Week 7 Reactions and Takeaways | James Franklin Fired, Indiana's Statement, Texas Surprises OU
Plus, Bama and A&M take charge in the SEC, USC and Utah are underrated, Georgia-Auburn sets the sport back a decade, and USF claims the G5 crown—for now.
Usually, this spot would be reserved for the recap episode of Seth’s College Football Corner, but due to some external circumstances, it hasn’t been possible for me to record. That’s obviously unfortunate, though all is not lost because I still have the ability to pour all my thoughts onto a page for everybody to read. So, let’s get into it.
It was a loaded Week 7, and as such, the takeaways and reactions are plentiful. James Franklin lost his job, the football team for Indiana University can win a national title, Texas shocked Oklahoma in Dallas, Alabama took down Missouri, Texas A&M continued to announce itself as an SEC contender, USC and Utah “upset” ranked opponents at home, and Georgia and Auburn played the ugliest game to ever be put in front of human eyes. Needless to say, a lot happened.
We are halfway done with the regular season, which is insane. It’s flown by so fast. While that might be a bit sad, take heed of the fact that there are seven more weeks of college football, plus several more with bowl season and the College Football Playoff, to come.
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Firing James Franklin is Crazy
Three weeks ago, Penn State was up seven points on the Oregon Ducks in overtime. Three weeks later, Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin was fired.
There’s no doubt that Penn State’s quick fall from grace is the most shocking and world-altering moment of this college football season so far. The Nittany Lions entered the year No. 2 in the AP Poll and the D Poll and had national championship aspirations. Why wouldn’t they? They were just a couple plays away from making it to the title game in 2024 and returned much of that same roster. The quarterback was back, the star running back tandem was back, and the key defensive pieces were back. On the coaching front, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki returned, and fresh face Jim Knowles jumped ship from an Ohio State defense that had just won a national title to try and do the same thing at Penn State. All the ingredients were there, and yet the meal that came out of the oven was spoiled rotten.
Everything obviously came off the rails following the double-overtime loss to Oregon, as after that moment, Penn State fell as four-touchdown favorites against an abysmal UCLA squad with an interim head coach and interim offensive coordinator. The disaster then parlayed itself into yet another loss at the hands of another Big Ten bottom dweller in Northwestern this past Saturday. Once that occurred, Penn State’s season was over, and so was Franklin’s 11-year tenure as the head coach of the football program.
In a vacuum, firing Franklin for what had happened this season is not all that shocking. Of course, it’s a fireable offense to lose to two of the worst teams in the conference as the head coach of one of the premier institutions in the Big Ten. What’s confounding is that the university somehow figured out a way, seemingly within just several hours, to pony up $50 million to pay his buyout. It’s the second-largest buyout payment in the history of college football—Jimbo Fisher’s contract at Texas A&M was bought out for $77.5 million in 2023—and it marks the first time that Penn State will be seeking a new head coach since 2014, when Franklin was hired.
Firing James Franklin is crazy. Sure, he hadn’t led Penn State to the promised land and hadn’t even made the College Football Playoff until it expanded to 12 teams last season. But he’s still the man who brought the program into the modern age following the scandal-ridden years of the early 2010s. Over the past three seasons, Franklin was 34-8 with a Rose Bowl victory in 2022 and two victories in the CFP in 2024.
If you’re a Penn State fan, you’re probably screaming about his 4-21 record against top-10 teams, and while that’s certainly valid, how certain can you be that the next guy will do any better? How certain can you be that paying $50 million to get rid of this guy will ensure that somebody better will walk through that door in January? Obviously, it’s impossible to be completely certain about any of that, which makes this firing one of the more confusing in a long time. Sure, Penn State hadn’t won “the big one” with Franklin at the helm, but it was definitely winning enough. But that’s just me, an outsider who’s not a fan of the Nittany Lions and has no rooting interest in how this hiring process plays out.
Penn State hasn’t won a national title since 1986, and Franklin never did anything to change that. What he did do, though, was revitalize a program that was steering itself into irrelevance. I understand that Penn State fans are upset with the last three weeks of football, but I hope that they can all recognize just how pivotal Franklin was in driving this ship off the shore and back into the sea where it belonged. Because Penn State has more positive relevance now than ever, and that’s more than could be said when he took over 11 years ago.
Indiana Can Win a National Championship
The Hoosiers went into Eugene and straight up put Oregon in a locker in its 30-20 win. Indiana dominated the Ducks and proved to the college football world at large that it cannot only win a Big Ten title but also a national championship as well.
