We’re through nine weeks already? How is that even possible?
But seriously, the college football season stops for no one, not even your favorite sportswriter, and we are now officially through nine weeks of the season. And this past weekend had a little bit of everything in the college football world, and there was no shortage of entertainment across the board. There were lots of close games in the rest of the Top 25, and there was also one ranked-vs-ranked matchup that did not exactly live up to the hype.
But I’ll get into that later. It’s time for some takeaways!
Pitt is one of the most underrated teams in the country
This game actually did not happen on Saturday but instead took place on Friday, as a small appetizer for what type of action Saturday would bring.
Okay, scratch that, it was a little more than a small appetizer. At least, for Pitt it was.
That’s because it’s very hard to identify anything that went wrong in this 41-13 obliteration of Syracuse. The defense was insanely opportunistic, as they picked off Kyle McCord a whopping five times and returned three of those interceptions for touchdowns. The Panthers’ offense just sat there and did what they needed to do throughout the game. Quarterback Eli Holstein was an efficient 11-for-15 with 108 passing yards and two touchdowns. Running back Desmond Reid added 47 yards on 11 carries.
But the offense really did not need to do a whole lot because the defense took care of that for them and then some. They put up 41 points in this game largely because of that incredible performance from their defensive unit. Pitt is 7-0 and they are ranked 18th in the AP Poll for a reason. Next week’s road showdown with No. 20 SMU will be a critical game for both teams, but the Panthers’ demolition of the Orange sent a message.
That game was one that showed me that the Pittsburgh Panthers are one of the most underrated teams in college football, and that they need more national love from the media and the country overall.
Ohio State needs to get back to dominating to reassert themselves in the Big Ten
Yes, I understand Ohio State won the game, as they beat Nebraska at home by a score of 21-17. However, it was the manner in which they won which makes me a tad nervous.
The Buckeyes were extremely sloppy in their win over the Cornhuskers. There is absolutely no way that this game should have been as close as it was. There was a lot that wasn’t ideal offensively for Ohio State in this one. For example, the Buckeyes went one for ten on third downs. They punted the ball five times, which, to be frank, is a ridiculous number for an offense as high-powered as Ohio State’s. Will Howard was good overall in the game, as he threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw a bad interception that came very close to costing the Buckeyes. The defense buckled down and got a stop, but there were times throughout this one where the offense was sloppy.
The Cornhuskers had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to win. Keep in mind, this was a Nebraska team that was just coming off getting absolutely smoked by Indiana the week prior. I will give some serious props to the Ohio State defense, as they were largely spectacular throughout the game. They more than made up for the offense’s sloppiness, and defensive back Jordan Hancock essentially iced the game with his interception of Dylan Raiola.
But if Ohio State wants to keep pace with Oregon in the race for the Big Ten, they need to get back to dominating opponents. They need to get back to being the well-oiled offensive machine that they were over the first few weeks of the season, and even like they were against Oregon.
They say that a win is a win, and that’s true. But this one shouldn’t have been a dogfight down to the very end.
Illinois was given a harsh reality check by a much better team
Okay, maybe I was just a little tiny bit too nice to the Fighting Illini over the past couple of weeks.
This game was nothing less than an obliteration. It’s too bad that it was Illinois that was being obliterated and the top-ranked Oregon Ducks that were doing the obliterating. Oregon absolutely destroyed Illinois en route to a massive 38-9 win, and it was very difficult to pinpoint anything that went right for the Fighting Illini in this game.
Luke Altmyer had what was easily his worst game of the season and one of the worst in his Illinois career. He went 17-for-35 with 161 passing yards and two interceptions. Running back Aidan Laughery did a little better on the ground, as he ran for 69 yards on 12 carries. But when the passing game was completely shut down, then the Illinois offense became extremely one-dimensional. And the Fighting Illini’s defense could not seem to stop the vaunted Oregon offense in any way, shape, or form.
I said that Illinois was one of the most underrated teams in the country, and that, in a sense, remains true. Even after this drubbing, Illinois is still a good team and they are still an extremely solid team in a loaded Big Ten. But this game was simply a matter of the Fighting Illini being given a rather harsh reality check by one of the best teams in the nation.
BYU deserves its top-10 ranking
Now that it’s official with the new AP Poll coming out, I thought it’s time to talk more about the BYU Cougars.
