The first half of October will go down in the history books as one of the most historic stretches in NCAA football. From the opening game of the season on September 7th through the end of the month, college football witnessed one unforgettable game after another.
One of the greatest rivalries in American sports was the culmination of this historic season, as top-ranked USC battled it out with No. 5 Stanford en route to a 45-29 victory in the Stanford Cardinal’s homecoming game. The game was so fierce that it went into overtime and was eventually decided by a field goal as time expired.
What was arguably the best game of the year happened just three days after the USC-Stanford rivalry game, as No. 3 Oklahoma crushed Iowa State 52-20 in the Big 12 Championship.
The Big 12 and the Pac-12 each claimed their second consecutive title, capping off a fantastic season for the conference championship series. But the biggest win of the month came at the end of the month, as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the New England Patriots in a classic shootout, 35-24, in the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship. The Chiefs had never been to the Super Bowl before, but they ended the month flying high as AFC champions.
USC vs Stanford: Back-to-Back Bowl Games
The end of the September 7th game between USC and Stanford was a microcosm of the entire month: two top-ranked teams, fierce competition, and a classic bowl game in the Rose Bowl.
In what would prove to be his final game as the head coach of Stanford, David Shaw put in a perfect game plan to defeat USC. The Cardinal defense held the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Ronald Jones II, to just 62 yards on 17 attempts. The lockdown defense also caused Jones to throw an interception for the first time in his career. It was a perfect way to end the month, as Shaw became the first coach to defeat USC three times in four years.
But the following week, Stanford got a taste of its own medicine, as No. 1 Alabama handed the Cardinal their first loss of the season, 41-14. Two weeks later, the Crimson Tide demolished Washington in the national championship game, 38-7, for their sixth consecutive BCS title. That left only one ranked team standing between Alabama and a seventh BCS title, and it was USC. A win over the Crimson Tide would have been enough for the Cardinal to keep their Rose Bowl hope alive.
USC took care of business that afternoon, defeating Stanford 24-13 in front of a sold-out crowd at Coliseum Stadium. The victory was the first for new head coach Clay Helton, who came to USC after spending seven seasons as the Texas A&M offensive coordinator. The victory also ended Stanford’s 15-game winning streak, which dated back to last year. It was just the first of five straight victories for the Trojans, keeping their playoff hopes alive.
The following week, in a game that would prove to be the greatest of the year, No. 4 Clemson traveled to Death Valley to take on top-ranked Virginia Tech in a battle of undefeated teams. The Tigers held a 24-7 lead at the half, but an inspired comeback by the Hokies led to a 34-31 win in double overtime. It was a heartbreaker for Clemson, which had won eight in a row before the heartbreaking loss.
The next week, the No. 5 Stanford Cardinal traveled to the Pacific Northwest to take on Oregon in the annual Civil War game. The undefeated teams clashed in a thrilling match, with the game ultimately going into overtime where the Ducks prevailed, 29-28, in a game that saw 13 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and three fumbles forced. As a result, Stanford’s playoff hopes took a serious blow.
Stanford closed out the month with a 26-23 win over Utah, which was sandwiched between two exciting victories over rival and No. 12 Cal. The Utes had upset the Cardinal earlier in the year, but they would get their revenge this time around. It was the first time in a while that the Dawgs had tasted defeat.
From the moment the 2018 NFL season began, fans have been waiting for the return of one of the greatest rivalries in sports. And it happened. The top-ranked USC Trojans and the No. 5 Stanford Cardinal opened the season on September 7th with a rematch of last year’s college football playoff game. And it was everything fans could have wanted. The battle was fierce, with neither team able to hold a lead for more than seven minutes. The game was tied at 14 after three quarters of play, and the score was eventually tied at 29 before a Mason Phipps field goal gave the Cardinal the victory, 30-29. This was the start of an incredible season, full of exciting, high-paced football. And one of the best parts of it all? It all took place in front of a national audience, which makes these games even more special.
Familiar Foes
The first non-conference game saw the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners host the Houston Cougars in Norman. The Sooners jumped out to a commanding lead in the game, with the result being an easy win for the home team. It was arguably the least competitive game of the whole month, with the Sooners cruising to a 34-3 victory. The win would boost Oklahoma’s NCAA football record to 11-0, the most wins ever by a team in their first 11 games.
No. 3 Ohio State closed out the month by hosting Rutgers in a battle of Big Ten teams that wound up being a lot closer than the scores would have you believe. The Buckeyes jumped to a 21-0 halftime lead and then held on for a 31-28 victory. It was the first of four straight wins for the No. 3 team in the country. Quarterback Justin Fields, a freshman, set a new Big Ten single-game record with seven touchdown passes. He also became the first player in conference history to throw for at least 300 yards in four straight games.
Elsewhere, the No. 19 NC State Wolfpack took on the No. 21 Miami Hurricanes in a battle of ACC teams. It was a competitive game for most of the first half before the Wolfpack began to pull away in the third quarter. The Pack won 31-21, their third straight victory over the Hurricanes.
Historic Nights
October has been a special month for college football, as the first two weeks were dominated by one unbelievable game after another. But the best was yet to come. The following week, New Year’s Day games saw two more undefeated teams duke it out. The first was the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers and the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines, in what is now the most highly-anticipated game of the year. The teams had met in the season opener last year, with the Wolverines winning 17-14 at Michigan Stadium. But this year’s winner-take-all game scheduled for Big Blue Stadium was even bigger, as it would decide not just the Wolverines’ fate but the entire playoff picture. If the game was close heading into the fourth quarter, it would be all the more exciting to see who would emerge the victor at the end. It turned out to be a defensive struggle for the first three quarters, with Wisconsin holding their opponent to just three field goals. But with under a minute remaining in the third quarter, a 99-yard touchdown pass from Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock to tight end Jacob Hollingshead gave the Wolverines the lead for good, sealing their second win over their arch-rival in three years. That set the stage for one of the best games of the year. In the end, it would go down as one of the most memorable games in the history of the rivalry. This was the type of game fans had been waiting for, with ESPN’s booth commentator and former Chicago Bears quarterback Doug Flutie saying:
“This is the Big Ten Championship Game we’ve all been waiting for. This is the kind of game that keeps you riveted to the TV set. This is what you hope for when you tune into a game between two great teams; it’s a classic, hard-hitting, competitive game.”
The last game of the month saw the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats host their counterparts from the SEC, the No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs. The teams had been rivals since their days playing as part of the Kentucky-Tennessee State border rivalry. They had only met four times previously, with the most recent meeting coming back in 2002. It was an intense game, with fans in the state of Georgia coming together to witness one of the most celebrated college football rivalries. Despite a 15-point half time deficit, the Cats clawed their way back into the game by scoring 17 unanswered points in the third quarter. But the offense sputtered in the second half, with the Bulldogs holding on for the 21-17 victory. It was a fitting end to a month that had been full of high drama and excitement.