2026 College Football: Week 9 Takeaways
This upcoming Tuesday, the CFP committee will release their first rankings of the season. All the arguing over polls will be moot. We’ll be arguing about another set of decision-makers instead! Until then, the teams in the FBS are really making themselves tough to evaluate. Losses are piling up among ranked teams, and QBs are making and breaking them. Due to the relative lack of upsets and chaotic outcomes this week, we’ll also have time to address a few shootouts and devote the most focus on the Group of 6 that we’ve had all season long. Let’s get to it. Read all that and more in my college football week 9 takeaways!
(4) Indiana, (13) Texas Tech Steal Victories After Making QB Changes
Two teams made QB changes this week due to injury and ineffectiveness. Indiana started Josh Hoover again against Minnesota despite his struggles the past couple of weeks. He played injured yet again, and the results did not improve. Hoover (8/19, 119 yards, TD, INT) took a big hit toward the end of the first half, and he did not return for the third quarter. Backup Grant Wilson (9/17, 156 yards, TD; 4/26 rushing) came in and provided a little bit of a spark as a runner, but he didn’t produce many points either. Part of that was Minnesota’s strong defense, and another issue was Indiana’s abhorrent special teams in thie game.
K Nico Radicic had an FG blocked and shanked another. A third FG never got kicked because the holder dropped the snap. Several punts were shanked. It was an overall disaster, but Radicic did make 2 FGs later, and the ST unit had a heroic moment. Tied 13-13 late, the Golden Gophers nailed a 60-yard FG with K Luke Drzewiecki, who I think might be the best in the country. A big catch by Hoosiers WR Charlie Becker (8/149/1) enabled Indiana to try a 60-yarder of their own as time expired, and long-distance K Patty McAteer made that one. Becker scored in 1 play during OT, and the Indiana defense held firm, sealing a 23-16 win.
I must compliment the Minnesota defense. That unit is exceptional. Elsewhere this week, Iowa crushed a good (25) Wisconsin defense 30-0; last week, the Golden Gophers shut Iowa down. They’re anything but a fluke. Back to the QB point, Hoover needs to sit and heal. He isn’t helping the team right now. Indiana will need more offense next week against USC (more on them later), and Hoover hasn’t been able to provide that for 3 weeks now. Wilson did not overly impress me, but maybe he’ll do better with a week of first-team reps. The Hoosiers can only squeak by in games so many times. One of these occasions, they may not get so lucky.
Texas Tech’s move was a flat-out benching. Will Hammond has not provided the production the Red Raiders need, so fresh off of his favorable court ruling, Thomas Castellanos got the start against (22) Arizona. A 5th-year player, Castellanos is a known quantity. His passing is hit-or-miss, but he provides another dimension on the ground. Hammond is reasonably mobile, but he doesn’t offer the same dual-threat capabilities. Those mattered greatly against the Wildcats…eventually. For a half, TTU couldn’t keep up with Arizona’s offense despite a mostly great defensive performance due to their own offense’s inconsistency.
The Red Raiders dominated the line of scrimmage, holding Arizona to 12 total rushing yards. They also rushed the passer really well, but the back end had some leaks. Specifically, the secondary rarely had answers for the combination of QB Noah Fifita (33/45, 417 yards, TD) and WR Isaiah Mizell (7/182/1) early on. Eventually, TTU clamped down on those two (without forcing a turnover), making Arizona throw short and eliminating explosive plays. That allowed the Texas Tech offense to find its groove. Castellanos (11/24, 144 yards, 2 TDs; 19/117/1 rushing) had an inconsistent passing day but played turnover-free football.
On the ground, he changed the game. Castellanos consistently picked up first downs with his legs to keep his defense on the sideline. His presence also forced the Wildcats to play true 11-on-11 football, opening up lanes for RB J’Koby Williams (14/175/1). TTU’s 2-score deficit quickly became a 2-score advantage in the second half. They outscored Arizona 24-9 in the final two frames to earn a 34-26 win. I fully expect Castellanos to start again next week. Another loss might’ve doomed TTU, so you can argue that he saved their season. Unless his play falls apart and he starts turning the ball over, I think this is Castellanos’ team.
(2) Ohio State, (17) Florida Implode After Making QB Changes
Two more teams made QB changes for the exact same reasons: injury and ineffectiveness. This time, neither one benefitted from the shift. Ohio State had no choice in their game at USC. Julian Sayin has a shoulder injury that may keep him out for the rest of the year, so freshman Luke Fahey became the starter. Based on how Fahey played, I’m surprised we didn’t see Tavien St Clair as expected. The former 3-star recruit bested the touted St Clair in a QB battle, and while he wasn’t “bad” this week, Fahey (21/38, 260 yards, TD) clearly limited the offense. He didn’t turn the ball over, though 2 INTs came back for heels landing out of bounds.
