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Georgia defeated Charleston Southern 56-7. Ohio State beat the Spartans by the same score, which was similar to how the team was treated by Michigan State.
Week 12 of the college football season gave us big plays, stunning upsets, and even the chance to win the Heisman.
Reporters put the past week into perspective.
The Pac-12's chances of having a national champion were ended by Oregon's 38-7 loss to Utah.
The Pac-12 doesn't work anymore.
For the fifth year in a row, the Conference of Champs will miss out on the title, but only because one of their teams will play in a title game. The conference's only hope for a ticket to the playoff evaporated after Utah exposed an Oregon team that had struggled to look dominant in recent weeks. What now?
The disappointment brought by the fact that Oregon still has a lot to play for is harsh, as the Pac-12 is still not up to par with the top teams in the country. In recent years, what could have been construed as depth has turned into mediocre. Not a single one of the teams hovering around.500 is great, and they still beat each other.
Oregon has been the best team in the conference over the past few years, but its ceiling still feels capped. USC is set to have its sixth head coach in the last eight years, and it's why all eyes are on the school.
USC has a player name, image and likeness opportunities, history and name brand that are unparalleled compared to its conference peers. It should be a recruiting force that should outfit a roster capable of beating SEC and Big Ten powerhouses. The problem with tapping into that potential has been that it has been difficult to find the right person to do it. They both need each other.
The expansion of the playoff system seems to be all but done, and the fastest path to a playoff spot is for the Pac-12 commissioner to push it. A change in structure might not fix the problem. The conference won't be making the playoffs, but winning it.
Would a two-loss Alabama team have a better resume than a 15-0 Cincinnati team?
Alabama isn't a lock for the playoffs.
The current state of the College Football Playoff seems to be that Georgia is in. Alabama will get in. The winner of Michigan and Ohio State will be in. Depending on how these final games shake out, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, or Cincinnati are the final spots.
It makes sense, given the committee's rankings over the past few weeks, but there's one big elephant in the room that we might not be talking about enough: Alabama.
Are we certain the Tide will make the playoffs?
Don't think this is a serious indictment of Alabama. Men don't talk about it. It's a recipe for disaster if you doubt the Tide. This is not about analyzing the talent in Tuscaloosa. It is about looking at the playoff realities on the horizon.
Alabama's wins over Ole Miss and Mississippi State are both ranked, as well as Miami, Tennessee and Arkansas. A loss to Texas A&M that was unranked at the time and still has three Ls is on that résumé. A&M has not scored more than 22 points in any of its five games this year, but it hung 41 on Alabama, the second-highest mark of the season. Alabama has an ugly win over Florida. It was fortunate to escape an LSU team that had given up on the season.
The Tide had another chance against Arkansas on Saturday, but this time they were saved by the heroics of their quarterback, Bryce Young. During almost any team's season, there have been games when the Tide's defense struggled and games when the O-line looked light and games when the running backs found little room to run. It's unique at a place like Alabama.
This isn't to destroy the Tide's reputation. Turnabout is fair play if we're going to nitpick Cincinnati.
There's a bigger hurdle here as well. The Iron Bowl looks like it will be an easy win for the Tide, but strange things have happened in the past. The SEC championship game is where the Tide could easily lose to Georgia.
The College Football Playoff has never had a two-loss team make it. Would Alabama be a good bet to become the first?
On the other hand, there would be an argument that losing to Georgia is not a shame. Everyone does it. We already have a data point saying Alabama couldn't beat Georgia, so why give the Tide a second chance?
What if the final playoff spot is between Cincinnati and Alabama? The strength of schedule is important, but would the committee leave out an undeserving team in favor of a two-loss Tide?
There's a chance Alabama beats auburn with ease and stuns Georgia in Atlanta in two weeks, so all of this will be meaningless. Again, doubt Alabama at your own risk.
Alabama's position might not be as secure as it seems on the surface, and if an 11-2 Tide are in the thick of that final debate, it might well end up being the biggest question the committee has ever had to answer.
The Arkansas wideout had eight catches for 179 yards and two touchdown against Alabama.
The top wide receiver in the draft put up big numbers.
In the first year of the NFL, rookies can make an impact. Ja'Marr Chase was a star at LSU. Several potential first-round wide outs in the upcoming NFL draft class showcased their skills on Saturday.
