USC Officially Bows Out, Ohio State Humbles Penn State, UNC Drops The Ball, Alabama Storms Past Tennessee

TUSCALOOSA, AL- After a wild Saturday around college football, some teams simply dropped the ball on expectations. Whether it's Penn State's offense failing to show up for its game against Ohio State, USC bowing out of playoff race or North Carolina losing to Virginia, who had one win this season.

There will certainly still be ramifications within conference play, along with the playoff race. But, James Franklin obviously has an uphill battle in the Big Ten race, with Penn State needing some help down the stretch for an appearance in the conference title game.

One of the biggest shockers of the day came in Chapel Hill, as Virginia hampered any type of playoff run for the Tarheels, shocking the ACC frontrunner in the 31-27 win.

While there were plenty of upsets on Saturday, Alabama pulled off its own comeback, keeping its clean SEC record, while Tennessee couldn't hang onto a 20-7 lead.

Oh, and Michigan didn't need to steal (allegedly) any signals to take care of Michigan State, winning 49-0.

I want to hear what you have to think about the college football weekend and your favorite team. Email me at Trey.wallace@outkick.com if you feel like complaining or venting.

What's Going On Penn State? Ohio State Wins Ugly Game

It wasn't as if the Ohio State defense was the dominant group in college football, but Penn State found a way to highlight the Buckeyes group. If not for scoring a touchdown until the final 29-seconds of the game wasn't bad enough, Penn State went 1-16 on 3rd down attempts. This performance on offense will haunt James Franklin and Nittany Lion fans for a long time.

Thanks to Marvin Harrison Jr., the Buckeyes kept enough distance between the two teams in the second half, finishing with 11 receptions for 162 yards and 1 touchdown. Sure, most will talk about a defensive battle, with Drew Allar sacked four times, but the offensive struggles from Penn State were also a glaring lack of execution.

The consistency on offense was so bad for Penn State that it took the team nearly 58 minutes of a 60 minute game to convert a third or 4th down attempt. The dagger for the defense came when Marvin Harrison Jr. caught his only TD pass, putting the game away. This will certainly make life difficult for James Franklin trying to get his team into the Big Ten title game, while the Buckeyes are sitting pretty.

"I'm not sure if we didn't just watch the two of the best teams in college football, specifically on the defensive side of the ball," James Franklin noted. "The story of the game came down to third down. We weren't able to stay on the field, which was the biggest difference in the game."

Franklin is now 1-9 against the Buckeyes.

Utah Ends College Football Playoff Hopes Of Lincoln Riley, USC. Oklahoma Fans Chuckle

Oh what could've been for the USC Trojans in 2023. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams, could only watch as Utah drove down the field and kicked a last second field goal to win. Trailing 28-17 in the fourth quarter, Caleb Williams led the Trojans to a short-term comeback, taking the 32-31 lead with just over a minute remaining.

But, just as we've seen over the 2023 season, the USC defense fell-short once again, in dramatic fashion. Thanks to quarterback Bryson Barnes, Utah drove down the field with just over one minute remaining, as Barnes delivered one of the final blows on a 26-yard run to setup the game-winner.

Unfortunately for Trojan fans, they'll once again fall short of the playoffs, with one of the best quarterbacks in college football leading their team. After the humbling loss to Notre Dame, USC was primed for another loss, especially with this defense. If Lincoln Riley plans on winning a national championship while in Los Angeles, he better find someone who he can trust with the defense.

We cannot forget about Utah's path going forward. I know folks are enamored with Washington and Oregon, but the Utes continue to win. And it won't take us long to find out how one of these matchups would go, as Utah hosts Oregon next week in a critical Pac-12 game.

Unless there is some type of Pac-12 anarchy over the next five weeks, USC might be playing for another trip to the NY6. An unfortunate dose of reality for USC Trojan fans, while Oklahoma fans most likely had themselves a chuckle tonight at that score.

