College football winners, losers in Week 10: Misery continues for Miami, Ohio State makes case for No. 1

Miami is a respectable 24-7 in August through October under fourth-year coach Mario Cristobal. But when the calendar flips to November, problems mount. That was the story again Saturday, when the No. 10 Hurricanes fell 26-20 in overtime at SMU, dropping the Hurricanes to 4-11 in November and December under Cristobal’s direction.

The manner of defeat was particularly excruciating, as an unnecessary roughness penalty with just over a minute remaining helped position the Mustangs for a game-tying field goal. It was Miami’s second loss in three games since a 5-0 start that seemed to scream “The U is back.”

Now, Miami (6-2, 2-2 ACC) will need a boatload of help from others ahead of it in the ACC standings to even have a shot at playing for the league championship. The question then becomes: how would the College Football Playoff Selection Committee treat a potential two-loss Miami team?

While victories over Notre Dame, South Florida, Florida and Florida State initially appeared to make for an incredibly strong resume, that logic is faltering. The Gators and Seminoles are a mess, and South Florida isn’t the clearcut top team from the Group of Six as was originally believed.

To have the two-loss Miami conversation, you must also believe the Hurricanes won’t lose again down the stretch. Games against Syracuse, NC State, Virginia Tech and Pitt are all quite winnable. But the same would have been said about ACC contests against Louisville and SMU, that the ‘Canes found ways to lose.

The saying gets trotted out this time of year that, “they remember November.” Given Cristobal’s record this time of year, that’s a bad omen for a once-promising Hurricanes season that is teetering on the brink of collapse.

Loser: Florida can’t *catch* a break

A couple of brutal plays in the fourth quarter tanked Florida’s chances of upsetting No. 5 Georgia in a heartbreaking 24-20 loss for the Gators. First, the Gators led 20-17 and were on Georgia’s 18-yard line when interim coach Billy Gonzales gambled and left his offense on the field on a fourth-and-1. The bold call backfired when Jadan Baugh was stopped shy of the sticks with just under eight minutes remaining. 

Then, after a go-ahead touchdown from the Bulldogs, brutality struck again. Trailing 24-20, Florida quarterback DJ Lagway unleashed a bomb down the field to wide open receiver J. Michael Sturdivant, who laid out to make the catch at Georgia’s 21-yard line. However, it was ruled that that the ball hit the ground. The call was upheld on review, negating a potential 50-yard gain with under four minutes remaining. The Gators turned the ball over on downs on the following play, leaving them 0 for 2 on a pair of critical fourth-down plays. It was the difference in a hotly contested rivalry showdown.

Winner: Ohio State makes case for No. 1  

Ohio State has a firm grip on No. 1 in the AP poll, and that won’t be changing after its 38-14 win over Penn State. There is some mystery over whether the Buckeyes will be No. 1 in the debut batch of College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, however. Indiana and Texas A&M are also undefeated and in the mix heading into the initial rankings release. But if the CFP Selection Committee members watching the second half of the Buckeyes’ win over the Nittany Lions, they’ll have trouble slotting Ohio State anywhere other than No. 1. Ohio State’s elite aerial attack and stifling defense showed up in a dominant team effort that underscored why the Buckeyes are the betting favorite to win their second straight national title.

Loser: Vanderbilt’s comeback bid meets crushing end

No. 9 Vanderbilt’s bid for a miraculous rally at No. 20 Texas came up agonizingly short when an onside kick attempt rolled out of bounds with 33 seconds left. Multiple Commodores came up just short of corralling it, leaving Vandy on the losing end of a 34-31 game. Given that Vanderbilt trailed 34-10 entering the fourth quarter, it took a stunning effort from the Commodores to reel off 21 unanswered points and get back in the game. To come all the way back and have such a great chance at the onside kick only to see it flutter out of bounds made for a gutting end.

