Week 9 Recap

Photo courtesy of Brett Davis-Imagn Images

As we are just one week away from the first reveal of the College Football Playoff Rankings, it is hard to believe that we are already 2/3 of the way done with the regular season. No need to fear though, with the newish playoff structure, we still have three months left of college football! That means crazy finishes and more blog posts!

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The South Eastern Conference 

As conference races start to take shape, this week’s post dives deep into each Power Conference, along with the usual look at the Group of Five race. We start with the conference where it just means more — the SEC.

Currently, the SEC frontrunner is a team from Texas that’s undefeated both in conference play and overall. No, not the preseason No. 1 from Austin — it’s the Aggies from Texas A&M. Starting the season ranked No. 19, the Aggies have ridden a relatively favorable SEC schedule to an 8–0 start. That doesn’t discount their early-season road win over Notre Dame, but Saturday night’s win in Death Valley (yes, the real Death Valley based on results this year) was their first victory against a ranked SEC opponent.

A night game in Baton Rouge should never be taken lightly, no matter how much LSU is stumbling right now. Marcel Reed has been outstanding for the Aggies, while head coach Mike Elko has guided them to mostly comfortable conference wins. With just three SEC games left — and a bye week before their matchup with Missouri — Texas A&M once again controls its own destiny for a trip to Atlanta. It didn’t work out last year, but they’ll look to redeem themselves this time around.

After a dreadful Week 1 showing, Kalen DeBoer and Alabama have rattled off seven straight wins, including five in SEC play — four of them against ranked opponents. The Tide have shown both grit and dominance along the way, though they nearly slipped up this past week against a reeling South Carolina squad. Thanks to a late drive led by Ty Simpson to tie it, and a costly fumble by Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers, Alabama escaped in a game they probably shouldn’t have won. Still, DeBoer keeps wearing the black hoodie, and the Crimson Tide keep winning.

Their remaining conference games — LSU and Oklahoma at home — look favorable given both teams’ recent struggles. The final game, however, will test every Alabama fan’s nerves: the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium. No one ever really knows what will happen there.

Georgia and Ole Miss sit right behind the top two teams at 4–1 in SEC play. Georgia’s lone loss came to Alabama, while Ole Miss’s came to Georgia. The Bulldogs had a bye this week and now head into the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party. Their only remaining ranked SEC opponent is Texas (don’t worry, we’ll get to them). A big matchup with in-state rival Georgia Tech looms, but that won’t affect conference standings.

Ole Miss, meanwhile, let Oklahoma hang around this past weekend before pulling away comfortably in Norman. With no ranked opponents left and only one road game remaining — the Egg Bowl to close the year — a 7–1 conference finish is very much on the table for the Rebels.

The real surprises of the SEC might be the two teams sitting at 3–1 in conference play — for very different reasons. Vanderbilt finds itself as a top-10 team after knocking off another top-15 opponent in Missouri. Diego Pavia has been everything they needed — a steady leader with playmaking ability — and all phases of the game are clicking.

They face the other 3–1 team this week: the Texas Longhorns. Somehow, after all that’s happened, Texas isn’t out of it. But man, it hasn’t been pretty. A one-score win over Kentucky and a double-overtime victory against Mississippi State make their 3–1 mark feel more like 4–4. Unlike the teams above them, Texas has a brutal remaining schedule: four SEC games left, three against top-10 opponents. Margin for error is nonexistent — especially with a quarterback still searching for his rhythm.

Missouri, Oklahoma, and LSU all looked strong early in the year, but the tide has turned for each of them. Missouri’s struggles were somewhat expected, and Oklahoma always felt like they were living on borrowed time. LSU, though, has been flat-out disappointing. They lost a night game in Death Valley and now get Alabama as a reward. Brian Kelly seems to have lost the reins — and fans were calling for his job after blowing a halftime lead to Texas A&M.

After starting 5–0, Oklahoma looked like a dark horse. I thought they might not win another game — and while they proved me wrong by beating South Carolina, their final stretch is brutal: Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU. Even with Missouri and LSU sinking, those are far from guaranteed wins.

South Carolina might be the biggest disappointment of all. I had them pegged for a playoff run, and now they sit at 1–5 in SEC play and 3–5 overall. That’s a nightmare outcome for Shane Beamer and a team that entered the season with sky-high expectations.

My preseason pick to win the SEC was Texas — along with a bunch of other so-called “college football experts.” We couldn’t have been more wrong about the Longhorns and Arch Manning. My midseason pick now? Alabama.

I’m not sure how all the tiebreakers will shake out for the SEC title game, but one thing’s certain: it’s going to be an exciting finish down South.