ACC Madness: FSU Survives. UNC Upset, Clemson Struggles

Maybe one of the wildest days of the 2023 season in the ACC, North Carolina succumbed to a Virginia team that had won only one game entering Saturday, losing 31-27. Not only did Virginia throw a wrench into ACC standings, they most likely put an end to the TarHeels playoff aspirations.

Down in Tallahassee, FSU's Jordan Travis led the Seminoles to a comeback win against Duke. Riley Leonard did all he could for the Blue Devils, still hampered by the ankle injury. But Jordan Travis was too much to handle in the second half for FSU, accounting for 3 TD's in the win. Now, Florida State continues its trek towards the playoffs, playing Wake Forest next week.

As for Clemson, the wheels are falling off and Dabo Swinney will get his wish of cleansing the Tigers fan base of bad apples. The Tigers led Miami 17-7 in the fourth quarter, but the Hurricanes came storming back, without QB Tyler Van Dykes, who did not play because of an injury. Now sitting at 4-3 on the season, Clemson is taking a backseat in the ACC this season, with an abysmal 31 yards rushing against Miami.

It's gotten pretty rough at Clemson, while Florida State continues to roll and North Carolina is left looking for answers.

Alabama Storms Back, Beats Tennessee Behind Massive 2nd Half Run

Tennessee came out of the gates looking like a team primed to upset Alabama and send Nick Saban detractors into victory mode. The Vols offense was clicking in-front of over 100,000 fans, with QB Joe Milton leading Tennessee to a 20-7 halftime lead. Unfortunately for Josh Heupel's squad, they did leave too many points on the field in the first half. In all reality, the score could've easily been 28-7 at halftime.

I don't know what both coaches said in the locker room at halftime, but it worked for Nick Saban, while Josh Heupel was most likely second-guessing some of his play calling. After scoring on its first possession in the third quarter, Alabama's 27-0 run in the second half was a punch to the gut for the Vols. It was Jalen Milroe who had the better second half, burning the Vols defense on multiple occasions.

But it was Tennessee not being able to stop the bleeding that is my main takeaway. Going 0-3 on fourth down attempts is one thing, but the play calling on these attempts were a head scratcher. Simply put, Tennessee got a bit too fancy, rather than taking advantage of Joe Milton's size, especially when you only need one yard. The looming problem for Josh Heupel is how to handle the quarterback situation later in the season, with Joe Milton peaking in Knoxville.

We now wait two weeks for the highly anticipated matchup between Alabama and LSU, in Tuscaloosa. Obviously the Tigers have underachieved on defense this season, but they can certainly win a shootout with the Crimson Tide.

Alabama QB Jale Milroe heads to the locker room to celebrate the win over Tennessee

Entertaining Saturday In College Football, 2023 Season Getting Wacky

Luckily for Michigan, they didn't (allegedly) need to steal in signs to beat Michigan State 49-0 on Saturday. The NCAA investigation into the Wolverines continues, while Jim Harbaugh continues to win. I'm looking forward to Michigan playing Penn State in two weeks, as this will be its first test of the season.

In the Big 12, Oklahoma continued its winning ways, beating UCF 31-29. This was one of the craziest games of the day, as Gus Malzahn's team came up short on the two-point conversion attempt. Next up for the Sooners is a trip to Kansas. In the State of Texas, the Longhorns defeated Houston 31-24, and will host BYU next weekend, in conference play. I know, that still sounds weird, with BYU in the Big 12.

Quote Of The Day Goes To Utah's Kyle Wittingham

Having a little fun with the win over USC, Kyle Wittingham hyped up his quarterback Bryson Barnes, while also mentioning that Cam Rising would not play in 2023. This quote about Caleb Williams, and his quarterback, is the perfect way to wrap this weekend.

"They've got a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, so they're gonna make some things, and that's just the way it is. But we've got ourselves a pig farmer at quarterback, so we're proud of that guy, too," Wittingham noted about Bryson Barnes.