Week 13 in the college football world was an interesting one, and that is both a good thing and a bad thing. This week was what I have now dubbed “SEC No-Name Week”, which means that the vast majority of SEC contenders are playing, let’s call it, lesser competition this week. However, there were several intriguing games on the schedule, and because I can’t figure out what else I want to say in the intro, let’s dive right in to some takeaways!
That’s what you’re all here for, anyway.
Oklahoma continues to muck up the SEC and CFP races
Note that the phrasing I used isn’t necessarily a bad thing in the case of Oklahoma, as they are continuing to keep the pressure on the rest of the SEC contenders (Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama, etc.).
And in this past Saturday’s 17-6 win over Missouri at home, the Sooners did what they needed to do to secure the victory. It isn’t like John Mateer played spectacularly or anything, as he only completed 14 of his 30 passes for 173 yards. But he did throw a couple of touchdown passes and posted a QBR of 67.6. In the end, that was enough offensively.
But the real story of this game was Oklahoma’s defense, as they made life miserable for Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula, who was just making his way back from injury. Pribula completed 20 of his 36 passes for 231 yards, but he also tossed two interceptions and posted just a 50.6 QBR.
For the Sooners, Brett Venables’ defense was the MVP in this game, as when the offense was struggling, the defense just went back out there and absolutely shut down the Tigers’ offense. Six points given up is the story of the game: an incredibly efficient effort from Oklahoma’s defensive unit.
Keep in mind that the Sooners own the tiebreaker over Alabama in conference play, and that will not only make the race in the SEC that much more interesting, but it will also give the College Football Playoff selection committee a ton more to think about when selection day rolls around.
Ohio State is the No. 1 team in the nation until proven otherwise
With respect to the Indiana Hoosiers, the Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football until further notice.
This isn’t exactly news at this point, and there was a time during Ohio State’s 42-9 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights where things looked a teeny bit dicey and the Buckeyes’ offense was struggling to string together anything consistent.
But then the second half hit, and things turned up in a hurry for Ohio State, and Rutgers was largely helpless to stop their offensive attack.
Julian Sayin didn’t play extraordinarily well and took a little while to really get going, but he ended his day with a solid statline of 13-for-19 with 157 passing yards and two touchdown passes. However, the story of this game was the Buckeyes’ running game. Freshman halfback Bo Jackson (yes, that is his real name) ran all over the Scarlet Knights defense, running for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
This game was 14-3 at halftime, and Rutgers was kind of just hanging around, keeping just enough distance to make the congregation at The Shoe in Columbus just a tad nervous. However, when the second half came along, Ohio State’s running game opened up in a big way and Sayin began to settle in against this Rutgers defensive front.
Oh well. Just another day at the office for the best team in the country. Now all eyes turn to The Game…
Miami continues to hang around in the CFP race
Had we all not basically written Miami off following their loss to SMU on the road? A two-loss team making the College Football Playoff, especially considering how well some of their other national peers were playing? No way, right?
Well, the Hurricanes just continue to hang around in the race to make the big dance. And it lines up well with some of their other competition conveniently suffering setbacks.
Carson Beck may very well have had the best game of his Miami career in Saturday’s victory over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, as he completed 27 of his 32 passes for 320 yards and four touchdown passes. For those counting at home, that’s just one more incompletion than touchdown pass. When you accomplish something like that, that’s how you know you had a good day behind center.
The ‘Canes only ran for 83 rushing yards as a team, but when Beck was dealing like he was in this game, you don’t really need to rush for a whole lot of yards. This was perhaps the best game from Beck in a Miami uniform, and it very well might have been one of the best games of his career, period.
And as long as Miami keeps winning games (especially in the fashion that they won this one), they will be a factor in the College Football Playoff race. Right now, they have their sights set on the ACC title game, but they will give the CFP selection committee something to think about, too.
Texas gave their (very slim) College Football Playoff hopes a boost
I know you might be thinking that the Longhorns have absolutely no chance of making the College Football Playoff with three losses on their resume and coming off an inefficient and frustrating road loss to SEC foe Georgia. Heck, for the most part, I was right there with you, reader!
Well I may have been just a teeny tiny bit too premature. They got a very, very, very much-needed bounce-back win over a bad Arkansas team this past Saturday in front of their home crowd in Austin. I know that Arkansas was winless in SEC play, but there is no denying that Texas needed this win.
