Celebration or Heartbreak? Breaking down the winners and losers of Week 7

If Oregon hadn't arrived before they met with Ohio State, they have arrived now. Oregon could be considered the biggest winner of week seven. This game had major implications for the Big Ten title race and College Football Playoff. The Ducks' win over the Buckeyes is the culmination of the team flipping the switch after struggling over their first two contests over Idaho and Boise State.

Offensively, Oregon was efficient the whole way. They churned out nearly 500 yards. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel tossed for 341 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan James rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown on 23 touches. Three different pass catchers caught at least four passes. Oregon went 6-for-14 on third down conversions and they committed no turnovers.

Defensively, Oregon did enough to hold off their adversaries. The Buckeyes went 4-for-12 on third-down efficiency. They also forced a turnover on a fumble recovery. It was a back-and-forth affair, as Ohio State accumulated 467 yards of total offense. However, it's safe to say that the Oregon defense held their own.

Out of the four new schools in the Big Ten, the Ducks have impressed the most and it's not even close. With their most daunting Big Ten challenger out of the way, the Ducks sit a 3-0 in conference play.

This upcoming week, Oregon travels to play Purdue on a Friday night. They then play Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Washington. The team has a clear path to make it to the Big Ten Championship Game. Every single future opponent is beatable.

Oklahoma is the first in a string of embarrassments we'll cover here. Do the Sooners even belong in the SEC? Are they worthy of being competitive in a conference no one thought they would join two years ago? As of now, the answer to those questions is no. Last Saturday, the Sooners faced off against rival and fellow SEC newcomer Texas in the Red River Rivalry.

Is Texas the top team in the country? Yes. However, OU looked like they didn't even belong on the field. They looked like a JV squad playing the 2007 New England Patriots. The Sooners were so outclassed. Nothing about them looked good against the Longhorns. They couldn't run the ball, as OU only racked up 89 rushing yards. They made a switch to Michael Hawkins Jr at quarterback.

He was okay. He didn't throw a pick but only tossed for 148 yards. Oklahoma fumbled twice. The Sooners gave up five sacks and 11 TFLs. Defensively, OU gave up 406 yards of offense to Texas. They did pick off Quinn Ewers early but he carved the Sooner secondary. He completed 69 percent of his passes for 199 yards and he threw a touchdown. Their ground game ran for 177 yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry. Ewers only got sacked once.

Oklahoma stands at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. When looking at the rest of their schedule, there is only one sure win, a home game against Maine from the FCS ranks in early November. Other than that, every other game will be challenging. Their five remaining SEC opponents are South Carolina, Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama, and LSU. An eight-win season might not even happen if Oklahoma doesn't improve soon.

Pitt is 6-0 for the first time since 1982. The Panthers got by a resilient Cal team and are flourishing. Many people didn't expect Pitt to be in this position after the first half of the year. However, they are and remain one of eleven teams that are still undefeated. It's impressive, considering Pitt went a dismal 3-9 last year.

Despite winning, Pittsburgh overcame plenty of things that could've led to a loss. For one, they were porous on converting third downs. They went 1-for-12 on third-down efficiency. They lost the time of possession battle by a wide margin. Quarterback Eli Holstein threw two interceptions in the third quarter. Running back Desmon Reid picked up the slack, rushing for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense was the unit that did the most. They limited Cal to 63 yards rushing. The pass rush was all over Golden Bears quarterback, Fernando Mendoza caught sacked six times. Defensive lineman Jimmy Scott notched three of those sacks. In total, the Panthers racked up 11 tackles for loss and two passes defended.

With six games left, Pitt has a realistic shot at playing for an ACC Championship. If they were to get there, it would go down as one of the best single-season turnarounds in recent memory. It will be difficult though as they don't play a single doormat the rest of the year.

Their remaining opponents are Syracuse, SMU, Virginia, Clemson, Louisville, and Boston College. The meetings with SMU, Louisville, and Boston College are on the road. They have the potential to pull off big upsets. We'll see if they can do so.

Another week, another disappointment for Colorado. The Buffaloes were on the verge of getting that elusive victory against a ranked opponent. It hasn't happened with Deion Sanders at the helm. A victory against No. 18 Kansas State would've legitimized the program's rise and hype. Instead, injuries and busted coverage at the end prevented that.

It was the same story last Saturday night. The same issues that have plagued the team were apparent again. Offensively, the ground game didn't produce anything. The offensive line once again failed to make room for the tailbacks to flourish. The Buffaloes failed to earn positive yardage from that aspect. As a result, the passing game had to do everything again.

