Week seven was looking to be an absolutely incredible week of college football, and it absolutely came through, especially in the Border Eight.
In Big 10 country, Iowa and Wisconsin faced off in a matchup that had massive conference championship implications. Iowa had one of their worst offensive performances of the year, only managing to put up 237 total yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Deacon Hill only managed to total 19 yards on the day; 37 in the air, and -18 on the ground with no touchdowns. In classic Iowa fashion, however, the defense looked elite. Despite putting up 332 yards, Wisconsin was unable to get in the end zone once. They turned the ball over twice and, despite having three players throw a pass, only one was able to complete over 50% of their passes: Braelon Allen, Wisconsin’s running back, who went 1/1 for 0 yards. Despite being a 10-point underdog, Iowa won 15-6 to get to 6-1 on the season.
Illinois went on the road for their matchup against Maryland. Illinois came into this game 2-4 with no Power Five wins and had just lost 20-7 to Nebraska. Maryland, on the other hand, was 5-1 on the year with their only loss being to Ohio State and was on the cusp of the top 25. The Fighting Illini were nearly two touchdown underdogs, but they did not seem to care. The two teams went back and forth and were tied going into halftime. With just about a minute and half left in regulation, Maryland marched down the field and tied the game at 24, but that was more than enough time for Illinois. Luke Altmeyer marched his team down the field and, with three seconds left, Caleb Griffin drilled a 43-yard field goal to win 27-24 and get their first conference victory of the season.
Both Nebraska and Northwestern had bye weeks, and they will take on each other in Lincoln next weekend.
Last week, Louisville was at the top of the world. They had curb stomped No. 10 Notre Dame,jumped from #25 to #14 in the polls and were sitting at 6-0. This week, it all came crashing down. Louisville went on the road to play a Pitt team that sat at 1-4 with their only win being against Wofford. Pitt was expected by many to get blown out, but they ended up being the ones who were dominating. Jack Plummer of Louisville threw an astonishing 52 times, yet only found the end zone once and threw two interceptions, with one being returned for a touchdown late in the third quarter. On top of that, he was sacked four times for 48 yards. Pitt didn’t even have a great day offensively, not even breaking 300 yards with Christian Veilleux only going 12/26. However, two interceptions, a fumble and three turnovers on downs for Louisville won this game for Pitt 38-21.
Across the state, Kentucky looked as if they would have a much better day than their rivals. They came out swinging in the first quarter, outscoring Mizzou 14-0 with 130 yards, 71 of those being by Ray Davis. Maxwell Hairston also picked off Brady Cook. In the second quarter though, the Tigers made a gutsy call to go for a fake punt that resulted in a 39-yard touchdown by Luke Bauer that completely changed the game. Mizzou would finish the day outscoring Kentucky 38-7 as well as picking off Devin Leary twice and sacking him four times. Missouri has their best record through seven games since 2013, the year that they went to the SEC championship.
Tennessee was looking for their first ever win against Texas A&M in Knoxville and managed to get it in a low-scoring affair. Texas A&M was stuffing the Volunteers in the first half, leading them 10-7 after the first two quarters. A&M forced the Vols to punt twice, turn the ball over on downs once and a field goal attempt that was missed. However, Tennessee made the necessary halftime adjustments to win the game. They scored a touchdown halfway through the third quarter to go up 14-10 and did not look back. They would allow one more field goal, but they made two as well and picked off Max Johnson twice to win 20-13.
Georgia had to go on the road to play the lowly Vanderbilt Commodores, a team sitting at 2-5 with four straight conference losses. Vaderbilt had not scored a point against Georgia since 2019, and Georgia had won 23 straight games, with their last win coming over No. 20 Kentucky 51-13. This was supposed to be an easy win for the Bulldogs, but Vanderbilt kept it competitive. The Commodores scored the first touchdown and were tied with Georgia going into the second quarter. However, the road favorites would score 20 unanswered points, but a touchdown late in the third quarter with an interception that resulted in a touchdown for Vanderbilt with just a Georgia field goal in-between would make it interesting, as Georgia would only be up 10. However, a late touchdown run by Daijun Edwards would close it out, as the Bulldogs exited Nashville with a 37-20 victory.
Arkansas had yet another close game on the year, losing by one score for the fourth time in five games. Arkansas came out of the gates fast, scoring two field goals and making Alabama punt twice, but from that point on, Alabama took over. The Tide scored 24 straight and shut out Arkansas for the rest of the first half. However, Arkansas would go on a 15-0 scoring run to pull within three and were looking to upset Alabama for the first time under Nick Saban. However, Alabama would force Arkansas to punt late and get a few first downs to close out the game and sneak away with a 24-21 win.
