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:

#6 BYU Undefeated No Longer After Kansas Goes on the Road to Win 17-13

#6 BYU had a few opportunities to capitalize against Kansas in its 17-13 loss to the Jayhawks, but Kansas did just enough.

With the scored tied at 10, BYU QB Jake Retzlaff threw an interception on Kansas’ 5-yard line, meaning the teams went into the half tied when the Cougars could have taken a lead before getting the ball to start the second half. Winning the Middle 8 is something most coaches believe in, and it’s easy to understand why when considering how much this cost BYU in terms of momentum.

BYU came out of half and went on a 17-play, 66-yard drive but had to settle for a field goal. This drive took up much of the 3rd quarter. The following drive, Kansas took up the rest of the 3rd quarter and the beginning of the 4th quarter but had to punt. BYU muffed the punt and gave the Jayhawks the ball on the 3 yard line. The muffed punt was capitalized on by the Jayhawks for a touchdown one play later.

BYU would intercept a pass from Kansas QB Jalon Daniels, giving them excellent field position on their 42. But after a first play first down, BYU would have to punt in plus territory on 4th and 11 from the Kansas 47 with just over 7 minutes to go. That’s another opportunity missed.

And finally, with about one minute in the 4th quarter, down 17-13, BYU drove down into the Kansas red zone. On 1st and 10 from the 15, BYU ran for 3. After a Kansas timeout, BYU ran for 1 to make it 3rd and 6, with Kansas calling another timeout. BYU ran it again, gaining no yards, to set up a 4th and 6 from the Kansas 11. After a false start, hurting the Cougars for another 5 yards and almost doubling the yardage needed, Jake Retzlaff was only able to connect with Chase Roberts for 8 yards, coming up 3 yards short. 3 kneel downs later, Kansas had pulled off the upset.

BYU ultimately outgained Kansas 354-242, but a red zone interception, a 17-play drive ending in a field goal, muffing a punt near your own goal line, and a red zone drive ending in a turnover on downs is how to throw away any yardage advantage.

BYU and Colorado now each have one conference loss, while Arizona State and Iowa State both are on the outside looking in with two.

For BYU, Retzlaff finished 18/28 for 192/1/1 and 7/21 on the ground.

Leading rusher in the game was LJ Martin, who finished with 15/76, while Hinckley Ropati also added 8/35, plus 2/34/1 in the passing game. Chase Roberts also contributed 5/71 in the passing game.

For Kansas, Jalon Daniels finished 12/19 for 169/0/1 and 10/15 on the ground. Kansas had a fairly quiet night on the ground, but Devin Neal did lead the team in rushing with 14/52/2. Luke Grimm led all receivers in this game with 4/77.

#12 Georgia Settles In To Control Game over #7 Tennessee, 31-17

Tennessee got off to a hot start in this one, taking a quick 10-0 lead. And from that point forward, it was all Georgia.

In the first quarter, Tennessee was 5/7 on 3rd downs, and had 99 yards (4.1 yards/play). Georgia was 2/5 on 3rd downs and had only 66 yards (but, also 4.1 yards/play).

In the other 3 quarters, however, Tennessee finished 5/11 on 3rd downs compared to Georgia’s 6/9. And Georgia added another 387 yards (7.04 yards/play) compared to Tennessee’s 214 yards (4.46 yards/play) in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter.

For the Dawgs, QB Carson Beck looked more like the Carson Beck of old, finishing 25/40 with 347 yards and 2 touchdowns while also adding 3/32/1 on the ground.

RB Nate Frazier also scored, finishing with a moderate statline of 19/68/1.

Beck distributed the ball well, as 5 Georgia pass catchers finished with at least 50 yards (London Humphreys: 3/63; Dominic Lovett: 3/59; Oscar Delp: 4/56/2; Ben Yurosek: 5/51; Arian Smith: 3/50).

For Tennessee, QB Nico Iamaleava never fully looked comfortable, as he finished 20/33 for 167 yards and an additional 24 yards on the ground, though that factors in negative yardage from the 5 times Georgia sacked him. Iamaleava also lost a fumble, the games only turnover lost.

RB Dylan Sampson led all rushers in this one with 19/101/1, while Peyton Lewis added 6/30. Sampson also finished with 3/16 as a receiving option.

Miles Kitselman (4/46), Squirrel White (6/45), and Bru McCoy (4/38) were the main targets in this one.

Arizona State Goes Into Manhattan And Upsets #16 Kansas State 24-14 to Improve to 8-2

Arizona State raced out to a 24-0 lead over #16 Kansas State, and that was all the scoring the Sun Devils needed to get past the Wildcats.

