UCLA, Syracuse, and Mississippi Fall From the Ranks of the Unbeaten in College Football

The number of undefeated teams in FBS Division I college football was reduced to six as three teams took their first losses of the season on October 22nd.

In the ACC, #14 Syracuse was at #5 Clemson. Syracuse was coming off a 24-9 victory over #15 North Carolina State, and appeared poised to make a major statement, not to mention a big upset, when the Orange led the Tigers 21-10 at the end of the third quarter. But Clemson scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and completed a 27-21 comeback victory over Syracuse (6-1 overall, 3-1 in the ACC). Will Shipley rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns for Clemson (8-0, 6-0).

In the SEC, unranked LSU hosted #7 Mississippi. Ole miss had a narrow 20-17 lead at halftime, but the Tigers dominated the second half with a touchdown in the third quarter and three more in the fourth, while holding Mississippi scoreless in the second half for a 45-20 victory. Jayden Daniels rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns for LSU (6-2, 4-1 in the SEC), while Quinshon Judkins scored two touchdowns for Mississippi (7-1, 3-1). LSU moved back into the Top 25 at #18.

Finally, in the Pac-12, #10 Oregon hosted undefeated #9 UCLA. The two traded scores into the second quarter before Oregon pulled away for a dominating 45-30 victory over the Bruins (6-1, 3-1 in the Pac-12). Oregon quarterback Bo Nix completed 22 of 28 passes for 283 yards and five touchdowns. The Ducks (6-1, 4-0) moved up to #8 in the AP Poll. Four teams from the Pac-12 are in the middle of the Top 25, with Oregon at #8, USC (6-1,4-1) at #10, UCLA (6-1, 3-1) at #12, and Utah (5-2, 3-1) at #14.