There are six unbeaten teams left this college football season. There were seven remaining a week ago. 

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No. 25 Air Force suffered its first loss of the season to an Army team that entered last Saturday’s game with a 2-6 record. The Falcons were beaten 23-3 and shut out in the second half. 

The remaining undefeated teams include: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Washington and Liberty. The Flames are ranked inside the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time this season, and it remains to be seen whether that’ll carry into Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff rankings. 

Here are some noteworthy quotes as focus turns from Week 10 to Week 11. 

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State 

No. 22 Oklahoma State picked up its fifth win in a row during its 27-24 comeback effort against No. 9 Oklahoma. 

The Cowboys got out to a 17-7 lead before Sooners running back Tawee Walker ran in a go-ahead score midway through the third quarter. 

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II punched in a 1-yard touchdown with 7:59 left to play, and it gave the Cowboys the lead that they held onto for good. 

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy is known for his jests during press conferences, and after the final scheduled “Bedlam” game where Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” song played throughout the stadium, Gundy shared how he prepares for opponents. 

“I’ll notice it more next year when I don’t really watch and see what they’re doing because I don’t play them,” Gundy said. “Like this year, I was talking about TCU and then I realized we don’t even play TCU. So well, I need to quit watching them and I need to take notes on other teams that we’re going to play. So I just wanted to go home tonight. Like I’ll get a big chief notebook and a crayon and I’ll take notes on everybody we play while I’m sitting there drinking a Diet Coke, and I’ll do that until I get double vision then I’ll go to bed. But the point being is at some point when we’re not playing them and it’s not as important for me to watch them, it’ll probably set in more so than now.” 

Sam Pittman, Arkansas 

A duel between quarterbacks KJ Jefferson of Arkansas and Florida’s Graham Mertz was sent to overtime on Saturday. 

READ: Stat Pack: Week 10

Jefferson and the Razorbacks emerged victorious 39-36 after the quarterback found receiver Tyrone Broden four yards out for the game-winning touchdown. 

It marked the first time that Arkansas defeated Florida in Gainesville, and the Razorbacks did it under fourth-year head coach Sam Pittman who said the Razorbacks are “really excited about the win.” 

“Florida has got a really good football team,” Pittman said. “We knew coming in there that they would be very physical, and which they were, and Billy Napier’s a wonderful coach and a good friend of mine, and I’m really proud of our team because in two weeks’ time, a lot of stuff went on in the program and the kids just stayed with us and they stay believing. Coming down here, I don’t know how many times we’ve played them in Gainesville to be the first team to ever win here is a big deal and there ain’t but one first, and so congratulations to Kenny Guiton. He did a great job. To have the most yards that we’ve had all season and a bye week and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday practice was a credit to him, the players and the coaching staff.” 

Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Washington 

The Huskies defeated No. 20 USC 52-42 in an offensive showcase on Saturday night, and the game was a significant one for Washington edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui. 

Tupuola-Fetui learned his father passed away in the week leading up to the game against the Trojans. 

A veteran of six seasons, Tupuola-Fetui still played against USC after the difficult news. He tied his season-high four tackles and also made 1.5 sacks including a forced fumble that led to a turnover. 

“This week was really hard but I knew my dad would want me to play,” Tupuola-Fetui said. “He loves this game. He loves UW, bro, and I know I’d just be doing him wrong if I didn’t play. But I’m thankful I was able to play good in his memory. Oh man, that was him playing through me. The beginning of the game, I don’t even know if I wanted to play to be honest. I’m here for my brothers but I was glad I was able to play a good game.” 

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And run he did. Davis totaled 280 rushing yards across 26 carries and No. 22 Kentucky beat Florida 33-14 on Saturday afternoon.

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The Wildcats picked up their second-straight victory over the Gators dating back to the 2021 season. They moved to 5-0 and 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference East Division. 

Davis had 206 rushing yards in the first half alone, which already set a career high for him. He broke off two rushing touchdowns in that time, including a 75-yard breakaway in the final minute of the first quarter. 

Davis’ second half consisted of 14 carries for 74 yards. He scored on Kentucky’s first offensive possession of the second half, punching in a 2-yarder.

Kentucky got out to a 16-0 lead after the first quarter and led 23-7 at halftime.

Florida had 313 yards of total offense compared to Davis’ 289 all-purpose yards.

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Gators quarterback Graham Mertz had a nice outing, completing 83% of his passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. He threw an interception, the second of his season, on his second pass of the game. 

Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary went 9-of-20 for 69 yards and a touchdown. His favorite target was receiver Barion Brown who had four catches for 37 yards.

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There are four ranked matchups on the schedule this week. Friday will get the ranked ballgames started when No. 10 Utah travels to No. 19 Oregon State, which suffered its first loss of the season to No. 16 Washington State.

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Cougars quarterback Cam Ward earned Pac-12 offensive player of the week honors after a 404-yard performance. Ward added four touchdowns and completed 82.4% of his passes, good for seventh-best in program history. 

Here are several games to watch this week. 

No. 22 Florida at Kentucky 

A matchup between two 4-0 programs is set to take place at Kroger Field on Saturday. 

Defense just might be the name of the game and the key to victory for either team. Neither Florida nor Kentucky rank in the upper half of the Southeastern Conference in total offense, and the Gators are No. 8 while Kentucky is No. 9. 

The Wildcats are entering their first ranked matchup of the season, and it comes two years after they upset No. 10 Florida at home 20-13. The Gators had Kentucky’s number 29-21 during the 2019 season. 

