Championship week draws closer and closer with each tick of the game clock!
No, but seriously, we are officially approaching the end of the college football regular season, and playoff implications are abundant at this point in the year. Many games hold a massive amount of importance in determining the contenders for the College Football Playoff, and they also hold a large amount of importance in deciding who gets left out. And this week certainly went a long way in eliminating a few teams who were vying for a spot in the dance.
College football never stops, not even for Thanksgiving break for your favorite sportswriter. Let’s get right into some takeaways!
Penn State may have just locked up a spot in the College Football Playoff
It took nearly everything they had, but Penn State was able to get it done.
This was in no way easy for the Nittany Lions, as they had to scrape by a feisty and pesky Minnesota team in front of a raucous crowd in Minneapolis. Going up there and playing in front of that crowd isn’t a walk in the park for any team, let alone one of the top teams in the nation and a team keen on making a run in the CFP.
But Penn State was able to come out with a win, and that’s all that matters. Drew Allar’s stats didn’t really jump off the page, but he was decisive and accurate for the most part in this one. He threw 21 completions to just seven incompletions and 244 passing yards, while also throwing a touchdown and not turning the ball over. Tyler Warren also dominated, but what else is new. The Nittany Lions’ superstar tight end hauled in eight catches for 102 yards, including the game-sealing grab on fourth down. It wasn’t necessarily a perfect day for the defense as they gave up 25 points to a middling Minnesota offense, but they forced a fumble on Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer and also picked him off in the second quarter.
But when all was said and done, the Nittany Lions held on for a one-point win. And now, all of a sudden, Penn State is 10-1 and looking good when it comes to CFP positioning. And they’re also now apparently just some lowkey chill guys who are also undefeated away from Happy Valley.
Sorry. I had to.
Ole Miss has been officially eliminated from CFP contention
Disclaimer: a lot of this particular article will contain section titles such as, “[insert team] has been eliminated from College Football Playoff contention”. It’s funny that way, and it is also a legitimate takeaway. You’ve been warned, or something.
Anyway, Ole Miss suffered their third loss of the season, as they lost on the road to the previously 5-5 Florida Gators. Jaxson Dart had the definition of an up-and-down day, as he did throw for 323 yards and two touchdowns but also tossed two costly interceptions, one of which eventually proving to be the game-losing one.
Dart was also somehow the team’s leading rusher, as he did not get a lot of support from his running game in this one. Dart had 14 rushes for 71 yards, while the next-best contributor, running back Micah Davis, carried the ball 11 times for 27 yards. On the receiving end, Cayden Lee and Jordan Watkins both had solid games, as Lee hauled in six catches for 94 yards and a score. Watkins secured eight catches for 70 yards.
Ole Miss’ defense was not particularly special in this game, but the main culprit for this loss was that the Rebels’ offense simply failed to execute and create opportunities when they needed to the most (paging Dart’s INT with a minute and a half left in the game). DJ Lagway only threw for 180 yards but he did toss two touchdowns. Running back Montrell Johnson Jr. ran for 107 yards and a score. Giving up 24 points is not a terrible mark defensively but the fact of the matter is that the offense, like it has for many games this season, left so much to be desired.
And because of that offensive inconsistency, Ole Miss’ bid at a College Football Playoff spot is all but dead in the water.
Alabama has been officially eliminated from CFP contention
We’re keeping with the trend, and this time the victim is the Crimson Tide!
To say this was a rough game for head coach Kalen DeBoer and company is probably the understatement of the year. This was a disgustingly bad performance on both sides of the ball to be completely honest. However, the more disgusting performance was on the offensive side of the ball.
Jalen Milroe was a complete and utter disaster in this game. Sorry, Tide fans, no sugarcoating from me. He was not good at all against Oklahoma, as he completed less than half his passes (11-for-26), and he threw for a mere 164 yards while throwing three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
The defense was also not particularly great, and they were in a similar boat to how Ole Miss’ defense performed against Florida. The Tide’s unit only gave up 24 points, which is fairly respectable. However, the offense was simply putrid all night, and they literally couldn’t get anything going. Just like I said last week, tres means “three” in Spanish. You will never guess how many points Alabama put up in this game.
That’s right! Tres! They put up three points!
And because they only mustered up three points on the scoreboard en route to a 21-point loss in Norman, their chances at the College Football Playoff are also long gone.
