As the regular season came to a close this week, we finally start to have definitive answers about the questions we had before the season. While Conference Championship Week and Bowl Season still remain, we mostly know how teams feel about their season and which fans are happy. At this point, we now know the answer to basically every preseason and in season question. In this article I will share those answers, as well as what still is unknown.

Answered

Will Tua Tagovailoa live up to the hype?

After leading Alabama to victory in the National Championship Game last season, Tua Tagovailoa has been the most talked about college football player in the country. His talent is evident, but there were people (including myself) who were skeptical when he was listed as a preseason second team All-American and one of favorites to win the Heisman. After the hype surrounding Jeremy Johnson at Auburn due to his success in limited action was proven false, I thought there was a chance Tua could be a repeat of that.

What I did not expect was that Tua would perfectly live up to the hype. In the Iron Bowl, Tua completed 25/32 passes for 324 yards and five touchdowns. Auburn stuck around trying to use trick plays to their advantage, but Alabama’s offense was too much to handle. On the season, Tua has completed 70% of his passes, throwing for 12 yards per pass and has a touchdown – interception ratio of 36/2. Tua has been part of the revolution that is Alabama’s offense being the identity of their team this season along with Damien and Najee Harris, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, and a strong offensive line. With Tua at quarterback, Alabama has gone from the top of the mountain to dominant. It is safe to say he has lived up to the hype.

Was Ed Orgeron the right hire for LSU?

When LSU fired Les Miles four games into the 2016 season, it became obvious they have high expectations for the team and their coaches. It came off as a surprise to many that they decided to officially hire Ed Orgeron, the interim coach, at the end of the 2016 season. Orgeron was seen as a questionable hire since he was seen as virtually the same as Les Miles, despite having a 6-2 record as the interim head coach. After losing to Mississippi State and Troy in 2017, people questioned the hire already. I think that after the regular season this year, I think Orgeron looks like the right hire. Not only is he the most Cajun person to ever exist, (I am still pretty sure he and Farmer Fran from the Waterboy are the same person) but I think he has done a good job with this team. They had a very impressive win against Georgia, found ways to succeed on offense, and have a bright future ahead of them.

I also need to use this as a excuse to talk about the Texas A&M game. Joe Burrow had an absolutely herculean effort in this game. Burrow accounted for six total touchdowns and had 370 total yards. Devin White did the same on defense with 17 total tackles and a sack. Kendrick Rogers and Quartney Davis came up very big for Texas A&M with multiple clutch grabs. The sad thing about all of this is that even though this was a great game, it should not have gone to overtime in the first place. While the interception by Grant Delpit that could of sealed the game being overturned due to Mond’s knee being down as he picked up the ball looked like the right call, not many others from that point did. Texas A&M should not have been given that extra second to run their last play as it looked like Kellen Mond spiked the ball as time expired. While it has come out that when Texas A&M has converted a fourth down attempt that looked short, it was due to an error in marking the first down marker on TV, but it still should have been reviewed in my opinion. In the first overtime, it looked like Jace Sternberger caught the ball then fumbled it. If that was the ruling, LSU would have won but they ruled it an incomplete pass. The pass interference call on Greedy Williams that allowed Texas A&M to attempt the winning conversion also looked like a bad call. All in all, LSU deserves to win this game and it is a shame that poor officiating will be a black mark on this amazing game (hopefully I did not come off as too biased here as Texas A&M winning a big game is one of my least favorite things ever). This game also likely cost LSU an NY6 bowl berth so it was not insignificant (yes I used a double negative, I heard they make you sound smart) that they lost this game.

Can Michigan steal the Big 10 crown?

This season has been a rough one for Michigan. This season was considered to be one that will make it or break it for Jim Harbaugh and could put him on the hot seat if they were not successful. Michigan started this season with a loss to Notre Dame, and had been rolling since. This game against Ohio State was a game that Michigan needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive and make their mark on the Big 10.

Unfortunately for Michigan, Ohio State picked this game to end their bad spell and absolutely torched Michigan for a 62-39 win. Dwayne Haskins returned to form, throwing for 396 yards and six touchdowns on the day. Parris Campbell was basically unstoppable as he put up 192 receiving yards. Michigan had a highly touted defense that was ripped to shreds by Ohio State’s offense. Even though they scored 39 points, Michigan’s offense also struggled and struggled through the air. Michigan lost the turnover battle and could not get a rush on Dwayne Haskins.

