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David Hale
Multiple Authors
Oregon was first admitted into the College Football Playoff intensive care unit in Week 2 when Oklahoma State, fresh off an opening-week loss to Tulsa, upended the Ducks in one of the season’s first big upsets.
In the four-team playoff era, this would’ve been a fatal blow. A year from now, it’ll be little more than a paper cut.
But we still have a 12-team playoff this season, which meant Oregon’s heart was still thumping and, though the Ducks required some round-the-clock monitoring, their playoff hopes were still alive.
Then came the Dante Moore injury.
Then came a home loss to UCLA in which the Ducks looked entirely lifeless.
Then came what surely was the kill shot, a meandering performance against Illinois in which Oregon looked like the guy in “Weekend at Bernie’s” — oddly ambulatory but nevertheless dead as a doornail.
And that was the end of Oregon’s story.
Or so we thought.
The first playoff rankings of the season offered plenty of surprises, but perhaps the biggest could’ve been summed up easily by simply reenacting one of the tropes of all great horror movies — only this time, it would be a duck wing lurching up through the dirt as the tombstone that read “Here lies 2026 Oregon” crumbled to the ground.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Oregon’s death were exaggerated.
But the Ducks are not alone in college football’s zombie class for 2026.
After all, it was Oregon that appeared to deal USC its death blow, and, it seemed, another nail in Lincoln Riley’s coffin. When USC could barely muster a wheeze and a cough against Wisconsin, it seemed the kindest thing the committee could do was to give the Trojans the Old Yeller treatment. No sense prolonging the inevitable. Yet, here we are, with USC arguably underranked at No. 18 with winnable games against Indiana and UCLA to go, a playoff spot still well within reach.
Texas was dead and buried after three quarters against Ohio State, rallied, then stumbled into a plate glass window and got caught in a bear trap before bleeding out against Florida and Oklahoma. Two losses to unranked teams surely meant the Longhorns would be circling the drain, right? Nope. They’re the No. 6 team in the country.
Ole Miss, Ohio State, LSU — they’ve all got three losses, records that in past years would’ve been enough to require the Jaws of Life to salvage any faint hint of playoff aspirations. But this season, who’s to say?
In 2026, ending a team’s playoff hopes is like trying to get sand out of your sneakers after a walk on the beach. There’s always just a little more in there. Even the most egregious of mishaps — Oregon’s loss to Illinois, USC’s to Wisconsin, BYU‘s to UCF — aren’t fatal.
Even Oklahoma State, which has losses to Tulsa and Iowa State is, as Billy Crystal explained in “The Princess Bride,” just “mostly dead.” The Pokes still get a No. 25 ranking and a shot at Texas Tech this week.
Now just three weeks from the finish line of the regular season, there are still a dozen or so schools that are lurching forward like Monty Python’s black knight — missing limbs and bleeding out, pronouncing it all “but a flesh wound.”
And so we get the Trojans’ showdown with Indiana — a game that could put the once-doomed USC back into the Big Ten driver’s seat. The Hoosiers certainly haven’t looked healthy either, with Josh Hoover struggling like a toddler trying to get the straw into a Capri Sun and an offense that hasn’t topped 23 points in a month. Hoover could sit out the game, another fortuitous twist for the Trojans. If USC can pull off the win in Bloomington, it could go from DOA to LOL in just three weeks. That’s college football in 2026.
Heck, can we even write off Michigan (which travels to Oregon this week) and Oklahoma (which hosts Ole Miss)?
Neither has much of a shot at the playoff, but a few flickers of life in Week 11 could be enough to doom their opposition.
Fresh off an embarrassing loss to rival Michigan State, the Michigan fanbase is apoplectic, utterly shocked at the state of a program that has looked utterly lifeless. Thankfully, Kyle Whittingham isn’t worried. He’s just going to drive his Cybertruck out to the next LIV Tour event, down a couple of Crystal Pepsis and clear his head a bit before figuring the whole thing out. He’ll post the answers on his MySpace page.
