Rarely does a highly-billed game really live up to its hype.
Saturday’s game between No. 7 Oregon and No. 8 Washington? It did, and then some.
In a game with six lead changes and good quarterback play on both sides, Washington scored late and held on for a 36-33 win (Michael Penix Jr. throws late TD pass, lifts No. 8 Washington to wild 36-33 win over No. 7 Oregon).
Oregon, leading 33-29 and with the ball, got into a fourth-and-3 at midfield, at the Washington 47-yard-line, with 2:11 left, and Washington holding on to just one of their time-outs.
Rather than punt the ball, with a four-point lead and just over two minutes to go, Oregon coach Dan Lanning elected to try and get the fourth-down conversion. But the attempt failed, giving Washington, and quarterback Michael Penix, the ball at midfield.
Oregon went 0-for-3 on fourth down in the game.
It took the Huskies just two plays to score: a 35-yard pass to Ja’Lynn Polk that Polk caught between two Oregon defensive backs, and then what would end up being the game-winner: an 18-yard pass to Rome Odunze, who scored with 1:38 left to put Washington up, with the extra point, 36-33.
It appeared that Washington might have scored too quickly.
Ducks quarterback Bo Nix got the ball back and went to work, not panicking but methodically hitting pass after pass, most of them short, to get into field goal range for kicker Camden Lewis, whose long had been a 53-yarder.
Oregon’s offense got Lewis an extra 10 yards, and it appeared the kick would be straight-on. Lewis booted the kick and had plenty of leg, but the ball drifted just right, just as time expired.
The Ducks suffered a loss for the first time this season, and fell to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 play.
Washington improves to 6-0 and 3-0, and now has a quality win on its resume.
For his part, Lanning took the blame for the loss afterward, pointing out the failure not only on that fourth-and-3 late in the game, but throughout the contest.
“I think this game is 100% on me,” he said.
Odunze had eight catches for 128 yards and that game-winning touchdown. Penix went 22-of-37 for 302 yards and four touchdowns. Nix went 33-of-44 for 337 yards and two touchdowns (to Patrick Herbert and Troy Franklin). Bucky Irving ran for 127 yards and a touchdown for the Ducks.
And Nix had this take on the game: “We were a play away from this conversation being extremely different,” he said.
Another much-discussed game this week was No. 10 Southern Cal’s trip to South Bend to take on No. 21 Notre Dame.
Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams, the defending Heisman Trophy-winner, seems to have a lot of magic. But in South Bend Saturday night, it ran out.
Williams threw three interceptions and was sacked five times, as the Trojans were just outmatched in a 48-20 defeat (No. 10 USC turns in ugly performance, no longer undefeated following 48-20 loss to No. 21 Notre Dame).
The Trojans’ defense has been maligned for weeks, but the offense wasn’t much better in this one. USC falls to 6-1 overall. Williams, who had thrown only one interception on the season and five last year all total, was a turnover machine against the Irish. In addition to the three picks, all in the first half, he also had a fourth-quarter fumble.
All of those turnovers led to Notre Dame points.
And every time USC got within striking distance, the Irish had an answer. The Trojans cut the ND lead to 24-13, but Sam Hartman connected with Chris Tyree for a 46-yard score to put the Irish back up by 18, 31-13, with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.
Williams threw a touchdown pass to Brenden Rice with 9:04 left in the game, but on the kick return, Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price took it home, 99 yards for a score, to all but end the game.
Elsewhere in the top 25, No. 1 Georgia (7-0 overall, 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference) started slow, then held off a scrappy two-win Vanderbilt team, 37-20, but may have lost phenomenal tight end Brock Bowers, at least for a while, to an ankle injury (No. 1 Georgia loses Bowers early, scores 27 straight to beat Vandy 37-20).
No. 2 Michigan (7-0, 4-0 in the Big 10) also started slow, trailing Indiana briefly, 7-0, then tied with the Hoosiers at 7. But after that, Michigan outscored IU 45-0 in a 52-7 win (No. 2 Michigan starts slow and finishes strong in 52-7 win over Indiana to stay unbeaten).
No. 3 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0) had little issues with Purdue, at Purdue, a 41-7 Buckeyes win (Dallan Hayden helps No. 3 Ohio State overcome offensive injuries in 41-7 blowout at Purdue).
