The 11th weekend of the college football season nearly saw several top teams have their fall from graces. While some teams proved to be utterly dominant against ranked foes, like Georgia, others had it come down to the final minutes.
It still proved to be a great weekend of football despite being so close to being a historic one.
Oregon vs. USC
At one point, Bo Nix had two throws and two TDs. Maybe USC firing their defense coordinator was just proof that the personnel of the defense is just not up to par to keep up with the best offenses in the Conference. Nix finished the game going 23-of-31 for 412 yards and 4 TDs, a Heisman-caliber performance for the Heisman hopeful.
A final score of 36-27 feels misleading for just how much better Oregon looked on the day, but that is not to say they were without their struggles. While showing flashes of big stops, Caleb Williams escaped the Oregon defense line on multiple occasions and kept the Trojans in the game.
Washington vs. Utah
Washington came out with the win, but they almost completely choked it. After intercepting Bryson Barnes late, the Huskies’ defender dropped the balls short of the goal line, well short. When DeSean Jackson did it, at least it was a little close. This time, it was nowhere near close to the goal line.
Despite the blunder, UW came out with the win 35-28 to improve to 10-0 on the season. But still, it has not been impressive lately. Since beating Cal by 27, they have taken down Arizona by seven, Oregon by three, Arizona State by eight, Stanford by nine, USC by 10 and Utah by seven.
The Huskies converted on just 4-of-13 third-down plays, far from an ideal percentage for a team hopeful of making the College Football Playoff. Penix looked off, completing just 57.1% of his passes but still throwing for 332 yards.
Every week, it feels like they on the verge of losing their perfect season, but for now, it is still there.
WSU vs. Cal
A shootout that really should not have been one. The Golden Bears were up multiple scores at several different points in this contest but the Cougs kept clawing back, then shooting themsevles in the foot. Several fumbles, being on the wrong end of bad officiating, then missing two field goals in the final quarter.
Now losers of six straight, the season is crawling to the finish line for WSU.
Duke vs. North Carolina
Two known basketball schools absolutely duking it out (no pun intended) on the gridiron. Double OT, a 47-45 win for the Tar Heels to bring them to 8-2 on the season. North Carolina took an early 10-0 lead, Duke answered back. After leading 19-14 going into the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels scored 17, but Duke scored 22.
After matching each other’s field goals in the first OT, North Carolina successfully completed their two-point conversion while Duke did not, securing the big win.
Drake Maye had 342 yards but threw for just one TD and ran in two scores while throwing one interception. Omarion Hampton ran for 169 yards and a score, averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
The win keeps the Tar Heels ranked, but despite the 8-2 record, they still are only No. 22.
Georgia vs. Ole Miss
A team should not be able to dominate other ranked teams like this. No. 1 Georgia has not lost in forever. A 52-17 blowout over Ole Miss is just the most recent domination from the team that now runs the SEC.
The stifling Georgia defense held Jaxson Dart to just 112 yards passing and forced an interception. They stuffed the run game and overall just dominated.
Georgia’s Carson Beck had 306 yards and two TDs on just 25 passing attempts, Kendall Milton averaged 14.1 yards a carry en route to 127 yards and two TDs and Daijun Edwards averaged 4.9 yards a carry for 59 yards and two TDs as well.
UCF vs. Oklahoma State
One team came in ranked, one team came in 4-5. The final score was 45-3. That is right, 4-5 UCF came in and beat up on the Cowboys. The Knights scored in every quarter, 14, 10, 14 and then seven.
They picked up three interceptions and forced a fumble, nearly had 10 more minutes of possession and had nearly 600 yards of total offense while holding Oklahoma State to under 280. It was pure domination.
Florida State vs. Miami
Paving a path to the College Football Playoff was easy for Florida State. They just need to win out. Their schedule seemed easy. Every game should be a win. But Miami gave them a scare.
FSU came out on top 27-20 but they looked far from perfect, a scary sign for a team that will have a weaker schedule entering the CFP, meaning they may not be fully prepared to take on the likes of Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Washington or Oregon.
Michigan vs. Penn State
The debacle of Michigan and sign stealing keeps getting juicier. With so many players tweeting “Bet” before the game, it lined up to be a hilarious upset. But the Wolverines won it, a big 24-15 win over Penn State that makes the Ohio State matchup even better.
