This season has gone so incredibly fast. With only two more weeks remaining in the regular season, there have been a lot of surprises, a lot of the expected and everything in between, especially in the Border Eight.
Nebraska came into the weekend leading the nation in turnovers, and that problem continued to plague them against Maryland. The Cornhuskers turned the ball over an astounding five times against the Terrapins, including one near the goal line tied 10-10 with just a few minutes left. Nothing worked for them as they put in three quarterbacks, all of them had at least one interception. While the offense struggled to get anything going, the defense played quite strong. They allowed 382 yards, only let Taulia Tagovailoa throw one touchdown and picked him off once. However, that was not enough to stop Tagovailoa from leading the Terps down the field to set up a field goal to win 13-10 as time expired. This snapped Maryland’s four game losing streak and got to bowl eligibility for the third straight year.
Over in Iowa, the Hawkeyes hosted a Rutgers team that has surpassed expectations all year. While expected to be a very close matchup, Iowa had their most complete game on both sides of the ball. Defensively, they pitched their first shut out of the season and first conference shut out since they beat Northwestern 20-0 in 2019. They only allowed 123 yards and recorded an interception and a sack. The offense had their best day by far, most of it being by Deacon Hill. Hill put up 223 yards and a touchdown, only seven yards short of double his season high. On the ground, Iowa rushed for another 179 yards and a touchdown.All this combined led Iowa to a 22-0 win and kept them in the driver’s seat in the Big 10 West.
Over in Illinois, the Illini got into an incredible shootout with Indiana as the Hoosiers tried to stay alive for bowl eligibility and Illinois tried to stay alive in the Big 10 West race. Indiana led 27-12 at one point, but Illinois did not give up and scored 27 straight to go up 39-27. Indiana also refused to say die, though, as they went round for round with the orange and blue to tie it 42-42 before the clock hit triple zeros. In overtime, Indiana hit a 41 yard field goal, but Illinois responded with a 21 yard touchdown to win 48-45 and knock Indiana out of bowl eligibility. While Indiana put up an incredible 451 yards, Illinois notched an even more impressive 662 on the day, one of their most impressive offensive performances ever.
Sitting at 4-5, Northwestern has a hilarious pattern of winning every other game. The Wildcats went on the road to Camp Randall, where they have not won since 2015, were a 12 point underdog, and riding a 14 game true road losing streak. But the pattern does not care about statistics. Northwestern pummeled Wisconsin 24-10, scoring all 24 points in the first half and did not allow a touchdown until there was just 11 seconds left in the game. Despite allowing 341 yards, they only gave up one touchdown, and recovered a fumble. Offensively, they only had 324 yards, but capitalized with three touchdowns. This is the first time the Wildcats have won by more than ten on the road against the Badgers since 1960. The Wildcats need one more win to get to their first bowl game since 2020.
On Thursday night, Louisville hosted a struggling Virginia team, and after beating their last two opponents by a combined score of 65-3 and being 20.5 point favorites at home, they were expected to roll over the Cavaliers to all but clinch a spot in the ACC championship. A blowout is not what ensued. In the first half, the Cardinals struggled, but had control. They were shutting out Virginia going into halftime, but with 4:15 left to go in the third quarter the game got completely turned on its head. Jack Griese found the end zone for Virginia to make it a one score game. Ten seconds later, Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer threw a touchdown pass… to the other team. Kam Robinson picked off Plummer and ran it back 28 yards to knot things up at 14. Less than four minutes later Anthony Colandrea completed a pass that was then fumbled and picked up by Virginia receiver Malik Washington and ran 42 yards to the endzone to put the Cavs up 21-14. The two teams traded field goals before Louisville found the end zone with 6:20 left in the game to tie it up at 24. Lousiville scored once again with 3:25 left to escape with the win 31-24. One more win for Louisville will clinch a spot in their first ever ACC Championship game ever.
Down in the SEC, Kentucky hosted Alabama in a game that was over just about as quickly as it started. Alabama scored 21 points in the first quarter, including two touchdowns in the span of 20 seconds thanks to Devin Leary fumbling the ball. After going up 14-0, Alabama never led by less than 14 and would blow out the Wildcats by a final score of 49-21. Jalen Milroe had an absolutely incredible game for the Tide throwing for 234, three touchdowns, and only threw one pick. On the ground, he rushed for another 33 and three more touchdowns. Kentucky was held to just 253 yards as well as turning the ball over on an interception and a fumble. With this win, Alabama clinched a spot against Georgia in the SEC championship game.