No. 4 Florida State, hosting Syracuse, got a huge day from receiver Keon Coleman – nine catches for 140 yards (including this highlight-reel catch: Florida State WR Keon Coleman Unreal Catch Leads to TD vs Syracuse), and a touchdown, in a 41-3 victory (FSU football defense was ‘more than prepared’ for another mobile quarterback against Syracuse).
No. 6 Penn State, playing mighty UMass (1-7), moved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big 10 with a 63-0 win (Allar throws 3 TD passes, Hardy returns 2 punts for scores as No. 6 Penn State tops UMass 63-0). Next week, coach James Franklin’s Nittany Lions will have played someone: they’re at Ohio State.
No. 11 Alabama looked fantastic in the first half and very mortal in the second half in a 24-21 home win over Arkansas (No. 11 Alabama holds off late Arkansas charge in 24-21 win), coach Nick Saban’s 200th win at ‘Bama. It may have been sloppy, but the Crimson Tide are 6-1 overall, have won five straight since losing to Texas, and are 4-0 in the SEC, sitting atop the SEC West. Arkansas has lost five straight and hasn’t played at home in six weeks. Incredible. Saban, by the way, is 32 wins behind Paul “Bear” Bryant, the most all-time at the school.
No. 12 North Carolina turned a close game in the first half with No. 25 Miami into a second straight Hurricanes’ defeat in the second, scoring 21 third-quarter points in a 41-31 win (Tez Walker makes North Carolina debut, scores three touchdowns).
A week after getting the program’s biggest win since Lamar Jackson was quarterback with a victory over Notre Dame, No. 14 Louisville (6-1 overall, 3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) collapsed on Saturday, allowing home-team Pitt to score 17 points in the third quarter and go on to pull a 38-21 upset (Pittsburgh puts a stop to No. 14 Louisville’s perfect start as second-half surge fuels 38-21 upset). It was just Pitt’s second win of the season.
No. 15 Oregon State, hosting No. 18 UCLA, dealt the Bruins a 36-24 loss (No. 15 Oregon State Beavers roll to 36-24 home victory against No. 18 UCLA Bruins ) and in the process, the Beavers stay in the Pac-12 title game race. They’re 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
No. 16 Utah (5-1, 2-1) also kept things on schedule with a 34-14 win at home over Cal, holding the Bears to just seven second-half points (Sione Vaki runs for 158 yards to lead No. 16 Utah’s powerful running game in a 34-14 win over Cal ).
No. 17 Duke (4-1) had little issues with North Carolina State, winning 24-3 on Saturday. Surprisingly, that was Duke’s first ACC game of the season, and obviously, they’re 1-0 (Henry Belin IV throws 2 TD passes in 1st career start, No. 17 Duke beats N.C. State 24-3 ).
Two teams were tied at No. 19 in the AP poll this week: Tennessee and Washington State. They had very different results on Saturday. No. 19 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 in SEC play) held off unranked Texas A&M, 20-13 in Knoxville, Tenn., (Dee Willliams returns punt for go-ahead TD, No. 19 Tennessee beats Texas A&M 20-13), but Washington State (4-2, 1-2) was routed at home by the high-octane Arizona offense and held in check by the Wildcats defense, 44-6 (Arizona rebounds from narrow losses with 44-6 victory over No. 19 Washington State).
No. 22 LSU kept its SEC West hopes alive with a 48-18 beat-down of Auburn (Daniels and No. 22 LSU’s offense is prolific again in a 48-18 win over Auburn), who can’t seem to figure out who its quarterback is. LSU (5-2 overall, 4-1 in SEC play) scored 17 first-half points and then cruised in the second half. The Tigers are a game back of Alabama in the SEC West hunt, and still play ‘Bama in two weeks (Nov. 4).
No. 23 Kansas (5-2, 2-2 in the Big 12) scored 18 second-quarter points, but none in the fourth quarter in a 39-32 loss to coach Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State (Mike Gundy was awfully conservative in OSU’s upset of Kansas. But a win’s a win.)
No. 24 Kentucky was 5-0 and red-hot two weeks ago. Then they ran into Georgia in Athens, and now, they ran into Missouri – Missouri? Yep – and lost at home, 38-21, on Saturday. Missouri looked like the ranked team instead. The Tigers are 6-1 overall and 2-1 in SEC play (Brady Cook throws for a TD and scores on a run as Missouri takes down No. 24 Kentucky 38-21).
No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 9 Texas were both off on Saturday after their thriller last week. No. 13 Ole Miss had an open date, as well.