Nevertheless, are we sure Michigan can’t summon up just enough energy to deal one final blow to Oregon? Can the Wolverines’ defense — still stout, if exhausted — rattle the suddenly resurgent Dylan Raiola? And would the playoff committee even notice if it did?
Or how about those Sooners, a team that actually lost to Michigan in Week 2. Looking back now, that feels like watching a Labrador try to parallel park. But Oklahoma keeps defying the odds, putting an offense together with duct tape and twine, and somehow still knocking off the likes of Texas and Florida. Who’s to say the Sooners can’t do the same to a reeling Ole Miss team still recovering from an all-out whooping at the hands of Georgia?
And then there’s the ultimate test case for waking the dead: LSU.
The old trope suggests no real horror villain can be killed by conventional means, and there’s no debate about who college football’s ultimate villain is. Anyone ready to write Lane Kiffin’s epitaph before a three-game finish hosting Texas, traveling to Tennessee and capping the regular season with a trip to Arkansas? If LSU can still knock off two top-10 teams, it’s hard to fathom the committee being too concerned with those three losses that supposedly proved what a failure Kiffin was already.
Sure, some of Week 11’s headliners look a bit like Jon Snow, sword drawn, ready to fight an army single-handedly. The odds are not in their favor.
But if 2026 has proved anything, it’s that even a death certificate signed and notarized by the most insightful of pundits doesn’t mean a team is done for good. And as we start to grapple with the implications of what a 24-team playoff looks like in the future, those moments that once delivered the ultimate emotional gut punch as we watched our heroes collapse to the ground and accept their fate, soon will be little more than brief diversions. There will be a prolonged beat just to ramp up emotion before the big reveal that every blue blood in the country is wearing a bulletproof vest, drank the antidote and has a wizard on speed dial just waiting to conjure them back to life.
Jump to:
Top games | Under the radar
Upset alert | Power rankings
Heisman five | Two-minute drill
Best of the rest of Week 11
Imagine what this week is like for Duke coach Manny Diaz, seeing his former star QB, Darian Mensah — the one who was under contract for $4 million a year until bolting just before the transfer portal window closed in January — and his former star receiver, Cooper Barkate, now playing at Miami, the school that unceremoniously fired him as head coach five years ago.
It’s the equivalent to bumping into your ex on the street only to find they’re dating your middle school bully.
“Oh, Darian, you’re looking well. And I see you’re with Miami now? Oh, and you’ve booked a trip to the Heisman ceremony together?”
But if 1980s rom-coms have taught us anything, it’s that the underdog who was left at the altar always finds happiness in the end. Well, that and playing Peter Gabriel on a boom box can solve a lot of problems.
Duke has handled the breakup pretty well by handing the ball to Nate Sheppard 25 times a week. Sure, there have been some slipups, like losing to Georgia Tech, but the Blue Devils have turned the page and moved on. Walker Eget is not Mensah, but he’s not so bad. And maybe Miami isn’t the bully anymore either. Without Malachi Toney, the Canes’ offense sputtered for long stretches against Notre Dame last week, and the hangover of their first loss of the season could certainly open the door for an upset this week.
Still, a healthy breakup isn’t about getting revenge. It’s about finding happiness in something new. So Duke is 7-2 and, with a win this week, could force its way into the top 25 and keep hopes alive for another ACC championship. Meanwhile, Mensah has been extraordinary, with a clear shot at the Heisman, a playoff berth and an early selection in next year’s NFL draft.
Sometimes it all works out for the best for all parties concerned.
Missouri‘s offensive success rate against FBS opponents this season is just 40.6%, the worst mark in the SEC and 111th nationally. Missouri and Clemson are the only two Power 4 schools with negative explosive play rate and successful play rate differentials to win six games this season. Missouri is one of only two ranked teams completing fewer than 60% of its throws. Those are concerning signs given this week’s opponent. Georgia’s defense has been otherworldly, giving up only 1.3 points per drive, 8.7% explosives and a 9.5% sack rate — all top 10 nationally. On the other hand, Missouri could lose by 40 and, according to the CFP bylaws, would be ranked no lower than 24th.
