This past week had its fair share of matchups that will end up shaping the conference title and playoff picture. In this article, I will talk about how some teams kept their playoff hopes alive this week and review their games.

I will go ahead and say I have a few takes on the playoff picture that some people might disagree with. The one stance I have taken that I see many people disagree with is that while I do not think this loss to LSU has fully eliminated Alabama from the playoff, they have definitely lost control of their own destiny, meaning they not only need to win out but will need other teams to lose. I just do not see how the playoff committee will justify putting a non-conference champion in ahead of a conference champion when they have the same amount of losses. If the playoff committee was really going to do stuff like this, I feel as though they would have put Ohio State in the playoff instead of Oklahoma in 2015, or even put Georgia in ahead of Oklahoma or Notre Dame last year (they made the right choice both times). While they did not uphold that in 2011, I think that should be dismissed since that was when the BCS system ranked teams, and that system is no longer used.

LSU 46 Alabama 41

So we might as well start off by talking about the biggest game so far this season. LSU got off to an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter before Alabama cut it to 16-13. LSU really took control of the game as they held a 33-13 lead at the half. Alabama battled their way back but it was not quite enough as LSU emerged victorious 46-41.

The obvious star of the show was LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who completed 31/39 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns. Burrow has always stepped up in big moments, and this game was no different as completed 79% of his passes on over 10 yards per attempt while adding 64 rushing yards, including an 18 yard run that was possibly the most critical play of the game. When LSU faced third down and two yards to go with two minutes left, Burrow’s 18 yard run kept the drive alive and allowed the Tigers to score a touchdown and make it a two score game. The breakout player of this game for LSU was definitely running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Edwards-Helaire ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns while also leading the team with nine catches, one of which was a touchdown. While he stands just 5’7”, Edwards-Helaire ran with a lot of toughness and physicality, making him a very tough guy to bring down. He also helped keep quite a few drives alive as he moved the chains on a run three times and another time on a reception. Ja’Marr Chase led LSU with 140 receiving yards. While the fact that they gave up 41 points might naturally lead to the belief that the defense played poorly, there were some very good individual performances. Outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson had a big day, leading the team with 10 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and added a quarterback hurry. Safety Jacoby Stevens also had a solid performance with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

On the Alabama side, I think the biggest problem with their performance was that they just could just not get Joe Burrow out of a groove. While they did get a good pass rush Burrow and generated negative plays, LSU always bounced back and Burrow never seemed uncomfortable. On plays immediately following a sack or incomplete pass, Burrow completed 7/8 passes for 64 yards. The Crimson Tide fires on all cylinders offensively in the second half, but dug themselves a massive hole in the first half with their inability to keep up with LSU. While I think he had a very good second half, Tua Tagovailoa’s fumbles on Alabama’s first two drives basically put them in a 10 point hole in the first quarter. If he holds onto one of those, Alabama likely would have won the game considering one fumble occurred in the red zone and the other was past the 50 yard line. That being said, I think Tagovailoa did quite well considering he was clearly still not fully healthy. His completion percentage was not great, but he did throw for 418 yards and four touchdowns and led a second half charge by the Crimson Tide. Tagovailoa’s injury also made it to where he could not really scramble, which also made an impact as he could not evade a pass rush and had to force some bad passes to avoid taking a sack when he could have evaded them if he was fully healthy. Alabama’s MVP of the game was definitely receiver DeVonta Smith, who had 210 receiving yards and burned LSU’s freshman phenom cornerback Derek Stingley. Najee Harris also deserves some credit as he ran for 146 yard. While they did give up some big plays defensively, they did get some resistance against a pretty strong LSU defensive, with five sacks. Two of those came from safety Xavier McKinney who had a team leading 13 tackles as well. Anfernee Jennings also had two sacks of his own.

Overall, this game now has LSU on the inside track to an SEC Championship and a playoff berth. While they still have to play a tricky Texas A&M team and likely Georgia in the SEC Championship game, this definitely seems like the toughest test they will have faced before the playoff comes around. This team is lethal offensively and with the emergence of Edwards-Helaire, I think added a new wrinkle. While I think their pass defense needs to improve before I can confidently make this claim, I would not be resolutely surprised to see LSU hoist the crystal ball cone season’s end (I know the trophy is not a crystal ball anymore but it is to me because it was really cool). This game also has cemented Burrow’s Heisman candidacy and puts him square in the lead. While he could definitely be caught, I think he now has a leg up on everyone else in the race. This game also seems to really put an end to any doubters of Ed Orgeron and if he was the guy for LSU. While the work he has done has been impressive, he just accomplished what he was hired to do: beat Alabama. While there will be plenty more games these two teams will play, it is still a good sign to snap an eight game losing streak. I also have to say that it is hard not to feel happy for Oregeron. He is a Louisiana native and it is clear that LSU was a dream job of his. It was tough to see him be successful as an interim head coach at USC and not get hired (however I will say that anybody with a Cajun accent coaching USC would feel a bit odd). While I was a bit skeptical of LSU’s hiring of him, I was clearly wrong. It will be interesting to see how he builds upon this.

