So, Arch Manning Isn’t A Flop? Indiana Makes Statement, While Penn State Has Crumbled Under James Franklin

If you’ve been paying attention this season, what we saw on Saturday afternoon in college football shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Chaos was inevitable — and it found its way to Oregon, Texas and even Penn State. 

I hope you weren’t expecting anything different. 

The storylines entering the Red River Rivalry was whether John Mateer was healthy enough to lead Oklahoma to a win, while Arch Manning was being called a ‘flop’. I think it's safe to say he's not, as I did all week. 

The conversation quickly shifted from Oklahoma’s offense to Texas’ defense. A monumental day for the Longhorns on both sides of the ball — capped by 20 unanswered points — had fans in burnt orange jumping for joy inside the Cotton Bowl.

"There was a lot of shit getting talkedabout this team and these guys, and they responded," Steve Sarkisian said postgame about Texas. 

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After losing last week to Florida, looking like a team that had lost its identity, Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian was looking for some sort of redemption against an Oklahoma team that had garnered all the headlines in the lead up to this showdown. 

But, by halftime, the narrative had changed. And please, don't use the injury of John Mateer as an excuse for what we witnessed from the Sooners on Saturday. 

The Oklahoma staff thought he was healthy enough to play, so any type of sympathy was thrown out the window when Mateer took his first snap of the game. 

This was about Arch Manning and the Longhorns making a statement that they were not going quiet into the night after the loss in Gainesville last week. Three interceptions by John Mateer were due to Texas bringing enough power on defense that the Sooners' gunslinger looked lost for a majority of this football game. 

On the opposing sidelines, Steve Sarkisian jubilantly ran down the sidelines as the Longhorns returned a punt for a touchdown to extend the lead to 20-6 in the fourth quarter. For an entire afternoon, Texas had Oklahoma twisted like a pretzel, with Mateer having nowhere to go, and the Longhorns swarming. 

For Arch Manning, and this entire Texas football team, this win could not have come at a better time, or against a better opponent. 

DALLAS - Arch Manning #16 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates with fans after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners at Cotton Bowl Stadium on October 11, 2025. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Indiana Shocks Oregon, And The Rest Of College Football

Oh, so you thought Indiana was just another team that was getting love for what it had done last season. You thought this Curt Cignetti squad was just a blip on the Big Ten radar? 

Those assumptions were thrown out the window on a rainy afternoon in Eugene, as the Hoosiers and Ducks were tied 20-20 late in the fourth quarter until Fernando Mendoza connected with Elijah Stewart for the go-ahead touchdown. 

News Flash: Indiana is going to be a problem for the remainder of the Big Ten season, and looks like a team that could play for a national championship. 

Oh, and that Top-10 defense is not just fluff, it's championship caliber. 

No matter what we thought about Oregon heading into this game, you can now point that attention towards the Indiana Hoosiers, with a massive performance on the road to shock those who doubted them across the country. 

The final play on offense for Oregon ended in an interception, which summed up the performance of this Indiana defense, capping off the 30-20 win in front of a shocked crowd in Eugene. 

No longer is Indiana just some sort of talking point for the college football playoff. The Hoosiers are a real contender to win the whole damn thing. 

James Franklin Is Tumbling At Penn State. Drew Allar Is Done

A three-touchdown favorite against Northwestern, Penn State had most folks in Happy Valley thinking this would be the perfect opportunity to get things back on track against Northwestern. 

But let's be honest, this Penn State football team was broken by Oregon three weeks ago, and it's only gotten worse since then. For only the second time in the James Franklin era, Penn State has started 0-3 in conference play. 

"We've had some adversity in the past, not like this, and we're gonna get to work," James Franklin said following the loss. "I love those kids, I'm committed to those players in that locker room, and I've been that way for twelve years. And I've been that way for fifteen years of my head coaching career, and I've been that way for thirty years. That won't change."

And, to make matters worse, quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury in the loss to Northwestern. 

Following the loss, James Franklin was asked if he still wanted to be the coach at Penn State, 

"For me, it's always been about our players and those guys are hurting right now, and the fans are frustrated. I get it, I totally get it," Franklin said postgame. "We have great fans here. We get unbelievable support, and I understand their frustration, trust me. We're as frustrated as anybody. 

"To me, ultimately it's about the guys. It's about the guys in the locker room, and they’re hurting in there. I'd do anything I could to take that hurt away from them. But like I told them, we gotta stick together. We gotta tune out all the noise, and we got to get to work. That's the only answer."

James Franklin Might Need To Reset His Clock, But There's $50 Million Reasons To Have Penn State Do It

If there was ever a time for James Franklin to hit the re-set button on his coaching career, it would come following the 2025 season. But, he might not even get the chance to do it on his own, judging by the amount of panic occurring in State College. 

It's officially run its course for Penn State. The team looked lethargic against Northwestern, and the Wildcats made the Nittany Lions pay in a dramatic way. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, fans were booing the Nittany Lions, with a very loud ‘Fire Franklin’ chant encompassing the stadium as Northwestern took the final knee of the game. 

There is no coming back from this one, and I mean that. You aren’t winning Penn State fans back, it's over. 

What started out as aspirations of a national championship has now turned into apathy, and that could be the final ending to the James Franklin chapter at Penn State. 

There was even a Florida State loss to Pittsburgh added into the chaos on Saturday, which was a third consecutive defeat after Virginia seemingly broke the Seminoles. 

The point is, we have witnessed plenty of chaotic results around college football this season, and Saturday was no different. The difference is that, it's clear that the college football playoff race is WIDE open. 

But, coming out of the weekend, there are numerous coaches now worried about their job security moving forward. 

How's that for a Saturday afternoon?