CFB Week 10 winners, losers: November opens with big showdowns

November began with a bang, as top 10 upsets and tight top 25 showdowns defined the day of college football action.

Here are Week 10’s winners and losers.

Winner: Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning

The 2023 five-star recruit silenced doubters — at least for one week — with his best game of the season in a 34-31 win over Associated Press No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-2, 3-2 in SEC). Manning was 25-of-33 for 328 yards and three touchdowns, doing most of his damage in the first two quarters as No. 20 Texas (7-2, 4-1 in SEC) built a 24-10 halftime lead.

Manning is averaging 337 passing yards per game over his past two games heading into a massive showdown with No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1 in SEC) in Week 12. After a disappointing start to the season, Manning has found a rhythm in time to revitalize Texas’s conference title and national championship hopes.

Saturday’s 26-20 overtime loss at SMU (6-3, 4-1 in ACC) was No. 10 Miami’s ninth in November under fourth-year head coach Mario Cristobal. It also dented the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff hopes, leaving their fate out of their control with four games left in the regular season. With Clemson and Florida State out of the conference title race, Miami (6-2, 2-2 in ACC) had an excellent opportunity this season to assert itself as the ACC’s best. Instead, it’s decidedly mediocre.

The Hoosiers juggernaut rolled on in Week 10 with a 55-10 road thumping of Maryland (4-4, 1-4 in Big Ten). The run game led the blowout effort, with Indiana gaining a season-high 367 yards on the ground. Senior running backs Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby and freshman Khobie Martin combined for 278 yards on 43 carries (6.5 yards per attempt) and had seven of the team’s nine big rush plays (gains of 10 yards or more).

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza has earned a lot of the attention for Indiana’s hot start, but the Hoosiers have ascended the college football ranks by being a complete team. With a deep, explosive rushing attack reminded once again why it’s among the country’s most formidable teams.

Cheer up, Razorbacks fans. Arkansas basketball returns on Monday. Because the 2025 football season can’t end soon enough. Arkansas blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in a battle of SEC programs seeking their first conference win, losing to Mississippi State, 38-35, after giving up the winning 18-yard touchdown on a 4th-and-4 conversion with 48 seconds remaining.

Mississippi State had to snap its SEC losing streak, which stood at 16 games entering Week 10, at some point, but hasn’t Arkansas suffered enough? The Razorbacks have lost five games by six points or less. Barring an upset in one of their last three games, Arkansas will go winless in conference play for the fourth time in 34 seasons as an SEC member, all since 2013. 

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin has become the betting favorite for the Heisman, although maybe his outstanding pair of wide receivers should split the award instead.