Kansas State actually outgained Arizona State 412-398 and performed better as far as yards per play was concerned (6.34-5.53).

However, Kansas State lost the turnover battle 3-1, with Arizona State scoring two touchdowns after the first two turnovers and then kneeling the ball once to end the game after the final turnover.

Kansas State also missed several big opportunities and/or made major mistakes offensively that cost them dearly:

1. Interception on 1st drive.

2. Turnover on downs near midfield on 2nd drive.

3. Fumble lost in Arizona State territory on 4th drive.

4. Turnover on downs in goal-to-go situation on 14-play, 60-yard 5th drive.

5. Missed field goal on 13-play, 74-yard drive near 2-minute timeout on 9th drive.

6. Interception on 11-play, 60-yard drive on 10th and final drive.

For Arizona State, QB Sam Leavitt finished 21/34 with 275 yards and 3 passing touchdowns. Leavitt also added 42 rushing yards on 5 carries. RB Cam Skattebo finished with a modest 25/73, but did add 44 receiving yards on 4 catches. Kyson Brown also ran for 12 yards on 6 carries, adding a 14-yard reception. In short, it was a quiet night for the Sun Devils rushing.

But the key of this offense was Jordyn Tyson, who finished with 12 catches for 176 yards and 2 touchdowns, a massive game.

For Kansas State, QB Avery Johnson finished 24/40 with 258/0/2, but he did rush for a touchdown and 21 yards on 6 carries. RB DJ Giddens led all rushers in this game with a statline of 14/133. Dante Cephas (4/65) and Tre Spivey (4/56) were Johnson’s favorite targets in the passing game.

This is Kansas State’s 3rd conference loss, effectively eliminating the Wildcats. But Arizona State is still alive at 5-2 in the conference, while BYU and Colorado sit at 2 conference losses with 2 games to play. Arizona State hosts BYU next week.

#21 South Carolina Beats #23 Missouri With Crazy Last Minute Drive to Win The Mayor’s Cup

Missouri scored a touchdown with 1:10 left to take a 30-27 lead over South Carolina, but it was South Carolina who would have the last laugh as the Gamecocks drove the length of the field to score and secure the final result of 34-30 with 15 seconds to spare.

South Carolina would go on to outgain Missouri in this one 462-381 (plus, 7-5.6 per play). South Carolina would also outperform Missouri on conversion downs, as South Carolina went 6/15, compared to Missouri’s 2/11. However, South Carolina’s 2/5 on 4th down meant some more empty drives.

Missouri did not find the end zone until the 2nd half, but its second half drives were solid up until the final interception with a few seconds left:

• Touchdown (10 plays, 66 yards)

• Field Goal (9/30)

• Touchdown (4/66)

• Touchdown (8/66)

• Interception (2/-6)

South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers threw for 5 touchdowns, including the game winning touchdown to Raheim Sanders. Sellers finished 21/30 with 353/5/1. Sellers also added 45 yards on the ground on 14 carries. Sanders finished 19/53 on the ground and 3/21/1 receiving.

Joshua Simon, Nyck Harbor, Jared Brown, and Michael Smith were the other pass catchers to score a touchdown, with Dalevon Campbell leading the game’s receivers with 2/86.

For Mizzou, QB Brady Cook was 21/31 with 237/1/1. RB Nate Noel finished 27/150/1. And of the 21 completions, 14 of them went to Theo Wease Jr. (6/85) and Luther Burden III (8/69/1).

This win brings #21 South Carolina to 7-3 (5-3), with just Wofford and @ Clemson remaining on the schedule, while Missouri falls to 7-3 (3-3), leaving just a road trip to Mississippi State before finishing the season with a game at home vs. Arkansas.

New Mexico Comes Back And Scores Last Minute Touchdown to Shock #18 Washington State 38-35

Washington State took a 28-14 lead into halftime, but New Mexico fought back to come back and win the 2nd half 24-7 to win this one 38-35.

Led by QB Devon Dampier, New Mexico finished with 534 yards of offense, including 360 rushing yards. Dampier finished with a statline of 28/193/3 on the ground, while also adding a performance of 11/25 for 174 and a touchdown passing.

RB Eli Sanders also finished with 108 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Luke Wysong (5/71), Ryan Davis (3/50), and Caleb Medford (2/45/1) were the 3 targets to catch 10 of Dampier’s 11 completions.

For Washington State, it was WR Kyle Williams who did much of the damage for Washington State offensively. Williams finished with 9/181/3 receiving, while Cooper Matthews (2/71) and Carlos Hernandez (4/67/1) also contributed well.

QB John Mateer finished 25/36 for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air, while also contributing 9/65/1 on the ground. Leo Pulalasi (10/58) and Wayshawn Parker (11/47) also contributed some on the ground.

