Chaos. Pure, unbridled, gorgeous chaos. College football this week was at one of its most exciting points of the entire season, and a very large amount of it happened just outside of Missouri. 

The Huskers were back home this past weekend for one of their tallest tasks of the entire season. Nebraska hosted a Rutgers team that was sitting at a surprising 4-0 record on the season. The lack of battle testing for the Scarlet Knights caught up with them as Nebraska was able to hold Rutgers at bay for pretty much the entire game in a defensive slugfest. The offense for Nebraska was suffocated, and Dylan Raiola could get just about nothing done. He was under duress most of the day, and finished 13- 27 for 134 yards, an interception and was sacked four times.When it mattered most, though, the Huskers were able to notch two rushing touchdowns. On the other side, Rutgers was almost equally unsuccessful on offense. Athan Kaliakmanis was also sacked four times, but had an even worse completion percentage than Raiola, was picked off twice and didn’t find the endzone until there were four minutes left in the game. While the game may not have been pretty, Nebraska was able to reach 5-1 and escape with a 14-7 win. 

Early on at Ohio Stadium, it looked like Cade McNamara, the only active Big Ten quarterback with a win over the Buckeyes, would be able to will his Hawkeyes to a win.Iowa wasn’t able to score themselves, but they held Ohio State to just one touchdown in the first half. Coming out of the half though, Ohio State turned it on and outscored Iowa 28-7 in the final 30 minutes. Will Howard was the main workhorse, as he had more touchdowns on the day than he did incompletions and went for 237 total yards. The Buckeyes were able to pile up 412 total yards while holding Iowa to just 213 and getting to the Hawkeyes quarterbacks four times for sacks, completely sputtering their offense and winning 35-7.

After a bye week, Northwestern had a shot to right the ship and get their first Power Four win on the season in their Big Ten opener against 5-0 Indiana. While they never led, they kept up with the Hoosiers, and never trailed by more than 10 points. Indiana scored midway through the third quarter, but Northwestern went on a 14-3 scoring run to get it to 27-24 and looked very much alive. That would be the end of Northwestern’s scoring for the day as Indiana would find the endzone twice in under three minutes to ice the game out and become the first bowl eligible team with a 41-24 win. Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke ruled the air the entire day with 380 total yards and three touchdown passes. Jack Lausch for the Wildcats had a stellar day as well with 243 yards and two touchdowns, but it just was not enough. 

Illinois had a bye week. 

Louisville hoped to hop back on the horse after a loss to Notre Dame last week, but instead, the horses hopped on them. SMU went on the road to take on the Cardinals and while they just won 34-27, they never conceded the lead. Both teams had very strong offensive days, combining for 932 total yards and seven offensive touchdowns. While it was mostly an offensive shootout, the defense for the Mustangs came up strong when it was needed. SMU registered three sacks on the day, and with Louisville inside the red zone down seven with just over two and a half minutes to go, Isaiah Nwokobia picked off Tyler Shough which sealed the victory for the Mustangs and knocked Louisville down to 3-2 and out of the top 25. 

The two schools in Tennessee were parts of two of the biggest upsets of the season up to this point, but they were on very different ends. Tennessee was outscoring opponents 54-7 before their matchup against Arkansas, while Arkansas had been sputtering all year. At 3-2 with no impressive victory, the 14-point margin that Tennessee was favored by looked small. Arkansas had much different plans, though, hosting the No. 4 team in the country. Early on, the Hogs completely shut down Tennessee, not allowing a single point. Arkansas was not doing much better on offense as they only got a field goal. Coming out of the half, Tennessee seemed to pick things up and found the endzone twice in the first seven minutes of the half. Up 14-3 with about 20 minutes left, Tennessee looked like they would get an ugly win. Arkansas would lock down the Volunteers and force four straight punts. During that time, Arkansas scored 10 more and were trailing by one with just over three minutes. With starter Taylen Green out, they relied on backup Malachi Singleton for a miracle. In just over two minutes, he led them on a 59 yard drive that took just four plays and went up 19-14. With just over a minute left, Nico Iamaleava was able to lead the Vols down to the Arkansas 20, but ran out of time, ran out of room, and ran out of bounds a yard shy of the first down and Arkansas knocked off their first top five team in 17 years. 

On the other hand, Vanderbilt had a much better day than their rivals. After they took Mizzou to double overtime two weeks ago, the Tigers were the laughingstock of the SEC. Being a top ten team nearly losing to a bottom feeder was embarrassing. But Saturday, Vanderbilt proved that the game was not a fluke. The Commodores hosted the number one ranked Crimson Tide the week after Alabama took down Georgia, and the hangover seemed real for the boys from Tuscaloosa. Vanderbilt found the endzone twice in the first seven minutes and quickly went up on the Tide 13-0. Alabama responded with a Jam Miller rushing score, but Vanderbilt scored twice more and went up 23-7. Alabama got the next two scores, and down just two and Vanderbilt having 4th&1, it looked like the tides were going to turn. That’s when Vandy’s gutsy QB Diego Pavia struck, finding  Junior Sherrill for a diving touchdown to go back up by nine. Alabama then found the miracle receiver Ryan Williams for another tightrope touchdown, and after holding Vandy to just a field goal, they got the offense back into Commodore territory and were back in business. In a crucial moment with just 10 minutes left in the game, Jalen Milroe fumbled, which allowed Pavia to go on a nearly five minute drive and go up 12 with five minutes remaining. Ryan Williams scored once again to draw within five, but it was too little too late. The Commodores got three first downs, and Vanderbilt got their first win against an AP No. 1 team in their history. 

