College Football Roundup: More Chaos In Week Eleven

Another week of college football means more exciting games and another Top 10 team goes down

As expected, Week 11 brought more drama and excitement as for the eighth week in a row a team ranked in the top-ten lost. To this point in the season, there have been 22 losses among top-ten teams – and that number will only grow over the next few weeks.

Now, onto the Week 11 action.

BAYLOR 27, OKLAHOMA 14

Baylor rode a dominant rushing and defensive performance to a physical 27-14 win over previously undefeated Oklahoma. The Bears rolled up 296 yards rushing, behind 148 from RB Abram Smith and 107 from QB Gerry Bohanon.

However, the story of the game was the performance of Baylor’s defense. Fresh off giving up 461 yards passing to TCU in a 30-28 loss last week, the Bears stymied QB Caleb Williams, who Lincoln Riley benched in favor of Spencer Rattler (before going back to Williams after Rattler was ineffective). Williams threw two interceptions, and Oklahoma put up only 260 total yards, the fewest in any game that Riley has coached with the Sooners.

Oklahoma’s loss has massive ramifications for the College Football Playoff. The Big 12 champion is now guaranteed to have one loss, and with the lack of respect the CFP committee has shown the Big 12 to this point in time, it will be hard to see a one-loss Big 12 champion jumping any other one-loss Power 5 conference champion, an undefeated Cincinnati team, or a one-loss Notre Dame team.

MICHIGAN 21, PENN STATE 17 / OHIO STATE 59, PURDUE 31

Michigan and Ohio State remain on a collision course, with “The Game” on Thanksgiving Weekend shaping up to be the most nationally relevant matchup between the two rivals since the #1 vs. #2 showdown in 2006.

The Wolverines backed up their controversial #6 ranking this week with a 21-17 victory in Happy Valley over Penn State – a place where Michigan has not had much recent success. Michigan’s defensive line put up 7 sacks and dominated Penn State at the line of scrimmage, holding the Nittany Lions to just 2.6 YPC. However, Michigan will need to find more consistency and explosive plays on offense before taking on the Buckeyes. The Wolverines offense scored on only three of twelve drives and needed a 47-yard touchdown from TE Erick All with 3:29 remaining to pull out the narrow win.

In contrast to Michigan, Ohio State’s offense had its most impressive performance of the season. The Buckeyes put any notion Purdue had about racking up its third victory over a top-five opponent this season to bed early, racing out to a 45-17 halftime lead. Ohio State put up 624 total yards and WR Garrett Wilson returned from injury to put up four touchdowns. The Buckeyes will need to clean up some things on the defensive side, as Purdue was able to rack up 481 total yards (390 yards passing).

Next week, Ohio State hosts #7 Michigan State while Michigan travels to Maryland.

McDONOUGH’S MUSINGS

• Georgia wrapped up an undefeated SEC regular season with a dominant 41-17 win over Tennessee in front of a raucous Neyland Stadium. Tennessee was the best offense that Georgia has seen this season and took the opening drive down the field for the first touchdown that the Georgia defense had surrendered in the first quarter this season. However, that is when the Dawgs showed their championship pedigree. On the ensuing offensive possession, Georgia went 78 yards in six plays to tie the game and then the defense took over. Though the Volunteers would technically score the most points the Dawgs have given up this year (17), they would only get one more field goal while the game was still in doubt. Georgia hasn’t faced much adversity this season, and it was impressive to see them respond so quickly when down early in Knoxville.

• On Penn State’s first two drives in the 21-17 loss to Michigan, the Nittany Lions ran two fake kicks. The first one – a fake punt on the opening drive – worked for the conversion, but the second – a fake field goal from the two-yard line – was stuffed by Michigan and resulted in a fumble, giving Michigan the ball on the 29-yard line. Setting aside the questionable decision to fake a field goal when only needing two yards (why not just keep the offense on the field?), the implicit message that head coach James Franklin sent his team was that they could not line up and beat Michigan without using gimmicks. Michigan’s stuff of the Penn State fake field goal pulled at least three points off the board in what was going to be a low-scoring game, led to at 27-yard swing in field position, and was a giant momentum shift.

• There was plenty of late drama in Baylor’s win over Oklahoma, as despite leading 24-14 and being able to run out the clock, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda took a timeout with three seconds remaining to kick an additional field goal. Not realizing that timeout had been called, Baylor fans stormed the field, leading Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley to send his team to the locker room and go off on the officials for the fact that no flag was thrown for the premature field-storming. After the game, Aranda pointed out that one of the tiebreakers used in the Big 12 (which does not have divisions) is point differential, but Riley still complained that Baylor had violated the “code of sportsmanship”. Though it’s not a great look for Aranda, Oklahoma is the last program I will ever shed a tear for when it comes to sportsmanship. Someone should ask Riley if beating Western Carolina 76-0 in Week 2 (and throwing two passes on the final drive) violated the “code of sportsmanship” he evidently holds so near and dear.

