Oh, so close. It was oh so close to becoming one of the craziest weekends of the 2022 college football season.

Several top teams lost or came extraordinarily close to losing in their matchups. Tragically, one of the biggest losses of the weekend not only came from the team as a whole but the player who leads its offense. 

The Tennessee Volunteers came in looking to be a contender to get the fourth spot in the college football playoff and against South Carolina, it appeared their winning ways would continue. 

From the jump, it looked terrible for the team in Orange, falling behind 21-7 after just the first quarter. It never got better for Tennessee as South Carolina would eventually win big by a score of 63-38 behind the Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler showing out and proving why he was a highly regarded prospect. 

Despite the big loss and the team all but completely falling out of playoff contention, the main focus was on QB Hendon Hooker. Hooker got hurt early in the game and was ruled out for the rest of the game quickly. Hooker, a Heisman contender, suffered a torn ACL in the match and will miss the rest of the season. 

All of the other top four teams were close to losing in their games and we as fans were a couple of plays away from all of those teams losing. 

No. 1 Georgia looked out of sync against unranked Kentucky, winning by only 10 by a score of 16-6. Draft prospect and Kentucky QB Will Levis played well against a stout Bulldog defense, going 20-31 for 206 yards and one touchdown. 

No. 2 Ohio State faced off against Tua Tagovailoa’s younger brother in Taulia Tagovailoa and Maryland and held a one-score lead late into the game. They were able to take control and win by 13, but C.J. Stroud looked less than dominant and it was mostly the running game that kept the Buckeyes alive. 

No. 3 Michigan was heavy favorites against the Fighting Illini of Illinois but only won by a score of 19-17. Their Heisman contender running back Blake Corum was nursing an injury but was still able to rack up 108 yards and a TD in the close win. 

No. 4 TCU can not slip up and lose a game or they will certainly fall out of favor with the playoff committee. Against Baylor, they were close to slipping up. It came down to the wire and a game-winning field goal put the Horned Frogs on top by a score of 29-28. 

Another big matchup was that of the Pac-12 showcasing two of its top teams UCLA and USC. The two California teams duked it out in a game where if the Trojans were to fall to the might of the Bruins, the Pac-12 would have guaranteed to have no representation in the playoff. 

In what can only be described as an absolute shootout, USC took down their rivals 48-45. 

Of all potential Heisman contenders, the Trojans QB of Caleb Williams probably had the strongest showing, going 32-43 for an astounding 470 yards and two TDs. Williams also added a score on the ground and was able to lead his team to victory. 

Going forward, the teams of USC, Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State will all guarantee to make the playoffs if they win out. 

If USC or TCU is to lose a game at any point, the committee in charge of picking the teams will more than likely give the nod to the loser of Ohio State and Michigan or even a two-loss LSU team if they somehow upset Georgia in the SEC Championship game. 

Here’s to more of what has been a highly entertaining college football season.