No Saban, no problem for the Tide in the Iron Bowl, Trevor Lawrence returned with authority for Clemson, Northwestern falls on their face, Iowa State moves closer to a Big 12 regular season title, and the Ducks lose to their in-state rivals. All that, plus more in the recap after our latest 18 Stripes Top 20 Poll.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 8-0 | 42-13 Win vs. Auburn |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 9-0 | 31-17 Win at North Carolina |
| 3 | Clemson (+1) | 8-1 | 52-17 Win vs. Pitt |
| 4 | Ohio State | 4-0 | BYE |
| 5 | Cincinnati | 8-0 | BYE |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 6-1 | 20-7 Win vs. LSU |
| 7 | Florida | 7-1 | 34-10 Win vs. Kentucky |
| 8 | BYU | 9-0 | BYE |
| 9 | Coastal Carolina (+1) | 9-0 | 49-14 Win at Texas State |
| 10 | Marshall (+1) | 7-0 | BYE |
| 11 | USC (+1) | 3-0 | BYE |
| 12 | Indiana (+2) | 5-1 | 27-11 Win vs. Maryland |
| 13 | Miami (+2) | 7-1 | BYE |
| 14 | Iowa State (+4) | 7-2 | 23-20 Win at Texas |
| 15 | Oklahoma (+1) | 6-2 | BYE |
| 16 | Northwestern (-7) | 5-1 | 29-20 Loss at Michigan State |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 2-1 | BYE |
| 18 | Georgia (+1) | 6-2 | 45-16 Win at South Carolina |
| 19 | Oklahoma State (+1) | 6-2 | 50-44 Win vs. Texas Tech |
| 20 | Louisiana (NR) | 8-1 | 70-20 Win at Louisiana-Monroe |
OUT: Oregon
IN: Louisiana
Week 13 Recap
The Iron Bowl was not close as quarterback Mac Jones moves closer to a Heisman with a 302-yard performance, including a season-high 5 touchdown passes.
Trevor Lawrence finally returned to the field and did not disappoint leading Clemson to 31 points in the first quarter on his way to a 403-yard performance while blowing Pitt’s doors off.
Texas A&M and LSU actually gained the same amount of yards (267) in a very ugly affair while we witnessed Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond really struggle. It’s just, LSU makes way more mistakes while going -3 in turnovers with a back-breaking pick six to boot.
As they so often do this season, Florida eventually pulled away from Kentucky after a tight contest early on. Another efficient day for Kyle Trask at quarterback who remains in the Heisman race.
Coastal Carolina didn’t trip up on the road and earned themselves an ESPN GameDay invite this weekend.
Indiana was happy to put away Maryland but lost the war as quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. is out for the season after suffering a leg injury.
Texas continues to be Not Back as they fall to 4th place in the Big 12 standings. Due to Covid issues, Iowa State may not get the chance to finish their regular season against West Virginia. Matt Campbell may have won the Big 12, ya’ll.
That whole sub-300 total yards thing that we mentioned for Northwestern last week, well they did it again against Michigan State and this time they lost. Shocker.
***
AP Top 25: Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Clemson, Texas A&M, Florida, Cincinnati, BYU, Miami, Indiana, Georgia, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Coastal Carolina, Marshall, Northwestern, USC, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Louisiana, Oregon, Tulsa, Washington, Iowa, Liberty.
CFB Top 25: Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Florida, Cincinnati, Georgia, Iowa State, Miami, Oklahoma, Indiana, BYU, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Iowa, USC, Marshall, Washington, Oregon, Tulsa, Louisiana.
*The 18S poll and CFB Playoff poll have the same top 7 in order. For some reason, the committee has Georgia 8 spots higher than us as the top 2-loss team in the country. That seems extremely absurd.
Week 14 Games to Watch
Louisiana (+2.5) at Appalachian State
The Ragin’ Cajuns have already clinched the Sun Belt West division but are sure to take some umbrage at being underdogs coming up on Friday night in Boone, North Carolina.
Texas A&M (-7) at Auburn
This is the likely last shot at Texas A&M dropping a game during the regular season unless Tennessee can pull off something special next weekend. Should the Aggies lose, Notre Dame’s playoff chances go up a few notches.
Northwestern at Minnesota Cancelled
Liberty (+7) at Coastal Carolina
Liberty is an independent so this is a heck of a late-season OOC matchup outside the Power 5. I just checked and it’s so weird not to see Notre Dame in those pointless independent standings. A win here and Coastal head coach Jamey Chadwell’s stock is going to be in white hot fire mode.
Indiana (+14) at Wisconsin
This spread has remained steady through the week which surprises me. I’d think the Hoosiers are going to be demoralized without their quarterback and Wisconsin’s stout defense should have a big day.
BYU, Coastal Carolina and Marshall ranked directly ahead of USC….Why do I love that?
All in the top 10 (except USC). And that doesn’t even make anyone blink because 2020 has legit had 432,345,684 other crazy things happen this year. But let’s appreciate it nonetheless!
Auburn is very much Not Good and Bo Nix is a disaster back there. If Texas A&M wants to be taken seriously, maybe they shouldn’t get shelled by Bama and fart around against an awful LSU team late in the season. Also, Ohio State shouldn’t even be ranked after they’ve only played half the games of the real teams, and even those have been against pretty bad B1G teams.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30442744/ucf-knights-qb-mckenzie-milton-enters-transfer-portal-two-years-devastating-knee-injury
Would we/should we take Milton for next year? I know he was pretty good but it’s hard to know what he’d be like after the injury. I don’t remember much about his style except that it did include some good mobility. Might be a little like Book.
I’m pretty wary of going the transfer route for QB next year. That seems to backfire at least as often as it works. Plus, Kelly generally does well with rookie QBs, so I’d rather just get started on developing what we have.
Hopefully we’ll get to see lots of Pyne and Clark on Saturday.
I loved Milton during their undefeated season, and initially I had the same reaction. But he’s not the most accurate passer in the world against good defenses. While he’s fearless and willing to throw the ball downfield, he would be a dramatic shift in direction from Ian Book’s playing style (especially if his mobility isn’t all the way back). I think I agree with ACS that BK will likely rather just roll with the guys we’ve got on the roster next year anyway.
All that being said, if he’s starting for us next September, I won’t be complaining. I’ll just be expecting a very different look to the passing game.