One of the toughest tests of the season was faced by Arkansas wide receiver, as he entered Bryant-Denny Stadium to face off against the Alabama secondary. In a seven-point loss, Burks was a high-end threat. The target finished with eight catches for 179 yards and two touchdown, including a 66-yard scamper, and he was also able to show his explosiveness.
On the other side of the field, Alabama's Jameson Williams had a great night. After transferring from Ohio State, he has thrived. He caught eight passes for 190 yards and three touchdown, becoming the first player in program history to have four touchdown catches of 75-plus yards in a single season.
The Ohio State duo that sat atop the depth chart prior to Williams' ascension at Alabama dominated the Michigan State team. The smooth- moving Olave led all receivers with 140 receiving yards on seven catches and two touchdown. Wilson had seven catches for 126 yards and two touchdown. The dynamic duo and super sophomore are the most dangerous corps in the country.
The early outlook for the wide receiver class looks promising. The upcoming group of prospects contains loads of potential, which will be good news for the teams in need of new perimeter weapons.
Matt Corral has thrown for 3,100 yards and run for 552 yards.
The Egg Bowl is the SEC's marquee rivalry game.
The Iron Bowl isn't important. The Egg Bowl will be a rivalry game to watch in the SEC this week, with auburn on a three-game losing streak and expected to be a heavy favorite.
Good luck finding a better match up of quarterbacks than Ole Miss' Matt Corral and Mississippi State's Will Rogers. They have scored 63 touchdown this season.
You can't say the same about Rogers, he's been known as a commodity for a while now. Two years ago, he was still playing high school football. He was a three-star prospect who had scholarship offers from Troy and Tulane.
Rogers emerged as one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country after an up-and-down freshman season. He set school records for passing yards and touchdown in a single season, which were held by arguably the greatest player in program history, Dak Prescott.
Rogers, who became the first player from Mississippi State to throw for 4,000 yards in a season, said he "never really imagined" being in the same company as him.
His coach said he was not surprised.
It takes a lot of time to learn the Air Raid offense. More reps will mean quicker processing and more consistency.
Rogers has made steady improvement, and so has the offense as a whole, which could lead to a high-powered Ole Miss offense on Saturday. Against Tennessee State, Makai Polk tied Fred Ross' school record with 88 catches, and Austin Williams tied another school record with three touchdown catches.
State was 12th out of 14 teams in the SEC in points per game, with an average of 24.7% through its first six games.
It has averaged 40.4 points per game in the past five games, which is third in the conference behind Georgia and Alabama.
In Week 13 of the season, the Michigan football team will have their toughest task, stopping C.J. Stroud and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State has meaning.
We've tried to figure out if Ohio State and Michigan were going to play each other in the Big Ten Championship game or the College Football Playoff.
We don't need to guess anymore. It's happening.
Both teams are ranked in the top five for the first time since 2016 when Ohio State beat Michigan in double overtime. The controversy over whether Ohio State quarterback J.T.Barrett was short on a fourth-down run that led to the winning score is something that Michigan fans will always remember.
It has been a long time since this game meant anything for either team, and it has also been a long time since Michigan got a win in this rivalry. The past 16 meetings have seen Ohio State win 15 of them. Jim Harbaugh is 0-5 against Ohio State, and it will take a lot for the Michigan to slow down the offense.
The quarterback put up 393 yards and six touchdown in the first half alone against Michigan State. Had he not been pulled for the backups, he could've gone for 600 yards on the day.
The Ohio State offense is clicking right now. The four games that Stroud has played this season are tied for the most such games by a quarterback over the past 20 seasons.
Over the past 25 years, the Big Ten trio of Smith-Njigba, Wilson and Olave have each had 100 receiving yards in a game.
The game against Michigan State was supposed to be close, but it ended up being the biggest margin of victory between two top-seven teams since 1945, when Army beat Penn 61-0.
The game was so one-sided that Ohio State coach Ryan Day was quickly focused on Michigan.
"We have a huge game coming up and everything is riding on it," Day said. I was already thinking about the game after it was over. The focus is on the Michigan football team.
The defense has not allowed more than 18 points in the past three games, which is a good sign for this game. 10 in total yards allowed per game.
Their secondary will need to play its best game of the season to stop Ohio State's passing attack. The Michigan team held Maryland's quarterback to 178 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a game last week.
