College Football 2023: Winners and Losers from Week 9
Had you taken a glimpse at this week's college football schedule, there wouldn't have been many matchups that caught your eye.
Yes, there were some rivalry games, but there were just two showdowns between ranked opponents (Oregon-Utah and Duke-Louisville).
That didn't keep it from being an exciting day, though. And that was even with neither of the afternoon's ranked games being worth a watch. In those, Oregon dominated Utah 35-6, and Louisville shut out Duke 23-0.
Still, there was a bit of drama in a historic Kansas upset of Oklahoma and in USC surviving a last-minute two-point conversion by Cal in a 50-49 classic. Washington had to sweat out a win over Stanford, too, and Ohio State didn't have an easy time beating Wisconsin.
Georgia unleashed a season's worth of up-and-down fury on rival Florida, and there was plenty more action.
Let's take a look at the winners and losers from Week 9, and check back later this evening for updates.
Winner: Georgia Bringing the Cocktails
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No matter what they call it after abandoning the nickname a few years back, the Georgia-Florida game will forever be known to those in the South as the World's Largest Cocktail Party.
If the Bulldogs keep playing like they did Saturday against the Gators, they may have their fans toasting to a third consecutive national championship at the end of the season.
It's been an uneven campaign so far for coach Kirby Smart's team after losing quarterback Stetson Bennett and so much talent to the NFL, but the schedule hasn't been very challenging, either. At times, it appears UGA is just toying with opponents, playing up or down to competition.
When it matters most, though, the Bulldogs are tearing it up, and they tore into Florida in Jacksonville with a thorough demolishing in a 43-20 win that was worse than the final score.
Florida had been playing much better in recent weeks, but Georgia's defense put an end to that, suffocating the Gators' rushing attack early while building a lead and doing pretty much whatever it wanted to offensively.
Daijun Edwards had a pair of rushing scores, Carson Beck threw for 315 yards and the offensive line opened gaping holes throughout a first half that saw Georgia build a 26-7 halftime lead. After spotting Florida a touchdown, the Dawgs never looked back.
Losing star tight end Brock Bowers to surgery hurt, but the Dawgs didn't lose that championship swagger. This is the Georgia team we've been waiting to see, and it looks like it may be a tough out down the stretch for anybody.
Loser: Oklahoma's Close-Game Struggles Reemerge to Make Kansas History
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As Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel's final pass failed to find the hands of a Sooners receiver and the Kansas fans rushed the field after a historic upset, the Big 12's last unbeaten team fell.
In a game of twists, turns, a long weather delay and so many mistakes by both sides, Kansas somehow upended the sixth-ranked Sooners 38-33 for their first win over a top-10 opponent in Lawrence since a Troy Aikman-led Sooners team lost there in 1984.
The loss brought back nightmares from last year's Sooners team that went 0-5 in one-score games. After his team beat Texas and UCF in tight contests this year, coach Brent Venables perhaps thought those days were over. Kansas had other ideas.
KU backup quarterback Jason Bean erased some major mistakes with a massive play as OU's defense broke down at the biggest moment. Bean found Lawrence Arnold for 37 yards on 4th-and-6 from the Sooners' 46-yard line with the game on the line. Kani Walker got turned around in coverage, allowing Arnold to break free and sprint inside the 10.
Hometown star Devin Neal ran the last nine yards in for the go-ahead touchdown on his way to a 112-yard effort, and Kansas' defense bent just enough but didn't break in the end.
"We just had to fight through adversity," Neal told the Fox crew after the game. "There was so much going on with the rain, the elements, that was a good defense we faced. So for us to come back and keep battling, keep battling and keep executing late down the stretch, means a lot for the offense."
This was KU's first win over Oklahoma since 1997, and the Sooners now must regroup in a hurry as its College Football Playoff hopes take a major hit.
Winner: Ducks' Domination in Salt Lake City
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Regardless of Oregon's wide-right, last-second loss to Washington a couple of weeks ago, the Ducks are one of the nation's best teams, and they continue to show it every week.
Case in point: Teams don't just go in to play Utah in Salt Lake City's hostile environment and obliterate the Utes. But that's just what Dan Lanning's Ducks did on Saturday, taking one of college football's only two Top 25 showdowns and turning it into a laugher.
Oregon won 35-6, and it was thorough.
