Halloween gave college football exactly what it deserved. Ohio State walked into a rainy Coliseum as the No. 2 team in the country, with a freshman quarterback making his first start, and walked out holding the bag nobody wants. Miami needed a fourth-quarter fumble to get out of Chapel Hill. Georgia took four turnovers from Florida and said thank you. And South Carolina, written off a month ago, went to Norman and looked like the best team in the building.
By Sunday afternoon the AP had a No. 1 or No. 2 team losing to an unranked opponent for the fourth straight week, Ohio State outside the top 10 for the first time since September 2021, UCLA in the top five for the first time in 25 years, and New Mexico ranked for the first time ever. The Lobos have been playing football since 1892. Patience pays.
Scores first this week, then my ballot before the AP's, so you can be annoyed with me in the proper order.
USC 30, No. 2 Ohio State 18
The Trojans spent a week hearing about the fewest points a Lincoln Riley offense had ever scored, a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin. They needed two snaps to change the subject. Freshman Trent Mosley took a screen pass 69 yards for a touchdown through a defense that hadn't allowed a play longer than 36 yards all season.
USC led 20-9 at the half and 27-9 in the third quarter after freshman tight end Mark Bowman hurdled a defender on a 70-yard catch. Riley and Bowman both claimed the coach taught him the hurdle. I believe at least one of them.
Ohio State piled up 464 yards and kept settling, with three field goals on its first five drives, one after reaching the USC 1. Luke Fahey, starting for the injured Julian Sayin, went 21 of 38 for 260 yards and was let down by drops. Jeremiah Smith's 1-yard touchdown with 2:12 left was his 40th, breaking Braylon Edwards' Big Ten career record, but the two-point try failed and USC recovered the onside kick. The Buckeyes also had 11 penalties.
Jayden Maiava threw for 222 yards and a touchdown, and students flooded the wet field at the end. Ohio State is now 58-2 against unranked teams under Ryan Day. Neither loss will be remembered fondly in Columbus.
No. 1 Miami 38, North Carolina 35
Bill Belichick's team came in 0-11 all time against No. 1 teams and fresh off an overtime home loss to Syracuse. So naturally it led in the fourth quarter.
Billy Edwards Jr. threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns, and Demon June's 1-yard run put the Tar Heels up 28-24 with 11:46 left. Mark Fletcher Jr. answered on fourth down from the 2. Then Marquise Lightfoot chased Edwards down from behind and knocked the ball loose, Justin Scott recovered, and Darian Mensah found Malachi Toney from 9 yards out for a 38-28 lead.
North Carolina scored again and had two onside recoveries wiped out by penalties before Miami finally secured one. Fletcher scored three times and tied the program's career rushing touchdown record. Mario Cristobal didn't sugarcoat the defense, citing soft spots in zone coverage and sporadic tackling. Good timing, with South Bend next. The voters didn't mind: Miami got 62 of 70 first-place votes, up from 59.
No. 3 Georgia 27, No. 17 Florida 8
The Cocktail Party moved indoors to Mercedes-Benz Stadium this year while Jacksonville's stadium is renovated. Florida brought its turnovers along anyway.
Aaron Philo, back from a shoulder injury, threw two interceptions and was benched. His replacement, Tramell Jones Jr., was sacked by Quintavius Johnson with 29 seconds left in the half, and Chris Cole scooped the ball and went 66 yards for a 24-0 lead. Jones later threw an end-zone interception from the Georgia 3.
Georgia outrushed Florida 217-48. Jadan Baugh, who started the day leading the SEC with 13 rushing touchdowns, had 38 yards on 17 carries. Gunner Stockton threw for just 101 yards, but after two picks and a late fumble against Auburn, clean was the goal. That's six straight in the series for Georgia.
Jon Sumrall had the line of the weekend: "The Gators didn't help the Gators enough tonight." Florida slid from 17th to 25th.
South Carolina 42, Oklahoma 25
LaNorris Sellers threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 96 yards and two more, and hit DJ Black for 84 yards and Mazeo Bennett Jr. for 79. The Gamecocks put up 521 yards on a defense that entered first nationally in fewest first downs allowed, and Oklahoma had 118 yards through three quarters.
That's three straight wins, two over ranked teams and this one on the road, and South Carolina is ranked for the first time since September 2025. The bad news: running back Matt Fuller left in the first quarter, and Shane Beamer said surgery was scheduled for what looks like a broken bone, probably ending his season.
