Call it the college football season of chaos.
A year of top-10 teams falling like leaves in October continued with No. 2 Ohio State's 38-10 loss to Southern California on Saturday.
Playing without injured quarterback Julian Sayin, the Buckeyes struggled to keep up with the once-ranked Trojans to become the fourth team ranked No. 2 or higher in the AP Top 25 to lose in the past four weeks. That's 11 top-10 teams to lose in the same span and three straight
weeks No. 2 hast lost — Ohio State, BYU and Notre Dame.
Top-ranked Miami nearly made it losses by Nos. 1-2 for the second time this season — with Shakeup Saturday two weeks ago — before scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns to hold off North Carolina 38-35. No. 4 Indiana also had its hands full with an unranked opponent, needing some late-game heroics to beat Minnesota in overtime.
With Sayin out, Ohio State turned to freshman Luke Fahey, who passed for 260 yards but didn't lead the Buckeyes on a scoring drive in the game's first 57 minutes.
Ohio State has two losses this early in a season for the first time since 2011, the year before Urban Meyer arrived in Columbus. The Buckeyes are 58-2 against unranked teams under coach Ryan Day, with their infamous home loss to Michigan in 2024.
The rest of the top half of the AP poll won, many by lopsided margins.
No. 2 Georgia was among them, forcing four turnovers in a 27-8 win over No. 17 Florida in Atlanta. So was No. 7 UCLA, which improved to 8-0 for the first time since 2005 with a 27-0 blowout of Nevada.
A quarterback change. Matching 60-yard field goals in the final 19 seconds of regulation. A quick touchdown and goal-line stop in overtime.
No. 4 Indiana had to pull out all the stops to keep alive its chances of repeating as national champions.
Paddy McAteer hit a 60-yard field goal at the end of regulation, Grant Wilson threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Becker on the first play of overtime and Indiana closed with a goal-line stand to beat Minnesota 23-16 on Saturday.
The Hoosiers' bid to back up the program's first national championship last season seemed to be doomed when Minnesota's Luke Drzewiecki kicked a 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti refused to call a timeout as the Golden Gophers (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) marched down the field, leaving the Hoosiers little time to get in position for a tying kick.
Becker gave the Hoosiers (8-1, 5-1) life with a sliding 33-yard catch along the sideline and McAteer, Indiana's long-kicking specialist, drilled a 60-yard field goal as time expired.
Wilson, who replaced Josh Hoover in the second half, followed with his TD pass to Becker to open overtime and the Hoosiers sacked Drake Lindsey to close out another tight win after beating Michigan 13-6 in overtime last week.
Whew!
Arizona's Noah Fifita had the bigger numbers. Texas Tech's Tommy Castellanos earned the win after getting the starting nod.
The 13th-ranked Red Raiders made a switch at quarterback after their first loss of the season and Castellanos delivered, accounting for three touchdowns in a 34-26 win over No. 22 Arizona on Saturday.
Coach Joey McGuire made the quarterback change after Will Hammond and the Red Raiders struggled in a 37-24 loss at Cincinnati, saying he was “as frustrated as I’ve ever been in 32 years of coaching.”
McGuire was much happier after Castellanos hurt the Wildcats with his arm and legs to lead Texas Tech to a school record-tying 13th straight home win. The victory also boosts the Red Raiders' Big 12 title and College Football Playoff hopes.
Castellanos threw two TD passes and ran for 113 yards and another score.
Fifita threw for 417 yards and hit Isaiah Mizell on a 94-yard TD, but overthrew Tyler Powell on fourth-and-1 from the Texas Tech 18-yard line with the Wildcats down three in the fourth quarter.
The bottom half of the AP Top 25 had a bit of chaos of its own.
Oregon started the season at No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 before tumbling down and out of the poll.
The Ducks (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten), who were actually favorites against a ranked team, showed they can still play with some of the nation's best teams by knocking off No. 20 Northwestern 34-26 behind Dylan Raiola's three TD passes.
Iowa extended its domination of No. 25 Wisconsin (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) by rolling to a 30-0 win that will likely limit the Badgers' return to the AP Top 25 to a one-week stint. The Hawkeyes (6-2, 3-2) have won five straight in the Heartland Trophy series, outscoring Wisconsin 148-26.
No. 17 SMU may also exit the AP poll after giving up a late touchdown in a 30-27 loss to Syracuse.
Trailing 27-23, the Orange (4-4, 2-4 ACC) got the ball back at their own 32 with 3:36 left. Steve Angeli led Syracuse down the field and hit little-used tight end Noah Meyers on a 2-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to end the Mustangs' four-game winning streak.
No. 24 Oklahoma State rejoined the AP Top 25 this week, but will likely drop back out after a wild 51-49 loss that ended on Iowa State kicker Kyle Konrardy's 34-yard field goal as time expired.
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah improved his Heisman Trophy chances with a strong game against North Carolina. He threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns, including a 9-yard pass to Malachi Toney in the fourth quarter that proved to be the winning score. Toney, also among the Heisman favorites, had seven catches for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith had 10 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
No. 12 Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss kept his name in the mix for the Heisman, throwing for 263 yards and accounting for three touchdowns in a 45-15 win over Auburn.
Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy returned to the field for the No. 23 Tigers' 34-10 win at Arkansas, nearly six months after being wounded in the leg during a shooting at an outdoor concert.
Hardy entered the game late in the first quarter to an ovation from Missouri fans and ran for 42 yards on three carries — 37 on one run.
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