Nobody Drew It Up: The Rundown, Week 4

Zero. That is what the defending national champion scored in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Zero is a number Iowa Western had never taken home in a loss until Saturday. Its first shutout defeat in program history.

That was the first act of Week 4, and it is how this whole weekend read. Points came from places nobody circled. A punt return. An interception run back 80 yards. A fumble scooped up and carried 85. A backup quarterback who threw for 289 yards. Ten sacks in the loudest building in the SEC.

This is The Rundown, TLP’s look at how the college football weekend actually played out, from junior college to the top of the polls. The Games Of The Week slate told you where to look on Monday. This is what happened when the games were played: how each one started, where it turned, and who made the difference. TLP Scoreboard gave you the scores. Here is how it all turned out.

We work bottom to top, so every level gets its full moment, and the Marquee Game comes last.

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JUCO

Start where a lot of football careers start.

JUCO — Saddleback at Chaffey — Saddleback 27, Chaffey 16

Last year, Saddleback beat Chaffey 54 to 14. A forty-point game. Saturday night at Grigsby Field in Rancho Cucamonga, No. 12 Chaffey was the unbeaten team at home, and for a half, the reversal looked real.

The first quarter was scoreless. Manuel Maganda put Saddleback up with a 33-yard field goal. Chaffey answered with a team safety, then Frankie Villabazo’s 1-yard touchdown run, and Chaffey took a 9 to 3 lead into the break. Saddleback opened the second half with a 31-yard Maganda field goal, and then the defense started scoring. Adam Harper stepped in front of a pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown, 13 to 9.

Chaffey got the lead back. Julian Lofton-Lundy caught a 7-yard touchdown pass, 16 to 13. Elijah Ayala answered with a 14-yard run with 48 seconds left in the third, and Saddleback led 20 to 16. Then, with 6:51 left, Jack Matranga took another interception 80 yards to the house. 27 to 16.

Two interception returns for touchdowns, 100 yards of return between them, and 14 points that never needed a first down. Chaffey had more first downs, 22 to 16, and converted 9 of 19 third downs, 47 percent, against Saddleback’s 4 of 13. Villabazo threw for 189 yards, ran 13 times for 39 and a score, and threw 2 interceptions. Saddleback’s Leonidas Bell threw for 94 yards and ran 6 times for 4. The team with the worse third-down rate won, because the team with the better defense also had the better plays.

The plays the highlights skipped: Villabazo’s 20-yard scramble on third-and-9 from the Chaffey 26, which kept a drive alive, and Bell’s 28-yard completion to Parker Burckhardt on first-and-10 from the Saddleback 43.

Both teams are 4 and 1, and 1 and 1 in league play.

JUCO — Diablo Valley at San Mateo — San Mateo 51, Diablo Valley 10

The champion, the challenger, and a game that was over before the challenger touched the ball.

San Mateo, the two-time defending champion, was already 3 and 1 after a four-overtime loss to Sierra earlier this month. Diablo Valley arrived 4 and 0 and ranked No. 2. At College Heights Stadium, San Mateo scored twice in the first six minutes. Saliou Sow ran in from 3 yards. Then Jalen Arnold fielded a punt and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown at 9:24 of the first quarter. 14 to nothing. Austin Rovig found Sean Chopoff from 4 yards, 21 to nothing, before Diablo Valley found a point.

Blayne Ballard kicked a 46-yard field goal, and Martis Ferguson Jr. ran 2 yards for a score, and Diablo Valley walked into the locker room down 21 to 10. It did so without its starting quarterback: Darius Clark-James started, but left in the first quarter with an injury, and Sawyer Grafft replaced him. Grafft finished 13 of 28 for 154 yards. That was the last time it would feel close. San Mateo scored the final 30 points of the game. Rovig hit Matthias Nenadovic from 42 yards and Chopoff again from 12. Dominick Gonzalez scored from 3. Logan Calder kicked a 31-yard field goal. And with 1:42 left, Filisione Vakalahi took an interception back 46 yards for the last score.

The number is 2. Two of San Mateo’s touchdowns came from a punt return and an interception return. That is 14 points and a 41-point margin that had nothing to do with a play call.

The plays the highlights skipped were long ones. Rovig’s 48-yard completion to Arnold, from the San Mateo 49 to the Diablo Valley 3. Rovig’s 33-yard completion to Chopoff on second-and-13. And on the other side, Grafft’s 40-yard completion to Ferguson from the Diablo Valley 32, the play that showed what Diablo Valley could do when it had the ball.

Diablo Valley, unbeaten a week ago, is 4 and 1. San Mateo is 4 and 1.

JUCO — San Diego Mesa at Southwestern — Southwestern 44, San Diego Mesa 42 (3OT)

Two unbeaten San Diego County teams. Three overtimes. A game decided by a shootout neither team designed.

At DeVore Stadium in Chula Vista, Southwestern’s Valentino Wedderburn returned an interception 55 yards in the second quarter to tie the game at 7. It was 21 all at the half, and 28 all after three. Jamar Johnson’s 2-yard run gave Southwestern its first fourth-quarter lead, and with 9:26 left, San Diego Mesa quarterback Diesel Taylor ran 10 yards to make it 35 all.

In the first overtime, Southwestern quarterback Dominic Duran threw 25 yards to Malachi Bean-Seay, and Daniel Meadows kicked the extra point, 42 to 35. Taylor answered with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Sherley, and Robert Petrich’s kick made it 42 all. The second overtime was scoreless. San Diego Mesa’s possession ended when Lorenzo Flores missed a 49-yard field goal wide left. Southwestern’s ended when Caleb Blocker fumbled, and Mesa recovered.