USC does NOT have a good defense. It’s their Achilles heel every year. If you judged them by their game against OSU though, you’d say they were a high-end unit. Ohio State moved the ball reasonably well. They tried to lean on RB Bo Jackson (21/121; 2/32 receiving) and the running game to take pressure off Fahey. Fahey also clearly got the memo to force-feed WR Jeremiah Smith (10/83/1), who had 8 more catches than anyone else on the team. The star receiver couldn’t win on his own though, and the Buckeyes struggled badly in the red zone, kicking 4 FGs before they scored their only TD late in the 4th quarter.
I don’t think OSU’s defense helped out enough. USC has a good offense, but the Buckeyes are supposed to have a great defense, and they gave up 30 points and earned just 1 sack. It may not be fully fair to put that sort of pressure on them, but with a backup QB, the defense has to take the lead. With four tricky conference opponents coming up, they’ll have to play a lot better, or Fahey will. I believe more in the defense making that leap. Fahey isn’t to blame; he’s a freshman, and from that perspective, he played admirably. But he’s not Sayin, and Smith can’t throw the ball to himself. We’ll see what transpires in the coming weeks.
Florida has only themselves to blame for their QB misfortune. Backup Trammel Jones Jr played average football last week against Texas, but starter Aaron Philo was healthy enough to resume his role against (3) Georgia. I’ll be frank: Philo (5/7, 26 yards, 2 INTs) did not play well. He threw a boneheaded INT by flicking the ball into a pile of Bulldogs while falling. His second INT came on a drop by his receiver, but HC Jon Sumrall pulled Philo anyway. Jones (18/25, 172 yards, INT; 9/11/1, FUM rushing) was definitely worse. Georgia’s defense is too good to fall for his running tricks, and they completely neutralized him as a passer.
The Gator defense actually played well enough to win. Despite the turnovers giving Georgia great field position, the Bulldogs only earned 318 yards of offense and 27 points with their strong talent. Mistakes by Florida (such as a roughing-the-punter foul) doomed them. Most of Jones’ production came during garbage time, including the team’s only 8 points. If you ask me, Philo is the one who gives Florida the best chance to win. In actuality though, neither QB is likely the answer for the Gators next year. If they want to beat (9) Kentucky next week at least, Philo should be the guy taking the snaps. Just don’t expect him to carry the team.
Syracuse, Iowa State Unlikely Winners of Shootouts vs Ranked Teams
While the SEC and Big Ten are the clear alphas in the college football world, we have a Power 4, not a Power 2. The other two members of that quarter, the ACC and the Big XI, have legitimate contenders of their own and a surprising amount of depth. That depth proved fully capable of tripping up some conference title hopefuls this week. Syracuse likely snuck up on (19) SMU. They’ve been rather atrocious with their revolving door of QBs, but Steve Angeli returned last week from injury and upset UNC.
Angeli had a great start to 2025 before tearing his Achilles. The Orange didn’t win another game that season. He wasn’t good to start 2026, but you could tell that the Achilles still affected him. His mobility and planting weren’t the same. Since his second return last week though, he has been much improved. Angeli (21/34, 200 yards, TD; 3/14/1 rushing) didn’t produce flashy stats, but the offense runs much better with him in the game. SMU made their normal errors (2 fumbles here), but they’re still a high-powered offense. They scored 27 points, yet Syracuse managed to post 30. The Orange would be a pain if they played any other ACC contenders the rest of the way.
Iowa State’s offensive explosion came out of nowhere against (24) Oklahoma State. Arizona whipped them 39-3 just last week, and they scored only 10 points the prior week against BYU. Facing Cowboys QB Drew Mestemaker, the new QB1 in ESPN’s new poll concerning the NFL Draft, the Cyclones had to put up points. Mestemaker (27/42, 323 yards, 5 TDs, INT) delivered on the hype. He put 49 points on the board, including a go-ahead TD with 53 seconds to go. Neither defense really came to play, but ISU still wasn’t expected to compete with OKST’s output or even come close. Three Iowa State players simply refused to roll over.
First, QB Jaylen Raynor (18/28, 309 yards, TD; 12/48/1 rushing) went toe-to-toe with Mestemaker and showed serious willpower on some strong runs. RB Aiden Flora (29/221/2) had another masterful performance, and if the Cyclones were a better team or in a bigger market, he might be a Heisman candidate. Finally, WR Jamal Polite Jr (6/171/1) was a walking big play. The freshman announced himself by constantly blowing by Cowboys DBs and producing chunk gains. Their biggest test came in those final 53 seconds, when they trailed 49-48 and needed to work their way into FG range through the air. Polite handled that in 1 play.