For Alabama, I think this loss likely eliminates them from the playoff unless chaos happens. I have to say that this looked like a prime spot for the Crimson Tide to have another season where they just wreak havoc on everyone when looking at the offensive talent they have. While this loss was definitely disappointing, there is no way I will join in with people saying this is a Waterloo moment for Alabama. I think that Alabama is a dynasty to say the least and one loss or one season of missing the playoff will not torpedo the program by any means.

Minnesota 31 Penn State 26

Minnesota kept their undefeated season alive this week as they came out on top in a matchup of undefeated teams over Penn State. The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 24-10 lead in the first half, before holding on to win 31-26.

Offensively, Minnesota was led by an extremely impressive game through the air. Tanner Morgan completed 18/20 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns. To be honest, I really thought Minnesota got too conservative once they had a lead in the second half and I think they should have given Morgan a chance to put the game out of reach through the air. Morgan has made quite a leap this season, and his ability to step up in a big game like this has been a major factor in Minnesota’s emergence. Of Morgan’s 339 passing yards, Rashod Bateman was on the receiving end of 203 of them. Bateman had seven catches on the day and took one of those for a 66 yard touchdown. Tyler Johnson had 103 receiving yards and a touchdown of his own on seven catches. Bateman and Johnson are one of the top receiver duos in the country and showed that on Saturday. Minnesota’s defensive MVP would definitely be Antoine Winfield Jr. who not only led the team with 11 tackles, but also picked off two passes. Jordan Howden also deserves some credit as he had a game sealing interception in the end zone on Penn State’s final drive. Carter Coughlin had three tackles for loss and a sack at defensive end. One of my biggest concerns for Minnesota going into this game was how well they would protect Morgan, and they did pretty well. Morgan was sacks just once all day and was never hurried. I think that definitely played a role in the fact that he completed 90% of his passes.

For Penn State, they just could not capitulate offensively. They threw two of their interceptions inside the Minnesota 25, and twice had to settle for a field goal in the red zone. Sean Clifford did not have his best day at quarterback as he threw three interceptions and completed just 53% of his passes. KJ Hamler and Pat Freiermuth both went over 100 receiving yards, but Clifford’s inaccuracy hurt the Nittany Lions. Journey Brown had his best game at running back with 124 yards, but I think Penn State worried a bit too much about trying to quickly erase Minnesota’s lead and should have tried to get the ground game going more. Defensively, the Nittany Lions could not create chaos up front line they are used to which took away their strength as a defense and as a team. Their defensive line did not record a single sack, tackle for loss, or quarterback hurry. They also could not make up for this with solid pass coverage as Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson could not be slowed down.

Minnesota’s dream season is still a reality at the moment, but they have some speed bumps down the road. They play a plucky Iowa team on Saturday, and still have to play rival Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers will make the playoff if they win out (I know people might disagree with that but their is no way an undefeated power five team is missing the playoff) but that would include a win at Iowa, over rival Wisconsin, and a Big 10 Championship matchup with either Penn State again or Ohio State. This team has the ability to go far as evidenced by how they played today. PJ Fleck has done a very good job in his three season at Minnesota, and I truly hope he stays there (unless for some reason my Longhorns try to hire him) and builds something.

For Penn State, this loss was definitely disappointing but this has been a good season so far. If they beat Ohio State in two weeks, they will likely get a second shot at the Golden Gophers.

Oklahoma 42 Iowa State 41

Oklahoma was up 35-14 against Iowa State at halftime on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the Sooners, Iowa State has not quite given up yet as they had a second half surge that eventually put them down one with a touchdown in the last minute of the game. Instead of going for the tie, head coach Matt Campbell felt bold and went for two. Unfortunately for them, it fell short and Oklahoma stayed near the top of the Big 12 with a 42-41 win.

