Two storybook seasons in the state of Mississippi took vastly different turns Saturday as Ole Miss fell out of College Football Playoff contention and, at almost the same time, Mississippi State's improbable undefeated season marched on.
In Oxford, Miss., a stunned Rebels crowd fell silent as star receiver Laquon Treadwell suffered a gruesome lower leg injury while crossing the goal line with what could have been game-winning points, only to fumble in pain and give Auburn a 35-31 victory. Less than two hours away, in Starkville, Miss., the top-ranked Bulldogs overcame a 10-0 deficit to rally for a 17-10 win over Arkansas to move to 8-0 on the year.
Although the Rebels aren't yet mathematically eliminated from SEC title contention, their season has more than likely been reduced to spoiling Mississippi State's in the Egg Bowl Nov. 29. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, figure to improve to 9-0 next week against UT-Martin before games against Alabama, Vanderbilt and the rival Rebels.
Here are 18 other things you need to know from college football's Week 10:
- Missouri could be crashing the SEC Championship party once again. With an ugly loss to Indiana and a blowout loss to Georgia on its resume, not to mention a quarterback in Maty Mauk who has been inconsistent at best of late, the Tigers enter the final stretch of the season in control of the SEC East. With a 20-10 win over Kentucky coupled with Georgia's stunning 38-20 loss to Florida, Missouri is now alone at the top of the division with a 4-1 SEC record. And what's more, the Tigers finish the year with three SEC opponents that would appear to be awfully winnable: reeling Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Georgia, 4-2 in the SEC, must now beat Kentucky and Auburn, plus hope for a Missouri loss, to reach the SEC title game. Todd Gurleycan't get back soon enough.
- Quick, name the all-time leading rusher in Miami Hurricanes history. Edgerrin James? Nah. Clinton Portis? Way off. Try former Arizona, err, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants running back Ottis Anderson. We bring this to your attention because Hurricanes star Duke Johnson, after a dazzling 177-yard day against North Carolina's matador-like defense, is just 252 yards away from breaking Anderson's school career record of 3,331. The last three defenses who can stop him in the regular season? FSU, Virginia and Pittsburgh.
- Things couldn't get much worse for Washington State. Star quarterback Connor Halliday was carted off the field with a serious leg injury after USC star defensive lineman Leonard Williams knocked him down on a clean play after he had released a pass. Halliday had an air cast placed on the leg, and with Halliday expected to be done for the season, it's unlikely to be a pretty finish for the Cougars.
- Speaking of injuries ... One much less serious, but to no less of a player, befell Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah Saturday. The Heisman Trophy hopeful had six carries for just one yard against Purdue before exiting the game and not returning with a knee injury. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini indicated the injury isn't serious, but it's unclear when Abdullah might return.
- Things are bad in Aggieland. There's a new quarterback under center, and after an uninspiring performance by freshman Kyle Allen, Texas A&M will have to go right back to him for a road trip at Auburn thanks to a two-game suspension for Kenny Hill.
- Is Ron Dayne's Wisconsin rushing record in jeopardy? The way Melvin Gordon is going, it might be. The Badgers' Heisman hopeful posted his sixth 100-yard game in a row Saturday with 128 against Rutgers, and is on a pace to come within three yards of Dayne's 1996 school record of 2,109.
- There's a reason Speedy Noil was one of the top recruits in the country last year. And Texas A&M is glad to have him. If you missed the spectacular freshman's circus catch for a touchdown against Louisiana-Monroe, catch it here.
- Your upset special of the day was an easy choice. Give it to the Florida Gators, who trounced Georgia 38-20 behind 418 rushing yards, needing only six pass attempts. Florida had two rushers go for over 190 yards against a Bulldogs defense that couldn't have looked much worse. And for once, Will Muschamp couldn't have looked much better.
- When one's season is done, one is free to poke fun. That's what suspended Notre Dame players DaVaris Daniels and Kendall Moore did with their Halloween costumes, and if there was an award for the best spoof by a college football player, they'd have to share it. This is priceless.
- Jamison, just in time. Duke star receiver Jamison Crowder hasn't had nearly the season that he did a year ago for the Blue Devils, but he picked the perfect time to look like his old self on Saturday. In a 51-48 double overtime win over Pittsburgh, Crowder exploded for season highs of 165 receiving yards, two touchdowns on nine receptions.
- Myles Garrett, meet Jadeveon Clowney. And say goodbye in a hurry. The Texas A&M freshman not only passed the Houston Texans rookie for the most sacks ever by an SEC freshman, but blew the former South Carolina star's mark away. Garrett posted three sacks against Louisiana-Monroe to give him 10.5 on the year, 2.5 more than Clowney's previous record of eight.
- Against Baylor, Texas Christian died by the field goal. Against West Virginia, it lived by it. The Horned Frogs kept their playoff hopes alive with a 31-30 nipping of WVU Saturday on a 37-yard field goal as time expired. It wasn't pretty, but it was enough to keep TCU in the one-loss club for another week.
- As expected, Washington turned to Shaq Thompson on offense Saturday. And the most-of-the-time linebacker didn't disappoint. Thompson ran 15 times for 174 yards in the Huskies' 38-23 win over Colorado, adding two catches for 41 more yards. Not bad for a guy who was just named a Butkus Award semifinalist for his play at linebacker.
- How bad is South Carolina's defense? So bad that Gamecocks WR Pharoh Cooper broke the school record for receiving yards with 233, and somehow lost. Because somehow, South Carolina gave up 645 yards of offense. Tennessee 45, South Carolina 42, and Steve Spurrier refused to take questions in the postgame news conference. When Spurrier has nothing to say, things are bad.
- While Cooper had a 200-yard day on the East Coast, Southern Cal got the same on the West Coast. Trojans star Nelson Agholor pulled in eight passes for 220 yards and a score in USC's above-mentioned rout of Washington State.
- The magical season for Everett Golson continues. The Notre Dame quarterback threw three touchdown passes and rushed for three more in a 49-39 win over Navy. And the win keeps the Fighting Irish in contention for a College Football Playoff berth, as well.
- Oregon snapped a two-game losing streak to Stanford. The Ducks got it done with -- guess who -- Marcus Mariota slicing the Cardinal defense for 258 passing yards and another 85 on the ground. Very few quarterbacks are still in the hunt for both the Heisman Trophy and a playoff berth, but Mariota is one of them.
- Hard to make more out of three catches this: Baylor's Corey Coleman had 167 yards receiving and two touchdowns on just three catches in the Bears' 60-14 win over Kansas. That's a 55.7-yard average per catch. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks haven't won a game since dumping Charlie Weis after the fourth game of the season.
- Brett Hundley has the Bruins back on track. Maybe. Hundley tied the school record for career touchdowns, but more important, he used his legs to carry the team to a win against Arizona. The Bruins' defense looked sharp, and they might just have turned a corner in the rough Pac-12 South.
- Arizona State still controls its own destiny.It wasn't terribly pretty, but a win's a win late in the Tempe night for the Sun Devils. Thanks to their victory over Utah, the Sun Devils control their Pac-12 title destiny and -- with Notre Dame coming to town next week -- perhaps their College Football Playoff destiny as well.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
