What We Learned in NCAA Football Week 9

Multiple teams had to rely on reserve quarterbacks due to injury during Week 9 with Utah and Kansas State emerging victorious without their top QBs.

The huge clash between Michigan and Ohio State could still feature a pair of undefeated teams after both the Wolverines and Buckeyes came away with hard-earned victories against teams that typically give them trouble.

Georgia is priced at +175 followed by Ohio State (+200) and Alabama (+325) in the odds to win the national title followed by Alabama  (+325) according to college football odds.

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

Taking Care of Business

The SEC’s Latest “Game of the Year” Is up next as No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Tennessee had no problems on Saturday.

Florida scored on its first three drives of the third quarter to make things interesting and pull within eight points. Georgia promptly found the end zone on the next two possessions.

A key moment came when the Gators failed to convert on 4th-and-6 near midfield down by 15 points early in the final quarter. The Bulldogs were happy for the gift and Kenny McIntosh’s 4-yard run capped the scoring in the 42-20 win.

Tennessee intercepted Kentucky quarterback Will Levis three times while receiver Jalin Hyatt had another big game with 138 yards and two TD grabs in the 44-6 win.

Jalin Hyatt has recorded multiple receiving touchdowns in four straight games.

He's the first player in @Vol_Football program history to do so over the course of a single season. pic.twitter.com/JyYuvNW6t5

— Tennessee Stats & Info (@Vol_Stats) October 30, 2022

Tennessee travels to meet Georgia on Saturday.

Down Go The Bearcats

When Cincinnati met Central Florida last season, the Bearcats rolled to a 56-21 victory. Things were much different in the rematch.

Mikey Keene was 4 for 4 for 57 yards to set up RJ Harvey’s 17-yard touchdown with 48 seconds to play to lift UCF to the 25-21 win and prevent Cincinnati from winning its 20th straight American Athletic Conference game.

Cincinnati was playing with fire, edging South Florida and Southern Methodist by four and two points in the last two games.

The loss by Cincinnati leaves Tulane alone in first place in the AAC as the Green Wave scored 14 points in a span of 90 seconds and led 35-0 at halftime before holding on for the 10-point win over visiting Memphis.

Horned Frogs Survive Another Test

Since making national news by crushing Big 12 title contender Oklahoma 55-24, things haven’t been easy for undefeated Texas Christian.

However, TCU found a way to win once again.

The Horned Frogs led by just four points heading into the fourth quarter but made enough plays to win their fourth game in a row by 10 points or less.

Max Duggan threw touchdown passes to three different players and Jamoi Hodge had 12 tackles as TCU remains the lone undefeated team in the Big 12.

ACC Finalists Take a Tumble

Pittsburgh and Wake Forest were the talk of the Atlantic Coast Conference with an improbable matchup in the ACC title game.

There won’t be a rematch.

Pittsburgh led by 10 points midway through the third quarter before Drake Maye threw three touchdown passes to give North Carolina the come-from-behind 42-24 victory.

The bigger surprise came in Louisville when the Cardinals forced eight turnovers in a 48-21 win over visiting Wake Forest.

Demon Deacons quarterback Sam Hartman lost three fumbles and threw three interceptions before being pulled.

Eight of Wake Forest’s first nine drives of the second half ended with giveaways. Louisville took the lead on Kei’Trel Clark’s interception return for a touchdown.

Pac-12 Heavyweights Pushed to the Brink

The Pac-12 race nearly got a major shakeup.

Washington State was within one score for the majority of the fourth quarter before Utah held on for the 21-17 win thanks to 10 tackles for loss and two recovered fumbles.

Bryson Barnes had a touchdown pass as he played in place of injured Utah starting quarterback Cameron Rising.

Even without star receiver Jordan Addison USC quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns in a wild 45-37 win at Arizona as the teams combined for nearly 800 passing yards and had 1,164 yards of total offense.

Victory wasn’t assured for the Trojans until Williams ran for a first down on 4th-and-1 with 1:07 seconds left to play.

Oregon and UCLA had no such drama.

Oregon QB Bo Nix threw for three scores and ran for three others in a 42-24 win over California while Zach Charbonnet ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns as UCLA cruised to a 38-13 win over Stanford.

Oregon remains in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 with USC, UCLA and Utah a game behind.

Kansas State Makes Statement

The game of the week in the Big 12 turned into the blowout of the week.

Will Howard threw four touchdown passes while Deuce Vaughn ran for 158 yards as Kansas State clobbed 2021 Big 12 finalist Oklahoma State 48-0. The 48 points were the most scored by Kansas State against the Cowboys since a 48-14 win in 2014.

It was the second straight game between the teams to finish over the college betting odds total after three previous three matchups each had at least a 70 points score.

Oklahoma State turned the ball over three times and was held to 217 yards as the Cowboys are now in a three-way tie for third place in the Big 12 standings.

Kicker Powers Wolverines

Michigan remained undefeated and the Wolverines can thank a strong defensive effort and star kicker Jake Moody for snapping a two-game losing streak to rival Michigan State.

Moody made five field goals including one from 54 yards while Michigan State was 2 for 11 on third downs in Michigan’s 29-7 win. Over the last two weeks, nine of the 14 Michigan scoring drives ended with field goals by Moody.

Blake Corum ran for 177 yards and a touchdown, but the Michigan passing game was relatively ineffective.

Following the game, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh claimed that two of his players were assaulted by Michigan State players heading back to the locker room and that is being investigated by the conference.

Buckeyes Have to Work For Victory

Penn State has a recent history of playing Ohio State tough and Saturday was no different.

Ohio State scored 21 points off four Penn State turnovers. J.T. Tuimoloau returned an interception for a touchdown late in the game to give the Buckeyes some breathing room. Tuimolau had two interceptions and a fumble recovery with Tommy Eichenberg made 15 tackles in Ohio State’s most competitive conference game of the season – to date.

TreVeyon Henderson ran for two scores while C.J. Stroud threw for 354 yards and one TD.

Penn State’s Parker Washington finished with 11 receptions and 179 yards.

The Nittany Lions were listed by the sportsbook as 15½-point underdogs and covered against Ohio State for the sixth time over the last seven matchups.

Birthday Boy Shines for Rebels

Quinshon Judkins ran for 205 yards on his 20th birthday as Ole Miss rebounded from its only loss of the season for a 31-28 win at Texas A&M.

Judkins’ 1-yard run with 7:18 remaining gave the Rebels a 10-point cushion and the defense held on the final possession for Ole Miss.

The Rebels ran for 390 yards, the most allowed by a Texas A&M defense since 2003.

Home-Grown Star Leads UConn to Historic Win

Boston College had won 11 straight games against UConn and was 12-0-2 in a series dating back to 1908.

However, Connecticut native Jackson Mitchell had 12 tackles, a sack, an interception and fumble recovery in the Huskies’ 13-3 win over Boston College. It was the first loss to BC from a team outside the Power-5 conference since Jan. 2, 2020 bowl loss to Cincinnati.

UConn held BC star receiver Zay Flowers to a pair of catches and quarterback Phil Jurkovec passed for just 155 yards with two interceptions before being benched.

It was a tough Saturday for the three Power-5 teams in New England or the tri-state area.

Nationally ranked Syracuse fell to Notre Dame 41-24 while Rutgers managed only 134 yards in a 31-0 loss to Minnesota.