College Football Plus: Week 9 Recap
Five Questions
Q. What will the top four of the first College Football Playoff rankings look like Tuesday night?
First, understand this: It really doesn't matter. Why not? Because the top four teams -- Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan (and that looks to be the most likely order) -- will change dramatically in the weeks ahead, starting on Saturday when Tennessee plays at Georgia. Ohio State and Michigan will close out the regular season by playing as well.
What will be worth watching is spots five through eight, since those teams have a chance to break into the top four at the end of the year. Clemson, TCU, Alabama, Oregon and/or USC will need to be positioned close to the top four to take advantage when the losses happen.
Hard to believe Tennessee and Georgia won't be 1-2 in the first CFP rankings based on what they have accomplished so far.
Q. Are we seeing the final days of Bryan Harsin as Auburn's head coach?
Reports have Auburn about to hire Mississippi State's John Cohen as its new athletic director, and there's little doubt Cohen will be given the latitude to bring in his own football coach -- especially after Harsin's latest failure, with the Tigers losing 41-27 at home to Arkansas on Saturday. That's four straight losses for the 3-5 Tigers, who occupy last place in the SEC West. Patience has never been one of Auburn's virtues when it comes to the football program, either.
Q. If the National Coach of the Year Award were handed out today, who would get it?
Three coaches jump out immediately for the jobs they have done this season. One is Josh Heupel, with Tennessee off to its first 8-0 start since the school's national championship season in 1998. But a lot will hinge on what happens going forward, and that starts with a showdown at Georgia on Saturday.
Then there's Bret Bielema, who has Illinois out to a 7-1 start and headed to the Big Ten championship game -- which no one predicted in August. No one. The Illini have already clinched their first winning season since 2007. They don't play a sexy style of football, but the defense is stout, and they have a star running back in Chase Brown. It has proven to be an effective formula so far.
The choice here? Depending on what happens the final three games, it's Connecticut's Jim Mora. The Huskies are 4-5 after beating Boston College on Saturday for the first time in school history, and if they can beat UMass on Saturday and then Army to close out the regular season, they will be bowl eligible.
Putting that 4-5 into perspective: In the previous three seasons before Mora's arrival, UConn was a combined 4-32. Since the Huskies' last winning season in 2010, the record is a combined 31-90. Just an amazing job by Mora.
Q. Will any team have a more hollow 10-2 season than the one Penn State is headed toward?
The Nittany Lions were overwhelmed late at home by Ohio State on Saturday, meaning they have lost the only two games on their schedule that mattered by a combined 37 points. The win at Auburn is empty now with the Tigers headed toward a losing season, meaning that the best win all season will have come against Purdue in the season opener. Imagine having a sixth-year quarterback like Sean Clifford, only to see him guilty of four turnovers in the biggest home game of the year.
Q. Is it that good Oregon water that has revived the career of quarterback Bo Nix?
It's not easy erasing that 49-3 opening game loss to Georgia, but Nix has come close to doing so in the seven games since then. The once mistake-prone Nix passed for 412 yards and three TDs and rushed for three scores in the Ducks' 42-24 win at California on Saturday. For the season, Nix's numbers are Heisman-like: 2,221 passing yards, 72.3 percent completion rate, 20 TD passes, five INTs, 441 rushing yards with 11 more TDs. All Oregon needed to do was be competitive in a loss at Georgia and it changes everything about the season perspective for Nix and the 7-1 Ducks.
Who's Hot
Ohio State DE J.T. Tuimoloau
The 6-4, 270-pounder had quite a month in Saturday's game at Penn State: Two interceptions, one for a pick six, two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a tipped pass that led to an interception.
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker
It's easy to take him for granted with the season he has had so far, with Saturday more of the same: 19-of-25 for 245 yards and three TD passes and a rushing TD in the 44-6 rout of Kentucky.
