From the Couch Sports

WEEKDAY FOOTBALL

ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER TUESDAY NIGHT C-USA UPSET

FIU 25 Western Kentucky 6

For the second consecutive week a Conference USA contender was upset. Week 7 gave us an electric Kennesaw State upset Louisiana Tech in Georgia. In Week 8, the FIU Panthers shocked the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The loss was not only a massive upset, WKU was favored by 10, but the Panthers handed WKU their first conference loss.

MIAMI DROPS FROM THE RANKS OF THE UNBEATENS

Louisville 24 #2 Miami 21

Jeff Brohm marched his 4-1 Louisville Cardinals into Hard Rock Stadium an handed the Miami Hurricanes their first loss of the season. This win was his 5th win over an AP Top 10 team in his coaching career, he did this three times while coach of Purdue. His offense was led by a strong performance from Miller Moss, who added three total touchdowns. UL RB Isaac Brown ran for 113 and WR added 136 yards receiving and two touchdowns. The Cardinal defense gave up a few big plays to the Hurricane offense but picked off Miami QB Carson Beck four times, a career high for him, including one on the final drive to send the Hurricanes home with a disappointing loss.

FRIDAY NIGHT FIELD RUSH IN MINNESOTA

Minnesota 24 #25 Nebraska 6

The Minnesota defense sacked Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola for a school-record 9 times and held the Nebraska offense to just 213 total yards.The Gophers celebrated a ranked win with the fans rushing the field as the game ended.

SATURDAY SLATE

VANDERBILT FAVORED, BEATS LSU IN NASHVILLE

#17 Vanderbilt 31 #10 LSU 24

For the first time since 1990, Vandy beat LSU. Two ranked wins this year and a 6-1 start, the Commodores are of to their best start in 75 years, they started 7-1 in 1950. Vandy QB Diego Pavia recorded 246 yards and three scores, his 21 yard scamper was late in the 3rd quarter gave the Dores a 10 point lead and they never looked back. LSU fell to 5-2 on the year.

GEORGIA TECH RAMBLIN’ WRECK RAMBLES ON TO FIRST 7-0 START SINCE 1966

#12 Georgia Tech 27 Duke 18

A school-record 95-yard scoop and score by Omar Daniels put the Yellow Jackets on the board first. Duke kept it close thanks to 373 yards passing from QB Darian Mensah, but it wasn’t enough as his counterpart Haynes King threw for 205 and ran for 120 yards. The gritty Yellow Jackets start the season 4-0 in the ACC and have taken control of the conference standings.

CALE HELLUMS RUNS FOR 155, BUT TULANE WINS IN THE FINAL MINUTE

Tulane 24 Army 17

Army QB Cale Hellums ran for a career-high 155 yards, the Army Black Knights looked like they would spoil Tulane’s perfect record after their 8 minute drive out them ahead 17-10 with 5:54 left in the 4th quarter. Tulane tied the game with less than two minutes left, held Army to a three and out, and sealed the win with a 26 yard touchdown pass with :27 seconds to go. Tulane is 3-0 in the American and holds on to hope they will represent the Group of 5 in the playoffs in December.

TCU WINS THE RIVIVALRY!

TCU 42 Baylor 36

Two of the top passers in the FBS took the field for this classic Texas rivalry. The game was delayed for over two hours because of lightning, the fourth quarter featured 32 points, and the late Baylor comeback fell short. The Horned Frogs picked off the nations leading passer Sawyer Robinson three times, a season high for him.

HOUSTON KEEPS BIG 12 HOPES ALIVE, BEATS ARIZONA AT THE BUZZER

Houston 31 Arizona 28

Houston kicker Ethan Sanchez nailed a 41 yard field goal as time expired and ruined the nearly perfect performance from Arizona QB Noah Fifita. Fifita went 24-26 (92%) completion percentage and lead a 14 point fourth quarter comeback. The Cougars last second field goal keeps their Big 12 title hopes alive as they sit at 3-1 in conference.

