Confetti from a college football weekend

Texas 49, Oklahoma 0:

— The Sooners are 3-3 and are riding their first 3-game losing streak since 1998, and new coach Brent Venables is 0-3 in the Big 12. Oklahoma gave up 145 points in those losses.

— On Saturday the Sooners were missing quarterback Dillon Gabriel and used five different QBs, and were outgained 585-195. It’s what happens when you lose much of your defense to the NFL and much of your offense to USC and former coach Lincoln Riley.

— Texas QB Quinn Ewers (pictured) threw four touchdown passes, and the Longhorns had 36 first downs, converted 10 of 15 third downs and averaged 9.3 yards per rush. It was Texas’ highest-scoring game in the 118-year series.

Wisconsin 42, Northwestern 7; Nebraska 17, Rutgers 14; Georgia Tech 23, Duke 20’ ; Arizona State 45, Washington 38.

— All four winners featured interim coaches, replacing (respectively) Paul Chryst, Scott Frost. Geoff Collins and Herman Edwards. .

— No one knows if any of the stopgap coaches have a chance at the real job, but the most interesting candidate is ASU’s Shawn Aguano. He won four Arizona state championships at Chandler High before Edwards hired him in 2021 as the running backs coach. The Sun Devils lost to Utah, 31-6, in Aguano’s first game, but played USC tough in a 42-25 loss and then shocked Washington, 45-38 on Saturday.

Michigan 31, Indiana 10:

— A punishing ground attack and efficient ball security has propelled Michigan to a 6-0 record, although a placid schedule helps, too. The Wolverines have rushed for at least 165 yards in each game and Blake Corum has gained 500 in the past three with at least one touchdown in each game. Michigan has suffered only three turnovers so far.

— Michigan meets Penn State in Ann Arbor on Saturday. The winner will become the most credible challenger to Ohio State in the Big 10.

Alabama 24, Texas A&M 20; Tennessee 40, LSU 13:

— The undefeated Volunteers threw down their marker early Saturday with a 40-13 blowout win at LSU. Bru McCoy has caught 12 passes for 242 yards the past two games, and Heisman candidate Hendon Hooker has not thrown an interception yet.

— On Saturday night Alabama was belabored by visiting Texas A&M, and it didn’t help that incumbent Heisman winner Bryce Young was out with a bad shoulder. Replacement Jalyn Millroe threw three TD passes but also lost two fumbles, and ‘Bama had kicking and penalty problems. The Aggies, 23 1/2 point underdogs, were in position for the win on the two-yard-line but Haynes King misfired on the final play.

— Tennessee hopes to levitate a former rivalry when Alabama comes to Knoxville Saturday. It hasn’t beaten the Crimson Tide since 2006, the year before Nick Saban took over Alabama.

UCLA 42, Utah 32; USC 30, Washington State 14

— It seems that Dorian Thompson-Robinson has been quarterbacking UCLA since the days of Red Sanders, but all that experience is coming home. DTR has thrown 12 touchdown passes in the past four games with one interception, and he threw four in the win over Utah. Zack Charbonnet also ran 22 times for 198 yards on the vaunted Utes’ defense.

— UCLA went to 6-0 but goes to Oregon Saturday. A win there will probably keep them unbeaten until the USC game in November, for those nostalgists who pine for Simpson vs. Beban, or Aikman vs. Peete.

— The Trojans aare unbeaten, too, and Oregon transfer Travis Dye is becoming more important by the week. He rampaged for 149 yards against Washington State, which had a second-quarter lead.

— USC goes to Utah Saturday night. If it wins, it will be favored to arrive at the UCLA game, this time at the Rose Bowl, undefeated as well.

Oklahoma State 41, Texas Tech 31; TCU 38, Kansas 31.

— It’s hard to imagine anyone cruising through the Big 12 unbeaten, but the winner of the Oklahoma State-TCU game, on Saturday in Fort Worth, has a shot.

— The Cowboys have been one of the nation’s most explosive teams for years. Their defense hasn’t kept pace statistically, but Mason Cobb had a large interception to help put OSU ahead 34-31, and the defense toughened even though it was on the field for 104 plays.

— Sonny Dykes’ first TCU team has been just as potent, with at least 38 points in each game. Max Duggan has recaptured the QB job and has thrown three TDs in each of the past three games, and the Frogs survived a previously unbeaten Kansas team that kept coming even though it lost QB Jalon Daniels.

Tulane 24, East Carolina 9

— The Green Wave is 5-1 after a 24-9 win over East Carolina and continued to feaure the defense of coordinator Chris Hampton. Tulane has given up only eight touchdowns and has an upset win over Kansas State.

— Its American Conference title hopes might come down to two games against Cincinnati: the regular season finale at Cincinnati and then the championship game, which features the league’s top two teams.

Pittsburgh 45, Virginia Tech 29

— Israel Abanikanda spent more time in the Heinz Field end zone than any Steeler has this season. The junior from Brooklyn raged for 320 yards in 36 carries against Virginia Tech, wiping out Tony Dorsett’s school rushing record set in 1975 (303 yards vs. Notre Dame).

— Abanikanda is the first ACC player to run for six touchdowns in a game since Kelvin Bryant did it for North Carolina in 1981, and the first “power conference” player to score six times with 300 yards since Ricky Williams did it for Texas in 1998.