NFL
By: Brock Vierra
This week of college football was a wild ride of shocking performances and crazy upsets. The Big 10, Big 12, and ACC all paint a different picture after the teams that were expected to represent the conference in their conference championship games suffered unexpected losses. Louisiana Lafayette, Boise State, Tulane and surprisingly Sam Houston all currently have seven wins, representing the top contenders for the non-P5 AQ College Football Playoff bid.
#1 Oregon, #5 Miami, #9 BYU, #13 Indiana and #21 Army remain the only undefeated teams left in college football, pushing forward a new narrative that college football realignment had brought back a competitive edge, unseen in the regular season in quite sometime. With the possibility that no team will end their 2024 season undefeated, perhaps realignment may not be such a bad thing after all.
However, despite the good, Washington’s victory over USC last night served as a stark reminder of the passionate regional games lost due to corporate greed. With that being said…
Let’s recap this week of college football
In the top ten rankings, #1 Oregon steamrolled Michigan in the Big House. #2 Georgia was taken to the wire against arch-rival Florida but the Bulldogs escaped with the win after they were aided by Gators’ QB DJ Lagway suffering a potentially season-ending injury. For the Gators, that would be their second QB lost for the season after Graham Mertz suffered a torn ACL against Tennessee. Despite the injuries, the Gators have looked good this season and should they win a few more games, Billy Napier could be back for year four after being written off in the offseason.
#5 Miami’s late surge lifted them over Duke in an empty Hard Rock Stadium. Despite the Hurricanes trailing 21-17 at halftime, a 36-3 run to end the game saw Miami win this one comfortably. Cam Ward threw five touchdowns as Xavier Restrepo hauled in eight catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
#7 Tennessee needed a strong second half to defeat Kentucky in Knoxville, avoiding an SEC upset. Unlike #10 Texas A&M, which went on the road to South Carolina, an abysmal second-half performance saw the Aggies picking up their first SEC loss of the season. The Aggies were outscored by the Gamecocks 24-0 in the second half, and Shane Beamer makes a case that he’s one offseason away from bringing SC back to national championship contender status.
#6 Texas, #8 Notre Dame and #9 BYU all had a BYE this week.
In the big matchup of the day, #4 Ohio State defeated #3 Penn State in Happy Valley. The game played out like Ohio State verses Penn State always does during the James Franklin and Ryan Day era. It was a tough affair with offensive struggles on both ends with the Buckeyes achieving a victory that impressed no one and the Nittany Lions fanbase once again calling for Franklin’s head.
Drew Allar was horrific on the day and while some of his throws were on him, it was the play calling that was the detriment of Penn State. Let me paint one of the most disturbing pictures in college football for you. Penn State has two of the best running backs in the country in Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton. Their leading rusher was tight end Tyler Warren with 47 yards. Warren is one of the premier receiving tight ends in the nation. Penn State’s leading receiver was RB Nick Singleton with 54 yards.
Allar finished 12/ 20 passing for 146 yards and one interception. Allar was also Penn State’s second leading rusher. Penn State entered the red zone on three different drives. They ended with a made field goal, an interception and a turnover on downs. Three red zone drives resulted in three points. On their last red zone drive, Penn State trailed 20-13 with 1st and Goal at the OSU 6 yard line. With under seven minutes left in the game, Penn State needed six yards to tie.
Penn State proceeded to run Kaytron Allen three straight times for a grand total of five yards. On fourth and goal from the one yard line, Allar who had been struggling up to this point, was put into shotgun. They called a passing play on fourth and goal at the one…yeah I know. It was incomplete. Ohio State would proceed to run the clock out. Penn State scored six offensive points and the Nittany Lions’ lone touchdown came off of a Zion Tracy pick six. What a nightmare.
However Penn State wasn’t the only team to have a nightmare afternoon. The Big 12 saw it’s top contenders blow up their season as #11 Iowa State lost at home to Texas Tech while #17 Kansas State lost at Houston. Houston HC Willie Fritz rebuild of the Cougars is ahead of schedule as they’ve tied their win mark from last season and sit two wins away from bowl eligibility.
Oklahoma State suffered their sixth loss of the season as Arizona State becomes bowl eligible for the first time in the Kenny Dillingham era. Dillingham has his Sun Devils rolling while Gundy’s squad continues to falter. If Oklahoma State loses one more game, they will fail to be bowl eligible for the first time since 2005, Gundy’s first year as head coach.
In the ACC, #11 Clemson suffered their first conference loss of the season as they lose at home to Louisville. #20 SMU continues to impress as they’re in position to play in the ACC conference championship game with a blowout win over #18 Pitt. In their first year as a member of the ACC, SMU has averaged nearly 40 points per game and their only loss on the season is a three point loss to undefeated BYU.
Mack Brown and his North Carolina Tar Heels scored their second straight victory. One more win would be Brown’s 10th straight bowl eligible season, a streak dating back to 1992. Against Florida State, Omarion Hampton was the Tar Heel offense with 32 carries for 172 yards and 4 touchdowns.
In the Big 10, #13 Indiana overcome an early ten point deficient to defeat Michigan State, remaining undefeated. Minnesota defeated #24 Illinois and Iowa steamrolled Wisconsin, amping up the pressure on Badgers’ HC Luke Fickell. The loss virtually ensures that the Badgers will not have a double digit win season. Comparison may be the thief of joy and situations may have been different but it should be noted that Fickell’s predecessor Paul Chryst has a 10+ win season in four out of his first five years in Madison.
Across the rest of the country, Colorado State remains undefeated in conference play with a win over Nevada. The win makes Colorado State bowl eligible for the first time since 2017. Hawaii keeps their bowl hopes alive with a last minute win at Fresno State, Nebraska continues to torture their fans as they fail to get bowl eligible with a home loss to UCLA and Vanderbilt becomes bowl eligible for the first time since 2018 with a win at Auburn. The Commadores are one win away from their first winning season since 2013.
For more College Football recaps, watch Team NBS Media’s weekly recap show The Last Word. New episodes every Saturday.
