Mississippi jumped out to a 17-0 lead oner Lane Kiffin's LSU team and it looked like it might be the beat down Ole Miss fans had been hoping for. But in the third quarter LSU's offense came alive and by the 4th quarter thet were all tied up at 24-24. Overtime looked eminet but the Rebels had one more piece of magic lwft in their bag of tricks and shot down the field for a late TD that earned the victory. They even capped it off with a two point conversion. It was sweet revenge for Mississippi who had to go through a years worth of anger when Kiffin left the Grove for Death Valley. 

Around the nation: Georgia Tech 44, Mercer 11; Clemson 28, North Carolina 20; Vanderbilt 35, NC State 31; Boston College 22, Maine 16; Louisville 41, SMU 31; Cal 49, Wagner 7; Duke 35, Stanford 7; Alabama 50, Florida State 36; West Virginia 38, Virginia 27; and Virginia Tech 35, Maryland 26. NC State built a 14-nothing first-quarter lead and was still up 31-28 in the final minute. But with 6 seconds left, CJ Bailey was stripped near his own goal line, and Vanderbilt fell on the fumble in the end zone for the winning touchdown. Bailey threw for 275 yards and three scores to Keenan Jackson, but Vandy's late surge stole it. NC State actually outgained the Commodores and held the ball longer, but three turnovers proved too costly. It really felt like one that got away.

Scores from the Big 10 yesterday show Minnesota 41, Akron 7. Ohio State 59, Kent State 3. Penn State 55, Buffalo 13. Wisconsin 54, Eastern Michigan 10. Illinois 48, Southern Illinois 10. USC 42, Rutgers 35. Michigan 52, UTEP 17. Indiana 38, Western Kentucky 0. Iowa 55, Northern Iowa 0. Washington 48, Eastern Washington 16. Nebraska 34, North Dakota 7. Northwestern 41, Colorado 7. Virginia Tech 35, Maryland 26. Notre Dame 27, Michigan State 10. UCLA 52, Purdue 38. The Big 10 looks very strong in these early weeks, but the level of competition has been weak except Michigans's win over Oklahoma las week and the shocking Ohio State loss to Texas as well. 

In the Big 12, Iowa State 55, Bowling Green 7; Kansas State 31, Tulane 20; Arizona State 24, Kansas 17; Cincinnati 35, Miami (Ohio) 31; Utah 33, Utah State 0. Baylor 36, Louisiana Tech 19; UCF 44, Georgia State 30; Oklahoma State 59, Murray State 0. Northwestern 41, Colorado 7; West Virginia 38, Virginia 27; TCU 31, Arkansas State 7; BYU 41, Colorado State 23; Arizona 42, Northern Illinois 17.

In the SEC, Georgia 45, Arkansas 17. Vanderbilt 35, NC State 31. Kentucky 31, Texas A&M 21. Mississippi State 41, South Carolina 34. Alabama 50, Florida State 36. Missouri 27, Troy 17. Florida 44, Auburn 39. Oklahoma 14, New Mexico 6. Ole Miss 32, LSU 24. Tennessee 42, Kennesaw State 9. Texas 30, UTSA 6. Oklahoma's offense continues to struggle, if not for the Sooners exceptional defense, Oklahoma could easily have lost that game. The Sonners were a 21 poing favorite going in. It will be interesting to see how the AP and Coaches polls respond to that performance. Last week the Coaches poll dropped Oklahoma out of the Top 25. 

The Billingsley Report is now online, along with the Week #5 projections. 

Richard Billingsley

Richard Billingsley

Published Sep 19, 2026