I will start off by saying that Oklahoma still had a strong offensive performance as per usual. Jalen Hurts did throw an interception, but he did complete 18/26 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns while adding another 68 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Kennedy Brooks had 132 rushing yards and a touchdown on 8.8 yards per carry. CeeDee Lamb did lose a fumble, but he still had a monster game at receiver with eight catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns. The Sooners did unfortunately fall apart a bit offensively in the second half. They had four drives that were less than four plays and did not result in a score. This left their defense having to immediately get back on the field as they Sooners possessed the ball for less than 10 minutes in the second half. On defense, they really struggled to create any big plays. They did not force a turnover and did not have a sack all game.

Iowa State had a sound game plan for this game that just did not come to fruition until the second half. The Cyclones looked to play a game of ball control and that strategy does not typically work as well when you are already trailing by 21 points at halftime. Still, Iowa State nearly mounted a very impressive comeback. This game plan also needs to work better when a team is successful on more than 33% of the third downs they face. Brock Purdy had a very good day at quarterback as he was responsible for every one of Iowa State’s touchdowns. Purdy threw for 282 yards and five touchdowns while adding another 55 yards and a touchdown on the ground. I wonder if Iowa State should have a let him test Oklahoma’s defense through the air more. On defense, the Cyclones has no answer for CeeDee Lamb as he repeatedly burned their secondary. Despite this loss, I think Iowa State is a good team and I am petrified of my Longhorns making the trip to Ames on Saturday.

For Oklahoma, they did come out with a win, but I think they need to have some more dominant wins if they want to impress playoff committee. As of now, the Sooners are ranked 10th, behind five other one loss teams. Their matchup at Baylor this week will be a prime spot for a big win.

Baylor 29 TCU 23 3OT

Baylor survived yet another scare this week. The Bears needed a 51 yard field goal from kicker John Mayers with 36 seconds left to make the score 9-9. This kick was far from a guarantee as Mayers had a career long of 38 yards before this kick. From there, Baylor and TCU traded touchdowns in first two overtimes before Baylor scored and then secured the win with an interception in the third overtime to remain undefeated after their fifth win by eight or fewer points.

Charlie Brewer was pretty accurate through the air, but only threw for 4.7 yards per attempt. If you discount overtime, Brewer threw for just 3.8 yards per attempt despite completing 67% of his passes. I question Baylor’s willingness to let Brewer run compared to the actual running backs on their roster as well. Brewer ran the ball 15 times, or 12 if you do not count sacks, on the day. A running back carries the ball 18 times. While the team struggled to get anything going on the ground, I think that Baylor’s solid stable of running backs should have had more chances. While they were penalized less than TCU, the Bears had 10 penalties for 67 yards including multiple on their last drive that prevented a possible push for a touchdown and nearly took them out of field goal range. TCU will definitely come out of this game feeling as though they could have won. The Horned Frogs had two different occurrences where a player dropped an easy catch in the end zone, either one of those would have led to a victory. They also failed to come away with a touchdown on any of their red zone trips, which is not very good. While Baylor had their fair share of penalties, TCU had more as they were flagged 11 times for 125 yards. If TCU had just played mediocre offensively, they would have won on Saturday, but they let the opportunity slip through their fingers.

While Baylor came out victorious this week, they need to fix some of their sloppy play on offense. The Bears are ranked 13th in the current playoff rankings, but they have some opportunities to gain ground. They face Oklahoma this Saturday in Waco and host Texas later on. If they win those two games, and a likely rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship, it will be hard not to include them in the playoff. For now, the Bears need to just keep winning and try to not just survive the game.

Ohio State and Clemson, and Georgia are all ranked in the top four of the most recent playoff rankings and while they did play this week, none of them really had to sweat it out. Ohio State still looks like the best team in the country to me, but they have a tough end to their schedule as they play Penn State and have to make the trip to Ann Arbor to play Michigan. They also will have to play the Big 10 Championship game, likely against Minnesota. I think they should win all of those games, but it is far from a guarantee. Clemson dominated North Carolina State on Saturday in a 55-10 win to move them to 10-0. The Tigers play a pretty good Wake Forest team on Saturday, but they should not have any problem winning that or the Palmetto Bowl against South Carolina. Clemson has the easiest path to the playoff of any of these teams, but they need to worry about seeding. If they can get some big wins, it is possible their ranking moves up. Georgia was ranked fourth in the most recent playoff rankings. While I feel that was a bit high, it does show that the Bulldogs can make the playoff by winning out. While that should be encouraging, that is definitely not an easy path for them. In the regular season, the Bulldogs still have to play some challenging team in Auburn and Texas A&M. After that, they are looking at a likely matchup with LSU in the SEC Championship. Georgia is capable of winning that game, but it will not be a simple task.

