The week before Rivalry Week is a traditionally slow week of college football. While it is before Rivalry Week, there are usually a few big rivalries played, this year only one was played between Stanford and Cal. Most handled their non conference opponents with ease, some with less than ease but still won. And 22 of the top 25 won their games, the other three weren't too fortunate.
More ACC Cannibalism
Georgia Tech was the first ACC team with a chance to punch its ticket to the conference title game. All the Yellow Jackets had to do was win a home game against a Pitt team that had been blown out by Notre Dame the week before.
While Pitt was blown out, that loss wasn’t a conference game, and the Panthers also sat near the top of the ACC standings with just one conference loss. People expected a close game, but I don’t think anyone — certainly not me — expected Georgia Tech’s first five drives with Heisman hopeful Haynes King to produce one first down, eleven total yards, and an interception. And when they got the ball for the sixth time, they were already down 28–0.
Pitt came out swinging, clearly intent on making a statement, and they did just that. They moved the ball with ease throughout the first and second quarters. Their defense brought pressure, flustering King in a way no one else had all season, forcing bad throws and capitalizing on mistakes from the former Heisman contender.
The Yellow Jackets fought back, though, scoring twice before halftime to cut the Panthers’ lead in half. Just a week ago we watched Texas A&M come back from 30–3 — why not Georgia Tech from 28–0? When Tech forced a punt to start the second half, it felt like a touchdown drive would bring the stadium fully back to life. As they marched into the red zone, you could almost feel the building belief, the energy rising with each snap.
Then King dropped back from the Pitt 5-yard line, felt the pressure, and forced a throw into the end zone. It was intercepted and returned 100 yards by Braylan Lovelace. What could have been a seven-point game instantly became a 21-point deficit again, and all that momentum Georgia Tech had spent a quarter building vanished in seconds.
A resilient Yellow Jacket defense still fought to get the game back within seven with just over four minutes remaining. They hadn’t allowed a touchdown since early in the second quarter, and one more stop would have given the offense a chance to tie or even win the game. Instead, a defensive breakdown at the worst possible time opened a lane for Pitt running back Ja’Kyrian Turner, who sprinted 56 yards for the game-sealing score.
So what does this mean for the ACC title race? Three teams now sit at 6–1 in conference play: Virginia, SMU, and Pitt. Virginia plays Virginia Tech this week, SMU faces Cal, and Pitt plays Miami. I’m not going to pretend I can predict the outcomes — especially in this conference — but if next week somehow avoids ACC cannibalism, the title game would be Virginia vs. SMU. Miami, the highest-ranked ACC team, is essentially eliminated from both the conference title game and the CFP. The ACC should at least be thankful that the American Conference’s chaos is even worse; otherwise they’d have to sweat out whether they’d get a playoff spot at all.
I believe the ACC champion will still get into the playoff. However, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the champion won’t finish inside the top 12. That would leave them stuck as the 11-seed, forced to travel into a hostile environment to face a top-tier opponent desperate to prove they deserved a first-round bye.
Look out, ACC.
SEC Clarity
While half the conference played cupcake games, the other half faced real conference matchups. Some of those conference games were even more lopsided than the cupcake contests, but LSU somehow escaped against the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky, and Kentucky seems to have moved on to basketball season rather quickly. Tennessee marched into the Swamp and won at Florida for the first time since 2003. It wasn’t a shocking result given Florida’s season, but the streak is finally broken—even though the Vols seemingly sat out the entire second half.
Oklahoma and Missouri squared off in the only ranked matchup in the conference. It’s debatable whether it should have been a ranked matchup at all, considering Missouri’s best wins this season are against Auburn, Mississippi State, and South Carolina. All three have only one conference win and none are going to a bowl game. It feels like Missouri was ranked simply to bolster the back end of the conference—and Oklahoma made it look that way. While the Sooners struggled offensively, scoring only two touchdowns, that’s perfectly acceptable when their defense didn’t give up one.
Beau Pribula’s return from a dislocated ankle was not the performance he hoped for. Ahmad Hardy, coming off his 300-yard game, didn’t even reach 60 yards this week. Aside from two drives, the Tigers couldn’t move the ball to save their lives.
Oklahoma now quietly holds one of the best résumés in the country, even with a subpar offense. They are also nearly mathematically eliminated from the SEC Championship Game, meaning a win next week against LSU would all but punch their ticket into the CFP for the first time since joining the SEC.
Elsewhere in the title race, Texas could make things interesting with a win over A&M this week. Georgia finished 7–1 in conference play, and wins by Ole Miss and Alabama over their far inferior rivals would put both of those teams at 7–1 as well.
G5 Contenders
North Texas and Tulane both won their games this past week with ease to move to 6–1 in the American race. They now sit tied with Navy, who had a bye this past week. Next weekend provides a great storyline as we find out which two teams will have a shot at the CFP bid. North Texas faces Temple, while Tulane takes on Charlotte. Navy matches up with Memphis. If all three teams win, North Texas would travel to Tulane for the conference title game.
