#Nuggets: Recapping the biggest games of the college football weekend

It felt like an early 2010s game in Autzen Stadium. Clad in some, ahem, aggressive uniforms (black, pink, green and yellow) and with Chip Kelly looking on from the sidelines, Oregon won a top-10 showdown with near perfect offensive execution.

In a game where neither No. 9 UCLA or No. 10 Oregon's respective offenses left the field without points until midway through the fourth quarter, the Ducks were simply a cut above.

Consider this: a 10-play, 53-yard field goal drive to open the game was Oregon's second worst of its nine possessions on the day. The Ducks' next six touches:

-- 10 plays, 71 yards, touchdown
-- 5 plays, 75 yards, touchdown
-- 8 plays, 54 yards, touchdown
-- 10 plays, 88 yards, touchdown
-- 15 plays, 82 yards, touchdown
-- 6 plays, 75 yards, touchdown

After a three-and-out, Oregon got the ball a ninth time and salted away the final 4:11 to secure a 45-30 win, putting themselves in the driver's seat to reach the title game in a division-less Pac-12. 

Bo Nix played the game of his life: 22-of-28 for 283 yards with five touchdowns and no picks, while rushing eight times for 51 yards. As a team, Oregon rushed for 262 on 5.7 a pop.

The key sequence came early in the second quarter. After Oregon took a 17-10 lead, Dan Lanning called an onside kick, which the Ducks recovered and maximized with that 54-yard touchdown drive above. UCLA never came within single digits again.

"It was there, we saw it after the first kickoff and we felt like that’s the look we want. The second kick-off we thought it was there as well," Lanning said. "The third one was actually the worst look we had and we still felt really confident. It looked like there was some weather coming in and if there was a chance to steal a possession, it would be before the weather hit. It turned out some weather came, but we knew once we received the kick that we wanted to look to get an extra possession if we can, because we weren’t going to get the ball after halftime.” 

TCU takes a major step toward winning the War of Attrition in the Big 12. For the second straight week, TCU rallied back from a multi-score deficit to defeat a previously undefeated team at a raucous Amon Carter Stadium. For the second straight week, TCU's rally benefitted from banged-up opposing quarterbacks.

Last week, the Frogs climbed out of a 24-7 hole as Oklahoma State's Spencer Sanders, who hadn't practiced all week, deteriorated as the game wore on in a 43-40 double OT victory.

On Saturday, No. 7 TCU fell behind No. 17 Kansas State 28-10, then finished on a 28-0 run to win 38-28. K-State's Adrian Martinez left the game in the first quarter, and backup (and former starter) Will Howard left in the third quarter before returning late.

That said, TCU turned had erased that 18-point deficit by the time third-stringer Jake Rubley entered the game. Sonny Dykes's team pulled within 28-24 between K-State possessions, scoring with 20 seconds left in the first half, then again to open the second. Howard's final healthy drive ended in a missed field goal, and TCU took the lead on a 55-yard bomb to Quentin Johnston. But once K-State fell behind, it had no realistic chance to catch up with Rubley in the game. 

So is TCU lucky or good? There are two answers. The first is that it's both. But the second, blunter answer, is that it doesn't matter. All that does matter is that TCU is 7-0 and has essentially a 2-game lead on the competition to reach the Big 12 title game. 

The games of the day were at the Group of 5 level. First place was on the line in the MAC and Conference USA, and both games played like conference title games.

First, Toledo built a 27-10 lead before Buffalo played a near perfect fourth quarter to rally for victory. 

Trailing by 17 entering the frame, Buffalo actually rocketed -- pun intended -- in front before the quarter was halfway over. They finished off a 64-yard touchdown drive to open things, forced a three-and-out, then pulled within 27-24 at the 9:35 mark. An interception gave the Bulls a short field, and by the 8:01 mark Buffalo had a lead it would not relinquish. The Bulls defense forced a turnover on downs and two more interceptions to seal the win. After an 0-3 start, Maurice Linguist's team has won five straight.

