Week 11 of the college football season brought us a near upset for Virginia, the top Dawgs asserting their dominance, Miami dropping their 4th ACC game, Washington holding serve at home, and much more including Michigan’s loathing redemption tour exiting Happy Valley without a loss. As always, you can’t depend on Penn State to pull off the upset.
Here’s the latest 18S Top 20 Poll.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 10-0 | at Tennessee |
| 2 | Washington | 10-0 | at Oregon State |
| 3 | Ohio State | 10-0 | vs. Minnesota |
| 4 | Florida State | 10-0 | vs. North Alabama |
| 5 | Michigan | 10-0 | at Maryland |
| 6 | Texas | 9-1 | at Iowa State |
| 7 | Alabama | 9-1 | vs. Chattanooga |
| 8 | Oregon | 9-1 | at Arizona State |
| 9 | Oklahoma (+2) | 8-2 | at BYU |
| 10 | Louisville (+3) | 9-1 | at Miami |
| 11 | Ole Miss (-2) | 8-2 | vs. UL-Monroe |
| 12 | Missouri (+3) | 8-2 | vs. Florida |
| 13 | Oregon State (+1) | 8-2 | vs. Washington |
| 14 | Penn State (-4) | 8-2 | vs. Rutgers |
| 15 | Utah (-3) | 7-3 | at Arizona |
| 16 | James Madison (+2) | 10-0 | vs. App State |
| 17 | Tulane (+2) | 9-1 | at FAU |
| 18 | LSU (NR) | 7-3 | vs. Georgia State |
| 19 | Arizona (NR) | 7-3 | vs. Utah |
| 20 | Notre Dame (NR) | 7-3 | vs. Wake Forest |
Out:
#16 Oklahoma State
#17 Kansas
#20 Tennessee
National Storylines
TCU scored 20 points in the 4th quarter but came up short as Texas holds on 29-26 in Fort Worth.
Georgia played with Ole Miss for a while before handing the Rebels a 52-17 beatdown.
Washington survived one of the all-time dropped-too-early touchdowns in history to beat Utah 35-28.
Alabama’s offense continues to click as the Tide easily breezed past Kentucky this past weekend 49-21.
In their rivalry game, Florida State held off Miami 27-20 with the Noles staying perfect and the Canes drop to 10th in the ACC.
On the strength of J.J. McCarthy’s mighty 8 pass attempts, Michigan beat Penn State 24-15.
Bowling Green are bowl eligible following a 49-19 win against Kent State.
Jayden Daniels threw for 372 yards and ran for 234 yards in LSU’s 52-35 win against Florida.
UNLV is 8-2 and beat Wyoming 34-14 in Las Vegas.
Texas is now in sole position of 1st place in the Big 12 thanks to UCF absolutely rocking Oklahoma State 45-3 in Orlando.
Missouri’s defense shut down Tennessee to take a big SEC victory 36-7.
Arizona’s hot streak continues after a close 34-31 win at Colorado.
Wisconsin is 4th in the Big Ten West after losing to Northwestern 24-10 in Madison.
Deep into the night, Hawaii beat Air Force 27-13.
Opponent Watch
Navy (4-5): A 2-game skid is snapped after the Middies beat UAB 31-6 in Annapolis.
Tennessee State (6-4): A travel up north wasn’t friendly as the Tigers lost 30-17 at Eastern Illinois.
NC State (7-3): The Wolfpack beat Wake Forest 26-6 and have won 3 straight games.
Central Michigan (5-5): A 10-point loss at Western Michigan dropped the Chips down to 3-3 in the MAC.
Ohio State (10-0): The Buckeyes still have yet to allow 20 points in a game and beat Michigan State 38-3 in Columbus.
Duke (6-4): A wild ending in double overtime saw Duke lose 47-45 at North Carolina after a failed 2-point conversion.
Louisville (9-1): The Cards used a pair of late touchdowns to escape Virginia 31-24.
USC (7-4): This is losses in 4 out of their last 5 for USC following a 36-27 loss at Oregon.
Pitt (2-8): Now 5 straight losses for the Panthers after a 28-13 loss against Syracuse at Yankee Stadium.
Clemson (6-4): After a slow start, Clemson ran away from Georgia Tech easily 42-21.
Wake Forest (4-6): Up next, Notre Dame in South Bend.
Stanford (3-7): The Beavers dominated the Cardinal 62-17 and gained 598 total yards.
Week 12 Games to Watch
All time are eastern.
Colorado [+4.5] at Washington State
Friday, Nov. 17th, 10:30 PM, FS1
I wanted to include this Friday game just because at one point both of these teams were ranked in the AP Poll once football began to be played on the field. They are now a combined 2-12 in the Pac-12 and have combined for 10 straight losses.
