Winners and losers: Arch Manning and Texas flirting with playoff disaster now, and they’re not alone in their struggles

Were the playoff hopes of Penn State and Texas dealt a fatal blow on Saturday?

The No. 7 Nittany Lions fell behind by 20 in the first half on the way to a 42-37 upset at previously-winless UCLA while No. 9 Texas lost 29-21 at Florida as the Gators snapped a three-game losing streak.

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Texas and Penn State entered the season as the top two teams in the preseason AP Top 25. Texas was ranked No. 1 before the season for the first time in school history while Penn State opened in the top two for the first time since it was No. 1 start the 1997 season.

Now, both teams may need to win out simply to have a chance at the playoff.

We’ll start with Penn State, who suffered the biggest upset of the season by a significant margin. The Nittany Lions were 24.5-point favorites at kickoff. Before Saturday, the biggest upset of 2025 came in Gainesville, as the Gators were 18-point favorites ahead of their Week 2 loss to South Florida.

Penn State lost a heartbreaker a week ago at home to Oregon after forcing overtime with a fourth quarter flurry. Saturday night should have been a rebound game as UCLA was 0-4 and already had an interim coach.

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Instead, the Bruins became the first 0-4 team in 40 years to beat a top-10 opponent as they led 27-7 at halftime. Like it did against Oregon, Penn State made a valiant comeback, but UCLA perfectly sniffed out a late fourth-down play to seal the win.

The loss to UCLA means that Penn State probably has to beat both No. 1 Ohio State and No. 8 Indiana to have a shot at making the College Football Playoff. Even though we could see a three-loss at-large team in the field this season, the loss to UCLA would be debilitating.

As Alabama missed out on the playoff a year ago with three losses, its worst loss came to an Oklahoma team that finished 6-6. Even though 10-2 Miami, another team on the bubble, didn’t have any wins over ranked opponents at the time, the Hurricanes’ two losses came to Georgia Tech and Syracuse, teams that finished with a combined record of 17-9. Unless UCLA has an incredible second half of the season, Saturday will be seen as nothing short of a terrible loss.

Things are a bit trickier for Texas, especially in the chaos that appears to be the 2025 edition of the SEC. The Longhorns will probably fall out of the top 15 in Sunday’s AP Top 25 but can move right back up with a win in Week 7 over No. 5 Oklahoma.

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As Penn State has two games remaining against ranked opponents, Texas has four. And the jury may still be out on just how good Florida is. Two of the Gators’ three losses are to teams currently ranked in the top 15 and South Florida appears to be one of the best teams in the American Conference. The Gators could still finish at .500 or better despite a schedule that includes eight ranked opponents.

Texas, meanwhile, also has games against No. 12 Georgia and No. 6 Texas A&M. Not only is there a real — if unlikely — path to the playoff as a 9-3 at-large team, the Longhorns are also still in the thick of the SEC title race. For now, anyway.

If Texas is going to make the SEC title game for the second straight season, the offensive line has to get right in a hurry. Arch Manning was under constant duress on Saturday and made several great throws with defenders in his face. The Texas offensive line was a huge issue in its two losses to Georgia in 2024. It’s setting up to be a liability once again this season.

If there’s a silver lining for both fanbases after Saturday’s losses, it’s that the expanded playofff still gives each team at least a glimmer of salvaging a season of high expectations. Under the BCS and four-team playoff formats, both Texas and Penn State would have no hope of a national title.

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Here are the rest of this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

Navy WR Eli Heidenreich: In what could be the biggest surprise of the day — even bigger than UCLA’s win — a Navy receiver had over 200 yards receiving. Heidenreich set a single-game Navy record with 243 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches in the Midshipmen’s 34-31 victory over Air Force. Heidenreich had five catches over Navy’s first four games of the season before setting the career record for TD catches (14) along with the single-game yards record. QB Blake Horvath threw for 339 yards and also rushed for 130 yards as Navy is now 5-0.

No. 24 Virginia: There was no letdown for the Cavaliers on Saturday. A week after knocking off Florida State, Virginia went on the road and got a 30-27 overtime win at previously-undefeated Louisville. The Cardinals kicked a field goal to start overtime and Virginia won on J’Mari Taylor’s 2-yard TD.

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The Cavaliers had just 14 first downs and 237 yards of offense but got a 61-yard fumble return TD from Dnavon Platt in the first quarter and Kam Robinson returned a Miller Moss interception 47 yards for a pick-6. Virginia is now the first team to three wins in the ACC and has a real chance for a special season.

Pitt QB Mason Heintschel: The freshman replaced Eli Holstein in the starting lineup for the Panthers and had an incredible debut in Pitt’s 48-7 win over Boston College. Heintschel was 30pf-41 passing for 323 yards and four touchdowns as Pitt moved to 3-2 on the season. The Ohio native was a three-star recruit in the class of 2025 and the No. 27 prospect in the state. He’s assuredly going to get the start in Week 7 in a much tougher environment as the Panthers play at No. 18 Florida State.

Washington: A week after losing at home to No. 1 Ohio State, the Huskies traveled across the country to 4-0 Maryland and got a 24-20 win after trailing 20-0 with 11:25 to go in the third quarter. The Huskies scored 21 points over the fourth quarter as Demond Williams Jr. threw two touchdowns and Jonah Coleman scored the game-winning TD on a 1-yard run with 3:21 to go. After Coleman’s TD, Maryland got to the Washington 43-yard line but QB Malik Washington threw four straight incomplete passes and the Terrapins turned the ball over on downs.

Losers

Purdue: The Boilermakers would prefer if Taylor Swift didn’t release any more albums. Purdue lost 43-27 at home to No. 22 Illinois on Saturday. What does that have to do with Taylor Swift? Well, Purdue is now 0-11(!) in games the week after Taylor Swift releases an album. Who knew that the only thing holding Purdue football back was the biggest pop star in the world? Well, that and the Boilermakers’ passing defense. Illinois QB Luke Altmyer was 19-of-22 for 390 yards as WR Hank Beatty had five catches for 186 yards and a TD.

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Kentucky: Hardly anyone expected the Wildcats to go to Athens and get a win against No. 12 Georgia. But the 35-14 loss to the Bulldogs is yet another sign that Kentucky is currently stuck under coach amrk Stoops and may need an offensive overhaul. UK had 270 yards of total offense in the loss as it fell to 0-3 in the SEC. Kentucky has not gained 400 yards of offense in a conference game since Oct. 28, 2023 in a 33-27 loss to Tennessee. As the SEC is incredibly wide-open and deep, the Wildcats may be the worst team in the league. With games against Texas, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, Vanderbilt and Louisville remaining, Kentucky may not win another game against an FBS team all year.

Oklahoma State: A defensive coordinator change did not improve anything immediately in Stillwater. Arizona routed the Cowboys 41-13 in OSU’s first game after the firing of defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. The Cowboys’ defense continued to be dreadful as Arizona had 433 passing yards to the 158 total yards by Oklahoma State’s offense. Things may not get much better in Stillwater anytime soon.

Kansas State: The Wildcats are 2-4 and 1-2 in the Big 12 after losing 35-34 at Baylor on Saturday. Kansas State had a chance to win the game with a field goal as time expired, but Luis Rodriguez’s long kick was blocked as Baylor preserved the win. KSU was a preseason favorite to win the Big 12 but hasn’t been able to put everything together so far this season. We don’t doubt that the Wildcats will spoil the Big 12 title race in some way. They just won’t be in it themselves.