USC QB Caleb Williams
Despite being without his top two WR targets -- 2021 Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison and Mario Williams -- the Oklahoma transfer passed for a career-high 411 yards and five TDs as the Trojans improved to 7-1 with a 45-37 win at Arizona.
Who's Not
Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman
Talk about undermining a really good season in one game: Hartman was intercepted three times, with two resulting in pick sixes, lost three fumbles and was sacked seven times in the Deacons' 48-21 loss at Louisville. Wake had eight turnovers overall.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy
An embarrassing coaching job and team performance. That's what the 48-0 loss at Kansas State -- which was playing with its backup QB -- was. Gundy had his team ill-prepared, unmotivated and looking dysfunctional in the school's first shutout loss since 2009. He should donate his weekly salary to charity since it looks like he didn't show up for work last week.
Penn State QB Sean Clifford
He's a sixth-year guy, He was playing at home in the biggest game of the season with Ohio State visiting. And he committed four turnovers, one a pick six, with the latter undermining the Nittany Lions late when the game was still a game. Time for a QB change in Happy Valley. Clifford is not the answer, even though the Lions' soft remaining schedule has them set up to go 10-2.
On the Rise
UCF
Is Cincinnati's reign over the AAC over? The first hint came with UCF's 25-21 victory over the Bearcats on Saturday -- ending Cincy's 19-game AAC winning streak. UCF is 6-2 now.
North Carolina
Saturday's 42-21 win over Pitt has the Tar Heels at 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2015. That sets up Mack Brown's squad for a showdown with Clemson in the ACC title game.
Notre Dame
Can't explain the blip against Stanford, but the Irish have won four of five after routing Syracuse in whatever the name of that dome is now to improve to 5-3. Notre Dame has won 26 regular season games against ACC opponents. Next up: Clemson.
On the Decline
Iowa State
Matt Campbell should have jumped while he was still a hot coaching commodity. Cyclones' 27-13 home loss to Oklahoma on Saturday was their fifth straight defeat. A promising 3-0 start has turned into a train wreck of a season.
Texas A&M
Player defections, home losses, more bad coaching. Jimbo Fisher has hit the coaching meltdown trifecta this year, with Saturday's home loss to Ole Miss dropping the Aggies and their gazzilion-dollars-a-year coach to 3-5. The once-proud defense was shredded too, with frosh Quinshon Judkins rushing for 205 yards and a TD against the Aggies.
Virginia Tech
A season-saving win was there for the taking at N.C. State and the Hokies let it slip away in a 22-21 loss. They had a late lead, were facing a backup QB and still managed to find a way to lose their fifth straight, dropping them to 2-6 overall. Can't wait for this year's Virginia Tech-Virginia showdown.
Playing it Forward (all times Eastern)
Tennessee at Georgia, 3:30 p.m. CBS
A monster showdown between legitimate 8-0 national title contenders. Let's see if the Vols and Hendon Hooker can carry their success on the road -- against a still-formidable Georgia defense.
Florida at Texas A&M, noon, ESPN
The Bust Bowl. Hard to believe one guy will outcoach the other guy here.
Alabama at LSU, 7 p.m., ESPN
Brian Kelly has LSU back on track and Alabama can't afford another loss if it hopes to make the playoffs. Of late, the Tigers have been the more impressive team. But Alabama is still Alabama.
Clemson at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., NBC
The Tigers' last real hurdle to an unbeaten regular season? Clemson generally owns the Irish but Notre Dame has won four of its last five and has been peaking coming into this game.
Michigan at Rutgers, 7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
Would someone please petition the NCAA to declare this game as a forfeit, so no one gets seriously injured? Rutgers was pathetic and barely functioned as a major college football team in a 31-0 loss at Minnesota on Saturday. And now 8-0 Michigan, as physical a team as there is, comes to Piscataway. Let's at least use a running clock here.
Tom Luicci covered college football for 35 years -- from 1979-2014 -- for The Star-Ledger of New Jersey.
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