Shedeur Sanders threw for 388 yards and three touchdowns on 40 throws. However, he threw a terrible pick in the fourth quarter in K-State territory. The defense did get a late interception that set up Colorado's second, short-lived lead. However, they allowed DJ Giddens to run for nearly 200 yards and Avery Johnson tossed for 224 yards and two touchdowns. One of those came on the winning three-play drive where the Buff's weak defense got burned.

The Buffaloes stand at 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference and 4-2 overall. They still haven't surpassed last season's win total but will have plenty of chances to do so. There are several beatable opponents in their final six games including Arizona next week. They also play Kansas and Oklahoma State in late November. A spot in the Big 12 title game is still a possibility. However, they would most likely need to win out and receive help. They play Cincinnati and Texas Tech who are in similar positions.

Well, that was a close one. Penn State pulled out a gutsy comeback win in an unfamiliar position. The eastern-based Nittany Lions pulled off a rare feat seen in the Big Ten this season. The traditional schools in the conference have had difficulties earning road wins against the new expansion West Coast schools this year.

The only other instance of this occurring was when Indiana defeated UCLA in Pasadena early in the season. Down 20-6 at halftime, Penn State scored 27 of the final 37 points, to claim the 33-30 overtime win. The offense struggled with moving the chains and Drew Allar threw three picks. However, he threw for 391 of the offense's 518 total yards.

The defense had problems stopping USC's offense, especially in the first half. The Trojans racked up 409 total yards. Both their passing and running gave averages over six yards per play. However, Penn State only allowed two first-down conversions on eleven USC attempts. They also picked him off once at the end of the fourth quarter, to force overtime. Ryan Barker made four field goals, including the 36-yarder in overtime to seal the victory.

Penn State is 6-0 and 3-0 in the Big Ten. They are one of the top contenders for a College Football Playoff spot. Five of their last six opponents, look to be wins. They have this upcoming week off before playing at Wisconsin on October 26th. After, they play their big "prove it" game against Ohio State to start November. Following that, they play Washington, at Purdue, at Minnesota, and against Maryland at home.

Oh boy. Many were not expecting Washington's inaugural Big Ten season to be this rough after four conference games. The Huskies lost to Rutgers two weeks ago on a missed field goal, and last week, they were demolished by Iowa. The offense did have its moments in this game. The unit produced nearly 400 yards of total offense.

However, three major issues plagued UW. First, the defense couldn't stop the run. They got mauled all afternoon by the Hawkeye's running game. Kaleb Johnson had eased, running laps around the Husky front line. He rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns on 21 touches. He averaged 7.9 yards per carry. He also caught a touchdown pass.

Will Rogers completed 65 percent of his throws. However, his performance was flawed. His second-quarter fumble led to a field goal for Iowa. He threw an interception early in the third quarter. along with turnovers and failing to stop the run, Washington also failed miserably when trying to move the chains. The Huskies went 5-for-15 on third-down efficiency.

With five games, left Washington sits at 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten. The team is in a good position to be a bowl game. However, it could be difficult, as four of their final five opponents are at the least, decent conference opponents. The only sure win at the moment is a home game against UCLA in mid-November.

Iowa has time to get themselves right as they aren't playing this upcoming week. They return to action on October 26th against No. 16 Indiana in Bloomington. They follow that up with USC and No. 3 Penn State in Happy Valley. After they meet with UCLA, UW plays Oregon in the season finale. The Huskies' road ahead looks to be a rocky one.

Guess what? The unexpected darlings of the SEC have done it again! A week after Vanderbilt secured the biggest win in school history, they kept their foot on the gas pedal. Were they going to be too high off their win against Alabama? Were they going to be distracted against Kentucky? Would Vanderbilt be spent after all that transpired last week? All those questions have been answered with a loud and resounding no.

The biggest thing that led to Vanderbilt's win over Kentucky last Saturday was the undiscipline play of the Wildcats. Kentucky took 12 penalties and lost 106 yards off of them. The Commodore defense only allowed 158 passing yards and forced two turnovers. They also only gave up four third-down conversions on nine attempts.

Offensively, Diego Pavia led the charge. The New Mexico State transfer continued to make a name for himself. He completed 15 of his 18 pass attempts. He threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Vanderbilt averaged 7.9 yards per completion. The team also produced solidly on the ground, compiling 145 rushing yards.

With a 4-2 record, Vanderbilt is on pace to play in the school's first bowl game since 2013. They do have tough matchups over the second half of the year. They must face No. 1 Texas in two weeks before traveling to Baton Rouge and hosting Tennessee in late November. There are a couple more winnable SEC games against Auburn and South Carolina to start November. Next week, the Commodores should get their fifth win against Ball State.