• One week after shoving a player in Washington’s loss to Oregon – which resulted in his suspension for this week’s Husky loss to Arizona State – Washington announced that head coach Jimmy Lake had been fired. Lake was Chris Petersen’s defensive coordinator and lead recruiter for those great Husky teams of the mid-2010s, and his hire after Petersen stepped down was assumed to be a seamless transition. However, after just thirteen games, Washington decided that they had made a mistake. I live in Seattle and coached high school football in my free time this fall. Some of the coaches on my staff are very well connected in the Washington sports scene, and while they were surprised that Lake was fired so swiftly, they pointed to his lack of success on the recruiting trail as the main reason. There is a sense that the talent gap between Oregon and Washington is growing, and Lake’s physical interaction with his player last week only accelerated the timeline for his dismissal.

• While the Washington job will slide behind LSU and USC (and Florida if it comes open) in the coaching carousel, I think this is still a really attractive job. Even though the state of Washington will never be confused for Texas, Florida, or California when it comes to high school football recruiting, the state’s population has boomed over the past decade (up 15.5% from 2010 to 2020) and the quality of high school football has significantly improved. Jimmy Lake’s problem was that the best players in Washington were leaving to go to Oregon, Ohio State, or even Notre Dame (Tobias Merriweather). However, with the right coach, Washington is a sleeping giant. The university is in a very desirable city for young people, the program has good facilities and plays in arguably the most beautiful stadium setting in the country, the Pac-12 is very winnable, and there is a strong football tradition. The Huskies have won a national title more recently than Notre Dame (1991).

• One of the best plays of the weekend was the 62-yard field goal that Texas Tech K Jonathan Garibay sent through the uprights as time expired to give the Red Raiders a 41-38 win over Iowa State in Tech’s first home game since head coach Matt Wells was fired. The heartbreaking loss dropped Iowa State to 6-4, and the Cyclones rank among the nation’s biggest disappointments after starting the season ranked in the top-ten. Next week, Iowa State travels to Oklahoma.

• The last two weeks Notre Dame fans have seen the type of defense they expected when Marcus Freeman took the defensive coordinator job this offseason. The Irish have not allowed a touchdown in eight quarters, and last week against Navy held the Midshipmen to only 166 yards rushing, 58 yards below their season average, in a 34-6 win. This weekend in a dominant 28-3 win over Virginia, the Notre Dame defense held the Cavaliers to only 278 yards – 267 yards below their season average. Even though Virginia was missing star QB Brennan Armstrong, the Cavaliers still have playmakers and came into the game with the top-ranked offense in the country. However, the Irish did what great defenses do to young quarterbacks – dominate them.

• I think this will be a relatively quiet College Football Playoff rankings release on Tuesday night, with Oklahoma being the only top-ten team to lose this past weekend. Though some teams were more impressive than others, I think the committee will be content to let things play out. Here’s my predictions for Tuesday’s release:

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
5. Cincinnati
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Notre Dame
9. Oklahoma State
10. Wake Forest

• Check out Irish Breakdown for an analysis of Notre Dame’s path to the CFP.

BIGGEST WINNERS OF THE WEEKEND

• Mississippi State – In one of the wildest games of the day, Mississippi State trailed Auburn 28-3 when getting the ball for their fourth offensive possession. According to ESPN’s Win Probability Index, Auburn had a 98.2% chance of winning the game with 6:10 remaining in the first half. But, behind 415 yards and six touchdown passes from QB Will Rogers, the Bulldogs scored 40 unanswered points to secure the improbable 43-34 victory and become bowl eligible.

• Kansas – The Jayhawks broke a 56-game losing streak in Big 12 road games and defeated Texas 57-56 in overtime. Kansas saw a three-touchdown third quarter lead evaporate into a 56-49 deficit after Texas’ first overtime possession, but after answering with a touchdown, QB Jalon Daniels hit 5’9” walk-on TE Jared Casey for the two-point conversion and the program’s first Big 12 road win since the George W. Bush administration.

• The state of Ohio – Both Cincinnati and Ohio State saw their playoff profiles strengthened this weekend. It wasn’t always pretty, but the Bearcats pulled away for a 45-28 win against USF on Friday night, and Oklahoma’s loss guaranteed that four of the Power Five conference champions will have a loss. Up the road in Columbus, Ohio State put together its most complete offensive performance of the season against a Purdue team that had already defeated two top-five opponents this season. The Buckeyes had moved up to fourth in the CFP rankings last week and stated their case for consideration for the third spot.