Game of the Week: Utah 51, Kansas State 47
In a rare afternoon conference game in Salt Lake City, Utah tried to keep its CFP hopes alive with another dominant showing. The offense did its part again, but neither defense seemed interested in showing up.
Both teams clearly wanted to pound the ball and force the other to stop the run. Neither did. Utah ultimately surrendered 472 rushing yards, and Kansas State scored its first four touchdowns on the ground. A late field goal sent the Wildcats into halftime with a 31–21 lead. Utah’s three first-half touchdowns also came on the ground—all courtesy of quarterback runs.
Utah opened the second half hot, scoring touchdowns on its first two drives and briefly letting the passing game get involved before returning to what worked: another QB run for a touchdown. Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson answered immediately with a fourth-down touchdown pass to retake the lead. A field goal on the next drive, followed by a Utah fumble, gave the Wildcats a short field they converted into another touchdown, pushing the score to 47–35. That’s when things got weird.
K-State lined up to go for two to make it a 14-point game. Johnson’s slant attempt was intercepted and returned 104 yards by Tao Johnson for two Utah points—except a flag was thrown for potential illegal contact before the pass. After discussion, the officials picked up the flag, ruling no foul. So instead of being down 14, Utah trailed just 47–37.
A long drive capped by a Devon Dampier strike cut the lead to three with under three minutes remaining. Kansas State simply needed to run clock, but instead went three-and-out and used only 22 seconds. Utah immediately converted a fourth-and-one into a 59-yard run, and three plays later punched it in to take a 51–47 lead.
Avery Johnson still had time to rescue the Wildcats, but an errant throw on the second play of the drive ended up in the hands of senior linebacker Lander Barton, sealing the game.
Utah’s comeback from 12 points down in under three minutes—despite giving up almost 500 rushing yards—makes this week’s matchup the College Footblog Game of the Week.
Stat Line of the Week
Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt): 33/39 484 YDS 5 TD 15 CAR 48 YDS 1 TD
In a week when most of the SEC was padding stats against non-conference opponents, Diego Pavia outperformed all of them — and he did it in a conference game. He broke the Vanderbilt single-game passing record and tied his own mark for touchdown passes, putting together one of the best quarterback performances in program history.
Will’s Corner
BYU 26, Cincinnati 14
BYU decided they were going to let LJ Martin win the game for them this week. The offense outside of Martin did not look sharp, especially after Chase Roberts went down with an injury in the first half. In the passing game, nothing ever really got going. From drops to missed tackles, the only consistent part of the offense was LJ Martin. His 32 carries for 222 yards were enough to ice the game away for the Cougs and give them yet another strong road win for their résumé.
During their stretch of six games against teams with at least seven wins, they went 5–1, with their lone loss coming to Texas Tech. I said back in October that if they could go 4–2 in this run, I would be happy — and I can say I’m more than happy with their performance. They’re now just one home win against UCF away from making their first Big 12 title game.
Tennessee 31, Florida 11
The streak of 10 consecutive losses in The Swamp is over. The Vols jumped all over the Gators early, and with only three possessions in the second half, simply ran the clock as much as they could. There was no reason to risk anything. They now host Vanderbilt next week in what might possibly be the biggest matchup in history between the two teams.
Washington State 20, James Madison 24
I don’t know what to say. This was the third time Wazzu has held a lead against an AP Top 25 team in the second half — and the second time they’ve done it in the fourth quarter. They’ve lost all three of those games.
The inability to finish games and tackle is infuriating. There wasn’t a single moment on Saturday where I truly believed we were going to win; I’ve seen this movie before. I knew the offense was going to go cold and the defense wasn’t going to be able to get the stop when they needed it. And sure enough, it happened again.
They now get to host Oregon State and hope not to blow another fourth-quarter lead as they try to reach bowl eligibility.
Will's CFP Rankings
No more reaction to the corrupt AP Poll, just my own rankings as if I were on the committee, try and see what I value in my rankings and compare them to the actual rankings come Tuesday.
CFB News
Virginia Tech officially has the first hire of the season as they snagged James Franklin off the market.
ESPN’s College Gameday and Big Noon Kickoff will both be heading to Ann Arbor for The Game. Lets see if Ohio State can break the four year streak of Michigan, or can the Wolverines play spoiler a second year in a row.
Games to Watch – Week 14
Texas A&M @ Texas – Nov 28, 7:30 PM ET (ABC)
Ohio State @ Michigan – Nov 29, 12"00 PM ET (FOX)
Vanderbilt @ Tennessee – Nov 29, 3:30 PM ET (ESPN)
Guest Guesser Update
There were no differences this week, and to make it worse we both pick pretty good so there wasn't even a shot to make up any ground. We'll have to cook something up for this last week just to have a chance.
I’d love to hear from readers, too. Think my takes are dumb? Want my opinion on something I missed? Email me at thecollegefootblog@gmail.com.
