Oregon hands Colorado its first loss of the season

The GIST: Saturday was one of the most exciting days of football in recent memory: It showcased three Heisman-hopeful quarterbacks (QBs) on the sport’s biggest stage, featuring a major upset and a last-minute thriller.

Oregon humbles Colorado: As mentioned, Oregon, led by QB Bo Nix’s 276 yards and three touchdowns (TDs), silenced Colorado’s hype with a brutal beatdown of HC Deion “Prime” Sanders’ Buffaloes. The “butt-kicking” was Nix’s answer to the media comparing him to Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders (Deion’s son), who struggled against Oregon’s D.

• Sanders has been one of the season’s most talked-about players (for on-field and off-field activities). But, in just one day, his hopes of winning college football’s MVP award have likely vanished. Turns out the L stands for “loss.”

• What does this mean for the Coach Prime experiment? Although few expected the Buffs to top Oregon, the severity of the L was shocking. Our take? Colorado is a work in progress, with the potential to reach the sport’s upper echelons…just not yet.

Ohio State’s comeback: The weekend’s most hotly-anticipated matchup certainly delivered: No. 4 Ohio State’s 17–14 win over home team No. 11 Notre Dame (ND) was a thrilling slugfest that literally came down to the last second, an instant classic that could ultimately be the game of the year. Palms: still sweating.

• The roller-coaster of a game put ND’s superstar QB, Sam Hartman, to the test — and his failure to push the Irish over the finish line may have hurt his standing as one of the best signal-callers in the game. Hey, at least he still has great hair.

• And though Ohio State HC Ryan Day started some bizarre drama with 86-year-old former ND HC Lou Holtz, the sideline drama paled in comparison to the on-field fireworks. If Notre Dame runs the table, we could have a fascinating postseason rematch on our hands.