NFL
By: Brock Vierra
It was yet another wild week of college football as the SEC held two big matchups that have shaken up the college football playoff outlook. While there are a whole lot of games to go through, week eleven finishes with some good news for some and bad news for others. Oklahoma State lost to TCU, accumulating the Cowboys seventh loss of the year, and clinching a losing season for the first time since 2005. The loss also means Mike Gundy’s 18-year streak for being to a bowl game is now over. On the other side, TCU is bowl eligible for the second time in the Sonny Dykes era.
Across the country, #18 Pitt suffered their second straight loss as they lost to Virginia just as #17 Iowa State lost to Kansas to pick up the Cyclones’ second loss of the season. #11 Alabama dominated #14 LSU, 42-13 in Death Valley, South Carolina becomes bowl eligible with a win at Vandy and Missouri defeats Oklahoma 30-23 off of a fumble returned for a touchdown with less than 30 seconds left in the game. At 5-5, Oklahoma ends their season against Alabama and at LSU as Brent Venables seat is engulfed in flames. Should Venables fail to win another game, it would be the first time since 1998 that the Sooners would be bowl-ineligible. It would also be Venables second losing season in three years. Before Venables was hired in 2022, Oklahoma had 23 consecutive winning seasons.
With all that being said…
This Week Of College Football
#1. Oregon took care of Maryland with ease in Eugene, and former Sooner QB Dillion Gabriel made his case for the Heisman. #2 Ohio State blanks Purdue 45-0 but Buckeyes fans left the game with concerns as DC Jim Knowles employed a three-down lineman defense that he used at Oklahoma State, a defense that Michigan ran all over when he used it in 2022. Purdue found consistent success on the ground while Knowles refused to abandon the formation. Only time will tell if that was an extended experiment or something he plans to incorporate in the future.
#3 Georgia traveled to Oxford and left in defeat as Lane Kiffin secured his biggest win ever as Ole Miss head coach, dominating the Bulldogs 28-10. Jaxson Dart left with an early injury but returned to dispatch Georgia. However, it was backup QB Austin Simmons who shined, going 5/6 for 64 yards, leading Ole Miss to their first score of the game. Simmons looked like a better passer than Dart with a strong arm, NFL-level accuracy, and Heisman-level timing. It looks like Oxford got themselves their own version of Michael Penix Jr.
#4 Miami got punched in the face via Georgia Tech’s ground attack as the Yellow Jackets secured their second top-10 win over a team from Florida this season. Cam Ward looked all out of sorts while the Hurricanes defense faltered physically in the loss. It’s Brent Key’s second straight win over Mario Cristobal after last year’s meltdown in Miami. In 2023, the Hurricanes failed to kneel the ball, leading to a fumble that Tech scored the game-winner off of. One kneel-down would’ve ended the game.
#5 Texas smoked a limited Florida, #6 Penn State took care of Washington in a Happy Valley white out, #7 Tennessee comfortably handled Mississippi State, setting up a massive game against Georgia next week, and #8 Indiana fought through a gritty matchup against Michigan to advance to 10-0.
Despite getting dominated all night, #9 BYU pulled out a 22-21 victory over Utah in the Holy War, assisted by a highly controversial holding call against Utah. Having the ball at their own nine-yard line, BYU was trailing 21-19 with 1:35 left in the game. BYU was at 4th and 10 and a stop would’ve given Utah the win as BYU had burned all their timeouts. BYU QB Jake Retzlaff was sacked but Utah DB Zemaiah Vaughn was called for a very ticky tacky holding call that extended the drive. Retzlaff would lead BYU downfield before Will Ferrin hit a 44-yard field goal to keep BYU undefeated.
After the game, the referee crew was accosted by Utah HC Kyle Whittingham and in an unprecedented move that is reminiscent of USC AD Pat Haden yelling at refs during the 2010s, Utah AD Mark Harlan took to the podium to publicly chastise the officiating crew, making several disparaging comments about the Big 12 conference. #10 Notre Dame took care of struggling Florida State as the top ten wraps up with as much drama as one could expect.
In the ACC, SMU sits on top of the conference via Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech. With their only loss coming against undefeated BYU, SMU looks like a near-lock for the college football playoff. Miami and Clemson are tied for second with one conference loss. In the Big 12, Arizona State is bowl-eligible as Kenny Dillingham establishes himself as one of the premier coaches in the country with a win over UCF. Colorado escapes Texas Tech with a win with Travis Hunter attempting to become the first defensive player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson.
In the Big 10, UCLA shocked Iowa at the Rose Bowl on Friday. Deshaun Foster has the Bruins rolling as he secures their third straight conference win. UCLA is two wins away from bowl eligibility as they play their final three games on the West Coast against West Coast opponents. Rutgers QB Athan Kaliakmanis gets revenge over his former team as he tossed three touchdowns to defeat Minnesota.
In the Mountain West, #12 Boise State overcomes a poor performance to beat Nevada. San Jose State defeats Oregon State to become bowl eligible in year one of the Ken Niumatalolo tenure and UNLV escapes Hawaii with a 29-27 win to retain the 9th Island Showdown trophy.
Louisiana Lafayette steamrolls Arkansas State, 55-19 to go to 8-1 on the season. Marshall defeats Southern Miss to become bowl-eligible for the third straight under HC Charles Huff and Tulane improves to 8-2 with a win over Temple to keep things interesting in the race for the non-P5 AQ bid.
UConn wraps up this week’s recap with their seventh win of the year, their highest win total since their eight-win Big East winning season of 2010. As always when discussing the 2000s Huskies, I’d like to extend my condolences to Jasper Howard and the Howard family. Howard’s life was taken from him on October 18th, 2009 and this year marks 15 years since his passing. The former star corner for the Huskies would’ve been 35 years old this year. Gone but never forgotten, he lives on in the hearts and minds of all of college football and its devoted fandom.
For more college football recap, watch The Last Word. New episodes every Saturday night.