Arch Manning (who, I must admit, as a skeptic of Manning throughout this season), played much better in this game, and he also had a major bounce-back game. Admittedly, it helps when you’re playing a middling Arkansas defense instead of one of the best defenses in the nation in Georgia.
But Manning was really darn good in this contest. He completed 18 of his 30 pass attempts for 389 yards and four touchdowns. And in a manner similar to Miami, the Longhorns only ran for 97 yards as a team. But when Manning is performing the way he was in this one, Steve Sarkisian and Texas’ coaching staff just put the ball in their quarterback’s hands and let him go to work. And Manning’s performance included highlights like this!
For Texas, the recipe to stay in the game is simple: just keep winning games. They still have a slim chance to make the Playoff, but they do need some help. Another loss would undoubtedly put the nail in the coffin.
That’s the formula: just keep stacking up wins. Crazier things have happened.
Oregon continues to stay on the path to lock up a spot in the CFP
If we hadn’t thought this over the past couple of weeks, it’s pretty darn close to a sure thing now.
Oregon took home a 42-27 win over fellow Big Ten foe USC in what was one of the marquee games of this weekend’s slate. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore threw for 257 yards and the Ducks ran for 179 yards on the ground. It was a well-balanced effort throughout the game, and those kinds of efforts typically lead to wins.
Moore completed 22 of his 30 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns, and outside of one interception in the third quarter, he was pretty close to perfect, looking efficient and decisive on many of his throws. And when he was flustered outside the pocket, he did a great job extending plays.
He has displayed outstanding poise and maturity for such a young player, and he has displayed that kind of poise throughout the season, with perhaps the one exception being against Indiana’s dominant defense.
The Ducks were also helped out tremendously by the efforts of running back Noah Whittingham, who ran for 104 yards and a score on 19 carries. When Oregon needed a big run, odds were that they got it out of Whittingham.
As for USC, Jayden Maiava had a great game, as he went 25-for-43 for 306 yards and three touchdowns. However, the Trojans’ defense just could not get stops when they needed to, and it seemed that throughout the game, Oregon was one step ahead of USC.
Now, Oregon has all but locked up a spot in the College Football Playoff, while USC will be incredibly hard-pressed to make it there with three losses on their record, barring some major collapses by other contenders.
And last but not least…
Kansas State-Utah was a contender for game of the year
Who knew?
The funny thing about this game was that about halfway through, it looked like this was going to be a Kansas State blowout victory. A Utah defense that was normally stout, aggressive, and opportunistic looked nothing close to any of those things, as they were at the mercy of Wildcats running back Joe Jackson.
Jackson ran for an absolutely ridiculous 293 yards(!!) and three(!!!) touchdowns on 24 carries. For the vast majority of this game, Jackson was dominating the Utes’ defense and doing whatever he wanted out there. All Avery Johnson had to do was basically just sit there and watch him run everywhere.
However, credit where credit is due for Utah: they never let the deficit get too out of hand for them to overcome. They were able to do just enough offensively through the first three quarters or so to keep it somewhat close.
And in the fourth quarter, Kansas State went up 47-37 with seven minutes remaining. One might think that the game would be mostly over by that point, and that isn’t exactly an unreasonable conclusion to come to. It kind of felt that if Utah scored again, K-State would just come back and grow the lead right back to where it had been.
Except only half of that previous sentence actually came to fruition. Half of that happened. The other half didn’t.
Kansas State would not score again for the remainder of the game, a sharp contrast from the explosive offense that Utah saw first-hand throughout the game. And as for the Utes, quarterback Devon Dampier and the offense took over and refused to lose this game from that moment on.
Utah’s next drive after K-State’s score was a touchdown, while the Wildcats were unable to respond and were forced to punt. From there, Utah got the ball at their own 30-yard-line with just over two minutes remaining. It was setting up for a legendary finish in the heart of Salt Lake City.
And that’s pretty much what happened.
For Kansas State, this was an opportunity to clinch bowl eligibility with a satisfying win and they completely and utterly blew it. But for Utah, it’s the complete opposite: euphoria in Salt Lake City, and while this performance from the Utes’ defense could have been better to say the least, they absolutely remain a contender for the College Football Playoff.
This is why I say that there literally is no sport quite like college football.
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