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The BIG 10 Conference 

The conference of the Midwest (and now the West Coast) has gone about 75% the way experts predicted. The big glaring misfire? Penn State.

One of last year’s final four in the 12-team playoff, the Nittany Lions were expected to take the next step under James Franklin with veteran quarterback Drew Allar — maybe even make a real run at the national championship. Fast-forward to Week 9: Franklin is unemployed, Allar is out for the season, and Penn State is 0-4 in conference play. Hard to imagine it going much worse in Happy Valley — or maybe, at this point, Sad Valley. But hey, look on the bright side: they now get to face the top two teams in the country in back-to-back weeks!

The other big surprise of the season in the Big Ten is Indiana traveling across the country and beating Oregon in Eugene. The Hoosiers now sit at 5-0 in conference play, fully controlling their own destiny for a spot in the conference title game. Unlike last year, when they needed help to reach Indianapolis (help that never came), this time Indiana has a great chance to play for — and possibly win — their first conference championship in 58 years.

Ohio State finds itself exactly where it wants to be: No. 1 in the country and 4-0 in conference. That Week 1 win against Texas looks worse and worse with each passing week, and when you dig into their schedule, their only other ranked win is against Illinois — an Illinois team that just got waxed by Washington. Then again, Ohio State beat Washington too, so it all balances out, right?

Once again, a final-week matchup in the Big House against Michigan looms large. It’s likely to be their only remaining ranked opponent, meaning win or lose, Ohio State’s playoff spot looks secure — but their place in the Big Ten title game isn’t quite locked in yet.

Michigan and Iowa are a quiet 4-1 in conference play, while Oregon also sits at 4-1, though a bit deflated after its loss to Indiana. Iowa and Oregon’s only losses came to those same Hoosiers, while Michigan stumbled on its cross-country trip to the Coliseum in L.A. Iowa and Oregon meet November 8th, and the outcome will likely end one team’s title hopes. The winner will still need help, but they won’t be out of it by any means.

Michigan looks to be in a good spot after its ground game dominated this past weekend, earning a convincing win over not their biggest rival — but one that led to their biggest rival (Michigan State) losing to their biggest rival. Yeah, try to wrap your head around that one. As if Michigan-Ohio State needed any more juice, there’s a good chance this year’s matchup could once again decide who heads to Indianapolis — just like it did three straight years before last season.

USC still has an outside shot at the title game, but its loss to Illinois keeps aging poorly as the Illini’s hot start cools off. Meanwhile, Minnesota, Nebraska, Washington, and Northwestern are all having good seasons, but they’re probably too far behind the top tier to make a real run.

My preseason pick to win the conference was Oregon. They’ve played well, but based on current standings, I don’t think they make the title game. My midseason pick? Ohio State over Indiana in the Big Ten Championship.

Week 8 Recap

Photo Courtesy of Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Week 8 was a defining moment for many teams across the country. With major rivalry games and pivotal ranked matchups on the slate, the postseason picture began to take clearer shape as contenders separated themselves from the pack.

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The Holy War 

I’m going to start this week’s blog post with my alma mater, Brigham Young University, and their biggest game of the year — against Utah. In this rendition of the Holy War, we got a ranked matchup between Utah and BYU for the first time since 2009, and a conference matchup in Provo for the first time since Utah joined the Pac-12 and BYU went independent in 2011. BYU had won the last two meetings, and you have to go all the way back to August 2019 to find the last time Utah came out on top.

Utah closed as a 5.5-point favorite on the road this year, and I’ll highlight the game before getting into my thoughts. The first quarter was scoreless, with each team possessing the ball twice — but underneath that, there was plenty going on.

BYU got the ball first and, after moving the chains once, stalled and was forced to punt. Utah then unleashed a 12-play drive, moving the ball at will. BYU’s defense struggled with assignments, leaving receiver Ryan Davis completely wide open for a 22-yard gain at one point. Utah’s only negative play was a false start on their first snap, which cost them just three yards because of how backed up they were near their own end zone.

Eventually, Utah faced a 4th-and-1 at the BYU 12. I understand what Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was thinking — they had forced a punt and were driving easily, so seven points would be huge — but in a rivalry where every point matters, going for it there was definitely a choice. Utah called a jet sweep to Daniel Bray, which had gone for 29 yards earlier in the drive. The only problem: BYU cornerback Mory Bamba sniffed it out immediately and shot across the field to make the tackle for loss, giving the ball back to the Cougars.