Michigan [-19] at Maryland
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 12:00 PM, Fox
Most of this season has been Fox Big Noon Kickoff hyping up terrible Michigan games. Now, we get another one. My goodness, a Terps win would be so damn funny at this point. Everyone has been overlooking this game (the matchup went down to the wire last year!) and I really hope Michigan is, too.
Utah [+1] at Arizona
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 2:30 PM, Pac-12 Network
This game opened with the Utes as a small 1-point favorite and has now swung towards the home Wildcats as Arizona continues to be one of the best stories in the country right now. As you’d expect since UA had been struggling, Utah has won 5 straight in this series, although Arizona won the previous 4 meetings before that. This kind of stinks that a ranked vs. ranked matchup is in this weird timeslot on the Pac-12 Network.
Georgia [-10.5] at Tennessee
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 3:30 PM, CBS
Based on last week’s performances (29-point loss for Tennessee and a 35-point win for Georgia) this somewhat modest spread seems a tiny bit curious. The Dawgs have absolutely torn apart the Vols in their last 3 visits to Knoxville, too. The combined scores for those games were 125-31. Georgia seems to have found its stride on offense, Tennessee is coming off one of their worst offensive performances of the Josh Heupel era, so what gives?
UCLA [+7] at USC
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 3:30 PM, ABC
We know about the drama at USC and now things are turning sour in Westwood, too. I had thought UCLA was having a decent season but back-to-back losses to the Arizona schools and now sitting in 6th place in the Pac-12 has brought out some pitchforks. As he approaches the end of his 6th season, it doesn’t seem like Chip Kelly is long for this job with the Bruins.
Kansas State [-8] at Kansas
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 7:00 PM, FS1
I haven’t seen any recent updates about quarterback Jalon Daniels and backup Jason Bean left last week’s game with an injury. For now, it’s expected that Bean will play against K-State in the Sunflower Showdown, although it’s a bummer the Jayhawks fun offense has been dealing with all these injury issues at quarterback. As is stands, this is a battle between the FEI no. 11 offense (Kansas State) and no. 13 offense (Kansas). Former Irish OC target Collin Klein continues to DGT™ as they come in this weekend as decent favorites.
Washington [+2.5] at Oregon State
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 7:30 PM, ABC
This game opened with Washington as slight favorites and it’s now swung heavily in Oregon State’s favor. The Beavs!! I’m not sure about tie-breakers (Oregon State has the chance to sweep UW and Oregon to close the season) but a conference title is still in play. What a season for head coach Jonathan Smith if they win this game at home. Even if they lose to Oregon it might clinch a top 10 ranking for 2023.
Florida [+11.5] at Missouri
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 7:30 PM, ESPN
I included this game for this week as Missouri’s season has been really good. Perhaps a little too good for the college football Gods and prime for an upset by the visiting Gators?
Texas [-7.5] at Iowa State
Saturday, Nov. 18th, 8:00 PM, Fox
Matt Campbell was thrown by the side of the road and left for dead on many websites. Today, the Cyclones are tied for 2nd place in the Big 12 and a healthy 31st in FEI. I know I haven’t watched much Iowa State football this year and we’ll have the opportunity to do so as Texas’ visit to Ames will be a night cap on Saturday.
Everybody get ready to watch your last ND game of the year this weekend. The Stanford game is on the Pac-12 network.
Stanford’s commitment to being our most obnoxious opponent in every way is really something. They’re outdoing even BC.
The first game I can really remember being unavailable to watch since the ’09 or ’10 Pittsburgh game, I think. (Kind of funny that ND gets to be on the last ever PAC12 Net football game, though)
Well, VT 2021 and Duke 2019 were on the ACC Network, which not everyone gets. I couldn’t see either of those on cable in Chicago.
2009 Pitt was an ABC night game, I believe, and 2010 Pitt was at home so that was NBC.
I think 2006 Air Force was the last game that was this difficult to find on TV. I watched it in a very cold and damp Stepan Center on a projection screen.
I think it was 2009 Pitt – Lived in St. Louis at the time & their ABC network was weird. I know it wasn’t on via my local cable provider, but was able to go to a bar in Westport to watch it. And now that I’m remembering, maybe an Air Force game more recently was on CBS Sports Net, which wasn’t as common at the time.
Oh yeah, I think that was when ABC/ESPN used to split their coverage so it might have been a regional broadcast.
Pending whatever the PAC2 does with the property the Stanford game is likely ot be the final football game ever live-broadcast on the PAC12 Network. Keep that one in mind for an EM trivia question years from now.
My opinion has been that the Pac 12 assets will totally go to Oregon State and Washington State. They have won a key ruling yesterday (see link for legal basis). I expect they will win on appeal.
Ruling grants Oregon State, Washington State full control of Pac-12
The assets could reach $500 million. This also bolsters the legal foundation that the Pac 12 continues. Due to the makeup of the CFP board and the legal decisions that the Pac 12 continues to exist, the 5-7 Playoff proposal will fail to pass.
