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Maybe your team got up to some “inadvertent football” yesterday. Just roll with it. Act natural.
Spotlight: Dawgs all but clinch, Sooners thieve a bid?
Three years ago, Georgia had won the past two national titles, and Alabama had won half of the 12 before that. Oklahoma and Texas, meanwhile, were the Big 12’s big-money powers who were without any titles since before Bama’s campaign began in 2008. When the rivals moved to the SEC together last season, some locals wondered whether the newcomers could keep up. (Always seemed a little silly to us. You can just tell recruits, “Hey, we’re in the SEC now, too.”)
Yesterday, we got a bit of a status check on the whole thing, as the new guys faced the bosses.
- The No. 11 Sooners walked into Tuscaloosa and beat No. 4 Alabama 23-21. Oklahoma did not have a receiver with more than 36 yards and gritted out a sack-adjusted 3.4 yards per carry, but won on the margins, especially on special teams. Our personal favorite play in this two-point win was a field-goal block. The key there: OU lineman Taylor Wein jumped clean over Bama’s long snapper. Usually, that’s a penalty. But Wein followed the rules by 1) being stationary, 2) appearing to be within a yard of the line of scrimmage at the snap and 3) not pushing off the snapper for leverage. Rulebook aptitude might’ve won the game.
- No. 10 Texas had a substantially less fun visit to Athens. No. 5 Georgia had Arch Manning vacillating between looking uncomfortable and having his passes dropped. The night’s biggest moment, though, came after Georgia already built a 21-10 lead in the fourth quarter. The Dawgs attempted their first onside kick in Kirby Smart’s entire tenure, dating back to 2016, pulling off a perfect ambush that led to another quick score. (Smart was on Alabama’s staff for the 2015 national title game, when Nick Saban greenlit perhaps the most critical surprise onside kick ever.) Final score: Dawgs 35, Horns 10.
Georgia finishes SEC play 7-1 (with Charlotte and Georgia Tech still to come). Texas will at best finish 9-3 overall, and that would require a home win over undefeated Texas A&M in two weeks. In that event, the Horns would be the main subject of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey’s shameless lobbying.
The SEC has three teams that will clearly make the dance — A&M, Ole Miss and Georgia — and a heaping handful more that could go either way. If we were making a best guess: A year after getting three bids, the SEC will get a nation-leading five, counting two-loss teams Oklahoma and Alabama. Our website’s Playoff projections indeed foresee five … though Stewart Mandel warns you it could be six, if Texas beats A&M. In the opinion of this newsletter, a three-loss team should only be considered if it was able to avoid 25-point humiliations. (Regardless, this is why the conference didn’t like the Big Ten’s offseason push to split eight auto-bids. To guarantee yourself four is to risk not getting more, as the poets said.)
- BTW, the new longest home winning streak in FBS, now that Bama’s 17-gamer is done: No. 2 Indiana’s 15, including yesterday’s 31-7 win over Wisconsin. Show that to a time traveler from any year before 2024.
Superlatives
Most Consequential Comeback: No. 3 Texas A&M 31, 3-7 South Carolina 30. At halftime, the Gamecocks’ 30-3 advantage in College Station had everyone second-guessing the news from hours prior, that Aggies coach Mike Elko is joining the $10 million club. Memories of previous A&M meltdowns were running wild. Same ol’ Ags, blowing it again.
But after four straight second-half touchdown drives to take the lead, these new Ags completed what could be one of the most important comebacks in college football history. Say A&M wins it all after securing a first-round Playoff bye, thanks in part to this — or, maybe more importantly, after proving to itself that it can claw back from even a massive deficit.
Teams trailing in SEC games by 27 or more points had been 0-286 since 2004, per ESPN. It was also A&M’s biggest comeback ever. The largest in FBS history remains 2006 Michigan State’s 35-point resurgence against Northwestern, though those teams both finished 4-8. Yesterday’s turnaround was more in line with 2019 Oklahoma’s four-team Playoff run requiring a 25-point comeback against No. 13 Baylor — but arguably even more significant, since the Aggies have an actual chance at a natty, whereas those Sooners were destined to become semifinal fodder for Joe Burrow’s LSU.
- Most Fireable Guy: Not a head coach, for once, but the Texas state trooper who banged a shoulder into one Gamecock before barking at another. Texas A&M police removed him from Kyle Field, and the Texas Department of Public Safety is “looking into the matter.”
Most Businesslike Handling of Business: No. 9 Notre Dame 37, No. 22 Pitt 15. With “College GameDay” and a sellout crowd at Pitt, the Irish ended the party early. A pick-six made it 14-0 seven minutes in, and Jeremiyah Love’s 147 yards ensured it would never be close. Even Pitt’s first touchdown was semi-ruined by Notre Dame picking off and running back the two-point conversion. The Irish are not losing to Syracuse or Stanford and will be playing a Playoff first-rounder in a month, probably at home.
- Most Thoughtful Heads-up: Pat Narduzzi. “It’s not an ACC game,” Pitt’s coach said this week. “I’d gladly get beat 103 or 110 to 10 in that game. They could put up 100 on us as long as we win the next two after that.” 100 > 37 = expectations beaten.
