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College football Flop 10: The most frightening thing Saturday? Nobody showed up
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- College football Flop 10: The most frightening thing Saturday? Nobody showed up
Haunted houses are all the rage around Halloween. Apparently, a few college football programs decided to turn their stadiums into them.
Across the country, fans showed football wasn't exactly a priority on the holiday. Either that, or thousands decided to dress up as empty seats.
Winners, losers: Nebraska, USC headline college football Week 9
Whatever the reason, there was something spooky about seeing massive sections of some major stadiums sitting vacant.
Oklahoma? Empty. Penn State? Also empty. So was Florida State. Undefeated UCLA? Lowest attendance of the season.
It even produced the best burn of the week, courtesy of South Carolina after it crushed Oklahoma, delivering an all-time diss about the Sooners' empty crowd.
Wow, there are a lot of people in this Spirit Halloween! pic.twitter.com/3kEYxA5Jwo
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) November 1, 2026
Whether Halloween played a role or not, maybe it's a good thing a college football Saturday won't fall on Halloween again until 2037.
The haunted, mostly empty stands headline the Flop 10's bag of tricks, with absolutely no treats, from Week 9.
Maryland
Of all the empty stadiums, none was sadder than in Maryland.
The firing of Mike Locksley highlights a disappointing season in College Park, so the Terrapins tried to boost attendance against Illinois with a one-of-a-kind offer: free tuition raffle for those who stayed for the fourth quarter.
Apparently, that offer wasn't enough to make it into SECU Stadium.
Turns out free tuition isn’t enough to get Maryland’s student section full for a noon Halloween kickoff. pic.twitter.com/yUqZIX8BnL
— Nolan Rogalski (@NolanRogalski) October 31, 2026
The result turned out to not be worth being there for. Illinois won on a walk-off field goal 20-17 to send the Terrapins to 2-6.
Ole Miss missed touchdown
The Rebels didn't have much trouble in the 45-15 romp of Auburn, but it did start off with a brain fart on a trick play.
Ole Miss dialed up a trick play with receiver Traylon Ray throwing to a wide open Deuce Alexander for what looked like an easy touchdown.
Unfortunately, Alexander took his eyes off the prize.
Oh no 😥 pic.twitter.com/FckaROo2kw
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2026
Thankfully, Ole Miss scored on the drive to get the rout going, but this major mistake can't go unnoticed.
Wisconsin
If Luke Fickell is going to keep his job at Wisconsin, which increasingly looks like the case, he might want to reconsider participating in the Battle for the Heartland.
For the second straight year, Wisconsin was annihilated by rival Iowa, this time losing 30-0. There was nothing pretty about it, and Fickell didn't bother sugarcoating it.
"We were completely manhandled for 60 minutes," he said.
In reality, it's been much longer than 60 minutes.
Iowa has shut out Wisconsin in back-to-back meetings, following last year's 37-0 rout with another beatdown. That's 67-0 over the past 120 minutes of this rivalry.
And somehow, it gets worse.
Iowa has won five straight against Wisconsin, outscoring the Badgers 148-26 during that streak.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, Iowa will be waiting again next season.
At this point, forget winning. Maybe the Badgers should start by trying to score.
Bowling Green trick play INT
From losing to FCS Tarleton State in the season opener, 2026 has been rough for Bowling Green, and it continued in Week 9.
The Falcons lost to Western Michigan, and nothing summarized it best that the ugly trick play attempt when receiver Brennan Ridley tried to throw it back to Jay Kastantin, just for Broncos linebacker Justyce Betts to put him on a poster.
A linebacker just mossed Bowling Green's QB with one hand...
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 31, 2026
Yes, you read that right. pic.twitter.com/BvUDv1Q3RU
That was one of three straight interceptions Bowling Green threw to end the game, falling to 2-7 and out of bowl eligibility.
Boston College
Congratulations to Boston College for making history. Just not the kind anyone wants to celebrate.