Last season, Kansas achieved bowl eligibility for the first time since 2008 with a win over Oklahoma State. This season, they were looking to do it again, as they sat at 5-1 on the year. Last week, the Cowboys pulled off an upset against Kansas State, and this week, they pulled off another over the Wildcats’ in-state rival. Kansas had a strong offensive day, going for over 500 total yards with five touchdown passes. Despite that, Oklahoma State outdueled the Jayhawks with 554 total yards, four touchdowns and four field goals. Their defense also stepped up, picking off Jason Bean twice, sacking him four times and stuffing two 2-point conversions to knock off the Jayhawks 39-32.
After last week’s loss to Oklahoma State, Kansas State was looking to bounce back against a struggling Texas Tech squad . After starting quarterback Will Howard went down for the Wildcats, hope seemed lost, but then, Avery Johnson came in. Through the air, he did not throw a ton, only going 8/9 with 77 yards, but he was amazing on the ground. He ran for 91 yards and accounted for all five of Kansas State’s five touchdowns The Wildcat defense stepped up strong too, as they picked off Jake Strong three times and kept the Red Raiders scoreless in the first and last quarters en route to a 38-21 win.
Iowa State went into their game against Cincinnati as about a four-point underdog, as they were looking to match their win total from last season. They not only covered, but absolutely dominated against the Big 12 newcomers. Cincinnati was up 7-3 going into the second quarter, but Iowa State absolutely let loose the rest of the game outscoring the Bearcats 27-3. Rocco Becht was the only touchdown scorer on the day for the Cyclones with two in the air and one on the ground. The defense also had a strong day, only allowing 214 yards, picking off Emory Jones twice and two sacks to win 30-10. Iowa State is sitting in second place in the Big 12 at 3-1, only behind Oklahoma.
The current Big 12 leading Oklahoma Sooners did not have a game this week after their massive win over No. 3 Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
In the Group of Five, Northern Illinois snapped Ohio’s five game winning streak after a second half shutout to win 23-13. The offense had a manageable day with two touchdowns and just about 300 yards, but it was the defense that really stepped up for the Huskies. They picked off Ohio QB ? three times and held the Bobcats to just 254 yards with a singular rushing touchdown.
In the Conference USA, MTSU had a Tuesday night matchup where they finally managed to get their first FBS win against Louisiana Tech. Nicholas Vattiato had a clean performance, going 23/29 with 248 yards and two touchdowns. He also managed to notch 15 yards and a rushing touchdown. The Blue Raider defense played a “bend don’t break” style of defense. Despite allowing 340 yards between two Bulldog quarterbacks, they only scored twice and as threw an interception en route to MTSU’s 31-23 win.
Western Kentucky had the week off, as they’ll take on C-USA newcomer Jacksonville State this coming Saturday.
In the AAC, Memphis had an important matchup against Tulane on Friday night. They were both 4-1 with their only losses coming to one-loss SEC teams that are currently ranked. Memphis started the game off strong, going up 14-10 going into halftime and scoring another touchdown early in the third to go up 21-10. This would be the last time Memphis would score, as Tulane would go on a 21-0 scoring run and would pick off Seth Henigan for a second time to win 31-21. This would get Tulane to 5-1 on the year and vaulted them into the AP Top 25.
Tulsa and Arkansas State had their bye weeks this week, as Tulsa hopes to get above .500 on Thursday night against Rice, and Arkansas State hopes to do the same against Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
Border Eight Rankings: Week 7
- Oklahoma (6-0) (2-0)
- Iowa (6-1) (1-0)
- Louisville (6-1) (0-0)
- Tennessee (5-1) (0-0)
- Kansas (5-2) (1-1)
- Kentucky (5-2) (0-0)
- Oklahoma State (4-2) (2-1)
- Memphis (4-2) (1-0)
- Western Kentucky (4-2) (1-0)
- Kansas State (4-2) (0-1)
- Iowa State (4-3) (1-2)
- Nebraska (3-3) (2-0)
- Tulsa (3-3) (1-1)
- Northwestern (3-3) (0-0)
- Arkansas State (3-3) (0-2)
- Illinois (3-4) (0-2)
- Northern Illinois (3-4) (0-2)
- Arkansas (2-5) (0-0)
- Middle Tennessee State (2-5) (0-1)
- Vanderbilt (2-6) (0-1)