UNDATED (AP) — College football has never experienced a Saturday like this. Five of the top seven teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same day in the regular season for the first time in history. The last time anything even remotely close happened was on Jan. 2, 1989, according to Sportradar. Shakeup Saturday was driven by the Southeastern Conference, with No. 1 Georgia, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas going down as touchdown or more favorites. No. 2 Notre Dame (at No. 8 BYU) and fifth-ranked Indiana (against No. 4 Ohio State) also lost. The chaos cleared a path for No. 3 Miami to take over the top poll spot.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Darian Mensah threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, the last of them a 3-yarder to Malachi Toney in the second overtime and No. 3 Miami held on to beat archrival Florida State 43-35. Toney had 11 catches for 154 yards and two scores, plus threw a 2-point conversion pass to Cooper Barkate after his OT score for Miami. Ashton Daniels passed for 298 yards and four touchdowns for Florida State. Bryce Fitzgerald sealed the win with an interception for the Hurricanes on the final play. The Seminoles have now lost 14 consecutive games away from Tallahassee.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Gio Lopez threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first half and No. 21 Wake Forest rolled past California 41-7. The Demon Deacons dominated from the start by scoring touchdowns on five of six first-half possessions to bring out the boo birds from the home crowd for the Golden Bears. Wake Forest celebrated its first ranking in the AP poll in four years with the thorough win. Cal was unable to build on last week’s dramatic win against Virginia Tech and lost for the third time in four home games against FBS competition.
UNDATED (AP) — College football has moved closer to a 24-team postseason after securing what a person familiar with the negotiations called a “handshake agreement” between the College Football Playoff and broadcast partner ESPN. The deal would make up for the nine-figure sums the major conferences would lose by getting rid of their title games. The person familiar with the agreement, which has not been finalized, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations. It would take effect next season. ESPN is reporting that the average additional payment for six years of the expanded playoff would be $345 million a year.
DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw two touchdown passes, former SMU soccer player Brendan Baird boosted the struggling special teams with three field goals and the No. 24 Mustangs beat Virginia 23-13. Kendrick Raphael ran for 124 yards as SMU improved to 10-0 at home in ACC games since rejoining a power conference in 2024. The Cavaliers were held to fewer than 300 total yards for a third consecutive game. They had 258 total yards.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Lincoln Kienholz ran for two scores and passed for another, Keyjuan Brown rushed for two, and Louisville defeated Syracuse 34-26 Saturday. The teams combined for 669 yards in the first half alone, the most in the ACC since 2022, but just 218 in the second half. Louisville amassed just 58 yards after intermission after gaining 367 in the first half.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Jaylen McGill ran 24 yards for a touchdown with 1:53 remaining for North Carolina’s first points since early in the second quarter and the Tar Heels recovered to beat Duke 24-20 on Saturday. Billy Edwards Jr. threw for 191 yards and a touchdown plus a key fourth-down completion on the winning drive as North Carolina (4-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won as a road underdog for the second week in a row. Duke (4-2, 1-2) took its first lead when Nate Sheppard scored from 7 yards out by reaching the end zone off a short pass from Walker Eget with 4:29 to play.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Ethan Grunkemeyer threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns to lead Virginia Tech to a 34-24 victory over Georgia Tech. Que’Sean Brown added six receptions for 182 yards receiving and a touchdown for the Hokies (5-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who scored on four of their first five possessions and snapped a two-game losing streak. Alberto Mendoza threw for a career-high 335 yards and two touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets (2-4, 1-2).
