2025 College Football: Week 10 Takeaways
Conference games are a tricky business. Maybe having two records, one overall and one within the conference, provides a little more pressure for these contests. Whatever the reason, you always get some unexpected results when conference foes face off. That can be even more troublesome for teams in the playoff chase. Three top-10 teams went down, while (5) Georgia hung on by the skin of their teeth against a struggling Florida team. The CFP committee got some curveballs at an inopportune time: their initial playoff rankings are released this Tuesday. Before that happens, let’s go through all the action in my week 10 takeaways!
We’re Taking (1) Ohio State’s Dominance for Granted
I’m sorry to save that I haven’t spent of lot of virtual ink on the Ohio State Buckeyes. To be completely honest, they’ve been so dominant that their games ended up being rather uninteresting. However, we’re at the point of the season where that mind-numbing level of greatness needs to be mentioned. The defending champs took a big risk by handing their starting QB job to unproven sophomore Julian Sayin, 5-star recruit or not. Each week, he has taken on a bit more responsibility, and his play keeps elevating to meet those demands. In fact, he has been so good that he’s now the betting favorite to win the Heisman.
Last year in week 10, I talked about how OSU exposed a highly ranked but overrated Penn State team. At the start of this season, many expected a similar high-stakes matchup. However, the Nittany Lions imploded, and all we got was a Buckeye beatdown. After a reasonably close first half, the floodgates opened in the third quarter. Sayin (20/23, 316 yards, 4 TDs) was surgical. Naturally, OSU’s two receiving stars, Jeremiah Smith (6/123/2) and Carnell Tate (5/124/1), played key roles. RB Bo Jackson (13/105) also reached the 100-yard plateau. Meanwhile, the defense pitched a second-half shutout, cruising to a 38-14 win.
You can say that the Buckeyes win because they have so much money. That’s true…to an extent. Even if you spend on talent, you have to be right about the players you pick. The chemistry, development, and character aspects all need to align. Replacing more than a dozen NFL draftees is no easy task no matter the size of your bank account. College Football has clearly divided the haves and have-nots. Yet even within the top tier, OSU stands out. They’ve been the clear best team in the country, and since a close win over then-#1 Texas in week 1 (Sayin’s first start), they’ve steamrolled the competition. An undefeated season is very much in play.
Carnage in ACC as (10) Miami, (8) Georgia Tech Both Fall
You have to feel a bit for the ACC and Big XII. While still members of the Power 4, these two conferences are clearly a tier below the SEC and Big Ten. With that fact comes the reality that nobody in either league is truly dominant, setting the stage for upsets every week. This time around, it was the ACC’s turn, as both of their top-ranked schools unexpectedly fell to unranked opponents. At noon, Miami went to SMU as a double-digit favorite. The Hurricanes led for much of the game, but they simply didn’t seize any of their chances to put the Mustangs away. When you let a team hang around, bad things often happen.
As usual, penalties wrecked Miami. They committed 12 accepted infractions for 92 years, and I can’t comprehend how this hasn’t been fixed by the coaches. The fouls short-circuited several drives and helped SMU extend theirs. QB Carson Beck (26/38, 274 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) had what has become a normal game for him: some nice throws with baffling decisions mixed in. His first INT was not at all his fault; it came off a brutal drop. The second one, a drive-ending misfire in OT, was a bad throw that he shouldn’t have even attempted. It wound up being the nail in Miami’s coffin, as SMU scored to walk off with a 26-20 win.
Defensively, the Canes played reasonably well. They held the Mustangs to just 23 rushing yards on 25 attempts, and they generated a turnover. Alas, last year’s roles have reversed. In 2024, the defense let Cam Ward and the offense down on a weekly basis. This season, it’s the offense sabotaging good defensive efforts. More alarmingly, the thing both years have in common is that Miami stumbled once they reached ACC play. This reflects poorly on HC Mario Cristobal, who isn’t keeping up with his peers. Miami’s CFP hopes are nearly extinguished, and it’s not because they’ve been beaten. The Canes have only themselves to blame.
In the evening session, Georgia Tech went on the road to face an average NC State team. The Yellow Jackets haven’t allowed a team to score 30 points this season, so this looked like a routine win on paper. Nobody told the Wolfpack I guess, as they turned Georgia Tech’s defense into mincemeat. QB CJ Bailey (24/32, 340 yards, 2 TDs; 5/34/1 rushing) had his best game ever, while RB Jayden Scott (24/196/1) ran wild. NC State put up 48 points, scoring 10 or more in all four quarters. This came out of nowhere despite their upset over Virginia earlier in the season (which was somehow not a conference game?).
It’s not even that the Yellow Jackets played poorly on offense. QB Haynes King (25/35, 408 yards, 2 TDs; 20/103/2 rushing) was his normal dual-threat self. If anything, he threw the ball better than usual, and he committed no turnovers other than a game-ending Hail Mary INT. When you score 36 points, you should win. The defense simply imploded and ended Ga Tech’s undefeated season. UVA is now the only unbeaten team in ACC play (again, because the NC State game didn’t count for some reason), so the one-loss teams like Georgia Tech are still alive. Making the CFP might require an ACC title or a win over Georgia though.
