After 15 years of frustration, the #6 Tennessee Volunteers finally got their win over the #3 Alabama Crimson Tide, beating them on Saturday night in a thrilling SEC encounter by a final score of 52-49. The Tide appeared to have won it late when they had a field goal go missing with 15 seconds left only to see the host Vols drive down the field, via Hendon Hooker’s passing and leadership, and kick their own- albeit an ugly one- to pull off the upset over Nick Saban’s perennial contenders.
Hooker, a bonafide Heisman contender for certain now, finished the contest with 385 yards and five touchdowns through the air while defending Heisman winner Bryce Young racked up two TD’s and 455 yards in an extraordinary game. Jalin Hyatt caught all five UT TD’s and had 207 yards on just six catches. Elsewhere, the #5 Michigan Wolverines also made a statement by dismantling #10 Penn State 41-17 at home via a lethal running attack. Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum each rushed for over 150 yards and combined for 339 yards on the ground as their old-school offensive attack continued to pay dividends. Those weren’t the only games featuring two ranked teams against each other, as #20 Utah upset #7 USC 43-42, #13 TCU did the same to #8 Oklahoma State, beating them 43-40 in 2OT while #18 Syracuse took down #15 North Carolina State 24-9 and #22 Kentucky defeated #16 Mississippi State 27-17. After this weekend, there are now just nine unbeaten teams remaining in the college football landscape.
