#Nuggets: Ole Miss outlasts Kentucky, Georgia is mortal, TCU returns the favor on Oklahoma, and everything else from the college football weekend.

Ole Miss outlasts Kentucky in the game of the day. You know the SEC is in a good place when Kentucky, ranked No. 7, and Ole Miss, ranked 14th, can play a game worthy of their respective stations. The type of game where one of the quarterbacks dislocates a finger and stays in. The type of game where the final 17:19 saw no scores, but only one punt. 

After the Rebels broke a 19-19 tie with a 26-yard Jonathan Cruz field goal, here's how the scoreless but eventful fourth quarter went:

-- The frame opened with UK attempting a 4th-and-3 from its own 32. Will Levis's pass was incomplete.
-- Ole Miss traveled to the UK 5, where Jaxson Dart answered Levis's fourth down incompletion with one of his own.
-- Kentucky moved 74 yards in 11 plays and more than seven minutes, until Levis fumbled at the Ole Miss 19. (What didn't show up in the box score: a possible targeting toward Levis that somehow went unreviewed. Levis took the crown of an Ole Miss helmet to his head, but the replay official somehow missed it.)
-- An Ole Miss three-and-out
-- Another Levis fumble, this time on a sack-and-strip, and this one clean. Kentucky seemingly had overtime in the bag when Levis hit Barion Brown on a 3rd-and-2 tunnel screen for 51 yards to the Ole Miss 7 with 1:05 to play, and they definitely had the game in the bag when Levis hit the ensuing play for a touchdown -- until the play was called back because Levis snapped the ball a moment too soon, drawing an illegal motion penalty. The next snap ended the game.

Not only did Kentucky turn the ball over in the Ole Miss red zone on each of its final two possessions while trailing by a field goal, it also committed a safety and missed a 39-yard field goal.

Meanwhile, in the Ole Miss coaches' box.

Someone out there better at the Internet than me, please edit that clip together with the moon landing, the flying bikes scene in E.T., etc. I want to see Chris Partridge's belly as often as possible. Thanks in advance. 

Georgia's record is still perfect, but the team is not. After a month of near-perfect football, Georgia had to work for a victory at Missouri. 

In their first five possessions, Georgia had basically one good play -- a 35-yard run by running back Kendall Milton, which he fumbled away. The Dawgs opened their trip to Mizzou going 3-and-out, fumble, three-and-out, four-and-out, fumble. When their sixth possession began, at the 8:53 mark of the second quarter, the undisputed No. 1 team in the country trailed 13-0 to a 2-2 team that lost by 28 points to Kansas State.

What's simultaneously true is that Georgia did not punt again for the rest of the night -- scoring on six straight possessions before successfully killing the last 3:39 of clock -- but the Bulldogs did not score a touchdown until the 9:39 mark of the fourth quarter and did not take the lead until 4:03 remained in the game.

After Georgia finally scored, Mizzou maintained its distance for most of the night, holding leads of 13-3, 16-6, 19-9 and 22-12, but the Bulldog defense shut the door thereafter. When Georgia pulled within 22-19, Mizzou's next opportunity ended five plays later, with a punt on 4th-and-21. When Georgia took the lead and a touchdown could have won the game for Mizzou, the Tigers did not gain a yard, firing three straight incompletions. They never got the ball back.

I'm a believer that there's no such thing as a bad win on the road in conference play, but a harsh public has now seen a blemish on the defending champs' previously flawless image.

Destiny extended her hand, and NC State did not reach back. In the final minute of the first half at Death Valley on Saturday night, Clemson's DJ Uiagaleilei hoisted a pass down the sideline for receiver Joseph Ngata. Ngata was well covered, and the pass was deflected into the hands of NC State safety, who could not corral it. The next play, Clemson running back Will Shipley rushed for 11 yards. The play after that, DJ U found Shipley for a 26-yard completion to the NC State 1-yard line. Uiagaleilei scored the play after that, at which point the game was pretty much over.

Now, there were 137 snaps from scrimmage in Saturday night's game. Is it unfair to blame No. 10 NC State's 30-20 loss to No. 5 Clemson on one moment within a single play? Of course it is.

But when you're NC State, playing on the road as an underdog with a roster far less experienced in big games, your margins are so paper thin they might as well be transparent. 

If you're the road dog taking a 10-6 lead to the locker room, knowing you're getting the ball to open the second half? You've got a chance to win that game. But the numbers tell us teams that lead at halftime win nearly 87 percent of the time. 

