As the late, great Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys so eloquently stated: This year, Halloween fell on a weekend — and even better for us, a Saturday. That meant the already rowdy college football student sections were also clad in various get-ups, ranging from Minions to Smurfs to Grim Reapers. Man, is there anything better than college sports?
In this edition of the Weekend Report Card, we’re issuing grades to the fanbases that absolutely showed out, and those that missed the mark (or failed to show up at all). Here we go.
Iowa State’s Halloween madness: A+
Not only did Iowa State have one of the most thrilling walk-off victories of the weekend, but the student section also absolutely understood the Halloween assignment. There are “costumes” (walking around holding a toy airplane and calling yourself an aircraft carrier), and then there are COSTUMES — like the ones Cyclone fans rocked during their 51-49 walk-off win over Oklahoma State.
I mean, if you don’t get chills watching this field-storming video, you might not have a pulse.
Cheers to the Iowa State student section for earning an A+ with five gold stars for this weekend’s showing.
Free tuition not enough for Maryland fans: F
You know your student section is suffering when the offer of free tuition isn’t even enough to get them out of bed and into the stands. Maryland’s official attendance for Saturday’s 20-17 loss to Illinois — which dropped the struggling Terps to 2-6 overall, 0-5 in the Big Ten — was 27,207 … but the eye test didn’t exactly back up that figure.
True to their word, Maryland handed out free tuition for the spring semester to senior Bryce Hartle, and the young man was simply brimming with school spirit: “I was probably gonna dip after halftime, but I was like, I’ll stay, what the heck.”
Go Terps!
USC Injury-Fest 2026: Detention
Look, everyone loves a great field storming, but rule No. 1 is that you have to be safe. USC fans clearly missed that memo before rushing the field following their incredible 30-18 upset win over No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. In this video making the rounds, you can see a number of fans struggling as they attempt to hop the fence onto the Coliseum turf.
So, one kid suffered what looked like a serious knee or lower-body injury. Another tripped and landed flat on his face. And yet another needed assistance as he struggled to get up off the ground. That was all within a one-minute span. Love the enthusiasm from the Trojan faithful, but let’s clean it up.
Honor roll
Colorado costumes: A
Students dressed up as KISS giving the rock ‘n’ roll symbol on the field after a dramatic comeback and a walk-off TD? Absolutely.
And to answer the question, yes, storming the field as a favorite is entirely valid when you’ve had the year that the Buffs have. Just let them have this.
Syracuse is sensational: B+
Beating a ranked opponent? Check. Storming the field in Halloween costumes? Check. Whatever this guy is? Check plus plus.
Hoosier hospitality: A
Big Jake and a birthday cake — Nick Saban had one heck of a 75th birthday celebration. As a member of the College GameDay crew at Indiana’s 23-16 overtime win against Minnesota on Saturday, Saban was given the honor of firing the vintage cannon that booms from behind Memorial Stadium’s north end zone after every Indiana score. And to top it off, he was presented with a multi-tiered birthday cake from the Hoosiers that would make Buddy Valastro jealous.
Sign of the Week
So Indiana has this going for ’em … which is nice. There’s only one way to defeat a gopher, golden or otherwise, and enlisting the help of Bill Murray’s legendary “Caddyshack” character was a stroke of genius by the Hooiser faithful.
Colin Ward-Henninger is a content specialist working with McClatchy’s Content Innovation Lab.