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.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS:

#4 Ohio State Beats #3 Penn State 20-13 In Spite of Early Mistakes

#4 Ohio State got past #3 Penn State as pretty much all of the usual narratives possible for this game came to fruition once again. Mainly, James Franklin and Penn State lost a game against a top opponent after getting so close but ultimately not getting over the hump.

Ohio State came out poorly, including a Pick-Six from QB Will Howard that gave Penn State a 10-0 lead early before Ohio State even finished a full drive. But Howard responded with a touchdown to Emeka Egbuka on the following drive to get the Buckeyes on the board.

Ohio State scored again with another passing touchdown, this one to Brandon Inniss to take a 14-10 lead into the half and give the Buckeyes a lead it would not give up. To open the second half, Ohio State and Penn State traded field goals before Ohio State kicked another field goal in the 4th quarter to get us to our final tally of 20-13.

The key to the game at the end was when Penn State had 1st & Goal from the 3 yard line and 3 consecutive Kaytron Allen runs only got the Nittany Lions to the 1 yard line, before Drew Allar’s 4th and goal pass attempt did not tie the game. Ohio State got the ball back with a little over 5 minutes left and managed to run the game down and Penn State never touched the ball again.

South Carolina Shuts Out #10 Texas A&M in the Second Half to Win 44-20

South Carolina ran all over #10 Texas A&M to upset the Top 10 Aggies at home as RB Raheim Sanders had a remarkable day for the Gamecocks.

Sanders finished with 144 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries and 92 receiving yards on 5 catches.

The Aggies found themselves down early, in an early 14-0 hole, but late in the first half, fought back to get to a lead of 20-17 before South Carolina kicked a field goal right before the half. But what no one realized at that point was that South Carolina’s field goal were the first 3 points of 27 unanswered points.

QB LaNorris Sellers was 13-for-27 with 244 passing yards and 2 touchdowns for the Gamecocks, with both of those touchdowns going to Joshua Simon, who finished with 132 receiving yards and 4 receptions.

Sellers also added 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 rush attempts as South Carolina rushers combined for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns in total.

For Texas A&M, Marcel Reed played at QB, finishing 18-for-28 for 206 yards, a touchdown, and an interception while adding 46 rushing yards on 16 rush attempts. RB Amari Daniels also put up 83 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

Ultimately, Texas A&M just couldn’t sustain enough drives in the 2nd half and could not prevent prevent enough explosives from South Carolina, as South Carolina finished with nearly 200 more yards but a similarly poor conversion rate on 3rd and 4th down.

#2 Georgia Wins Messy Cocktail Party Over Florida 34-20

#2 Georgia wins another game in spite of 3 interceptions from QB Carson Beck as Florida could not hold on to its early lead after losing QB DJ Lagway with an injury.

Lagway finished 2-for-6 with 47 yards and a touchdown passing, as well as 18 rushing yards on 4 carries but then suffered a serious injury before walk-on QB3 Aidan Warner finished this one for Florida. Warner finished 7-for-22 for 66 yards and an interception – far from a stellar game.

RBs Ja’Kobi Jackson and Jadan Baugh combined for 138 rushing yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, really the only consistent offense for the Gators.

For Georgia, Carson Beck was 25-for-40 with 309 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the story of his stat line is another 3 interception game. RB Nate Frazier finished with 82 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries as Georgia outgained Florida by 198 yards overall.

Texas Tech Surprises #11 Iowa State on Road With Last Second Touchdown to Win 23-22

Texas Tech beat #11 Iowa State with a touchdown rush in the final minute to end the undefeated season for the Cyclones which makes an already cloudy Big 12 championship even cloudier.

RB Tahj Brooks ran in what would go on to be the game-winning 5-yard touchdown run, his lone touchdown on the day. Brooks also finished with 122 rushing yards on 25 carries.

QB Behren Morton did enough, as he finished 21-for-40 with 237 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, with both of those touchdowns and over half of his yards going to WR Josh Kelly, who finished with 8 catches for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns.

For Iowa State, QB Rocco Becht finished 23-for-39 with 299 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception while the Cyclones also combined for 133 rushing yards. Despite the loss, Iowa State outgained the Red Raiders and tied the turnover battle at 2.

But with a turnover on downs and having to settle for 4 total field goal attempts (one of which was missed), Iowa State just did not execute on the opportunities it had in this one, and so the Cyclones pick up its first loss of the season.