No. 13 Tennessee was hoping to keep their slim SEC championship hopes on the line. All they had to do was go on the road and beat No. 14 Mizzou who just lost to Georgia. Tennessee has not lost to Mizzou since 2018 and as a two point favorite, the game was expected to be incredibly close. In the first half, it seemed as if that would happen. Tennessee picked off Brady Cook at the goal line, each team had one touchdown, and Mizzou only led 13-7 going into halftime. Missouri made some halftime adjustments though, and it was all Tigers from that point on. Mizzou outscored Tennessee 23-0 and had a pick six late in the game to seal the deal 36-7. Both quarterbacks had very similar days in the air with one touchdown and one interception, and Brady Cook only had eight more yards than Joe Milton. It was the ground game that gave Mizzou such a massive win. Tennessee only had 83 rushing yards while Mizzou put up 255, most of which were spearheaded by Cody Schrader. Schrader became the first player in SEC history to have over 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards with 321 total yards. One more win would result in Mizzou’s winningest season since 2014.
Tennessee’s cross-state rival, Vanderbilt, was hoping to have a better day as they faced off against the second worst team in the SEC in South Carolina. They were a two touchdown underdog and were looking to span their nine game losing streak. That very much did not happen. The Gamecocks led 13-0 going into halftime, and Vanderbilt was hoping for a chance to stop the bleeding in the second half, but it only got worse. South Carolina outscored the Commodores 34-6 in the second half to win 47-6. The Gamecocks had one of their best performances of the year, putting up 491 yards and six touchdowns. Despite starting 2-6, a two game win streak keeps them alive for bowl eligibility.
Last weekend, Arkansas had one of their best wins of the season going on the road and beating Florida with Kenny Guiton calling plays for the first time. Hosting a mediocre Auburn team, the Hogs were expected to put on a similar performance, but that could not have been further from the truth. The Razorbacks got smacked around badly by the Tigers in a 48-10 loss. They only put up 255 yards of offense, and did not find the endzone until the fourth quarter when they were already down 48-3. Defensively, despite getting two interceptions, they allowed 517 yards and five touchdowns and a punt return touchdown. Sitting at 3-7, the Razorbacks will not be selected to a bowl game for the first time since 2019 and sit in last place in the SEC West.
Over in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Cowboys were one of the hottest teams in the country. They sat at 7-2, had won five straight, and just came off of a win against No. 9 Oklahoma. They sat tied for first in the Big 12 and only had conference newcomers left on their schedule, who had all been struggling. It looked like Oklahoma State would cruise to the Big 12 Championship and potentially a New Year’s Six bowl. UCF had other plans though. UCF pummeled Oklahoma State 45-3 and dominated in every facet of the game. Offensively UCF put up 592 total yards and six touchdowns, three in the air by John Rhys Plumlee and three on the ground by RJ Harvey. Defensively, UCF held the Cowboys to under 50% completion, 277 yards, and picked off Alan Bowman three times. UCF is one win away from bowl eligibility and Oklahoma State no longer controls their destiny to make the Big 12 title game.
Oklahoma was hoping to bounce back after two straight losses, and did so in dominating fashion. They got revenge over West Virginia after a three point loss last year, beating them 59-20. Dillon Gabriel threw his name back into the Heisman competitor ring, throwing for 423 yards and five touchdowns. On top of that, he rushed for 50 yards and three touchdowns. Outside of kicker Zach Schmit, Gabriel was the only scorer for the Sooners. The Sooners only allowed the Mountaineers to complete 10 of their 31 passes as well as picking them off twice. While they scored 20, that was no match for the 59 that Gabriel dropped on them. Oklahoma is back in a four way tie for second place in the Big 12.
Riding a two game win streak over two of the top teams in the Big 12, Kansas had to beat a disappointing Texas Tech team to keep their hopes alive, but the Red Raiders had other plans. Jason Bean went down early with an injury, and it was all downhill from there. Third stringer Cole Ballard only went 9/20, never found the end zone and threw an interception, givingTexas Tech a 13-0 lead going into the fourth quarter. Kansas did get into a bit of a rhythm going in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 straight and tying it up with 26 seconds left, but the defense collapsed allowing the Red Raiders to go on a game winning drive to hit a field goal with three seconds left to beat the Jayhawks 16-13. Despite Leipold’s success at Kansas, he has never beaten Texas Tech and now the Jayhawks need a lot of chaos to make the Big 12 Championship.
Over in Manhattan, Kansas State had no trouble with their Texas opponent.. The Wildcats hosted Baylor in a game that was over about as soon as it started. Even though Baylor’s quarterback Blake Shapen threw four touchdown passes, he also threw an interception that resulted in a touchdown and helped contribute to Baylor’s three fumbles.. Kansas State had six touchdowns on offense as well as another two on defense to put themselves back in second place in the conference. Some chaos is still needed to get them to the championship game, but the Wildcats still have a chance to repeat.