NC State went three-and-out to open the second half, and Clemson scored again to open their lead to 20-10. The lead ballooned to 30-13 before NC State added the final score. 

Now Oklahoma knows what it's like to be repeatedly attacked by a child of Mike and Marilyn Riley. What was more frustrating for Oklahoma to stop: Max Duggan's near perfect quarterback play, or a running game that couldn't stop popping off big gains?

Duggan put up a Mayfield-ian, Murray-ish stat line -- 23-of-33 for 302 yards with three touchdowns and no picks; five carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns -- which cleared space for Kendre Miller to rush for 136 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Or was it the other way around? When a Riley offense gets you in the spin cycle, it can be tough to tell up from down, left from right. 

The first of TCU's eight touchdown drives traveled just 46 yards thanks to an Oklahoma fumble, but the Frogs wouldn't need much help for the rest of the day. Seven Frog possessions moved 67 yards or more, and three went for at least 80. But even that doesn't tell the whole story, because TCU popped off four touchdown plays of at least 62 yards. 

When's the last time we saw a Brent Venables defense allow 55 points, 668 yards (529 in the first half!!!), and made it look this easy? (This isn't a rhetorical question. Far as I know, it's never happened.)

Oklahoma, which should not have been ranked last Sunday, will now be unranked as it heads to Dallas next week to face unranked Texas, looking to avoid the first 3-game losing streak of the Bob Stoops and Sons era, while TCU girds its loins for perhaps the game of the year in the Big 12. The Frogs play Kansas.

The result was a mirror of the play above.

Oklahoma State's 9-3 lead remained 9-3, which stretched to 16-3 by halftime and then 23-3 after Jaden Nixon took the second half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. Baylor later pulled within 23-17, but Oklahoma State scored (moving 99 yards on a 50-yard kickoff and a 49-yard completion on the ensuing snap) to push the lead to 30-17. The Bears then had the ball trailing 33-25, but Blake Shapen was intercepted and Oklahoma State turned it into a field goal to notch the winning 36-25 margin.

With the win, Oklahoma State is now 4-0 for the third straight season, 18-2 in its last 20 games, and 7-1 in its last eight against ranked teams. 

Alabama's backup quarterback shines, but for how long will they need him? We've all experienced the phenomenon of 80,000 or so hearts filling to capacity, then deflating in an instant.Arkansas felt that to the extreme early in the fourth quarter on Saturday. 

Trailing 28-0 at one point, the 20th-ranked Hogs had pulled within 28-23 and forced No. 2 Alabama into a 3rd-and-15 at its own 20. Arkansas' offense had scored on four of its last five possessions, and so a mere 14-yard gain would get the home team the ball back, where surely KJ Jefferson and company would make it 5-of-6 and Arkansas would complete a comeback for the ages.

And then Jalen Milore took off. 

The redshirt freshman from Houston raced for 77 yards, all the way to the Arkansas 3. Jase McClellan scored a play later, which was pretty much game. Alabama scored two more times for good measure, stretching the final score to 49-26 that didn't feel at all like a 49-26 game early in the fourth quarter.

With Bryce Young knocked out of the game early due to a sprained shoulder, Milroe completed 4-of-9 passes for 65 yards with a touchdown and no picks, popped off the 77-yard run and scored on another run, but Jahmyr Gibbs was the MVP with 206 yards and two scores on 18 carries. 

How long Alabama will have to lean on Gibbs and Milroe's legs remains to be seen.

FRIES

Seen and Heard

Seen

UTEP beat Charlotte 41-35, thanks to this play right here.

Not sure if you saw this above. 

Heard 

Brian Kelly with a great quote to summarize an eye-of-the-beholder win over Auburn.

Different game, same script for Texas A&M.

The Super 16. This week's NFF-FWAA Super 16 poll.

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Oklahoma State
7. USC
8. TCU
9. Tennessee
10. Penn State
11. Oregon
12. Ole Miss
13. Utah
14. Kansas
15. Wake Forest
16. NC State

Odds and Ends

a. On that LSU-Auburn game: Auburn led 17-0 at one point, allowed five second half passing yards, and lost. LSU is 4-1 with only that wacky loss to Florida State, while Auburn is 3-2 with Georgia upcoming.

b. Kansas's win over Duke is legitimately good, not ironically good -- at least in this point of the season. Mike Elko's Blue Devils are 4-1 after handling Virginia in their ACC opener, 38-17.

c. We saw Boise State and San Diego State move in opposite directions in the second half on Friday night. SDSU led 13-0 at the break, Boise won 35-13. 

