Welcome to the quick recap of big things from Week 10 in the 20 Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever … at least for this week.
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20. Coastal Carolina 23, South Alabama 6
Don’t bail on Coastal Carolina just because it only beat South Alabama 23-9. The polls are still in love, and the New Year’s Six game and Sun Belt championship are both on the table. South Alabama is a decent enough defensive team to keep games from getting out of hand. Coastal Carolina got up early, the offense was balanced, the defense was strong throughout, and it was the sort of business-like easy win that good teams don’t sweat over.
19. Cincinnati 38, Houston 10
A whole lot of things can be true at once for Cincinnati. It can be that dominant, it can be there steady-good, and it can also be beating up on a whole slew of overrated and overloved teams. Houston is okay – it was missing its top receivers – but that doesn’t dismiss the 510 yards of total offense from the Bearcats, including 342 on the ground. The UC O line is a destructive force.
18. Oklahoma 62, Kansas 9
How next-level bad is Kansas? Oklahoma star QB Spencer Rattler was just okay, got hurt – he’s supposedly going to be fine with a banged up hip – and it was still a brutal blowout that got uglier and uglier with the backups in. No, this isn’t the Oklahoma team of previous seasons, and no, it’s not going to the College Football Playoff, but it’s working its way up into Big 12 Championship status with each week.
17. Texas A&M 48, South Carolina 3
Texas A&M might be fifth in the polls, and it is getting respect, but not enough. South Carolina really isn’t as bad as it looked – the Aggies were dominant. The D allowed just 150 yards of USC offense, Kellen Mond was methodically good, and the ground game – 264 yards and two scores – picked a great time to put together one of its best games of the season. It’s all there for the taking. Keep winning, go 9-1, expect Florida to lose another game, hope for a Notre Dame loss somewhere, and the CFP is right there.
16. Oregon 35, Stanford 14
Oregon’s win over Stanford is probably going to be dismissed as no big whoop, but that’s a better Cardinal team than it might seem. Tyler Shough was an effective 17-of-26 for 227 yards and a touchdown with a pick through the air for the Ducks, and he ran for 85 yards and a touchdown. Stanford showed a running game again after doing nothing last year, but that’s going to be the norm. Again, it was a good win for Oregon. This year, in the opener, take a 21-point victory and don’t ask any questions.
15. Indiana 38, Michigan 21
Don’t look at the opposing team records or get too into this any more than you have to. Indiana is 3-0 with wins over Penn State and Michigan. Again, Indiana – in football – is 3-0 with wins over Penn State and Michigan, beating the Wolverines for the first time since 1987.
The focus has been all on Michigan stinking it up, but really, this should be about IU improving in each of the first three games. Michael Penix’s 342 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with 97 yards and two scores from Stevie Scott, are legitimate. More than that, Indiana – again, in football – held the University of Michigan to 13 yards rushing.
14. Oklahoma State 30, Kansas State 18
Oklahoma State isn’t going to be the high-flying fun show we all thought it would be. However, the defense has been one of the biggest shockers of the 2020 college football season – it’s terrific, especially when it has to be (Texas game aside, to a point). The O didn’t really work against Kansas State, but on the road, and with the realistic Big 12 title dreams about to slip away, that was a gut-check win and finish – holding on to stop a two-point conversion in a take-the-W-get-on-the-bus-and-get-out game.
13. Marshall 51, UMass 10
Shhhhhhhhhh, but Marshall is right there in the mix for the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six. Beating UMass by 41 is about as tough as ordering drive-through, but this team just keeps rolling right along. The running game is great, freshman QB Grant Wells is getting sharper and sharper, and now all the program needs is for the Cincinnatis, Libertys, Coastal Carolinas and BYUs of the world to start to stumble.
12. Iowa State 38, Baylor 31
So by this point we know what Iowa State is. Brock Purdy isn’t going to rise up and have a dominant statistical year, but he’s still going to be fine. The three touchdown passes – good. The 164 yards and three interceptions – bad. However, Breece Hall is having a Doak Walker Award type of season – 31 carries for 133 yards and two scores – and the defense managed to hold down a mediocre Baylor attack. The team’s four turnovers, though, almost gave the game away.
11. Miami 44, NC State 41
D’Eriq King isn’t going to win the Heisman, and he’s always going to be behind the Clemson starting quarterback in the attention department, but a case has to be made for him as the ACC MVP. That Hurricane team needed everything he gave it in the 44-41 win over NC State, completing 31-of-41 passes for 430 yards and five touchdowns, and with a team-high 105 rushing yards on 15 carries.
NEXT: Top Ten Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever … For This Week
Top Ten Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever … For This Week
10. Northwestern 21, Nebraska 13
Everyone, be prepared that Northwestern is going to be your 2020 Big Ten West champ. Is it better than Wisconsin? No. Will Wisconsin get through the rest of the season without having to skip one more game – which would take it out of the Big Ten title game? Probably not. This Wildcat defense has been unbelievable in the second halves of games – it stuffed Nebraska time and again in key spots – Peyton Ramsey has been good enough at quarterback to come through when needed, and after this Saturday, the program is now the one to chase in the division.
