Plenty of playoff contenders suddenly find themselves dealing with major injuries to notable players as the college football season reaches its halfway point.

Dylan Sampson scored his third touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run in overtime to give No. 8 Tennessee a 23-17 victory over Florida on Saturday night.

College football players are finally getting to be themselves — or play against themselves — in one of the hottest video games on the planet.

Oklahoma's Jackson Arnold and Tennessee's Nico Iamaleava are the Southeastern Conference's wild-card quarterbacks.

Carson Beck threw two touchdown passes in his hometown, Daijun Edwards ran for two scores and No. 1 Georgia dominated Florida 43-20 to extend its winning streak to 25.

Ray Davis rushed for a career-high 280 yards and scored four touchdowns, including three in the first half, as Kentucky overwhelmed No. 22 Florida 33-19 on Saturday.

Trevor Etienne ran for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown, Montrell Johnson scored twice and Florida upset No. 11 Tennessee 29-16 on Saturday night to extend the Volunteers’ losing streak in Gainesville to 10.

Bryson Barnes threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Money Parks on Utah’s first play of the game, rushed for another score and No. 14 Utes beat Florida 24-11 on Thursday night in the opener for both teams.

The Southeastern Conference is leaning on help from high-profile transfers to replace some of the departed star power at quarterback.

Florida coach Billy Napier opened fall practice talking to his team about expectations — internal ones, anyway.

Defending national champion Georgia became the second team in 15 seasons to score a touchdown on its first seven possessions against a ranked opponent.

Graham Mertz scored on two quarterback sneaks and threw a touchdown pass to help Wisconsin trounce No. 9 Iowa 27-7 on Saturday for its fourth consecutive victory.

Cornelius Johnson caught both of Cade McNamara’s touchdown passes and No. 14 Michigan remained unbeaten with a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin, which lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a chest injury.

For about 45 minutes late Saturday afternoon, college football was on overload.

Chris Tyree returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and Drew Pyne threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter in relief of an injured Jack Coan as No. 12 Notre Dame beat No. 18 Wisconsin 41-13 at Soldier Field.

No. 16 Arkansas' game against No. 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and No. 18 Wisconsin's meeting with No. 12 Notre Dame at Soldier Field in Chicago highlight the college football schedule on Saturday.

Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown intercepted Graham Mertz deep in Penn State territory in the final 2½ minutes to preserve the 19th-ranked Nittany Lions’ 16-10 victory over No. 12 Wisconsin.

The Associated Press preseason college football poll has been released and Alabama is No. 1.

Nine of the 14 Big Ten football teams appear set at quarterback heading into the fall.

Indiana tied a program record Saturday by earning its sixth Big Ten win of the season, joining the 1967 and 1987 teams. Tuttle also lost a fumble that led to a Wisconsin field goal. “He goes running into the locker so I’m thinking, I’m telling Dex (Dexter Williams), ‘OK, this is your time. Indiana entered the day with a Big Ten-leading 18 takeaways and used an early turnover to take the lead for good. Wisconsin had moved the ball to the Indiana 39 when Tiawan Mullen sacked Mertz and knocked the ball loose.

Northwestern players celebrate after they defeated Wisconsin 17-7 in an NCAA college football game in Evanston, Ill., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241.

Northwestern players celebrate after they defeated Wisconsin 17-7 in an NCAA college football game in Evanston, Ill., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. 19 Northwestern shut down Graham Mertz and No. 10 Wisconsin for a 17-7 victory on Saturday that put the undefeated Wildcats in control of the Big Ten West. After Wisconsin went nowhere on its first possession, Ramsey tossed a 2-yard TD pass to Charlie Mangieri with 10:50 left in the first quarter. Northwestern: The Wildcats finished with just 24 yards rushing on 23 attempts, putting a lot of pressure on Ramsey.

Wisconsin wide receiver Chimere Dike (13) gets away from Michigan defensive back Vincent Gray (4) during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. 13 Wisconsin build a big lead in a 49-11 rout of Michigan on Saturday night. “It was great to get back to playing.”The Wolverines (1-3) fell behind 28-0 at halftime, their largest deficit at home since the Big House opened in 1927, and are off to their worst start since 1967. The team announced that 10 players would not be available to play at Michigan, but didn't say why they were out of the lineup. POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Badgers might up a little after slipping in the two weeks they were idle after rising to No.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin has canceled Saturday's home game against Purdue, the second straight game the 10th-ranked Badgers have called off as COVID-19 cases within their team continue to rise. This marks the second consecutive week that Wisconsin has canceled a game due to the virus outbreak. Ten players and 11 staffers have tested positive over the last seven days. The second cancellation gives Wisconsin little room for error in its quest to reach a second straight conference championship game. The Big Ten requires teams to play at least six games to be eligible for the league championship game.

9 Wisconsin has canceled its game at Nebraska on Saturday and paused all team activities for at least seven days after a dozen people within the program including coach Paul Chryst tested positive for COVID-19. “This morning I received the news that I had tested positive via a PCR test I took yesterday,” Chryst said in a statement. Wisconsin said six players and six staff members had tested positive over the last five days. The announcement followed reports that starting quarterback Graham Mertz had tested positive twice – which would require him to sit out at least 21 days under Big Ten protocols – and that backup quarterback Chase Wolf had tested positive at least once. “I am disappointed for our players and coaching staff who put so much into preparing to play each week," Chryst said.

What happens if an outbreak hits a team’s quarterback room? “Obviously this year there’s some things that will be unique,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said Monday without specifically discussing his players’ test results. “I think there certainly were those questions after the decision was made,” Ohio State team physician Jim Borchers said last week. And that’s all we really paid attention to.”Big Ten protocols say that athletes who test positive through point-of-contact daily testing must take a polymerase chain reaction test to confirm the first result. While Wisconsin awaits answers, Big Ten teams continue reminding quarterbacks about the potential risks inherent in this unusual season.

“I will not, cannot and should not therefore comment about anything dealing with our testing and coronavirus,” Chryst said Monday. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal both reported that Mertz had tested positive. The Journal-Sentinel reported Mertz’s positive test came Saturday, one day after the Badgers’ 45-7 season-opening home victory over Illinois. If that second test confirms a positive result, the athlete can’t play again for at least 21 days. Chryst said he has no problem with the Big Ten’s 21-day policy, which is more stringent than those of most conferences regarding players who test positive.

14 Badgers beat Illinois 45-7 on Friday night to open the pandemic-delayed Big Ten football season. Mertz became the first-team quarterback after returning starter Jack Coan underwent foot surgery on Oct. 7, leaving him out indefinitely. After Illinois fumbled the ball away on the game’s second play from scrimmage, Mertz hit fullback Jason Stokke for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Mertz responded to Illinois’ touchdown by throwing a 34-yard completion to Ferguson and then hitting the senior tight end again for a 14-yard score with 1:06 left in the half. After Illinois went three-and-out on its next series, Mertz threw deep and found Danny Davis for a 53-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left until halftime.