Oregon and Utah has byes last week, and it looks they are on a collision course in the Pac 12. Both teams have one loss and were ranked in the top eight of the playoff poll. If either of these teams win out, I think they will likely be in the top four. Still, they need to win and win big. The Pac 12 kind of needs them as well since the conference has been on the outside looking in during the playoff the last two seasons. If Oregon or Utah can make the playoff, it will establish some more respectability to the whole conference.

Some Random Thoughts

1. Ohio State star defensive end Chase Young’s suspension has been a big story across college football this past week. If the story Young has claimed is true, which is that he took a loan from a family friend so he could pay for his girlfriend to fly to the Rose Bowl last year and that he later paid the loan back, I think the two game suspension he has to serve is ridiculous and he should not face any consequences. Then again, there could be more to the story. All I know for sure is that Penn State should be worried when they play the Buckeyes on his first game back.

2. UCF now lost their third game of the season as they fell to Tulsa 34-31 on Friday night. This loss will feel especially bad for the Knights as they were about to get the ball back with less than a minute left but called for a penalty for having 12 men on the field, which gave Tulsa the first down and the ability to kneel out the clock.

3. Oregon State and Washington played a pretty weird game on Friday night that I was in attendance for. The Beavers actually held down Washington pretty well on defense, but their offense did not score any points as their lone touchdown was on a pick six. Washington won 19-7 led by 174 rushing yards from Salvon Ahmed, and 90 receiving yards from Myles Bryant who is staking his claim as best tight end in the country. Oregon State had just 33 rushing yards and was 1/13 on third down.

4. Of all the games that went on on Saturday, I think we can all agree the big loser of the weekend was Arkansas who lost to Western Kentucky, a team who was 5-4 in Conference USA, 45-19 at home. The Razorbacks were completely embarrassed to the extent that there were many fans who dawned the dreaded paper bag mask. This loss was the second loss of 26 or more points to a non power five opponent in Chad Morris’s tenure. To add insult to injury, Western Kentucky quarterback Ty Storey who threw for 213 yards, ran for another 77 and had three total touchdowns, transferred from Arkansas after being beat out for the job in Fayetteville.

5. After this loss, Arkansas has officially fired head coach Chad Morris. While he was the head coach for less than two full seasons and he had a large buyout, I can not really argue with the decision. Morris was 4-18 in his tenure at Arkansas, and the team showed no improvement throughout his time there and no matter how bad things are for the Razorbacks, they should never be blown out by a meddling Conference USA team at home. It will be interesting to see where the Razorbacks go in terms of their next hire. They are surely gunning for Memphis’s Mike Norvell but I think he will take a better job than Arkansas. I think Charlotte’s Will Healy should be looked at.

6. West Virginia did lose to Texas Tech 38-17 on Saturday but true freshman receiver Sam James deserves a shoutout. James had 223 receiving yards on 14 catches. If the Mountaineers had improve quarterback play, I think James would get a lot more attention.

7. Florida State beat Boston College 38-31 in the first game of the post Willie Taggart era. With this win, interim head coach Odell Haggins has already won as many road games as Taggart had in his entire tenure.

8. SMU bounced back from their loss against Memphis with a 59-51 win over East Carolina in a wild game with some crazy stars. SMU’s Shane Buechele three for 414 yards and five touchdowns in the win. Xavier Jones ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns. James Proche and Kylen Granson has big games at receiver as they had 167 and 138 yards respectively. Proche had 14 catches, which led the team while Granson had a team leading three receiving touchdowns. For East Carolina, quarterback Holton Ahlers threw for 498 yards and six touchdowns while Tyler Snead was on the receiving end of 240 of those yards and three of those touchdowns.

9. Texas ended a two game skid with a 27-24 win over Kansas State in Saturday. While there were definite flaws, it is always nice to get a win. The emergence of Keaontay Ingram at running back is very nice to see, as it can take some of the heat off of Sam Ehlinger. Ingram ran for 139 yards on the day. Ehlinger also might have made history that game by being the first quarterback ever to get a block in the back penalty during a game. Defensively, the Longhorns had a much better game. They will be tested against Iowa State and Baylor later this season, but they looked improved. Also Cameron Dicker might be my new favorite football player after his second game winning field goal this season.

