Oregon displays dominant offensive performance in 45-30 home victory over UCLA
Oregon’s offense was nearly perfect on Saturday afternoon, scoring on its first seven drives of the game and not punting until there was 6:09 left in the fourth quarter of its home win against UCLA. Bo Nix accounted for five of the Ducks’ six touchdowns in a 22-of-28 passing effort, contributing nearly two-thirds of the team’s yardage as well. A bold onside kick call from Dan Lanning early in the second quarter was recovered by Oregon and allowed the team to jump to a 24-10 lead that it never allowed to shrink below double digits. Of course, the other side of this is that Oregon’s defense also did not produce a stop until there was just over seven minutes remaining in the game. The Ducks cannot beat serious contenders with the defense they’ve trotted out this season and it’s shown minimal signs of improvement since the Georgia blowout.
Both of these teams are still firmly in the PAC-12 title race, which is shaping up as one of the most exciting conference championship battles in the country. Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Utah are competing as the upper crust of the now-divisionless conference: Oregon has beaten UCLA, UCLA has beaten Utah, and Utah has beaten USC. Oregon will not be tested again until November but then finishes with back-to-back home games against Washington and Utah and a road rivalry trip to Corvallis to play 5-2 Oregon State; UCLA should also have smooth sailing until its rivalry game with USC in the second-to-last game of the regular season; USC and Oregon avoid each other in the regular season; and Utah should have no tests other than the aforementioned Oregon game. I’m genuinely excited to see this play out down the stretch.
Clemson completes Syracuse comeback, 27-21, at home
Clemson is going to be undefeated when it shows up in the ACC title game, barring a massive surprise. While no one would bend over backwards to say they’ve looked great while doing it, the Tigers handled all three tests they’ve faced in the form of Wake Forest, NC State, and now Syracuse. They take an 8-0 record into the bye week, followed up with a road game at Notre Dame, and a three-game homestand against a disappointing Louisville, wilting Miami, and frisky-but-unexciting South Carolina. There is nothing this team does at an elite level, but Dabo Swinney’s accumulation of talent is enough to keep a distance between Clemson and the rest of the peak in an unimpressive ACC. I’m starting to believe this team is destined for a blowout loss in the 2-3 playoff matchup, but that’s the game. Kudos to them for continuing to win, I guess.
Ohio State blows out Iowa’s top-ranked defense in 54-10 performance
The fact that this was an imperfect performance for the Buckeyes offense and they *still* hung more points on Iowa than any team ever has in Kirk Ferentz’s 20-year, nearly 300-game career is a testament to exactly how great they are. The Hawkeyes had the top defense in America by SP+ and Ohio State’s offense scored 47 points on the group (Tommy Eichenberg assisted with a pick-six to bring the total to 54), despite tallying only 360 yards. Ohio State still has room for improvement, as the rushing offense only netted 81 yards on 26 carries and three of the first four Buckeye trips to the red zone saw Iowa hold them to a field goal, but this was a tremendously impressive performance to break down a defense as excellent as this crew. And while no one will write home about any team’s defensive performance against this dreadful Brian Ferentz offense, keeping a Power Five opponent under 200 yards and forcing six turnovers is impressive without further qualification.
Ohio State has not been tested with a top-end opponent in the way that Georgia, Tennessee, or other competitors have, but the Buckeyes continue to do exactly what they should be doing against their schedule: dominating. They pull away from teams and overwhelm them with offensive options that are too much to contain. The defensive improvements are also noticeable and the defensive front of this unit has been dominant, disrupting the running game and getting after the quarterback. While Ohio State still has questions to answer about its short-yardage running game and converting red zone opportunities to touchdowns, the improvements from last season to this one are apparent for this team.
The horseshoe up TCU’s ass continues to shine brightly following 38-28 comeback win against Kansas State
Despite losing its starting quarterback on the first drive of the game, Kansas State absolutely dominated the first 25 minutes of this game. The Wildcats ran up a 28-10 lead, forced a TCU turnover on downs at midfield with 5:19 remaining in the first half, and got the ball back with a chance to score and functionally end the game before halftime. Then they went three-and-out and yielded a 10-play, 91-yard touchdown drive to the Horned Frogs that started a 28-0 closing run for TCU featuring another quarterback injury for Kansas State, forcing them down to third-string freshman Will Rubley.
