College Football Roundup: Ohio State, Tennessee Boost Playoff Resumes
If you’re going out for dinner at a nice restaurant, the one thing you don’t do is fill up on lunch. In this analogy, Week 9 is the lunch – and the upcoming November slate of games that will determine the College Football Playoff is the dinner.
However, even though there were only 3 ranked vs. ranked matchups this weekend and thus we expected to find dental floss in the bottom of our trick-or-treat bag, this is still the wild, wacky, and wonderful world of college football. By no means did this weekend turn out to be a king size Reese’s, but with 7 ranked teams losing – some in shocking ways – we did end up finding an extra Kit Kat when we turned the bag upside down.
Now, let’s get to the Week 9 action.
OHIO STATE 44 PENN STATE 31
A Kaytron Allen touchdown run with 9:26 remaining in the game gave Penn State a 21-16 lead, and with Beaver Stadium rocking, Ohio State was officially on the ropes. However, the Buckeyes responded with the mettle of a champion, answering with a 75-yard drive in just 3 plays to retake the lead. Then, J.T. Tuimoloau took over. The sophomore defensive end from Seattle burst onto the scene with one of the greatest defensive performances in recent Buckeye history.
With Penn State attempting to take back the lead on the next drive, Tuimoloau stripped Nittany Lion QB Sean Clifford, setting up a 24-yard CJ Stroud touchdown pass to Cade Stover on the following play. Then, with just 2:42 left in the game and Penn State trailing 37-24, Tuimoloau intercepted Clifford and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown to seal the win. For the game, he finished with 6 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFLs, 2 interceptions, 1 pass deflection, 1 forced fumble, and 1 defensive touchdown. What an incredible performance for someone who came into the game with just 26 career tackles.
Penn State deserves credit for keeping the Buckeyes bottled up for much of the game, but like Notre Dame found out in the opener, there is no margin for error when playing arguably the nation’s most dangerous offense. What makes this Ohio State team different than past instances though is the improved defense under first-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. In contrast to losses in past seasons where the offense started slow and the Buckeye defense offered no resistance in games that quickly turned into blowouts (a 55-24 loss to Iowa in 2017, a 49-20 loss to Purdue in 2018, and last year’s 42-27 loss to Michigan), this year’s edition has bought the offense time in Ohio State’s 2 biggest wins of the season – Notre Dame and Penn State. Ohio State remains an incredibly dangerous team and has an inside track for a CFP spot.
McDONOUGH’S MUSINGS
~ The first batch of College Football Playoff rankings are released on Tuesday, and here’s how I would rank the top-10. Last week’s ranking also included.
- Georgia (8-0, LW: 1)
- Tennessee (8-0, LW: 2)
- Ohio State (8-0, LW: 3)
- Michigan (8-0, LW: 6) – Jumps TCU and Clemson on the account of a dominating win over Michigan State, making it two straight weeks the Wolverines have been impressive after so-so victories over Maryland, Iowa, and Indiana. In the wins over Penn State and Michigan State, the Wolverines had over 40 minutes time of possession. Michigan has only beaten one ranked team, but the Wolverines are passing the eye test.
- Clemson (8-0, LW: 4) – The idle Tigers slide behind the Wolverines, as close victories over Wake Forest and Syracuse are quickly losing luster.
- TCU (8-0, LW: 5) – TCU struggled to pull away from a mediocre West Virginia team on the road, allowing Michigan to move past them.
- Oregon (7-1, LW: 7)
- Alabama (7-1, LW: 8)
- UCLA (6-1, LW: 9) – The Bruins move up a spot with an easy win over Stanford coupled with Oklahoma State’s loss.
- Kansas State (6-2, LW: NR) – The Wildcats get the nod over USC and Ole Miss because they own a dominating top-10 win. Additionally, that win at Oklahoma is starting to look better. The Trojans and the Rebels will have plenty of chances to move up in the rankings though.
