College Football Week 9 Recap 2026: USC Stuns Ohio State, Upsets and Key Injuries
USC beat No. 2 Ohio State 30-18 on Halloween night as a 6.5-point underdog, and it was not the only favorite to go down in college football Week 9. Troy won at James Madison as a 17.5-point dog, Syracuse beat No. 19 SMU in the final seconds and Iowa State walked off No. 24 Oklahoma State 51-49. Across the 56 games with closing lines on SportsbookReview, favorites went 34-22 against the spread, 11 underdogs won outright and the Under went 34-22.
College football Week 9 scores against the spread
| Final | Closing spread | ATS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| USC 30, No. 2 Ohio State 18 | Ohio State -6.5 | USC covers | Under 50.5 (48) |
| Troy 24, James Madison 21 (OT, Thu) | James Madison -17.5 | Troy covers | Under 52.5 (45) |
| Syracuse 30, No. 19 SMU 27 | SMU -8.5 | Syracuse covers | Under 58.5 (57) |
| Iowa State 51, No. 24 Oklahoma State 49 | Oklahoma State -9.5 | Iowa State covers | Over 58.5 (100) |
| Washington 17, Nebraska 10 | Nebraska -7.5 | Washington covers | Under 49.5 (27) |
| Clemson 36, Florida State 24 | Florida State -5.5 | Clemson covers | Over 50.5 (60) |
| South Carolina 42, Oklahoma 25 | Oklahoma -3.5 | South Carolina covers | Over 44.5 (67) |
| No. 1 Miami 38, North Carolina 35 | Miami -13.5 | North Carolina covers | Over 52.5 (73) |
| No. 4 Indiana 23, Minnesota 16 (OT) | Indiana -20.5 | Minnesota covers | Under 40.5 (39) |
| No. 3 Georgia 27, No. 17 Florida 8 | Georgia -11.5 | Georgia covers | Under 56.5 (35) |
| No. 14 Wake Forest 51, Virginia 7 | Wake Forest -13.5 | Wake Forest covers | Over 48.5 (58) |
| Iowa 30, No. 25 Wisconsin 0 | Iowa -2.5 | Iowa covers | Under 36.5 (30) |
| Oregon 34, No. 20 Northwestern 26 | Oregon -3.5 | Oregon covers | Over 47.5 (60) |
Closing spreads and totals are the consensus number at kickoff on SportsbookReview's odds board, the line most books showed. Final scores were checked against two sources per game: the schools' athletic sites, ESPN, CBS Sports and Associated Press game stories. Ohio State closed -6.5 after opening -7. Our free plays for the coming slate are on the free picks page.
The college football Week 9 upsets
USC 30, No. 2 Ohio State 18
Freshman receiver Trent Mosley took a short pass 69 yards for a touchdown 39 seconds into the game, and USC never trailed. Jayden Maiava threw for 222 yards and a touchdown, freshman tight end Mark Bowman set up a score with a 70-yard catch-and-run that made it 27-9, and the Ohio State offense settled for three field goals on its first five drives, including one after reaching the USC 1 before halftime. True freshman Luke Fahey made his first start in place of the injured Julian Sayin, and the Buckeyes did not score a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter. USC is 7-2 and Ohio State 6-2.
Troy 24, James Madison 21 (OT)
The biggest spread upset of the week came on Thursday night in Harrisonburg. James Madison led 14-0 after two possessions and then managed four three-and-outs and five turnovers on its next nine drives. Justin Powe's 37-yard pick-six cut it to 21-14, Jaheim Merriweather tied it with a 28-yard run after another turnover, and Hayden Wolfe won it with a 27-yard field goal in overtime. Troy ended a James Madison home winning streak of more than 10 games as a 17.5-point underdog.
Syracuse 30, No. 19 SMU 27
Steve Angeli hit tight end Noah Meyers for a 2-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left, finishing an 11-play drive that started with Syracuse down 27-23 and 3:36 to play. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings threw for 351 yards, but Syracuse sacked him four times for 52 yards of losses. It was Syracuse's first win over a ranked team since November 2024, and the Orange covered as an 8.5-point underdog.
