Date the end of the 2000s in college football Oct. 31, 2009. On that Halloween, No. 4 USC—the most successful, glamorous program of the 2000s—traveled to No. 10 Oregon and returned home a 47–20 loser.
Out went the hard-nosed '00s of coach Pete Carroll, running back Reggie Bush and linebacker Rey Maualuga; in came the space-age 2010s of coach Chip Kelly, quarterback Marcus Mariota and running back Kenjon Barner. The Ducks never won a national title, but their DNA spread throughout college football in the social-media and superteam decade.
Which brings us to Saturday in Eugene, Ore. Sometimes a changing of the guard is subtle; this was anything but that. With its 30–20 win over No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Indiana and coach Curt Cignetti all but announced a new era. The time of the Unchallenged Prestige Brand is past; the time of the Smart Spender, regardless of history, has replaced it. The Hoosiers are the latter to a T.
The sun seems to disappear earlier every week now, but here's hoping your team's star shone brightly in a pleasant day throughout much of the Midwest and South. Welcome to Week 7's winners and losers.
Winner: The Age of Cignetti
It has taken two years for the NIL-and-transfer era's most successful actor to transform Indiana from a 3-9 team to a national championship contender. That Cignetti makes for infinitely rewarding copy seems almost like gravy. The professorial live wire of a coach was in midseason form Saturday, fuming at officials after a perceived missed holding call in the first half. Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, Cignetti's team-building model was validated over and over. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza (California), running back Roman Hemby (Maryland), and wide receiver Elijah Sarratt (James Madison) all started elsewhere—but all that matters is where they are now, and where they might finish (Pasadena, Calif.? Miami Gardens, Fla.?).
Loser: James Franklin, again
It was a good day for the Big Ten's journalism powerhouses, even though Northwestern began its day in Cignetti's old home of Western Pennsylvania with modest expectations. If the Wildcats thought they'd get an angry Penn State team, they miscalculated as last year's Fiesta Bowl champion played timidly for the duration of the afternoon. Franklin, on wafer-thin ice after losing to UCLA last Saturday, may now own the most awkward coaching situation in North American sports. Now he'll have to navigate life without quarterback Drew Allar, out for the year after an injury in the waning minutes of his team's 22–21 loss.
Winner: The Black Hoodie of Death
Speaking to reporters on the SEC's weekly conference call, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz christened Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer's signature look the "Black Hoodie of Death." Wearing said hoodie Saturday, DeBoer justified his team's College Football Playoff credentials by knocking off a third straight top-20 team. No. 14 Missouri did not make the Crimson Tide's 27–24 win easy, outgaining Alabama while repeatedly beating itself with a 1-for-10 day on third down. Alabama's reward is No. 12 Tennessee Saturday; whether DeBoer will continue aura farming on the sidelines remains to be seen.
Loser: John Mateer and Oklahoma…
The much-trumpeted return of Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer from hand surgery could not have gone worse—both for a program with College Football Playoff hopes and for a player with Heisman hopes. The Sooners collapsed so thoroughly in the third quarter that their offense was only able to muster 26 yards; Texas outrushed Oklahoma 136–48 for the game. Mateer completed 20 of 38 passes for 202 yards, but threw three interceptions to break a career high set last year against San Jose State. Five top-15 teams remain on the Sooners' daunting schedule.
Winner: Tim Skipper
Ex-Fresno State linebacker Tim Skipper has spent a quarter-century wandering the college football corporate ladder, occasionally sniffing greatness (he worked for Jim McElwain's 10-win final Colorado State team in 2014, and that coach's good first Florida team a year later). After two years leading the Bulldogs in an interim capacity, Skipper has stepped in and—along with offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel—given the Bruins a new identity. On Saturday, after beating the Nittany Lions, Skipper's outfit destroyed Michigan State 38–13 on the road. As eager as many outlets seem to deify Neuheisel and sideline Skipper—see this piece from Sean Keeley of Saturday—a 418–253 yardage differential can't be construed as anything other than a team effort.
Loser: … and another Oklahoma team
Oklahoma State parted ways with coach Mike Gundy on Sept. 23, but the interim bump UCLA received has not manifested itself in Stillwater. Baylor beat the Cowboys by 18 in their first game after Gundy's firing, Arizona beat them by 28, and Houston added to the pile-on Saturday by crushing Oklahoma State 39–17. The Cowboys—pacing for their worst winning percentage since going 0-10-1 in 1991—might just have to grin and bear a lost season. 2025 NBA Finals highlights are readily available on YouTube.
Winner: Arch Manning
"They scream out my failures and whisper my accomplishments," wailed Drake in 2015 at the peak of his artistic vitality. At 2:30 p.m. in Dallas Saturday, Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning set out to rebuke a highly public article from Will Leitch forcalling him "college football's first flop" (Leitch is a digital sportswriting legend, but surely he remembers Ron Powlus). Manning did not burn down the house against Oklahoma but was coldly efficient—21-for-27 for 166 yards and a touchdown, four carries for 34 yards on the ground, a 23–6 victory. This scans as an accomplishment after his topsy-turvy start to the season and will be screamed out thusly.
Loser: North Carolina, idle this week
North Carolina played Clemson on Oct. 4 and will play California on Oct. 17. In theory, nothing of note should happen to the Tar Heels between those two days (to hear coach Bill Belichick tell it, maybe nothing did). This is no ordinary program, however, and North Carolina spent the week warding off critical coverage from and WRAL-TV in Raleigh—as well as scattershot reports that Belichick may walk away altogether. If Penn State and the Tar Heels played right now for the first time since 1943, the universe would probably implode.
Winner: Kent State!
The exclamation point is due to the fact that Kent State, a program that feels like it's been hanging on for dear life since the COVID-19 pandemic, had not beaten an FBS team since 2022 before shelling Massachusetts 42–6 Saturday. This could be a space to reflect on the demographic and financial challenges that have sapped the MAC's competitiveness over the last decade; let's skip it. Instead, kudos to head coach Mark "The Prime Minister" Carney for having his team ready to go, and to quarterback Dru DeShields for tossing four touchdowns as the Golden Flashes blew out the Minutemen.
Loser: Florida State
Florida State coach Mike Norvell owes Franklin a favor for swallowing the news cycle whole in the past two weeks, because his team is executing a similar crash-and-burn. Hopes of a return to the team's 2023 form—set sky-high after the Seminoles beat the Crimson Tide to start the season—have been almost entirely dashed in three straight losses to Virginia, Miami and Pitt. Quarterback Tommy Castellanos's volatile style of play helped do Florida State in against the Cavaliers and Hurricanes, and when Castellanos cooked against the Panthers, the Seminoles' defense seemingly decided to take a vacation. Zero ranked teams remain on Florida State's schedule if it wants to pray for a dose of ACC chaos.
