College football Week 7 overreactions: Big changes needed at Texas, Ohio State can survive Sayin injury

Changes are needed in Austin.

Short-term and long-term. Some could be temporary and others permanent.

But after a second consecutive embarrassing loss for Steve Sarkisian and his Texas Longhorns program -- this one a 27-24 loss to unranked Florida -- it's time to look in the mirror and realize the current operation isn't working.

The play-calling isn't good enough. The quarterback play isn't good enough. The much-ballyhooed roster construction isn't good enough.

For one of the most expensive rosters in the sport led by one of the highest-paid coaches, that is completely unacceptable. Sarkisian was given the keys to a Lamborghini this season, and he drove it into a ditch. On Saturday, No. 7 Texas became the first top-10 team since 2003 to blow a double-digit lead in consecutive weeks to an unranked opponent. The Longhorns looked in command with a 17-3 first-half lead only to let Florida slowly come back and capitalize on Texas' anemic offense.

Texas is now 4-2 with remaining games against No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 16 Mississippi State, at No. 13 Missouri and at No. 22 LSU. Its playoff odds dropped to 43%, according to CBS Sports' projections, following the loss to an unranked and reeling Florida team that had lost its last two games by more than 20 points and was playing its backup quarterback. Missing the 12-team playoff for the second consecutive season, given all the investment in this program, would be egregious for Sarkisian.

In the short term, Sarkisian has to take a real look at his offense's deficiencies. Arch Manning looks closer to being benched than a No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick the way some predicted before the season started. He's still capable of a 'wow' play here and there, usually when the odds are the most stacked against him, but his confidence looks shaken, and his play is holding back an offense that should be considerably more explosive with players like Ryan Wingo, Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers. Manning does not look capable of guiding Texas to its preseason goal of a national championship.

"Arch, you don't know what you're going to get," an SEC head coach told CBS Sports. "Whether it's good Arch or Dazed and Confused Arch."

A salty Sarkisian said after the game everything would be evaluated, including even the quarterback position.

"We're going to evaluate everything," Sarkisian said. "I don't know how many times I need to say it. We're going to evaluate everything from an offensive perspective. Part of that is play-calling."

Will Sarkisian give up the offensive play-calling? He should, given the results. Entering Saturday's loss to Florida, Texas managed just 3.66 yards per carry (117th best in the country) and had the worst three-and-out offensive series rate in the SEC at nearly 29%. Sarkisian has a reputation as one of the nation's elite offensive minds, but this year's lackluster on-field results don't match the hype.

But the bigger question, particularly for this season, is who do you really trust on the coaching staff to do better? Quarterbacks coach A.J. Milwee? Offensive line coach/offensive-coordinator-in-name-only Kyle Flood? Those guys feel like a big part of the problem and not any potential solution. As I wrote earlier in the week, Sark's loyalty to long-tenured assistants like Milwee, Flood and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks has been an impediment. All of their respective units have been concerns, and it is staggering that Texas cannot better develop former five-star QB recruits such as Manning and Quinn Ewers.

Frankly, Texas needs to clean out its offensive coaching staff and bring in some new ideas and energy to help the offense evolve. That's an offseason change, however, and should be a demand Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte makes if Sarkisian wants to remain the Longhorns' head coach (Sarkisian's buyout of $50 million is doable enough, especially at a school like Texas, that Del Conte has the leverage to make such an ultimatum). There need to be material changes in how the roster is put together, developed and coached. There need to be changes in how Sark holds himself and his team accountable, too. It was clear from Del Conte's strongly worded statement earlier this season that it's already an area he is keeping a close eye on.

If Sarkisian is willing to actually change his ways and bring in a real offensive coordinator he empowers to be successful, there's a path to success in 2027. If the stubborn coach instead doubles down and doesn't want to fire his friends, Del Conte needs to think long and hard about whether Sark's the right man to finally carry this program over the mountaintop.

The 2024 season was a disappointment.

The 2025 season was even worse.

And now it is trending into a more precarious direction.

Can Sark stop the bleeding and get Texas back on track?

He'll need to change to do so.

Wildest day in CFB history

It feels like 2007 all over again.

In what has already been a wild season, Saturday sent it into another dimension.

For the first time in Associated Press poll history, five of the top seven ranked teams in the country all lost on the same day.

