Week 7 in the FBS Dominated by Close Games

October 13, 2024 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

Exactly half of the 52 games played in week 7 were decided by single digits. Of those 26 games, 24 were decided by a 7 points or less, 12 by a field goal or less, and 5 were decided in overtime.

In the end, however, nearly all of the Top 25 teams won, and it's unlikely there will be a huge shift in the rankings. Ohio State was the only team to lose its unbeaten status. Eleven still remain perfect.

Look for Oregon to be placed ahead of Ohio State. Don't expect the Buckeyes to drop much. After all, it was a 1-point game among two of the highest-ranked teams. The Ducks escaped with their perfect record intact. The Buckeyes leave with their only loss of the season.

We already know that the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com merely re-arranged the order of the top three teams. Before Saturday's games, those rankings had the top three as Ohio State, Texas and Oregon. After Saturday's games, the top three are Texas, Oregon and Ohio State.

Texas was a 34-3 winner over Oklahoma, while Oregon edged Ohio State 32-31. The Longhorns get to host Georgia next week.

Meanwhile, Penn State rallied from a 20-6 halftime deficit at USC to win 33-30 in overtime.

Alabama tried to give the game away at home to South Carolina, but the Gamecocks just couldn't close the deal and 'Bama prevailed 27-25.

Tennessee rallied from a 10-0 deficit late in the third quarter to fend off Florida's upset bid, winning 23-17 in overtime.

LSU never led until it won, beating Ole Miss 29-26 in overtime at home.

Colorado, after Travis Hunter left with an injury late in the second quarter, rallied from deficits of 21-7 and 24-14 to take a 28-24 lead with 3:12 to play. Kansas State answered in 58 seconds and the Buffaloes couldn't respond as the Wildcats left Boulder with a 31-28 win.

Vanderbilt continues to be one the season's more surprising teams as the Commodores were 20-13 winners at Kentucky on Saturday. After their first road win of 2024, the 'Dores are now 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.

In games that weren't that weren't decided by single digits, Georgia only managed to beat the SEC's worst team, Mississippi State by 10 (41-31), Iowa found an offense and easily won 40-16 at home over Washington, and Iowa State was a 26-14 victor at West Virginia.

Continuing with that theme, Clemson won going away by a 49-14 count at Wake Forest, BYU was a 41-19 winner at home over Arizona, Army continued to roll with a 44-10 rout at home over UAB, and Indiana stayed perfect by not playing.

The Hoosiers were joined on the bye week sidelines by the likes of Miami, Michigan, and SMU. All together, a whopping 30 teams were idle.

FBS vs. FCS

For the second week in-a-row, not a single game was played between FBS-FCS teams, and none are scheduled for next week.

FBS schools are 108-6 in such games this season, and a collective 1,908-158 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.

In 2024, there are 121 scheduled scheduled matchups between FBS and FCS schools with 119 schools playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each play two.

This year, 15 schools do not play a FCS opponent and 5 are in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC and UCLA). Texas is the only school in the SEC that will not play a FCS program. The same is true for Virginia Tech in the ACC. In fact, Texas and Virginia Tech, along with Michigan and Houston, are repeats from last year's list of schools that played all FBS programs.

2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24 (OT)
September 21: Monmouth 45, FIU 42
September 28: UT-Martin 24, Kennesaw 13

In 2023, FBS schools were 114-4. These were the FCS wins last year:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23

Streaks - Current FBS Longest

ARMY - Won 10 straight overall.
Last: Won 44-10 at home over UAB on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Hosts East Carolina on Saturday, October 19.

LIBERTY - Won 17 straight regular season games.
Last: Won 31-24 at home over FIU in overtime On Tuesday, October 8. It was the first game for the Flames in 17 days after serving a bye week and an unexpected off week when the game at App State was scratched due to Hurricane Helene.
Next: Visits Kennesaw State on Wednesday, October 23 (15 days after their last game).

GEORGIA - Won 28 straight home games.
Last: Won 41-31 at home over Mississippi State on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Visits Texas on Saturday, October 19.

TULANE: Won 14 straight conference games.
Last: Won 71-20 at UAB on Saturday, October 5.
Next: Hosts Rice on Saturday, October 19.

TEXAS: Won 8 straight true road games (at opposition venue).
Last: Won 34-3 over Oklahoma in Dallas on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Hosts Georgia on Saturday, October 19.

KENT STATE - Lost 15 straight over-all. Lost 7 straight home games (tied with UTEP).
Last: Lost 37-35 at home to Ball State on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Visits Bowling Green on Saturday, October 19.

UTEP - Lost 7 straight home games.
Last: Lost 44-17 at Western Kentucky on Thursday, October 10.
Next: Hosts FIU on Wednesday, October 16.

STANFORD - Lost 10 straight home games to FBS foes.
Last: Lost 49-7 at Notre Dame on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Hosts SMU on Saturday, October 19.

TEMPLE - Lost 17 straight true road games.
Last: Lost 29-20 at UConn on Saturday, October 5.
Next: Hosts Tulsa on Saturday, October 19.