Week 7 college football winners and losers: Tennessee topples Alabama; Michigan rolls; Utah beats USC
Volunteers’ 52-49 win is the program’s first since Nick Saban took over the Crimson Tide in 2007 and a result that will echo across the rest of the regular season.
Follow every game: Live NCAA College Football Scores
Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Bryce Young, returned from a one-game absence and showed no signs of a lingering shoulder injury, throwing for 455 yards and two scores as the Tide crawled out of a 28-10 hole in the first half to lead 49-42 late in the fourth quarter.
This year’s Heisman co-leader, Hendon Hooker, had 385 yards and five touchdowns, all going to wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. After a controversial pass-interference penalty reversed an Alabama interception that might’ve ended the game, Hooker tossed the game-tying score with 3:26 left and then marched the Volunteers 45 yards in just 15 seconds to set up the game-winning 40-yard field goal as time expired.
Scores and schedules for every Top 25 game in Week 7
Take a deep breath. Exhale. Inhale again.
Tennessee is a legitimate contender for the national championship just halfway through coach Josh Heupel’s second season. Alabama can’t stop committing costly penalties and can’t stop missing field goals — and given how fortunate they were to get past Texas and Texas AM, the Tide should be worse than 6-1.
should be clear after a 41-17 win against No. 10 Penn State. Defensively, the Wolverines held PSU to a season-low 268 yards, with 62 yards coming on one play, and just one offensive touchdown. While quarterback J.J. McCarthy tossed his first interception, Michigan ran for 418 yards and four scores on 7.6 yards per carry in the Nittany Lions’ worst showing against the run in nearly a decade. The win helps answer the question: Michigan is really good.
Utah
The fourth quarter of the No. 19 Utes’ 43-42 win against No. 6 Southern California was epic: Utah went 79 yards in 10 plays for a 35-35 tie, USC went 90 yards in 11 plays to make it 42-35 and Utah then marched 75 yards in 15 plays, capped by a gutsy two-point conversion, to take the lead with 48 seconds left. Quarterback Cam Rising had 475 yards of offense and five touchdowns, including the game-winner; he also ran in the two-point try. With the win, Utah moves to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12 to stay alive in the New Year’s Six race.
LSU
LSU won’t take home anything big in Brian Kelly’s first season — especially with Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss coming up next — but the Tigers could get to nine wins after topping Florida 45-35 in Gainesville. That makes five wins in six tries since a tough loss to Florida State to get started, with major credit for this run going to a defense that has put a cap on every opponent this side of Tennessee. That includes pretty solid work against Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, who had an incredible 81-yard touchdown run but was largely held in check.
Kentucky
After tough losses against Ole Miss and South Carolina spoiled a strong start, No. 22 Kentucky leaned on quarterback Will Levis and running back Chris Rodriguez to pull out a crucial 27-17 win against No. 17 Mississippi State. Getting those two together in the same backfield has been difficult: Levis missed the loss to the Gamecocks and Rodriguez was suspended for the year’s first four games. With both in the lineup, the Wildcats got 230 yards from Levis and 196 rushing yards and two scores from Rodriguez as the offense gained 478 yards for a season high against FBS competition.
Oklahoma
The Sooners rebounded from three consecutive losses to open Big 12 play by outscoring No. 20 Kansas 52-42. On the positive end, the win included a big step forward on offense behind a healthy quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 403 yards, and puts Oklahoma on firmer postseason footing under first-year coach Brent Venables. There are still big issues on defense, however, as the Sooners gave up 6.9 yards per play and more than 40 points for the fourth game in a row. But for now, the crisis in Norman is averted.
Illinois
With wins against Iowa, Wisconsin and now Minnesota, Illinois has taken control of the Big Ten West in coach Bret Bielema’s second season. The 26-14 defeat of the Golden Gophers included another outstanding performance from the nation’s most overlooked defense, which forced three turnovers and allowed just 38 yards passing and 4.3 yards per play. After injuring his ankle early in last week’s win against the Hawkeyes, quarterback Tommy DeVito threw for 252 yards and a score. The program’s progress under Bielema has him near the front of the line for national coach of the year as we pass the midway point of the regular season.
TCU
The No. 15 Horned Frogs are destined for the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after overcoming a series of double-digit deficits to stun No. 7 Oklahoma State 43-40 in double overtime. Unbeaten midway through the program’s first year under Sonny Dykes, TCU has benefited enormously from quarterback Max Duggan’s return to the starting lineup after opening the year in a backup role. Duggan had three touchdowns against the Cowboys, one coming on the ground, and has 20 combined scores in his five starts.
who will miss the rest of the season with a torn pectoral muscle, the 13th-ranked Wolfpack lost 24-9 to No. 18 Syracuse and is now 5-2 with games to come against No. 14 Wake Forest and UNC. Leary’s replacement, Jack Chambers, averaged just 5.3 yards per attempt as the Orange clamped down on a suddenly one-dimensional offense.