In San Antonio, UTSA trailed North Texas 6-0, 13-10, 20-17 and, finally, 27-24 with 1:38 to play, when Frank Harris started doing Frank Harris things. UTSA's quarterback led the Roadrunners on a 7-play, 75-yard drive, finding De'Corian Clark with 15 seconds to play to secure a 31-27 lead and sole possession of first place in C-USA.

This pass to tight end Oscar Cardenas set up the winning score.

North Texas came into the game with the nation's sixth-best running attack, but didn't run the ball on Saturday and didn't really try: 21 carries for 22 yards. UTSA ran 54 times for 257 yards.

Be honest, when No. 5 Clemson fell behind Syracuse 21-7, you never gave the Orange a greater than 50 percent chance to win the game, did you? ESPN's GameTracker peaked Syracuse's odds at 85.4% late in the third quarter, but the algorithm couldn't account for Clemson's inevitable run.

No. 14 Syracuse jumped out to a 21-7 lead thanks to two DJ Uiagaleilei turnovers, one of them returned 90 yards for a touchdown. Dabo Swinney later replaced DJ U after his second pick of the day, but the Tigers' big bodies eventually overwhelmed the depleted Orange. Syracuse accrued 90 yards in a second half shutout, and Clemson ran 60 times for 293 yards and three touchdowns. Will Shipley set a career high with 172 yards and two touchdowns, and his 50-yard scoring scamper put Clemson up 22-21 with 11:26 to play, effectively ending the game right then and there.

Even with a 4-0 turnover advantage (Shipley also lost a fumble), Syracuse still had to play a perfect game and couldn't meet that standard. Few teams can in Death Valley, where Clemson set an ACC record with its 38th straight home win. The catastrophic moment came with 1:33 to play in the third quarter when Syracuse's Elijah Fuentes-Cundiff turned a 4th-and-15 into a 1st-and-10 by shoving Clemson backup quarterback Cade Klubnik out of bounds. Clemson scored on that drive and the comeback was on.

Though Klubnik finished the game for DJ U, his presence merely focused offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter, it did not unseat Clemson's incumbent QB1. Swinney called DJ U Clemson's "best player" after the game. Klubnik threw just four passes in his 28 plays.

Two things on Syracuse before we move on. First, trailing 24-21, Dino Babers waited 25 seconds to call his final timeout after forcing a fourth down and so, instead of taking over with around two minutes to go and trailing 27-21 after BT Potter's field goal, the Orange had only a minute and a half. They ran seven plays and reached Clemson's 30-yard line before RJ Mickens intercepted Garrett Shrader to seal the game.

Second, Syracuse's Sean Tucker ended the game with five carries for 54 yards. I'm not sure I can recall a starting running back ever ending a game with that stat line, particularly in a close game. On a day when Shrader ran 21 times for 71 yards, Syracuse didn't want to see if Tucker could get to 6 for 60, or 12 for 80, in a game where it tried to burn clock and protect a lead. 

A familiar Mike Gundy win, and a familiar Steve Sarkisian loss. When Roschon Johnson strolled in for a 52-yard touchdown run, straight through the heart of the Oklahoma State defense, to give Texas a 31-17 lead, who had the Longhorns ending the game with 34? Other than everyone?

At that point in the game, Texas had run 39 plays for 329 yards. From that point forward, Texas went: 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 4-and-out, field goal (that was really just a 3-and-out; Texas started at the OSU 20), 3-and-out, 4-and-out, missed field goal, interception, interception. Final score: Oklahoma State 41, Texas 34.

It was reminiscent of last year's game, when Texas led 24-13 in the third quarter, then ended the game with five straight 3/4-and-outs and an interception in a 32-24 Cowboys win.

Oklahoma State has a different defensive coordinator, Texas a different quarterback, but the head coaches are the same. Mike Gundy is now 5-1 outright in his last six games as a home underdog, while Sarkisian is 5-5 in Big 12 games in which he holds a double-digit second half lead.

FRIES

Seen and Heard

Seen

This was the scene as Stanford took the field to face Arizona State.

Heard

Miami turned the ball over eight times in a 45-21 loss to Duke, dropping the Hurricanes to 3-4. Remember, The U went 7-5 under Manny Diaz last season.