"It means everything that was planned, built for, all of the energy that was put in since January, February, all the things that the guys have done, the coaches have done has put us in this position," Harbaugh said. We want to finish it, that's the position we wanted to be in. We want to win all the marbles. We want to be in this position. We've been preparing for this for a long time, and now we're ready to play for it all.
Pitt will play in the conference championship game if Wake Forest or NC State don't win.
Pitt is in the coastal area.
Nobody thought that Pitt would be the first team to get to the championship game. This season has not followed a familiar script.
Pitt was included.
It was worse by its timing, since people thought the same thing about Pitt after it lost to Western Michigan. Pat Narduzzi had a conversation with his team about the way it seemed to shy away from the resilience it needed to win an unexpectedly close game after he told them he had serious concerns over his players' sideline demeanor during the Western Michigan game.
In the past two must-win games, that has not been a problem. Pitt fans will say that they have been heart-stopping affairs, because nothing necessarily comes easy, without thinking the worst is about to happen. The Tar Heels were able to tie the game late in the game and force it into overtime when the rain fell two weeks ago.
Kenny Pickett has drawn rave reviews throughout the season, and he showed why with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Krull. Pitt had a chance to win the Coastal Division on Saturday, but the game was too close to call.
"Our kids have been calm," Narduzzi said. They have faith and belief in what they're doing. I don't see anyone ever wavering. A championship team finds different ways. We're on the edge of our seat, but the guys kept playing.
Pitt won the Coastal for the second year in a row, earning a spot in the championship game. Pitt is the only team from the Coastal to win two division titles. Both have come under Narduzzi.
It shows a lot about the state of the program. It takes time to get there and do what you want to do. We're not just taking guys to take guys. We're taking guys that fit in and can do what we want.
The next week is going to get harder. Wake Forest, NC State, and Clemson have to sort themselves out so Pitt can start preparing for the championship game because the Atlantic champion will not be decided until Saturday afternoon.
Tennessee has scored 34 or more points seven times. The Vols did it just five times.
First-year gems by Heupel and Beamer.
Josh Heupel has changed the culture at Tennessee with the way he relates to everyone in the program, and it's an example of how first-year coaches can change the culture with the way they relate to everyone in the program.
People within those programs are constantly using words likepositivity,belief andaccountability.
Nobody in college football expected much from the Vols or the Gamecocks this season, but they're both bowl eligible and have generated a wave of momentum going into the next recruiting period.
The Vols will be heavily favored to get to seven wins when they play the Commodores. Heupel's warp-speed offense has kept defenses off balance, produced an array of big plays and been equally entertaining to watch. Tennessee has scored 34 or more points seven times this season, compared to only five times during Jeremy Pruitt's three seasons in Knoxville.
South Carolina has struggled on offense for much of the season. Zeb Noland was a graduate assistant coach at the time he was hired by the Gamecocks. In the past three games, it has been Brown who has come up huge with seven touchdown passes, including five in wins over Florida and auburn. After seven straight losses to the Tigers, it's not hard to imagine that South Carolina can pull off a victory and get to seven wins.
Heupel and Beamer did not allow disappointing defeats to demoralize their teams. Tennessee was shut out in the second half in a September loss to Florida and got the short end of some officials' calls in a home loss to Ole Miss, but the Vols continued to improve and took down nationally ranked Kentucky on the road two weeks ago despite a roster that was weakened by
South Carolina came back with two big wins in November, over Florida and auburn, after losing to Tennessee and Texas A&M.
The next two or three recruiting classes are critical for both the Vols and the Gamecocks because they are behind in terms of personnel. They have a couple of first-year head coaches who are trying to give fans a reason to hope.
A coaching candidate is looking at something.
With the coaching carousel in full swing, many coaches are being thrown around as potential candidates at the top of various lists across the sport. James Franklin, Dave Aranda, Mario Cristobal are some of the top guys you've heard of.
You might not know that Houston's Doug Belk is also a person. After two seasons as a defensive backs coach at West Virginia, Belk was hired as the co-defensive coordinators and safeties coach. In January 2020 he was promoted to associate head coach.
If you want to link him to a legendary coaching tree, he was the defensive graduate assistant coach at Alabama for two years.
Houston's defense has allowed 293.4 yards per game this season, which is fifth in the country. He helped Houston achieve its first 10-game winning streak in three years.
The Memphis offense that had scored 28 or more points in every game but to just 13 points was held to two turnovers by the defense.
If he gets a head-coaching opportunity this cycle, remember his name in the future. His time is coming.