The third overtime is a two-point shootout, and it lasted two plays. Duran’s pass to Bobby Cameron was good. Taylor’s pass to Jayden Chanel was not. Southwestern 44, San Diego Mesa 42.

The story is in the numbers that disagree. San Diego Mesa threw for 333 yards, outgained Southwestern 473 to 442, and was 10 of 19 on third down, 53 percent, to Southwestern’s 8 of 16, 50 percent. It still lost, and the reason is Mesa’s three interceptions. Southwestern’s Blocker, whose fumble ended its second-overtime possession, also made one of the plays of the game: a 43-yard run on third-and-25 from the Southwestern 22. The plays the box score hides, on the Mesa side: Taylor’s 39-yard completion to Chanel on first-and-10 from the Southwestern 48, and his 23-yard completion to Grady Woodward on second-and-7 from the San Diego Mesa 28.

Southwestern is 5 and 0, 2 and 0 in league play. San Diego Mesa is 4 and 1, 1 and 1.

JUCO — Iowa Western at Hutchinson — Hutchinson 26, Iowa Western 0

Twenty-four. That is how many yards Hutchinson rushed for on Saturday.

It won by 26.

At Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson, Kansas, the number 1 team and the number 2 team in the country played a rematch of last December’s national championship game, which Iowa Western won 28 to 10. Hutchinson had spent a year with that score. Randy Phillips, the Blue Dragons’ quarterback, spent Saturday erasing it. He completed 17 of 31 passes for 273 yards, a career high, with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Phillips found Devin Voltaire for 8 yards at 5:09 of the first quarter, 7 to nothing. The half ended with 44 seconds that decided the game. Iowa Western had it deep in Hutchinson territory, and on third-and-1 at the Hutchinson 8, Hutchinson stopped Daniel Larmie for no gain. On fourth down, Dylan VanDyke was stopped for no gain. Then Aiden Bruce returned a punt 50 yards. Parker Grizzell kicked a 49-yard field goal on the final play of the half. 10 to nothing.

Grizzell opened the third quarter with a 43-yard field goal. With 3:16 left in the quarter, Phillips found Nakai Poole for 73 yards, and it was 20 to nothing. Bravin Powell added a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. The extra point failed, and it did not matter. 26 to 0.

Hutchinson gained 297 yards to Iowa Western’s 276, and rushed for only 24 to Iowa Western’s 98, and did not care. Iowa Western held the ball for more than 30 minutes. Hutchinson took it away 3 times: Marcus Dawson intercepted a pass, and Temerrick Johnson and Kelby Tyre recovered fumbles. Jack Sells made 12 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, and Jawon Springs made 9 tackles. Dylan Gill added 6 tackles, 2 pass breakups and a hurry, and punter Denzel More averaged 45.8 yards with a long of 69. Field position was part of the story too: More’s punting, and Bruce’s return.

This is the first shutout loss in Iowa Western program history. It is Hutchinson’s third straight shutout. It ended Iowa Western’s 14-game winning streak, was counted in Hutchinson’s recap as Drew Dallas’s 65th win, and put the Blue Dragons up 8 to 6 in a series that has now had 14 meetings. Hutchinson is 5 and 0 and goes to Highland on Oct. 3.

More from JUCO

Snow 26, Tyler 24. Tyler took its first lead of the night with 2:43 left, 24 to 23, on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Luke Ullrich to Caleb Spadone. Ian Sanches kicked a 41-yard field goal for Snow as time expired. Tyler outgained Snow 445 to 333 and ran for 265 yards, and it did not matter. Iosefa Falatea intercepted three passes for Snow, and Caleb Darthard made 14 tackles with 1.5 for loss and a forced fumble. Joseph Brandt’s 61-yard punt and a pass-interference flag on third-and-19, which kept Snow’s winning drive alive, are the plays the box score hides. Snow is 3 and 2 and goes to Blinn on Oct. 3.

Cerritos 38, Canyons 35. Canyons led 35 to 28 in the fourth quarter. Cerritos tied it, and Jonathan Arreola kicked a 49-yard field goal on the final play. The game produced 1,095 total yards, 531 for Cerritos and 564 for Canyons, and neither offense separated from the other. The kick did.

Sequoias 27, San Francisco 18. San Francisco threw for 373 yards and rushed for 19. Sequoias ran for 423 and held the ball for 38:19 to San Francisco’s 21:41. The passing game did not lose it. The ground did.

Modesto 23, Butte 20. Modesto held the ball for 45:16 to Butte’s 14:44, and outgained Butte 379 to 222. That is how a team survives a one-score finish.

Sierra 44, De Anza 21. Sierra ran for 287 yards to De Anza’s 40. De Anza threw for 306, which makes it look like a shootout, and it was not.

Pasadena City 31, Bakersfield 14. Pasadena City did not turn the ball over. Bakersfield gave it away 3 times. Pasadena City ran for 246 yards and held the ball for 39:05.

In the KJCCC, Hutchinson is the headline at 5 and 0. In the 3C2A, San Mateo and Cerritos made the biggest statements of the North and South. Official conference standings and statistical leaders were not available from the league sites at publication.

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FCS

Two ranked games made the board, and both were about early position in the conference race.

FCS — South Dakota at Youngstown State — Youngstown State 47, South Dakota 28

South Dakota came to Stambaugh Stadium chasing the 100th FCS win in program history, in its first conference game, on the road.