INDIANA AND OHIO STATE DOMINATE, TAKE CONTROL OF BIG 10

#1 Ohio State blanks Wisconsin 34-0

Buckeye QB Julian Sayin threw for a career-high 392 yards. Ohio State handed Wisconsin their second consecutive shutout loss.

#3 Indiana dominates Michigan State 38-13

Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza keeps his Heisman campaign rolling, threw for 332 and 4 TD.

SMU HUMILIATES CLEMSON IN DEATH VALLEY

SMU 35 Clemson 24

Clemson falls to 1-3 at home, their first time losing three home games since 2001. Death Valley once boasted a 40 game home winning streak that lasted from 2016-2022 and went 59-1 from 2013-2022. Since then they are just 12-6 at home. Clemson falls to 3-4 (2-3) in the ACC and are effectively eliminated from a chance to defend their 2024 ACC title.

FOUR UNDEFEATED TEAMS LOSE IN THE AFTERNOON WINDOW

UNLV falls short on Boise State’s blue turf 56-31

Dan Mullen suffered his first loss as head coach of UNLV. His defense allowed 558 yards. Boise State RB Dylan Riley ran for 201 yards, QB Maddux Madsen threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns, and their defense pulled off a 60 yard pick six. Boise State takes control of the Mountain West with a 3-0 conference record.

#22 Memphis loses to UAB 31-24

UAB just fired their head coach Trent Dilfer after a 2-4 start. Memphis was unbeaten and poised for a huge showdown with #19 USF in Week 9. This game was not expected to be a game, Memphis was favored by 21 points. UAB had an all-time performance from WR Iverson Hooks who had 9 catches for 172 receiving yards and 3 TD’s and the Blazer defense made a clutch goal line stand with less than a minute go to win the Battle for the Bones for the first time since 2011.

#9 Georgia scores 17 in the 4th, beats Ole Miss 43-35

College GameDay was in Athens for this battle of SEC heavyweights. The Bulldogs outscored Ole Miss 17-0 in the fourth quarter and handed Lane Kiffin his first loss of the season. Georgia QB Gunner Stockton threw for 289 and 4 TD’s, 3 in the second half. Ole Miss moved the football all game, but were shut down in the fourth quarter. The Rebels defense did nothing in the second half to stop the Bulldog offense, they scored on every possession after halftime.

Arizona State beats #7 Texas Tech 26-22 in Tempe

Texas Tech had scored more than 30 points in every game this season but were without senior QB Behren Morton for this road conference game. Their offense lacked his presence, backup Will Hammond only threw for 167 yards while they only ran for 109 yards compared to the previous week where they ran for 372 against Kansas. It was still a back and forth game,Tech held a tight lead in late in the fourth but the Sun Devils scored a TD with :34 seconds left. ASU QB Sam Leavitt returned after missing the Utah game the week before and threw for 319.

TEXAS AND MISSOURI SURVIVE IN OVERTIME

#16 Missouri Tigers beat the Auburn Tigers 23-17

For the second consecutive week Auburn had a top ranked team on the ropes late in the game at Jordan Hare Stadium. They failed to close out the game again. It was really a dogfight between the Tigers, with neither team eclipsing 400 total yards, the Auburn defense held Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy to just 58 rushing yards and the Missouri defense sacked Jackson Arnold five times. Auburn ultimately crushed themselves by missing three field goals, something that hadn’t happened to Auburn kicker Alex McPherson all season. He came into the game 5/5 on field goals and 19/19 on extra points. The Auburn Tigers are now 0-4 in the SEC.

#21 Texas spoils the Kentucky Wildcat upset bid, win 16-13

The Texas offense was awful. 179 yards. That’s it. Arch Manning completed less than 50% of his passes and the Longhorns had just one touchdown. They were out gained in all phases of the game, Kentucky controlled the clock too. It really was a defensive battle with 14 total punts. There was some excitement late when Texas took the lead with a field goal with minute and a half left. Kentucky answered back with a clutch drive to send the game to overtime after their field goal tied it. Overtime featured a Texas goal line stand where they stopped a 4th & 1 for the second time of the game, Texas would win the game with a field goal on the next possession.

