It was a week of near upsets and insane comeback wins, and I’m here to tell you all about what you missed.
The Near Upsets
(2-0) #6 Auburn University (Ala.) 27 vs. (1-1) Jacksonville State University (Ala.) 20 OT
This game was absolutely insane. Jacksonville was a 41-point underdog, and they were actually winning with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter. This would have been the biggest upset since the University of Michigan lost to Appalachian State University back in 2007. However, Auburn somehow managed to score within a minute of losing and then came back to win in overtime. Now I don’t know exactly how bad Auburn is, but it will be interesting to see whether they rebound from this close call or tank over the course of the next few games.
(2-0) #9 University of Notre Dame (Ind.) 34 vs. (0-2) University of Virginia (Va.) 27
I actually thought Virginia was going to pull this game out. They looked like the better team all the way throughout the game. After Notre Dame’s star quarterback, Malik Zaire, went out with a season ending injury, it seemed as if Virginia would easily finish with the upset. Backup quarterback DeShone Kizer proved everybody wrong. He brought the Notre Dame offense to life, including a 40-yard touchdown pass to win the game with 12 seconds left.
This is the second week in a row that Notre Dame has had a star player get injured for the season — running back Tarean Folston went down last week. His replacement, C.J Prosise, had an amazing game this week. If there is something to take away from Notre Dame this week, it’s that they are deep, and deep teams tend to do well (like Ohio State winning the National Championship on a third string quarterback just last year). It will be interesting to see how the rest of Notre Dame’s season pans out.
The Amazing Comeback
(2-0) #19 University of Oklahoma (Okla.) 31 vs. (1-1) #23 University of Tennessee (Tenn.) 24
Tennessee went ahead 17-0 in the first 18 minutes and still led 17-3 going into the fourth quarter, but everything changed in the last quarter. Quarterback Baker Mayfield spearheaded two majestic drives — including one with 40 seconds left — to tie the game 17-17 and gave the Sooners a chance in overtime.
In the first overtime the teams traded touchdowns, capped by a fourth and goal Mayfield keeper for a touchdown by the Sooners to tie the game. In the second overtime the Sooners prevailed and stopped the Volunteers from scoring to finish the game. Oklahoma managed to continue their recent success against the Southeastern Conference (SEC), winning their third straight game against the conference since beating Alabama in the 2013 Sugar Bowl. Expect both of these teams to be competitive throughout the year, as they are both putting up high quality teams.
The Big Game
(1-1) #7 University of Oregon (Ore.) 28 vs. (2-0) #5 Michigan State University (Mich.) 31
Games between two highly ranked teams that play in different conferences give off a sense of mystery — it is unclear which team truly has the upper hand. These types of games are the hardest to predict; they often have different offensive and defensive styles, and they also play different groups of opponents.
This game had almost every aspect that people love about college football: high scoring, turnovers and the near comeback. Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook finally got his revenge against the Ducks after last year’s loss. However, even though Oregon was down by 10 with only three minutes left, they still almost won. They scored a touchdown, got the ball back and drove down the field with time left on the clock. Sadly, Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. overthrew a wide-open receiver to end the game in a heart-wrenching fashion. Both of these teams are extremely competitive, and both will likely make one of the top bowl games at the end of the season.