Texas A&M has officially been eliminated from CFP contention
We’re three for three here, people!
I am from Texas, so there are quite a few of hardcore Texas A&M fans I know personally, and I would like them to know that I was thinking of them as I wrote this section. And I would also like them to know that no one, not even their team, is safe from my wrath.
It really is astonishing how the Aggies managed to lose this game. Their hopes for the College Football Playoff were already hanging in the balance, and then they just grabbed those hopes and, essentially, completely crushed them by losing this past Saturday’s showdown with Auburn.
This game easily took the cake for the most thrilling and back-and-forth game of the weekend. Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed had easily his best passing performance of the season. He threw for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also ran the ball 21 times for 66 yards. Those are statlines and usage amounts that I can’t even hit with my quarterback avatar on Madden. And for how good Reed and the Aggie offense was, Auburn’s offense was pretty good themselves. Payton Thorne threw for 301 yards and a score. And his connection with wideout Cam Coleman was on point, as Coleman caught seven passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
But this game was knotted at 31 after four quarters. And both teams found that one overtime period would not suffice. And neither would two overtimes. And neither would three overtimes. But finally, in the fourth overtime, Auburn finally managed to escape with the win, thanks in large part to a soul-crushing drop from Texas A&M’s Amari Daniels on a two-point attempt.
And because of that drop and because of this loss, Texas A&M has now been all but booted out of consideration for the College Football Playoff.
Iowa State could very well play spoiler in the CFP race
I haven’t talked about Iowa State a whole lot this season. Well, let’s change that a little bit, shall we?
The Cyclones got off to that ridiculous 7-0 start before dropping their next two games to Texas Tech and Kansas, respectively, to sit at 7-2. At that point, their hopes for a spot in the College Football Playoff were looking slim. But since then, they’ve won two in a row and are in contention for a spot in the Big 12 title game. Granted, so are, like, a million other teams, but the point remains.
This past Saturday’s win over Utah was a monumental one for Iowa State at this point in the season. Quarterback Rocco Becht was a little up-and-down but did enough to win, as he went 20-for-38 with 256 passing yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He also added 27 yards and a score on the ground. And wideout Jayden Higgins has more than made his case as one of the best and most underrated wide receivers in the country, as he caught nine of Becht’s passes for 155 yards and a touchdown.
Things did get a bit dicey when Utah blocked a punt and returned it all the way for a touchdown to take a 28-24 lead in the fourth quarter, but from there the Cyclones locked in and didn’t give up a point for the rest of the game, and they eventually took home the three-point victory on the road.
And now, Iowa State finds themselves at 9-2 and in the thick of the Big 12 race. And if they manage to punch their ticket to the Big 12 championship game, and possibly even take it a step further and win the whole darn thing, that could be very difficult for the College Football Playoff committee to ignore.
And last but not least…
Ohio State vastly outplayed Indiana
They say all good things must come to an end, and Indiana’s undefeated season was bound to come to an end at some point. And the Hoosiers suffered the first blemish on their record, as they lost to No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus this past Saturday.
Indiana did get off to a solid start, as they drove right down the field on that vaunted Buckeye defense and scored on their opening drive. But that would be about as good as it would get for the Hoosiers in this one.
From there, Indiana’s next three drives went as follows: a punt, a fumble, and a turnover on downs. Ohio State took a 14-7 lead going into the halftime break, and then they completely took the game over in the second half. On Indiana’s very first offensive possession of the second half, the Buckeyes blocked a punt and took it all the way back for seven points. The Hoosiers would only score eight points in the entire second half, as Ohio State absolutely dominated from there on out.
After throwing an interception in the second quarter, Will Howard was absolutely spectacular, as he had three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), and he threw for 201 yards and tossed 22 completions to just four incompletions. TreVeyon Henderson picked up 68 rushing yards and a score. Emeka Egbuka hauled in seven receptions for 80 yards and was on the receiving end of one of Howard’s touchdown strikes.
The fact of the matter is that Indiana was walking into one of the loudest and toughest environments in all of college football, and the Buckeyes soundly dominated them for about 85% of the game. Ohio State’s CFP spot is all but assured, and Indiana should not be in that much trouble either, as they had a ton go their way elsewhere in the college football world despite their loss.
But for this one, Ohio State was clearly the better team, and they showed Curt Cignetti and company as such.
Elms' Essentials: Week 12