A few weeks ago, Rutgers defeated Virginia Tech. We included them on the list as one of the biggest winners for Week 4. Now, they appear as one of the biggest losers after week seven. After a 4-0 start, Rutgers has gone back to being the usual Scarlet Knights that few people take seriously. It's unfortunate as the sport would be better with one of the oldest programs in the country being good.

However, it's hard to see the Scarlet Knights being competitive in the Big Ten again after this disgraceful performance. They lost a tight 14-7 contest against Nebraska in week six. In that game, the offense couldn't do anything. In this blowout, 35-point loss to Wisconsin, no side of the ball did anything right.

To put it lightly, the manhood of Rutgers was taken away and ripped into pieces by the Badgers. Wisconsin outgains Rutgers 550 to 271. The Badgers won the time-of-possession battle by nearly ten minutes. Rutgers only had 13 total first downs for the game. They went 3-for-15 on third-down efficiency.

Rutgers' running game was stiffened for the second game in a row. Kyle Monangai rushed for only 72 yards. Athan Kaliamanis and the aerial attack once again failed to pick up the slack. He threw for only 103 yards and an interception. He completed just 38 percent of his passes. Last season, Rutgers had a run defense that ranked in the top 50. This year, it's plummeted as they rank 110th.

In this game, the Scarlet Knights gave up an average of 6.6 yards per carry and 310 rushing yards. Tawee Walker went on a running spree, compiling 198 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Even Cade Yacamelli, a backup running back, averaged 18 yards per touch on only four carries. Once again, they also failed to generate a pass rush as Braedyn Locke, as he only got sacked once.

He threw for 240 yards and a touchdown, as he completed 20 of 28 passes. The team has six games left. They still stand in a favorable position as their record is 4-2. Two wins are all that's needed for a bowl berth and there are matchups they can win.

Next week they play host to lowly UCLA and they play Minnesota, at Maryland, and at Michigan State in the season finale. However, they also play USC on the road and a ranked Illinois team in late November. They can still reach eight wins but lots of work needs to be done to ensure that.

Guess what, folks? Arizona State is for real! Did Utah start a quarterback that hasn't fully healed from his injury? Yeah, but who cares? This is a win that can catapult a program's momentum. The Sun Devils picked up their first win over a top-20 opponent since 2021. Despite Utah being handicapped by an injured signal-caller, the game was highly contested throughout.

Arizona State's defense and Cam Skattebo carried the Sun Devils in this game. Regarding their top tailback, Skattebo rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. The defense held Utah to under 50 percent on third-down conversions. The unit took advantage of an ailing Rising, picking him off three times and sacked him twice. They also forced a fumble.

Senior linebacker Caleb McCullough picked off two of those throws. ASU's quarterback, Sam Leavitt, had a nice showing. Despite Leavitt throwing only 18 passes, he was efficient, completing 11 of those throws. Hid did toss an interception but also a touchdown and 154 yards through the air.

Arizona State has six games left. There is a mix of top-tier and okay opponents that the Sun Devils have to play. They play Cincinnati next week and they still have to face Kansas State and BYU. They also face Oklahoma State, UCF, and rival Arizona in the season finale. As of now, they are 2-1 in the Big 12. A spot in the conference title game is still within reach.

North Carolina is falling apart. The Tar Heels looked completely inept on defense again. Despite Georgia Tech only converting on third downs 36 percent of the time, they still racked up 505 yards of total offense. 371 of those yards came on the ground. The defense allowed 7.7 yards per carry. The run defense has been a problem all season long. North Carolina gives up an average of 160.3 rushing yards per game.

The issue has been glaringly apparent to those who have been watching. Those who hadn't watched the team until this disaster, saw the problem stick out late in the game. With the score knotted at 34, Georgia Tech's Jamal Haynes ran right through the heart of the UNC defense to score the winning touchdown. That occurred with only 27 seconds left in regulation.

Offensively, the Tar Heels looked okay at best. They did rack up 409 yards of total offense. Jacolby Criswell threw for 209 yards and a touchdown. Superstar running back Omari Hampton rushed for 137 yards on 18 carries. However, both Criswell and Nate McCollum lost fumbles. North Carolina converted 31 percent of their third down conversions.

As of now, UNC is 3-4 overall. Yet, they are 0-3 in ACC play. That places the team in a three-way tie for last place in the conference, with Cal and North Carolina State. The Tar Heels have five games left to play. A spot in the ACC title game, not that any were expecting that, is out of reach. In order, the team plays at Virginia, at Florida State, Wake Forest, at Boston College, and NC State. There are games in this stretch that can save UNC's year if they win. However, things are not looking great.

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