Utah's vaunted defense had carried it throughout a first half of the season that saw coach Kyle Whittingham announce that starting quarterback Cam Rising was taking a medical redshirt after being unable to come all the way back from a knee injury last year.
Whittingham has gotten creative to fill offensive gaps, moving safety Sione Vaki over to play running back and turning former walk-on quarterback Bryson Barnes into a playmaker and hero. But those looked like smoke and mirrors against the Ducks.
Even more shocking, however, was what Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and a sturdy stable of runners were able to do against the two-time defending Pac-12 champion Utes.
Nix came into the game leading the nation in completion percentage and did nothing to damage those numbers, going 24-of-38 for 248 yards and a pair of scoring tosses. Defensively, Oregon flexed an SEC-caliber defense under former UGA defensive coordinator Lanning and harassed Barnes with two interceptions.
This was a mismatch from the beginning, and even a one-loss Oregon looks like a playoff contender.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Loser: Cal's Missed Chances at An Upset
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When you have a losing record and are facing a ranked team searching to get back on track, you simply cannot give them extra possessions.
That's exactly what the California Bears did at home against USC on Saturday, costing them a chance to hand the reeling Trojans a third consecutive loss. Instead, coach Lincoln Riley's team turned two fumbles on the wrong side of the field into touchdowns.
Both of them were in the fourth quarter, too. Instead of a seven-point lead, the Bears found themselves simply giving away a pair of touchdowns. Even so, coach Justin Wilcox's team still had a chance to win the game but couldn't convert a last-minute two-point conversion in a frenetic 50-49 loss.
As poor and porous as USC's defense is—how has it not fired coordinator Alex Grinch?—Cal charged back downfield easily in the closing minutes, scored and went for two points. Despite an awful game, Jaylin Smith batted down the go-ahead pass and USC won.
Following losses to Notre Dame and Utah the past two weeks, USC couldn't afford a loss. Even with some of the national talk about Williams sitting out the rest of the season, he played and did well.
Now, with plenty of potential to win the Pac-12 in front of them, the Trojans simply have to improve their defense, but that hasn't happened during the entire Riley-Grinch era. Cal gave away a golden opportunity Saturday.
Winner: Jawhar Jordan Leads Cardinal Crush
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Duke got banged-up quarterback Riley Leonard back for the road test against Louisville, but since they don't often let signal-callers play defense, he couldn't do anything to tackle Jawhar Jordan.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, Leonard's teammates couldn't, either.
Doubly unfortunate for injury-riddled Duke, even the dual-threat starting quarterback who helped his team to a winning record in coach Mike Elko's first season a year ago and got off to a brilliant start this year couldn't do much against the Cardinals defense, either.
Despite an ugly loss to Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago, it's time to take coach Jeff Brohm's Cardinals seriously. Nothing was easy for the Dukies in a lopsided 23-0 loss, and again, Brohm's team looked like it belonged in the ACC title conversation.
The defense deserves some headlines for sure, as Duke ran zero plays in Louisville's red zone, but one of the nation's top runners enjoyed a career day against the team that entered leading the ACC in scoring defense.
Jordan piled up a career-high 163 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns and was, at times, unstoppable. Even though Louisville never really got its passing game going, Jordan shined.
It may be difficult to keep either Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis and North Carolina signal-caller Drake Maye from winning Conference Player of the Year, but Jordan belongs in the conversation. He was the best player on the field Saturday.
Loser: Tom Allen, In a Game Where Both Teams Took L's
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Penn State deserved to be a loser on Saturday in a zombie special performance against Indiana on the heels of last week's emotional setback to Ohio State.
But Hoosiers coach Tom Allen one-upped (one-downed?) a lackluster Nittany Lions performance with one of the most tone-deaf decisions you'll ever see a coach make with the game on the line.
Trailing by three points with 5:02 left to play, Hoosiers defensive back Josh Sanguinetti served PSU quarterback Drew Allar his first interception in 301 attempts, setting up IU with a 1st-and-10 from the Lions' 21-yard line.
Rather than go for a stunning road win that could have elevated a two-win team, Allen instead called three consecutive Josh Henderson runs (which went for four total yards), settling for a game-tying field goal rather than trying for the lead.
Penn State got the ball back, Allar popped a 57-yard touchdown pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith to surge back in front. Then, the 10th-ranked Lions added a sack-fumble of Brendan Sorsby that bounced through the back of the end zone for a tack-on safety in what ultimately became a 33-24 PSU win.
