College football winners and losers: Some red flags for Ohio State

Another weekend of college football is in full swing. This file will update as more results roll in, but here are some of the most notable winners and losers so far. Return to menu The Buckeyes haven’t entered November with multiple losses since 2011. It’s also been that long since they dropped consecutive Big Ten games. And both of those things are still true after Saturday’s 21-17 defeat of Nebraska. But those streaks came uncomfortably close to ending after Ohio State needed Quinshon Judkins’s nine-yard touchdown catch with 6:04 to go and Jordan Hancock’s late interception to seal it against a Cornhuskers team that was coming off a 49-point loss at Indiana. The Buckeyes had two weeks to marinate over a 32-31 setback at Oregon, a defeat that raised some fair questions (just how good is that defense, exactly?) but also can be excused to a great extent. Cross-continent travel, playing an undefeated team to a one-point game, yadda yadda yadda. But a paltry offensive showing back in Columbus must make plenty of folks wonder about the ceiling for the Buckeyes (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) this season. After all, it’s not as if the collection of victories over teams that began the week lingering just above .500 (Iowa, Michigan State, Marshall, Western Michigan) definitively demonstrates much about this team. Ohio State has proved to be the most recession-proof program in the sport in the 21st century. Even the 2011 dip can be explained away as an interregnum between Jim Tressel (who resigned in May of that year) and Urban Meyer (who took over the following season). So uneven seasons tend to be frowned upon in Columbus. Put another way: If the Buckeyes lose one more game this season, they will have dropped multiple games in at least four consecutive seasons for the first time since 1980-92. And look what November brings: A trip to Penn State to begin the month, a visit from currently undefeated Indiana and the annual showdown with Michigan. Might it be the most important month of Coach Ryan Day’s tenure at Ohio State? The snarky answer is it depends on how it goes. But for it to go well, the Buckeyes are going to need to be more explosive than they were Saturday. Return to menu The reality for the Fighting Irish became plain after they lost to Northern Illinois back on Sept. 7: There wasn’t going to be much margin for error the rest of the season. Notre Dame hasn’t left much of it for its opponents since then. The Irish (7-1) have rattled off six victories in a row, the latest a 51-14 thrashing of Navy on Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J. And just one — a seven-point defeat of Louisville four weeks ago — was remotely competitive. Saturday’s game certainly wasn’t. Notre Dame scored a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, forced a fumble and then needed three plays to reach the end zone again. It was a rinse-and-repeat sort of afternoon for the Midshipmen (6-1), who lost five fumbles for the first time since Oct. 19, 2002, at Boston College. Toss in an interception, and it was Navy’s first six-turnover day since that trip to Chestnut Hill. Here’s the thing, though: The reality still hasn’t changed. Notre Dame’s November schedule is Florida State and Virginia at home, Army at Yankee Stadium and Southern California on the road. Win all four, and there’s probably a playoff berth to be had. Lose even once, and the Irish will be a hard sell. Of course, given how they’ve overwhelmed plenty of foes of late, winning out doesn’t seem like much of a stretch. Return to menu The Bulldogs (1-7, 0-5 SEC) are the first power conference team to clinch a losing season, and they did so in spectacular fashion. Arkansas amassed 673 yards — more than 300 each rushing and passing — and forced five turnovers in a 58-25 rout in Starkville that sent Mississippi State to its seventh consecutive loss under first-year coach Jeff Lebby. The Bulldogs are 1-12 against SEC competition since the start of last season, with all but one of the losses by double figures. The lone triumph was a 7-3 victory at Arkansas in 2023. There should be a respite next week with Massachusetts coming to town, but the closing stretch in conference play — trips to Tennessee and Mississippi sandwiched around a home game against Missouri — provides the opportunity for an extremely unpleasant finish. The Bulldogs haven’t lost 10 games since going 2-10 in 2003. They haven’t gone winless in the SEC since 2002. Both appear to be very much in play as Mississippi State plays out this season. Return to menu Sometimes, the potential pivot points in a season are really simple to identify even before everything plays itself out. The Cardinals came upon one late in the first half Friday night against Boston College. Louisville had dropped three of its previous four games — all one-possession contests — and had a trip to Clemson coming up next week. The Cardinals finish with Pitt (which is unbeaten) and Kentucky (which has utterly owned it in recent seasons). So staring at a 20-point deficit at Boston College? Not ideal. But Isaac Brown capped a 10-play drive with less than two minutes left in the second quarter with a touchdown run. Then Louisville scored on its first two possessions after the break, getting its offense on track and surging to a 31-27 victory (with some help, admittedly, from the Eagles’ bleak punting game). That’s another tight game for the Cardinals (5-3, 3-2 ACC), but one they very much needed before dealing with a challenging November. Return to menu The Orange was clearly not ready for prime time Thursday. Syracuse flopped in its trip to Pittsburgh as quarterback Kyle McCord threw five interceptions — three of which were returned for touchdowns in the first half — in a 41-13 loss. The Panthers (7-0, 3-0 ACC) were merciless in taking advantage of mistakes, scoring 31 points off the Orange’s giveaways. But Syracuse (5-2, 2-2) played its part in creating one of the oddest-looking box scores of the season. Total yards? Syracuse 327-217. Total plays? Syracuse 93-44. Time of possession? Syracuse had it for 41:12. Fourth downs? The Orange was 6 for 7(!) at staying on the field. All in a game that was more or less over by the end of the first quarter as Pitt ably demonstrated the value of the tip drill.