Winner: Arch Manning stacks good games

Don’t look now, but Arch Manning may finally be turning the corner. Texas’ redshirt sophomore quarterback delivered another big performance in a 34-31 win over Vanderbilt. After coming alive late in a comeback win at Mississippi State last week, Manning surpassed 300 yards passing for the second straight week against an SEC opponent. Not bad for a player who spent the week in concussion protocol. 

There was nothing spectacular about his three-touchdown performance, but Manning successfully distributed the football to Texas’ playmakers and let them go to work. A whopping 258 of his 328 passing yards came after the catch as Vanderbilt struggled with tackling.

Winner: Tate Sandell delivers for Oklahoma

The MVP of No. 18 Oklahoma’s 33-24 win at No. 14 Tennessee wasn’t quarterback John Mateer, running back Xavier Robinson or anyone from the defense, although they all did their parts. Rather, it was redshirt junior kicker Tate Sandell. The UTSA transfer hit a 55-yarder in his first SEC road game two weeks ago at South Carolina and hit two more against the Volunteers. The two 55-yard bombs were part of a 4-for-4 night for the 5-foot-9 lefty. He also drilled kicks of 51 and 40 yards. His booming accuracy made the difference in what was a de facto elimination game for the College Football Playoff.

Winner: Texas Tech shows its mettle

No. 13 Texas Tech walked into a potentially thorny situation at Kansas State and walked out with a 43-20 win thanks to five turnovers from the Wildcats. K-State had won two straight and three of its past four to pick up some traction entering what amounted to a make or break game for the Red Raiders. With a massive showdown against No. 10 BYU awaiting next week, it may have been tempting for Texas Tech be in lookahead mode. In fact, a sluggish start suggested that may be the case. 

But the Red Raiders scored on all six of their possessions across the second and third quarters to take control. A pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes — including a fumble return for a touchdown — put the finishing touches on a big win.

Loser: Miami stumbles yet again

Miami keeps inventing new ways to lose games under Mario Cristobal. In Saturday’s 26-20 loss at SMU, it was an unnecessary roughness penalty that tortured the Hurricanes. Trailing 20-17 with 1:08 remaining, SMU faced a fourth-and-9 play from its own 48-yard line. But instead of having to execute in a tense situation with the game on the line, the Mustangs received a gift. Miami defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot apparently missed the memo that the play had been blown dead and walloped SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings well after the whistles had blown. 

The blunder gifted SMU a first down and allowed the Mustangs to kick a game-tying field. Miami then faltered in overtime as it lost to an unranked ACC opponent for the second time. It was SMU’s first home win over a top-10 team since 1974.

Loser: Georgia Tech’s defense collapses

No. 8 Georgia Tech dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten amid a total defensive collapse in a 48-36 loss at NC State. The Wolfpack racked up 583 yards while pillaging the Yellow Jackets on the ground and through the air. Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King did his best to keep up, totaling 511 yards and four touchdowns by himself. When your QB does that and you still lose, you know it was a bad day for the defense.

Winner: Indiana mashes the gas pedal

No. 2 Indiana scored 21 points in a span of just over two minutes during the third quarter to turn a relatively tight game into yet another blowout victory over Maryland. The Hoosiers’ game-changing spurt included a 31-yard touchdown run from Kaelon Black set up by an interception, a 32-yard fumble return from Devan Boykin and, finally, a 16-yard touchdown run from Roman Hemby set up by yet another Maryland fumble. By the time it was all said and done, the Hoosiers were 55-10 victors, marking their fourth Big Ten victory of 25-plus points this season.

Loser: Boise State wilts

Boise State’s path to another College Football Playoff appearance hit a likely insurmountable road block on Saturday with an 30-7 loss to Fresno State. The Broncos (6-3, 4-1 Mountain West) probably needed to win out and get some help in order to be the highest-ranked Group of Six conference champion come Selection Sunday. While the loss didn’t entirely wreck their hopes of winning the Mountain West, there is virtually no shot that a 3-loss Boise State team would be the highest-ranked G6 champion. 