No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas all lost. No. 3 Miami was awfully close to joining that unfortunate club, too, needing double overtime to knock off Florida State 43-35.

Saturday solidified that no team is safe on any given Saturday. A week ago, Georgia looked like the best team in the country. And then the No. 1 Bulldogs turned around and lost 27-24 to a sputtering Auburn team still finding its way under first-year coach Alex Golesh.

Are there any elite teams this season? It sure doesn't feel that way. Out of the power conference teams, only Miami, BYU, UCLA and Utah are still undefeated. BYU and Utah must play each other later in the season which will eliminate one of them from the unbeaten ranks. Miami had its hands full against a mediocre FSU team while UCLA is likely without starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava for the remainder of the season.

Sometimes you just need to embrace the crazy. There may not be a dominant team that will be remembered forever the way 2019 LSU or even 2025 Indiana will be. But this season is shaping to be plenty memorable full of upsets and unpredictability. The pool of teams capable of making the playoff and possibly winning a national championship has never felt larger.

The parity era of college football has never felt more apparent than Saturday. That may not feel great for fans of blue blood programs but it was an awfully entertaining day for everyone else. Days like Saturday are why even when the people controlling the sport seem to badly misunderstand what fans actually want, we can't stop watching.

Ohio State can survive the Sayin injury

The Buckeyes suffered a significant injury when Julian Sayin went down with an arm injury in the fourth quarter of a 19-14 win over No. 5 Indiana. Ohio State coach Ryan Day said afterward that Sayin will be out "several weeks" but didn't provide any specifics.

Let's start here: Losing your starting quarterback is never a good thing.

But Ohio State finding a way to hold off the Hoosiers on Saturday gives it enough of a buffer that it should be able to survive the coming weeks and still be in the projected playoff field. The Buckeyes' playoff odds improved to 89.4 percent, according to CBS Sports' projections.

If Sayin is out for the next month, for argument's sake, that would include next week's bye week, a road trip to USC and home games against Oregon and Northwestern. If Ohio State can go 2-1 in that stretch, it'll be sitting pretty as it heads into the final stretch of the season.

Can Ohio State go 2-1? Absolutely. Even without Sayin, the Buckeyes are still one of the most talented teams in the country. It starts with star receiver Jeremiah Smith, who could become the first receiver-only player to win the Heisman Trophy since Alabama's DeVonta Smith in 2020 (Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter also won in 2024). The defense looks elite under defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, holding opponents to an average of 13.4 points per game.

True freshman Luke Fahey understandably looked overwhelmed when he came in relief of Sayin. He went 0 for 2 in his limited action against the Hoosiers. If Day opts to stick with Fahey, it will be about limiting how much he has to do himself. With the defense playing as well as it has, you don't have to put up 40 points every game. Let Fahey be a game manager who prioritizes not making the big mistake, schemes up plays to get Smith open and rely on your run game.

It might not look pretty, but there is enough surrounding talent around Fahey that the Buckeyes should still very much be in the playoff hunt next month.

The SEC is a demolition derby

The last remaining undefeated team, No. 1 Georgia, lost at home to Auburn.

For the third consecutive time, No. 14 Tennessee beat No. 6 Alabama at home and its fans rushed the field after the Volunteers' 26-10 victory.

No. 9 Ole Miss blasted a hot No. 13 Missouri team 31-3.

No. 22 LSU blanked a No. 15 Mississippi State team playing without star quarterback Kamario Taylor and running back Fluff Bothwell 31-0.

No. 15 Kentucky kept itself in the playoff picture with a 21-13 road win over Oklahoma.

And Arkansas, mercifully, won an SEC game, defeating Vanderbilt 31-21.

It was a wild chaotic day in the SEC. And there is much more of that to come in what has already turned into a demolition derby of a conference that is full of talented teams and playing nine games against each other for the first time this season.

Fans of outside conferences hate this argument but it's true: From top to bottom, there is no better conference than the SEC. It's evident week in and week out as the teams beat each other up. It's also evident in the money invested in the programs. As my colleague Chris Hummer and I reported before the season started, the SEC is the only power conference in which every single team has invested at least $20 million on this year's football roster. Many are actually at $30 million or more, too.