3:06
Mizzou’s Drinkwitz: Smart’s ‘program is the benchmark for the SEC’
Drew Mestemaker has more touchdown passes in his past two games (nine) than Oklahoma State had all of last season (seven). The Pokes just hung 66 on Kansas State and have scored at least 30 in every game since the opening-week loss to Tulsa. Texas Tech, meanwhile, didn’t give up more than 26 points in a game all last season. The Red Raiders have given up 36, 26 and 48 in their past three.
If a top-15 team picks up a big win over a 7-2 opponent and there’s no one there to hear it, does it really make a sound? Wake Forest is begging for attention after dominating its past five games. SMU is one of two two-loss Power 4 schools unranked by the committee. Fans in Dallas are confused by a team in their city playing good football. None of it makes a lot of sense, but it’s the ACC, so it’s really just business as usual.
You know who looks pretty smart right about now? Utah athletic director Mark Harlan. He took plenty of heat for running off Kyle Whittingham, the most successful coach in school history, to hand the job over to Morgan Scalley. The decision also could’ve backfired when Whittingham landed the job at Michigan. And though it’s still too soon to render a final verdict, the early returns are pretty stunning. Utah is ranked No. 2 in the country with impressive wins over ranked opponents in two of the past three weeks. Whittingham, meanwhile, looks like a dad who accidentally wandered into a rave at 4 a.m. He’s not sure how he got there, everything seems to be on fire, and there’s not another adult within a mile of the place. Harlan’s victory tour can take another big step this week with a win over No. 23 Arizona. With a trip to woeful TCU and a home game against 5-4 West Virginia remaining, a win this week would effectively punch Utah’s ticket to the playoff.
The early-season excitement about Oregon State has dimmed a bit as the Beavers dropped their past two to Fresno State and Texas State. In other news, Oregon State alum and Nvidia founder Jensen Huang was allegedly dating a Chinese spy, who presumably was gaining important intel on either AI chips or Jesse Legree‘s route tree. Until a full and thorough investigation takes place, we have to presume this was all about sabotaging the Beavers’ Pac-12 hopes.
Under-the-radar games
Louisville travels to Chapel Hill where it will face off against former coach Bobby Petrino, now helming North Carolina’s offense. Petrino has worked wonders with quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who has 10 TD passes and only one interception over his past four games. The two teams have lived on a razor’s edge all season. Louisville has three losses by a combined nine points. UNC has four losses by a combined 24 points. The winner can claim the title of the best team everyone in the ACC forgot about, which is somehow both a compliment and an insult.
Florida has lost four of its past five, all by two scores, and its QB room is a mess. Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. have combined for a 36.9 QBR with five touchdowns, seven picks and 14 sacks over the past five games. Now Florida travels to Kentucky, which is desperate for a win to stay in playoff contention after last week’s sluggish effort against Tennessee. With 6-3 Missouri and 6-3 Louisville still left on the docket, this could be a do-or-die moment for the Wildcats.
Ohio State has surrendered 71 points in its past two games — its most in a two-game stretch since giving up 87 to Michigan and Georgia to cap the 2022 season. It’s shocking what a huge impact Julian Sayin clearly had on defense and special teams. Northwestern, meanwhile, has lost its past two and hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2020, a stretch of 16 straight losses.
Upset alert
UCLA (vs. Illinois)
The Illini have won four straight, and their defense has give up only 40 points over its past three against Oregon, Maryland and Nebraska. This could be a sign that Illinois has an improving and stout defense. Or, it could be that the Illini D is simply dressed in a hooded cloak and carrying a scythe. Oregon fired its OC after losing to Illinois, Maryland fired its head coach a week before its loss to Illinois, and Nebraska just axed OC Dana Holgorsen after losing to Illinois. Now the Illini turn their attention to the No. 4 Bruins, whose offense has been far from explosive this season. Don’t count on UCLA firing anyone even if it loses though.