Those aren't exactly footnotes, but Allen entered the game on a scorching hot seat, and his Hoosiers program was on life support. When you get the opportunity for a dagger go-ahead touchdown on a momentum-swinging pick, you take it when you have nothing to lose.
Instead, he played about as conservatively as you can, and the Hoosiers lost the game. It wouldn't be a shocker if Allen lost his job next, and it may be soon.
Winner: Attack of the Drones
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Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry thought he was going to have a difficult decision a couple of weeks ago when former starting quarterback Grant Wells returned from injury. But Kyron Drones' play made the decision easy.
The talented Baylor transfer has settled into his role as the proud program's starter, and Virginia Tech has reason for excitement for the first time in several years.
The Hokies have won three of four and cemented a bit of a statement win on Thursday night by dominating Syracuse at home, 38-10. Surprisingly, they are 3-1 in the ACC in Pry's second season and 4-4 overall.
"Kyron's the guy right now," Pry said a couple of weeks ago.
Drones is showing why. Against the Orange, he threw for 194 yards and ran for 56 more. During the strong stretch for Tech, Drones has thrown six touchdown passes to no interceptions and ran for a couple more.
While the Hokies didn't look like much of a conference contender threat in a three-touchdown loss to Florida State on October 7, they've handled taking-care-of-business games against Syracuse, Wake Forest and Pittsburgh.
With Louisville, Boston College, North Carolina State and Virginia left on the schedule, several winning opportunities present themselves, and Drones is settling into looking like a future star.
Loser: Shane Beamer's South Carolina Honeymoon
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Unlike Tom Allen, there's no concern over Shane Beamer's job. But all the buzz surrounding his South Carolina program has taken a major hiatus.
The latest step in a major disappointment of a season for the Gamecocks came on the road against another talented-but-underachieving team in Texas A&M. The Aggies used a mixture of big plays and strong defense to put Beamer's bunch away 30-17.
The past couple of weeks, Beamer has been the talk of social media with some bizarre, complaining postgame press conferences that seem to focus on everything but the fact that he isn't doing a good coaching job.
Last weekend at Missouri, he barked about the road facilities. He also took heat earlier this year for throwing his defensive players under the proverbial bus after the loss to Florida. You almost thought he'd complain about Kyle Field's crowd being too loud Saturday.
He didn't, but the bottom line is the Gamecocks are 2-6 and 1-5 in the SEC after a loss to an Aggies team that had previously sputtered offensively before getting well against Carolina with 354 total yards and going 4-of-4 in fourth-down conversions.
It should have been worse. It appeared Max Wright dragged his foot in the end zone on a pass that was ruled incomplete and left A&M having to kick a field goal.
Facing Beamer on the schedule is a tougher-than-you-think, out-of-conference date against Jacksonville State next week, followed by Vanderbilt. Even if South Carolina wins those, games remain against Kentucky and Clemson.
Now, they have to run the table to make a bowl. It's a far cry from the team that shocked Tennessee and Clemson to close the regular season a year ago.
Winner: Rhett Lashlee's High-Flying Offense
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SMU may have felt a bit scalded by the Big 12 when conference expansion passed it by and the conference elected to invite UCF, BYU, Cincinnati and Houston. Losses to TCU and Oklahoma this season may prove the Mustangs aren't quite ready for the Power Five.
But they're getting primed for the ACC next year, anyway, by dispatching AAC competition right now. After another offensive explosion Saturday, the Mustangs may be showing they're Tulane's biggest competition before they head out.
Coach Rhett Lashlee's team exploded for 52 first-half points on its way to a 69-10 embarrassment of struggling Tulsa.
In the past four games, they've put up 34, 31, 55 and 69 points in consecutive victories that has pushed their record to 6-2 on the year and 4-0 in the conference. Rice and Memphis may be tough outs coming up, but Lashlee's offense has found its stride.
Heading into a meaningless fourth quarter up 63 points, SMU had scored double-digit points in eight consecutive quarters.
Transitioning from Tanner Mordecai (who transferred to Wisconsin) to former highly touted prospect Preston Stone took some time, but everything is trucking now. Stone was brilliant against the Golden Hurricane, throwing for three touchdowns and 371 yards.