This upset keeps the dream alive for New Mexico to make a bowl, as the Lobos are off next week before traveling to Hawaii in the season finale to decide if New Mexico is bowl bound or not. Washington State, on the other hand, falls to 8-2 and can likely no longer be considered an outside shot for an at-large spot in the College Football Playoff. The Cougars finish the season with a road trip to Oregon State before hosting Wyoming to close the season.

Explosive Florida Offense Is Too Much for #22 LSU, Handing Tigers 4th Loss of Season 27-16

Florida finished the 2nd half on a 17-3 run to pull away from LSU in this one, 27-16.

The Tigers outgained the Gators in this one, finishing with 392 yards to Florida’s 339. But Florida was much more explosive, which led to more points (evidently), as Florida finished with almost 8 yards per play (7.88), while LSU finished with only 4.26 yards per play.

Additionally, LSU was 15/28 on conversion downs (53.57%) compared to Florida’s 3/9 performance (33.33%). However, just by having 28 conversion down attempts, it can be clear to even those who did not watch the game that LSU was consistently on the brink of losing the ball while also not even averaging 4.5 yards per play.

In the long run, being able to consistently move the ball and survive on conversion downs is good. But, over the course of one game, it’s easy to see the narrative of not converting on enough (or hardly any) opportunities when almost 400 yards and 15 3rd and 4th down conversions leads to a single touchdown.

LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier finished 27/47 with 260 yards and a touchdown, good for 5.5 yards per attempt.

RB Caden Durham finished 20/91, while Josh Williams also ran the ball 13 times for 69 yards. Nussmeier was also sacked 7 times, twice by Shemar James, which obviously hurt the LSU rushing totals. In the passing game, 5 Tigers finished with at least 30 receiving yards, with Aaron Anderson (7/72/1) and Mason Taylor (6/59) leading the way.

For Florida, Jadan Baugh led all rushers with a statline of 6/65/1, but most of that was thanks to a 55-yard touchdown run. Ja’Kobi Jackson (6/37/1) and Montrell Johnson Jr. (2/14) also carried the ball some last night. To highlight the value of the explosiveness of the Florida backfield, removing each of these three rusher’s longest run, Florida ran for 31 yards on their 11 other carries (2.82 ypc). But on all non-kneel downs combined, the Gators ran for 116 yards on 14 carries (8.29 ypc).

QB DJ Lagway threw some beautiful passes, finishing 13/26 for 226 yards and a touchdown. Elijhah Badger led all receivers in this game with 6/131/1. Chimere Dike was the only other Gator who caught multiple passes, finishing with 2/47.

With the win, Florida improves to 5-5 and just needs to either win at home against Ole Miss or go on the road and beat Florida State to be bowl eligible in what was expected to be a particularly challenging season.

Stanford Hits 52-Yard Walk-Off Field Goal to Beat #19 Louisville 38-35

Louisville had a two touchdown lead as last as 7 minutes to go in this game, but ultimately the #19-ranked Cardinals would fall to Stanford as Stanford would close the game on a 17-0 run to pull off the upset as 20.5 to 21 point underdogs for its first home win as a member of the ACC.

Stanford had a few key statistics pointing in its favor: conversion down performance (8/19 compared to 4/12), penalties (3/30 compared to 13/102), and time of possession (35:07 compared to 24:53).

Where the time of possession mattered most is that with 9:44 remaining, Louisville took a 35-21 lead. Stanford took another 3 minutes to score a touchdown and cut the deficit to 7. Over the next 4 drives between both teams, Stanford would score the 10 points it needed to win, with Louisville running 12 plays but only using a little over 3 minutes when the clock was already well below 7 minutes, giving Stanford the opportunity to complete the comeback. The penalties mattered the most when Stanford got the ball with 4 seconds left from its own 45. But a 15-yard penalty and then an offsides gave Stanford the chance to kick a 52-yarder.

Louisville QB Tyler Shough finished 26/39 with 270/1/1. This 270 was largely led by Chris Bell (9/112/1) and Ja’Corey Brooks (9/104). Louisville’s leading rushers were Duke Watson (11/117/3), Donald Chaney (6/21/1), and Keyjuan Brown (7/21).

For Stanford, QB Ashton Daniels finished 22/33 with 298/3/1, with a majority of those completions and yards going to Emmett Mosley V (13/168/3). Stanford struggled on the ground, with Cole Tabb leading the rushing effort (11/35).

#17 Colorado Controls Game Against Utah 49-24; Travis Hunter Also Takes Control of Heisman Conversation

Travis Hunter did a little bit of everything, including take control as the betting favorite in the Heisman race, as #17 Colorado dispatched Utah with relative ease en route to a final result of 49-24.