What?
That’s right. In the year of our Lord 2025, Indiana’s football team is on pace to be one of the best in the land. And it’s no fluke—it’s real.
Oregon came into Saturday riding a 23-game regular-season winning streak and an 18-game streak at Autzen Stadium. All of that came crashing down once the Ducks got a taste of what Fernando Mendoza, Elijah Surratt, and the rest of the fightin’ Curt Cignetti crew could do. Indiana dominated the stat sheet, winning the yardage battle 326-267, controlling the clock 33:10-26:50, and racking up 23 first downs to Oregon’s 14. Even so, the Hoosiers had to battle through adversity, a brutal Mendoza pick-six that tied the game at 20 early in the fourth quarter being chief among some of the troubles. But that didn’t matter, as the offense picked itself off the mat and scored the deciding score on its ensuing drive to take home the victory.
It’s obviously insane that Indiana was able to do this at all, given the program’s lack of historic prowess and success, but what’s even crazier was just how commanding the Hoosiers were on the lines of scrimmage compared to their opponent. Coming into the game, Oregon had allowed one sack of quarterback Dante Moore all season. When the dust settled on Saturday’s contest, Indiana had taken down Moore a whopping six times. As I said earlier, Indiana straight up put Oregon in a locker. That’s just the Cignetti way, though—no mercy.
In last week’s D Poll, I said that if Indiana beat Oregon, they’d earn the No. 1 spot in Week 8. I’m a man of my word, so when the sacred poll drops tomorrow afternoon, don’t be surprised to see a big “IU” with a shiny one right next to it.
Texas Wins Red River
Everybody’s question entering the Red River Shootout was whether Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, just 17 days removed from hand surgery, would play. The main consensus was that if he was able to go, then the Sooners should be able to roll over a Longhorns team that hadn’t shown any sort of life against quality competition all season.
Well, he did play, and it really didn’t matter. Texas’ defense stifled Oklahoma all afternoon, and Arch Manning and the offense did just enough to put some points on the scoreboard to take home the Golden Hat.
Let’s start with the Longhorns’ defense, which righted the ship after a shaky performance last week against Florida. Texas forced three turnovers, held Oklahoma to just 258 yards of total offense, limited the Sooners to a measly 8-for-19 on third and fourth down, and had five sacks and seven tackles for loss. Collin Simmons continued to make a name for himself as Texas’ top defender as he racked up 2.5 sacks of Mateer. Malik Muhammad was also great, snagging two interceptions. Overall, Texas showed that its defense is legit, and if the offense can give just a little bit of life, then this team can go far.
Speaking of the offense, it was definitely improved. Manning seemed much more comfortable in the pocket than he has in previous weeks, but he was still under major duress from a Sooners’ pass rush that was eager to wreak havoc. Luckily, not everything had to be put on Manning’s shoulders, as for the first time in what seems like forever, the running game actually had some legs, with Quintrevion Wisner rushing for 94 yards on 22 carries. The star running back averaging 4.3 yards per carry might not seem like much for most of the country, but for a Texas offense that’s been in desperate need of some consistency from the ground game, this was certainly a welcome sight.
While Manning still doesn’t have that zip on the ball that one would like to see from the preseason Heisman Trophy frontrunner, he made some throws on Saturday that impressed. And while his 166 yards and one touchdown on 21-of-27 passing might seem measly compared to preseason expectations, it’s probably the best game he’s played all year long. That has to count for something.
Overall, Texas showed it’s back in the SEC mix with this win. The road ahead is still long and tough, and given how this team has played all season, there’s little margin for error. Still, Texas fans can feel a bit more confident now—they’ve seen proof that this squad can make some noise against quality competition.
For the Sooners, the key will be making sure this loss doesn’t derail their season. One of the toughest stretches anyone could face lies ahead: a road trip to South Carolina this weekend, followed by matchups against No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 6 Alabama, No. 16 Missouri, and No. 10 LSU. There’s a chance Oklahoma navigates that gauntlet just fine, but there’s also a chance the bottom falls out, and that 5-0 start could quickly feel like a distant memory.
Rapid Fire Takeaways
Alabama beats Missouri at a construction site. Faurot Field’s north end zone is in the middle of a $250 million renovation, and it’s created a pretty ugly backdrop for Missouri home games. What wasn’t ugly, though, was Alabama’s dismantling of the Tigers on Saturday. The Tide did everything they needed to get the win: Ty Simpson hit some big-time throws, Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy was held to just 52 yards, and Bama dominated the time of possession by nearly 17 minutes. After seeing that performance, I’d say Alabama is the favorite to win the SEC.
