College Football: Winners and Losers from Week 10

Week 10 of college football featured some colossal matchups, including No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Georgia, No. 10 LSU vs. No. 6 Alabama and No. 4 Clemson at Notre Dame.

In the noon slate of games, Texas A&M fell to 3-6, losing to Florida 41-24. Ohio State had a surprisingly close game at Northwestern, winning 21-7. Undefeated TCU also struggled at home against a 4-4 Texas Tech team.

No. 3 Georgia made the biggest statement of the day, beating No. 1 Tennessee handily 27-13. Michigan State upset No. 16 Illinois 23-15, and Kansas upset No. 18 Oklahoma State.

In the night slate, the LSU took down Alabama in an overtime thriller in Baton Rouge to knock the Tide out of the playoff race. And Notre Dame handed No. 4 Clemson its first loss of the year, winning 35-14 in South Bend.

And out West, USC, UCLA and Oregon all kept up their CFP hopes with wins in Pac-12 play.

Let's run through the winners and losers from Week 10 in college football.

This isn't going to be a reloading year for Georgia, folks. Less than a year removed from their national championship season last year, the Dawgs made a statement against No. 1 Tennessee, winning 27-13. Georgia got out to a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter off of a five-yard touchdown pass from Stetson Bennett to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.

Georgia's defense absolutely dominated Hendon Hooker and Tennessee's offense, which entered as one of the nation's most explosive offenses. The Dawgs held Tennessee to convert on just 2-of-14 on third down, and the Vols had just 289 total yards on offense. Hooker, a Heisman frontrunner heading into this game, had his worst day of the season by far, finishing with just 194 yards and an interception.

But Georgia's offense did a good job, as well. Bennett finished with 257 yards passing and two touchdowns, as well as a rushing touchdown. Ladd McConkey had 94 yards receiving and a 37-yard touchdown reception on the day.

It looks like the Dawgs will come out of the SEC East for the second straight season with the win over the Vols. It's unclear who the Dawgs will play in Atlanta in the SEC Championship Game, but it looks like it'll come down to either LSU or Alabama.

For Tennessee, this is obviously a huge disappointment after such an exciting season so far. The loss also furthers the trend of the playoff's initial No. 1 ranked teams falling. Via ESPN Stats and Info, Tennessee isn't the only No. 1 ranked playoff team to lose after the initial rankings:

Given how Ohio State struggled against Northwestern on Saturday, I wouldn't be surprised if Georgia is ranked No. 1 by the committee next week after this win.

This year's Alabama-LSU game did not disappoint. For the first time in a few years, this game finally had some juice to it. The winner of this game would be in the driver's seat for the SEC West title, whereas the loser was likely knocked out from playoff contention.

This one was a fun, close one throughout. The fourth quarter was back-and-forth, as both offenses traded counterpunches. First, LSU responded to an Alabama touchdown with a score of its own to go up 24-21 with 1:47 left. But 'Bama countered and drive down to LSU's 28, and Tide kicker Will Reichard nailed a 46-yard field goal to force the game into overtime.

Alabama got the ball first in OT. Although the Tide managed to drive down to LSU's six yard line, and the Tigers got flagged for pass interference in the end zone on third down. LSU head coach Brian Kelly challenged the call on the field, arguing that the ball was tipped on the pass, but the call for PI stood. The call looked extremely close:

On third-and-goal, Alabama scored a touchdown to take a 31-24 lead.

But it didn't take long for LSU to respond. On the first play of LSU's ensuing possession, Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels scored on a 25-yard rushing touchdown. Incredibly, instead of going for the tie, Kelly opted to go for the two-point conversion and win. The gamble paid off—Daniels hit Mason Taylor in the end zone to seal the upset victory and knock 'Bama out of the College Football Playoff. Here's a look at the game-winning play:

This is a remarkable victory for LSU head coach Brian Kelly, whose team opened the season with a loss to Florida State. Now, LSU has a chance to play for an SEC title in Atlanta with the victory. Even if Ole Miss beats Alabama next week, LSU has the edge in the West.