Hunter finished with 5 catches for 55 yards while also running for a touchdown late on a broken play that was meant to be a passing touchdown for Hunter. Hunter also finished with an interception, a pass deflection, and 3 tackles.

Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders looked sharp for most of yesterday, finishing 30/41 with 340 yards, 3 touchdowns, an interception, and a fumble lost. 4 pass catchers finished with most of the work: Drelon Miller (6/108/1), LaJohntay Wester (10/77), Will Sheppard (5/71/2), and Hunter (5/55, as mentioned). RB Isaiah Augustave also ran well, finishing with a statline of 7/59/1.

For Utah, it struggled to get the offense moving consistently, as it has for much of this season. QB Isaac Wilson finished 21/40 with 236/2/3 and a lost fumble. Leading rushers on the day were Mike Mitchell (7/28) and Micah Bernard (11/20) – fairly uninspiring numbers, to say the least. Bernard did add 6 catches for 22 yards, at least.

Carsen Ryan (4/78) and Dorian Singer (5/65/1) were the Utes’ leading receivers. Utah now finds itself on a 6 game losing streak with wins over Iowa State and at UCF necessary to still salvage a bowl game for the season after starting 4-0.

#1 Oregon Survives at Wisconsin, Rallies to Win 16-13

#1 Oregon was on upset watch for much of the second half, as Wisconsin took a 13-6 lead into the 4th quarter.

But an 11-yard touchdown run from Jordan James tied it up towards the beginning of the 4th quarter, and a late 24-yard field goal from Atticus Sappington gave the Ducks the deciding points.

For as close as the game was on the scoreboard, none of the normal statistics favored Wisconsin, including conversion downs (6/17 vs. 2/14), total yardage (354 vs. 226), yards per play (4.99 vs. 3.65), total first downs (19 vs. 15), penalties (7/55 vs. 8/56), turnovers (both with 1), and time of possession (32:23 vs. 27:37).

But in a low scoring game like this one, having five 3-and-outs in 11 total drives does not hurt as much when one scoring drive can drastically change the complexion of the game.

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel had a fairly quiet day, finishing 22/31 with 218/0/1, with Evan Stewart being his favorite target and leading all receivers with 92 yards on 10 catches. Running the ball, Jordan James got a bulk of the carries, finishing with 121 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.

For Wisconsin, Braedyn Locke struggled, finishing 12/28 with 96/1/1. Vinny Anthony II was the only Badger with more than 13 receiving yards, as he finished with 4/53. Running the ball, Tawee Walker finished with a statline of 20/97, while Darrion Dupree also added 10/33.

#3 Texas Lets Arkansas Stick Around A Little Bit, But Pulls Away 20-10 Late

#3 Texas did not look incredibly sharp, but did enough to keep Arkansas at bay and never a serious threat as the Longhorns won 20-10 in Fayetteville.

Texas took a 10-0 lead into halftime, which they extended with a Bert Auburn field goal to go up 13-0. But Arkansas stuck around, scoring a touchdown, forcing a 3-and-out, and then scoring a field goal to make it 13-10 with a little under 13 minutes remaining. But, 8 plays later, Quinn Ewers found Matthew Golden in the end zone to make it a 20-10 game.

Arkansas fumbled with just under 7 minutes left, and then never got the ball back, and Texas salted the game away in the last 6:55.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers looked fairly pedestrian, finishing 20/32 with 176 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Even though he finished with -5 rushing yards (including sack yardage), it was a 4th and 2 rush that went for 3 yards that ultimately end this one and allowed for Texas to kneel it out. Jaydon Blue (14/83) and Tre Wisner (17/59) also ran fairly well. Matthew Golden only caught 2 passes for 21 yards, but both were touchdowns, as Isaiah Bond led all Longhorns with a statline of 4/48.

For Arkansas, QB Taylen Green was good to play, and he finished 17/25 for 149 yards and an interception. He was sacked 6 times, including 2 from Colin Simmons, which would explain his negative rushing yardage despite running 10 times. The Razorbacks were led by Ja’Quinden Jackson (11/56/1) and Rashod Dubinion (7/30) on the ground. Andrew Armstrong led all pass catchers in the game with 6 catches and 74 yards.

For Arkansas, they drop to 5-5 but do host Louisiana Tech next week, which should get them to bowl eligibility. Then, they travel to Missouri to end their season. For Texas, they improved to 9-1 with a home game against Kentucky next week before traveling to Texas A&M, a contest with the Aggies which will likely serve as a de facto elimination game for the SEC Championship.