Being ranked second in the country used to be a nice place to wait. This season it's a trapdoor. For the third straight Saturday, a top-two team lost to an unranked opponent, and this time it was BYU, a week removed from beating Notre Dame, falling in double overtime at UCF. Ohio State didn't play and moved up to take the spot nobody seems able to keep.
The AP counted three more top-10 losses, which makes 10 in three weeks and ties 2007 and 1959 for the most ever over that span. Only Miami, Utah and UCLA are still unbeaten, the fewest at this point of a season since 1977, according to Sportradar. Miami kept being Miami, but the most important game of the weekend was in Austin, and it nearly fell apart twice.
Texas Builds a Lead, Loses It, Keeps the Game
No. 19 Texas 34, No. 7 Ole Miss 27. For one half the Longhorns looked like the team everybody picked in August. Arch Manning ran for a score, hit Ryan Wingo for a 50-yard touchdown, and Texas led 24-3 at the break while holding Ole Miss to 138 yards.
Then came the part Texas fans have learned to dread. On the first play of the third quarter Manning was strip-sacked and Kam Franklin fell on the ball in the end zone. Trinidad Chambliss threw two touchdown passes to Horatio Fields, and it was 24-24 early in the fourth. Against Oklahoma and Florida, this is exactly where Texas came apart.
Not this time. Steve Sarkisian called a fake handoff, Manning walked in from the 1 with 8:04 left, and Alex January blocked an Ole Miss field goal on the next possession. Gianni Spetic's 33-yarder made it 34-24. Ole Miss still recovered an onside kick after a late field goal, because of course it did, before Jelani McDonald intercepted Chambliss' final throw.
Manning's night was messy: 18 of 30 for 212 yards, two interceptions, a lost fumble and his first two rushing touchdowns of the season. Raleek Brown ran for 157 yards. Both teams lost a key player to a shoulder injury, Cam Coleman for Texas and Kewan Lacy for Ole Miss. Per Texas, it was Manning's fifth career win over an AP top-10 team, the most among active FBS quarterbacks. A week after people were talking about benching him, that's a decent answer.
The Knights Who Wouldn't Go Away
UCF 39, No. 2 BYU 31 in two overtimes, and the end of regulation deserves its own documentary. A late BYU strip-sack was overturned to an incomplete pass, an unsportsmanlike flag moved UCF into range, and BYU blocked the kick. The UCF kicker recovered it, but his helmet had come off, which triggered a 10-second runoff. On to overtime.
Keyone Jenkins, the Knights' backup quarterback, threw for 293 yards and accounted for four touchdowns. In the second overtime, a roughing-the-kicker penalty turned a UCF field goal into a fresh set of downs, and Jenkins hit tight end Grayson Brousseau for the score and Tyren Hornes for two. BYU reached the 4 before Bear Bachmeier's fourth-down throw to Walker Lyons fell incomplete.
It's the first win over a top-five team in UCF history. "We set a standard," Jenkins said. Kalani Sitake didn't argue. "They outcoached us and they did a better job than we did today," he said.
Columbia Gets the Last Word
South Carolina 27, No. 11 Tennessee 24. The Vols came back from 14-0 down with an 18-play touchdown drive, the longest of the Josh Heupel era, and led 24-17 in the fourth. With 3:35 left they went for it on fourth-and-1 at the South Carolina 39, and George MacIntyre was stopped.
LaNorris Sellers took it from there, fighting through two defenders to reach the pylon from 4 yards out with 1:17 left. On Tennessee's next possession, Dylan Stewart strip-sacked MacIntyre, Tomiwa Durojaiye recovered at the Tennessee 34, and Malik Orsan hit a 48-yard field goal as time ran out. Sellers accounted for three touchdowns and ran for 96 yards. That's two ranked wins in three weeks for a 4-3 team.
Kentucky Is Alone at the Top
Last week I said I'd stopped asking how Kentucky keeps winning. Still not asking. No. 12 Kentucky 34, Vanderbilt 17, after the Wildcats gained 14 yards in the first quarter and trailed 10-0. They scored the next 21 points, Kenny Minchey threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and Vandy finished with 15 rushing yards. Kentucky is 5-1 in the SEC, alone in first. "This was, I thought, one of our best games," Will Stein said.
The Tide and the Tigers
No. 13 Alabama 31, Texas A&M 20. The Tide trailed 20-17 entering the fourth with a secondary thinned by a suspension, an injury and a targeting ejection. Then they forced a Marcel Reed fumble on fourth-and-1, and Keelon Russell threw touchdown passes to Marshall Pritchett and Kalen Edwards. Russell finished with 311 yards and three scores, and Alabama avoided its first three-game losing streak since 2007.