For Alabama, this is a huge blow to what many expected to be another season with a playoff bid for the Tide. Instead, Alabama has multiple losses before the Iron Bowl for the first time since 2010.

What a game and an incredible finish in Death Valley. Every Alabama-LSU game should be just like this one.

Clemson didn't exactly look like the No. 4 team in the country on Saturday night.

The Tigers went on the road to face a 5-3 Notre Dame team and were a 3.5-point favorite. But the Tigers lost 35-14 and looked underwhelming throughout.

Clemson played more like an underdog against the Fighting Irish, getting shutout in the first half and trailing 14-0 at halftime. The 14-0 deficit marked the first time the Tigers had been shut out in the first half since Sept. 4, 2021, in the season opener against Georgia.

Even in the fourth quarter, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney opted to make a change at quarterback for the second consecutive game in a row. Just like in the game a couple of weeks ago against Syracuse, Swinney put in true freshman Cade Klubnik over DJ Uiagalelei. Although Uiagalelei didn't turn the ball over, he threw for just 78 yards in the first three quarters.

Unfortunately, Swinney's decision resulted in disaster. On second down, Klubnik threw an interception that gave the Irish the ball back on Clemson's 14-yard line. ND capitalized on the great field position with an easy two-yard touchdown run from Audric Estime to give the Irish a 21-0 lead. On Clemson's next possession, Notre Dame added to its lead with a 96-yard pick-six off a Uiagalelei pass.

For the Tigers, this doesn't exactly knock them out of playoff contention. Even with a loss, Clemson can still run the table and win in the ACC Championship Game against the ACC Coastal's UNC, assuming the Tar Heels win the division.

But it does raise some doubts about just how good this Clemson team is moving forward. Clemson shouldn't have too many problems in its last three games against Louisville, Miami and South Carolina. But Clemson winning the ACC handily against UNC looks less like a sure thing at this point. If the Tigers miss out on the playoff for a second consecutive season, Swinney will be facing even more questions this offseason.

It's pretty remarkable to see how far a preseason playoff team Texas A&M has fallen. The Aggies fell to 3-6 on Saturday, losing 41-24 to a Florida team that is just 2-4 in SEC play.

For a Texas A&M team that hasn't won since Week 4 over Arkansas, the Aggies were desperately looking for a win over a struggling Florida team. But unfortunately for head coach Jimbo Fisher, a flu outbreak among his team caused his team to be without several players. One of those was freshman quarterback Conner Weigman, who threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns in last week's loss to Ole Miss.

Look at how many players TAMU had out today:

This game was back-and-forth in the first half. Neither team appeared to want to play defense, either. In the first two quarters, we saw 44 points, 570 total yards and 71 total plays. Texas A&M went to the locker room with a 24-20 lead.

But Florida's defense stepped up huge in the second half. The Gators held the Aggies to just 106 total yards, and TAMU went 1-for-8 on third down. Florida's defense also forced two fourth-quarter turnovers from Texas A&M, forcing a pair of fumbles from quarterback Haynes King, who was starting in place of Weigman.

Now, Texas A&M has to win its last three games if it wants to make a bowl game. The Aggies will play Auburn next week, followed by games against UMass and LSU to close the regular season. If the Aggies miss out on a bowl, it'll mark the first time since 2008 that Texas A&M hasn't gone bowling (the Aggies pulled out of the Gator Bowl last year because of COVID).

We'll see if Texas A&M decides to make a change from Fisher, who has an $86 million buyout if he's let go this season. A&M is currently amid its longest losing streak since 1980 and things need to turn around quickly for him.

Ohio State didn't exactly look like the overwhelming No. 2 team in the nation on Saturday afternoon. The Buckeyes entered the game as 37.5-point favorites against a Northwestern team that hasn't won a game since its Week Zero win over Nebraska.

