Check out how the College Football AP Top 25 Ranked Teams fared in Week 9 for our Top 25 Roundup!
#1 Oregon Defeats #20 Illinois 38-9
Dillon Gabriel and the Ducks offense had a great performance vs Illinois on Saturday proving themselves to be worthy of their #1 ranking. Gabriel finished the game 18 for 26 for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns. Oregon’s leading receiver for the season, WR Tez Johnson, had another big game with 6 catches for 102 and a TD. A the end of the game with 527 total yards compared to Illinois’ 293, this was all Ducks against a quality and ranked opponent.
#2 Georgia (BYE)
#3 Penn State Defeats Wisconsin 28-13
Penn State got a big road win against Wisconsin improving to 7-0 on the season. While the win is a positive, starting QB Drew Allar would leave the game in the second half with an injury. He started the game 14-18 for 148 yards and a TD before suffering a left knee injury, leaving sophomore QB Beau Pribula to finish the game coming out of halftime. At this point, the Nittany Lions were actually losing 10-7 so Pribula would need a good game to get his team the win. He would come in, providing no drop-off for the offense, and leading them to the 29-13 win. His second-half stats were 11-13 for 98 yards and a TD, while also rushing for 28 yards on 6 carries. While they pulled out the win this week, fans can only think about the status of Drew Allar for the biggest game of their season yet, a #3 vs #4 matchup next week against a hot Ohio State team. At the moment, Allar is a game-time decision so Beau Pribula may have to step up in a huge way next week for this top-5 matchup.
#4 Ohio State Defeats Nebraska 21-17
Ohio State kept their momentum rolling against an unraked but very talented Nebraska team. Will Howard had 221 yards and 3 TDs completing 13 of 16 passes on Saturday. This performance did not coincide with a dominant win as this game would come down to the last 2 minutes, but Buckeyes CB Jordan Hancock would intercept Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola ending the game and escaping the game with another win.
#5 Texas Defeats #25 Vanderbilt 27-24
Texas was coming off of the Georgia loss at home last week and against a Vanderbilt team that is ranked for the first time since 2013, this felt as if it could be a trap game for the Longhorns. While they were able to pull out the win, this Vanderbilt team, who earlier this season took down number-one-ranked Alabama, put up another great battle all the way down to the last minute of the game. Texas WR Deandre Moore Jr. had 6 catches for 97 with 2 TDs in the first half. While the Longhorns would be held out of the endzone in the second half, 2 field goals and their defense was enough to hold off the Commodores to improve to 7-1 on the season.
#6 Miami Defeats FSU 36-14
Heisman candidate Cam Ward and Miami rolled past FSU, who has been having a rough season this year. Even though this rivalry usually brings great competition, this Miami team is looking like championship contenders. Their defense would hold the FSU QBs to 11 for 32 through the air and 3 for 13 on third down. The Hurricane offense would account for 445 yards and would put up 36 points. RB Damien Fletcher had 148 on the ground and a TD. Cam Ward would not have any passing TDS this game but had 208 yards and a receiving touchdown on a “Philly Special.”
#7 Tennessee (BYE)
#9 Clemson (BYE)
#10 Iowa State (BYE)
#11 BYU Defeats UCF 37-24
BYU moved to 8-0 for only the fifth time in program history. While they came into 4 games this season as the underdog, they have found a way to keep the streak alive each time. This was one of those games, as even with a 3-4 record, UCF was favored in this game by 2.5 points. BYU would come out with another dominant win with the score being 34-10 entering the fourth quarter. UCF would get two late touchdowns, but BYU had this game on lock. The defense would force 2 interceptions and the offense would rack up 480 total yards in the 37-24 win.
#12 Notre Dame Defeats #24 Navy 51-14
Notre Dame has been rolling since their early-season blunder against NIU. Since then, the Fighting Irish had won 5 straight leading into Saturday’s game against a recently-ranked Navy team. They would waste no time and give the home crowd exactly what they wanted: a high-scoring, stress-free win. The defense would have a monster day forcing 6 turnovers by the Navy offense. RB Jeremiyah Love would have 2 TDs and QB Riley Leonard would have 1 rushing and 2 passing touchdowns lighting up the scoreboard.