The teams traded first-quarter touchdowns. Lynn Wyche-El ran 10 yards for Youngstown State. Jackson Proctor ran 7 for South Dakota. Youngstown State took a 23 to 14 halftime lead on a 2-yard Beau Brungard touchdown, a 41-yard Wyche-El run, and a 23-yard Andrew Lastovka field goal, against a South Dakota touchdown, a 9-yard pass from Austyn Modrzewski to Tysen Boze. Proctor’s 22-yard run in the third made it 23 to 21. Lastovka answered with a 21-yard field goal at 2:04 of the third, 26 to 21, and that is where the game began to tilt.

In the fourth quarter, Brungard threw a 4-yard touchdown to Alex McDonald at 11:54, 33 to 21. Then he ran for a 9-yard score at 5:55 and a 7-yard score at 4:06. That is 21 points in one quarter. Brungard scored 4 touchdowns, 3 on the ground and 1 through the air. Carson Fletcher’s 1-yard run for South Dakota was the last score.

Youngstown State gained 502 yards, ran for 343, and did not turn the ball over. South Dakota gained 332, ran for 185, and was 7 of 12 on third down, which is the better rate. It turned the ball over 3 times. The number is 3, against 0.

PFF, which grades every player on every snap on a scale to 100, gave South Dakota’s Jackson Proctor a 94.5 on offense. That is the highest offensive grade in any game TLP pulled from PFF for Week 4, and it came in a loss. Youngstown State’s Fresh Walters graded 85.7, Brungard 78.4, and defensive back Graydon Rollins 78.0. The plays the box score hides: Jaden Gilbert’s 22-yard run on first-and-10 from the Youngstown State 15, and Brungard’s 28-yard completion to Walters on first-and-10 from the South Dakota 32, confirmed after a review.

Both teams are 3 and 2. Youngstown State goes to Southern Illinois on Oct. 3. South Dakota plays Indiana State.

FCS — Montana at UC Davis — Montana 62, UC Davis 22

A week earlier, Montana lost 52 to 17 at Oregon State. Saturday night at UC Davis Health Stadium, it answered.

Eli Gillman scored twice in the first 10 minutes, 5 yards and 5 yards, and Jo Silver kicked a 39-yard field goal. It was 17 to nothing after one quarter. Landon Ransom-Goelz caught a 2-yard touchdown from Keali’i Ah Yat. Then Ah Yat ran 7 yards for a touchdown with 57 seconds left in the half, and it was 31 to nothing. UC Davis scored on the final play of the half, Zach Jones catching a 27-yard pass from Treynor Cleeland and Cleeland adding a two-point conversion, and that was the last good news of the night.

Gillman ran 16 yards for a touchdown at 10:09 of the third, 38 to 8. Ah Yat scored again from 12 yards at 1:46, 52 to 15. In the fourth, Gillman broke a 58-yard run. Four rushing touchdowns for Gillman, two for Ah Yat.

Montana ran for 366 yards and gained 607. It went 7 of 14 on third down, held the ball for 34:49, and did not turn it over. UC Davis gained 392 yards, which is a respectable number, went 6 of 17 on third down, and gave it away twice. The yards say the game was close. The points say something else, and the points are right.

PFF graded Gillman 84.2, Ah Yat 76.3, and defender Tyler King 82.0 for Montana. UC Davis’s Xzavior Guess graded 90.5, the top mark of the game, and caught a 6-yard touchdown in the fourth. The plays the box score hides: Ah Yat’s 23-yard completion to Brooks Davis on third-and-6 from the UC Davis 41, and Gillman’s 64-yard run on first-and-10 from his own 13.

Montana is 4 and 1, and 2 and 0 in the Big Sky. It hosts Northern Colorado on Oct. 3. UC Davis is 3 and 2 and hosts Eastern Washington.

More from the FCS

East Tennessee State 58, Western Carolina 31. East Tennessee State scored the first 27 points of the game, on a D’Marius Rucker touchdown, two Jason Albritton touchdowns and two Ewan Johnson field goals, and led 34 to 7 at halftime after a Charlie Browder touchdown catch with 32 seconds left. It gained 542 yards. Albritton scored three times, and Johnson kicked three field goals and eight extra points. Neither team turned the ball over. PFF graded East Tennessee State’s Mike Jenkins 78.9 on defense. TJ Peyton’s 24-yard and 33-yard runs, both in the second quarter, are the plays the box score hides. East Tennessee State is 3 and 2 and plays Chattanooga on Oct. 3.

Princeton 22, UAlbany 0. The first meeting between the programs. Ty Ciongoli threw a 5-yard touchdown to Joey Wassler at 6:46 of the second quarter, and Kai Honda ran 14 yards for a score at 4:04, then 1 yard at 10:36 of the third. Esteban Nunez Perez kicked a 32-yard field goal. UAlbany outgained Princeton 288 to 265 and held the ball for 33:03, and yet did not score, because it turned the ball over 3 times. Ciongoli graded 89.3 in PFF’s data and Casey Etienne Jr. graded 80.2 on defense. Princeton goes to Columbia on Oct. 3.

Northern Iowa 28, Illinois State 21. Xavier Terrell broke a 43-yard touchdown run at 5:48 of the third, and Northern Iowa led 28 to 14. Jaxon Dailey threw two touchdown passes and ran for a 28-yard score. Northern Iowa did not turn the ball over and outgained Illinois State 416 to 347.