Iowa State went on the road against BYU, a team that they were 4-0 against all time but had not played since 1974. Being so far away from home and coming off of a loss, there was a lot of concern amongst Cyclone fans of if they could win, but there were no issues for Iowa State. They were up 31-7 at halftime and never looked back. The Cyclones totalled 443 yards and 45 points for their best offensive performance of the season. Defensively, they held BYU to just 13 points and picked off Jake Retzlaff twice.
In the Group of Five, Northern Illinois continued their inconsistency against Ball State. They beat Boston College in their season opener before losing four straight. After that they won three straight to get to an even 4-4 and looked like they could contend for the division before losing an all time classic to Central Michigan. Northern Illinois looked to bounce back against Ball State who only had two wins on the year, but the Cardinals did not let that happen. Neither team was able to get much going on offense, only combining for 616 total yards and 37 points. Both quarterbacks only completed 15 passes and failed to break 150 yards, but a few late decisions allowed Ball State to pull off the upset 20-17 to win for a second straight year. Northern Illinois must win out to make a bowl game.
Western Kentucky needed a win over New Mexico State to keep themselves alive in the race to the CUSA championship, but the Aggie offense proved to be too strong for the Hilltoppers. While Diego Pavia did not have a very exciting game, only going 14/24 with 141 yards and two touchdown passes, the ground game is what really helped them win. Eight players recorded rushes to total 236 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, the Aggies also played well as they picked off Austin Reed and ran back for a touchdown to go up 38-21 late in the game. Western Kentucky scored late, but it was not enough as New Mexico State won 38-29 to clinch a spot in the CUSA championship game against Liberty in their first ever season in the conference.
Middle Tennessee State came into the game 2-7, but were much better than their record showed. Four of their seven losses were by a touchdown or less, one 10-0 to Liberty and another to a Missouri team that sits barely outside of the top ten. Against Florida International, everything came together for the Blue Raiders in a punishing 40-6 win. On the offense, Middle Tennessee State hung 427 yards and four touchdowns on the Panthers, all four touchdowns were scored by Nicholas Vattiato. While the offense played very strong, the defense may have played better. They recorded a fumble recovery that resulted in a touchdown, scored a safety, and sacked Keyone Jenkins four times. While Jenkins had 226 passing yards, he had -99 on the ground when it was all said and done. After losing two straight, FIU needs to win on the road at Arkansas as well as beat Western Kentucky to make a bowl game.
In the AAC, Memphis almost got caught sleeping before their marquee matchup against SMU as they traveled to play Charlotte. The two teams traded punches for a while and Charlotte had three different 10 point leads, but the Tigers would not concede and they came back to tie all three times including tying it 38-38 with a field goal with 35 seconds left. Memphis was able to hold Charlotte scoreless in overtime and scored a walk off touchdown to win 44-38. This is Memphis’s fourth straight game scoring 44 or more as they sit at 5-1 in conference play and are still very much alive for the AAC championship game.
Tulsa went on the road and went round for round with No. 23 Tulane, a team that is looking to win the conference and make it back to the New Year’s Six. While Tulsa never led in the game, they refused to go away, being down 14-0 early, but scoring 22 of the next 32 points. The final score of the game came with just over three minutes left as Tulsa made it a two point game down 24-22. Sadly for Golden Hurricane fans, they were unable to convert the two point try and the margin stayed the same. They kicked the ball deep, but a few Tulane first downs led the Green Waves to the win to keep them undefeated in conference play.
Arkansas State was hoping to notch their sixth win of the season and get to a bowl game for the first time since 2019, but South Alabama put a wrench in that plan. The Jaguars scored 21 of the first 27 points with two touchdown passes as well as one on the ground scored by La’Damian Webb. South Alabama only allowed one touchdown the entire game, but it was not until very late in the fourth quarter. The Jags held Arkansas State to just barely over 300 yards and about 50% completion in their 21-14 victory.
Louisville (9-1) (0-0)
Iowa (8-2) (1-0)
Memphis (8-2) (1-0)
Oklahoma (8-2) (2-2)
Tennessee (7-3) (1-0)
Oklahoma State (7-3) (3-1)
Kansas (7-3) (3-1)
Kansas State (7-3) (0-1)
Iowa State (6-4) (1-3)
Kentucky (6-4) (0-1)
Nebraska (5-5) (3-0)
Western Kentucky (5-5) (1-0)
Northwestern (5-5) (0-2)
Illinois (5-5) (0-2)
Arkansas State (5-5) (0-2)
Northern Illinois (4-6) (0-2)
Tulsa (3-7) (1-1)
Arkansas (3-7) (0-0)
Middle Tennessee State (3-7) (0-1)
Vanderbilt (2-9) (0-1)