#13 Indiana Defeats Washington 31-17
Indiana has been rolling this season and their game on Saturday was no different. While they would shockingly finish with fewer total yards yards than the Washington offense, the 2 interceptions from the defense heavily impacted this game. The game was kicked off 7-0 for Indiana on a 67-yard pick-six from DB D’Angelo Ponds and they would maintain the lead throughout the game.
#14 Texas A&M Defeats #8 LSU 38-23
Texas A&M got a huge win against LSU and remained undefeated in the SEC. While down in the first half, and all momentum on LSU’s side, Texas A&M would get the spark they needed with backup QB Marcel Reed entering the game in the second half. After an interception that put the ball inside the 10, Reed would enter the game and rush for a TD on first down sparking the Aggies’ offense. He would never sub back out and would lead them to 4 straight touchdowns, flipping this game upside down. The defense would step up tremendously as well in the second half generating multiple turnovers and only allowing one touchdown.
#15 Alabama Defeats #21 Missouri 34-0
The Crimson Tide made a huge statement win against a questionable Missouri opponent that entered the game ranked #21. This game was all Alabama, forcing 3 interceptions on defense and rushing for 4 touchdowns. Jam Miller had two and Jalen Milroe and Justice Haynes had the other two. The Tide has a bye week before heading to Death Valley in week 11 in a matchup that is a must-win for both teams if they wish to make the CFP.
#16 Kansas State Defeats Kansas 29-27
Kansas State was able to pull out of the Sunflower Showdown against Kansas last Saturday. While the Wildcats kicked a field goal with 1:42 left in the game, their safety in the second quarter was the deciding factor. QB Avery Johnson had two Passing TDs and one Rushing TD, propelling the Wildcats to 7-1 on the season.
#17 Boise State Defeats UNLV 29-24
Ashton Jeanty continued his Heisman push with 128 yards and 1 TD. While it was not one of his usual stat-sheet-stuffing performances, he would score the final touchdown in the 4th to give them the lead and the win over UNLV. Boise State has moved to 6-1, with their only loss of the season being against the number one team in the nation, setting themselves up nicely to slide into the new 12-team CFP format.
#18 Ole Miss Defeats Oklahoma 26-14
Coming off of an overtime loss to LSU, Ole Miss had a big bounce-back game against Arkansas. After being down 14-10 at halftime, the Rebels would dominate the second half. LB Suntarine Perkins would have 4 sacks on the day and the defense would end the game with 10 sacks, shutting Arkansas out for the second half. Jackson Dart and the offense did not put up as many points as fans wanted but he would finish 22 for 30 with 311 yards and 1 TD.
#19 Pittsburgh Defeats Syracuse 41-13
Pitt would remain undefeated rolling past Syracuse with a big win at home. Freshman QB Eli Holstein would have a clean game throwing 11 for 15 with 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. But this game was dominated by the Pitt defense who would force 3 pick-sixes in the first half of this game. Rasheem Biles would start the game off with a 35-yard return and not shortly after in the first quarter, Kyle Louis would have a 59-yard return. After jumping out to a quick 24-0 lead in the 2nd quarter, the defense would continue to feast forcing another interception, this time it was Baylan Lovelace with a 33-yard return blowing the doors off this game 31-0. This game would never be close as the Panthers’ defense would force 5 interceptions on the way to victory. They head to SMU this week for a big top-20-ranked matchup.
#22 SMU Defeats Duke 28-27 in OT
The SMU offense that has been rolling over the previous weeks was slowed up by the Blue Devils’ defense this week. They were able to force 3 interceptions from SMU QB Kevin Jennings, but their defense showed up to carry the offense. WR Roderick Daniels Jr. did have 2 receptions for 151 yards including an 81-yard touchdown in the third quarter. But at the end of regulation, this game would be tied at 21 and heading into overtime. After SMU got the ball and scored first, it was on their defense to get a stop for the game. The Blue Devils would proceed to score on the first play of overtime for Maalik Murphy’s 3rd touchdown pass of the game. Duke HC Rhett Lashlee would decide to roll the dice at home after the huge play and would send the offense out for the 2-point conversion to win the game. Murphy would roll out and try to hit WR Eli Pancol on back-to-back plays but the SMU defense would lock up, forcing an incomplete pass and winning a thrilling game on the road to remain ranked.
