College football grades: Texas earns 'B' mark for win, Ole Miss gets 'A-' on Week 9 report card

While SEC powers avoided drama, Ohio State took a damaging second loss at USC and narrow escapes tested Miami and Indiana Nov 1, 2026 at 8:22 am ET • 4 min read Life in college football is all about surviving and advancing, especially this season. Only one Tier 1 national title contender failed in that aspect during Week 9, as No. 2 Ohio State faltered at USC, suffering a second loss that will complicate its outlook. But even though no other top-10 teams fell on Saturday, not all their wins looked the same.No. 1 Miami and No. 4 Indiana struggled against unranked foes before squeaking out uncomfortably close wins. Against that backdrop, what the SEC's top teams who were in action accomplished was impressive. No. 3 Georgia, No. 11 Texas and No. 12 Ole Miss each avoided drama with easy wins.Texas didn't suddenly look fixed offensively, but it crushed Mississippi State with no problems. Georgia's passing attack also dealt with some sluggishness, but the Bulldogs easily dismantled rival Florida. Ole Miss was in a battle with visiting Auburn until the fourth quarter, but the Rebels pulled away and won by 30.Even if you aren't earning an 'A+' grade for a perfect performance, simply passing is the goal once you get to this time of year. Preferably, you'd like to pass without the fourth quarter drama that Miami and Indiana dealt with. The top SEC teams accomplished that this week. We are handing out grades evaluating every team that started or ended the day with national championship odds of +3000 or better. LSU (+850) and Alabama (+950) were off.2026 national championship odds listed below courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Teams listed in order of their AP Top 25 ranking. No. 1 MiamiGrade: B- Result: 38-35 win at North Carolina Title odds: +600Miami's defense finally came through with the game on the line, as Marquise Lightfoot's strip sack of North Carolina quarterback Billy Edwards with 5:33 remaining helped the Hurricanes avoid potential disaster. But Edwards and UNC offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino sliced and diced the 'Canes all night. Three opponents in a row have surpassed 400 yards against Miami after just one reached that threshold all last season. Thankfully, Miami's offense was up to the task against UNC. No. 2 Ohio StateGrade: D Result: 30-18 loss at USC Title odds: +950Making his first career start, freshman quarterback Luke Fahey wasn't Ohio State's problem. Or, certainly not the biggest problem. The Buckeyes surrendered explosive plays on defense and special teams in the first quarter and left Fahey with a hole to dig out of. Penalties and shoddy situational execution left the Buckeyes settling for too many field goals. A USC team coming off a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin matched Ohio State physically at the line of scrimmage. No. 3 GeorgiaGrade: B Result: 27-8 win vs. Florida Title odds: +350Georgia happily accepted a gift-wrapped SEC rivalry win over a hapless Florida team that shot itself in the foot with turnovers and penalties. Give the Bulldogs' defensive front credit for causing havoc with 11 tackles for loss, but the Gators simply couldn't get out of their own way. UGA's rushing attack totaled 217 yards on 5.2 yards a pop to carry the day for the offense. But the passing game struggled as Gunner Stockton averaged a season-low 4.4 yards per attempt. No. 4 IndianaGrade: C Result: 23-16 (OT) win vs. Minnesota Title odds: +1000Indiana survived a cacophony of special teams miscues, a quarterback change, a Minnesota trick-play touchdown and a whole lot more to avoid a loss that would have left its playoff hopes on shaky ground. The Hoosiers have a lot to figure out, including a quarterback controversy and some shockingly incompetent special teams play, if they are going to defend their national title. The defense remains strong, but IU needs more down-to-down consistency in the passing game and less overall sloppiness. No. 5 Notre DameGrade: B Result: 35-13 win at Navy Title odds: +500Don't be fooled by the final score. This one was uncomfortable until late in the third quarter, as it took Notre Dame the entire first half to get comfortable defending Navy's option attack. Thankfully, the Fighting Irish offense came to play and gobbled up 7.2 yards per play with a whopping 25 of their 59 total plays going for first downs. That steady, chain-moving execution helped keep the Notre Dame defense fresh. No. 6 UtahGrade: A Result: 49-25 win vs. Cincinnati Title odds: +3000Utah led 42-6 at halftime before Cincinnati clawed back to make the final score respectable. The Utes played a perfect first half offensively and also scored two defensive touchdowns while eliminating all drama before the end of the second quarter. On the heels of a huge win at Houston and ahead of next week's showdown against BYU, this is exactly what Utah needed. There was no real stress amid a thoroughly dominant performance No. 11 TexasGrade: B Result: 31-3 win vs. Mississippi State Title odds: +1100Mississippi State's only points came after Texas gifted the Bulldogs with a short field on an Arch Manning fumble. Manning was sacked five times, which speaks both to his continued indecisiveness and the Longhorns' disappointing line play. Mercifully, the maligned veteran took care of the football aside from the fumble. Texas' defense dominated, but that was to be expected against a Mississippi State team operating without star quarterback Kamario Taylor. No. 12 Ole MissGrade: A-Result: 45-15 win vs. AuburnTitle odds: +1600The Ole Miss offense piled up a season-high 30 first downs while demonstrating a vital level of balance by rushing for 224 yards. Encouragingly, star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss got in on the action with 65 yards and a rushing touchdown after he was pocket-bound for last week's loss at Texas. The Rebels remain exploitable in the secondary, but they did a great job harassing Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown and limiting his effectiveness as a runner.