League picture. In the Big Sky, Montana is 2 and 0 alongside Montana State (2 and 0, 5 and 0 overall, after a 28 to 14 win over Northern Arizona) and Cal Poly. Idaho’s Joshua Wood leads in total offense at 293.8 yards a game, Southern Utah’s Floyd Chalk in rushing at 140.8, Weber State’s Noah Kjar in receiving at 108.4 a game, and Cal Poly’s Mikey D’Amato in tackles at 12.0.

In the Missouri Valley, North Dakota, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa are 1 and 0, Youngstown State is 1 and 1, and Illinois State and South Dakota are 0 and 1. North Dakota’s Jerry Kaminski leads in passing at 257.6, South Dakota State’s Josiah Johnson in rushing at 109.8, Illinois State’s Dylan Lord in receiving at 73.6, and South Dakota’s Wade Abrams in tackles at 9.6.

In the CAA, Campbell and Monmouth are 2 and 0. Elon beat Maine 43 to 17, Stony Brook beat Fordham 31 to 16, North Carolina A&T beat Rhode Island 22 to 18, and Delaware State beat Towson 33 to 28. In league-only numbers, Campbell’s Kamden Sixkiller leads in passing at 341.0, Stony Brook’s Quinn Boyd in rushing at 153.0, Campbell’s Jyron Waiters in receiving at 155.0, and Elon’s Brodie Carroll in tackles at 13.0.

In the Patriot League, Lehigh is 3 and 0 and 4 and 0 overall, and Colgate and Richmond are 2 and 0. Lehigh beat Penn 20 to 7, Holy Cross beat Lafayette 38 to 30, and Colgate beat Villanova 28 to 21. Holy Cross’s David Lynch leads in passing at 218.4, and Colgate’s Danny Shaban in rushing at 132.3.

In the Ivy League, Harvard and Cornell are 1 and 0. Cornell beat Yale 38 to 25, Harvard beat Brown 14 to 10, and Columbia beat Georgetown 20 to 17. Brown’s James Murphy leads in passing at 232.0, and Yale’s Jaxton Santiago in receiving at 146.0.

In the Southern Conference, Chattanooga beat The Citadel 27 to 8, Samford beat VMI 45 to 7, and Mercer beat Abilene Christian 34 to 17.

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HBCU

HBCU — Prairie View A&M vs. Grambling State — Prairie View A&M 21, Grambling State 14 (State Fair Classic)

The 101st State Fair Classic, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and the game turned on flags.

Grambling struck first. Ashton Frye found Nae’Saan Dickerson for a 50-yard touchdown at 7:36 of the second quarter. Prairie View A&M answered before the half, Tevin Carter throwing 37 yards to Travon Jones at 3:39, 7 to 7. In the third quarter, at 5:40, Jahbari Kuykendall ran 17 yards for the first lead of the game, 14 to 7. With 9:13 left in the fourth, Carter found Kheagian Heckaman from 2 yards out, 21 to 7. Grambling cut it to 21 to 14 with 3:10 left, Jacobe Robinson throwing 47 yards to Tyson George, and Prairie View A&M closed it out.

Last year, Prairie View A&M won the 100th edition 28 to 13. The number this year is 10. Grambling was penalized 10 times for 90 yards. It won third down, 7 of 13 to Prairie View’s 5 of 12, gained 265 yards to Prairie View’s 317, and neither team turned the ball over. So the difference in a 7-point game was 90 yards of flags, and a Prairie View A&M team that held the ball for 31:40. Ethan Eddins went 3 for 3 on extra points. In a 7-point game, that is not a footnote.

The official game book did not render, so no hidden plays are verified for this game, and PFF’s team pages displayed “Grades Pending Review.” Prairie View A&M is 2 and 3 and goes to Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 3. Grambling is 2 and 2 and plays Alcorn State the same day, a direct SWAC response game.

More from the HBCU ranks

Alcorn State 43, Texas Southern 40 (OT). Alcorn State led 34 to 12. Texas Southern came all the way back to tie it at 37 and force overtime. In the extra period, on fourth-and-16, Miguel Arana III kicked a 48-yard field goal for a 40 to 37 Texas Southern lead. Fredrick Robertson answered on first-and-goal with a 1-yard run for his fourth touchdown of the game, and Alcorn State won. It gained 520 yards and did not turn the ball over. Texas Southern gained 482 and gave it away once. Alcorn State is 3 and 2, 2 and 0 in the SWAC.

Alabama A&M 40, Florida A&M 21. Byron Perrilliat ran for 223 yards. With 13:13 left and Alabama A&M leading 23 to 21, he ran 15 yards for a touchdown, and at 9:51 he ran 22 more, 37 to 21. Alabama A&M outgained Florida A&M 543 to 173, held the ball for 37:28, and forced 3 turnovers. Florida A&M was 2 of 13 on third down. Alabama A&M is 4 and 1, 1 and 0 in the SWAC.

South Carolina State 31, Bethune-Cookman 21. Bethune-Cookman had pulled within 3 in the third quarter. Josh Shaw scored on fourth-and-1 with 1:56 left to make it 31 to 21. South Carolina State outgained Bethune-Cookman 430 to 238, ran for 282 yards, and is 5 and 0, the only unbeaten record in the MEAC.

Alabama State 41, Mississippi Valley State 15. Jackson State 35, Southern 17. Both SWAC results.

League picture. In the SWAC, Alcorn State’s Jaylon Tolbert leads in passing at 294.2 yards a game, Jackson State’s Nate Blount IV in rushing at 102.8, Jackson State’s Nate Rembert in receiving at 80.5, and Alabama A&M’s D.J. Barber in tackles at 10.0.