The Southeast Notebook
1. No. 11 Texas 31, Mississippi State 3. The moment belonged to Maraad Watson, a 333-pound defensive tackle who scooped up a fumble and rumbled 61 yards for a touchdown just before halftime. "By the 15 I was getting tired," he said. Fair. Arch Manning threw three touchdown passes despite being sacked six times.
2. No. 12 Ole Miss 45, Auburn 15. It was 17-15 late in the third quarter, then Ole Miss scored the last 28 points. Trinidad Chambliss threw for 263 yards and two scores and ran for another.
3. No. 23 Missouri 34, Arkansas 10. The offense didn't score in the first half and Missouri still led 13-7. The Tigers turned four takeaways into 24 points, and Ahmad Hardy played for the first time this season.
4. Clemson 36, Florida State 24. Freshman Tait Reynolds threw his first touchdown passes in more than a month and sealed it with a 79-yard run on third-and-12. Nolan Hauser kicked five field goals. Florida State has lost three straight, and Mike Norvell's seat isn't cooling off.
5. Duke 47, Boston College 2. Yes, 2. The Eagles' only points came on a 100-yard return of a blocked extra point, the first defensive extra point Duke had allowed since 1999. Nate Sheppard ran for a school-record five touchdowns.
6. No. 14 Wake Forest 51, Virginia 7. Five straight wins. In the last four, the Deacons have scored 187 points and allowed four touchdowns.
7. NC State fired Dave Doeren, the winningest coach in program history, then beat Cal 31-10 for interim coach Todd Goebbel. Syracuse beat No. 19 SMU 30-27 on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 17 seconds left. Before last week, the Orange hadn't won an ACC game. Now they've beaten North Carolina and SMU back to back.
8. Group of Six, Southeast edition. Georgia Southern beat App State 19-3 to take over the Sun Belt East, and the Eagles are now 5-0 on Halloween. Troy rallied from 14 down to win 24-21 in overtime at James Madison on Thursday, with Justin Powe intercepting three passes. USF became bowl eligible for a fourth straight year by beating UAB 30-10, and UCF, a week after beating a top-five team for the first time, lost 41-9 at home to Baylor.
Elsewhere at the Top
No. 6 Utah won 49-25 at Cincinnati for its 14th straight win, the longest active streak in FBS. No. 7 UCLA picked off four passes in a 27-0 win over Nevada. No. 5 Notre Dame trailed Navy 14-13 at halftime before pulling away 35-13. No. 8 BYU held off Arizona State 27-20, and No. 13 Texas Tech handed the ball to Tommy Castellanos, who ran for 117 yards in a 34-26 win over No. 22 Arizona.
And then No. 4 Indiana turned Bloomington into a long-distance kicking contest. Minnesota went up 16-13 on a 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left. Indiana answered with a 60-yarder as time expired, and backup Grant Wilson, in for the injured Josh Hoover, threw a 25-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime. "This is entertainment," Curt Cignetti said. Sure, Coach. For some of us.
Scotty's Top 25
Housekeeping first. Last week the bottom of my ballot had SMU, Northwestern, Cincinnati, Wisconsin and James Madison. All five lost. Some weeks you're the windshield.
1. Miami (8-0). Got pushed and found a play. That's the job.
2. Georgia (7-1). Stopped the run, took the gifts, gave none back.
3. Utah (8-0). Fourteen straight wins. I'm out of reasons to be careful.
4. Notre Dame (7-1). Sleepy first half, sharp second. Saturday tells us which is real.
5. Indiana (8-1). Two overtime escapes and a quarterback question. Still 8-1.
6. UCLA (8-0). Sixteen interceptions this season. That defense travels.
7. Texas (6-2). Wins over Ohio State and Ole Miss, and now the defensive tackles score.
8. Kentucky (7-1). Rested. Knoxville is the real test.
9. BYU (7-1). Got it done. That's the whole review.
10. Alabama (6-2). Off this week, headed to Baton Rouge.
11. Ole Miss (6-2). Twenty-eight straight points to finish Auburn.
12. Ohio State (6-2). With Sayin, top eight. Without him, this feels right.
13. Texas Tech (7-1). The quarterback switch worked for one Saturday, anyway.
14. LSU (6-2). Idle, and Alabama is coming.
15. Wake Forest (7-1). Hardest team in the ACC to score on.
16. USC (7-2). Beat the No. 2 team by 12, lost to Wisconsin by 17. Pick one.
17. Tennessee (6-2). Five straight over Kentucky, the only stat Vols fans want this week.
18. South Carolina (5-3). Hottest quarterback in the SEC.
19. Missouri (6-2). Turnovers did the work. Texas won't be as generous.
20. Houston (6-2). Idle. Cincinnati visits.
21. Iowa (6-2). Third shutout of the year.
22. New Mexico (7-1). Welcome. You waited long enough.
23. Duke (6-2). Five rushing touchdowns from one guy, two points allowed, technically.
24. Boise State (7-1). Nearly blew a 25-point halftime lead at home. They won, so they stay.
25. Arizona (6-2). Lost by eight in Lubbock while Noah Fifita threw for 417 yards. Keeping them.
First three out: Florida, Oregon and Virginia Tech.
