College football overreactions after Week 9: Does Indiana have a QB controversy?

It was another great weekend of college football and seven ranked AP Top 25 teams suffered a loss in Week 9. While we’ve been used to seeing a few top-10 teams lose games in the past few weeks, there was only one this past weekend.

And that was Ohio State. The Buckeyes made the trip West to play USC and the Trojans got out to a quick start and never looked back. USC would win the game 30-18 and gave Lincoln Riley a signature win. Riley has been under a lot of heat lately, but the win over Ohio State might’ve saved his job if things go well to finish 2026.

Georgia took care of Florida in Atlanta, and Indiana nearly suffered another loss, but came away with another overtime win — this time against Minnesota.

Here are our weekly overreactions.

MORE: Predicting College Football Playoff field after Week 9: Ohio State falls after stunning loss

Ohio State’s CFP hopes are nearly over

Ohio State dropped its second loss of the season on Saturday. The Buckeyes entered Los Angeles as nearly a touchdown favorite in the game, but lost 30-18. It was a sobering moment for Ryan Day, who had to coach his first game without star quarterback Julian Sayin.

Freshman Luke Fahey was named the starter and he completed 21-of-38 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown. The moment looked too big for Fahey two weeks ago when he entered the game for the injured Sayin, and while he didn’t play great, his playmakers let him down against the Trojans.

“I think for Luke, he competed. It wasn’t perfect, but we had some big, huge drops, and we weren’t able to help him out there,” Day said after the loss.

“We weren’t able — to me — to play well enough to support a young freshman quarterback who has had his first start on the road.”

Ohio State has games against Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan left and the Buckeyes might not be able to lose any more games to make the playoff. And without Sayin, the offense has a lot to improve in a short period of time.

Indiana should explore QB change

Indiana looks real beatable, but the Hoosiers keep winning. Their only loss this season was against Ohio State, but the Hoosiers could’ve lost the last four games. Nebraska, Michigan, and most recently, Minnesota, all had chances to take down the defending champions

Indiana’s defense is good, but the offense leaves a lot to be desired, and transfer Josh Hoover hasn’t exactly flourished. He has limited his turnovers from his TCU days, but Hoover isn’t leading Indiana up and down the field. Hoover also hasn’t been 100% and Curt Cignetti confirmed Grant Wilson replaced Hoover in the 23-16 overtime win because of injury.

“Josh obviously took that hit, so I can’t remember the exact moment I made my mind up,” Cignetti said postgame. “Grant did a nice job.”

Wilson is in his second season at Indiana and knows the offense. He provided a spark and it was the first spark the Hoosiers’ offense had all game when he came in. He is able to move with his legs and if Hoover isn’t 100%, Cignetti could consider starting him in two weeks against USC.
“Grant has some real qualities,” Cignetti said. Total confidence in him. Started at [Old Dominion]. I saw him up close and personal my last year at JMU. Great team guy. Kids on the team love him. Big, tall, strong guy. Strong arm. Can get the ball down the field. He can run.”

Georgia is head and shoulders the best SEC team

Georgia laid a big egg two weeks ago and allowed Auburn to beat it. But it appears every team is going to suffer at least one loss this season. There are only three undefeated teams remaining: UCLA, Utah, and Miami.

There appears to be more parity in the SEC than there has been in quite some time, but Georgia passes the eye test. Georgia’s defense once again showed up to play on Saturday against one of the best offenses in the country. Florida was held to eight points and Jon Sumrall made a quarterback change in hopes of providing a spark, which only led to more turnovers.

Quarterback Gunner Stockton threw for just 101 yards in the win over Florida, and while that’s not impressive, he wasn’t asked to do much. The Bulldogs’ ground game did enough and the defense was stifling. Georgia will get Ole Miss this week and that will either prove this overreaction right or completely wrong.

Jake Dickert will be most coveted head coach

Nobody thinks of Wake Forest as a football power, but all the Demon Deacons do is score a ton of points and allow very little. In Wake Forest’s last four games, it has outscored ACC opponents 187-31.

Dickert is in his second season at Wake Forest, after leading a successful charge at Washington State, and whatever he is doing is working. He went 9-4 last season with a bowl win, and the Demon Deacons are 7-1 and ranked No. 14 in the country.

As of now, Maryland, Baylor, NC State, and Florida State all have openings and it’s clear that Dickert is going to be a very hot commodity in the coaching cycle.

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