Both Oklahoma and Kentucky were on bye weeks.

Oklahoma State came into their game with West Virginia with two straight losses. Both losses were against ranked teams, and hosting 2-2 West Virginia as a three point favorite, it looked like the Cowboys had a shot to get their first conference win. The Mountaineers had other plans and beat the Cowboys within an inch of their lives with a 38-14 blowout. West Virginia had an absolutely punishing day on the ground with a total of 389 yards and four touchdowns. Three different players had over 75 rushing yards and a touchdown, with Jaheim White leading the charge with 158 total yards. The Cowboys couldn’t get anything going with 227 total yards, two touchdowns and two turnovers. In their defense though, they really did not have time to do anything. The West Virginia offense held the ball for over 42 minutes, while Oklahoma State barely cracked 15. The Pokes fell to 0-3 in conference play and into a three way tie for the bottom spot in the conference after making the championship game just last year. 

One of those teams tied for last place is the Kansas Jayhawks. Still scrounging for their first FBS win, they got into an absolute shootout with Arizona State. The game included six lead changes, with five of them coming in the fourth quarter with five touchdowns between the two teams. Jalon Daniels finally seemed to find his groove, having one of his best days of the season completing 60% of his passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns. He also tacked on another touchdown on the ground. Even with four touchdowns and 411 total yards, they still managed to get outpaced by the Sun Devils. Arizona State put up just under 500 total yards with five total touchdowns. The biggest of them all came when Sam Leavitt found Jordyn Tysan for a three yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to take the lead back and beat Kansas 35-31. 

Hosting a struggling Baylor Bears team, Iowa State looked on the ropes for most of the start of the game. The Bears went up 14-3 and didn’t give up the lead until under five minutes left in the half. Baylor took the lead back almost immediately in the second half 21-19, and it looked like we were in for another back and forth matchup. Sadly for Baylor fans, the scoring would end there, and the Cyclones would go on a roaring 24-0 run to close things out. Iowa State was fueled by a strong offensive showing, with 542 total yards on the day while the Bears just had 337 and in the second half were completely incapable of keeping up. This is the first time Iowa State has started 5-0 since 1980.

Kansas State had a bye week. 

After two straight losses, Northern Illinois was finally able to register their first win since beating Notre Dame in their second game of the season. Against UMass, the game was a back and forth for most of the contest with it being deadlocked at 13 points going into the fourth quarter. The Huskies were able to pull away late with two straight touchdowns. Taisun Phommachanh found the endzone with just over three minutes left for the Minutemen, but barely a minute later, Ethan Hampton found the endzone again to ice the game out and win 34-20. 

Both MTSU and Western Kentucky had the week off to prepare for the switch to midweek games. 

Hosting the Army Black Knights, the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes became the latest victim of Army’s Cinderella season. After the Black Knights scored a 37 yard touchdown, Cooper Legas found the end zone for Tulsa to knot things up, but that was just about the only positive on the day. Army punted on their next drive, but forced Tulsa to do the same. After that, Army found the endzone on six consecutive drives and forced Tulsa to punt or commit a turnover on downs on every drive until the end of the game. Tulsa had 268 yards on the day, but that was nothing compared to the 481 that Army put up, and in classic Military Academy fashion, they only completed six passes the entire game. 

Memphis had the week off this past weekend. 

Arkansas State hosted South Alabama in a low scoring barn burner that really could have gone either way. The Red Wolves went up 6-0 and then again 9-3 to keep a close lead over the Jaguars. Late in the third quarter though, South Alabama’s Jamaal Pritchett found Gio Lopez 75 yards downfield and took their first lead of the game. Arkansas State was able to lock down the Jaguars for the next 10 minutes and stole the lead back with a touchdown near the end of the fourth quarter. The two point conversion failed, but they kept a five point lead. Four minutes later, Pritchett made the same connection and scored once again. The Jags tried a two point conversion and failed but held a 16-15 lead, and it looked like the Red Wolves missing their conversion would come back to bite them. Jaylen Raynor looked to flip the script and led his team 77 yards in about a minute and a half to line up for a field goal, and Clune Van Andel nailed a 34 yarder with 10 seconds left to take the lead. South Alabama had 10 seconds, but it was not nearly enough as time expired before they could cross midfield, and Arkansas State won 18-16. 

1. Iowa State (5-0) (2-0)
2. Nebraska (5-1) (0-1)
3. Illinois (4-1) (2-0)
4. Kansas State (4-1) (1-0)
5. Memphis (4-1) (1-0)
6. Tennessee (4-1) (1-1)
7. Oklahoma (4-1) (0-1)
8. Arkansas (4-2) (1-1)
9. Western Kentucky (3-2) (1-0)
10. Arkansas State (3-2) (1-1)
11. Vanderbilt (3-2) (0-0)
12. Kentucky (3-2) (0-0)
13. Northern Illinois (3-2) (0-0)
14. Louisville (3-2) (0-0)
15. Iowa (3-2) (0-1)
16. Oklahoma State (3-3) (2-1)
17. Northwestern (2-3) (0-0)
18. Tulsa (2-4) (0-2)
19. MTSU (1-4) (0-2)
20. Kansas (1-5) (0-1)