~ As the calendar turns to November this week and we fall back for the last time, a friendly reminder weeknight #MACtion returns to brighten our Tuesday and Wednesday nights. These games are always entertaining, and Tuesday at 7:30 PM first-place Buffalo visits second-place Ohio in a matchup that gives the winner the inside track to the MAC Championship game.
~ Notre Dame dominated Syracuse on Saturday, defeating the Orange 41-24 in a game that could have been even more of a blowout. The ease with which the Irish dispatched Syracuse – coupled with the fact they also own a 45-32 win at North Carolina and still are the team who played Ohio State the closest – makes the losses to Marshall and Stanford even more baffling – and infuriating. This team undoubtedly has talent, but Marcus Freeman needs to do some self-scouting to figure out why his first group of players seems to play so much better on the road and why this team always plays up – or down – to the level of its opponents. Unlock that consistency and combine it with the success on the recruiting trail Freeman is already having, and he can take this program to the next level.
STOCK UP
~ Illinois – Defense travels. In what could have easily been a let down game on the road against a Nebraska team that had been playing better under interim coach Mickey Joseph, the nation’s top defense held Nebraska to just 248 total yards, forced 4 turnovers, and limited the Huskers to just 2-12 third-down conversions, a big reason Illinois was able to control the ball for 38:13. That defensive performance gave RB Chase Brown, QB Tommy DeVito, and the Illini offense plenty of time to get rolling. Brown finished with 149 yards rushing and a touchdown, and DeVito completed 91% of his passes for 179 yards and 2 scores. Believe it or not, but with home games against Michigan State and Purdue the next two weeks, Illinois should be 9-1 and ranked in the top-15 heading to Ann Arbor on November 19th. Bret Bielema deserves immense credit for the job he’s done at a perennially underachieving program and should garner serious Coach of the Year consideration.
~ UCF – The Knights answered a Cincinnati touchdown that gave the Bearcats a 21-18 fourth quarter lead by driving 75 yards in 2:16, pulling out a 25-21 win on a 17-yard scamper from RJ Harvey in the Bounce House. With the win, UCF moved into the top-25 and into second place in the wild and competitive American Conference. This UCF program had stagnated for a few seasons following its 2017 national championship*, but in his second season, Gus Malzahn has this under-the-radar team on the right track. The Knights have a November 12th trip to first place Tulane circled on the schedule as the toughest remaining test.
~ Boise State – Since head coach Andy Avalos fired offensive coordinator Tim Plough (leading QB Hank Bachmeier to leave the program), the Broncos are 4-0 and averaging 35.8 PPG (compared to 22.0 PPG in the first 4 games). On Saturday, Boise State blew out Colorado State 49-10 and stands alone atop the Mountain West at 5-0. The Broncos host faltering BYU next weekend before road trips to last place Nevada and second place Wyoming. Boise State has a very real chance to win out, and with the American Conference continuing to cannibalize itself and #23 Liberty traveling to Arkansas next week, the Broncos could still end up as the Group of Five CFP representative.
~ Tennessee – The Volunteers moved up to #2 in the country with a 44-6 blowout victory over Kentucky, setting up a massive trip to Georgia next weekend. Against the best defense they have played this season, Tennessee showed that even though there’s still plenty of offensive firepower, their defense can help this team win too. The Volunteer defense forced three Will Levis interceptions and held the projected first-round pick to just 98 yards passing. Due to the defensive performance, Tennessee’s last four scoring drives were just 35, 29, 58, and 13 yards. Keep that up, and this team can beat anyone, including Georgia next week.
~ Utah – With starting QB Cameron Rising injured, the Utes found a way to win in Pullman against Washington State in one of those weird, Friday night Pac-12 games that typically always result in the ranked team losing. Utah held the ball for over 35 minutes and limited Washington State to just 42 rushing yards. With the victory, Utah remains in a tie for second place in the conference and with home games against Arizona and Stanford coming up the next two weeks, figures to be back in the top-10 for the November 19th trip to Oregon.