San Diego State has since made a coordinator change.

d. Nebraska was embarrassed by what we now know is a thoroughly average Oklahoma team the week of Scott Frost's firing; Arizona State lost by three touchdowns to No. 13 Utah the week of firing Herm Edwards. Georgia Tech, though, played its best game of the season the week of firing Geoff Collins, defeating No. 24 Pitt, 26-21. I make no value judgment there, simply reporting the facts.

e. Speaking of Nebraska, the Huskers snapped their 9-game FBS losing streak with a 35-21 win over Indiana. 

f. Is this rock bottom for Wisconsin? Hosting Bret Bielema, the Badgers rushed for two yards in a 34-10 loss to no-longer-hapless Illinois, dropping to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play. The Badgers, 4-time champions of the Big Ten West, are now alone in last place.

g. No. 21 Minnesota laid an egg in a 20-10 loss to Purdue, while Iowa pulled an Iowa in a 27-14 loss to No. 4 Michigan.

h. Mike Leach took his second straight from Texas A&M, 42-24. Mississippi State is 4-1 with only a 6-point loss at LSU, while A&M is 3-2 with a trip to Tuscaloosa waiting next week and 4-9 against Leach all-time.

i. Kansas's white-hot offense (No. 3 in yards per play, No. 4 in scoring) finally cooled off against Iowa State, but its defense stepped up to carry the burden in a 14-11 win over Iowa State. (Three missed ISU field goals, including a 27-yarder with 27 seconds to play, also helped.) It's like I've always said: You can't deny the winning DNA of those Kansas Jayhawks. 

j. Kansas State ranks high on any defensive coordinator's list of nightmare offenses to defend. In the No. 25 Wildcats' 37-28 win over Texas Tech, Deuce Vaughn ran 23 times for 170 yards, while Adrian Martinez ran a dozen times for 171 and three scores, and also threw for 116 yards and a touchdown. 

k. Texas recovered from the loss at Texas Tech by scoring the first 28 points in a 38-20 win over West Virginia, completing a cycle that hadn't happened in more than 40 years.

l. Houston has to be on the shortlist of the biggest disappointments in college football. Preseason No. 25 in the AP poll, the Coogs dropped to 2-3 with a 34-27 home loss to Tulane.

m. Mel Tucker called himself a "horseshit football coach" after Michigan State's loss to Washington back on Sept. 17. Since then, the Spartans have lost 34-7 to Minnesota and, on Saturday, 27-13 to Maryland. 

n. Well done by Troy, a 34-27 winner at WKU.

o. Arizona 43, Colorado 20.

p. For the fifth straight game, you would not believe the amazing thing that happened in the App State game. This time, an offensive lineman threw a flea flick.... nevermind. The Mountaineers took a breather with a 49-0 win over The Citadel.

q. UCLA made a statement Friday night, knocking off No. 15 Washington with a 40-32 win. The Bruins scored 32 straight points at one point and led 40-16 entering the fourth.

r. The good: Northwestern turned No. 11 Northwestern over five times. The bad: Northwestern converted those five turnovers into zero (0) points. Penn State 17, Northwestern 7.

s. Ryan Day and Greg Schiano got into it after the No. 3 Buckeyes' 49-10 blowout of Rutgers. 

t. A week after USC barely escaped Corvallis alive, No. 12 Utah handled the Beavers with ease, 42-16.

u. James Madison might join the AP Top 25 today, five games into FBS membership. The Dukes are 5-0 after a 40-13 drubbing of Texas State.

v. Kent State came off the nation's toughest non-conference schedule and defeated Ohio, 31-24 in overtime. In another example of the team that takes the ball first in OT winning the game, Kent scored a TD, then forced an incompletion on 4th-and-the-game from the 5-yard line. Also, the Soul Collectors is a bad ass nickname for a secondary. How was it not already taken by a death metal band?

w. Louisiana's national-best 15-game winning streak had to end at some point, but the Cajuns have followed 15 straight wins with three straight losses. South Alabama 20, Louisiana 17.

v. Stanford was non-competitive in losing to No. 13 Oregon, its ninth straight Pac-12 loss, the longest streak since 1958-59.

w. Super impressive showing Friday night by UTSA going on the road to beat Middle Tennessee, 45-30. 

DESSERT

Hey, did you see this?