He kicked back and watched a large part of the second half of Saturday's blowout, and the shootout with JT Daniels and Rice next week should be fun.
Loser: Washington's Puzzling Lapse (Despite the Win)
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All the way through the last-second Oregon win a couple of weeks ago, Washington looked like arguably the best team in the country.
With Heisman Trophy front-runner Michael Penix Jr. leading the charge at quarterback, the nation's most complete group of wide receivers and an opportunistic defense, the Huskies looked dangerous.
Now, after the past two weeks, they look vulnerable heading into a grueling stretch against No. 24 USC, No. 13 Utah, No. 11 Oregon State and Washington State.
Will the real Huskies stand up? Are they the beast from the first quarter of the season? Or are they the team that got lucky beating an inferior Arizona State 15-7 and let Stanford hang around before finally dispatching the Cardinal 42-33 on Saturday night?
Stanford actually had the ball late down by just two points and turned the ball over on downs, allowing the Huskies a tack-on touchdown, but this was another sweaty-palmer.
Similar to how USC got bailed out by quarterback Caleb Williams in the survival game against California, Washington needed another fantastic performance from Penix to win. He threw for 369 yards and four scores, but it was not his best night accuracy-wise.
With the way Washington is playing, the door appears cracked in the Pac-12 for other teams like one-loss Oregon and USC.
Sure, the Huskies won the game, and you aren't going to twirl a perfect game every time out, but you also can't play with fire as much as the Huskies have recently. Were they looking ahead to the stretch that will define their season? Maybe. But they'd better get sharper in a hurry.
Winner: Tennessee's Vaunted Rushing Attack
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Tennessee entered Saturday night's road grudge match with rival Kentucky leading the SEC in rushing offense, and Jaylen Wright was the biggest star of the bunch leading the charge.
So, had you predicted the Vols would grind away a 33-27 victory over the Wildcats in Lexington by pounding the rock and added in that a healthy Wright's final carry of the night would come with 8:30 left in the third quarter, you'd have gotten several sideways looks.
Fortunately for the Vols, they have a stable of other stellar runners, and sophomore third-stringer Dylan Sampson was simply too good to take off the field down the stretch.
On Tennessee's 12-play, 65-yard drive that gave the Vols breathing room and a nine-point advantage in the fourth, Sampson ran six times for 25 yards and caught two passes for 28 yards and two huge first downs. His 12-yard scoring scamper was enormous for breathing room.
Then, as the Vols ran out the clock, Sampson's 24-yard run ended Kentucky's hopes.
"Deep room, and we've got some young guys in there who are really good, too," Vols coach Josh Heupel told ESPN after the game. "They're smart, they're competitive, they run hard, do a great job of reading what's going on up front. The five bigs were great tonight, the tight ends were awesome and the pass game was good enough. Was a good win."
Wright finished with 120 rushing yards on just 11 carries, and Sampson added 115 all-purpose yards as Tennessee piled up 481 yards. When you toss in quarterback Joe Milton III's best game of the year, those are the ingredients for a major late-season win.
Loser: Anybody Trying to Guard Marvelous Marvin
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Several wide receivers around the nation have put up bigger numbers than Ohio State's marvelous Marvin Harrison Jr.
Guys like LSU's Malik Nabers, Washington's Rome Odunze, Missouri's Luther Burden III and Oregon's Troy Franklin deserve some consideration for hardware and accolades. But there's nobody better than Harrison, and that may not just be at the wide receiver position.
"I think he's the best player in the country," Ohio State coach Ryan Day told Fox after Saturday night's tough 24-10 win over Wisconsin. "It's hard because they put so much attention on him, but he just continues to make plays."
Harrison added six catches for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Badgers, despite plenty of extra attention. On his second touchdown grab, he went up with both hands, plucked the ball out of the air, dragged a foot and took a hit.
It was the kind of play you just can't teach. He's special, and he should win the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the nation's top pass-catcher. He now has 48 catches for 889 yards and eight scores so far this year.
When you factor in just how much the Buckeyes offense has been in a transition mode this year with new quarterback Kyle McCord, the added attention on him with Emeka Egbuka missing some injury time and other factors, there's an argument to be made he belongs in the Heisman conversation.
Getting do-it-all running back TreVeyon Henderson's explosive play-making ability back for Saturday was huge for Ohio State, as he piled up 207 yards from scrimmage, but if he's the home run hitter, Harrison's the batting champion.
