How three college football teams got out of 'Survival Saturday' alive

Week 11 of the college football season will be defined by the words almost and survival. Several times this weekend, we saw teams ranked in the Top 25 on the brink of having their entire season redefined. Virginia Tech and Louisville were never able to find a way to survive in their games, significantly damaging their Playoff hopes.

Meanwhile, some of the best teams in the country found a way to survive, keeping the hopes of the playoffs alive. Two top 10 teams in Indiana and Oregon found themselves seriously on the brink before game-winning drives at the end of the 4th quarter. A playoff hopeful in Vanderbilt was on the ropes the entire game before finally finishing Auburn in overtime.

Every survival by a contender this weekend was built differently. Indiana had to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown, and they did just that on an incredible play by Omar Cooper Jr. Oregon needed to drive down the field in terrible conditions to kick a game-winning field goal. Vanderbilt needed one stop in overtime to end the game, and the defense came up big.

Breaking down how 'Survival Saturday' was won by 3 contenders

Indiana Hoosiers

Coming into the weekend, almost everyone penciled in Indiana beating a Penn State team that had yet to win their first game in Big Ten play. When King Mack intercepted Fernando Mendoza in the 4th quarter, it put Indiana on the brink like we hadn't seen this season, especially when Nicholas Singleton scored to give Penn State the lead.

Even when Indiana got the ball back, the Hoosiers punted the ball away to Penn State who could've won the game. The Indiana defense stood tall giving the Hoosiers one last chance to go and win the game.

After the drive started with a sack, Fernando Mendoza had his Heisman moment with an incredible drive. Mendoza found Omar Cooper Jr on a 22-yard strike, followed by a 12-yard pass to E.J. Williams Jr, a 29-yard strike to Riley Nowakowski, and a 17-yard jump ball to Charlie Becker to get Indiana into the redzone.

On the biggest play of the game, Fernando Mendoza gave Omar Cooper Jr a chance, and he turned it into one of the most incredible catches you may see this season, with an incredible toe-tap touchdown ending Penn State's hopes of an upset.