No. 18 LSU 38, Auburn 17, and this is the Lane Kiffin offense people were promised. Sam Leavitt went 32 of 45 for 387 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another, and didn't throw an interception. Jackson Harris caught nine passes for 178 yards and two scores, LSU had seven sacks, and an eight-game SEC road losing streak is over.
Miami Throws a Party
No. 1 Miami 52, Pitt 23. With dozens of members of the 2001 title team in the building and the current team in throwbacks, the Hurricanes scored on seven of their first eight possessions. Darian Mensah completed 31 of 37 passes, and Malachi Toney caught a school-record 16 of them for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Miami got 59 of 70 first-place votes on Sunday.
Elsewhere at the Top
No. 10 Utah 21, No. 14 Houston 13. Devon Dampier ran for 150 yards and two touchdowns as the Utes came from 10 down in the second half. The deciding play was Jackson Bennee's safety blitz, which forced a Conner Weigman fumble at the Houston 9 late. Dampier scored on the next snap. Utah is 7-0 and alone atop the Big 12.
Cincinnati 37, No. 8 Texas Tech 24. JC French IV threw four touchdown passes and Cole Tabb ran for 173 yards, including a 58-yard score that put it away. "I thought we played outstanding on defense," Scott Satterfield said. It was the Bearcats' first home win over a top-10 team since 2006.
No. 6 Indiana won 13-6 in overtime at Michigan with 81 passing yards, on Josh Hoover's 4-yard run. No. 9 UCLA beat Michigan State 28-10. Wisconsin beat No. 16 USC 24-7 and Iowa lost 13-10 at Minnesota, knocking both out of the poll.
Around the Region
Virginia Tech won 20-16 at Clemson when Ethan Grunkemeyer found Luke Reynolds for a 5-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 with 1:44 left. Clemson's comeback ended when freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds was sacked on fourth down. A bad night for the Clemson side of the Reynolds family tree.
Syracuse won 31-30 in overtime at North Carolina on a touchdown and a two-point conversion, ending an 11-game ACC losing streak. "They made a couple more plays than we did today," Bill Belichick said. Boston College ran for 399 yards in a 49-27 win at Georgia Tech, and Oklahoma won 23-15 at Mississippi State. On Friday, Duke won 19-16 at Virginia on a 28-yard trick-play touchdown pass from Nate Sheppard to Brody Keefe with 1:14 left, and NC State lost 31-28 at Stanford.
Thursday belonged to Boone. App State handed James Madison its first loss, 34-31 in overtime, after JMU's 47-yard try clanged off the left upright and James London answered from 40. London kicked the winner unable to see out of his right eye, because a teammate waving off the JMU miss had hit him in the face. I couldn't make that up if I tried.
The AP Top 25
1. Miami (59 first-place votes), 7-0
2. Ohio State (10), 6-1
3. Georgia, 6-1
4. Indiana, 7-1
5. Notre Dame, 6-1
6. Utah (1), 7-0
7. UCLA, 7-0
8. BYU, 6-1
9. Kentucky, 7-1
10. Alabama, 6-2
11. Texas, 5-2
12. Ole Miss, 5-2
13. Texas Tech, 6-1
14. Wake Forest, 6-1
15. LSU, 6-2
16. Tennessee, 6-2
17. Florida, 5-2
18. Houston, 6-2
19. SMU, 6-1
20. Boise State, 6-1 (tie)
20. Northwestern, 6-1 (tie)
22. Arizona, 6-1
23. Missouri, 5-2
24. Oklahoma State, 5-2
25. Wisconsin, 5-2
Dropped out: Iowa and USC. In: Oklahoma State and Wisconsin. The SEC has nine ranked teams, the Big 12 six, the Big Ten five and the ACC three.
