 24. You don’t get many realistic shots at beating Alabama, and Missouri couldn’t quite seize its best chance in 50 years. A pair of huge fourth-down completions, including a Ty Simpson-to-Daniel Hill touchdown, gave Bama a late 27-17 lead, but Mizzou looked like it might charge back to tie it before Dijon Lee Jr. picked off Beau Pribula with 37 seconds left.
4. No. 18 BYU 33, Arizona 27 (2OT). BYU jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, but Arizona charged back out of the gate after a lengthy storm delay. A 24-0 run gave the Wildcats a healthy lead heading into the final five minutes, but two late BYU scores, including a Bear Bachmeier sneak with 19 seconds remaining, sent the game to overtime. Neither team could put the ball in the end zone on their first OT possessions, but Bachmeier scored again in the second, and Noah Fifita‘s last-gasp pass to Javin Whatley fell incomplete.
5. FCS: No. 14 Jackson State 38, Alabama State 34. I love it when the Small-School Showcase games in my Friday previews exceed expectations. Played in front of 44,000 at Jackson’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, JSU-ASU was a battle for early SWAC supremacy. ASU took the lead twice in the second half, but JSU charged back both times. Nate Rembert‘s 18-yard touchdown catch gave the Tigers the lead with 50 seconds left, but the Hornets quickly drove the length of the field and needed just 2 yards on the final play to win the game.
They only got 1. Jamarie Hostzclaw was knocked out of bounds just short of the goal line. Game, Tigers.
6. Bowling Green 28, Toledo 23. Few rivalry games are as reliably wild as BGSU-Toledo, with loads of recent comebacks and surprise results. This one was both. Toledo, a comfortable favorite — and a loser of more games than just about anyone as a comfortable favorite — led 21-0 late in the first half and finished with a plus-223 yardage margin. But the Rockets’ eight second-half possessions produced six punts and two turnovers, and BGSU slowly reeled them in. Chris McMillian‘s 1-yard touchdown made the difference in a game with a cliff’s-edge win probability chart.
7. FCS: Dartmouth 17, Yale 16. Can I interest you in a 51-yard field goal at the buzzer to cap a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback? Yes?
Owen Zalc hits it from 51 yards as time expires!
BIG GREEN 17, Bulldogs 16.#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/oBRKU0bE76
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) October 11, 2025
8. Wyoming 35, San José State 28. Wyoming’s defense bought time, and eventually the offense made it pay off. Down 28-14 with 10 minutes left, the Cowboys’ Brayden Johnson took an interception 65 yards for a touchdown, and Kaden Anderson‘s 45-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Coenen tied the game with 2:44 left. Overtime? Nope! SJSU went four-and-out, and while attempting to position the ball for a potential game-winning field goal, Terron Kellman just kept churning his legs and raced 28 yards for the game-winning TD instead.
9. NAIA: Midland 60, No. 17 Concordia 52 (2OT). Ho-hum, just your typical, run-of-the-mill 31-point comeback. Midland trailed this battle of Nebraska rivals by a 38-7 margin with seven minutes left in the third quarter, but Brodey Johnson threw touchdown passes to four different players to give the Warriors a stunning 45-38 lead … only for Concordia to tie the game back up with 21 seconds left. But that wasn’t anything a couple more Johnson TD passes couldn’t solve. His 13-yarder to Tae Marks provided the winning points of this utterly ridiculous track meet.
10. Northwestern 22, Penn State 21. This wasn’t a track meet, but it was certainly ridiculous.
Honorable mention
• Division II: Clarion 48, Gannon 46
• Colorado 24, No. 22 Iowa State
• Jacksonville State 29, Sam Houston 27 (Thursday)
• Division III: No. 3 Johns Hopkins 28, No. 17 Carnegie Mellon 27
• Pitt 34, No. 25 Florida State 31
• FCS: Richmond 24, Colgate 19
• Troy 48, Texas State 41 (2OT)
Penn State has fired coach James Franklin after 12 seasons, the school announced Sunday.
Franklin is owed more than $49 million, according to his contract. It’s the second-biggest buyout in college football history behind only Jimbo Fisher’s $76 million buyout from Texas A&M.
Associate head coach Terry Smith will serve as the Nittany Lions’ interim head coach for the remainder of the season, the school said.
Less than a year removed from an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Franklin’s program appeared to hit a new low when the Nittany Lions traveled out to Los Angeles two weeks ago only to lose to UCLA, a team that not only was winless but hadn’t previously held a lead all season.
The woes flew back home with the team to Penn State, and with them came “Fire Franklin!” chants at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. The Nittany Lions dropped their second straight home game, and third overall, when they fell to Northwestern 22-21 in front of a stunned crowd at Happy Valley.
With the two losses, Penn State became the first team since the FBS and FCS split in 1978 to lose consecutive games while favored by 20 or more points in each game, according to ESPN Research.
In Saturday’s defeat to the Wildcats, the Nittany Lions committed six penalties for 71 yards in the first half alone. They simply could never get out of their own way, and that was before quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth quarter.
Earlier in the season, when the losing streak began against Oregon at Happy Valley, Franklin fell to 4-21 at Penn State against AP top-10 opponents, including 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams.
Franklin’s .160 winning percentage against AP top-10 teams is tied for the third-worst record by a coach (minimum 25 games) at a single school since the poll era began in 1936, according to ESPN Research.
Hired in 2014 in the wake of Bill O’Brien’s departure for the NFL, Franklin inherited a team still feeling the effects of unprecedented NCAA sanctions in the wake of Jerry Sandusky’s sexual-abuse crimes.
Armed with relentless optimism and an ability to recruit, Franklin’s program regularly churned out NFL-level talent, from Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons. Franklin guided the Nittany Lions to the 2016 Big Ten title and a seemingly permanent spot in the rankings.
There was hope this fall might be the season when Penn State would finally break through and win its third national championship and first since 1986. Yet after three easy wins during a light nonconference schedule, the Nittany Lions crumbled.
Athletic director Pat Kraft said the school owes Franklin an “enormous amount of gratitude” for leading the Nittany Lions back to relevance but felt it was time to make a change.
“We hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships,” Kraft said.
The move will cost Penn State at a time the athletic department has committed to a $700 million renovation to Beaver Stadium. The project is expected to be completed by 2027.
Former athletic director Sandy Barbour signed Franklin to a 10-year contract extension worth up to $85 million in 2021. According to terms of the deal, Penn State will have to pay Franklin’s base salary of $500,000, supplemental pay of $6.5 million and an insurance loan of $1 million until 2031.
It’s a steep price, but one the university appears willing to pay to find a coach who can complete the climb to a national title.
“We have the best college football fans in America, a rich tradition of excellence, significant investments in our program, compete in the best conference in college sports and have a state-of-the-art renovated stadium on the horizon,” Kraft said. “I am confident in our future and in our ability to attract elite candidates to lead our program.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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