1:54
‘You don’t belong there’: Stephen A. takes issue with Utah, UCLA in top 5
Tennessee (at Texas A&M)
Mike Elko has reached the stage of the season where he’s basically just poking his listless team with a stick and imploring it to do something. Against opponents 6-3 or better this season, Texas A&M has scored 21, 6, 6, 20 and 9 points. Tennessee’s defense has been dominant all season, so this certainly doesn’t set up as a particularly likely week for Texas A&M to suddenly remember how to throw a forward pass. Still, the Vols have been through the wringer with three straight games against ranked foes, and their offense isn’t exactly a thoroughbred either. It would be entirely reasonable to expect Tennessee to take this week as a chance to take its foot off the gas, which might leave just enough room for the Aggies to prove there’s a little fight left in them.
BYU (vs. Baylor)
Since narrowly escaping Notre Dame, BYU has lost to UCF in overtime, looked sluggish against a mediocre Arizona State, and lost to rival Utah. On the flip side, Baylor has won its past two since firing Dave Aranda, putting up 83 points in the process, while quarterback DJ Lagway is playing some of the best football of his career. Lagway has contributed 690 total yards and seven touchdowns in wins over UCF and Iowa State.
Post-Week 10 Power Rankings
A quick recap of the biggest movers and shakers from last week’s games.
1. Utah
2. Kick Sixes
3. The Arch Manning reclamation project 2.0
4. Notre Dame
5. Dabo Swinney’s “I told you so” energy
6. Jason Witten’s playcalling
7. NFL teams tanking for Drew Mestemaker
8. Georgia
9. Putting up 64 on the road vs. a conference opponent without your starting QB
10. Tulsa
Unranked: Officials in Missouri-Texas, celebrities at LSU’s Tiger Walk, the regular season having any meaning; Steele Pizzella being Wake Forest’s backup QB and not an Italian action movie star or a new menu item at Taco Bell.
Heisman five
The favorites in the race for the Heisman have hit some roadblocks in recent weeks thanks to injuries to Ohio State QB Julian Sayin and Miami receiver Malachi Toney. That has opened the door for some late arrivals, and the award remains entirely up for grabs.
1. Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
How good is Smith? Playing with a freshman QB in the aftermath of Sayin’s injury, he has faced back-to-back ranked foes and, despite Ohio State losses, still racked up 17 catches, 216 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But as the Buckeyes’ fortunes have faded, it’s fair to wonder if Heisman voters will still appreciate his skill set or hand the hardware to someone on a team with real playoff hopes. Regardless, there’s little question as to who the best player in college football is in 2026. It’s Smith — and that would be true if he had Sayin, Luke Fahey, Tom Brady or a sentient Jugs machine created by Anthropic throwing to him.
2. Georgia QB Gunner Stockton
Stockton is the quarterback equivalent of black coffee. He gets the job done without needing sugar, whipped cream or pumpkin spice. In fact, he is our cultural antidote to the pumpkin spice-ification of everything else. He is a flannel shirt on a fall day with Garth Brooks on a cassette deck in a battered F-150. He’s also the quarterback of the No. 1 team in the country with 22 touchdowns, five turnovers, 71% completions and more than 2,000 total yards with wins over Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss. But the Garth Brooks thing just sounds better.
3. Miami QB Darian Mensah
If Luke Talich doesn’t swat the ball from Elijah Lofton‘s hands in the end zone on fourth down with 3:36 to play last week, Miami might still be undefeated, and Mensah would be the runaway favorite to win the Heisman. Alas, Talich made a terrific play, the pass was ruled incomplete, and Notre Dame prevailed. Still, don’t let that overshadow another terrific performance from Mensah, even without his star receiver. Mensah tallied just shy of 300 yards and threw three touchdown passes in the loss, and he still leads FBS in Total QBR, passer rating and completion percentage.