TCU has now completed comeback victories featuring deficits of 28-10 and 24-7 in back-to-back weeks and has three comeback wins in a row. Sonny Dykes has struck a deal with the devil, there’s no other possibility I can entertain. They’re not out of the woods yet, but any scenario where they fail to earn a berth to the Big 12 title game would be shocking at this point. Much like Clemson, they will be food for a real contender if they manage to scrape into the playoffs.
LSU closes on a 42-3 run to blow out fraudulent Ole Miss
My god, what a horrendous performance from Ole Miss. Huge credit to LSU responding in this one and turning the ship around after struggling against Auburn, getting shithoused by Tennessee, and then falling behind early in this one behind a cavalcade of penalties, but it’s mostly just nice to see Ole Miss finally get exposed. The Rebels spend their next five weeks traveling to A&M, taking a bye week, hosting Alabama, going to Arkansas, and playing Mississippi State at home in the Egg Bowl. I wouldn’t exactly bet on it, but there is certainly a scenario in play where Ole Miss loses out to finish 7-5. LSU has now quietly improved to 6-2 in Brian Kelly’s first year and quarterback Jayden Daniels has accounted for 12 touchdowns and 1100 yards on those over the last three weeks while completing 70-percent of his passes or more in each game. While it would be a shock for them to actually pull it off, the Tigers have a chance to upset Alabama and take sole control of the SEC West after their bye week. Nick Saban’s group comes to Death Valley in week 10.
Texas collapses against Oklahoma State on the road, picks up third loss of the season
This has been a very funny weekend of teams being exactly who they always are and perhaps none moreso than Texas. The Longhorns were outscored 24-3 in the final 33 minutes of this game and averaged less than 3.9 yards per play in the second half with five punts and two turnovers on the ledger. Quinn Ewers was uncharacteristically awful, completing just 38.7-percent of his passes and throwing three interceptions. Ironically, the final pick was an excellent pass from the five-star redshirt freshman that bounced off of the hands of an open receiver and fell into the waiting arms of the Oklahoma State defense. Texas could not stop itself from making mistakes for the duration of this game, turning the ball over three time and taking 14 penalties in comparison to Oklahoma State’s zero. At a certain point in time, Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns program at large is going to have to figure out how to win these games. Sark is 3-8 in one score games at Texas after going 16-12 in his previous stops as a head coach. Ewers will surely improve as time goes on and the skill talent will remain excellent, but losing games in the way that they have to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State in-conference is terribly frustrating for the fanbase. The degree of difficulty will only get higher when they leap to the SEC.
Cincinnati plays sloppy but wins (29-27 over SMU) a conference game, Tulane takes care of business against Memphis despite second-half scare, and UCF folds at ECU
Cincinnati once again played the same game that Cincinnati has played in the AAC all season, screwing around with an inferior opponent and making a would-be comfortable win into a one-score game. The Bearcats held a 29-14 lead at the end of the third quarter before allowing 13 points in the fourth to a disappointing SMU team, including a late touchdown with a failed two-point conversion that would have tied the game.
Tulane, meanwhile, ran up a 35-0 lead in the first half at home against Memphis before being outscored 28-3 in the second half. I fully expect this team to meet Cincinnati at 10-1 each going into the final week of the season and the possibility of back-to-back games between these two to determine a conference title is very real.
UCF was the third contender in the American but had those hopes vaporized by Mike Houston’s ECU. Holton Ahlers played his best game of the season for the Pirates, the ECU defense forced four turnovers, and Gus Malzahn’s Mickey Mouse offense finally got stomped out. UCF picked up its second loss of the season and should likely lose again this coming weekend when it hosts Cincinnati.
The AAC conference title race picture is now starting to take shape. Cincinnati and Tulane control their own destinies and would be guaranteed berths to the championship game if both meet undefeated in Nippert Stadium in November. UCF and Houston sit tied for third in the league, with the Knights yet to play Cincinnati or Tulane. If they split with that pair and win out otherwise, they are in. Houston’s record feels a bit fraudulent, but they’re still hanging around. They’ve already lost to Tulane and avoid both UCF and Cincinnati, so they just need to keep winning and hope for someone to stumble. ECU is also not dead yet, with a 3-2 record in the conference in fifth place and games remaining against both Cincinnati and Houston. I don’t think the Pirates will make much more noise, but stranger things have happened.