This game is going to likely lead to more questioning of Jim Harbaugh as a coach. I think Michigan will be alright. This team played an absolutely brutal schedule as they play in the toughest division in the country (the SEC is the best conference in the country but the Big 10 East is the toughest division). Harbaugh is 38-13 and has put Michigan squarely in second in the Big 10. I know that Michigan fans want them to supplant Ohio State, but I think it will take time.

Can Florida State bounce back?

In a game with bowl eligibility on the line, Florida State got completely outclassed by Florida, leading to their first losing season in 41 years. Feleipe Franks has his starting position questioned, but he threw for just under 10 yards per attempt and three touchdowns against Florida State. Florida also rushed for 282 yards in including 129 yards from Lamical Perine. In the receiving game, Trevon Grimes had 118 yards and Van Jefferson had 92, and they each had a touchdown. Florida defensive end Jachai Polite dominated on defense with 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

Florida State clearly has talent, but they are wasting it. Cam Akers is a very talented running back that is getting destroyed because he has no offensive line. Deondre Francois is underperforming and seems to have regressed since his stellar debut season in 2016. Jimbo Fisher may have quit on the team last season, but I do not think anybody can say he is worse than Willie Taggart. Taggart has had a rough go and his credentials must be questioned. This is by far the most difficult job Taggart has taken, and I do not think he was the right hire. Time will tell, but things do not look good for the Seminoles right now.

Is Washington State going to pull this off?

After their win against Oregon with College GameDay watching, it became clear Washington State was a good team. With a fairly weak schedule ahead of them, many people wondered if they could run the table and maybe even make the playoff. The Cougars gutted out wins against Stanford and California, before rolling into the Apple Cup at 10-1.

The bad news is that their losing streak continues against Washington as they lost 28-15. Gardner Minshew had an all around bad game as he threw two interceptions and had an average of just 4.3 yards per attempt. With heavy snow coming down in Pullman, Washington State had to rely more on the ground game, which they have struggled with all season. James Williams ran for two touchdowns, but he had little help and did not get many carries. Washington’s defense deserves a big shout out for pretty much totally shutting down an elite passing game. Myles Gaskin was beast running the ball for Washington with 170 rushing yards and three touchdowns (he also went over 1,000 rushing yards for the fourth straight season which is crazy). This loss is extremely disappointing for the Cougars, but this was still a very good season and they will get themselves a nice bowl game to play in. Mike Leach proved that any team he coaches can not be counted out.

Can Lincoln Riley succeed without Baker Mayfield?

Now maybe I am just overly skeptical of teams who are Texas’s rivals, but I still had some hesitations about how good of a head coach Lincoln Riley was after last season. Riley had the best quarterback in college football last season in Baker Mayfield, and an all around very talented offense in his first year as a head coach. Oklahoma went 11-1 in the regular season before winning the Big 12 Championship. My concerns started to creep in when he was by all accounts out coached by Kirby Smart, another fairly inexperienced head coach, in Oklahoma’s Rose Bowl loss to Georgia. While Oklahoma had a very good season, I started to wonder if Riley just rode Mayfield’s coattails to success.

This season answered that question as Oklahoma sits at 11-1 and will likely make the playoff again with a win over Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. Kyler Murray is the best quarterback in college football (I know that many may not agree with me but it is what I think) and the receiver combination of CeeDee Lamb and Hollywood Brown is probably the best in the country. One thing that has surprised me is that the run game has stayed very strong even after a season ending injury to Rodney Anderson. Their defense needs some work as they have been shredded by many teams, but they do enough to not blow it which is something.

Oklahoma needed to win against West Virginia and they got it done. Murray threw for 364 yards and ran for another 114 on his way to four total touchdowns. Kennedy Brooks led the rushing attack as he ran for 182 yards. Brown was absolutely dominant with 243 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The offense just clicked. The defense struggled against a very good West Virginia offense, as Will Grier threw for 539 yards, (Gary Jennings had 225 receiving yards which is insane) but that was expected. Oklahoma has reigned supreme in the Big 13, and I expect that to be no different under Riley. If they can improve their defense, they could very soon become a superpower in college football.

Was UCF a one hit wonder?