BYU is now ranked at ninth in the entire country with the latest poll, and they more than deserve that ranking based on how they’ve been playing all season. And the train just kept on rolling this week, as BYU picked up an extremely solid 37-24 road win over UCF.
The offense was firing on all cylinders for the most part in this one. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff went 16-for-24 for 228 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He also posted an 87.0 QBR. Running back LJ Martin ran all over the Knights’ defense to the tune of 101 yards on 15 carries, and he also found the end zone as the cherry on top. Wideout Chase Roberts had a wildly efficient day, as he caught two passes for 75 yards and a score.
One of the things that stuck out to me about this game was that BYU often threw the first punch at UCF. And when the Knights were ready to strike back, BYU always had an adjustment waiting. The Cougars just seemed to be one step ahead of UCF all game long.
There have been some crazy things that have happened during this college football season. I mean, college football is the greatest sport in the world, what did you expect? But one of the craziest things to have happened thus far is that the BYU Cougars are 8-0. And they more than deserve their top-10 ranking in the new AP Poll, because with the way they’ve been playing, it’s been an extraordinarily impressive year for the Cougars so far.
Penn State needs to be respected as a top-5 team
Going into this game, Penn State was ranked as one of the top teams in the entire country but they were not exactly getting their fair share of respect from the rest of the college football world.
Well, that needs to change after this impressive road win over Wisconsin that wasn’t as close as the final score might indicate.
The most important thing to note about this game is that after going 14-for-18 with 148 passing yards and a touchdown, Drew Allar left the game with an injury, and the Nittany Lions put backup true freshman Beau Pribula into the game to finish it out. And they still beat a good Wisconsin team by multiple scores.
The running game for Penn State was once again awesome, particularly when Allar exited with his injury. Kaytron Allen had 11 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown. Nicholas Singleton added 49 yards. As good as the running game was, there was a point in this game where the Nittany Lions were on the ropes. The Badgers held a 10–7 lead until Jaylen Reed made a spectacular play and returned a Braedyn Locke interception for a touchdown to give Penn State a 15-10 lead.
And from there, the Nittany Lions just seemed to be in control throughout the rest of the game. Wisconsin only scored three more points over the rest of the contest. Penn State scored two more touchdowns, and that was essentially all she wrote.
But this game showed that Penn State is not getting the respect they deserve, and they deserve to be considered a top-five team and one of the best teams in college football, period. Is this team different from the Penn State teams of the past that couldn’t win any of the biggest games? We don’t quite know for sure yet.
But one thing is for sure: they deserve more respect than they’ve gotten from the national media with the way they’ve been playing and winning games. They deserve that top-five spot in the AP Poll.
And last but not least…
Texas A&M is officially a top-10 team in college football
I’ve officially hopped on the Texas A&M wagon.
In order to cement themselves as a top team in the SEC (and in the country, to be honest) the Aggies needed a quality win against a quality opponent. And before you ask, no, Missouri does not count. And an opportunity to do exactly that presented itself to them in the form of then-No. 8 LSU.
And did Texas A&M take advantage of that opportunity.
A 38-23 win over the Tigers was the outcome for the Aggies in this one, who picked up one of the best wins of the season thus far. And one of the most fascinating parts of this game was that it did not look to be that way at first. Texas A&M found themselves in a 10-0 hole late in the first quarter. Quarterback Connor Weigman was struggling big time, and backup Marcel Reed was thrust into the game in the third quarter after the Aggies found themselves down 17-7.
What happened next was nothing short of an offensive explosion for Texas A&M.
First, Reed ran for a touchdown to bring the Aggies within three. Then, LSU lost a fumble. The Aggies got the ball back and Reed ran for another touchdown. LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw an interception on the Tigers’ next possession. Reed then ran for this third touchdown of the game. Texas A&M was now up 28-23, and Le’Veon Moss punched it in from three yards out to extend the Aggies’ lead. Now, they just needed a key defensive play to basically wrap up the game.
Oh, well would you look at that?
This game showed that Texas A&M is not just a good football team. They are a great football team, and they are one of the top 10 teams in the nation at this moment in time. It’s fitting that they’re officially in that group, because with the way they’ve been playing, they more than deserve it.
Elms' Essentials: Week 8
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