STOCK DOWN
~ Oklahoma State – If you were watching another game, you could be forgiven for thinking that the score ticker on the broadcast wasn’t working, because it kept showing Oklahoma State – the Big 12’s leading scoring offense coming into the game – with 0 points. One week after a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Texas, the Cowboys laid a huge egg in Manhattan, and with no easy games in the Big 12 this year, probably cost themselves a chance at a New Year’s Six bowl. The Oklahoma State defense was constantly gashed by Kansas State and the offense was no better, averaging just 1.8 yards per rush and turning the ball over 3 times.
~ Wake Forest – Last weekend, Miami became the first Power Five team since 2009 to have 8 turnovers in a game, a performance that elicited quite a bit of negative attention. Like a bored teenager wanting to get noticed, the Demon Deacons must have thought, “if that’s what it takes to get noticed by the national media...well, here we go.” However, in contrast to Miami who needed an entire game to commit sacrilege against the college football gods, Wake Forest managed to do the deed in just the second half, turning a 14-13 halftime lead into a 48-14 deficit by the end of the third quarter. Sam Hartman was benched after 2 third quarter pick-sixes, contributing to 35 Louisville third quarter points. All of a sudden, a solid, consistent Wake Forest team is a major question mark, especially with a season ending stretch against #21 NC State, #17 North Carolina, #22 Syracuse, and a tough Duke team.
~ Boston College – There’s “rebuilding”, and then there’s “losing to UConn while scoring 3 points rebuilding”. Unfortunately, the Eagles have chosen the latter path, despite the presence of senior QB Phil Jurkovec and senior WR Zay Flowers. With the 13-3 loss to the Huskies, Boston College fell to 2-6 on the season and any chance of a bowl bid is likely gone. The Eagles turned the ball over 5 times and one of the nation’s worst offensive lines surrendered 5 sacks and 9 TFLs to a defense that had previously been confused for an intramural ultimate frisbee squad. In just a season, Jeff Hafley has gone from a rising star in the profession to a coach – working for an AD who didn’t hire him – who could be looking for a new job in a month.
~ Michigan State – As if the performance on the field in the 29-7 loss to Michigan wasn’t bad enough, it appears that Michigan State players may have assaulted a Michigan player in the tunnel after the game (and as of writing there is speculation that charges could be filed). Mel Tucker overhauled this program with transfers a year ago, but with Kenneth Walker III and many others gone from that Peach Bowl team, you have to wonder what sort of culture – if any – exists at Michigan State. On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t ask questions I don’t want the answer to. This is also an administration who made the decision last season to give Tucker a 10-year, $95 million contract extension, kicking off a wild coaching carousel and resetting coaching salaries in college football. What a mess. The Spartans now must reap what they have sown…and no one will feel sorry for them.
~ Pittsburgh – Is this the same team that took Tennessee to overtime? Under Pat Narduzzi, Pitt has prided itself on being a hard-nosed, blue-collar program that won games with defense and a strong rushing attack, but on Saturday, the Panthers were boat-raced 42-24 by a red hot North Carolina team to drop to 4-4 on the year. Kedon Slovis has not proven to be the answer at QB, and against the nation’s 118th ranked passing defense, he completed just 45.1% of his passes, a big reason the Panthers converted just 40% of third downs against the ACC’s 13th ranked third-down defense. Pitt has 4 winnable – but also 4 losable – games remaining, and this season’s performance is making last year’s ACC Championship look much more like an exception than the norm.
BEST GAMES OF WEEK 10
- Air Force at Army, 11:30 AM, CBS
- Texas Tech at #7 TCU, 12 PM, FOX
- #19 Tulane at Tulsa, 12 PM, ESPNU
- #2 Tennessee at #1 Georgia, 3:30 PM, CBS
- #6 Alabama at #15 LSU, 7 PM, ESPN
- Texas at #13 Kansas State, 7 PM, FS1
- #5 Clemson at Notre Dame, 7:30 PM, NBC
- #20 Wake Forest at #21 NC State, 8 PM, ACCN
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