Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

THIS WEEK’S RESULTS:

#5 Georgia Stifles Offense of #1 Texas in Austin to Win 30-15

To quote an anonymous poet: them dawgs is hell.

By the end of this one, #5 Georgia had sacked Texas’ quarterbacks 7 times, racking up pressures and hurries on another several dropbacks before beating #1 Texas in Austin, 30-15.

Ultimately, Texas had 15 yards of offense in the first half. Fifteen.

The Longhorns finished this one 2-15 on 3rd down and 3-20 on conversion downs, which should also help paint the picture for how effective this Georgia defense was: when it needed a stop, Georgia could get a stop as simple as flipping a switch.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers finished 25-for-43 passing with 211 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. He was replaced briefly in the 2nd quarter by Arch Manning, who went 3-for-6 for 19 yards. Ewers lost a pair of fumbles and Manning lost one himself to sum up the Texas turnover count to 4. Texas RB Tre Wisner did what he could, picking up 52 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Lost in this one was also that Texas’ defense was pretty solid, forcing 3 turnovers itself and keeping the Longhorns as much in this contest as it could.

In fact, despite being up 23-0 at the half, Georgia’s scoring drives were only 13 yards, 13 yards, 34 yards, and 25 yards.

Georgia QB Carson Beck finished 23-for-41 with just 175 yards and 3 interceptions, a fairly middling day, to be frank. RB Trevor Etienne really was who helped the Bulldogs offense score enough points to prevent the defensive effort from being in vain, as Etienne finished with 87 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns on 19 carries.

Lastly, there will surely be more on this in the newsletter in the coming days, but one of the biggest stories out of this game moving forward is that Texas got an interception off of Carson Beck which was originally called off due to a penalty on Texas. Fans then threw beer bottles, water bottles, and other trash on to the field due to their belief that it should not have been a penalty. Then, the call was overturned, and Texas had the ball where the interception return ended before the penalty was originally called.

As of writing, Texas leadership has already shared a statement that it does not condone the behavior of the fans.

#11 Tennessee Finishes Strong to Knock Off #7 Alabama 24-17 in Knoxville

Tennessee started slowly, not scoring in the first half, but finished strong to beat Alabama 24-17 on the third Saturday in October.

Going into halftime, the score was only 7-0 Alabama, but Tennessee had a couple chances to get on the board, including a 43-yard drive that ended in a fumble, 2 missed field goals, and 2 drives that ended in interceptions (one of which was a 61-yard drive).

But in the 2nd half, it was all Tennessee as the Volunteers scored touchdowns on 3 of its first 5 drives of the half.

By the end, Tennessee outgained Alabama by 100 yards (414 vs. 314), outgained Alabama on a yards per play basis (6 vs. 3.97), and noticeably outperformed Alabama on 3rd downs (6/14 vs. 3/14). If anything, the fact it was as close as it was should be the surprise.

Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava finished 14-for-27 with 194 yards passing, a touchdown, and an interception. Iamaleava also added another 44 rushing yards.

RB Dylan Sampson led all rushers in this one by a wide margin with 139 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries.

For Alabama, QB Jalen Milroe finished 25-for-45 with 239 yards passing, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Alabama’s running backs struggled to run the ball, as Jam Miller and Justice Haynes combined for 64 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Alabama true freshman WR Ryan Williams finished with 8 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown, a solid showing, especially when considering the rest of the struggles for Alabama’s offense.

#6 Miami Wins 52-45 Shootout Against Resilient Louisville Team

#6 Miami beat Louisville 52-45 in a game that has become emblematic of the Hurricanes’ season: there was a controversial replay that went Miami’s way, there was a lot of points scored, QB Cam Ward had a great game, and the Hurricanes made enough plays to win.

Louisville only led briefly, when the game was 7-3, but the Cardinals did not go away and were never down more than 14 points in this one. And the first time Louisville did fall down 14 points (31-17), Caullin Lacy took the kick back 100 yards to cut the lead back to 7 and then subsequently score a little over one minute later to tie the game up at 31.

Louisville QB Tyler Shough looked steady, finishing 31-for-51 with 342 yards and 4 touchdowns. Miami QB Cam Ward also looked polished, finishing 21-for-32 with 319 yards and 4 touchdowns. Despite 83 passes between the two signal callers against opportunistic defenses, neither threw an interception.

Miami RB Damien Martinez led all rushers in this one with 89 rushing yards on 12 carries, with his lone touchdown coming on a 30-yard rush where he dragged Louisville defenders to the end zone with him to score the decisive touchdown that ended up being the difference.