“I mentioned last week when they talked about them beating us in the year before it really doesn’t have any bearing on that game,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said. “If it does for our players, if they come in locked in early in the week then that’s the way I expect our team to be anyway. We’re playing Florida. You know it’s going to take a great effort. We’re playing that home; we should have a great sense of pride. And I think there’s that term that we use a lot in our program is that divine discontent. We know there’s more out there. We know we can play better, and that ought to be our motivation.” 

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Stoops also had positives to say about Florida quarterback Graham Mertz, who considered Kentucky when he entered the transfer portal after last season. 

“He’s been very good with the football,” Stoops said. “I think they have very few turnovers in general. I want to say he only maybe has one, and he’s been very efficient. Very smart getting rid of the football and taking care of the ball and running their offense, and he’s been very efficient. So he’s played very well.” 

No. 24 Kansas at No. 3 Texas 

A Big 12 matchup is set to take place in Austin, Texas, and the two teams between Kansas and Texas have a history. 

The Jayhawks topped Texas in 2021 during what was only their second win of the season Nov. 13, 2021. Kansas finished 2-10 that year, while Texas went 5-7 in Steve Sarkisian’s first year as head coach. 

Texas got back at Kansas last season with a 55-14 blowout at home. The loss left a bad taste in the Jayhawks’ mouths. 

“Old news, it doesn’t matter,” Kansas head coach Lance Leipold said. “Both teams are significantly better. And it doesn’t do you — it’s honestly it’s so far in the past. We got to keep moving. Yeah, it helped this program. It helped our players but we can’t, yeah, that’s about it.”

READ: Quotables: Week 4

And now, Leipold said the athleticism stands out about Texas now. 

“Yeah, and I guess I’ll add to that. I hope it’s the last time I have to answer that question this week honestly, I do,” Leipold said. “I really want to focus on our team now and where we’re going because that’s what’s important. It’s an excellent football team across the board. You can tell for coach Sarkisian, the staff he’s put on it offensively, he’s one of the best playcallers in the country. The movements and shifts and different looks that he gives, how they spread the ball about the playmakers that they have, huge up front and very athletic, well coached offensive line. And then defensively a front that, again, I think that’s a group from if you are going to keep looking at our previous meetings, I think that the defensive line continued improvement for them and consistency, maybe not improvement, but just consistent play and physical, tough kids. Linebackers who are extremely physical and run well. So yeah, it’s definitely to me a different team and a huge challenge for us and one that we’ve got to have our best week of preparation yet.” 

Kansas’ offense is No. 5 in the Big 12 averaging 37.8 points per game, and Texas is right behind at an average of 35 points per outing. 

Both the Jayhawks and Longhorns are in the top-three in their conference in total defense, as Kansas is second allowing 296.8 yards per game and Texas is third giving up 298.5 yards per game. 

No. 13 LSU at No. 20 Ole Miss 

LSU is seeking to reenter itself back into the College Football Playoff mix. 

After suffering a Week 1 upset to No. 5 Florida State, head coach Brian Kelly and the Tigers had to do a bit of soul searching to figure out what kind of team they are. 

Now they go on the road for two games, and the first will be against No. 20 Ole Miss, which lost 30-24 to No. 12 Alabama.

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Quarterback Jayden Daniels has played steadily in 2023. He’s eclipsed 320 passing yards in each of the past two games, and he threw four touchdowns last week against Arkansas. 

One of Daniels’ targets had a breakout game against the Razorbacks, as Malik Nabers became the 13^th player in LSU history to catch over 200 yards. He finished with 239 receiving yards and two touchdowns. 

Ole Miss will bring a defense that ranks No. 61 in total defense, allowing over 351 yards per game. Linebacker Suntarine Perkins is tied for third with three sacks this season. 

Kelly thinks LSU has learned about itself through the first four weeks of the season, and this week he’s hoping to see a complete game with a distinctiveness about the team.  

“I’m seeing that starting to evolve in that identity, and look, I mean, there are times when you play in quality competition that you get a better sense and feel for your team. And especially when you’re down, right?” Kelly said. “We weren’t down against Mississippi State at anytime. We weren’t down at any time against Grambling. And we really didn’t have the right mix of mindset going into the Florida State game. So this was our first chance really to identify who we were when we got down late, and we immediately responded and we came out in the second half and played the kind of football that I expect. Never flinching, knowing that we were going to take some more shots and when we gave up a play, we forgot about it and we got to the next play.” 

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Unranked Florida defended home field and controlled the pace for most of the game Saturday evening in Gainesville, beating No. 11 Tennessee 29-16. 

Gators running back Trevor Etienne ran for 172 yards and a touchdown, which came as Florida’s first score of the game on a 62-yard run to go up 7-6 over the Volunteers. 

From that point on, it was all Florida.

WATCH: Florida running back Trevor Etienne runs 62 yards for a touchdown

Quarterback Graham Mertz threw for 166 yards and a score while going 19-for-24 in his passes. A near 80-percent completion rate allowed Florida to dominate both through the air and on the ground. 

Florida had those 166 passing yards along with a total of 183 rushing yards, the most balance its had in a game this season after posting 300-plus yards through the air in the season-opener and 300-plus again only this time on the ground last week. 

Six Gators receivers had at least 18 yards led by 44 from Eugene Wilson III and 43 via Ricky Pearsall. 

Tennessee outgained Florida 393 yards to 349. Volunteers quarterback Joe Milton III went 20-for-34 with 287 passing yards and two touchdowns, and he threw an interception after which the Gators scored on the ensuing drive in the second quarter. 

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