Weekend Recap: Upsets a-Plenty (UPDATED)

October 2, 2022 by Staff

This past weekend of college football was preceded by the terrible effects of Hurricane Ian which struck Southwest Florida on Wednesday. The relentless storm pelted almost the entire peninsula before moving back exiting briefly into the Atlantic and making another landfall in South Carolina. Ian caused four FBS games to be moved, including Eastern Washington at Florida which was played this afternoon with the Gators prevailing 52-17.

The East Carolina-USF game was moved from Tampa to Boca Raton in the southeast region of the state, while the South Carolina State-South Carolina game was played two days earlier than scheduled. Additionally, the SMU-UCF was postponed until this coming Wednesday and will now lead off the next week of games.

When it came time to get the games played, the slate played out chaotically with numerous upsets.

No greater evidence came of this than Oklahoma's visit to TCU. The week after bowing at home to Kansas State, the Sooners were destroyed 55-24 at TCU on Saturday to begin the Brent Venables era with their first 0-2 start in the Big 12 in a non-covid year since 1998. Granted, Oklahoma was only a 5-point betting favorite, but the 31-point loss provided a 36-point swing.

Meanwhile, Alabama lost Heisman-winning QB Bryce Young to injury while still managing to take a 49-26 win at Arkansas. But Georgia had to rally from a 22-12 deficit to eke out a 26-22 win at a Missouri team over whom the 'Dawgs were favored to plaster by 31.

Pitt, a 21.5-point favorite at home, turned in a 26-21 loss to a Georgia Tech team ranked 117th in the Congrove Computer Rankings. That loss came less than a week after the Jackets had fired their head coach and name former Georgia Tech player Brett Key as interim head coach.

Nebraska gave interim head coach Mickey Joseph his first win with the 'Huskers 35-21 victory at home over Indiana, but Arizona State couldn't do the same for Shaun Aguano even though the Sun Devils put up a good fight in a 42-25 loss at USC.

Among the other upsets were these other ACC encounters that saw 6-point home favorite Florida State fall 31-21 to Wake Forest, while 13.5-point home road favorite Louisville lost 34-33 at Boston College.

Fresno State was a 23-point favorite at UConn, a.k.a everyone's whipping post. But the Bulldogs fell 19-14 has UConn snapped a 18-game losing streak to FBS programs.

Not to be outdone, FIU ended a 19-game losing skid to FBS schools with its 21-7 upset win at New Mexico State. The 14-point win was a 30-point swing from the 16-point spread that favored the homestanding Aggies.

Wisconsin was a 6.5-point home favorite over its former head coach Brett Bielema and Illinois, but was resoundly beaten 34-10 for a 30.5-point swing.

Minnesota was a 10-point home favorite over Purdue but, with Mohamed Ibrahim sitting out with an injury, lost 20-10.

Army was a 9-point home favorite over previously winless Georgia State and lost 31-14.

Elsewhere, the computer's top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes had no real trouble in a 49-10 win over Rutgers, Michigan was able to put aside Iowa 27-14, Oklahoma State wrangled Baylor 36-25, and Clemson won a key ACC home battle with NC State 30-20.

In other key games, Kentucky suffered its first loss in a 22-19 decision at Ole Miss in which the Wildcats turned the ball over on each of its last three possessions. And Texas A&M was manhandled in a 42-24 loss at Mississippi State

Syracuse is 5-0 for the first time since 1987 after dispatching lowly FCS member Wagner 59-0.

James Madison was a 40-13 winner over Texas State and the Dukes are 4-0 in their first season as a FBS member.

Maryland improved to 4-1 over-all and 1-1 in the Big Ten with a 27-13 victory over Michigan State. The Spartans' first loss to the Terps since 2016 was also their third straight loss this season.

Kansas is still undefeated after a 14-11 win over Iowa State.

UCLA was a 40-32 winner at home over Washington on Friday night in a battle of teams that were 4-0.

UNLV is 4-1 for the first time since 2003 after a 31-20 win over New Mexico on Friday.

SEE: Complete Schedule Picks and Scores.

FCS vs. FBS

There will be 118 FBS vs. FCS matchups this season with App State, Army and Marshall each playing two such games, and 115 other FBS schools playing one apiece.

There were six FBS-FCS games this week. The FBS was 6-0 with the sixth being played on Sunday as Florida thunmped Eastern Washington 52-17. The other five games saw South Carolina crush South Carolina State 50-10, Appalachian State blank The Citadel 49-0, Marshall down Gardner-Webb 28-7, Syracuse shut out Wagner 59-0, and Western Michigan defeat New Hampshire 44-7. 

Only 8 FBS-FCS matchups remain for the rest of the season. The FBS is 102-8 vs. the FCS this year, and 1,676-148 (.919) since we began tracking this in 2003.

Here are the FCS wins in 2022:
September 2: William & Mary 41, Charlotte 24
September 3: Delaware14, Navy 7
September 10: Weber State 35, Utah State 7
September 10: Incarnate Word 55, Nevada 41
September 10: Holy Cross 37, Buffalo 31
September 10: Eastern Kentucky 59, Bowling Green 57 (7 OT's)
September 17: Southern Illinois 31, Northwestern 24
September 24: Sacramento State 41, Colorado State 10

Streaks

CLEMSON - Won 11 straight over-all (FBS longest); Won 37 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 30-20 vs. NC State on Saturday, October 1.
Next: at Boston College on Saturday, October 8.

CINCINNATI: Won 17 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 31-21 at Tulsa on Saturday, October 1.
Next: Hosts USF on Saturday, October 8.

GEORGIA - Won 9 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 26-22 at Missouri on Saturday, October 1.
Next: Hosts Auburn on Saturday, October 8.

COLORADO STATE - Lost 10 straight over-all (FBS longest). Lost 8 straight to FBS schools to tie UMass for current longest.
Last: Lost 41-10 vs. FCS member Sacramento State on Saturday, September 24.
Next: Visits Nevada on Friday, October 7.

VANDERBILT - Lost 22 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 55-3 at Alabama on Saturday, February 24.
Next: Hosts Mississippi on Saturday, October 8.

NEW MEXICO STATE - Lost 21 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 21-7 vs Florida International on Saturday, October 1.
Next: Hosts New Mexico on Saturday, October 15.