3 pass catchers hit 100 yards receiving in this one: Miami’s Sam Brown (3 rec, 125 yds, 1 TD) and Xavier Restrepo (7 rec, 101 yds, 1 TD), and Louisville’s Ja’Corey Brooks (6 rec, 107 yds, 2 TDs).

To illustrate the back and forth nature of this one, the 2nd half featured 11 drives:

• Touchdown

• Touchdown

• Fumble

• Touchdown

• Touchdown

• Touchdown

• Touchdown

• Punt

• Touchdown

• Touchdown

• Knees to End Game

#9 Iowa State Secures 38-35 Win over UCF With Late Comeback

As late as 2:14 left in the 4th, UCF had a 99.0% chance to win according to ESPN’s win probability model, but some late game heroics from Iowa State QB Rocco Becht led #9 Iowa State to the win over UCF, 38-35.

Becht threw 2 interceptions, one a pick-six and one that should have been a pick-six before UCF DB Braeden Marshall dropped the ball to celebrate one yard too early. However, Becht also finished 20-for-46 with 274 yards and a passing touchdown, as well as leading Iowa State in rushing with 97 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries. Iowa State RB Carson Hansen also contributed 2 touchdowns on his 9 attempts and 91 yards. WR Jaylin Noel led all receivers with 8 catches for 153 yards.

Ultimately, this was a game which featured over 900 yards of offense and over 600 yards rushing, with UCF averaging over 9 yards per rush. Despite the 900 yards of offense and 73 points, there were also 17 total punts. In other words, there were a ton of drives (33 total, to be exact) with many drives lasting no more than a minute or two.

Despite the loss, UCF RB RJ Harvey finished with 196 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on 25 carries, while QB Jacurri Brown finished with 154 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on 13 carries. Brown also was 8-for-20 passing with 62 yards and 2 interceptions.

#16 Indiana Blanks Nebraska 56-7 But Loses QB Kurtis Rourke For At Least Next Week

#16 Indiana absolutely dominated Nebraska from start to finish, as Indiana scored on its first drive and then never let the score get closer than 7 points before this one finished 56-7.

Indiana gave Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola fits, as Raiola finished 28-for-44 with 234 passing yards and 3 interceptions, including one interception that was returned for 78 yards by Shawn Asbury II.

Nebraska also struggled running the ball, as backup QB Heinrich Haarberg wound up being the Huskers’ leading rusher after he filled in in relief of the struggling Raiola. Haarberg finished 0-for-2 passing and with 32 rushing yards on 5 carries. In total, the Huskers finished with 70 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on 29 carries.

Indiana, on the other hand, ran for 215 yards and 5 touchdowns on 33 carries. Justice Ellison finished with 105 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns on just 9 carries.

Hoosiers QB Kurtis Rourke finished 17-for-21 with 189 yards, a touchdown, and an interception before having to be replaced by Tayven Jackson following an injury. The injury is not expected to end his season, but it has already been announced that Rourke will miss the game against Washington this weekend.

#19 Missouri Rallies in 4th Quarter to 21-17 Comeback Over Auburn

Missouri QB Brady Cook took a mid-game trip to a hospital for an ankle MRI before coming back and leading a 4th quarter comeback over Auburn to will the Tigers to a 21-17 victory.

After the game, Cook said, “it was a long hour-and-a-half, for sure. I did not think I was going to come back to play in the game. My stuff was off, my pads were off. Ultimately, I realized I have 2-and-a-half games left to play in Faurot Field. We were going to find a way.”

And find a way, he did. After Auburn missed a field goal and Missouri started on its own 20, down 17-6, Cook found WR Mookie Cooper on 3rd and 10 to pick up 78 yards. RB Marcus Carroll punched it in one play later before Cook called his own number on the two-point conversion.

After 5 consecutive punts, Missouri then went on a 17-play, 95-yard drive to take a 21-17 lead with just 46 seconds left before Auburn went 4-and-out to end this one. On Missouri’s go-ahead drive, it faced 5 conversion downs and made the plays it needed to.

Missouri ultimately outgained Auburn 354 yards to 286, in large part due to Cook’s 194 passing yards on 11-for-22 passing in just under 2 quarters of work. Backup QB Drew Pyne added 78 yards on 10-for-21 passing in relief of Cook, a fairly pedestrian effort that only led to 3 points.

For Auburn, QB Payton Thorne finished 17-for-29 with 176 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was a 47-yard go-ball to true freshman Cam Coleman, his only catch on the day but still long enough to lead all Auburn receivers in terms of yards.