Louisville Goes Into Death Valley and Picks Up Double Digit Win Over #11 Clemson, 33-21

Louisville secured bowl eligibility with a win over #11 Clemson on the road yesterday.

The Cardinals were outgained by almost 100 yards, and Clemson outperformed Louisville on conversion downs (16/29 compared to 4/12), but a failure to finish drives killed the Tigers, as Clemson had a 10-play drive end with a punt, two missed field goal drives, and a 12-play drive to end the game where they could not find the end zone in spite of the urgency.

Clemson outgaining Louisville is slightly misleading, however, as Clemson ran 101 plays and averaged just below 4.5 yards per play compared to Louisville’s 6.2 yards per play.

Louisville QB Tyler Shough finished 17-for-32 with 156 yards and no passing touchdowns or interceptions, but he did add a rushing touchdown. RB Isaac Brown finished with 151yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

For Clemson, though, it was RB Phil Mafah who led all rushers in this game with 171 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries. QB Cade Klubnik finished 33-for-56 with 228 yards and a touchdown, a pass to WR Antonio Williams. Klubnik also added 43 rushing yards on 12 rush attempts.

#20 SMU Dominates #18 Pitt to Give Panthers First Loss, Final Score 48-25

SMU picked up a signature win for the 2024 Mustangs last night as they beat #18 Pitt at home 48-25 in a game where the Ponies raced out to a 28-3 lead and then held a 48-11 lead late into the 4th before garbage time scores made it look quasi-competitive on the scoreboard.

SMU had explosive play after explosive play which were timely as the Mustangs only had 14 more yards than Pitt through the course of the entire game and even had 10 fewer first downs. But Pitt’s 91 plays yielded an average of 4.98 yards per play, while SMU’s 67 plays yielded an average of 6.97 yards per play – a very impressive number considering Pitt’s defensive prowess and overall physicality this season.

For Pitt, RB Desmond Reid continued to impress with his all-around ability, but was held from making any truly explosive plays by an SMU defense that played fairly solidly on a down-to-down basis. Reid finished with 49 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, 6 catches, 44 receiving yards, and 40 punt return yards.

Through the air, Pitt QB Eli Holstein finished 29-for-48 with 248 yards and an interception. Backup QB Nate Yarnell also made an appearance after this game was out of reach, and he finished 9-for-10 with 99 yards and 2 touchdowns against primarily backups.

For SMU, QB Kevin Jennings was 17-for-25 with 306 yards and 2 touchdowns passing, while there were 4 rushing touchdowns from Brashard Smith (2), LJ Johnson Jr, and Roderick Daniels Jr combined. Smith finished with 161 yards and the 2 touchdowns on 23 carries while also hauling in 4 catches for 21 yards and a touchdown.

TE Matthew Hibner led all pass catchers in this game with 108 receiving yards and a touchdown on 3 receptions, a career high for yardage.

SMU now finds itself in control of its own destiny in the ACC after Clemson lost to Louisville, as SMU and Miami are the lone undefeated teams in the ACC remaining.

Houston Surprises #17 Kansas State 24-19 After 14-Point 4th Quarter

Houston rallied late to take down #17 Kansas State at home for Willie Fritz’s first ranked win as the Head Coach at Houston.

Houston only gained 234 yards offensively, but it only narrowly lost the yards per play battle (4.68 to 4.59) and won the turnover battle 2-1.

Perhaps most importantly, in the 2nd half, Kansas State could not sustain much as it scored only 3 points in 8 possessions when it did have 3 drives get to Houston territory.

For Houston, QB Zeon Chriss avoided throwing a single incomplete pass, finishing 11-for-11 with 103 yards and a touchdown. He also led all rushers in this one with 75 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

Where Houston’s defense excelled was in shutting down teh run game: the Wildcats’ leading rusher was DJ Giddens, who ran for 50 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. In total, Kansas State totaled 99 rushing yards on 33 carries. QB Avery Johnson had an alright game on the stat sheet, finishing 23-for-39 with 238 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.

This is now Kansas State’s 2nd loss in the Big 12 conference race, which makes things really messy there.

#5 Miami Fights Back to Beat Duke 53-31 After 11 Point Deficit in 3rd Quarter

Miami both started and finished strong. Looking at just the first 10 minutes and the last one and a half quarters, Miami outscored Duke 50-3.

But Duke did score and play well throughout other periods of the game, even doing well enough to hold a 28-17 lead over the Hurricanes that lasted until after midway through the 3rd quarter.