There may not be a truly elite team in the SEC but outside of Arkansas and Vanderbilt, there aren't many bad teams, either. Before the season started Kentucky and first-year head coach Will Stein felt like an afterthought that would finish in the SEC cellar. Instead, the Wildcats have a legitimate path to the CFP this season. Kentucky is already 6-1 and has a remaining schedule of Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri and Louisville. Already with playoff odds of nearly 19%, if UK can finish 10-2 it will have a very good chance of making the field.

Trying to decipher what SEC teams are most deserving of the playoff will be borderline impossible for the playoff committee.

Consider the following group that is all very much still in the hunt:

Georgia: 6-1 with a win over Alabama (99.3% odds)

Ole Miss: 5-1 with wins over LSU, Missouri (25.7%)

Tennessee: 6-1 with a win over Alabama (51.2%)

Alabama: 5-2 with wins over Kentucky, Mississippi State (53.4%)

Kentucky: 6-1 with wins over Oklahoma, LSU (18.7%)

Texas: 4-2 with wins over Ohio State, Mississippi State (43%)

LSU: 5-2 with wins over Mississippi State, Texas A&M (30.9%)

Florida: 5-2 with wins over Texas, Ole Miss (6.4%)

Missouri: 5-2 with win over Florida (6.8%)

Auburn: 4-2 with win over Georgia (4.7%)

Headed into the week, CBS Sports projected five SEC teams to make the field. That still feels like the number although Tennessee must be included in next week's projection while Texas is falling all the way out after being the projected No. 1 seed just two weeks ago.

Matt Campbell has no excuse

Bob Chensey has UCLA 6-0 and beating good teams with a backup quarterback.

Will Stein has already bested Kentucky's win total last season just seven games into the year.

Alex Golesh has a win on the road over the No. 1 team in the country.

Pete Golding has three wins over top 25 opponents this season.

Jon Sumrall has a road win over Texas.

Eric Morris has a top 10 win over Oregon.

All are first-year coaches at new programs. Stein and Golding are even first-time head coaches, period. It's a credit to their coaching brilliance, and a warning to other coaches elsewhere that there's no such thing as a long runway anymore. If Stein can do it at a place like Kentucky, there's no excuse for the pitiful season Penn State is having in Year 1 of the Matt Campbell era. Penn State lost again Saturday -- to backup Michigan quarterback Tommy Carr in a 21-18 loss to the Wolverines -- to drop the Nittany Lions to 3-4 on the season. Penn State didn't fire James Franklin months removed from a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance to hire another guy who would start 0-4 in Big Ten conference play.

This isn't advocating for a rush to judgement on Campbell or any other coach struggling in his first year.

But it is a highlight that some guys can figure it out early and that puts additional pressure on those who cannot. If Golesh can walk into Athens, Georgia and beat a talented No. 1 Bulldogs team, what excuse do coaches on their second, third and fourth seasons have for the lack of a marquee victory?

It's not exactly a new development that coaches don't have as much time as they used to rebuild a program. The NIL + revenue share + transfer portal combo has made it easier than ever to transform a roster and be competitive immediately. Curt Cignetti proved that in his first season at Indiana in 2024. It seems to be accelerating, however, this season with talented coaches who are already making an outsized impact at their new schools. Stein somehow guiding Kentucky or Chesney taking UCLA to the playoff would be remarkable accomplishments.

And it'd be further ammunition for the critics of the slow start Campbell has had in Happy Valley.

What Schiano's win in clash of embattled Big Ten coaches means

The two Big Ten coaches on the hottest seats met Saturday in College Park, Maryland. In a game both coaches desperately needed to win, Greg Schiano's Rutgers program bested Mike Locksley's Maryland team, 37-30.

It wasn't a pretty game, to put it mildly, between the two Big Ten bottom dwellers, but Schiano notched a key victory as he fights to keep his job. A win over Maryland doesn't guarantee he'll survive, nor would a loss have ensured a firing given Rutgers' significant financial woes, but it at least keeps him on the path to a potential return in 2027.

Meanwhile, Locksley dropped to 2-20 in Big Ten games since 2024. After posting back-to-back 4-8 seasons in 2024 and 2025, Locksley needed to at least get to the seven-win mark in 2026 if he was going to remain the Terrapins' head coach. While that is technically still possible, everyone around the program knows it isn't happening with the way the team is playing under Locks