He's an invaluable superstar.
Winner: UCLA's Relentless Rush
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Shedeur Sanders may have a hard time getting out of bed tomorrow.
The Colorado Buffaloes quarterback has reached warrior status as big of a pounding as he has taken this year. So goes the difficult early stages of building a program, and while his dad tries to outfit the Buffs' roster, the younger Sanders is experiencing the growing pains.
Literally.
Colorado entered Saturday's game against UCLA 130th in the nation, allowing 35 sacks. They'll fall in the rankings after Sanders again took a beating in a 28-16 loss to the Bruins. He was sacked seven times, and it seemed like he got hit so many times, his facemask saw as much turf time as his cleats.
It was worse than the seven sacks show, too.
The Bruins—led by Laiatu Latu's amazing relentlessness—accomplished their game plan of staying in Sanders' face. Latu is a first-round NFL draft talent, and he played like it, registering two sacks and causing two more.
Colorado has issues. The Buffs are 4-4 and 1-4 in the league. They can't run the ball effectively, they suffer far too many penalties, and they don't have enough playmakers on defense yet. But you can't win games if you can't give your star quarterback enough time to see the field.
All that early-season talk is dying a slow, painful death as the issues continue to arise. This year is a strong first step, but the Buffs aren't going to win many games with these miscues.
Loser: Carolina Collapse
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Bolstered by an offensive master class of a fourth quarter, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets stormed back for a 46-42 win over North Carolina. The ACC Network cameras caught stunned Carolina face after stunned Carolina face on the sideline.
But it's hard to be shocked by the Tar Heels falling flat on their faces defensively, anymore. It's happened time and time again during the Mack Brown era.
This program has enjoyed some halcyon offensive days with Sam Howell and now Drake Maye at the helm, but the defense has fallen woefully behind, and Saturday night in Atlanta was the latest chapter in a horror story.
The Yellow Jackets scored 22 fourth-quarter points and had—(this is not a misprint)—246 rushing yards in the fourth quarter alone. Factor in Tech quarterback Haynes King's 287 passing yards and four touchdowns, and you've got another absolute embarrassment of a loss for North Carolina.
For the game, Tech rolled up 635 offensive yards, went 8-of-13 on third-down conversions and piled up 29 first downs. Dontae Smith finished with 178 rushing yards, King added 90 and Jamal Haynes had 80 more.
It's their second consecutive setback against teams that had no business staying close. Last week, Virginia beat the Heels, and now the Yellow Jackets evened their record at 4-4 with a big-time upset. Coach Brent Key continues to do more with less in rebuilding that program.
Meanwhile, Carolina should probably fall out of the Top 25 with its second embarrassing loss in a row. There isn't an excuse for how bad the defense played once again.
Winner: Arizona's Resounding Statement
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Not so long ago, Arizona was a guaranteed win and a laughingstock in the Pac-12. But hiring Jedd Fisch continues to prove as the correct call.
After a 1-11 season to start his tenure in 2021, he had the Wildcats up to 5-7 a season ago. Most importantly, he was recruiting well and fielded a young, exciting football team. Everything built to Saturday night, when the Wildcats had a chance to make a national statement.
Fisch's young team didn't let that opportunity slip by, stunning the No. 11 Oregon State Beavers 27-24 and watching their fans storm the field afterward.
Two of those massive recruiting victories showed up in a major way for Fisch against Oregon State, as redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita and his former Servite (California) High School teammate, Tetairoa McMillan torched the Beavers time and time again.
Fifita wasn't exactly a highly rated signal-caller, but despite being undersized at 5'11", he's been electrifying since taking over for the injured Jayden de Laura. He was again against the Beavers, going 25-of-32 for 275 yards and a trio of touchdowns.
McMillan was a superstar prospect, and he has been a difference-maker since getting on campus and was in the biggest win of the Fisch era, catching eight passes for 80 yards and scoring a touchdown.
Oregon State's decision to try to fake a field goal at the end of the first half and coming away with zero points loomed large, and Arizona took the momentum of being tied at halftime and surged to an impressive second half to win.
It hasn't been an overnight rebuild for Fisch, but the Wildcats are now 5-3 and a tough out for anybody on their schedule. "Bear down" is back.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
