Gameday

Teams (like PSU) scramble to salvage season

With the end of Daylight Saving Time, salvage operations have commenced at the bases of numerous college football programs that possessed high hopes for singular achievement during the preseason.

Seven teams that broke training camp ranked in the Top 20, including five in the Big Ten, are scrambling to create something meaningful from a season that went downhill faster than a setting sun in November.

From the Pacific Northwest to Happy Valley, postseason plans now lay in partial ruin under the puffy cumulus clouds of Autumn skies.

Entering last weekend's action, preseason No. 2 Oregon, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Washington and No. 18 Penn State were recalibrating measures of success for the 2026 season.

Once positioned among the College Football Playoff hopefuls, all seven teams had dropped out of the AP Top 25 by the start of Week 9 on Oct. 26.

After upsetting then-No. 2 Ohio State last weekend, USC (7-2) may have the best shot at late-season redemption.

A new $200 million state-of-the-art football facility, the nation's top recruiting class, and billboards that proclaimed "The time is now" justifiably raised expectations in Los Angeles.

Now in his fifth season as head coach of the Men of Troy, Lincoln Riley remained philosophical as two losses jeopardized his team's national title aspirations.

"When you're a head coach of a blue-blood school, you have to be ready to weather the storms, the overly positive or the overly negative," Riley said. "Typically, what I've learned from doing this for a few years -- I haven't learned it all -- but the truth typically lies somewhere in the middle. And that's typically where it's at, even if you know that it's going to sensationalize. And so my job is to stay steady."

From their seats in the same boat, Oregon (5-3), Texas A&M (4-4), Oklahoma (4-4), Michigan (5-3), Washington (5-3) and Penn State (4-4) are on the lookout for better times ahead.

A strong finish and a second-tier bowl victory might induce the necessary course correction.

Whirlwind offense...finally

In the highest scoring game of the weekend, Kyle Konrardy kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to lift Iowa State to an upset victory over then-No. 24 Oklahoma State, 51-49.

In their two previous games, the Cyclones had scored a total of 13 points in losses to BYU (24-10) and Arizona (39-3).

For Iowa State, which entered the game ranked 110th in total offense, the point total was the program's highest in a Big 12 game since 2021.

Konrardy has now successfully converted 23 consecutive field goal attempts from inside 45 yards.

Each of the last 11 games between Oklahoma State and Iowa State has been decided by seven or fewer points. Since the NCAA Division I split in 1978, the only longer such streak between FBS opponents was established by Arizona and Cal (12 games from 1987 to 1998).

Try the Heimlich

A social media post wryly referred to Boise State's 46-45 win over Texas State as "the rare and coveted Double Choke" in which both teams surrendered double-digit leads in the second half.

Contributing to the grim postmortem were four consecutive failed 2-point conversion attempts in the fourth quarter, including three by Boise State.

After trailing 28-3 at the half, Texas State scored 36 unanswered points. The Bobcats closed to within 3 points at the end of the third quarter while forcing three Boise State punts and a turnover.

"The third quarter was one of the worst quarters of football that I've ever been a part of," said Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson.

The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter.

Living on the edge

Like a gymnast who teeters on the beam but seems always to regain balance, Indiana won its second straight overtime game, besting Minnesota 23-16.

The Hoosiers (8-1) have now won four Big Ten games this season by seven points or less.

Indiana needed a career-long 60-yard field goal from Paddy McAteer as time expired to tie the game at 16-16. McAteer is a kickoff specialist who had attempted only three field goals this season, converting once from 21 yards out.

McAteer's kick followed Luke Drzewiecki's career-long FG of 60 yards for Minnesota with 19 seconds left in regulation.

Winning west with D

New Mexico remained atop the Mountain West Conference by winning at San Jose State for the first time since 1969 (seven losses and a tie), 21-16.

The Lobos are 7-1 overall for just the second time in 88 years and 4-0 for the first time in Mountain West play.

New Mexico has allowed 20 points or fewer in 12 consecutive games which is the longest such streak for a non-Power 4 conference team since Louisiana Tech achieved the mark in 1992. The Lobos' program record in the category is 13 consecutive games spanning the 1963 and '64 seasons.

The only team in the nation with multiple takeaways in every game it has played this season, New Mexico has won a program-record 10 straight conference games, matching Utah as active leaders in that FBS category.

Statistically, New Mexico is tied for fourth nationally in total defense and ranks fifth in rushing defense and seventh in passing efficiency defense.

Notable

– Ohio State (6-2) hasn't lost two games this early in a season since 2011. With last weekend's loss to USC, the Buckeyes are now 58-2 against unranked teams under head coach Ryan Day.

– In a 49-10 win over FIU,

Liberty (7-1) turned the ball over by interception for the first time this season. The team's defense has held six straight opponents below the 20-point mark.

– Boise State is bowl eligible for the 29th consecutive season, the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Georgia's

30 straight.

– In a 49-25 win over Cincinnati, Utah scored defensive touchdowns on an interception and fumble recovery, extending the program's pick-six streak to 23 straight seasons, which is the longest-known streak in FBS history.

– Morgan Scalley is the first Utah head coach to win his first nine games at the helm and to start his first full season with an 8-0 record.

– Minnesota, 0-13 all-time against defending national champions, has not defeated Top-25 opponents in back-to-back weeks since 1956.

Quotable

"We punted the ball 10 times maybe, and just flipped the field every single time. In this conference, you've got to be able to play field-position football. You've got to be able to not get greedy as a playcaller, which is really hard."

-- Washington head coach Jedd Fisch on strategy that he employed in the 17-10 win over Nebraska

"All I can do is show up tomorrow and get back to work for Illinois and try to have a great November and a great week. That's what I'll do. I'll be here early tomorrow morning and I'll be working on Illinois."

-- Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule on mounting frustration after three straight losses left the Huskers at 5-3

Jim Caltagirone, a former member of Penn State's sports information department, comments on the national scene for Gameday. He can be reached at jimclion4ever@gmail.com.