BYU then had their turn to drive. After a sack on quarterback Bear Bachmeier, they faced a long third down. A quarterback draw left BYU in a similar predicament to Utah’s — a 4th-and-short, this time near midfield. Running back LJ Martin slipped on the play, giving the ball back to Utah. It didn’t hurt BYU, though, as their defense forced a three-and-out and got the ball back as time wound down on the first quarter.

The start of the second quarter brought fireworks. BYU hit back-to-back passes to star receiver Chase Roberts totaling 43 yards, the latter a beautiful throw from Bachmeier for a touchdown that gave BYU a 7–0 lead. Utah responded with a drive to the BYU 28, where they lined up for a field goal — but BYU coach Kalani Sitake called a timeout just before the kick. After Utah’s practice kick missed, Whittingham sent his offense back out to go for it on 4th-and-7. Quarterback Devon Dampier’s pass fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs again.

Utah’s defense forced a three-and-out, then finally drove for a touchdown, finding Ryan Davis wide open once again to tie it 7–7.

Utah’s defense forced yet another three-and-out and was about to get the ball back with just over two minutes left — and a chance for a two-for-one, as they were set to receive the second-half kickoff. Too bad Mana Carvalho muffed the punt.

BYU now had the ball 40 yards from the end zone with plenty of time. Things looked good as BYU converted a 4th-and-1 inside the 15-yard line with a minute left. Then all systems broke down. With no timeouts, they kept running the ball and, worse, didn’t seem to have secondary play calls ready. They wasted nearly 35 seconds on one two-yard run. Nonetheless, they managed to spike the ball with six seconds left, and Will Ferrin hit a 26-yard field goal to give BYU a 10–7 halftime lead. Bachmeier was visibly frustrated with the clock management — and rightfully so, it was abysmal.

The third quarter, on paper, looks eerily similar to the first: zero points. But diving deeper, Utah put together a 9-play, 66-yard drive that included a wild sequence — a Dampier pass to Dallin Bentley, who ran 25 yards before the ball was ripped out, only to fall directly into teammate Tobias Merriweather’s hands, who took it another 25. Once again, Utah found itself inside the BYU 10 on 4th-and-3. Dampier was stuffed on a quarterback keeper, turning it over on downs yet again. Noticing a trend?

A promising BYU drive stalled, and Utah got the ball back. This time, they didn’t bother inching downfield — Daniel Bray took a jet sweep 49 yards to the house to make it 14–10. BYU responded quickly with a 5-play, 81-yard drive capped by a 12-yard Parker Kingston run.

Now with just over 10 minutes to go and BYU leading 17–14, Utah needed something big. The only consistent play had been that jet sweep to Bray, but Utah shifted to a heavier passing look — and BYU was ready. Pressure forced errant throws, and on 2nd-and-13, Dampier lobbed a questionable jump ball that BYU’s Tanner Wall tracked perfectly and intercepted.

BYU capitalized, burning five minutes off the clock before Bachmeier ran through Utah defenders on a 22-yard touchdown scramble on 3rd-and-11 to make it 24–14.

In desperation mode, Utah failed to convert a 4th-and-15. BYU took over inside the Utah 30 with a chance to deliver the knockout punch — but Sitake went for it on 4th-and-5, and a 25-yard fade fell incomplete, giving Utah one more chance. Utah scored, but after an awful onside kick attempt, BYU recovered and kneeled it out for the 24–21 win.

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I’ll be the first to admit: I didn’t think BYU was going to win this game. After watching these two teams win in dramatically different ways last week, I was worried about Utah’s physicality overwhelming BYU. That wasn’t the case. This was the first time a team rushed for over 200 yards against Utah since last year’s Holy War.

On paper, the stats make it look close, but Utah’s penalties, two turnovers, and 1-for-5 mark on fourth down doomed them. The turning point in discipline came when Utah led 14–10 and two-way star Lander Barton lowered his head and hit Bachmeier directly in the facemask after the throw. It checked all the boxes for targeting — and in what might have been the fastest review I’ve ever seen, the officials agreed. While it’s a tough spot for Barton, your captain and defensive leader has to know better in a close fourth-quarter game.

Bachmeier took care of the football and made smart plays, taking just two sacks compared to Dampier’s three. He’ll need to keep that up as BYU — now sitting atop the Big 12 — heads on the road to face Iowa State and Texas Tech, with a bye week in between. The physicality they showed tonight is exactly what they’ll need to keep this stretch going.

Now let’s talk about Utah. This was not good. A team that prides itself on being built in the trenches just got beat at its own game. The defense, while solid early, crumbled late, allowing BYU to move the ball at will. There needs to be a serious look at Whittingham’s decision-making — particularly his fourth-down aggression. In a rivalry where field goals often decide outcomes, refusing to take the points was unacceptable.

