Week 7 of the college football season brought us one of the most anticipated matchups of the season. Several unranked teams gave a few top-five teams a scare on Saturday as well.
Here’s a look at some of the top games from Saturday.
Oregon outlasts Ohio State
The No. 3 Oregon Ducks got the best of the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in a Big Ten showdown, winning 32-31. The Ducks (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) scored 10 points in the final quarter to rally and take a win at home.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel has had a monster of a year after transferring from Oklahoma in the offseason. Before the game he was at +1500 odds to win the Heisman, but after his performance this week he jumped to the second favorite at +300 odds.
Against the Buckeyes, he passed for 341 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also added 32 rushing yards on four attempts, including a 27-yard rush for the game’s final touchdown.
Over 40% of Gabriel’s passing yards Saturday night went to wide receiver Evan Stewart, who finished the night with seven receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown.
Ohio State (5-1, 2-1) controlled their destiny on the game’s final possession.
Oregon kicked a short field goal and gave the ball back to the Buckeyes with just under two minutes left. Ohio State marched inside Oregon’s 30-yard line, which would have been field goal range. On the next play, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith picked up an offensive pass interference, resulting in a 15-yard penalty for the Buckeyes.
The next two plays were utter chaos for Ohio State.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning pulled off a smart defensive strategy, sending 12 players on the field to prevent a deep play. Although it resulted in a penalty, four seconds ticked off the clock, and Ohio State was still out of field goal range.
On the next play, quarterback Will Howard ran up the middle to pick up some yards for an easier Hail Mary or a long field goal. He gave himself up as time expired, but Ohio State could not get the timeout off and the game ended.
Howard had a similar stat line to Gabriel. He finished with 28 completions for 326 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had 13 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Buckeyes’ head coach Ryan Day is now 1-7 against top-five teams. He will likely get a shot at redemption after the bye week when the Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley to face No. 3 Penn State in two weeks.
Next week, the undefeated Ducks will play Purdue on Friday night. The “Spoilermakers” have nine wins against No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams when they are unranked, so keep an eye on this game.
Penn State rallies to beat USC
No. 4 Penn State beat USC 33-30 in overtime, thanks to Tyler Warren’s dominant game.
The Nittany Lions (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) were in a tough spot all week. They traveled 2,569 miles from Pennsylvania to the West Coast for their first trip in the reinvented Big Ten.
Penn State looked to be affected by the travel in the first half, heading into halftime down 20-6. Things were looking good for the Trojans (3-3, 1-3) after they had lost two of their last three games leading up to this game.
Though they were down 14 points, it didn’t take long for the Nittany Lions to tie the game up. Their first two drives out of the locker room went more than 75 yards, and both resulted in touchdowns.
It was back and forth for the rest of the contest, and\ they finally went into overtime and tied at 30 each. The Trojans got the ball to start the overtime period. They came up empty, losing three yards and missing a 45-yard field goal attempt.
Penn State elected to play conservatively, rushing twice and throwing a check-down to Warren before kicking the game-winning field goal.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar passed for 391 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He had 17 of his 30 passes caught by tight end Tyler Warren, who finished with 224 yards and one touchdown.
His 17 receptions tied the record for most catches by a tight end in a game, tying New Mexico’s Emilio Vallez in 1967 and Northwestern’s Jon Harvey in 1982.
By far, the most entertaining play of the game came from Warren, who snapped the ball to start the play and finished the play by mossing a defender for a 32-yard touchdown.
On the other side, Trojans’ quarterback Miller Moss had a solid game. He racked up 220 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Woody Marks had an efficient game, finishing the contest with 111 yards on 20 carries and adding two catches for 44 yards for USC.
Next week, the Nittany Lions will continue their road trip by facing Wisconsin. The Trojans will look to bounce back against Maryland when they hit the road for a coast-to-coast matchup.
Alabama is nearly upset again
The No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide barely defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks, winning 27-25 in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama (5-1, 2-1 SEC) almost suffered their second consecutive loss after losing to Vanderbilt 40-35 last week. It would’ve been the first time they lost two straight games since the 2013 season.
South Carolina (3-3, 1-3) had a chance to win the game late. They scored with 43 seconds remaining on the clock but were unable to convert the 2-point conversion, leaving the score at 27-25.
They were forced to attempt an onside kick, which they recovered on the Alabama 49-yard line. They just needed to get a handful of yards to attempt a field goal, but quarterback LaNorris Sellers heaved a deep ball, which was intercepted by Domani Jackson in the end zone.
Sellers finished the game, completing 23 passes for 238 yards, two touchdowns and the game-sealing interception. He also logged 16 rushes for a mere 19 yards and lost two fumbles in the losing effort.
The Gamecocks’ running back, Raheim Sanders, finished with 78 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe had a subpar showing through the air. He totaled 209 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for 36 yards on 18 attempts but added two touchdowns.
Next week, the Crimson Tide will roll into Knoxville to face the No. 11 ranked Tennessee Vols. Alabama lost last time at Neyland Stadium, falling 52-49 in 2022.
South Carolina will head west to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the struggling Sooners.
Tigers roar and finish Rebels in overtime
The No. 13 LSU Tigers stunned the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels in Death Valley, winning 29-26 in overtime.
On the final LSU possession in regulation, the Tigers (5-1, 2-0 SEC) were given just a 3% chance at winning the game.
Up until the final possession, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier had one touchdown and two interceptions. The Tigers had only managed a field goal in the second half and they were down 23-16 with just over three minutes remaining.
Nussmeier commanded the offense on the last possession, converting a fourth-and-5 to keep the drive alive. On what was likely the last play of the game, Nussmeier found receiver Aaron Anderson over the middle on fourth down, delivered a perfect pass, and Anderson caught it in the end zone to tie the game up.
Ole Miss had possession first in overtime. Their four plays lost them 15 yards due to penalties, but kicker Caden Davis drilled a 57-yard field goal to set the Rebels up by 3 points.
The Tigers had one last deficit to overcome, and it didn’t take long to respond. Nussmeier delivered a strike to Kyren Lacy for the game winner.
The Tigers led for exactly zero seconds of the game but managed to find their footing just when they needed it.
Nussmeier finished the game with 337 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 22 completions. The run game was almost nonexistent for the Tigers, rushing for 84 yards on 24 carries.
Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart had a mediocre showing, completing 24 passes for 284 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was also sacked six times and fumbled once.
The Rebels had nearly 100 more yards than the Tigers on the ground, finishing with 180 total. Ulysses Bentley IV had 107 yards, including a 50-yard score on fourth-and-1.
The Tigers will face the Arkansas Razorbacks next week in Fayetteville for another SEC matchup. The Ole Miss Rebels will have a bye this week before they face the Oklahoma Sooners.
Up next
Week 8 of the college football season will kick off on Friday night when the Oregon Ducks travel to West Lafayette to face the Purdue Boilermakers. This week will be headlined by marquee SEC matchups, with Tennessee hosting Alabama and Georgia traveling to Texas.