Arch Manning Leads (20) Texas to Big Win over (9) Vanderbilt
The SEC is just so tough. Every game in that conference is a trap, even against teams ranked outside the top 15. Vanderbilt, who has been rolling lately, found that out against Texas. A couple of days ago, we didn’t even know if Longhorns QB Arch Manning was going to play due to a concussion suffered last week. Crazier still, nobody could say if his absence would hurt Texas (as crazy as that sounds). The medical staff cleared him late in the week, and I want to know what the injury did to his brain. Something happened, and he suddenly looked like the guy everyone projected him to be before the start of the season.
Manning (25/33, 328 yards, 3 TDs) was decisive, accurate, and aggressive with the football (but not recklessly so). Even if you take away a one-play, 75-yard TD drive provided by WR Ryan Wingo (2/89/1) on a catch-and-run, Manning looked great. He completed passes to 10 different receivers, and he showed great command of the offense. That proved very necessary, as Vanderbilt didn’t go down quietly. Aside from an early fumble, Commodores QB Diego Pavia (27/38, 365 yards, 3 TDs; 14/43/1 rushing) constantly made big plays, especially when TE Eli Stowers (7/146/2) was involved. The senior tight end is a big-time weapon and continues to raise his draft stock. Unfortunately for Vandy, their defense was no match for Texas.
The Commodores fought valiantly, notching a 21-0 fourth quarter. It was just too little too late, as Vandy lost 34-31. This game may come back to bite Vanderbilt in the CFP race, as they also lost to Alabama earlier this year and have no real showcase games remaining. To me, Texas is too far back to make a big push, but chaos in the conference could give them an opening. I’ll need to see a lot more consistency from the Longhorns before I truly buy into them, especially with how the 4th quarter went. Both schools are still in the mix though, along with a pile of other SEC hopefuls that can make their own cases in the weeks ahead.
North Texas Downs Unbeaten Navy to Muddy AAC Race Even More
I talked about North Texas very briefly last week, and I only did so to mention the record set by QB Drew Mestemaker. It’s time to give the Mean Green their due. In week 10, they bested a good (and previously 7-0) Navy team 31-17, and it was their lowest-scoring game of the season. A game where RB Caleb Hawkins took 33 carries for 196 yards and FOUR touchdowns fell short of every other UNT point total this year. As you might have guessed, it’s their offense that makes them so dangerous (and entertaining). While they admittedly lost to the only ranked team on their schedule, the Mean Green pass the eye test and sit at 8-1.
It starts with Mestemaker, the freshman phenom who looks like a seasoned vet. His 21:4 TD-INT ratio is superb, and his decision-making skills are quite advanced. Mestemaker allows UNT to utilize an expansive playbook, with nothing appearing too hard for the kid to pull off. Defensively, the Mean Green leave much to be desired. Occasionally though, an offense is so good that it becomes a team’s defense. What I mean by that is when a team puts up so many points each week, it forces opponents to press in an attempt to keep pace. That happened to Navy, a running team that had to throw or be blown out. They tossed 2 INTs.
Inevitably, North Texas winds up in plenty of shootouts, even against teams that are seemingly beneath them. Their margin for error is also small, but that has only cost them once so far this year. As it stands, no AAC team has 0 losses. With UAB, Rice, and Temple remaining on UNT’s schedule, they’re likely to stay at just 1 loss, giving them a great shot to play in the title game. Are they as complete a team as Memphis or Tulane? Probably not. Their offense can play anywhere though, making them a major threat. One thing is for sure: there’s no clarity in the AAC, and I don’t expect any finality until the last week of the season.
Brian Kelly Era at LSU Ends in Tumultuous Fashion
It seems like I’m having to dedicate a section to at least one coach firing almost every week. The Power 4, given their major financial investments in their football programs, lack any semblance of patience. Sometimes though, a coaching hire just doesn’t work out, and it’s better to cut bait before things spiral out of control. That appears to be what LSU did after their bad loss last week to Texas A&M. Brian Kelly, who signed a $95M contract to come over from Notre Dame and bring a championship to the Tigers, was dismissed during the team’s idle week. The death of LSU’s playoff hopes also killed Kelly’s coaching tenure.
In defense of Kelly, he led a team with unrealistic expectations while playing in the nation’s toughest conference. On the flip side though, few coaches did less with more over his few seasons in Baton Rouge. Kelly believed too much in QB Garrett Nussmeier, but other players also failed to pan out. This team always seemed to be less than the sum of its parts, which falls on the head coach. I don’t disagree with the school making a change, as Kelly did not prove to be a difference-maker. What caused his firing to be so hectic though was the $53M buyout that LSU must now pay him to get him out of the building.
These college coach buyouts are completely out of control. This one happened to get the governor’s attention, where he railed against his own AD for ever signing that deal. He had a point, as AD Scott Woodward was also the man who gave Jimbo Fisher an awful contract at Texas A&M. Once the governor spoke out, Woodward only lasted a couple more days, ironically pocketing a $6.4M buyout of his own. Now with an interim coach (Frank Wilson), an interim AD (Verge Ausberry), and an interim president (Matt Lee), the school must undertake a program-defining coaching search. This circus is nowhere close to finishing.