The Super 16. Here's this week's FWAA-NFF Super 16 ballot.

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Tennessee
5. TCU
6. Clemson
7. Alabama
8. Oregon
9. Oklahoma State
10. USC
11. Wake Forest
12. LSU
13. UCLA
14. Penn State
15. Utah
16. Tulane

Odds and Ends

a. Oregon State is off to its first 6-2 start since 2012 with a 42-9 spanking of Colorado.

b. Rice hasn't reached a bowl game since 2014, but moved a step closer with a 42-41 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. The Bulldogs went for two and the win in overtime, but the Owl defense got the stop.

c. Despite all the memes, it's been a good fall for Brian Kelly. Notre Dame is working through obvious growing pains of a first-time head coach, while LSU is building towards a solid season. The team's identity seemingly changes by the week, but already this season LSU has rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat Auburn, beat Florida at the Swamp, and rallied from a 17-3 deficit to put No. 7 Ole Miss in a chokehold in Saturday's 45-20 win. 

d. It hasn't been a good fall for Jimbo Fisher. A 30-24 loss to South Carolina dropped the Aggies to 3-4. 

e. Liberty moved to 7-1 with a 41-14 thumping of BYU. The Flames' only loss: a 1-point overtime decision at Wake Forest. Hugh Freeze's team takes next week off before going to Arkansas. They'll be ready.

f. In the AP poll for the first time since its 1998 undefeated season, No. 25 Tulane built a 35-0 halftime lead over Memphis en route to a 38-28 win. The Green Wave closes the regular season at No. 21 Cincinnati, which could be for the right to host rematch the following week.

g. The advanced metrics had Minnesota as a fringe top-10 team entering Saturday. The eye test has them in the 60s. The Gophers dropped their third straight game by double digits, falling to No. 16 Penn State 45-17.

h. Jim Leonard Watch: The Badgers blasted B1G West co-leader Purdue 35-24 in a game that wasn't really that close. Wisconsin led 21-0 in the first quarter and 35-10 entering the fourth, moving to 2-1 in the Leonhard era. 

i. Here was the Iowa offense's day in the Horseshoe: 158 yards on 59 plays (2.68 per), eight first downs, 1-of-13 on third down, six turnovers, minus-4 points. The Hawkeyes scored on defense, but then gave those points back with a pick-six en route to a 54-10 loss to No. 3 Ohio State. The 55 points were the most Iowa has allowed under Kirk Ferentz, and the 44-point margin was the largest Nick Saban's Michigan State beat the Hawkeyes 49-3 in 1999.

m. Nick Saban's defense had a much better Saturday, limiting Mississippi State to 293 yards in a 30-6 win. In three meetings, Saban's teams have out-scored Mike Leach's 120-15.

n. Boise State moved to 4-0 since Dirk Koetter took over as offensive coordinator with a 19-14 win at Air Force.

o. If you read Winning Box Scores, you're attuned to the importance of the halftime lead. And if so, you'll gasp when you learn Houston took a lead to the locker room for the first time this season at Navy. The Cougars led 21-7 on their way to a 38-20 win, improving to 4-3 on the season.

p. FIU earned its largest win over a C-USA opponent since Oct. 12, 2019 in defeating Charlotte 34-15 on Saturday. The victim that day three years ago: also Charlotte.

r. Southern Miss moved to 4-3 for the first time since 2013 with a 20-14 win at Texas State.

s. Ohio fended off a Northern Illinois possession at their 36-yard line in the final minute and a half to secure a 24-17 win. The Bobcats are squarely in the mix to win their first conference title since 1968 at 3-1 in MAC play. 

DESSERT

Not exactly the sweet note we usually end on, but I can't end the column without mentioning the San Jose State-New Mexico State game was postponed after SJSU's Camdan McWright was struck and killed while riding an electric scooter on Friday. His death followed Mississippi State's Sam Westmoreland's death on Wednesday.

Both young men were just 18 years old. 

Our sincerest condolences go out to both of those programs.