Unbelievable grabs, late rallies and last-second kicks claimed the headlines in a wild Week 11 of college football. We round up the best of the action — and the latest Top 25 rankings — below:

Indiana 27 @ 25 Penn State

Best catch of the season saves Indiana from upset and preserves unbeaten run.

Omar Cooper Jr. reeled in the game-winning catch with what was possibly the most spectacular top-tap in college football history. After leaping what looked like six feet in the air, Cooper had the wherewithal to make sure that his foot touched paydirt — and guarantee that Indiana’s unbeaten streak continued — before falling out the back of the endzone.

Mere moments before, it looked like the Hoosiers were going to be on the wrong end of an upset, as Penn State stood on the precipice of securing an improbable win and ending the school’s longest losing streak in 21 years. Penn State had never previously lost to Indiana at home, having won all 13 previous encounters at Beaver Stadium.

“It was the most improbable victory I have ever been a part of — and there couldn’t have been a better place to make it happen,” said Indiana coach Curt Cignetti after leaving Happy Valley victorious.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza had an unusually tough ride, finishing the game with 218 yards, but was sacked three times and threw an interception before completing the game-winning connection with Cooper. The win keeps Mendoza in the running for possible Heisman honours — the phrase ‘Heis-Mendoza was rife throughout television coverage of the game —and he made no secret of how pleased he was to be able to quieten one of the most intimidating atmospheres in college football.

“It’s just a rocking crowd so, when you hear that silence as you get hit when you throw, then you know it’s a completion,” he smiled.

The Nittany Lions, now without Drew Allar for the remainder of the season, fought hard to overcome a 13-point third quarter deficit, taking a 24-20 lead in the fourth. They could have salted the game away with a couple more first downs, but were forced to punt with just under two minutes left. The near 120 seconds were all Mendoza needed to work his magic.

Interim coach Terry Smith relayed his disappointment at extending Penn State’s losing run to six games, but backed the effort of his players.

“It’s just very humbling,” he reflected. “I think back to Joe Paterno and him running on the field. I’m in the same position that he was and I have to do better for our guys. We have to taste victory because they deserve it.”

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Oregon 18 @ 16 Iowa

Ducks breathe sigh of relief thanks to last minute field goal.

Another upset was almost on the cards in Iowa City as the Hawkeyes led sixth-ranked Oregon late on, only to have victory snatched away as Atticus Sappington’s 39-yard field goal sailed through posts to put the Ducks up as time expired.

It’s always a nerve-wracking moment when the game is put in the hands of a college kicker, but Sappington was not fazed by the weight of expectation, stating after the game that ‘the moment was made for me. I truly believe that”. He was already high on confidence after succeeding with 46- and 44-yard attempts earlier in the game.

“When you have two pretty big-time field goals to change the game early on, obviously your confidence is high,” the wonderfully-named Sappington said. “For me, it was just like, ‘Focus on the kick. Breathe’.”

Ducks QB Dante Moore had a lacklustre outing, finishing with just 112 yards and a pick on the day, but came up big when the game was on the line with five completions for 47 yards on the final drive to put Sappington in range for the game-winning kick.

“I was just proud of the way we handled the moment,” coach Dan Lanning said, acknowledging the struggles his Ducks side had faced against a stout Iowa defence. “I had guys coming up to me during the game saying, ‘Coach, breathe’. That was what I had been telling them all week and, for them to be able to come up and say the same thing to me, it just tells you they believed in what we were doing.”

That belief now sees Oregon with an FBS best 11-game winning streak on the road, but the struggles in the passing game meant that the Ducks had rely on the run — and Noah Whittington answered the call with 112 yards on the ground.

“We went into the game knowing we could win in the trenches,” he explained. “All week, we said we could run in the trenches. And we ran in the trenches.”

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz lamented how the game slipped away from his team in the final moments, admitting that, ‘Sometimes that’s football’.