The weather conditions weren't great, as the forecast called for 58 degrees with winds around 25 miles per hour. Still, Ohio State was expected to win by at least a few scores against a struggling Northwestern team. Unfortunately, if you bet on Ohio State to put up 38 against Northwestern, you likely weren't too happy today.

But Ohio State struggled on both sides of the ball against the Wildcats. Northwestern struck first with an Evan Hull 16-yard touchdown run to go up 7-0. That lead held until 2:52 left in the second quarter, thanks to a 15-yard touchdown run from Emeka Egbuka. The Buckeyes took a 14-7 lead with 8:44 left in the third. The offense added another touchdown in the fourth to win by two scores.

Quarterback CJ Stroud finished with just 76 yards passing with no touchdowns and another 79 yards rushing. Luckily for the Buckeyes, their 70-game streak of putting up 20 or more points, which is tied for an FBS record, was able to continue. But OSU's seven-game streak with 40+ points was broken by the Wildcats.

Given how Ohio State played compared to Georgia's performance against Tennessee, the playoff committee will likely change things up in the top four quite a bit.

It looks like first-year head coach Mike Elko has started to turn things around at Duke. The Blue Devils have had three straight losing seasons. But after Duke's 38-31 victory on the road against Boston College on Friday, the Blue Devils improved to 6-3 on the season.

That means that for the first time since 2018, Duke will go to a bowl game. Depending on how Duke does in its remaining three games against Virginia Tech, Pitt and Wake Forest, the Blue Devils could possibly end up with eight or even nine wins.

It's a pretty remarkable turnaround for Elko in his first season in Durham. Especially considering that this Duke team just a year ago finished the season with eight consecutive defeats. Not to mention Duke was 10-25 over the last three seasons.

And how about those Kansas Jayhawks?! Kansas improved to 6-3 on the season with a 37-16 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State. With the upset victory, the Jayhawks reached their sixth win of the season, which makes them bowl eligible for the first time since 2008. Kansas fans were so pumped, they stormed the field and tore down the goalposts to celebrate:

The victory also marks the first time that Kansas has defeated a ranked team since 2010. What a season for first-year head coach Lance Leipold in Lawrence.

No. 7 TCU and No. 17 North Carolina can possibly make it into the playoff come December. For TCU, the Horned Frogs best bet is to go undefeated, including a win in the Big 12 Championship. North Carolina, which leads the ACC Coastal, can beat Wake Forest, NC State and then top Clemson in the ACC Championship Game to get a bid.

Both teams got wins on Saturday, but they weren't the most impressive victories for either team. We'll start with TCU, which was an nine-point favorite against Texas Tech. This game was tight throughout, and the Horned Frogs entered the fourth quarter trailing 17-13. TCU ended up scoring 21 points in the third quarter to win 34-24, but trailing against a 4-5 Tech team might not impress the playoff committee a whole lot.

North Carolina was a seven-point favorite against a Virginia team that entered the game 3-5 on the season. The Tar Heels trailed 14-10 at halftime, and Virginia kept things close throughout. North Carolina's biggest lead of the game came early in the fourth—Drake Maye's 22-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Green made it 31-21. UVA scored a touchdown with 3:24 left to pull within three.

Since both of these teams are currently outside of the Top Four, every week they should be looking to make a big impression on the committee. Winning games you trailed in by just three and 10 points won't exactly do that. We'll see where the committee ranks these two after a pair of underwhelming wins.

For the first time in school history, Tulane is ranked in the College Football Playoff. The committee awarded the 7-1 Green Wave with a No. 19 ranking, the first time Tulane has ever cracked the playoff Top 25 since the system arrived in 2014.

Instead of crumbling under the pressure of being just one of two Group of Five teams ranked by the committee (UCF is 25th), Tulane improved to 8-1 on Saturday. The Green Wave went on the road to beat Tulsa 27-13.