After a 13-0 National Championship winning season, (I really just hope to annoy Alabama fans by doing this) it seemed like UCF would be a flash in the pan, and would fall off a bit without Scott Frost as head coach. They may still be good, but going undefeated was basically out of the question. Surprisingly to me, UCF repeated their success this season as they are now 11-0 after dominating South Florida in the War On I-4. The game went well for UCF except for the knee injury to star quarterback McKenzie Milton. Milton is the heart and souls of this team and losing him will be significant. Even without Milton, UCF should win their conference championship matchup with Memphis. I guess it is possible they struck gold again with Josh Heupel, but I think that UCF is likely just going to be a very good team in the G5 ranks for the near future.

Unknown

Can Georgia challenge Alabama?

Georgia lost the National Championship last season to Alabama in heartbreaking fashion (like every sports team in Georgia does). With former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart at the helm, Georgia has turned around quick and has emerged as one of the country’s elite programs. Since their loss against Alabama, the future of this program has been a point of intrigue. Their bright future looked even brighter when Georgia brought in the best recruiting class in the country this year. Couple that with their returning talent and they were a hot pick to dethrone Alabama (at least by me they were).

At 11-1, Georgia will get their shot to dethrone Alabama this week in the SEC Championship. This team has talent and will probably be the best team Alabama will have faced this season (I know I probably should not put them ahead of an LSU team they lost to, but I am anyway). It may not happen this season, but I do think Georgia will eventually surpass Alabama for SEC supremacy, but I do not think it happens this season. This will be an interesting storyline to follow in the coming seasons.

Can James Franklin succeed without Saquon Barkley?

Penn State finished off their regular season at 9-3 after winning handily against Maryland on Saturday. While 9-3 is definitely a solid record, this team benefited from a down season from some of their opponents, and they struggled to separate themselves from less talented opponents. After two straight appearances in NY6 bowls, this season was a slight disappointment. I think that people have started to question James Franklin’s in game coaching. Franklin’s ability as a recruiter is unquestionably great, but he might not be the best in game coach. With Saquon Barkley gone to the NFL this season, those issues are harder to mask. With Trace McSorley graduating, it will be increasingly harder to cover up, if his critics are right.

Was hiring Herm Edwards at Arizona State as dumb as we thought?

So there are two kinds of college football fans. There are those who thought Arizona State hiring Herm Edwards, who has not coached since 2008, would be an entertaining disaster, and there are liars. In their last game, Arizona State erased a 19 point deficit to win 41-40 in the Territorial Cup against Arizona. This win put Arizona State at 7-5 on the season. This team has been led by a very talented offense with receiver N’Keal Harry and running back Eno Benjamin. Recruiting has been mostly unchanged, but 7-5 is a decent start. As of now, this crazy hire does seem better than I had anticipated. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Is Texas back?

In the midst of their most successful season since 2012, Texas seems to be on the upswing. After hiring Tom Herman, expectations were clearly high. His first season left a bit to be desired, but was a step in the right direction with a 7-6 record and their first bowl victory since 2012. This season started off poorly with a loss to Maryland and a narrow win over Tulsa. While things turned around, there still are issues. Those issues were on display in their last game against Big 12 cellar dweller Kansas. Texas was up 21-0 at the end of the third quarter before allowing Kansas back into the game and winning narrowly by a 24-17 margin. Texas still has a tendency to play down to the level of their competition as nine of their games, and six of their wins have been decided by seven or fewer points. Texas also has allowed teams back into the game during the fourth quarter as they have been outscored in the fourth quarter in eight of their twelve games. I do not think Texas is back quite yet, but that can change by the end of this season if they beat Oklahoma or have a nice bowl win. The rebuild of Texas is not complete, but it is in progress and is on its way to completion.

Some Random Thoughts

1. The brawl in the Egg Bowl (the game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State for those who are uneducated) was quite entertaining. Also how are refs just able to give every single player an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty because that was great. The general hatred between these two teams is a great recipe for an entertaining game.

2. Mississippi State’s defense has allowed 12 touchdowns all season which is quite impressive. The fact that four of those were to Kentucky either makes it more or less impressive depending on how you look at it.

3. Mekhi Sargent went off for Iowa with 173 rushing yards in their 31-28 victory over Nebraska for the Heroes Trophy. When Iowa finds their effective running back, their offense gets quite a bit scarier.

4. Sam Ehlinger finally threw an interception for the first time since the season opening loss to Maryland. Also when it rains, it pours as he threw two in Texas’s win against Kansas. During this game, Ehlinger was a bit more reckless with the ball than he typically has been this season and I hope he does not go back into this habit.