The AP Top 25
1. Miami (62 first-place votes), 8-0
2. Georgia (7), 7-1
3. Utah (1), 8-0
4. Notre Dame, 7-1
5. UCLA, 8-0
6. Indiana, 8-1
7. BYU, 7-1
8. Kentucky, 7-1
9. Alabama, 6-2
10. Texas, 6-2
11. Ohio State, 6-2
12. Ole Miss, 6-2
13. Texas Tech, 7-1
14. Wake Forest, 7-1
15. LSU, 6-2
16. Tennessee, 6-2
17. Houston, 6-2
18. USC, 7-2
19. Missouri, 6-2
20. Boise State, 7-1
21. Iowa, 6-2
22. New Mexico, 7-1
23. South Carolina, 5-3
24. Arizona, 6-2
25. Florida, 5-3
In: USC, Iowa, New Mexico and South Carolina. Out: SMU, Northwestern, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin. The SEC has 10 ranked teams. The ACC has two.
Overrated: Two I'm Selling
Boise State at No. 20. Texas State scored the first 36 points of the second half in Boise, and the Broncos needed a backup quarterback to throw three touchdown passes in the last seven minutes to win by one. Voters didn't move them an inch.
Houston at No. 17. Moved up a spot on a bye, and the last time we saw the Cougars, they lost at Utah. Not a bad team, just not one that should gain ground on the couch.
Underrated: Two I'm Buying
South Carolina at No. 23. Wins over Florida and Tennessee, then 42 points and 521 yards in Norman. On a neutral field, I'd take Sellers over several teams ranked ahead of him without thinking too hard.
Duke, unranked. Ten points in the voting. The Blue Devils have held four opponents to single digits, and Sheppard has a school-record 18 total touchdowns with a month to play.
Who Moved
Ohio State fell nine spots and Florida eight. Missouri climbed four, Utah three and UCLA two. Indiana slid two despite winning. South Carolina had two votes a week ago and is now 23rd.
The Southeast Angle
The SEC owns 10 of the 25 spots, and Kentucky and Georgia are tied atop the league. Kentucky goes to Knoxville and Georgia goes to Oxford on Saturday, so Sunday's standings could look very different.
The ACC is another story. Miami and Wake Forest are its only ranked teams, Florida State is 3-5, and NC State and North Carolina are 4-4. If Miami loses in South Bend, the league's playoff picture gets complicated quickly, and I say that politely.
Next Saturday Is Ridiculous
All times Eastern, subject to change.
No. 1 Miami at No. 4 Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., NBC. Same rankings these two had in 1988, when Notre Dame won 31-30. Last year's meeting cost the Irish a playoff spot. Game of the week.
No. 2 Georgia at No. 12 Ole Miss, 7:30 p.m., ABC. Same kickoff. Ole Miss beat Georgia 39-34 in last season's Sugar Bowl quarterfinal. Find a second TV.
No. 8 Kentucky at No. 16 Tennessee, 6:15 p.m., ESPN. Kentucky has won six straight; Tennessee has won five straight in the series. Something gives.
No. 9 Alabama at No. 15 LSU, 3:30 p.m., ABC. Alabama has won the last three meetings.
No. 7 BYU at No. 3 Utah, noon, ABC. The Holy War, with first place in the Big 12 at stake.
No. 10 Texas at No. 19 Missouri, noon, ESPN. First meeting as SEC members, likely a playoff elimination game.
Also worth your time: Texas A&M at No. 23 South Carolina (3 p.m., ESPN), Oklahoma at No. 25 Florida (7:45 p.m., SEC Network), Clemson at Syracuse (noon, ESPN2), Duke at NC State (12:30 p.m., The CW) and Marshall at Georgia Southern (3:30 p.m., ESPN+).
Six games between ranked teams, three in the Southeast. Clear your Saturday. Then clear your Sunday, because somebody will have to explain the new poll.