“When you play a team like Oregon, you’ve got to be right there,” he noted. “There’s nothing easy. This was a game we were hoping it could be. And we couldn’t get it done.”

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Auburn 38 @ 45 Vanderbilt OT

Pavia prevails in shootout to keep the Commodores in the hunt.

As is often the case, a team will put in a big performance after the firing of a head coach. That is exactly what Auburn did following the departure of Hugh Freeze but, unfortunately for the Tigers, it wasn’t quite enough, as Vanderbilt overcame a ten-point deficit to snatch victory in overtime and keep their playoff hopes alive after last week’s defeat to Texas.

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea had told his team before the game that ‘we’re out of opportunities — everything’s at stake, and the mission is winning’, and QB Diego Pavia certainly followed the order, putting up a career best 377 yards in the shootout. Pavia also had 122 rushing yards, leading the team, and added a rushing touchdown to go with his three scoring passes, which included the game-winner to Cole Spence in overtime.

“The guy took the game over,” Lea said of his quarterback after the game. “I’ve said it at this podium before but, in our minds, he’s the best player in the country. He found a way to win the game for us tonight. Diego made it happen.”

Pavia was supported by standout performances of 124 yards from tight end Tre Richardson and 122 yards from receiver Eli Stowers. Although Auburn matched Vanderbilt’s offensive output — with QB Ashton Daniels throwing for 353 yards in his second start for the Tigers and WR Cam Colemen recording 143 yards receiving — it wasn’t quite enough for interim coach D.J. Durkin, who nevertheless recognised the talent on his team despite the loss, and how the players have had to resist temptation to jump ship after the loss of Freeze.

“These guys, every coach in the country is calling this team, trying to drag them in the portal, going other directions,” he revealed. “And those guys … they stuck together for one another. But no moral victories. No nothing. We’re unhappy about it.”

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Tulane 38 @ 32 Memphis

Tigers unable to hold back the the Green Wave in American Conference clash.

Tulane kept themselves in contention for the American Conference title, and a shot at the Group of Five playoff berth, with a nail-biting win over #22-ranked Memphis.

Green Wave QB Jake Ratzliff’s 322 yards and three touchdowns had given the Louisiana team a 21-point lead entering the fourth quarter and, whilst Memphis were able to put up 15 points in the final period, they weren’t able to keep a potentially game-tying drive alive, failing on fourth-and-eight and handing the ball back to Tulane on their own 35-yard line. Defeat ended the Tigers’ 11-game home winning streak.

“I’m so proud of our guys for their resiliency,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said, expressing pride in his team after the game. “It was so cool to see how our guys responded [after last week’s loss at Texas-San Antonio]. Bad things are going to happen sometimes. You just have to keep showing up.”

Sumrall was also exuberant about his quarterback, who had been benched during the previous week’s loss, claiming that, ‘I thought Jake played his tail off [in the first half]’.

Tulane’s output dropped significantly, from 364 yards in the first half to just 93 in the second, allowing Memphis to fight back, with QB Brendon Lewis passing for 317 yards and two touchdowns, whilst WR Cortez Braham Jr reeled in 11 passes for 113 yards.

Ultimately, however, it wasn’t enough, causing coach Ryan Silverfield to acknowledge the imbalance in his team’s performance between the two halves,

“Clearly, we didn’t to play to our standard in the first half,” Silverfield admitted. “We gave up too many [explosive] plays and, offensively, we had too many self-inflicted wounds. It’s unlike us. Our guys will learn from this.”

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AP Poll Top 25 (entering week 12):

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Ole Miss
7. Oregon
8. Texas Tech
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas
11. Oklahoma
12. BYU
13. Vanderbilt
14. Georgia Tech
15. Utah
16. Miami
17. USC
18. Michigan
19. Louisville
20. Virgina
21. Tennessee
22. Cincinnati
23. Pitt
24. James Madison
25. South Florida