4. Notre Dame QB CJ Carr
Kudos to Carr for finally putting together a genuinely impressive performance against a genuinely good opponent. There had certainly been moments — the second half vs. BYU, in particular — but the Miami win was Carr’s best game, start to finish, against a ranked foe, as he completed 73% of his throws for 319 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. Carr’s lone interception this season came with a 35-point lead against Purdue, which is basically like Tom Hanks doing “You’ve Got Mail” in the midst of his late-’90s run of Oscar fare. At a certain point, things are going so well, you just need to see what you can get away with.
5. Duke RB Nate Sheppard
0:29
Nate Sheppard turns on the jets for a 69-yard Duke touchdown
Through nine games, Sheppard has racked up 1,495 scrimmage yards and 21 total touchdowns. Here’s a quick list of other FBS players in the past 20 years to have done that: 2024 Ashton Jeanty. That’s the list. That Sheppard is doing this for a Duke offense that was mostly scrounged together from players Manny Diaz found in an old utility closet underneath Wallace Wade Stadium makes it all the more impressive. Put Mensah and Cooper Barkate on this team as Diaz had assumed would be the case in mid-January, and Duke is probably looking a lot like UCLA, while Sheppard would be a clear-cut Heisman favorite. But as the old saying goes, man plans and Mario Cristobal laughs (and pulls out his checkbook).
Two-minute drill
A quick stroll through the rest of Week 11’s biggest matchups.
After another resounding drubbing at the hands of Louisville, Brent Key fired four assistants and called the team’s coaching and performance “a joke.” Not a “ha ha” joke, but more of a “Knock, knock … who’s there? … Banana” type of joke that’s actually quite annoying. Meanwhile, Dabo Swinney was asked yet again about the possibility of empowering a GM to handle player personnel decisions in the future, to which he once more insisted he’d continue building a roster the same way he always has: by an elaborate game of “Duck, Duck, Goose.”
After a 20-10 loss to Arizona State last week — Colorado‘s 17th loss in its past 24 games — head coach Deion Sanders was asked about his potentially shaky job status. Coach Prime insisted that, “I don’t think about that,” while presumably muttering under his breath about how frustrated he is by the massive dips in YouTube views and TikTok subscribers. A home win over No. 14 Houston would be just enough to inject some real life back into Colorado’s program, then if Sanders hires Master P to coach special teams and insist the school retire the Aflac duck’s jersey, the Buffs will be right back on track.
It’s the 62nd installment of the Battle of the Bayou, in which the winner gets a wooden boot trophy and, we assume, the loser gets a bucket of empty crawfish shells. Louisiana has won 15 of the past 18 matchups, and is heavily favored again against 2-7 UL Monroe. Still, ULM has won two of its past three, offering at least a flicker of hope. On the other hand, Louisiana’s quarterback is named Lunch, which feels like a distinct advantage in Cajun country.
Florida State toppled Boston College last week for its first road win in three years. Pitt, meanwhile, stopped a three-game skid and won its first game since starting QB Mason Heintschel went down by running over the hallowed-out carcass of Georgia Tech. So, what’s in store this weekend? Pitt’s defense figures to be the key. The Panthers haven’t given up more than 135 yards on the ground in any game this season, have held six of nine opponents to under 100 yards rushing, and lead the nation in holding opponents to just 2.24 yards per carry. Given that most of Florida State’s passing offense is based on a dare, that’s probably not an ideal matchup for the Noles.
When Vanderbilt knocked off Alabama in 2024, the goal posts went into the river in celebration. If the Commodores can pull off the stunner this year, they might as well put the goal posts on the moon. It’d be just as simple a task as beating the Tide.
With its win over Miami last week, Notre Dame is now 49-6 vs. the ACC over the past decade, and Boston College hasn’t won in South Bend since 2007.