The loss of quarterback Maddux Madsen to injury in the first quarter also complicated matters for Boise State, both in the moment on Saturday and potentially for the rest of the season. It was Fresno State’s third straight win in the series as the Broncos (6-3, 3-2) snapped out of a two-game losing skid to reach bowl eligibility under first-year coach Matt Entz.

Loser: Nebraska’s misery continues

Nebraska’s winless streak against AP-ranked opponents grew to 29 straight with a 21-17 loss to No. 23 USC. The Cornhuskers led 14-6 at halftime but couldn’t overcome a game-ending injury quarterback Dylan Raiola suffered early in the third quarter. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava struggled, but he and freshman running back King Miller produced just enough offense to help the Trojans escape with a gritty road win. There isn’t another ranked foe on Nebraska’s schedule, though it’s feasible that Iowa could be ranked when they meet in the regular season finale.

Winner: UConn going bowling again

UConn became bowl eligible for the second consecutive season with a 38-19 win over UAB, marking the first time since 2009 and 2010 that the Huskies have stacked consecutive seasons with at least six wins. If fourth-year coach Jim Mora Jr. didn’t carry the stigma of being a “retread” following his six-year run at UCLA from 2012-17, he’d be getting more buzz for other jobs on this crazy coaching carousel. 

Mora inherited a program that was 3-32 over its prior three season of play and has now reached bowl eligibility in three of his four seasons. At a school that prioritizes men’s and women’s basketball above all else, fielding a quality independent football program is elite work. Mora deserves a ton of credit for what he’s doing.

Loser: Clemson on wrong end of brutal call

Dunking on Clemson amid a season of unprecedented struggle under Dabo Swiney is en vogue, and that won’t be changing after the Tigers’ 46-45 home loss to Duke. But there is no denying that Clemson’s loss came in part because it ended up on the wrong end of a questionable pass interference call with the game on the line. The Tigers led 45-38 and appeared to have clinched the game with a fourth-down stop with under a minute to play. Then came the referee’s explanation of a penalty flag. 

It was defensive pass interference, which sent Swinney into a tizzy and gifted the Mustangs a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. SMU promptly scored and converted a two-point conversion to escape with a wild win. You be the judge. Should this have been pass interference on Clemson?

Winner: West Virginia rises

West Virginia was on a five-game losing streak that included three Big 12 road losses that came by an average of 25.6 points as it hit the road to face No. 22 Houston. Against that backdrop, the Mountaineers pulled the ultimate stunner, beating the Cougars 45-35. Houston committed as many turnovers (four) in the game as it had committed all season to help gift-wrap a much-needed win for WVU. 

Year 1 of Rich Rodriguez’s return to the Mountaineers’ sideline appeared to be careening in a gruesome direction. This outcome puts some wind behind West Virginia’s sails for the final month of the season. It may also get the Mountaineers out of the Bottom 25 for next week.

Loser: Deion Sanders’ tenure hits a new low

Deion Sanders’ first season at Colorado in 2023 wasn’t always pretty, but the Buffaloes were almost always competitive on their way to a 4-8 mark. Then came the breakthrough 2024 campaign highlighted by nine wins. Now the Buffs appear to be bottoming out. A week after falling 53-7 at Utah, Colorado followed up with a 52-17 loss against Arizona. Colorado played a whopping four quarterbacks in the loss. One of them, Ryan Staub, was intercepted on both his pass attempts. Seriously, what is this?

Loser: Navy drops from unbeaten tier

The day began with six undefeated teams remaining in college football. That tally dropped to five when Navy fell 31-17 at North Texas. Three turnovers, including a pair of second half interceptions from star quarterback Blake Horvath, crippled the Midshipmen’s chances of earning what would have been a momentous American victory. 

The outcome only added to the immense uncertainty in the league title picture, as the conference will head to the second week of November with multiple teams sitting at one loss in the conference standings. With games against league stalwarts South Florida and Memphis still ahead, Navy will face stiff resistance in its quest to make the American title game.