5. The streak continues for Virginia Tech as they won the Commonwealth Cup against Virginia for the 15th straight season. Virginia Tech won this game 34-31 in overtime.

6. Alright so the Commonwealth Cup was too wild to not talk about in detail so I am going to do that now. Virginia Tech went up 14-0 in the first half after scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt. Virginia cornerback Tim Harris picked off Virginia Tech quarterback Ryan Willis at the end of the first half and had a near pick six before Willis tackled him inside the ten to end the first half. With seven minutes to go, Virginia took the lead 28-24, then added a field goal to make it 31-24. Virginia Tech tight end Dalton Keene ripped an interception out of the defender’s hands to keep their last drive going. Virginia Tech scored the game tying touchdown when running back Steven Peoples fumbled the ball, and Hezekiah Grimsley recovered it as it went into the end zone. Virginia Tech then won it on a field goal in overtime.

7. Larry Fedora was fired as head coach at North Carolina, which was expected. What was not expected was them hiring Mack Brown, the former Texas coach who coached the Tar Heels from 1988-1997. I do not know if this will be a successful hire, but it will be interesting.

8. Kliff Kingsbury was fired at Texas Tech after they lost five straight games to finish 5-7. North Texas head coach Seth Littrell has to be a name that they consider.

9. Oregon State ran a failed triple reverse that went hilariously poorly and you all need to watch it.

10. Minnesota snapped their 14 game losing streak to Wisconsin as they finally took Paul Bunyan’s Axe in a 37-15 victory.

11. Pittsburgh was 1/15 on third down against Miami in a pretty ugly loss for the Panthers before they take on Clemson in the ACC Championship.

12. Utah ripped off 28 straight points to get a win in the Holy War over Utah 35-27. Their Pac 12 Championship game matchup with Washington will be interesting.

13. Ian Book was good when needed for Notre Dame as he brought them back into the game in their 24-17 win over USC. Notre Dame is 12-0 and looks to be the first team to punch their ticket to the playoff. I think USC sticking with Clay Helton was the right call, and I think that they have a bright future.

14. LSU pouring Gatorade on Ed Orgeron then losing was pretty sad.

15. Vanderbilt is now bowl eligible after a 38-13 win over Tennessee. It is always good to see this typical cellar dweller in the SEC do well.

16. California had two pick sixes in the span of forty five seconds in their 33-21 win over Colorado. They also occurred within the first two minutes of the game.

17. Justin Herbert’s injury in Oregon’s Civil War victory over Oregon State was concerning and I hope he just goes to the NFL Draft.

18. Wake Forest destroyed Duke 59-7 to secure bowl eligibility. Running back Cade Carney was dominant with 223 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

19. The Lane Train has come to a stop as FAU will miss a bowl game at 5-7. It looks like Lane Kiffin will be staying in Boca Raton another season.

20. It has been rumored that Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate will transfer and it just shows how Kevin Sumlin has had basically no success with quarterbacks. He did have many talented quarterbacks at Texas A&M but it looks like he held them back just like he has significantly held back Tate. I just wish Tate was fine with Arizona hiring Ken Niumatalolo and running the triple option at Tate would have been electric in that offense.

21. Purdue receiver Rondale Moore leads college football in receptions and that is amazing as Moore is a true freshman.

22. Oklahoma State is a very random team as they have two top 10 wins and five losses to unranked teams.

23. Colorado completely collapsed as they lost seven straight games after a 5-0 start. Hopefully they can bounce back.

24. Ed Oliver’s injury after returning to action from a prior knee injury was sad to see. Hopefully this will not effect his draft stock.

25. Tulane narrowly won 29-28 over Navy to become bowl eligible. They won after scoring and getting a two point conversion with 1:27 left in the game.

26. Eric Dungey came up big for Syracuse with 396 total yards and six total touchdowns. Dungey has been inconsistent at times, but should go down as a legend for Syracuse.

27. Baylor making a bowl after going 1-11 last season is awesome. Matt Rhule is building their program the right way and it is great to see.

28. Hawaii and San Diego State played a pretty crazy game as Hawaii won 31-30 in overtime. Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald led the way for Hawaii with 452 passing yards. This has been a good season for the Warriors and I hope to see more of this from them.

29. This week’s cool uniform award goes to Oklahoma, Washington State, Boston College, and North Texas.

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