HOLY WAR DID NOT DISAPPOINT, BYU STAYS UNDEFEATED

#15 BYU 24 #23 Utah 21

A bit of a slow start set up an exciting finish in Provo. The score was 10-7 entering the fourth quarter. The next 15 minutes would feature 28 points, 14 from each team. BYU freshman QB Bear Bachmeier’s gritty 22 yard TD run put the Cougs ahead by 10 with 4:22 to go. Utah threatened with a late TD drive to cut the BYU lead to 24-21. The ensuing Utah onside kick with 1:23 left failed and BYU was able kneel to a third straight Holy War win. The BYU defense allowed a season high 470 yards including 226 rushing yards. They bent but didn’t break, forced four turnover on downs from the Utah offense.

#13 NOTRE DAME WINS THE JEWELED SHILLELAGH

#13 Notre Dame 34 #20 USC 24

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love ran for a career-high 228 yards in the rainy rivalry game in South Bend. The game was back and forth all game, USC took a 24-21 lead with 4:32 left in the third. The Irish ran the next kickoff back for a 100 yard TD and didn’t lose the lead after that. Their defense forced a fumble, a turnover on downs, and an interception in the fourth quarter to seal the win and keep their playoff hopes alive.

FROM 3-0 TO 3-4: PENN STATE AND FLORIDA STATE

After firing James Franklin, Penn St. loses to Iowa 25-24

After a 3-0 start, Penn State lost an overtime thriller to Oregon and were upset by a then winless UCLA and fell at home to Northwestern, losing starting QB Drew Allar to a season-ending injury in that game. Enough was enough for the Penn State Athletic Department, after 11 full seasons and a 104-45 record they fired head coach James Franklin. It’s not getting any happier in Happy Valley. In the first game without Franklin they actually had a 14-10 halftime lead after a blocked FG was returned for a touchdown but Iowa QB Mark Gronowski ran for a career-high 130 yards and rallied his team to an exciting win at Kinnick Stadium. Penn State is now 0-4 in the Big 10.

Florida State loses to Stanford 20-13 in Palo Alto

The Florida State Seminoles pulled off a massive upset in Week 1 when they beat top ranked Alabama at home. A few weeks later, at 3-0 they looked poised to contend for an ACC title. The Noles have since lost to Virginia, Miami, Pitt, and now Stanford. Late in this game FSU had a chance to tie the game but were stopped at the goal line as time expired. They have now lost nine consecutive conference games dating back to September 21, 2024.

FROM 0-4 TO 3-4, UCLA WINS AGAIN

UCLA 20 Maryland 17

The UCLA Bruins were dead to rights after Week 4. They fired their coach DeShaun Foster after starting 0-3 and lost to Northwestern 17-14 the following week. They shocked the college football world when they beat #7 Penn State on October 4th and have now pulled off their third consecutive win. Despite three turnovers from QB Nico Iamaleava, the Bruins rallied late and kicked a game winning field goal with just two seconds left. Next week they go on the road to play #2 Indiana and if somehow UCLA pulls off the upset, it will be one of the wildest turnarounds this season.

WEEKLY LEADERS

PASSING

Brad Jackson, QB Texas State—- 444 pass yards at Marshall

RUSHING

Jeremiyah Love, RB Notre Dame—- 228 rush yards vs. USC

RECEIVING

Chris Dawn Jr., WR Texas State—- 180 receiving yards at Marshall

UNBELIEVABLE STAT OF THE WEEK

NCAA Division III running back Montie Quinn of Curry College had 20 carries 522 rushing yards and 7 TD. The rushing yard total is the most rushing yards in a single game in NCAA football history (across all divisions.) Also, this was first 500 yard rushing game in NCAA football history.