Texas A&M sends Billy Napier and Florida to the danger zone. The Aggies might want a word on who’s the favorite to take the crown in the SEC, because with its win over the Gators, Texas A&M moved to 6-0 for the first time since 2016. It doesn’t seem to matter what style of game is in front of them; Mike Elko’s squad always figures out a way to come out on top. The contest started out as a shootout, but A&M quickly settled everything down and took control, limiting Florida to just three points after the first quarter. If there’s anything bad to take away from Texas A&M’s win on Saturday night, it’s that starting running back Le’Veon Moss is due to miss some time with an ankle injury.
USC and Utah “upset” ranked opponents at home. These two former Pac-12 schools had some scores to settle heading into this past weekend, and boy, oh boy, did they make some statements in the form of USC beating No. 15 Michigan and Utah taking down No. 21 Arizona State. While both the Trojans and Utes were unranked, it’s hard to categorize these as upsets given that it was clear as the games were being played that they were the far superior teams. As such, one can only ascertain that USC and Utah are for real, and that any narratives surrounding their demise were premature.
Nobody should ever have to watch that Georgia-Auburn game again. If you caught even a second of Georgia’s 20-10 win over the Tigers, you know it was an officiating nightmare from start to finish. There was the controversial call at the end of the first half, when Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold seemed to cross the goal line before fumbling, but the SEC replay center ruled otherwise. There was the moment Kirby Smart clearly signaled for a timeout, only to convince the refs he was “just clapping.” And there was the review that started to check whether a Georgia player caught the ball, only for the officials to return three minutes later and announce an Auburn player had instead been ejected for targeting. Egregious. Terrible. Awful. Here’s the stat that shows just how chaotic it was: it took 36 minutes of real time to play the final two minutes of the first half.
Bill Connelly always ends his weekly recap column with some of his favorite games of the week. The following, while similar, is not that. It’s instead a compilation of all the games that I believe had the biggest implications on the meta-narrative of the 2025 college football season.
South Florida 63, North Texas 36. By completely dismantling the Mean Green, South Florida, at least in my eyes, has asserted itself as the favorite to make the CFP out of the Group of 5. No other team at that level of the sport has the same quality of athlete that South Florida has, and watching them completely run up and down the field on an overmatched and overwhelmed North Texas team was certainly a sight to behold.
Texas Tech 42, Kansas 17. The Jayhawks made this semi-close at one point, but in the end, it was unsurprisingly all Texas Tech. Just go ahead and award the Red Raiders with the Big 12 title right now—there’s nobody else in that league that’s coming close to them at the moment. Their way is the new model: if you want to compete at a high level, go out and spend like it.
BYU 33, Arizona 27. BYU is the exact same team that it was last season. The Cougars play super close games against “inferior” competition, yet still always find ways to come out of it with more points than their opponent. They’ll obviously fall at some point down the line—they can’t play with their food like this every single week—but for the time being, it’s all going well in Provo.
Pitt 34, Florida State 31. If it weren’t for an absolutely insane buyout, Florida State head coach Mike Norvell would almost certainly be out the door. But the university would owe him roughly $60 million if it decided to cut ties now, and that’s probably too big of a pill to swallow, even for an institution like Florida State. Still, it might need to happen, as the Seminoles have lost eight consecutive ACC games and could be on the hook for more as the season goes on. It appears that beating Alabama was a flash in the pan, and that result only gets more confusing as the weeks roll by.
Wake Forest 39, Oregon State 14. The Pac-12’s implosion had a lot of casualties, and Oregon State’s football program might be chief among them. The Beavers fell to 0-7 following their defeat to Wake Forest and fired head coach Trent Bray on Sunday. Over the past two seasons, Oregon State is 5-14. Luckily, the new Pac-12 will be starting next year, but for now, things are not great in Corvallis and it makes me really sad.
Iowa 37, Wisconsin 0. Speaking of fired head coaches, Wisconsin could very well be moving on from Luke Fickell in the near future. I’m often confused about the goings-on in college football, but the results of Fickell’s tenure in Madison will never fail to amaze me. The hiring process was sound: Fickell was the first head coach to lead a Group of 5 team to the CFP, and it was logical to believe he could do the same at Wisconsin. Nope. The Badgers are 15-17 overall and 8-13 in the Big Ten in the three-plus seasons Fickell’s been there, and this past weekend’s embarrassment to Iowa was just the icing on the cake.