Lots of Upsets in College Football’s Top 25

Half a dozen teams in the AP Top 25 poll of college football teams had the weekend pf October 7th off, and several who played were upset.

Let’s start in Dallas, where the #3 Texas Longhorns played #12 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game. The score was tied 27-27 late in the fourth quarter when Texas took a 30-27 lead on a 47 yard field goal. But the Sooners weren’t done, marching 75 yards down the field in 62 seconds, capped off by a Dillon Gabriel to Nic Anderson touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining giving Oklahoma a 34-30 victory.

In Louisville, the #25 Louisville Cardinals hosted #10 Notre Dame. This one was tied at halftime 7-7, but the Cardinals scored six times in the second half, including four field goals to take a 33-13 lead with 3:12 left in the game. The Fighting Irish scored a touchdown with 1:35 to play, and made it a little closer but the Cardinals had a big 33-20 win to improve to 6-0 on the season and force themselves into the discussion regarding the ACC championship.

Out on the West Coast, UCLA hosted #13 Washington State and its excellent quarterback, Cameron Ward. The Bruins were well aware of Ward’s abilities and their defense kept him under pressure all afternoon, sacking him three times and intercepting him twice. They also forced two fumbles. UCLA put it away with a pair of Keegan Jones rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter for a 25-17 victory, handing the Cougars their first loss of the season.

Also out west, #24 Fresno State traveled to Laramie to take on Wyoming in a matchup in the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming’s Andrew Peasley threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter, and the Cowboys took a 24-7 lead into halftime. The Bulldogs held Wyoming scoreless in the second half, and put 12 points on the board themselves, but the Cowboys’ Cole Godbout intercepted a Fresno State pass with 47 seconds left to preserve the 24-19 Wyoming victory, ending Fresno State’s 14 game winning streak. Both teams are 5-1 overall.

Back east, LSU was at Missouri. This wasn’t an actual upset, since LSU was favored by six, nonetheless #23 LSU scored 32 points in the second half for a 49-39 come from behind win over #21 Missouri. Missouri had a whopping 411 passing yards from quarterback Brady Cook. LSU had 274 rushing yards and 259 passing yards in a game where the defenses rested.

That brings us to Georgia Tech at #17 Miami. This one had a coaching blunder for the ages. With time running out and a 20-17 lead, instead of taking a knee to run out the clock, Miami coach Mario Cristobal elected to go with a running play. Bad idea. Running back Donald Chaney Jr. fumbled at the Georgia Tech 26, and the Yellow Jackets took over with 33 seconds left. That was enough time for quarterback Haynes King to march Georgia Tech 74 yards downfield, ending with a 44 yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with one second left. The two point conversion failed but the Yellow Jackets still came away with a 23-20 victory in a shocking finish. “We should have taken a knee” Cristobal said later.