The Blue Devils finished with 405 total yards, in stark contrast to the 526 of the Miami offense led by Cam Ward. Where Miami also had a big leg up on the Blue Devils was in winning the turnover battle 4-2. Miami was able to capitalize by scoring touchdowns on the first 3 turnovers with the final turnover coming late in the 4th when the game was already 53-31.

Duke QB Maalik Murphy had a game characterized by highs and lows and Murphy finished 25-for-41 with 325 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. WR Sahmir Hagans played well, finishing with 9 catches, 139 yards, and a touchdown, while Jordan Moore also added 75 yards and a touchdown on 5 catches, including arguably the catch of the year in the ACC. RB Peyton Jones also contributed 71 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

For Miami, RB Damien Martinez finished with 66 rushing yards, with RB Mark Fletcher also putting up 65 rushing yards and a touchdown. Bigger for the Hurricanes was the Cam Ward and Xavier Restrepo connection, as Ward finished 25-for-41 for 400 yards, 5 touchdowns, and an interception. 3 of those touchdowns went to Restrepo, who finished with 8 catches and 146 receiving yards. Restrepo also became the all-time career receiving yards leader at Miami with 2,573 (and counting).

#1 Oregon Controls All 4 Quarters Over Michigan 38-17

#1 Oregon took the first 7-0 lead against Michigan, and though Michigan responded with a touchdown of its own, the Ducks never trailed.

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel and RB Noah Whittington each were responsible for a pair of touchdowns, as Gabriel threw one to WR Evan Stewart and ran another and Whittington ran a couple.

Oregon WR Tez Johnson suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter which could be a big loss for the Ducks going forward, but in the interim, WR Traeshon Holden helped in his absence with RB Jordan James also taking a load off of the passing offense by running well.

Gabriel finished 22-for-34 for 294 yards and a touchdown while also adding a rushing touchdown, as mentioned. RB Jordan James also finished with 117 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Holden finished with 6 catches and 149 receiving yards.

For Michigan TE Colston Loveland had an impressive 112 receiving yards on 7 catches. Loveland’s statlines are typically impressive because of the fact that Loveland is by far the top target-getter for Michigan pass catchers, and defenses know that. QB Davis Warren was 12-for-21 with 164 yards and 2 touchdowns while Donovan Edwards, Alex Orji, and Kalel Mullings combined for 107 rushing yards on 24 carries.

Ultimately, 270 yards and 17 points is simply not enough for a team like Michigan to overcome the #1 Oregon Ducks.

#13 Indiana Scores 47 Unanswered to Beat Michigan State 47-10

#13 Indiana improves to 9-0 after beating Michigan State 47-10. Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, Michigan State did score the first 10 points, meaning Indiana did trail for the first time this season, which means Army is the final team to have not trailed all season.

Michigan State picked up 123 yards in its first two drives combined, and then only secured another 70 combined yards in its final 10 drives.

Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke was back after missing a game following thumb surgery, and he finished with some solid numbers: 19-for-29 for 263 yards and 4 touchdowns.

WR Elijah Sarratt caught two of those touchdowns, as he finished with 4 catches for 59 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was WR Ke’Shawn Williams who led all pass catchers in this one, though, with 86 receiving yards on 6 catches.

Neither team ran the ball particularly efficiently, as Michigan State’s leading rushers were Alante Brown (2 att, 16 yds), Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams (6 att, 10 yds), and Nate Carter (8 att, 6 yds). All other ball carriers for Michigan State finished with negative yardage, which does admittedly include the sack yardage from the 7 sacks the Indiana defense accrued. For Indiana, the leading rusher was Justice Ellison, who finished with 9 carries and 32 rushing yards.

Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles did come out of the game in the third quarter after getting hit while throwing the ball away, but he finished 16-for-24 with 193 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions before coming out. Backup QB Tommy Schuster finished 4-for-8 with 36 yards.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

4-Star (90) OT Alai Kalaniuvalu commits to BYU

4-Star (90) S Jordan Young commits to Clemson

2026 4-Star (90) S Matt Sieg commits to Penn State

3-Star (89) OT Austin Pay commits to BYU

3-Star (86) DL Blake Belin commits to Georgia Tech

3-Star (85) ATH Bo MacCormack flips from Syracuse to Boston College

3-Star (85) DL Antonio Carter commits to Arkansas State

3-Star (80) LB Gavin Leach commits to USF

Unrated RB Nathan McNeil commits to Iowa