Utah fans can complain that their season’s over, but let’s be honest — they might not be as dominant as they remember. Since joining the Power Five ranks in 2011, Utah has just one 10-win regular season — and no, it wasn’t in either of their Rose Bowl years. The idea that Utah could go 13–0 like they did twice in the Mountain West isn’t realistic and hasn’t been for a long time.

Whittingham’s injury report antics and his refusal to talk about BYU or Bachmeier during the week don’t help, either.

To make matters worse, naming Morgan Scalley as “head coach in waiting” might be the dumbest move possible. That’s basically saying nothing will change when Whittingham retires — just more of the same mediocrity. Utah rode the high of two 10–4 seasons that ended in Rose Bowl losses and dug themselves into a rut of stale leadership. In today’s rapidly changing college football landscape, that’s mind-boggling. Heck, Penn State fired James Franklin after three bad weeks, while Utah seems committed to the same staff no matter the results.

Utah now falls to 4–9 since joining the Big 12 — a far cry from the “running the conference” talk their fans were pushing.

Week 7 Recap

Photo courtsey of Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Week 7 brought a great slate that helped determine which teams are for real and which ones probably should’ve let their star quarterback rest another week to let his hand heal. Nonetheless, we’re in the full swing of the college football season, with teams racing to become bowl eligible as quickly as possible. This week served as the appetizer for what’s to come over the next month and a half.

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Indiana University- Football School

Indiana and football have been synonymous with losing for nearly the entirety of college football history. In fact, the Hoosiers still hold the record for the most FBS losses by any program — a record that may soon be in jeopardy, as Northwestern sits only three losses behind them. Indiana football hadn’t had a coach with a winning record during their time in Bloomington in the post–World War II era. That is, until Curt Cignetti showed up.

Cignetti’s famous line is “Google him,” and when you do, you find exactly what he says: winning records everywhere he’s been. From IUP (Division II) to Elon (FCS) to James Madison (Sun Belt), his track record proves one thing — he wins. Many didn’t doubt his ability, but taking the job at Indiana was a different challenge. He was entering a conference loaded with perennial powerhouses. Teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and even Michigan State have enjoyed decades of success. Adding former Pac-12 schools USC, Oregon, and Washington didn’t make the task of winning in the Big Ten any easier. That’s why last year’s run to the College Football Playoff shocked people across the country. It was soon picked apart with criticisms of Indiana losing their biggest games in noncompetitive fashion. Losing star quarterback Kurtis Rourke to graduation left Indiana in an uncertain spot, where many — myself included — thought regression was inevitable.

Cignetti brought in transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Cal and took the Hoosiers to Eugene for their first true road test. Indiana had handled Illinois earlier this year, but that was Illinois — not one of the Big Ten’s heavyweights. Oregon, still riding high after beating Penn State in State College, looked like the ultimate test of whether Indiana was for real. While that Penn State win has lost some luster as the Nittany Lions continue to falter, a road trip to Oregon is still one of the toughest assignments in college football — especially when you have to fly three-quarters of the way across the country to get there.

To be frank, Indiana dominated this game. A quick drive at the end of the half allowed them to capitalize on an Oregon missed field goal and kick one of their own, giving the Hoosiers a 13-10 lead at halftime. Indiana came out strong in the second half, not allowing Oregon to move the ball more than 25 yards on any drive. The Ducks’ only second-half points came from a short field goal off a drive that began in Indiana territory and a pick-six. The 30-20 final score doesn’t tell the full story — in reality, Indiana played in a way that looked more like a 35-13 kind of win.

What does this mean for Oregon? It’s not the end of the world by any means, but it is their first conference loss as members of the Big Ten and their first home loss since Washington beat them back in 2022. Oregon avoids both Ohio State and Michigan this regular season, gets to host USC (who reenters the rankings this week), and finishes the year at Washington. The margin for error is now zero if they want to repeat as Big Ten champions, but their playoff hopes are still alive.

Indiana also avoids both Ohio State and Michigan this year, leaving them with no more ranked opponents on the schedule. What was supposed to be a marquee matchup at Penn State has lost its luster following the firing of James Franklin. Heck, their biggest remaining game might be against UCLA. The Hoosiers are now in prime position to play for their first conference title since 1967. Whatever happens the rest of the way, earning the program’s first road win against an AP Top-5 team has solidified Curt Cignetti as a legitimate Power Five coach — and he’s proven that Indiana is here to compete. The only question now is whether he’ll stick around or jump at one of the bigger jobs that will inevitably open soon.  