He ran right past the secondary for a catch-and-run of 33 yards, immediately reaching the OKST 30. A few runs later, reliable K Kyle Konrardy booted a 34-yard game-winning FG. This contest became the highest-scoring Big XII game this season with 100 total points. I admit: I have no idea where ISU’s outburst came from. But it was fun to see! At 4-4, they aren’t really conference threats. Oklahoma State had the most to lose here. They’ll certainly be unranked on Tuesday, and they incurred a second conference loss. Three other teams have 1 loss or fewer, so the Cowboys needed to keep pace. I love how they’ve turned their team around, but they’re not quite back just yet.
(20) Boise State Survives Texas State in Game of the Year Candidate
If you stayed up late, you saw one of the best games imaginable. Hopefully you didn’t give up on it, because it started out as a laugher. Boise State thoroughly dominated the first half. Four drives led to 4 TDs, while the defense suffocated the Bobcats. Up 28-3 at the half, BSU had this game in the bag. Except…they didn’t. TSU QB Brad Jackson (23/38, 327 yards, 4 TDs; 9/54/1 rushing) became a one-man wrecking crew. He led his team in rushing in addition to passing like his life depended on it. Combined with a defense that earned an INT, a turnover on downs, and 4 punts to begin the second half, Texas State charged back.
The Bobcats scored 36 unanswered points to take a stunning 39-28 lead in the 4th quarter. If that wasn’t a big enough batch of chaos, the game only got more insane. BSU QB Maddux Madsen (24/33, 236 yards, TD, INT, 2 rush TDs) went down with a knee injury and did not return. When backup Max Cutforth ran out to take the next snap, all hope had abandoned the Broncos on their blue field. All Cutforth (8/13, 131 yards, 3 TDs) did was throw 3 consecutive 4th-quarter touchdowns, including one on a 4th-and-10 play following a botched TSU trick play that was picked off. WR Rasean Jones (9/117/3) caught two of them, and WR Akeem Wright (8/116/1) snagged the third.
Of course, Texas State didn’t quit. After the second Cutforth TD that gave Boise State a 40-39 lead, Jackson struck back with a 72-yard lightning bolt to regain the advantage. Interestingly, all four 2-point conversions attempted by these two teams in the 4th quarter failed. Only Cutforth’s third score put the Broncos ahead for good, as their defense clung to the ensuing 46-45 lead in the waning moments. This was a season-saver for Boise State. I don’t know if the CFP committee would take a 2-loss Group of 6 teams without other carnage going on. At the very least, the win keeps the Broncos in control of their own destiny.
Sun Belt Eliminated from CFP Contention; AAC Has a Dark Horse
While Thursday Night Football was happening in the NFL, the Group of 6 did some jockeying for playoff positioning. For the second straight week, James Madison lost in an OT upset, and this loss might bring the whole conference down. They showed the same pattern versus Troy that they displayed against App State: they build a quick double-digit lead before stalling out offensively. Turnovers really haunted the Dukes, as they had 5 of them. Troy didn’t have a banner day on offense either, and their two second-quarter takeaways gave them nothing. They parlayed a pick six and a fumble into 14 points later though.
James Madison needs to stop with their QB switching. Neither could get into a rhythm, and Camden Coleman (14/25, 175 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) and JC Evans (8/10, 72 yards, INT) both made errors. The Trojans’ hero was CB Justin Powe. He earned all 3 of his team’s INTs, broke up a TD in the 4th quarter, and ripped a nearly-completed Hail Mary pass out of a JMU player’s hands as the 4th quarter expired. In OT, the country’s best 4th-down offense (JMU) got stuffed on that down, and Trojans K Hayden Wolfe kicked his first career successful FG to win the game. Nobody else in the SBC has less than 2 losses, so I consider them cooked.
Simultaneously, North Texas played FAU in an expected shootout. Those two teams delivered! We saw 89 points and 856 yards of offense between them, along with 4 combined turnovers. UNT started off a bit slowly, but they sure turned it on. Led by QB Tayven Jackson (33/46, 404 yards, 4 TDs; 5/41 rushing) and RB Jaheim White (220 scrimmage yards, 2 TDs), UNT pulled off a 48-41 win that brings them to 4-0 in AAC play. Their 6-2 record overall leaves zero room for error. Two losses in the AAC is not the instant death knell that it is in the Sun Belt, but UNT still needs stumbles by teams like Boise State and New Mexico for a CFP shot.
North Texas’ offensive firepower is the reason I’m highlighting them here. The Mean Green have scored 44+ points in each of their 6 wins. Sure, they struggle to stop pretty much everyone. But if you can outscore opponents, who cares! In this money-centric era of college football, I think watchability is going to matter. Fans enjoy offense. Therefore, suppose UNT wins the AAC at 11-2, while Boise State and UNM each drop a second game. I can see the CFP committee ranking the Mean Green higher simply to grant their explosive offense a tournament entry. They’ve got a pretty narrow path, but it exists, and it’ll be fun to watch along the way.