• Oklahoma State – Oklahoma’s loss to Baylor moved the Cowboys into a first-place tie with the Sooners, setting up a massive Bedlam matchup over Thanksgiving weekend – presuming the Cowboys get past Texas Tech next week. On the field though, Oklahoma State put together by far its most complete performance of the season in a 63-17 dismantling of a TCU team coming off a victory over Baylor last weekend. The Cowboys rushed for 447 yards and eight touchdowns, led by 113 yards and two TDs from RB Jaylen Warren.

• South Dakota – The Coyotes walked off on an incredible Hail Mary against archrival South Dakota State. Leading 20-17 with the ball, South Dakota State heaved it downfield into the stands to attempt to run out the clock on fourth down. However, the ball hit the stands with one second remaining, giving South Dakota one final chance. Multiple tips later, the Coyotes had the win over their archrival on one of the plays of the season.

BIGGEST LOSERS OF THE WEEKEND

• Oklahoma – The Sooners picked the wrong day for their worst offensive performance of the season. An energized Baylor squad dominated Oklahoma at the line of scrimmage, pressured freshman phenom Caleb Williams into multiple mistakes, and snapped the Sooners’ seventeen-game winning streak, which had been longest in the nation. Oklahoma put up only 260 yards, their fewest ever under head coach (or coordinator) Lincoln Riley and put up their lowest regular season point total since 2014.

• Penn State – The Nittany Lions outplayed Michigan for much of their 21-17 loss but were unable to execute when it mattered most. Penn State went into halftime trailing 7-6 in large part due to a questionable decision to fake a field goal from the two-yard line, and Penn State never adjusted to the pressure from Michigan’s defensive ends, letting QB Sean Clifford take an absolute beating (7 sacks). James Franklin is an excellent recruiter and Penn State is unquestionably talented enough to play with the top teams in the Big Ten East, but Franklin’s many shortcomings as a game day coach have been on full display in losses to Iowa, Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan. The 2021 season will go down as a big missed opportunity in Happy Valley.

• Texas – If Saturday’s loss to rock chalk Jayhawk – with Kansas fans chanting “S-E-C, S-E-C” throughout Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium – isn’t rock bottom, I’m not sure what is. Just a month ago on October 9^th, Texas was 4-1 and held a 41-23 lead over Oklahoma with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter. The Longhorns would blow that game – and haven’t won since. The loss to Kansas marked the first time Texas has had a five-game losing streak since 1956. Steve Sarkisian was hired to take Texas to the next level after the Tom Herman era fell short of expectations, but right now the Longhorns are in danger of missing a bowl, something Herman never did.

• Florida – Hey, at least Florida isn’t Texas. On a day where the Gators surrendered the most ever first half points they have ever given up – against FCS Samford no less (yes, Samford, not Stanford) – head coach Dan Mullen tried to spin to the media that the Gators should be celebrating for overcoming that 42-35 halftime deficit and pulling out the 70-52 win over a 4-6 FCS team that just a few weeks ago had lost 55-13 to Chattanooga. Mullen’s tenure is approaching Twilight Zone levels of cognitive dissonance and despite playing in the SEC Championship game last season, making staff changes last week, and working for an athletic director in Scott Stricklin who has hired him twice – first at Mississippi State and then at Florida – it is getting harder to see a path for Mullen to keep his job. His team has obviously quit on him, and his outlook and expectations just seem drastically different from those of the fan base – and deep-pocketed donors.

• Miami – If you wanted any proof on how far Florida State and Miami have fallen, their game on Saturday – which used to be must-see TV – garnered hardly a mention nationally. After a rough start to the season, Miami had won three straight behind freshman QB Tyler Van Dyke. But, after falling behind 17-0 before rallying to take a 28-20 lead, Miami saw Florida State score eleven points in the last 4:43, capped off by a one-yard TD run by FSU QB Jordan Travis with 26 seconds remaining. Speculation about Manny Diaz’s job future will again be a hot topic in south Florida, and Diaz needs to knock off both Virginia Tech and Duke to feel safe.

BIGGEST GAMES OF WEEK 12

Note – rankings reflect the November 14th AP rankings

• #7 Michigan State at #4 Ohio State
• Iowa State at #8 Oklahoma
• #12 Wake Forest at Clemson
• Georgia Tech at #9 Notre Dame
• #25 Arkansas at #2 Alabama
• SMU at #5 Cincinnati
• #6 Michigan at Maryland
• Virginia at #21 Pittsburgh
• #13 Baylor at Kansas State
• #3 Oregon at #24 Utah
• #10 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech 

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