Week 6 Recap

Photo Curtesy Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Some of you might be wondering — it’s almost Monday afternoon, so where is the College Footblog post? Week 6 just happened to fall on the same weekend as the Seattle Mariners’ ALDS series openers — something I couldn’t miss. As a result, this week’s post will arrive a day late. But have no fear: Week 6’s “sleepy” slate delivered plenty of drama.

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Top Ten Teams with no key wins?

This week looked to be just a stepping stone for Penn State and Texas. Both teams found themselves in the top ten despite already having a loss — Texas to the No. 1 team in the country, Ohio State, in Week 1, and Penn State to the then-No. 2 Oregon just last week. Both teams were either looking to continue their slow roll toward tougher competition or get back in the saddle after a tough loss.

We’ll start with Penn State and James Franklin. For all the ridicule he gets for not being able to beat the top teams each year, Franklin has done a tremendous job beating up on the teams he’s supposed to. This week looked no different as the Nittany Lions traveled all the way to the West Coast to play the shipwreck known as UCLA. After starting 0-3 and losing to two Mountain West schools, UCLA fired head coach DeShaun Foster and opted to continue the season by letting fans submit play calls through a QR code on the jumbotron. They soon found out that wouldn’t work because, well, no one shows up to the games. So they handed the interim job to Tim Skipper, with Jerry Neuheisel helping call plays. Every good college team has a former kicker calling plays, right?

UCLA entered the game 0-4 with no sign of a win on the horizon. Their remaining home games were all against undefeated or one-loss teams — including this week’s matchup, as Penn State came to town off a gut-wrenching overtime loss to Oregon. The spread closed at 25.5; no one in their right mind thought this game would be worth watching. CBS announcers Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson had to be thinking, “We traded packed SEC stadiums for this?” as the camera panned across a quarter-full Rose Bowl before kickoff.

UCLA got the opening kickoff, and it was immediately clear that Nico Iamaleava was playing like early-2024 Tennessee Iamaleava. An 11-play touchdown drive followed by a 7-play field-goal drive gave UCLA a 10-0 lead over Penn State. Not only was that the Bruins’ largest lead of the year — it was their only lead of the year. After Penn State went 10 plays and 75 yards for a touchdown, I thought, “Okay, they’ve settled in. They’ll take it from here.” I was wrong. UCLA unleashed a second quarter that saw them score three times while Penn State punted and turned the ball over on downs. Going into halftime, the UCLA Bruins led 27-7. Let me say that again another way: UCLA had a twenty-point lead over the No. 7 team in the country.

A blocked-punt touchdown by the Nittany Lions in the third quarter cut the lead to 27-21 — the closest margin since the start of the game. But even in the face of adversity, UCLA marched down the field to extend the lead to 34-21 right before the fourth quarter. Another 13-play drive that burned nearly half the fourth quarter put UCLA up by 14 with about six minutes left. Penn State answered, but UCLA found itself facing a 4th-and-1 at its own 35 with just over two minutes to play — a chance to ice the game. Not sure if this was a play call from the kicker, but it looked like it. A designed QB run was not the time they wanted Iamaleava to revert back to his UCLA self, losing yardage and giving Penn State the ball in prime position to tie it.

Luckily for UCLA, Drew Allar might be even worse. On 4th-and-2, he kept the ball on what might have been the worst read-option decision of all time. I’ll give UCLA credit — the jet-sweep option looked like it would’ve been blown up too — but when the QB is staring down two defenders right in front of him, he’s usually taught to give that ball.

A late “pitchy-pitchy-woo-woo” effort by the Nittany Lions came up short, and UCLA held on to beat No. 7 Penn State, 42-37. Now let’s talk about what this means. Tim Skipper, who’s been a head coach for about three weeks, now has as many top-ten wins as James Franklin does in the past eight years! (I’m not counting Boise State as a top-ten team last year — that ranking was inflated.) If I were a Penn State fan, this would be unacceptable. To lose to a team having its plays called by a kicker — with no coach, no fans, and no hope — is brutal.

Penn State’s wins this year have come against FIU, Nevada, and FCS Villanova. They fall from No. 7 all the way out of the rankings this week.

On the other hand, UCLA played great — but that doesn’t change the nature of their remaining schedule or how they’ve looked in their other four games. Only time will tell if Nico has figured something out and will play like his Volunteer self, or if he’ll continue his UCLA ways. Penn State, who began the year ranked No. 2, now finds itself unranked. Hard to imagine it could get any worse for anyone else…