By Donovan Gibbs, Staff Writer
The 2024-25 season of college football has been living up to the hype that was set the minute the committee announced the expansion of the College Football Playoff bracket from four teams to a whopping twelve teams. The expansion has put more things at stake for many programs, which has led to a multitude of intense matchups and endless chaos.
For fans of the underdog, this season has been full of upsets. Whether it was Georgia Tech shocking the world in week zero with their victory against formerly #10 in the country, Florida State, or week six when multiple top 12 ranked teams lost to unranked opponents
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Not only have these games cultivated fans and brought in an increase in viewership numbers, it has also been shaking up the AP Top 25 Polls week by week. This recent Saturday was no different, as multiple top 10 teams lost in stunning fashion and the playoff race is getting tighter and tighter.
Saturday’s slate started with a bang as #4 Miami, which came into the game with a 9-0 record, fell on the road to unranked Georgia Tech 28-23 in Atlanta. Miami came into the game as 10-point favorites with their leader in the Heisman race, senior quarterback Cam Ward looking to start the season 10-0 for the first time since 2017.
Georgia Tech came into this game fresh off of a bye week, possessing a 6-3 record while still dealing with injury concerns at running back and questions regarding the health of their starting quarterback, junior Haynes King. King came into last week as a game-time decision and Tech’s head coach, Brett Key, decided to start King for this game. This decision ended up paying dividends as King only threw six passes for 32 yards, but contributed heavily to the rushing attack with 20 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown. Miami’s high-octane offense was silenced as Georgia Tech held them to a season-low 23 points and were outrushed by Tech 271-88.
“The way they ran the football, knowing that they were banged up at quarterback, they did a better job than we did,” said Miami coach Mario Cristobal.
The Yellow Jackets started off the fourth quarter with a 12-point lead, thanks to a Haynes King rushing touchdown to start the quarter.
“Even though the Canes were down 12, I thought the game was still in their control. They have been in these situations multiple times. Cam Ward is built for comebacks.” said senior music technology, entrepreneurship, and production major Jacob Lando.
Miami’s unbeaten streak included three second-half comebacks. The second-half magic ended up running out as Yellow Jacket defensive lineman, junior Romello Height, came around the edge with a clutch strip sack on Cam Ward with 1:39 left in the fourth quarter. Miami falls to 9-1 with a 5-1 conference record, leaving newly added ACC member SMU at the top of the conference with a perfect 5-0 conference record. Georgia Tech improves their record to 6-4 and 3-2 in conference play, becoming bowl eligible and ending a two-game losing streak.
As one Heisman favorite chances fell, three other Heisman favorites chances rose.
Colorado’s swiss army knife at WR/DB, junior Travis Hunter, had 9 catches for 99 yards and a highlight reel touchdown in the Buffaloes 41-27 victory against Texas Tech. Hunter is on pace for 1,000 receiving yards this season.
Boise State bellcow, junior running back Ashton Jeanty, had 209 rushing yards on 34 carries and 3 touchdown performance in the Broncos’ 28-21 victory against Nevada.
Oregon star quarterback, senior Dillion Gabriel, cemented his name in history during his 23-34 183 yds and 3 passing touchdown performance in a 39-18 bludgeoning against Maryland. Gabriel’s 3-yard passing touchdown to offensive lineman Gernorris Wilson in the third quarter broke the FBS all-time total touchdowns with 180 in his career, surpassing the previous 179 mark held by former Houston Cougars QB and now NFL journeyman Case Keenum.
While history was being made in the Pacific Northwest Saturday night, it was also being made in the southeast when the #2 Georgia Bulldogs set off to face #16 Ole Miss Rebels in front of a record-breaking 68,126 crowd down in Oxford. The Rebels came into this game as 1.5-point home underdogs and with 2 conference losses to unranked Kentucky and the previously #13 LSU Tigers. The Bulldogs were riding a 4 game-winning streak since their loss against Alabama in a 41-34 thriller at Tuscaloosa back in week 4. This win streak included a 15-point, 30-15 road victory against #1 Texas.
Ole Miss would do the unthinkable and shock the Kirby Smart-led Bulldogs in a 28-10 victory, making this Georgia’s first loss against any team besides Alabama since 2020 and the biggest win of the Lane Kiffin era. The Rebels defense completely halted a Bulldogs offense that’s been averaging 430 yards of total offense to 246 yards for the entire game. Bulldogs quarterback, senior Carson Beck, had an unpleasant night completing 20 passes on 31 attempts and 186 yards passing with an interception. Beck was under endless pressure by this Rebels defense that was able to sack the Georgia quarterback five times
“It was a dark time to be a fan of the [Bull]Dogs. I thought Georgia was going to win this game handily but the offense was out of sync all night while Ole Miss couldn’t stop scoring,” said LIU senior business administration major and hometown super-fan Elias Batten.
In the latest AP College Football poll, Georgia would end up falling to #11, barely hanging onto a playoff spot and looking at a must-win week 12 matchup against #6 Tennessee. Ole Miss climbs up to #10 keeping their playoff hopes alive. Other interesting ranking news involves the Indiana Hoosiers climbing to #5 in the polls after their 20-13 win against Michigan. The Hoosiers, led by first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, have their first 10-0 start and 10-win season in school history and their highest ranking since 1967. BYU also continues to roll on in their inaugural Big XII season at 9-0 after their 22-21 victory against Utah and rose up to #7 in the polls.
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