Most Surprisingly Hardy Outdoorsmen: USC. If you were picking the team least equipped to play in rain, you would consider a Los Angeles team. If you were picking the team most built for it, you would pick No. 21 Iowa. So it was unfortunate for No. 17 USC that it was hosting the Hawkeyes during one of the, like, five days a year in which L.A. experiences serious rainfall. But Lincoln Riley’s team showed mettle and mounted a 26-21 comeback win. These Trojans are once again … gritty! Trip next week to try taking a Playoff spot from No. 8 Oregon.
Messiest Conference That Won’t Actually Miss the Playoff: The ACC, by virtue of No. 19 Virginia blowing out Duke in Durham 34-17. (The Blue Devils already had four losses, but just one was in the ACC, leaving a plausible path to them winning the conference but not having a Playoff resume. No more worries about that.) Elsewhere in the conference that eats itself:
- Dabo Swinney was delighted by 5-5 Clemson knocking out No. 20 Louisville 20-19 in a truly hideous game …
- … while Brent Key was morose about No. 16 Georgia Tech barely outlasting 1-10 Boston College 36-34.
- Still making a case for an at-large spot is No. 15 Miami, blasting 5-5 NC State 41-7. But that aforementioned bid Oklahoma might have just stolen? The Canes could end up absolutely blazing mad.
- And we don’t know how many of you care about Bill Belichick being 4-6 after losing 28-12 to 7-3 Wake Forest, but we feel obligated to note it.
Most Timely Rules Refresh: Yes, Navy could make the Playoff even though it plays Army after Selection Sunday. Yesterday, the 8-2 Midshipmen upset No. 24 USF 41-38, remaining among the crowd of leaders in the American, the conference likeliest to produce the G5’s Playoff bid. There remains a scenario in which Navy wins the conference on Dec. 5, gets picked by the committee on Dec. 7, faces Army on Dec. 13 and travels to a first-round game on Dec. 20.
- North Texas and Tulane are also still contending, as is 7-3 East Carolina (!) after a 31-27 upset of Memphis. Our computer’s Playoff projections favor the Mean Green, who have a tiebreaker over Navy.
- But for fans of drama: On Selection Sunday, a 10-2 Navy yet to play a draining Army grudge match (and with two losses already by a total of 53 points) would surely give the committee pause. Intriguing situation for the Sun Belt’s JMU (9-1 after smashing Appalachian State 58-10) or the Mountain West’s San Diego State (which held off Boise State 17-7) or maybe even UNLV, both 8-2. We will squint until we spot a Playoff path for CUSA’s 8-2 Western Kentucky.
- A complication for JMU: The Dukes’ opponent in their potential Sun Belt title game won’t be especially impressive. West division leader Southern Miss is 7-3 after losing 41-14 at home to 4-6 Texas State.
Hot Seat Coach of the Week: Maryland’s Mike Locksley. It’s a Terrapin tradition to dominate weak schedules in September and then fall off a cliff. This year has been extra Maryland, as a 4-0 start gave way to a six-game losing streak, most recently a 24-6 loss at Illinois. Firing Locksley would sting; he assembled some talent, giving a lot of himself to improving a program that predecessor DJ Durkin left in tatters. But new AD Jim Smith might have no choice.
Ohio State Shrug of the Week: The No. 1 Buckeyes beat their fourth straight opponent with a losing record, 48-10 over a 3-7 UCLA without Nico Iamaleava. Business picks up next week against … 5-5 Rutgers.
Best Baseball Cosplay: No. 18 Michigan. Playing at Wrigley Field? Check. Lots of errors and men left on base, so to speak? Yeah. Winning on a walk-off field goal? Indeed. The Wolverines’ 24-22 escape of Northwestern, despite five turnovers, keeps them in control of their destiny. The Wolverines should have a Playoff spot on the table when they host the first truly memorable Ohio State game since August.
The 2021 Nebraska of 2025: Arkansas. Remember Scott Frost’s 3-9 Huskers, who finished with a positive points differential by keeping all of their losses within single digits? This year’s version is Sam Pittman’s/Bobby Petrino’s Arkansas, down to 2-8 after losing 23-22 to 6-4 LSU … but up 341-323 on the scoreboards.
- Also in total scoring differentials: No. 13 Utah ranks fourth (behind Indiana, Texas Tech and Ohio State) after whacking Baylor 55-28 in Waco. Rival No. 12 BYU, which has beaten the Utes, made an effort to ascend that list, beating TCU 44-13.
This Week in UConn: FBS’ other independent is 8-3 after beating 3-7 Air Force 26-16. The Huskies’ three losses all came in overtime and on the road, meaning we might’ve almost had a 12-0 team missing the 12-team Playoff (due to not winning a conference or beating anybody better than Duke). This would’ve triggered a second Jim Mora playoffs rant, 24 years after his father’s.
Quick Snaps
💰 Attending college football games is really expensive these days! Might circle back to this one later in the week.
👀 Virginia Tech’s courtship of James Franklin could have a resolution by Monday. (Can’t be going any weirder than Florida’s courtship of Lane Kiffin, which involved losing a football game to his current team yesterday.)
🎧 Live weekend reactions here by “The Audible” at 11:30 a.m. ET.
📰 News:
Mementos
Does your team have throwbacks that you think should just be the regular uniforms? FIU tried a version of that, modernizing its pre-1987 Sunblazers nickname and logo, then beating Liberty 34-27 to reach 5-5 on homecoming. Look at this field. Sunblazers?? So much better than Panthers, Golden Panthers or any other hue of cat. Make the change. What would Pitbull do?
Bringing back the Sunblazer has been a little bit of a local movement for years now. It is very much time. See you Tuesday.
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