Life at the top isn't easy as BYU becomes the latest top-2 team to lose to an unranked opponent
Miami had no problem passing its first test as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25,
No. 2 BYU wasn't as fortunate. Playing with their highest ranking since 1984, the Cougars lost 39-31 in two overtimes to UCF on Saturday and the list of unbeaten teams thinned to Miami, UCLA and Utah.
UCF was among five unranked teams to knock off ranked opponents. No. 8 Texas Tech lost to Cincinnati, No. 11 Tennessee to South Carolina, No. 15 Iowa to Minnesota and No. 16 Southern California to Wisconsin.
No. 7 Mississippi joined BYU and Texas Tech as top-10 teams that lost. No. 19 Texas, coming off consecutive losses to unranked teams, posted its third win of the season over a Top 25 opponent and kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive by beating the Rebels 34-27.
Miami, No. 1 for the first time since 2002, was never threatened in its 52-23 win over Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes scored on seven of their first eight possessions and Darian Mensah threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns. Three of those TD passes went to Malachi Toney, who made 16 catches for 194 yards.
BYU made the cross-country trip to Orlando, Florida, a week after it beat then-No. 2 Notre Dame at home, and there was talk all week about how this could be a trap game.
UCF's Keyone Jenkins passed for 293 yards and three touchdowns in a game that had five lead changes in regulation. The final seconds of regulation were a mess. A fumble was overturned and ruled an incomplete pass. UCF had what would have been a tiebreaking field goal on third down blocked and was denied a second try even though it recovered the ball. The player who came up with the ball, the kicker, had his helmet knocked off with 2 seconds left. The helmet incident required a 10-second runoff, which sent the game to overtime.
When UCF held BYU out of the end zone in the second overtime, fans stormed the field and the Knights had their first-ever win over a top-five opponent.
“This will be humbling for us and we have to learn from it. Kind of frustrated by the outcome but am impressed with UCF,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “We’ve got some things to think about and things to correct so we can be in a better position next week. There’s still a lot of football ahead of us and there’s a lot more games to play, so we can’t let one loss define us.”
This was the third straight week in which a team ranked No. 1 or 2 lost to an unranked team. Texas was No. 1 when it lost to Oklahoma two weeks ago and Georgia was No. 1 when it was beaten by Auburn last week. The last time top-2 teams lost three times to unranked opponents was 2007, when it happened eight times.
No. 6 Indiana overcame a balky offense in its 13-6 overtime road win over Michigan. The Hoosiers generated 212 yards, the second-fewest in coach Curt Cignetti's three seasons, and Josh Hoover was just 8-of-18 passing for 81 yards.
“It's a great win,” Cignetti said. “They all come in different shapes and sizes. The offense struggled to say the least. Yes, Josh Hoover did practice every day but was limited a little bit. We feel he'll get better and better physically.”
Cincinnati's 37-24 win over Texas Tech was the Bearcats' first victory over a top-10 opponent in five years. The Red Raiders had trouble controlling Cole Tabb, who rushed 16 times for a career-high 173 yards. His 58-yard burst for a touchdown put the Bearcats up by 19 points with 6 minutes left.
LaNorris Sellers accounted for three touchdowns and Malik Orsan kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to lift South Carolina past No. 11 Tennessee 27-24 and perhaps take some heat off Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer, who now has consecutive wins over ranked foes.
Minnesota claimed Floyd of Rosedale for the first time since 2023 and second time in 12 years when Luke Drzewiecki kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired to beat Iowa 13-10.
Wisconsin beat USC 24-7, sacking Jayden Maiava five times and holding the Trojans to their fewest points and yards (241) in coach Lincoln Riley's five seasons. Maiava threw interceptions on consecutive possessions in the first quarter, and the Badgers won despite generating only 200 yards.
Oregon's season has gone from bad to worse. The Ducks lost 21-10 to an Illinois team starting its backup quarterback. After the Ducks drove 75 yards for a touchdown on the game’s opening series, they managed only a field goal on their other 12 possessions and were held scoreless in a second half for the first time since a 49-3 loss to Georgia in the 2022 opener.
The Ducks' No. 2 preseason ranking was the highest in program history and they had the potential No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL draft at quarterback among a bevy of returning talent. Things began going south when they lost at Oklahoma State and Dante Moore went out with a concussion in a win over Southern California. Moore has yet to return, the Ducks are 1-2 without him and they've been unranked for two weeks.
Oregon (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) has scored a total of 42 points in the three full games without Moore, and the schedule doesn't let up. No. 24 Northwestern takes a four-game win streak into Eugene next Saturday and the Ducks visit No. 3 Ohio State on Nov. 7.
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