In the MEAC, South Carolina State is 5 and 0, Morgan State 3 and 1, Delaware State and Norfolk State 3 and 2, North Carolina Central 2 and 3, and Howard 1 and 3. Norfolk State beat Chicago State 43 to 20. Delaware State’s Ui Ale leads in passing at 194.8, South Carolina State’s Mason Pickett-Hicks in rushing at 119.3, Morgan State’s Justin Perry in receiving at 68.0, and Howard’s Rodney Roane Jr. in tackles at 21.3. South Carolina State plays The Citadel next.

In the CIAA, Virginia State and Virginia Union are 3 and 0 in league play and 4 and 1 overall. Johnson C. Smith is 2 and 0, and Shaw is 2 and 1. Virginia State’s Rahsaan Matthews Jr. leads in passing at 240.7, Johnson C. Smith’s Fabian Duncan in rushing at 152.5, and Lincoln (Pa.)‘s Kyrie Tyson in receiving at 107.7. Lincoln’s Charles Thompson leads in tackles at 11.0.

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FBS

Conference by conference.

Big 12

Big 12 — TCU at UCF — UCF 21, TCU 13

The Big 12’s game on our board turned on a third-and-15.

Taevion Swint ran 13 yards for UCF at 10:27 of the first quarter, and Jeremy Payne answered from a yard out at 6:48. Nate McCashland’s 29-yard field goal made it 10 to 7 TCU at 8:30 of the second. Then, with 4:58 left in the half, on third-and-15, Keyone Jenkins found tight end Caden Piening for a 19-yard touchdown, and UCF led 14 to 10. McCashland kicked a 45-yard field goal at 3:25 of the third to cut it to 14 to 13. With 12:25 left, Landen Chambers scored from a yard out. 21 to 13.

TCU quarterback Jaden Craig kept finding yards: 43 to Jordan Dwyer on first-and-10 from the TCU 25, 22 to Ed Small on third-and-9, and 29 to Dwyer on third-and-10 in the fourth quarter. TCU gained 343 yards to UCF’s 266. It also turned the ball over 4 times to UCF’s 2, and that is the game. Third down favored TCU, 7 of 16 to UCF’s 3 of 10. Possession favored TCU, 32:49 to 27:11.

PFF graded TCU safety Kylin Jackson 91.2 on defense, in a loss. UCF’s Piening graded 84.0 and Keyone Jenkins 77.6, and UCF’s Sincere Edwards graded 81.0 on defense. UCF is 3 and 1, 1 and 0 in the Big 12, and goes to Houston, ranked 20th, on Oct. 3. TCU is 2 and 2 and plays BYU.

League picture. Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Utah, BYU, Baylor, UCF, Oklahoma State and Arizona State are 1 and 0. Cincinnati beat Kansas State 31 to 26, Oklahoma State beat West Virginia 41 to 24, Utah beat Iowa State 31 to 17, and Baylor beat Colorado 23 to 13. Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker leads in passing at 317.8 yards a game, West Virginia’s Cam Cook in rushing at 127.5, Arizona State’s Reed Harris in receiving at 124.7, and Oklahoma State’s Ethan Wesloski in tackles at 9.0.

Big Ten

Big Ten — Oregon at USC — Oregon 41, USC 27

USC came into the Coliseum having scored in all four quarters of every game it had played. It did not on Saturday. Nothing in the first.

Gage Hurych kicked a 30-yard field goal for Oregon at 3:34 of the first. Jayden Maiava found Kayden Dixon-Wyatt for 31 yards in the second, and Oregon answered, Dylan Raiola to Evan Stewart from 3 yards at 9:04, 10 to 7. Caden Chittenden kicked a 38-yard field goal to tie it, and Hurych kicked a 19-yarder on the last play of the half. Oregon led 13 to 10.

And Oregon did it with its backup quarterback. Dante Moore started, went 8 of 10 for 77 yards, and left in the second quarter with a head injury, according to Oregon’s official account. Head coach Dan Lanning said Moore had movement and remained under evaluation. Raiola came in and finished 19 of 25 for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns. In his opening statement, Lanning praised the backup: “He was ready for his moment.” Raiola, speaking of Moore, said: “We knew that that was our brother, and we was gonna fight for him.”

Early in the third quarter, Raiola threw 62 yards to Dierre Hill Jr. on second-and-6 from the Oregon 29, and Hill scored from a yard out at 13:04. 20 to 10. Maiava ran 1 yard at 8:33, 20 to 17. Hill scored again from 4 yards at 5:52, 27 to 17. Chittenden kicked a 29-yarder at 1:32, 27 to 20. Twice Oregon built a two-score lead, and twice USC cut it. At 12:41 of the fourth, Maiava threw 11 yards to Tanook Hines, and it was 27 to 27.

That is when the numbers spoke. Oregon converted 6 of 12 third downs, 50 percent. USC converted 2 of 11, 18.2 percent. At 8:35, Raiola threw 29 yards to Dakorien Moore for a 34 to 27 lead. At 2:03, Jordon Davison scored from 2 yards, 41 to 27. Oregon gained 504 yards to USC’s 446, held the ball for 31:25 to 28:35, and did not turn the ball over. USC turned it over once.

PFF graded Oregon’s Jamari Johnson 93.3 on offense, Hill 84.3, Raiola 84.1, and defensive players Davon Benjamin 78.8 and Devon Jackson 76.4. USC’s Dixon-Wyatt and Maiava each graded 84.2. Two more of Oregon’s biggest plays: Davison’s 45-yard run on first-and-10 from the Oregon 20, and Raiola’s 34-yard completion to Johnson on third-and-9 from the Oregon 26.

