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College Football Awards, Week 7 (2025) October 13, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Curt Cignetti, Indiana

Honorable mention:  Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Glad I’m not him: Dan Lanning, Oregon

Lucky guy: Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Poor guy: Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Alex Golesh, South Florida

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Norvell, Florida State

Desperately seeking … anything:  James Franklin, Penn State

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Clemson (defeated Boston College 41-10)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ole Miss (defeated Washington State 24-21)  
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: N/A

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Northwestern (defeated Penn State 22-21)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  South Florida (defeated North Texas 63-36)  

Honorable mention:  Utah (defeated No. 21 Arizona State 42-10)

Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad:  Akron

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oregon

Did the season start?  Penn State
Can the season end?  Florida State

Can the season never end? Indiana

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20

Play this again, too: No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 14 Missouri 24

Never play this again: UTSA 61, Rice 13

What?  Colorado 22, No. 22 Iowa State 17

Huh?  USC 31, No. 15 Michigan 13

Double-huh?  No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20

Are you kidding me??  Texas 23, No. 6 Oklahoma 6

Oh – my – God:  Northwestern 22, Penn State 21

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 8)
Ticket to die for:  No. 12 Tennessee @ No. 8 Alabama

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Washington State @ No. 19 Virginia

Best non-Power Four matchup: UNLV @ Boise State

Upset alert: Utah @ No. 18 BYU

Also:  No. 20 USC @ No. 13 Notre Dame

Must win: No. 4 Ole Miss @ No. 9 Georgia

Offensive explosion: Air Force @ UNLV

Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Iowa

Great game no one is talking about: Arizona @ Houston

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Mike Elko of Texas A&M vs Bobby Petrino of Arkansas

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 22 Memphis @ UAB

Why are they playing? Washington State @ No. 19 Virginia

Plenty of good seats remaining: Georgia State @ Georgia Southern

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Lafayette @ Oregon State

Week 7 Thoughts:

Another monster week for college football, with great games abounding from noon Eastern through night, and upsets abounding in turn.  Indiana proved that they are a considerable force to be reckoned with in defeating Oregon, on the road, no less.  USC continues to quietly gain strength after losing to Illinois earlier in the year, this time by defeating ranked Michigan in rather convincing fashion.  Colorado proved to have some fight within them by upsetting Iowa State on the road.  Then we had the Red River Showdown, and the incredibly electric environment it always produces.  Many in the sports commentary space had given Texas up for dead after their loss to Florida in the Swamp last week.  The calculus was that since the Longhorns’ offense sputtered against the Gators’ defense, given that Oklahoma’s defense is even better, Texas would likely be demolished in Dallas.  But as the great Lee Corso would say, “[N]ot so fast, my friend!”  The Longhorns’ defense stepped up in a major way, cramping the performance of the Sooner’s star QB John Mateer as he returned to the line-up, going so far as to shut out OU in the second half and to deny them reaching the endzone the entire game.  In so doing, Texas defense gave their offense time to get their sea-legs under them.  Thus, Texas’ triumph was unexpected, and all the more savored.

Elsewhere, Pitt upset Florida State, in Tallahassee, no less, but perhaps the biggest upset of all came when Northwestern stunned Penn State in Happy Valley, 22-21.  That loss came on the heels of the Nittany Lions already losing that heartbreaker to Oregon, then laying an egg on the road to UCLA.  Now they have suffered this defeat, which is no ignominious and ill-timed that Penn State fired James Franklin today.  Penn State’s current state was made all the worse with QB Drew Allar suffering a season-ending injury late in the game.  What started out as a potential championship season for the Nittany Lions now lies in ruin.

Some near-upsets also occurred wherein Mizzou was on the verge of defeating favored Alabama before the Tiger’s QB threw a sudden pick that ended the drive and their hopes of victory.  In a similar situation was Washington State, who ventured into Ole Miss and nearly defeated the home team before the Rebels somehow managed to escape with their skin intact.  Arkansas presented a serious challenge to Tennessee, signaling that the Bobby Petrino Era 2.0 is on the rise in Fayetteville.  Late into the night, Arizona took BYU in a second overtime before the Cougars managed to pull out the win.

What a week.

Random Thoughts:

UCLA was once the whipping boy of the B1G.  Not anymore.  Perhaps all it took was the firing of the inept DeShaun Foster, inter alia.  But now the Bruins are a rising force in the conference.  First, they massively upset Penn State at home last week.  This week, they went on the road to dismantle Michigan State.  Not a moment too soon, either, since all the remaining opponents – including Indiana and Ohio State – or nearly-ranked (e.g., Maryland and Washington).  At this rate, their traditional rivalry game against USC should be one the best in Gen-Z’s living memory.

Meanwhile, has there been a team to more quietly advance up the rankings than Georgia Tech, at least recently?  The Yellowjackets are currently undefeated (6-0), and have now reached the rank of No. 12.