Friday night produced three very different kinds of games: No. 5 Miami survived a second-half push from Wake Forest, No. 13 Texas Tech escaped No. 22 Houston by inches, and No. 21 Oregon unleashed one of the biggest blowouts of the season.
No. 5 Miami 33, Wake Forest 20
Miami looked ready to turn this into a rout before Wake Forest made things uncomfortable. The Hurricanes led 24-7 at halftime and extended the margin to 31-7 early in the third quarter, but Wake answered with two straight touchdowns to cut the deficit to 31-20.
The story for Miami was quarterback Darian Mensah, who completed an extraordinary 30 of 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He opened the game with 24 consecutive completions and continued what has been an exceptionally accurate start to the season. Malachi Toney remained his favorite target, catching 12 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown, while Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for 85 yards and another score.
Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez kept the Demon Deacons alive with 312 passing yards and three touchdowns, but the comeback stalled after Miami forced a fourth-quarter safety. Wake also hurt itself badly with 13 penalties for 122 yards. Miami improves to 3-0, although the Hurricanes will want a cleaner four-quarter performance moving forward.
No. 13 Texas Tech 28, No. 22 Houston 26
The best game of the night came in Lubbock.
Houston jumped ahead 10-0 and led 17-14 at halftime, but Texas Tech gradually seized control behind quarterback Will Hammond, who threw for 257 yards and a touchdown. J'Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey both added rushing touchdowns as the Red Raiders built a 28-20 advantage midway through the fourth quarter.
Houston refused to go away. Conner Weigman, who threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns, found Patrick Overmyer for a 10-yard touchdown with 53 seconds remaining to make it 28-26.
Houston then went for two.
Weigman kept the ball and tried to reach the goal line, but Texas Tech linebacker Austin Romaine stopped him just short. Replay confirmed the ruling, leaving Houston inches away from tying the game. The Red Raiders recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.
Texas Tech improves to 3-0 while Houston falls to 2-1 after one of the most dramatic finishes of the young season.
No. 21 Oregon 84, Portland State 0
After losing 39-31 at Oklahoma State last week, Oregon responded with something approaching total domination.
The Ducks scored touchdowns on their first eight possessions, led 49-0 at halftime and never let up in an 84-0 victory, the highest-scoring game in Autzen Stadium history. Oregon finished with 726 total yards while holding Portland State to only 103.
Dante Moore was almost flawless, completing 19 of 23 passes for 280 yards and four touchdowns. Backup Dylan Raiola then went 11-for-11 for 124 yards and three more touchdowns. Jordon Davison added 81 rushing yards and two scores as Oregon spread the production throughout the roster.
The Ducks forced four turnovers, allowed Portland State only 37 offensive plays, and scored 12 touchdowns on 13 offensive possessions. It was exactly the kind of overwhelming response Oregon needed after last week's upset.
The overall takeaway from Friday night is straightforward: Miami remains unbeaten but showed some vulnerabilities, Texas Tech survived its first major Big 12 test, and Oregon answered its first loss with an emphatic reminder of just how explosive the Ducks can be.