The penultimate week of the 2025 college football regular season is in the books. From Notre Dame’s statement win to Georgia Tech’s stunning collapse, here are Week 13’s winners and losers.
College Football Playoff No. 9 Notre Dame (9-2) scored three touchdowns before the offense even took the field Saturday. It was that kind of day for the Irish, who certainly look like one of the 10 best teams in the country with a 70-7 win over Syracuse (3-8 as they look to pass the eye test and stay ahead of No. 13 Miami Hurricanes (9-2, 5-2 in ACC) in the CFP standings
Notre Dame held the ball for just 18:10 but scored its most points since 1932 thanks to an outstanding game on the ground. The Irish rushed for 329 yards on 24 carries (13.7 yards per attempt). They had 10 gains of at least 10 yards, including five touchdowns of at least 25 yards.
Based on the totality of the season, Notre Dame has outperformed Miami, which won a Week 1 meeting between the two teams. The selection committee has said it only compares head-to-head results if teams are considered to be comparable, and with the emphatic beatdown of Syracuse, the gap between the two programs widened.
All No. 16 Georgia Tech (9-2, 6-2 in ACC) needed was to defeat Pittsburgh (8-3, 6-1 in ACC) at home to clinch a spot in the ACC title game. Instead, the Yellow Jackets added to a wild ACC season, trailing by as many as 28 points in a 42-28 loss. The unexpected result leaves the conference championship game unsettled entering the final week of the regular season. No. 19 Virginia (9-2, 6-1 in ACC) and SMU (8-3, 6-1 in ACC) control their destiny, but this year has shown that’s a dangerous spot to be. After all, no one is in control when chaos reigns.
Manning responded to last weekend’s 35-10 thumping at No. 4 Georgia (10-1, 7-1 in SEC) with his best game of the season in a 52-37 win over Arkansas (2-9, 0-7 in SEC). He threw for a career-high 389 yards on 18-of-30 passing while contributing six total touchdowns, including four passing, one rushing and one receiving, becoming the first SEC quarterback to accomplish the feat since Dak Prescott (2014).
For as much grief as Manning took early in the season, he’s weathered the criticism to put together a solid first year as a starting quarterback. With his added experience, perhaps next year Manning will deliver on the hype.
Bill Belichick’s first season as North Carolina head coach won’t include a bowl appearance. The Tar Heels fell to 4-7 with a 32-25 home loss to rival Duke (6-5, 5-2 in ACC), knocking them from postseason eligibility.
The result was particularly painful after North Carolina came back from a 24-10 second-half deficit with 15 consecutive points. But Duke regained the lead on a late touchdown after converting an excellent fake field goal as kicker Todd Pelino took a pitch 26 yards to set the Blue Devils up at the North Carolina 1-yard line.