It seems as though Tulane head coach Willie Fritz is doing a good job of not letting the ranking affect his team at all.

“I saw a little bit of that (CFP rankings show),” Tulane linebacker Dorian Williams said earlier this week via Nola.com. “It’s very nice to get the recognition, but for that (ranking) to keep going up we’ve got to go 1-0 every week, so we are just focusing on Tulsa right now.”

Tulane could possibly end up with 10 or 11 wins this season. Next week, the Green Wave play UCF at home. Tulane's Twitter account is already campaigning to try and get ESPN's College GameDay to come to New Orleans for it.

Tulane has had double-digit wins just three times in school history, in 1998, 1934 and 1931. It sure looks like the Green Wave could get there for a fourth time if they keep playing like they have so far.

Any chances of Illinois making a surprise playoff run were dashed on Saturday. The Fighting Illini, which entered Saturday's game against Michigan State as 16-point favorites at home, lost 23-15 to a below-.500 Sparty team. MSU entered Saturday's game having lost five out of their last six games.

Sparty drove through Illinois' defense with ease, as the Fighting Illini gave up the most points it allowed all season. Illinois also had the nation's top-ranked total defense. Illinois held Michigan State to a field goal in the first quarter, but gave up 21 unanswered points in the second and third quarters.

Illinois scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it a one-score game. But the offense was unable to put up any more points, even as the offense had two fourth quarter drives that went deep into Michigan State territory.

Illinois is still leading in the Big Ten West, so a trip to Indianapolis is still in-play. But with two losses to Indiana and Michigan State—two teams with losing records currently—a playoff bid if Illinois was to upset Michigan and whomever wins the Big Ten East this year seems quite unlikely now.

If you like defense, Saturday's Houston-SMU game was not for you. The shootout in Dallas resulted in 1,352 yards of total offense, 140 points and 65 first downs combined. Houston won 77-63 on Saturday night in a game that broke an FBS record.

The 140 points scored by both offenses is the most points scored in a regulation game in the AP Poll Era, dating back to 1936. Do you want to hear something even more bonkers in this game? The last time these two schools played each other in basketball on Feb. 27, Houston won 75-61. The football teams outscored their basketball teams!

Mustang quarterback Tanner Mordecai lit up Houston's secondary all night long. He finished with 379 yards passing and a whopping nine touchdowns—he threw seven of those in the first half alone. He added a rushing touchdown, too, so he accounted for 60 of SMU's 77 points. His nine passing touchdowns set an SMU school record, too.

Look, I don't know how much film defensive coordinators watch when your defense gives up over 600 or 700 yards of total offense and a combined 140 points. But my advice for SMU defensive coordinator Scott Symons and Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk is to just burn this film and start fresh next week.

Texas looks like it could shake things up in a major way inside the Big 12. On Saturday, the Longhorns went on the road and defeated No. 13 Kansas State 34-27. Although Kansas State had a chance to tie this game late, Wildcat quarterback Adrian Martinez fumbled to seal a Texas victory.

Texas went to the locker room with a 31-10 lead, but K-State scored 17 second-half points to make it entertaining at the end. Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers finished with 197 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Bijan Robinson finished with 209 yards and a touchdown on the night.

With the Texas victory, the Longhorns have now vaulted into the No. 2 spot in the Big 12 standings behind undefeated TCU.

The good news is that we don't have to wait until a possible Big 12 title game for these two to play each other. Because next Saturday night, TCU will travel to Austin to take on the Longhorns. If Texas can pull off an upset over TCU, the Longhorns might ruin TCU's chances at a playoff bid.

Regardless of who wins next week, these two could definitely still meet again in the Big 12 title game come December as the two top teams in the conference.

For a Texas team that's lost three games to Alabama, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State this season, spoiling TCU's playoff hopes would make this a successful year for Steve Sarkisian in his second season in Austin.