The number is 289, and it belongs to a quarterback who entered in the second quarter. Oregon is 3 and 1, ranked 15th in the AP poll. USC is 4 and 1, ranked 18th, and plays Washington on Oct. 3.

Big Ten — Wisconsin 24, Penn State 20

Wisconsin trailed 20 to 10 at Penn State and won 24 to 20. Colton Joseph threw both of Wisconsin’s fourth-quarter touchdowns, the second a 72-yarder to Jacob Harris on third-and-13 with 1:13 left. Wisconsin lost the turnover count 3 to 1 and still outgained Penn State 355 to 233. Penn State, ranked 13th before the game, dropped out of the AP poll. Wisconsin is 1 and 0 in the Big Ten, and Penn State is 0 and 1.

League picture. UCLA is 2 and 0. Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Oregon and Minnesota are 1 and 0. USC is 1 and 1. Iowa beat Michigan 20 to 19, Ohio State beat Illinois 42 to 19, Indiana beat Northwestern 29 to 23, Nebraska beat Michigan State 31 to 13, UCLA beat Maryland 54 to 3, and Minnesota beat Washington 27 to 24. Notre Dame, an independent, beat Purdue 49 to 10. Ohio State’s Julian Sayin leads the Big Ten in passing at 301.5 yards a game, UCLA’s Wayne Knight in rushing at 111.3, Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith in receiving at 154.3, and Northwestern’s Robert Fitzgerald in tackles at 12.7.

ACC

The ACC had no game on our board, but it had the upset. Wake Forest beat Louisville 30 to 27, and Louisville dropped out of the AP poll. Stanford beat Georgia Tech 34 to 27, Clemson beat California 24 to 10, Virginia Tech won at Boston College 21 to 14, Virginia beat Delaware 42 to 3, and NC State beat App State 41 to 31. Miami and Clemson are 2 and 0. Duke, Pitt, Virginia Tech and Virginia are 1 and 0. Wake Forest, Louisville, SMU and California are 1 and 1. SMU’s Kevin Jennings leads the ACC in passing at 363.3 yards a game, Duke’s Nate Sheppard in rushing at 161.0, Miami’s Malachi Toney in receiving at 141.0, and Boston College’s Anthony Palano in tackles at 10.0.

SEC

SEC — Ole Miss at Florida — Florida 52, Ole Miss 28

All week, the question was the Ole Miss secondary. Nine names on the SEC availability report, including three cornerbacks and two safeties. The answer came on the ground.

Florida ran for 302 of its 498 yards, held the ball for 36:59, converted 6 of 10 on third down, and did not turn the ball over. Jadan Baugh scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter, and Patrick Durkin kicked a 49-yard field goal, 10 to nothing. Ole Miss got two Lucas Carneiro field goals, from 36 and 46 yards, around a Baugh 2-yard score, and it was 17 to 6 at halftime.

Then the third quarter. Trinidad Chambliss ran 8 yards for a touchdown and threw a two-point conversion, and it was 17 to 14 at 13:03. Ninety-one seconds later, Duke Clark ran 45 yards for a touchdown, 24 to 14. Chambliss answered with a 10-yard run, 24 to 21. And Aaron Philo scored from the 1 at 3:45, 31 to 21. In the fourth, Dallas Wilson’s 6-yard run at 13:38 started a 21-point Florida quarter. Chambliss threw a 2-yard touchdown to Deuce Alexander, Philo threw a 5-yard touchdown to Amir Jackson, and Baugh ran for a 2-yard score. Baugh finished with 3 touchdowns.

Ole Miss gained 426 yards, went 4 of 11 on third down, and turned the ball over twice. “Really proud of our guys, still have a lot to clean up, but the responses tonight, I thought we started fast,” Florida head coach Jon Sumrall said. PFF graded Florida’s Eric Singleton Jr. 86.6 on offense, Clark 86.1, Baugh 85.5, and DK Kalu 76.7 on defense. Ole Miss’s Alexander and Tah’j Butler each graded 78.7. The plays the box score hides: Baugh’s 23-yard run at 13:48 of the first quarter, Philo’s 23-yard completion to Amir Jackson, and Clark’s 44-yard run on second-and-10 in the fourth.

Florida is 4 and 0, ranked 8th in the AP poll, up into the top 10 after beating a team that had been ranked fourth. Ole Miss is 3 and 1, ranked 9th. Florida goes to Missouri on Oct. 3. Ole Miss goes to Vanderbilt on Oct. 10.

SEC — Oklahoma at Georgia — Georgia 41, Oklahoma 13

Oklahoma had allowed 23 points in three games. On Saturday at Sanford Stadium, it allowed 41.

Georgia led 7 to nothing after Chauncey Bowens ran 2 yards in the first quarter, and 28 to nothing at halftime. Gunner Stockton threw 35 yards to Talyn Taylor at 14:20 of the second. Then, at 8:58, Chris Cole picked up a fumble and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown, 21 to nothing. Bowens ran 6 yards for the last score of the half.

Oklahoma actually held the ball for 35:27, and gained 296 yards to Georgia’s 306. It did not matter. It turned the ball over 4 times, went 2 of 14 on third down, and scored only when Rocky Beers caught a 17-yard pass from John Mateer in the third quarter, and Manny Choice caught a 14-yarder in the fourth. Georgia, meanwhile, was 3 of 12 on third down and turned it over twice, and still won by 28. Peyton Woodring kicked field goals of 45 and 49 yards. Dwight Phillips Jr. broke a 54-yard touchdown run at 12:33 of the fourth.

