What We Learned in NCAA Football Week 7

By the final snap, eight ranked teams lost and the number of undefeated teams dropped from 15 to nine with Alabama, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Oklahoma State, Penn State and Southern California all suffering their first losses.

Ohio State, which didn’t have a game on Saturday, now has the best odds to win the national championship at +175 followed by Georgia at +185. Alabama is still priced at +400 according to the college football playoff odds.

There is no way of recapping everything that took place in Week 7, but here are some of the highlights.

Let’s check the latest NCAAF picks, stats, injury reports, and NCAAF predictions. We’ve plenty of NCAAF expert picks for you to consider.

The 16th Time the Charm for Volunteers

If college football fans didn’t know the name Jalin Hyatt before Saturday, they certainly do now.

The junior receiver had six catches for 207 yards and five touchdowns in the Volunteers’ 52-49 win over third-ranked Alabama.

Hendon Hooker added to his Heisman Trophy resume by throwing for 385 yards and five touchdowns as the Volunteers snapped a 15-game losing streak to Alabama. Hooker now has the second-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy.

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young was questionable coming into the game.

There were few questions about him once the game started with Young passing for 455 yards and a pair of scores while running back Jahmyr Gibbs ran for three scores.

Special teams decided this one with Alabama opting not to run out the clock and attempting a 50-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to play. Hooker had completions of 18 and 27 yards to set up the game-winning 40-yard field goal by Chase McGrath.

This walk-off hero is enjoying his best life. pic.twitter.com/IzvHhwrOJq

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 16, 2022

Gamble Pays Off For Utes

Cameron Rising’s short scoring run pulled defending Pac-12 champion Utah within a point of Southern California with 48 seconds to play. A successful extra point would have tied the game. However, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham went for the win as Rising scored on the ensuing two-point conversion to provide the final points in Utah’s 43-42 victory.

The game featured two of the best defensive teams in the Pac-12. However, the teams combined for 1,118 yards of total offense.

Rising threw for 415 yards and two TDs and also ran for three scores. Tight end Dalton Kincaid was a busy man with 234 yards on 16 receptions.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 381 yards and five touchdowns for the Trojans.

Horned Frogs Party Like It Was 2015

After an emotional win over Kansas, it was only natural to wonder what Texas Christian had left as the Horned Frogs faced another undefeated team.

It wasn’t easy. However, TCU rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit for the 43-40 overtime win over visiting Oklahoma State.

A key was holding an Oklahoma State team that was leading the country in tackles for loss per game to three TFLs and one sack.

Kendre Miller scored a pair of touchdowns while Max Duggan threw for two others as TCU is 6-0 for the first time since 2015. The Horned Frogs are now in sole possession of first place in the Big 12.

According to the college football odds, TCU was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 this season. It doesn’t get much easier as Kansas State, the only other team yet to lose in Big 12 play this season, comes to Fort Worth on Saturday.

Title Contenders Keep On Rolling

Every top 10 team did not lose on Saturday even if it felt that way.

Along with the huge wins by No. 6 Tennessee, top-ranked Georgia overwhelmed Vanderbilt 55-0, No. 4 Clemson survived a major scare against Florida State with a 34-28 victory, No. 5 Michigan gashed Penn State for 418 rushing yards and No. 9 Ole Miss topped that mark with 448 yards on the ground in a 48-34 win over Auburn.

There will be more tests to come. Ole Miss’ next three games are against LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama, Michigan still has ranked showdowns against Illinois and Ohio State while Clemson welcomes undefeated Syracuse to town on Saturday.

Orange, Fighting Illini Continue to Surprise

TCU is far from the only team from the Power-5 conference shaking things up.

Only Duke had longer odds to win the Atlantic Coast Conference odds coming into the season than Syracuse. However, the Orange joined ACC preseason favorite Clemson as the only remaining undefeated team in the conference.

Oronde Gadsden had eight catches for 141 yards and two TDs while redshirt freshman Jatius Geer had a hand in two of the Orange’s four sacks in a 24-9 win over visiting North Carolina State.

The Wolfpack played without veteran quarterback Devin Leary as it was announced before the game that he will miss the remainder of the season.

Next up is a showdown with Clemson in Week 8 in what will be one of the most anticipated matchups of the week.

Illinois was tied for the 10th-best odds to win the Big Ten title.  The Fighting Illini are currently tied with Purdue for first place in the Big Ten West Division standings.

Illinois held Minnesota to 180 yards of offense while Chase Brown had 41 carries for 180 yards in the 26-14 win.

Tommy DeVito, the Illini QB, is a transfer from … Syracuse.

Don’t Count Out the Sooners and Longhorns Just Yet

Coming into the season, Oklahoma and Texas were expected to compete for the Big 12 title. Time will tell if that happens, but for a weekend they looked like title contenders.

Oklahoma handed Kansas its second loss in a row as Dillon Gabriel returned to action to pass for more than 400 yards in the 52-42 victory.

Jason Bean, starting for injured Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels, had four touchdown passes. However, the Jayhawks defense allowed more than 700 yards. Something to consider for those who bet online: Kansas is 6-0-1 against the spread in 2022.

Lack of the Irish

Just when Notre Dame appeared to be turning the corner, Notre Dame suffered a stunning 16-14 loss at home to a Stanford team that was winless against FBS opponents over its previous 11 games against such competition.

Jonathan McGill and Anthony Franklin each had fumble recoveries while Stephon Herron had two sacks and a forced fumble.

With Notre Dame listed by the college football betting lines as a 16½-point favorite, it was the second time this season that the Fighting Irish lost as a double-digit favorite at home.

Buffaloes Are Winless No Longer

Colorado became the final Football Bowl Subdivision team to win in 2022.

Montana Lemonious-Craig’s 22-yard touchdown catch in overtime proved to be the difference as Colorado topped California 20-13.

Josh Chandler-Semedo had his third sack in the last four games and 3½  tackles for loss.

It was Colorado’s first game since firing Karl Dorrell as interim head coach Mike Sanford led the Buffaloes to their first win over Cal since 2017 thanks to three takeaways.

Defense Can’t Save the Dukes

A key to James Madison’s perfect start during the Dukes’ first season playing at the FBS level was one of the stingiest defenses in the country.

Those defensive numbers took quite the hit against Georgia Southern quarterback Kyle

Vantrease as he threw for 578 yards and four touchdowns in the 45-38 win over James Madison.

Quarterback Todd Centeio threw for 468 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in the loss for the Dukes.

Watson Runs Wild for Monarchs

When it comes to surprises, Old Dominion sitting atop the Sun Belt East Division standings with a 2-0 mark is flying a bit under the radar.

ODU faced undefeated Coastal Carolina and rode the running of Blake Watson to the 28-point win.

Watson came into the game with 255 yards in the four games he played in. He topped that with 256 yards in the 49-21 win. He had TD runs of 25, 58 and 67 yards as the Monarchs cruised to victory as 11-point underdogs.