End results are speculative, but only should the Big or another major conference accept the two, will the assets be distributed among the all departing members ending the Pac legally and opening the door to the 5-7 model. I would also not be surprised if the criteria they put on admission is a full share of media money right away.
I shall look forward to EM’s (and others) preseason rankings for comparison to end of year rankings.
So Notre Dame will participate in the last regular season broadcast of the Pac 12 network. In just over a month, it will be the 98th anniversary of the Notre Dame – Stanford 1925 Rose Bowl meeting. The Irish with the Four Horseman and coached by Rockne faced off against Pop Warner’s PCC champion Stanford and won 27-10. The proceeds of the game, $52k were used to build Dillon Hall. The next year USC invited ND to home-and-home series with first game being in the Coliseum in December 4, 1926. Sad to see the demise of such a proud and historic conference.
OSU is the worst of the 5 Power 5 undefeateds, right? I don’t think ND would keep it within a 3 score game if they were playing UGA, Michigan or Washington – haven’t seen any FSU games, but assume they’re playing more cohesive football than OSU. Looking at FPI & SP+ both have OSU as Top 3, but they don’t seem that impressive, right? (Both of those rankings have ND ahead of Washington, which I don’t buy for a second)
Favored by 27.5, Ohio State should get a boost playing Minnesota who has lost two in a row since verging on bowl eligibility at 5-3 (3-4 conference). Minnesota finishes with Wisconsin who lost to OSU by 14. In fact, the BIG West now has five teams at 5-5 (3-4 in conference). Nebraska lost again but this weekend either they play Wisconsin with the winner reaching six wins. Illinois has won two straight and plays Iowa with the O/U of 30.5. Last week Nebraska used three quarterbacks with all three throwing interceptions.
I think Michigan would do more or less what they did to Penn State to ND. We might hold them to fewer points but we are basically the same team as Penn State. It’s depressing.
Healthy UGA would do terrible things to ND.
Washington has played with their food a lot and their defense is pretty bad.
I don’t know what to make of Ohio State except suspecting that they and Michigan are feasting on terrible offenses and will get exposed in bowl games.
Some standout performances I noticed:
Missouri’s Cody Schrader, RB, rushed for 205 yards, but also added 116 receiving yards against Tennessee, He became the first player in SEC history to have 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in a single game. He leads the SEC in rushing by over 200 yds over the second highest rusher. Schrader was a walkon in 2022 from D2 Truman State.Heading into Saturday’s game, Tennessee had allowed the fewest rushing yards per game in the SEC with 97.3.
When Jason Bean went down with an injury, Cole Ballard, led a comeback that put KU in a position to win the game. Ballard, a true freshman, was a late signee to KU with his only other offer from Wisconsin. Cole is the son of Chris, GM of the Colts who previously was with the Chiefs. Ballard had jumped three other QBs to earn Leipold’s and Andy Kotelnicki’s trust. Leipold has known Chris for thirty years. Andy Reid knows him from his days at the Chiefs. (Rob Ianello is the GM for the Jayhawks.) Texas Tech won on a late FG 16-13. Par Mahomes attended to watch his alma mater.
True freshman quarterback Cole Ballard calm in Bean’s absence to give Kansas a chance against Texas Tech
Replacing injured Duke’s Riley Leonard who lased one series, Freshman QB Grayson Loftis went toe-to-toe with North Carolina QB Drake Maye and put Duke ahead with a 30 yard bomb to take a three-point lead with 41 seconds to go.
Oregon States’s Damien Martinez ran for 146 yards and a career-high four touchdowns to lead No. 12 Oregon State to a 62-17 victory over Stanford on Saturday. Martinez, the Pac-12 freshman Offensive Player of the Year last year, surpassed 1,000 yards for the season.
Agains Pittsburgh, Syracuse went to some old school football with Dan Villari at QB. . Villari, Syracuse’s TE (h.s. QB and transfer from Michigan) rushed for a career-high 154 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown on a direct snap early in the fourth quarter, Syracuse had 399 total yards of offense – 382 were on the ground. Jayden Bellamy as one of his two Ints including a 23-yard interception return for a score as Syracuse pulled away in the second half. Villari, 6′ 235#, bowled over many Pittsburgh players. He was chosen as the co-winner of the ACC weekly RB.
John Paddock, a graduate tranfer from Ball State, replaced injured Illinois starting QB Luke Altmyer – tossing four TD passes, including the OT game-winner to Isaiah Williams, to earn B1G Offensive Player of the Week honors.
A bit off topic, but I remember someone here saying about a month ago that this would be a quiet coaching cycle, and I responded that they just jinxed it to being a wild one. Besides the Michigan State and Northwestern situations, we’ve now got Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Boise State, and San Diego State, with rumors flying that UCLA might be about to fire Chip Kelly. Carousel is picking up speed!
That was me 🙂
Chip Kelly for OC?
I thought we had all agreed not to rank Michigan