Forde-Yard Dash: Breaking Down a Huge Saturday Slate That Actually Overdelivered

We may not have another weekend in college football with these kinds of stakes and that level of drama in a long, long time.

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where Stanford and Marshall are winless against FBS opponents not named Notre Dame:

MORE DASH: Playoff Reset | When NIL Collectives Poach | Year 2 Test

First Quarter

Well, That Was Fun

Fields were stormed (1) in the south, southwest and Rocky Mountains. There was a catharsis in Knoxville, a comeback in Fort Worth, cojones in Salt Lake City. Cigars were smoked, tears were shed (in victory and defeat), goal posts were toppled. Three Top 10 unbeatens lost to lower-ranked opponents. A huge Saturday slate—one of the biggest ever in October—actually over-delivered. It left fans overwrought and overstimulated everywhere, packing maximum entertainment payload.

Offenses exploded and defenses were routed (2) all over the map. Twenty-nine teams scored 40 or more points on the week, with six of them scoring 50 or more. The greatest defensive coach of them all, Nick Saban (3), saw his team surrender the most points since he was at Michigan State more than two decades ago. And for the first time, in a sport that has been around a long time, three Top 25 matchups all finished with both teams scoring more than 40 points.

Sixth-ranked Tennessee scored 52 on No. 3 Alabama, which scored 49. While that drama was unfolding, No. 13 TCU was beating No. 8 Oklahoma State 43-40. Then, a few hours later, No. 20 Utah beat No. 7 USC 43-42. These were big games in which the scoring never stopped and contributed to them all going down to the very, very end.

Tennessee fans tore down both goal posts and carried them out of Neyland Stadium after the Vols’ win over Alabama :: Randy Sartin/USA TODAY Sports

In the latter two, the winner seemed doomed (4) for nearly the entire contest. The Horned Frogs never led in regulation, trailed the Cowboys for 53 1/2 minutes—and by double digits most of the game. Utah, meanwhile, took its first lead in the final minute, when coach Kyle Whittingham chose to go for two instead of playing for overtime against the Trojans. The Volunteers earned their victory from the opposite direction, leading nearly all game before falling behind in the fourth quarter on a forehead-slapping fumble, then mounting two late drives to reclaim the landmark victory they nearly let get away.

The Heisman Trophy race (5) got another alteration, as three quarterbacks in the mix all lost in startling fashion despite playing outstanding games: Alabama’s Bryce Young, Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders and USC’s Caleb Williams combined for 1,262 yards of offense and 10 touchdowns, but walked away dejected. “I hate losing,” Williams said, eyes red. “I had some emotions.” But say hello to the three gunslingers who beat them: Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, TCU’s Max Duggan and Utah’s Cam Rising combined for 1,259 total yards and 13 TDs—and, most importantly, three big wins.

As is too often the case, officiating was a heated conversation topic (6). Inconsistencies around calls for targeting, roughing the passer and pass interference left fans fuming in many locales—from USC thinking Utah quarterback Cam Rising was over-protected, to Alabama thinking Young was under-protected, to Iowa State coach Matt Campbell going ballistic over a no-targeting ruling that helped decide the Cyclones’ loss against Texas. “I’m sure it’s like anything else—we’ll get no clarification,” he said afterward.

Alabama was called for a school-record 17 penalties for 130 yards, the fourth straight true road game in which the careless Crimson Tide has hit triple figures in penalty yards. USC was flagged for borderline roughing the passer calls on plays that kept two separate touchdown drives alive. “The officiating was very poor tonight,” said Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. “But we still should have won the game. That’s just part of football. You’re going to have nights when the calls don’t go your way. We’re not going to be excuse-makers.”

But, the fact is, Alabama and USC were failed far more by their defenses (7) than the officials. Each had one player they absolutely could not cover. Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt had six catches for 207 yards and a school-record five touchdowns, doubling his season total of TDs in a single game. Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid turned into Travis Kelce, catching 16 passes for 234 yards—the single-game high in the FBS for receptions this season. And Oklahoma State struggled to contain TCU star wideout Quentin Johnson, who had eight catches for 180 yards and ran his two-game total against undefeated opponents Kansas and OSU to 22 catches for 386 yards.

Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid caught all 16 passes sent his way and had 234 yards and one TD against USC :: Rob Gray/USA Today Sports

USC’s defense has thrived on turnovers, forcing 15 of them coming into this game. The Trojans only produced one Saturday, and it proved to be the only stop they generated in the Utes’ final six possessions. Utah never punted in the second half.

Alabama, meanwhile, had its first multi-takeaway game of the season, producing a rare interception of Hendon Hooker (his first of the season) and later scoring on the gift fumble Tennessee left in the fourth quarter. But Bama only has five takeaways through seven games, the lowest total at this point in the season under Saban.

(Here’s the thing: USC’s defensive shortcomings were predictable coming into this season; Alabama’s were not. That comes as a shock.)

Unpredictability is arguably the most charming byproduct of every college football season, and we currently are awash in it. Every power conference has something completely unexpected transpiring (8).

TCU, picked to finish seventh in the Big 12, is the last unbeaten (6-0) in the league. Syracuse (6-0), picked to finish last in the ACC Atlantic Division, is still undefeated. Illinois (6-1) and Purdue (5-2), picked to finish sixth and fourth, respectively, in the Big Ten West, could be headed toward a showdown Nov. 12 for the division title. Mississippi, picked to finish fourth in the SEC West, is the last unbeaten (7-0) in the division. Tennessee (6-0), picked to finish third in the SEC East, has an argument to be ranked No. 1 in the nation. UCLA, picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12, is the last unbeaten (6-0) in the league.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan completed 23 of 40 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns vs. OSU :: Raymond Carlin III/USA TODAY Sports

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Bleeding was stopped in many locales (9), as well. Among those who ended losing streaks Saturday: previously winless Colorado; Stanford, which won its first game against an FBS opponent in more than a year; Kentucky, which took down a hot Mississippi State; Michigan State, which had lost four in a row; Oklahoma, which ended a ghastly three-game tailspin; Miami, which lucked into a game against abysmal Virginia Tech after losing three in a row; Arkansas, which dropped 52 on BYU in Provo; and Washington, which had stumbled twice after a 4-0 start.

Thus we have arrived at this happy reality: all 131 FBS teams have won a game this season (10). Meanwhile, the undefeated ranks have been whittled down to single digits, with multiple unbeatens in the Big Ten East (Ohio State and Michigan), SEC East (Georgia and Tennessee) and ACC Atlantic (Clemson and, haha, Syracuse). There will be more drama to come as the College Football Playoff picture continues to come into focus, but we may not have another weekend with these kinds of stakes and that level of drama in a long time.

The Dash recommends breaking the coaches’ 24-hour rule and taking an extra day to either marinate in sweet victory or stew in bitter defeat.

MORE DASH: Playoff Reset | When NIL Collectives Poach | Year 2 Test