#22 Illinois Beats #24 Michigan 21-7 At Home in 1920s-Inspired Uniforms

#22 Illinois, dressed in classic, 1920s-inspired uniforms, beat #24 Michigan in a classic Big Ten affair which saw QB Luke Altmyer throw for only 80 yards in a 21-7 victory that never saw Illinois trail.

Altmyer finished 9-for-18 passing for 80 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 48 yards and a touchdown on 10 rush attempts.

TE Tanner Arkin caught Illinois’ one passing touchdown on a 2-yard catch, his only catch for the day. Arkin also ran a fake punt for 36 yards, his lone carry on the day. For only 2 touches all day, he had quite the impact, and was arguably one of the most valuable Illini players yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, the leading receiver in this game was Michigan TE Colston Loveland, who finished with 83 yards on 7 catches. Michigan QB Jack Tuttle had a decent game, at least statistically, finishing with 208 passing yards on 20-of-32 passing. He did throw an interception in the 4th quarter and deep in the red zone to Illinois DB Matthew Bailey for one of Michigan’s best, final chances to stay in the game.

RBs Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards did what they could, finishing with 125 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 combined carries, with Mullings taking on most of the work (19 car, 87 yds, 1 TD).

Illinois’ defense made Tuttle uncomfortable, sacking him 5 times, including 2.5 sacks for Gabe Jacas and 2 for TeRah Edwards.

#8 LSU Goes to Fayetteville and Controls Game in 34-10 Victory

#8 LSU controlled the game against a solid Arkansas team yesterday en rout to a 34-10 win, in a game where LSU outgained the Razorbacks 395 to 277, won the turnover battle 3 to 0, and picked up more first downs by a count of 26 to 15.

Simply put, in every facet, LSU was the better team.

LSU, now 6-1 after the close Week 1 loss to USC, looked consistent and clean in a game where the offense averaged 5.56 yards per play and had almost 40 minutes in the time of possession category.

Defensively for the Tigers, it did a great job stopping the Arkansas rushing attack, holding Arkansas to just 38 rushing yards on 19 carries.

LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier finished 23-for-34 with 233 yards. All of the offensive scoring output came from RB Caden Durham who finished with 101 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries. WRs CJ Daniels and Kyren Lacy also put up decent statlines of 7 catches for 86 yards and 6 catches for 49 yards, respectively.

Kicker Damian Ramos also was 4-for-4 on field goals last night for the Tigers.

For Arkansas, QB Taylen Green had a fine night, finishing 21-for-31 with 239 yards, a touchdown, and an interception to LSU LB Whit Weeks.

Green’s lone touchdown went to WR Andrew Armstrong who finished with 7 catches for a game-leading 94 yards and a touchdown.

#23 Army Continues to Roll, Beating East Carolina 45-28

Army QB Bryson Daily once again had a banner day as #23 Army raced out to a 38-7 lead before a handful of 4th quarter scores caused this game to finish 45-28.

Daily finished with 6 combined touchdowns and over 300 scrimmage yards, including 5 rushing touchdowns and 171 rushing yards on 31 carries.

RB Kanye Udoh also added 102 rushing yards on 19 carries for the Black Knights.

For ECU, QB Katin Houser finished 24-for-38 with 282 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception. Houser also added a touchdown on the ground.

The leading receiver in this game was WR Chase Sowell, who finished with an impressive 7 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown. 138 receiving yards is a career high, and 7 catches matches his career high. Unfortunately, most of ECU’s offensive output came long after Army had already taken a 30+ point lead, so by then, it was too little, too late.

#25 Navy Excels on Offense and Defense to Defeat Charlotte 51-17

Navy improved to 6-0 yesterday for the first time since 1979 with a 51-17 victory over Charlotte.

Midshipmen QB Blake Horvath threw 3 touchdowns and 117 passing yards while also adding 56 yards on the ground. FB Alex Tecza added 68 rushing yards and 46 receiving yards while accounting for 3 touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving). In total, Navy ran for 171 yards on 42 carries.

Navy did punt 6 times in this game, though, despite scoring 51 points. 2 of Navy’s 7 touchdowns came from Dashaun Peele interceptions, as he is the first player in school history to return multiple interceptions for touchdowns ever.

Ultimately, Charlotte’s quarterbacks threw 4 interceptions: 3 from Max Brown and 1 from backup Trexler Ivey. In total, Charlotte passers finished 8-for-22 with 163 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and the 4 interceptions.

Charlotte did run for 200 yards, thanks to 67 rushing yards from Brown, 59 from RB Cartervious Norton, 45 from RB Terron Kellman, and 29 from RB Hahsaun Wilson.