General Booty, reporting for duty

The GIST: Week 4 had its fair share of blowouts, but heart-stopping game-savers and narrow wins were the name of the game as the rubber hit the road in conference play this weekend.

Conference debuts bring mixed results for ranked squads: One of Saturday’s most exciting games went down at the Big House, where then–No. 18 Michigan spoiled then–No. 11 USC’s Big Ten opener with a 27–24 nail-biter. With the win, the Wolverines surged to No. 12 in yesterday’s poll — one spot above now–No. 13 USC. Drama.

• Then, No. 21 Oklahoma’s coming-out party was ruined by No. 5 Tennessee, who welcomed the Sooners to the SEC with a 25–15 smackdown. The Vols continue to prove they’re the nation’s hottest team, led by quarterback (QB) Nico Iamaleava and an indomitable defense.

• On the other hand, No. 10 Utah burst onto the Big 12 scene with a 22–19 road win over No. 20 Oklahoma State. No Cam Rising? No problem: The Utes’ defense stepped up, holding star OSU running back Ollie Gordon II to just 42 rushing yards and forcing two interceptions.

No. 11 Missouri survives Vanderbilt 30–27 in double-overtime (OT): The Tigers came out on top of their second straight close call, this time by the skin of their teeth: Vandy’s kicker came this close to forcing triple-OT on a last-second field goal. Whew.

Checking in on Arch Manning: All eyes were on the game’s most famous second-string QB for his first career start, and despite tossing two interceptions, the redshirt freshman gave fans plenty to be excited about, leading No. 1 Texas to a 51–3 shellacking of Louisiana-Monroe. Manning outdueled UL-M QB General Booty (yes, really) with a respectable 258 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Welcome, BYU and Boise State: BYU joined the Top 25 at No. 22 thanks to a massive 38–9 upset over then–No. 13 Kansas State, who plummeted to No. 23.

• And claiming a spot in the rankings for the first time since 2020, No. 25 Boise State replaced Northern Illinois as the poll’s only Group of Five team after a 56–14 win over Portland State.

The GIST: Women’s volleyball is known for packing pre-conference schedules with elite matchups, and as teams turn toward conference play later this week, one squad has racked up more impressive wins than any other: the No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

• The volleyball blue-blood has one blemish on their record — a shocking 3-0 loss to then-unranked SMU on September 3rd — but they’ve only dropped two sets in their seven matches since. And after two massive dubs this week, Nebraska is looking damn near unstoppable.

The latest: The Huskers followed Wednesday’s home sweep of No. 2 Stanford with a road sweep of No. 4 Louisville yesterday, easily crushing the Cardinals on their home court. Nebraska controlled the match from start to finish, blocking their way to another bold dub.

• Big Red has now racked up five ranked wins — four of ’em over Top-10 teams — building what is arguably the most impressive resume in the country.

The stars: The Cornhuskers’ roster is stacked, featuring four names on the Player of the Year watchlist, more than any other team. Outside hitters Harper Murray and Merritt Beason, setter Bergen Reilly, and libero Lexi Rodriguez are all among the nation’s best in their respective positions — and they boast a deep, talented bench.

The competition: There’s just one thing standing between Nebraska and the top spot in today’s poll: current No. 1 Pitt, who captured their ninth straight sweep (!!!) over a tough Marquette squad yesterday. The Panthers haven’t dropped a single set all season and are the only team that can out-rank the Huskers…for now.