Iowa State 51, No. 24 Oklahoma State 49
Kyle Konrardy made a 34-yard field goal as time expired after Oklahoma State had taken a 49-48 lead with 53 seconds left. Iowa State went 47 yards in five plays, starting with a 33-yard pass from Jaylen Raynor to Jamal Polite. The teams combined for 1,114 yards, and the 100 points cleared the closing total of 58.5 by 41.5, the biggest total miss among the featured games.
Washington 17, Nebraska 10
Nebraska led 7-3 with under two minutes left. Demond Williams Jr. came off the bench in the fourth quarter, hit Chris Lawson for a 25-yard touchdown with 1:30 to go, and Alex McLaughlin returned Anthony Colandrea's third interception 48 yards for a score 15 seconds later. Nebraska has now lost three straight, each time giving up a fourth-quarter lead.
Clemson 36, Florida State 24 and South Carolina 42, Oklahoma 25
Two road underdogs won going away. Clemson, +5.5 at Florida State, scored on 8 of 13 drives, got five field goals from Nolan Hauser and sealed it on Tait Reynolds' 79-yard touchdown run with 3:17 left. South Carolina, +3.5 at Oklahoma, got 301 passing yards and three touchdowns from LaNorris Sellers and outgained the Sooners 521-359 in Norman.
Favorites that won but did not cover
No. 1 Miami closed -13.5 at North Carolina and won 38-35, needing a strip-sack of Billy Edwards Jr. late in the fourth quarter. No. 4 Indiana closed -20.5 against Minnesota and won 23-16 in overtime. BYU (-17.5) beat Arizona State 27-20 and Michigan (-16.5) won 28-21 at Rutgers, so four double-digit favorites all failed to cover by a touchdown or more.
Key injuries from college football Week 9
| Player | Team | Pos | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julian Sayin | Ohio State | QB | Out indefinitely (throwing arm) | Missed USC game; coach Ryan Day said he is out indefinitely |
| Josh Hoover | Indiana | QB | Pulled at halftime vs Minnesota | Hurt his right shoulder vs Ohio State Oct. 17; status not announced, Indiana has a bye |
| R.J. Mosley | Arizona | WR | Carted off (left knee) | Taken to a hospital after a third-quarter hit at Texas Tech |
| Nico Iamaleava | UCLA | QB | Out for season (knee) | Hurt Oct. 10 at Oregon; Ty Dieffenbach starting |
| Kamario Taylor | Mississippi State | QB | Out for season (toe) | Missed the 31-3 loss at Texas |
| Dante Moore | Oregon | QB | Out for season (concussion) | Hurt Sept. 26 vs USC |
The two quarterback situations that matter most for next week's board are Ohio State and Indiana. Ohio State goes forward with Fahey while Sayin is out indefinitely, and Indiana has a bye week before it says anything about Hoover, who was replaced by seventh-year quarterback Grant Wilson after taking a hit on an interception before halftime. Arizona's R.J. Mosley was placed in a cast and taken to a hospital after his injury at Texas Tech; no diagnosis had been announced as of Sunday morning. We will update statuses as teams release their availability reports. The Week 10 lines, including Miami at Notre Dame and Oregon at Ohio State, are in our college football Week 10 preview.
How Guaranteed Sport Picks did in college football Week 9
Our college football premium picks went 3-2 in Week 9, led by our first 4-star play of the season, Wake Forest -12.5, which won 51-7. That puts our October college football premium record at 20-8.
| Premium pick | Game | Final | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest -12.5 (-108), 4-star | Virginia @ Wake Forest | 51-7 | Win |
| Over 53 (-110) | Miami @ North Carolina | 38-35 | Win |
| Air Force +1 (-113) | UConn @ Air Force | 35-26 | Win |
| Old Dominion +2.5 (+105) | Marshall @ Old Dominion | 36-23 | Loss |
| Rutgers team total Under 14.5 (-110) | Michigan @ Rutgers | 28-21 | Loss |
The full Saturday card, including the NBA and NHL plays, is in our premium results for October 31.