Duke scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, but on the second extra-point attempt, the Eagles blocked the kick and returned it for a defensive 2-point conversion.
Those would be Boston College's only points of the day.
Nate Sheppard and the Blue Devils took care of everything else, rolling to a 47-2 victory.
So, about that history.
Boston College became the first team since Illinois in 2005 to finish a game with its only points coming on a defensive 2-point conversion off an extra-point attempt.
History made. Unfortunately.
Aaron Philo interception
Florida did not have a good time taking the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" to Atlanta with a tough 27-8 loss to Georgia, and there may be nothing that encapsulates the rough day the Gators were in for than the preposterous play quarterback Aaron Philo "tried" to make.
In the first quarter, Philo was trying to scramble but lost his footing. So, rather than just going down, he tried to scoop a throw to the sideline. However, it went nowhere near intended, instead into the arms of Georgia's Ellis Robinson IV.
Aaron Philo WHAT ARE YOU DOING. Florida turns it over vs Georgia pic.twitter.com/oLRCuLMZ7T
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) October 31, 2026
Like Duncan
Nevada quarterback Luke Duncan got the start against UCLA, the school he had just transferred from. If he was hoping to show the Bruins what they were missing, things couldn't have gone much worse.
On the first play of the game, Duncan overthrew his receiver and UCLA's Scooter Jackson intercepted it. On Nevada's second possession, Duncan threw behind his intended target and linebacker Jalen Woods picked it off.
Then came drive No. 3. Duncan made another errant throw, this one right to UCLA's Derrick Barksdale, who returned it for a pick-six.
Three possessions. Three interceptions. All in the first seven-and-a-half minutes.
That was enough. Duncan was benched after going 1-for-8 for 36 yards, meaning he completed more passes to his former team than his current one.
Talk about a rough homecoming.
It wasn't much better for the rest of the Wolf Pack, either, as UCLA rolled to a 27-0 shutout.
East Carolina player injured by ref
We heard of referees costing games, but costing injuries?
It was an unbelievable sight at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium when East Carolina safety David Coleman Jr. was injured in between plays during the Pirates' game against Temple after an official was running up the field, slipped and proceed to collide into him.
A referee just broke one of our players legs. You can’t make this up pic.twitter.com/QnqK3e3uEV
— No Quarter ECU (@ECU_NoQuarter) October 31, 2026
It actually ended up being a serious injury with Coleman unable to put any weight on his leg and taken to a local hospital, where he learned he suffered a fractured fibula.
Colorado storming field
A big win when you're an underdog is a good cause to storm the field. But you have to know the time, place and circumstance.
Colorado faced Kansas State in a Big 12 mid-off with the Buffaloes trying to find anything positive in abother disappointing season. The game went into overtime and in the second frame, Isaac Wilson found Charlie Williams for the game-winning score.
Ralphie fans were pumped to get the first Big 12 in more than a year, and decided to storm the field — against an equally bad Kansas State.
COLORADO BEATS KANSAS STATE IN OVERTIME AND STORMS THE FIELD 👀 pic.twitter.com/7yEioXx0FG
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) October 31, 2026
It's almost just as bad as losing.
BYU and referees... again
There has to be something going on at this point.
For the third straight week, BYU was involved in some weird officiating snafu. Against Arizona State, quarterback Bear Bachmeier fumbled at the Sun Devils 1-yard line before running back Sione Moa recovered it. Arizona State called a timeout, so the officials looked at the play. Upon further review, they determined he broke the plane for a touchdown.
Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira had a field day ripping the officials for how they handled the whole thing, and it only got worse after the game when the Big 12 acknowledged the officiating crew had made an error on the field.
A controversial @BYUfootball touchdown and Mike Pereira breaks down here pic.twitter.com/EbCfjO6MkZ
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 31, 2026
Wouldn't want to be an official for BYU again, so good luck for whoever gets the Holy War against Utah.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football Flop 10: The most frightening thing Saturday? Nobody showed up