UCF got the better of the Tigers on Friday night in a battle of backup QBs, 24-7. That UCF and Memphis aren’t in this narrative, after years of being the G5’s best representatives, is disappointing for both. The Group of Five has gotten so much shine this season, from AAC unbeatens like Cincinnati and SMU, to San Diego State and Nevada out West, to stunning Lone Star State turnarounds UTSA (8-0) and UTEP (6-1). Let’s see if Iowa State can thread the needle and get back to Arlington for the Big 12 title game. They're very good, just sorta clumsy and unlucky at the wrong times (we even saw that Saturday with a ridiculous overturning of a touchdown). The Cyclones (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) should have been ranked this whole time, if voters were paying attention. Iowa State’s massive 4th-and-two stop sent the fans swarming in Ames. His counterpart, Oklahoma State’s Jaylen Warren, had his worst showing since he became the Pokes’ RB1. He was ridiculous, completing 27 of 33 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns. It was a Brock Purdy game in the best of ways, the senior QB avoiding the turnover bug that’s bit him before. Having gotten their custom September disappointments out of the way, the Cyclones did what Vegas expected them to do at home vs. The Iowa State Cyclones love October - Brocktober, actually - and if they could, they’d just start the schedule here every season. If you want to throw college football's new overtime rules and maybe even yourself for watching a 9OT-game that never even hit the over into the "Losers Bucket," I won't be opposed (though I had the under and loved every second of it). Whatever excuse they want to give, Illinois outgained Penn State 395-227 in Sean Clifford’s return, 357 of those on the ground, and poured ice water on the theory that the Nittany Lions were some sort of Playoff team. "I think there was a difference between playing Iowa on the road and having that type of loss with the type of injuries we had going into our bye week." "Obviously we did not have our guys ready to play," Franklin said. The more likely scenario is the Nittany Lions licked their wounds a little too long after a heartbreaking loss at Iowa, didn’t take Illinois seriously and were looking ahead to next week’s titanic showdown at Ohio State. Maybe James Franklin spent Penn State’s bye week smashing Command+R on 247Sports’ coaching carousel blog.
The entire thing felt like a fever dream. It was technically the longest game in college football history but of course not really, given the new two-point shootout rule that goes into effect in the third overtime. Illinois won in nine overtimes, 20-18, on a toss from backup QB Brandon Peters to Casey Washington. 7 Penn State had won, the Nittany Lions would still be in this section: When you’re alternating two-point plays and walking up and down the field in a multitude of overtimes with a hapless Illinois team that nobody - including its head coach - thinks is good, then you’re having a bad Saturday. There’s plenty of time to go ‘til early December and if 2007 is our compass, Pittsburgh will be involved in some sort of chaos.īy the way, here's an NIL experiment to track in real time: Pickett told ABC after the win he was ready to "have a cold one," and then get ready for Miami. At least, that’s how things currently stand. He probably has the liveliest arm in the city, if you catch my drift.Īfter easily winning last week in Blacksburg and beating big bad conference bully Clemson, Narduzzi has the Panthers (6-1) sitting very, very pretty in the ACC Coastal standings, setting up a conference championship showdown with either undefeated Wake Forest or NC State out of the Atlantic. Pickett’s Heisman bonafides are legit (25-for-39 Saturday, 302 yards, 2 TDs). Regardless, it’s a story for another day, as this writeup needs to be about Pitt, QB Kenny Pickett and head coach Pat Narduzzi. We definitely don’t have a Caleb Williams-Spencer Rattler distraction here, but we do have something. The gaffe got Uiagalelei benched for a spell and backup QB Taisun Phommachanh got his team three points in a few drives, then Uiagalelei returned and got himself a TD run. Uiagalelei threw (yes, threw?) an interception on a shovel pass that was returned the other way by Pitt’s Sirvocea Dennis for a 21-7 lead. It definitely felt over after Clemson QB D.J. But it kinda felt over at halftime after Pitt reeled off 14 unanswered for a 14-7 lead. 23 Pittsburgh beat Clemson, 27-17, at Heinz Field.