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Auburn rallied to a 27-21 win over Oregon on a 26-yard game-winning TD pass with 9 seconds left on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. Freshman QB Bo Nix hit Seth Williams for the score for the Tigers who trailed 21-6 in the 3rd quarter and had never led until that play. A celebration penalty called on Williams for spiking the ball after the score helped set up Oregon for a final Hail Mary pass but the attempt sailed out of the back of the end zone.
The teams hadn't met since the BCS Championship at the end of the 2010 season which Auburn won 22-19 on Wes Bynum's 19-yard walk-off field goal.
Oklahoma on Sunday, behind Alabama transfer QB Jalen Hurts, showed its usual offensive prowess by racking up 686 yards in a 49-31 win over Houston.The jury remains out on whether or not the defense will be improved this year. The Houston point and yardage totals are fairly similar to last year's Oklahoma averages that had the unit ranked 114th in yards allowed and 101st in scoring defense.
The final game of the holiday weekend saw Notre Dame fend off a surprisingly pesky Louisville squad to pocket a 35-17 victory in front of a packed house witnessing the debut of the Scott Satterfield head coaching era for the Cardinals. It was one of many games in which a heavily favored program - in this case, Notre Dame - didn't quite live up to expectations and failed to cover the spread.
The most blatant example of failing expectations came in Knoxville where 25-point favorite Tennessee lost 38-30 to a team that finished in the basement of the Sun Belt a year ago. Georgia State, ranked 118th and playing just its 10th season of football (7th at the FBS level), handed Tennessee a 38-30 defeat.
There were other shockers, such as Missouri losing at Wyoming and South Carolina falling to North Carolina.
Missouri was a 14.5-point Vegas favorite and a 29.49-point computer choice over Wyoming, and had Clemson transfer QB Kelly Bryant under center. Byrant threw for 423 yards and 2 TD's. Bryant also lost a fumble that was returned 30 yards for a Wyoming score, and threw a pick in the end zone that started a touchdown drive that put the Cowboys up 34-17 with 4:21 to play in the 3rd quarter. Wyoming held on for the 37-31 upset in Laramie. The loss wasn't all on Bryant as the defense did its part by allowing nearly 300 yards rushing as a pair of Cowboy runners eclipsed the 100-yard mark. Sean Chambers averaged 10 yards per carry (12-for-120) and Xazavian Valladay averaged 7.9 ypc.
Also surprising was North Carolina's 24-20 win over South Carolina in Charlotte. It was a successful opening game for the return of Mack Brown as head coach. The Gamecocks were a touchdown-plus favorite in Vegas and a huge 26-point computer pick. After South Carolina grabbed a 20-9 in the 3rd quarter, their next five possessions ended with 3 punts and 2 interceptions. Senior QB Jake Bentley was just 2-of-9 for 15 yards and 2 picks in the 4th quarter, and it was confirmed on Monday that he will miss the next 6 games for WiIl Muschamp's charges, leaving the signal-calling to true freshman Ryan Hilinksi. The Tar Heels' comeback was led by their own true freshman QB, Sam Howell.
Four teams got a head start on the rest of the field with a pair of games the previous weekend. Florida edged Miami 24-20 in a game littered with 23 penalties, and Hawaii held off Arizona 45-38 in contest the Warriors might have won by 50 if they hadn't committed 6 turnovers.
The Labor Day weekend schedule was packed with 83 contests, including some long rivalries. On Thursday, Utah won the 100th Holy War rivalry game, 30-12 at BYU. And on Friday night, Colorado pulled away late for a 52-31 win over Colorado State in the 91st Rocky Mountain Showdown.
Nevada on Friday night rallied from a 24-7 halftime deficit to stun Purdue 34-31. An interception with 32 seconds remaining set up kicker Brandon Dalton's heroic 56-yard walk-off field goal. The Wolf Pack tied the game with 52 seconds left on a TD pass. Purdue lost the turnover battle 5-0 and was outscored 17-0 in the final quarter.
Clemson on Thursday began the defense of its national champion ship by winning a 16th straight game, 52-14 over Georgia Tech.
Alabama scored with 4:51 left in the game to cover the spread vs. Duke in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. The Tide only led 14-3 at the half, but scored touchdowns on their first three possessions after the break and eventually rolled to a 42-3 win.
Ohio State picked up a 45-21 win over FAU for Ryan Day's debut as the official head coach of the Buckeyes. Ohio State raced to a 28-0 first quarter lead but was outscored 21-17 the rest of the way.