Penn State rights the ship against Minnesota with a 45-17 blowout over the Gophers
Sean Clifford has taken a lot of deserved heat from Penn State fans over the years, but credit to the soon-to-be accountant on his 23-of-31, 295-yard, four touchdown passing performance in the Whiteout game. Penn State hung nearly 500 yards on the third-ranked (per SP+) Minnesota defense, completely shut down Minnesota’s passing attack without veteran Tanner Morgan at the helm, and rolled to a comfortable victory. The Nittany Lions were blown out by Michigan just a week ago and have a brutal matchup against Ohio State looming on Halloween weekend, but things are copacetic in Happy Valley right now. A 10-2 record and top 15 finish is well in range for James Franklin’s squad.
Troy wins a defensive war with South Alabama, 10-6, on the road to take control of the Sun Belt West
Troy’s Jon Sumrall and South Alabama’s Kane Wommack are two of the brightest young head coaches in the country and the duo have found themselves on opposite sides of a great small school rivalry. Sumrall’s team came out with the edge in this one, but it was a true war for four quarters that was mostly decided by the two defensive fronts. The teams combined for seven sacks, 16 tackles for a loss, and several other hurries and pressures. You know two defenses are cooking when the combined yardage between both teams sits at just 421 yards. Troy improves to 6-2 on the season and takes possession of first place in its division with control of its own destiny on the way to a potential conference championship game appearance.
Miami takes a record-setting dump in its own pants against Duke, loses 45-21 at home
I just want to take a brief moment to congratulate the Hurricanes on being the first team in FBS history to turn the ball over eight time in a football game, including losing all five fumbles that it put on the turf. Tremendous work from The U.
Toledo collapses late against Buffalo, falls 34-27 on the road in the #PatrickMayhornChallenge
It is hard to imagine the end of this game playing out worse than it did for Toledo. Jason Candle’s squad entered the fourth quarter with a commanding 27-10 lead, but surrendered 24 unanswered points to lose to the Buffalo Bulls and saw star quarterback Dequan Finn end the game on an injury in the process. The Rockets turned the ball over six times, including four interceptions from Finn. Toledo still sits atop the MAC West and Buffalo retains sole possession of first in the MAC East. It’s very possible we could see these two teams meet again for the conference championship game in December.
Texas A&M reaches Jimbo’s new rock bottom in 30-24 road loss to South Carolina, falling to 3-4 on the year
How does this happen for a team that has college football’s fourth-most talented roster? Accumulating this many five-stars and then blowing it because you have a horrendous offense that you are too arrogant or stupid to consider changing is The Jimbo Difference. The alleged quarterback whisperer’s Aggie starter Haynes King now ranks 99th nationally in passer efficiency rating. In fact, Fisher has only produced two quarterback seasons with a starter ranking in the top 50 in passer efficiency in the eight seasons since Jameis Winston left Florida State. Jimbo’s starting quarterbacks haven’t thrown for more than 8 yards per attempt for six consecutive seasons, a number that 235 quarterbacks have equaled or bested in that span. The Aggies rank 109th in scoring offense this season. In fact, Fisher has produced just one top 30 scoring offense in his last nine seasons as a head coach.
A&M’s pursuit of Jimbo made plenty of sense at the time and he still does provide value — almost no one in the country recruits better, he’s beaten Nick Saban, and he produced just the third top-five AP poll finish since World War II for the Aggies — but they can’t go on doing the same thing every season. Leadership in the athletic department has to force him to remove Darrell Dickey, who has held the role for all five of Fisher’s seasons at the school, as offensive playcaller. Unfortunately, it’s unclear what leverage the school has, if any, to force Fisher to change. His $95M fully-guaranteed contract allows him the privilege of the “Fuck you, pay me” answer to his employers. A change in offensive scheme would take genuine self-reflection, learning, and growth from the head coach that he has never shown any interest in pursuing. In all likelihood, Texas A&M will keep trotting out the same bullshit and going 7-5 most years until some oil baron ponies up on a buyout.