Winner: Berkeley’s first ACC win

The University of California Berkeley’s football team has had an interesting season to begin the program’s tenure in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Despite being 4-0 in non-conference matchups, the Golden Bears have struggled mightily in ACC play, going 0-4, including a close, 39-38 loss to No. 4 Miami on Oct. 5. 

However, this Friday Cal finally got their first ever ACC. Defeating Wake Forest, 46-36 at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Fernando Mendoza shined for the Golden Bears as he threw for 385 passing yards and two touchdowns while also recording a touchdown on the ground. Cal’s defense stepped up big time, forcing Wake Forest redshirt senior QB Hank Bachmeier to throw three interceptions. Cal’s kickoff team also secured a scoop and scored in the first quarter. While the Golden Bears are still near the bottom of the ACC conference, they can still celebrate this historic win.

Loser: Appalachian State Mountaineers

After finishing with a 9-5 (6-3 in the Sun Belt Conference) in the 2023 Season, the Mountaineers are having a disappointing campaign in 2024. The Mountaineers lost to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Brooks Stadium, 24-38. App State senior QB Joey Aguilar threw two interceptions which Coastal Carolina capitalized on securing 10 points off the two turnovers. App State’s defense also had a hard time stopping redshirt senior running back Braydon Bennett, who accumulated 88 rushing yards and three touchdowns. While Coastal Carolina is celebrating with the students storming onto the field, Appalachian State needs to regroup because it still has to face a tough James Madison squad and a Georgia Southern team, ranked first in the east division of the SBC.

Winner: The Deion Sanders experience

I, like much of the college football cognoscenti, have repeatedly flip-flopped on my feelings about Deion Sanders as head coach of Colorado. At first it was fun and unique, then the program felt tedious and undeserving of the attention, but now the Buffalos are rolling.

Led by senior QB Shedeur Sanders’ growth as a passer and generational junior two-way athlete Travis Hunter, Colorado has played itself to a 7-2 record as it vies for a position in the Big 12 Championship. If seeding holds and Colorado upsets BYU for a spot in the College Football Playoff, it would be like tossing a chainsaw into a hot tub — wild, unpredictable and dangerously thrilling.

Loser: Utah athletics director Mark Harlan

After Utah fell to No. 8 BYU in “The Holy War”, Utah athletics director Mark Harlan decided to crash the post-game press conferences and call out the Big 12. Harlan claimed that the game was stolen from his team — presumably due to a late 4th-down holding penalty on his defense — and that he would talk to the Big 12 Commissioner.

First off, Mark, it was a holding penalty, and the refs got it correct. Second off, don’t blame officiating when your team blew an 11-point lead by going scoreless in the second half. Instead, maybe you should look at your coach who never adjusted down the stretch, or at the man in the mirror who put all his eggs in the injury-prone seventh year senior QB Cam Rising basket.

Winner: Iowa’s Fifth-String Quarterback’s Readiness

“Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.”

A notoriously famous quote that, though referred to many times, has rarely been seen done. However, for an Iowa squad seeking a bowl trip, without its first four quarterbacks on the depth chart. As chances faded away for the Hawkeyes, all eyes turned to their fifth-string redshirt sophomore QB Jackson Stratton.

The Colorado State transfer served as a scout team linebacker a few weeks ago but with injuries piling up, his dream of finally seeing the field became reality as he went 3-for-6 for 28 yards in the air — all in the second half and in clutch time.

Loser: Fraudulent top-five teams being exposed

At long last, down goes No. 4 Miami. As good as Heisman hopeful redshirt senior QB Cam Ward and his receivers have been, it was bound for the Hurricanes to lose a game or two. Close wins over Virginia Tech, California and Louisville officially had the Orange and Green on fraud watch and it was finally exposed by Georgia Tech and its leader, none other than former Texas A&M Aggie, redshirt junior QB Haynes King.

Hours later, the mighty Georgia Bulldogs suffered its second loss — a feat that hasn’t happened since 2019. While Miami has had Ward balling out, Georgia cannot say the same for redshirt senior QB Carson Beck. The once NFL Draft high round prospect has been awful this season, throwing seven picks to just two touchdowns in the past three games. Beck — and the Dawgs — very well might drop two more this season to No. 7 Tennessee and upset-hungry Georgia tech.