USC took down No. 2 Ohio State 30-18 at the Coliseum, No. 1 Miami needed every bit of a 38-35 win at North Carolina to stay perfect, and Iowa State beat No. 24 Oklahoma State on a field goal with two seconds left. Halloween Saturday delivered.
The big ones
- USC 30, No. 2 Ohio State 18. The Trojans scored on their second snap, a 69-yard Jayden Maiava strike to Trent Mosley, and never trailed. King Miller’s 1-yard run in the third made it 27-9, and Ohio State never got closer than nine. Maiava: 15 of 22, 222 yards. USC is 7-2. Ohio State is 6-2, and the “Buckeyes are inevitable” crowd is quiet tonight.
- No. 1 Miami 38, North Carolina 35. Mark Fletcher Jr. put Miami back in front with 7:49 left, and Darian Mensah hit Malachi Toney for a 9-yard touchdown with 2:33 to go. That one held up, barely: UNC answered with 1:38 left. Billy Edwards Jr. threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns for the Tar Heels. Miami is 8-0, and it is starting to look like a team that knows how to win ugly. That’s a compliment.
- Iowa State 51, No. 24 Oklahoma State 49. Drew Mestemaker hit receiver Young for a 7-yard touchdown with 53 seconds left to put the Cowboys up a point. Iowa State went right back down and kicker Konrardy drilled a 34-yarder with two seconds on the clock. Aiden Flora ran for 221 yards. Best game of the night and it wasn’t close.
- No. 3 Georgia 27, No. 17 Florida 8. Chris Cole’s 66-yard fumble return with 29 seconds left in the first half made it 24-0, and that was that in Atlanta.
- No. 4 Indiana 23, Minnesota 16 (OT). Minnesota hit a 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left. Indiana answered with its own 60-yarder as time expired. Then Grant Wilson found Charlie Becker for a 25-yard touchdown in overtime. Becker: 8 catches, 149 yards. Indiana is 8-1.
- Oregon 34, No. 20 Northwestern 26. Eleven seconds after a Northwestern field goal made it a one-point game, Dylan Raiola hit Dakorien Moore for 75 yards. Raiola threw for 336 and three scores.
- Iowa 30, No. 25 Wisconsin 0. A shutout of a ranked team. Hank Brown went 20 of 24. (And yes, this is the Wisconsin team that’s Notre Dame’s best win. We’ve got thoughts on that.)
How our picks finished
We went 3-3 on Saturday. Not a disaster. Not a parade either.
- ✅ Texas Tech -4 vs. Arizona: Texas Tech 34, Arizona 26
- ✅ Duke -7.5 vs. Boston College: Duke 47, Boston College 2
- ✅ Utah -6.5 at Cincinnati (the Bama Hat Guarantee): Utah 49, Cincinnati 25. No crimson for me this week.
- ❌ SMU -9.5 at Syracuse: Syracuse 30, SMU 27
- ❌ Indiana -19.5 vs. Minnesota (the Fade): Indiana 23, Minnesota 16 in OT. Won the game, missed the number by a mile.
- ❌ Ohio State -7 at USC: USC 30, Ohio State 18. The public liked the Trojans. The public was right. I’ll be over here.
The full early-window breakdown is in how our early Halloween picks did, and every result lands on The Record. Scores and stats from ESPN. Lines are ours, as of when the column was written.
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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.