9. Texas 17, West Virginia 13
So this is just going to be Texas football this year. No matter what the team, it’s going to play up or down to the competition and every game is going to be thrilling. That’s a good West Virginia defense the Longhorns dealt with, but as mediocre as the O was, 1) there’s Bijan Robinson – the superstar recruit who ran for 113 yards on 12 carries – and 2) the Longhorn run D showed up big.
8. BYU 51, Boise State 17
BYU still doesn’t have a great win. That’s not the school’s fault – it performed miracles to get the slate it did – and it’s bad luck that Boise State was down to its third-string quarterback a few minutes into the game and missed starting RB George Holani, but the team did exactly what it was supposed to do. Zach Wilson – 21-of-27 for 359 yards and two touchdowns with a running score – played like a first rounder, the defense stuffed the punchless Broncos until it was too late, and for a statement game moment, a 34-point win is just fine.
7. Ohio State 49, Rutgers 27
Of course Ohio State is amazing and of course it’s one of the top three teams in college football, if not No. 1. It also hasn’t – technically – played anyone with a pulse. Penn State? 0-3. Nebraska? -2. Rutgers? Yeah, it got by Michigan State with 193 takeaways, but come on. However, the Buckeyes are doing exactly what they’re supposed to – they’re DOMINATING.
Don’t get into a twist over the 49-27 final score – Rutgers scored everything late. Meanwhile, Justin Fields has been special, coming off a 24-of-28, 314-yard, five-touchdown day with a rushing scores.
6. Liberty 38, Virginia Tech 35
Everyone can’t give more love and smooches to BYU and Cincinnati, but does either one have a win over a Power Five team? Nope. Liberty not only has two – at Syracuse was the first one – but beating Virginia Tech in Blacksburg is by far the best win by any Group of Five-level program this year outside of Louisiana’s dominant victory over Iowa State.
It was helped by a timeout call by the Hokies that cost them a blocked field goal for a walk-off touchdown, but that was no fluke – the Flame running game cranked out 249 yards and two scores and held the devastating, but Khalil Herbert-less, ground game to 201 yards. There’s one more shot here with a trip to NC State and a date at Coastal Carolina. If the Flames beat the Wolfpack, and Coastal Carolina is unbeaten on December 5th, that’s going to be a thing.
5. USC 28, Arizona State 27
The Pac-12 can never catch a break. It gets ripped on for putting USC vs. Arizona State at 9 am local time which was great for the national attention, the two teams put on a brilliant show with an epic finish for the Trojans – with miraculous late scores helped by a recovered onside kick – and most of the world was focused on some presidential race thing being decided.
Don’t get off the Trojan train yet. As we’ve seen with team after team after team, this year, it takes a game or two to get rolling. All things considered, Kedon Slovis – 40-of-55 for 381 yards and two scores with a pick – was just fine, helped by the clutch late performance.
NEXT: Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever … For This Week: Florida 44, Georgia 28
4. Florida 44, Georgia 28, Part 2
If you can find a more intense first half of football than what Georgia and Florida came up with, let me know. I can never remember a first 30 minutes that was packed with more huge moments both good and bad. The hitting was brutal, there were devastating injuries, and both teams traded haymakers offensively with Georgia not being able to hang on. That was the No. 1 defense in the SEC that Florida put 38 first half points against.
3. Florida 44, Georgia 28, Part 1
This was the Control Your Destiny moment for Florida. Now it’s all there for the taking. Win out, and get in the College Football Playoff. Lost the SEC Championship, though, and the answer is probably no. It would’ve been nice to close out a wee bit stronger – two field goals in the second half – but Kyle Trask remains on a 2019 Joe Burrow pace with 474 yards and four touchdowns in the win, and the defense did just enough to hold serve against the Georgia offense that needed more healthy bodies and more answers.
NEXT: Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever … For This Week: Notre Dame 47, Clemson 40
2. Notre Dame 47, Clemson 40 2OT, Part 2
Notre Dame needed this win a whole lot more than Clemson did. The Tigers are more than fine in the playoff chase – they’re in by winning out. Get the Irish in the ACC Championship – and don’t biff the road game against Virginia Tech – and Clemson is the No. 3 seed at worst. However, don’t blame this loss on not having Trevor Lawrence. DJ Uiagalelei was brilliant, completing 29-of-44 passes for 439 yards and two score with a rushing touchdown.
He might have missed a few reads that Lawrence wouldn’t have, but whatever. The problem was a banged up Tiger D that wasn’t close to 100%, but there’s no excuse here. Notre Dame was better on the lines and came through with the win that puts it right in the College Football Playoff mix.
1. Notre Dame 47, Clemson 40 2OT, Part 1
Ian Book was fantastic – throwing for 310 yards and a touchdown with 68 yards on the ground – and Kyren Williams ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns, but give it up to the Irish defensive line that was the absolute truth all game long. The ten tackles for loss were nice, but it didn’t let Travis Etienne breathe – he was held to 28 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and caught eight passes for 57 yards.
Now the CFP is there for the taking. Win out, and the Irish are obviously in. However, three of the last four games are on the road – Boston College, North Carolina, Wake Forest – and all of them are landmines. Get through it all, beat Clemson – assuming it’s Clemson – in the ACC Championship or lose in a good, tight game, and it should be fine.
