Few sports can deliver upsets the way college football can.
The No. 6 BYU Cougars had been playing with fire for weeks now, with four of their nine wins in 2024 coming by one-score margins. On Saturday, one week after escaping a rivalry trap game against Utah Utes via a walk-off field goal, they got burned.
The Kansas Jayhawks entered Provo, Utah, with an unassuming 3-6 record, but their own record in one score games (five losses came by margins of six points or fewer) indicated they'd offer a tougher test than most. And a tougher test they were, as the Jayhawks capitalized on a muffed pooch punt in the fourth quarter to eek out a 17-13 victory on the road.
Kansas' triumph wasn't the biggest upset of the season. But it took place during the final month, which often has a heightened propensity for chaos. We're tracking all of the major upsets of the 2024 college football season throughout the fall.
Nov. 9: Georgia Tech 28, Miami 23
The No. 4 Miami Hurricanes had dominated throughout the season, earning a top-four seed in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. However, they were still weeks away from the postseason and a matchup against the unranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets awaited. On Saturday, the Hurricanes were stung.
Georgia Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. The Yellow Jackets trailed only once -- 10-7 with 7:47 remaining in the first quarter. But they bounced back in the next quarter to regain the lead for good.
Down 28-23 with 1:52 left, Miami had a final chance to win, but Cam Ward was strip-sacked on the second play of the drive. Georgia Tech jumped on the ball to clinch its second win over a team 9-0 or better in the AP poll era (since 1936), according to ESPN Research.
Nov. 2: Iowa State 23, Texas Tech 22
Iowa State entered the matchup on the brink of the program's first 8-0 start to a season. With the first College Football Playoff rankings in the 12-team era to be revealed Tuesday, the Cyclones seemed to be in position to boast a top-12 ranking heading down the stretch of the season. All they had to do was handle business at home against Texas Tech.
Unfortunately, things are rarely as easy as they seem in college football.
The Red Raiders led for most of the fourth quarter, but a 44-yard touchdown pass from Rocco Becht to Carson Brown with just over two minutes left inched Iowa State back ahead. But Texas Tech wasn't done. A 12-play, 71-yard winning drive ended with Tahj Brooks finding the end zone for the Red Raiders with 20 seconds left to clinch a 23-22 upset for the visitors.
Nov. 2: South Carolina 44, Texas A&M 20
No. 10 Texas A&M was tied with 4-3 South Carolina at halftime, and it looked as if this would just be one of those games where the better team, after letting the lesser one hang around for a bit, would find a second gear in the third quarter and return to form.
The reverse happened in this game. South Carolina roared out of the gate after the break, with Raheim Sanders storming down the field for a 52-yard touchdown with 9:19 left in the third. LaNorris Sellers hit Joshua Simon for a 57-yard pass TD late in the fourth, and the Gamecocks turned their upset into a rout.
Oct. 5: Vanderbilt 40, Alabama 35
Alabama was riding high after an incredible Week 4 victory over Georgia -- a victory that propelled them into the No. 1 ranking in the nation.
But then came 2-2 Vanderbilt.
The Commodores roared to a 23-14 lead at halftime and never let up, answering the Crimson Tide with a score every time Alabama came close. Diego Pavia threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns as the Commodores pulled off the biggest upset of the season to date.
Oct. 5: Arkansas 19, Tennessee 14
The second upset of a top-five team on Oct. 5, the game between Arkansas and Tennessee, was a lower-scoring affair than the Alabama-Vanderbilt barnburner -- but no less exciting.
The score was only 3-0 at halftime, but No. 4 Tennessee went ahead after two touchdowns in the third quarter by running back Dylan Sampson. But Arkansas kept pace and went ahead for good on a Malachi Singleton rushing touchdown with 1:17 remaining. Tennessee knocked on the door in the final seconds but was unable to score as Arkansas pulled off the upset.
Sept. 28: Kentucky 20, Ole Miss 17
Two weeks after Kentucky saw its upset bid against top-ranked Georgia fall heartbreakingly short, they got a second chance at a statement win ... and took it.
Facing off against No. 6 Ole Miss on the road in Oxford, the Wildcats went up 20-17 with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter thanks to a touchdown run by Josh Kattus. The Wildcats' defense would bend -- allowing the Rebels into field goal range with a chance to send the game to overtime -- but didn't break. Caden Davis' 48-yard attempt at an equalizing field goal drifted wide as time expired.
Sept. 7: Northern Illinois 16, Notre Dame 14
The Huskies' defense won the day at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame was held to just 286 yards of total offense as Northern Illinois eventually put through the decisive field goal late in the fourth quarter.
The win was the Huskies' first in program history against a top-10 opponent. NIU had been 0-14 in previous attempts, according to ESPN Research.
Aug. 24: George Tech 24, Florida State 21
College football returned with a bang, as Georgia Tech pulled off an immediate stunner in Ireland. Florida State entered the 2024 season ranked No. 10 in the AP poll but couldn't find traction after an unbeaten regular season in 2023.
The game in Dublin came down to the leg of Georgia Tech kicker Aidan Birr. The redshirt sophomore kept his cool, driving a winning field goal through the uprights as the clock struck zero.
Ice in his veins 🧊#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/ppAs6EWbjq
— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) August 24, 2024