Top list from Penn State, Texas

Southern California had No. 5 Penn State on the ropes after a stunningly effective first half that saw the Trojans turn around last week's loss to Minnesota and resemble the team some believed was in the college football race playoffs could play a role.

But the Nittany Lions got back into form in the second half. They trailed 20-6 at halftime, tied the game with less than five minutes left in the third quarter and looked poised to pull away in the fourth quarter and remain undefeated.

USC's response tells the story of the Trojans' first run through the Big Ten.

Penn State gave USC a short field late in the third quarter on a Drew Allar interception, one of three on the day by one of the Bowl Subdivision's best at preventing turnovers. But the Trojans could only score a field goal and took a 23-20 lead in the final quarter.

With six minutes left, USC led 30-23 and allowed two fourth-down conversions to help PSU tie the game with about three minutes left. In the final period of regulation time, USC played for overtime instead of pushing the ball offside for a chance at a potential game-winning field goal.

After USC missed a field goal on the first possession of overtime, the Nittany Lions converted a 36-yard field goal to secure a 33-30 road win.

Close. So, so close for USC. But not completely.

Given its third loss in four games to open the Big Ten, there are some positive signs. In addition to the first half and the competitive defeat on Saturday, there was the second half against Michigan, in which USC narrowly missed a victory in a late defensive effort. Before the loss to the Golden Gophers, the Trojans looked very good in a win against Wisconsin, which defeated Rutgers 42-7 on Saturday.

Looking beyond the rankings, USC could be on the verge of becoming a legitimate Big Ten contender. The trick is to take what we've seen in spurts — a quarter here, a half there — and package it into the kind of overall performance a team needs to climb to the top of the Big Ten.

For Penn State, the comeback win preserves some very strong playoff hopes and avoids the kind of loss that would have raised the stakes in its November matchup against No. 2 Ohio State. By escaping the Trojans, the Nittany Lions will still be in a good position to secure a playoff spot even if they lose to the Buckeyes.

The Trojans and Nittany Lions lead Saturday's winners and losers:

winner

Texas

It wasn't the prettiest performance, especially in a rocky first quarter, but No. 1 Texas put things right with a 34-3 win over No. 16 Oklahoma to remain the only undefeated team in the SEC. After missing two games due to injury, quarterback Quinn Ewers had 199 yards passing, running and throwing for a touchdown, while the running game yielded 177 yards on 30 carries. The Red River win was another very good defensive performance from a unit that entered the weekend ranked second nationally in yards given up per game: Texas held the Sooners to 237 yards at 3.4 yards per game, with a good portion With these yards the game was already well under control.

Iowa

Iowa scored 40 points in a very nice win over Washington, and if you think that's no big deal, you might not be familiar with the Hawkeyes' recent history. Iowa had not scored 40 points against a Big Ten opponent since a 51-point loss to Maryland on Oct. 1, 2021. Last year's team scored a total of 131 points in 10 league games, suffering a narrow loss to Michigan in the Big Ten championship. Even though they were helped by a few short fields in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes are clearly better on that side of the ball; This makes them a threat to almost every opponent the rest of the time.

buffalo

Buffalo is making a lot of noise under new coach Pete Lembo. A few weeks after upsetting Northern Illinois, the Bulls defeated the MAC favorites with a 30-15 win over Toledo. Two factors were key to the upset: first, a plus-two lead in turnover margin and second, a dominant performance on both sides of the line. Buffalo ran for 230 yards on 52 carries while holding the Rockets to just 46 yards rushing with 1.8 yards per rush. Lembo once worked wonders at Ball State and is doing the same with the Bulls.

loser

Alabama

Sirens, alarms, flares, cuckoo clocks – they all go off at once, amid another surprising result for Kalen DeBoer and the No. 7 Crimson Tide. Hey, at least they won this time: Alabama got on the defensive late and held off South Carolina to win 27-25. Of course, that's an improvement from last week's loss to Vanderbilt. But there are so many signs of concern, including an offensive plan that worked so well for DeBoer in Washington but didn't translate well to the physicality and style in the SEC. The win against the Gamecocks keeps the Tide alive in contention for the SEC championship and a playoff spot, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to see how they can make it through the regular season without another two or more losses .

North Carolina

These are not normal losses. These are bad, bad, bad losses, each seemingly worse than the last. And that's saying something considering North Carolina's current four-game losing streak began with a 70-50 home loss to James Madison. And yes, the latest one was worse. After tying Georgia Tech at 34-34 on a 26-yard field goal with 44 seconds left, the Tar Heels allowed Tech running back Jamal Haynes to run 68 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the ensuing drive and lost with 41:34. UNC is now 3-4 and winless in ACC play.

Oklahoma

There are too many flaws for this team to stay in the top 25. The biggest problem at OU is an offense that lacks a quarterback and no surrounding talent — the receiver corps has been decimated by injuries — and appears to be a problem for years. At quarterback, Brent Venables and his staff appear to have made fun of former starter Jackson Arnold and don't seem to know how to create anything positive behind Michael Hawkins Jr., a more limited passer. The Sooners still have to face No. 8 Mississippi, No. 18 Missouri, Alabama and No. 10 LSU, so getting six wins may be easier said than done.