Confetti from a college football weekend
Tennessee 52, Alabama 49
— Bad things have happened to the Crimson Tide when field goals don’t work. The 51-yard miss at the end of regulation set up Tennessee for one last bid, and USC transfer Chase McGrath kicked the game-winner after Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker hit Bru McCoy (another USC transfer) for 27 yards to the Alabama 23.
— The Volunteers (6-0) survived a fumble that gave Alabama a 49-42 lead with 7:49 left. Hooker, obviously a Heisman Trophy favorite, threw five touchdown passes to Jalin Hyatt, whose six catches went 207 yards. Alabama hasn’t given up this many points in a game since 1906.
— Alabama, which had 17 penalties, has an uncertain road to another College Football Playoff, with upcoming games against Mississippi and LSU. Tennessee’s next obstacles are Kentucky at home on Oct. 29 and a trip to top-ranked Georgia Nov. 5.
Michigan 41, Penn State 17
— On back-to-back plays, Donovan Edwards ran for 67 yards and Blake Corum for 61, both touchdowns. Michigan shook the earth for 418 yards rushing against the previously unbeaten Nittany Lions, who had given up 399 in its five previous games.
— The unbeaten Wolverines never punted and hogged the ball for 41 minutes and 46 seconds. Hail to Zac Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Ryan Hayes, Olusegun Oluwatimi and Trente Jones up front. Michigan quarterbacks have been hurried or sacked only 14 times in seven games.
Utah 43, USC 42
— Kyle Whittingham went for the win, not overtime, and got a 2-point run by QB Cam Rising (pictured) with :48 left. The Utes trailed USC, 28-14, in the second quarter.
— Utah cashed four of five third down situations in the fourth quarter and held the ball for nine and a half minutes. It also sacked Caleb Williams five times.
— Now the Pac-12 awaits UCLA’s trip to Oregon on Saturday. The Utes also have to visit Oregon, but the Trojans will be big favorites in their next three games before UCLA.
TCU 43, Oklahoma State 40, overtime
— The Horned Frogs are 6-0 with trips to Texas and Baylor remaining, but no one has held them under 38 points this year. The offensive coordinator is Garrett Riley, whose brother Lincoln is the boss at USC.
— But the defense held Oklahoma State to two first downs and no points in the fourth quarter, after the Cowboys had taken a 30-16 advantage.
— The difference probably was a shoulder injury that troubled OSU quarterback Spencer Sanders, who was only 16 for 36.
Illinois 26, Minnesota 16
— The Illini have only lost to Indiana (23-20) and have only given up 62 points in seven games, and they and Purdue are tied for rhe Big Ten West lead. Against a Minnesota team that is proud of its physicality, coach Bret Bielema put the ball in Chase Brown’s hands 41 times and got 180 yards from a back who has run for at lesat 100 in each game.
— The Gophers (5-2) gained only 18 yards and had the ball fewer than 20 minutes.
— Brown is a Canadian who transferred from Western Michigan and played high school football in Manatee County, Fla., where he was ranked the 144th best recruit in the state.
Stanford 16, Notre Dame 14
— This was worse than Marshall, Stanford (2-4) hadn’t beaten a major college team since Oregon in the fifth game last year. Its only win in 2022 was over Colgate, the only previous team to fail to gain at least 442 yards on Stanford. Yet Notre Dame only gained 301.
— The Irish is 3-3 with Syracuse, Clemson and USC remaining. Marcus Freeman’s first team is averaging 23.7 points.
Sacramento State 52, Eastern Washington 28
— One of the few remaining California universities playing football, the Hornets are 6-0 and averaging nearly 48 points.
— In their one foray into the FBS, Sacramento State demolished Colorado State on the road, 41-10.
— They’re coached by Troy Taylor, Cal’s alltime leading passer and the former offensive coordinator at Utah. Ranked fifth in the FCS, the Hornets have lost one Big Sky Conference game in Taylor’s two-and-a-half years.