10. Virginia Tech has had a major turnaround this season as they beat Wake Forest 36-17 on Saturday. The switch to Hendon Hooker at quarterback has definitely been a big part of this change in play. The Hokies are 4-0 when Hooker gets the start. I do not want to speak too soon but it looks like Justin Fuente has fully escaped the hot seat.

11. Illinois is now bowl eligible for the first time since 2013 after erasing a 28-3 deficit to win 37-34 over Michigan State. Brandon Peters has the best game of his time at Illinois with 369 passing yards and three touchdowns. Josh Imatorbhebe had a monster game with 178 receiving yards and two touchdowns. This comeback was quite improbable as Illinois has never been a passing team and somehow just figured out how to be effective through the air in the second half. Hopefully this season is not just an outlier for the Fighting Illini and they can build upon this.

12. Wisconsin snapped a two game losing streak with a 24-22 win over Iowa on Saturday. This win was surely a relief for the Badgers. After a couple of bad games, Jonathan Taylor went right back to his typical form as he ran for 250 yards on the day. Wisconsin’s rivalry matchup with Minnesota looks large and I think it will definitely be an interesting game.

13. Cal snapped a four game losing streak with a 33-20 win over Washington State. The Golden Bears found their footing offensively and their stout defense did the rest of the work. Cal is 5-4 and could still make a bowl game and salvage this season that was derailed a bit when quarterback Chase Garbers went down with a season ending injury five games into the season.

14. Washington State head coach Mike Leach has faced some backlash for his post game comments on Saturday. Leach said he believed that his players have not bought in and that the seniors on the team have either failed to reach the younger players or are frauds who have not bought in themselves. Leach later said that he deserves some of the blame for not getting players to buy in, but that has not allowed him to avoid criticism for supposedly throwing his players under the bus. I have to say that while I think Leach has a tendency to deflect blame at times, I see nothing wrong with what he did. If players are not showing effort, they are not above being called out. This Washington State team lacks leadership and I think many players were hoping to just coast off of their success from last season. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out for the Cougars. Leach has been brought up as a potential candidate to fill the vacancy at Arkansas or Kentucky if head coach Mark Stoops leaves for a better job. While I think it would be interesting to see Leach coach in the SEC, I think he has a good thing going in Pullman.

15. Appalachian State has their second power five win this season as they beat South Carolina 20-15. The Mountaineers led for the whole second half and just completely outplayed South Carolina. The Gamecocks lost this game in pretty heartbreaking fashion. They had the ball at the 19 yard line for the final play of the game and had Bryan Edwards wide open for a potential game winning touchdown. Quarterback Ryan Hilinski just slightly overthrew him and the ball went out the back of the end zone. It is looking like the end for Will Muschamp in Columbia and I am not really sure who they would bring in to replace him.

16. In one of the most insane statistics of this season so far, Georgia still has not given up a rushing touchdown all season. That streak continued as they beat Missouri 27-0 on Saturday. The Bulldogs also exercised their demons by beatingbackup quarterback.

17. After a 1-4 start to the season, Tennessee is coming on strong with four wins in their last five games and three wins in a row. The Volunteers won against Kentucky on Saturday and now have to beat either Missouri or Vanderbilt to make a bowl game for the first time since 2016. I think head coach Jeremy Pruitt is finally turning things around I think the Volunteers will be intriguing next season.

18. Indiana is 7-2 and ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll for first time since 1994. The Hoosiers have to play Michigan and Penn State still, any success there is gravy after their unexpected success this season.

19. Boise State needed a fourth quarter touchdown to tie it, but they came out on top 20-17 in overtime against Wyoming. I really feel like Boise State would be undefeated currently if Hank Bachmeier never got hurt.

20. Wake Forest’s star receiver Sage Surratt will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Going into this past week, Surratt led the power five in receiving yards. His loss will be fairly devastating for Wake Forest, and is disappointing as they have a big game with Clemson on Saturday.

21. San Jose State might not be a bunch of world beaters but their quarterback Josh Love has been quite impressive this season. Love has thrown for 3,168 yards and a touchdown to interception ratio of 19/4 this season. San Jose State was in a bad spot for awhile as they had three combined wins in 2017 and 2018. While their 4-6 record this season is nothing to write home about, they definitely are improved and have been competitive.

22. Michigan State on the other hand wore these monstrosities again. I do not want to say they deserved to lose to Illinois because they wore these, but they kind of did.

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