“Number one priority is taking care of the football and we certainly failed miserably at doing that,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart put it more gently: “Oklahoma helped us a lot.”

PFF graded Georgia’s Taylor 90.7 on offense, Phillips 85.9, and defensive players Rasean Dinkins 92.4, KJ Bolden 89.9 and Elijah Griffin 85.6. Oklahoma’s Kip Lewis graded 80.5 on defense. Stockton’s plays the box score hides: 30 yards to Taylor on third-and-7 from the Georgia 24 in the first quarter, 24 yards to Chauncey Bowens on third-and-7 in the fourth, and 41 yards to Taylor later in the fourth.

Georgia is 4 and 0, ranked second in the AP poll, and plays Vanderbilt on Oct. 3. Oklahoma is 2 and 2. Its next game is Oct. 10, against Texas.

SEC — Missouri at Mississippi State — Mississippi State 31, Missouri 24

Mississippi State jumped ahead 14 to nothing. Kamario Taylor threw 43 yards to Sanfrisco Magee at 8:56 of the first quarter and 11 yards to Fluff Bothwell with 24 seconds left in it. Missouri answered with 24 of the next 27 points of the game: a 35-yard Blake Craig field goal, a 9-yard touchdown from Austin Simmons to Donovan Olugbode, and two touchdown catches by Cayden Lee, 21 yards and 28 yards, both in the third quarter. Mississippi State’s Kyle Ferrie kicked a 28-yard field goal in between, and Missouri led 24 to 17.

Bothwell tied it from 4 yards out at 7:09 of the fourth. At 4:54, on first-and-10 from the Mississippi State 26, Taylor threw 48 yards to Anthony Evans III. Fifty-seven seconds later, on third-and-8, Taylor found Magee for 24 yards and a 31 to 24 lead.

Mississippi State outgained Missouri 499 to 414, and won even though Missouri held the ball longer, 31:36 to 28:24. PFF graded Bothwell 82.8 on offense, Taylor 80.6, cornerback Jett Jefferson 82.4 on defense, and Missouri’s Cayden Lee 82.7. Mississippi State is 4 and 0, entered the AP poll at 16th, and hosts Alabama on Oct. 3. Missouri is 3 and 1, ranked 25th, and hosts Florida.

SEC — Texas A&M at LSU — LSU 35, Texas A&M 6

This one was decided in the third quarter. Dilin Jones ran 1 yard for LSU in the first, and David Olano kicked a 24-yard field goal for Texas A&M, and Sam Leavitt found Jackson Harris from 16 yards with 1:54 left in the half, 14 to 3.

Then LSU scored 21 points in 15 minutes. On fourth-and-1 at 10:57, Leavitt threw 57 yards to Harris, 21 to 3. Landen Clark ran 4 yards at 6:16, 28 to 3, and 2 yards at 0:31, 35 to 6, with an Olano 53-yard field goal in between. LSU gained 506 yards to Texas A&M’s 197. Texas A&M was 4 of 15 on third down and turned it over twice.

PFF graded Harris 92.0 on offense, Leavitt 91.1, and cornerback Michael Turner Jr. 94.2 on defense, the highest defensive grade in TLP’s Week 4 PFF pull. Jones’s 36-yard run on first-and-10 from the LSU 40 and Leavitt’s 26-yard completion to Harris are the plays the box score hides. LSU is 3 and 1, ranked 11th in the AP poll, and plays McNeese on Oct. 3. Texas A&M is 2 and 2, out of the poll, and plays Arkansas.

Around the SEC. Alabama beat South Carolina 49 to 18, and Auburn beat Vanderbilt 21 to 15.

The AP Top 25 after Week 4

Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami, Ohio State, Indiana, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, BYU, LSU, Texas Tech, Utah, Iowa, Oregon, Mississippi State, Tennessee, USC, Oklahoma State, Houston, SMU, Boise State, UCLA, Kentucky, Missouri.

Florida climbed into the top 10. Mississippi State entered at 16th. Tennessee fell to 17th. Penn State, Michigan, Louisville and Texas A&M dropped out.

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THE MARQUEE GAME

Marquee — Texas at Tennessee — Texas 20, Tennessee 17

Ten.

Ten sacks. Ten times in one afternoon that one quarterback, Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon, went to the ground. Texas won 20 to 17 at Neyland Stadium because of them.

That is the Must-Have Stat, and it is bigger than the score. Texas’s Colin Simmons had five of the ten, for 52 yards, and tied the Texas single-game record. Rasheem Biles, Maraad Watson, Zina Umeozulu, Hero Kanu and Alex January had one each. Ten sacks for 73 yards. Texas’s own tracking said the Longhorns pressured Tennessee’s quarterbacks on 21 of 50 dropbacks, and when they did, Tennessee went 2 of 8 for 7 yards. PFF graded Simmons 89.3 on defense.

The question all week was Hollywood Smothers. TLP’s call said that his status was the first thing that could change it. He did not record a snap. Zero carries, zero yards, zero touchdowns. No official explanation for his absence was published in the materials TLP checked, and TLP will not guess. Texas found another way. Raleek Brown ran for two touchdowns, and Texas needed both.

How it unfolded. Brown ran 9 yards at 10:58 of the first quarter, 7 to nothing. Tennessee’s Cooper Ranvier kicked a 33-yard field goal at 7:40. Gianni Spetic answered with a 22-yarder at 14:29 of the second. And with 12:13 left in the half, on second-and-5 from the Texas 48, Arch Manning threw an interception. Kayin Lee took it at the Tennessee 4. 10 to 3 at the half.