Michigan, the computer's projected Big Ten and national champion, didn't look like world beaters on Saturday. The Wolverines were 40-21 winners over MTSU but gave up over 300 yards in the victory, including 217 through the air with 2 TD passes. Michigan was 2nd in the nation in defense a year ago when that unit allowed only 275 yards per game and just 148 through the air.
Florida State on Saturday scored early and often to stake out a 31-13 lead over Boise State in the first half, but the defense appeared to wither and the Broncos rallied for a 36-31 win. The game was moved from a 7 p.m. (ET) kickoff in Jacksonville to a Noon start in Tallahassee because of the uncertainty of Hurricane Dorian's path and possible landfall. Boise State ran 108 plays in the contest. Willie Taggart is now just 5-8 as the head coach of the 'Noles.
Iowa State needed 3 overtimes to avoid the home upset loss to FCS member Northern Iowa on Saturday in Ames. As I mentioned in my weekend preview, this was a game to watch as UNI head coach Mark Farley is 149-78 with the Panthers since his tenure began in 2001 and his teams had defeated Iowa State 3 times. Iowa State is the computer's projected second-place team in the Big 12.
Boston College secured a minor upset victory on Saturday in Chestnut Hill with a 35-28 win over Virginia Tech. Since opening the 2017 season at 7-1, Justin Fuente is just 8-11 over his last 19 games as the head coach in Blacksburg.
Memphis was actually the favorite at home over Ole Miss, but few people outside the Bluff City believed it would actually happen. However, the Tigers won a 15-10 defensive battle over the Rebels.
It was a solid second win for the American Conference. On Thursday, a slightly favored Cincinnati beat UCLA 24-14 for a second straight win over the PAC-12 school.
UCLA's PAC-12 brethren - Stanford and USC - fared better than UCLA, as the Cardinal and Trojans won their respective games but loss their experienced starting QB in the process. Stanford's K.J. Costello took a blow to the head right before the end of the first half of a 17-7 home win vs. Northwestern. Southern California's J.T. Daniels' suffered a leg injury just before halftime of its 31-23 win over Fresno State. Stanford and USC meet next Saturday in the Coliseum.
It was learned on Sunday that Daniels suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season. Costello's time frame for return is unknown, but he is NOT expected to be available for the game at USC.
114 games this year pit FBS teams against FCS schools. That's two more than a season ago when FBS teams won 105 of 112 games. There were 40 FBS vs. FCS games over the Labor Day holiday and the FBS went 39-1.
The lone FCS victory occurred on Thursday when Western Kentucky lost to a FCS team for the second year in-a-row with a 35-28 defeat at the hands of Central Arkansas. It's the second time in as many meetings since 2009 that the Bears have knocked off the Hilltoppers. Last year, WKU lost 31-28 to Maine in week 2. The Hilltoppers have lost 4 games to FCS opponents since 2009.
FBS teams are 1,363-125 (.916) vs. FCS schools since we began tracking this in 2003.
FCS victories over FBS teams in 2019:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
FCS victories over FBS teams in 2018
August 29: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19
CLEMSON - Won 16 straight over-all (FBS longest).
Last: 52-14 home win vs. Georgia Tech on August 29
Next: Hosts Texas A&M on September 7.
UCF - Won 18 straight conference games including consecutive AAC titles (FBS longest). Won 23 straight regular season games (FBS longest).
Last: 62-0 home win vs. Florida A&M on August 29.
Next: Visits FAU on September 7.
ALABAMA - Won 26 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: 42-3 win vs. Duke at Atlanta on August 31.
Next: Hosts New Mexico State on September 7.
OKLAHOMA - Won 20 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last:: 49-31 home win vs. Houston on September 1.
Next: Hosts FCS member Prairie View A&M on September 7.
RUTGERS - Ended 11-game losing streak (was FBS longest). Owns FBS longest conference losing streak at 12 games.
Last: 48-21 home win vs. UMass on August 30.
Next: Visits Iowa on September 7.
LOUISVILLE - 10-game losing streak (FBS longest).
Last: 35-17 home loss vs. Notre Dame on September 2.
Next: Hosts FCS member Eastern Kentucky on September 7.
CONNECTICUT - Ended 9-game losing streak. Owns 16-game losing streak vs. FBS teams (FBS longest).
Last: 24-21 home win vs. FCS member Wagner on August 29.
Next: Hosts Illinois on September 7.
SAN JOSE STATE, TULSA, RICE - Lost 13 straight road games (tied FBS longest).