Scotty's Top 25
1. Miami (7-0). Fifty-two points, and it looked easy. Last week it didn't. Progress.
2. Ohio State (6-1). Moved up from the couch. The trip to USC without Julian Sayin will tell us plenty.
3. Notre Dame (6-1). Idle, and still the one-loss team I'd least like to play.
4. Indiana (7-1). Eighty-one passing yards. The win counts, in pencil.
5. Utah (7-0). Last week I said the Colorado game wasn't a statement. Coming back on a ranked Houston team is.
6. Georgia (6-1). Off this week. The last image is a 14-0 home lead slipping away.
7. UCLA (7-0). The defense is real. I'm waiting on a signature win.
8. Kentucky (7-1). First place in the SEC in late October. I'm done doubting.
9. Texas (5-2). Wins over Ohio State, Tennessee and Ole Miss. Find me three better.
10. BYU (6-1). One bad afternoon in Orlando doesn't erase Notre Dame.
11. Alabama (6-2). Russell keeps getting better. The secondary keeps getting thinner.
12. Ole Miss (5-2). Played one great half in Austin. Wrong half.
13. LSU (6-2). Best offensive day of the year, on the road in the SEC.
14. Texas Tech (6-1). One offensive touchdown in Cincinnati. Arizona comes to Lubbock next.
15. Wake Forest (6-1). Idle. Virginia visits Saturday.
16. Tennessee (6-2). The fourth-down call was defensible. The ball security after it wasn't.
17. Florida (5-2). Rested and headed to Atlanta.
18. SMU (6-1). Fifty-nine points against Cal.
19. Houston (6-2). Lost by eight at Utah at night. No shame.
20. Boise State (6-1). Won on the road at Washington State.
21. Northwestern (6-1). Beat Rutgers 42-14.
22. Arizona (6-1). Held Iowa State to three points.
23. Cincinnati (5-2). Beat the No. 8 team by 13. That earns a spot on my ballot.
24. Wisconsin (5-2). Held USC to seven points, the Trojans' fewest under Lincoln Riley.
25. James Madison (7-1). Lost by three in overtime on the road to a good App State team. Not dropping them for that.
First three out: Missouri, Oklahoma State and South Carolina.
Overrated
Georgia at No. 3. The Bulldogs moved up two spots without playing, and their last game was a home loss to an Auburn team that just lost by 21 at home to LSU. Saturday in Atlanta can change my mind.
Missouri at No. 23, again. Idle, still ranked, and the last thing we saw was three points in Oxford.
Underrated
Texas at No. 11. Two losses, both by a field goal, and wins over the current No. 2, No. 12 and No. 16 teams. Put that resume on a different helmet and it's top eight.
Cincinnati, unranked. Eleven points in the voting after beating the No. 8 team by 13. Voters get another chance when Utah visits.
Biggest Movers
Texas jumped eight spots, from 19 to 11. Utah, SMU and Northwestern each rose four. Going the other way, BYU fell six to No. 8, and Ole Miss, Texas Tech and Tennessee each dropped five.
The Southeast Angle
Kentucky leads the SEC by a half-game over Georgia, and the AP noted the Wildcats haven't been this close to a league title since 1976. After a bye, they finish against Tennessee, Florida and Missouri.
The state of Florida had another weekend worth bragging about: Miami stayed No. 1, UCF beat a top-five team for the first time, and the Gators rested up for Georgia. The ACC side of the Carolinas had a rougher time, with Clemson, North Carolina and NC State all losing. South Carolina and Duke covered for them.
In the Sun Belt, App State's win means every team in the East Division has at least one league loss, per the school. The Mountaineers visit Georgia Southern on Saturday night with plenty on the line.
Next Week's Big Games
All times Eastern; late network changes are possible.
No. 17 Florida vs. No. 3 Georgia, Atlanta, 3:30 p.m., ABC. Georgia has won five straight in the series and eight of nine. Florida wants its third win over a top-10 team this year. Game of the week.
No. 2 Ohio State at USC, 7:30 p.m., NBC. The Trojans just fell out of the poll and would love company.
No. 1 Miami at North Carolina, 7:30 p.m., ABC. North Carolina just lost a one-pointer at home. Night games in Chapel Hill can get weird.
No. 6 Utah at Cincinnati, 3:45 p.m., ESPN. The Bearcats get a second straight top-10 visitor.
No. 22 Arizona at No. 13 Texas Tech, noon, ESPN. Arizona hasn't won in Lubbock since 1935.
Auburn at No. 12 Ole Miss, 12:45 p.m., SEC Network. Both need a bounce-back.
Also worth a look: Mississippi State at No. 11 Texas (7:30, ESPN), No. 5 Notre Dame vs. Navy in Foxborough (noon, ABC), Minnesota at No. 4 Indiana (3:30, CBS), No. 25 Wisconsin at Iowa (noon, Fox), Missouri at Arkansas (7:45, SEC Network) and Clemson at Florida State (7, ACC Network). James Madison hosts Troy on Thursday at 7:30 on ESPN2, and App State visits Georgia Southern at 6:30 Saturday on ESPN+. Kentucky, Alabama, LSU and Tennessee are off, which gives everyone else a week to make this even more confusing.