Turning point one. Q3, 11:14. Texas was punting from its own 9, fourth-and-7, leading 10 to 3. Tennessee’s Qua Moss took the punt back 57 yards for a touchdown. 10 to 10. That is the Play of the Game.

Turning point two. On Texas’s next possession, second-and-10 from its own 25, Manning threw 30 yards to Cam Coleman, and a roughing-the-passer flag followed. At 9:00 of the third, on fourth-and-7 from the Tennessee 27, Spetic kicked a 44-yard field goal. 13 to 10.

Turning point three. Q4, 5:41. First-and-goal from the Tennessee 4, and Brown ran it in. 20 to 10.

Tennessee did not go quietly. With 1:22 left, Brandon threw 30 yards to Mike Matthews for a touchdown, 20 to 17. Tennessee’s Jackson Ross kicked the ball onside. It went 12 yards. Texas returned it for minus-2 and fumbled at the Tennessee 49, and Arion Carter recovered it. Tennessee had the ball, and the game, and could not score.

The box score argues with the result. Tennessee held the ball longer, 31:23 to 28:37. Tennessee converted 4 of 16 third downs and Texas 3 of 12, which is 25 percent for both. Tennessee did not turn the ball over. Texas did twice. Texas gained 262 yards to Tennessee’s 221, and Texas rushed for 61 to Tennessee’s 70. On paper, Tennessee should have won that game.

That is the Non-Obvious Stat. Texas was penalized 11 times for 115 yards. Tennessee was penalized 7 times for 55. Texas won a game it kept trying to give away, because ten sacks are hard to argue with.

The quarterbacks. Manning went 14 of 19 for 201 yards, with no touchdown and one interception, and was sacked 6 times. PFF graded his passing 81.6 and his overall offensive game 60.4. Brandon was 17 of 29 for 145 yards and a touchdown, and was sacked 10 times. George MacIntyre was 1 of 3 for 6 yards and was not sacked. PFF graded Texas’s Ryan Wingo 74.2 on offense. On the Tennessee side, it graded Wendell Moe Jr. 66.7, Matthews 66.1, and defenders Arion Carter 77.3 and Kayin Lee 76.1.

The explosive plays. A play of 20 or more yards from scrimmage. Texas had 3: Manning to Emmett Mosley V for 43 yards on first-and-10 from the Texas 35 in the first quarter, Manning to Jermaine Bishop Jr. for 29 on second-and-13 with 50 seconds left in that quarter, and Manning to Coleman for 30 in the third. Tennessee had 1, Brandon’s 30-yard touchdown to Matthews.

The hidden plays. The three above are also the three the highlights will skip, because none scored and none turned the ball over. Mosley’s 43-yard catch, from the Texas 35, took Texas to the Tennessee 22. Bishop’s 29-yard catch, from the Tennessee 34, took it to the Tennessee 5. Coleman’s 30-yard catch, with the roughing flag, came on the possession that ended in Spetic’s go-ahead field goal.

The people. Simmons is the Biggest Impact Player. Spetic is the Unsung Player, and his two field goals, from 22 and 44 yards, were 6 of Texas’s 20 points. Brown is the name to carry. He scored twice, both from inside the 10, on the day a defense was supposed to be the story.

“What an incredible performance by our defense,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel: “Credit to Texas, good football team… offensively, just not anywhere close to being good enough.” Manning said, “I think just being in these big-time close games is going to help us going forward.” And Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter: “Just proving we’re not going to back down from anybody, and we’re just going to keep fighting the great fight.”

What it means. Texas is 4 and 0, 1 and 0 in the SEC, and ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. It leads the series 3 to 1, and it plays Oklahoma on Oct. 10. Tennessee is 3 and 1, 0 and 1 in the league, and dropped from 14th to 17th. It plays Auburn next.

Ten sacks. Five of them belonged to one man.

That was the game.

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CALLED IT / MISSED IT

TLP’s call was Texas. A competitive road game, decided by whether Tennessee could keep Texas from stretching the field. Real confidence, not a lock.

Competitive: a 3-point game. Check. The winner: Texas. Check. The reason: Tennessee did not keep Texas from stretching the field. Texas hit three plays of 29 yards or more. But Manning did not throw a touchdown all day, and those three plays did not decide the game. Ten sacks did.

Called it. The right winner, and half of the right reason.

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SOURCES

Game facts in this column come from official school, conference and association sources: box scores and play-by-play, recaps and postgame quote packets, rosters, and conference statistics pages. Poll rankings come from the AP Top 25 released Sept. 27. PFF grades come from PFF, a separately identified third-party data source, accessed Sept. 27. The PFF grades are single-game grades, not season grades, and PFF does not grade junior college games. Statistical leaders are season-long, ranked by yards per game for offense and tackles per game for defense, from each conference’s official statistics page.

Key official sources include the box scores and recaps at texaslonghorns.com, utsports.com, usctrojans.com, goducks.com, georgiadogs.com, floridagators.com, olemisssports.com, hailstate.com, lsusports.net, gofrogs.com, uwbadgers.com, ysusports.com, gogriz.com, etsubucs.com, goprincetontigers.com, unipanthers.com, alcornsports.com, aamusports.com, scsuathletics.com, snowbadgers.com, bluedragonsports.com, the 3C2A association box scores at cccaastats.org, and the conference standings and statistics pages of the Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, Big Sky, Missouri Valley, CAA, Patriot League, Ivy League, SWAC, MEAC and CIAA.

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Harry B. and TLP use AI to research and assist in the publication of this article. AI makes mistakes, so please check for yourself.