Saturday’ slate had everything you could want out of a college football Saturday, and then some. Indiana is absolutely for real, as they were one score away from beating Ohio State in the Horseshoe. Oklahoma’s early-season woes are a thing of the past, as they dominated rivals Oklahoma State is Bedlam. Northwestern did the impossible and upset the Wisconsin Badgers. You want some over-time dramatics?
Just turn to Michigan at Rutgers, where Harbaugh’s men fought tooth and nail to get a victory over the lowly Rutgers Scarlet Knights in triple overtime. You want dramatics? You didn’t have to wait until Saturday for that as (25) Tulsa used late game luck and heroics to pull out a win over Tulane. This weekend had everything, and most importantly, it had only a few games cancelled or postponed because of the virus. With that being said, let’s hop right into our takeaways from Week 12 of college football!
Ohio State isn’t invincible, and Indiana is for real: Going into Saturday’s match-up versus upstart Indiana, Ryan Day and the Buckeyes were 20.5 favorites. It looked as though they would cover easily, leading 28-7 at half-time. However, the Hoosiers refused to sit down and give up. They went on a 28-7 run that pulled them within a touchdown versus Ohio State. However, it was all for naught, as the Buckeyes walked out of the Horseshoe, after the Buckeyes pulled out close victory, 42-35.
Many thought Ohio State would cake-walk into the B1G Championship Game. However, Indiana came to play. It took a Shaun Wade pick-six to really seal the deal over the Hoosiers. Justin Fields played his worst game as a Buckeye, going 18-30 for 300-yards and two touchdowns. However, on top of that he threw three interceptions. That’s equal to the total amount he threw last year. The Buckeyes remaining schedule is relatively easy, so if all goes as planned, they will reach the B1G Title Game.
However, Indiana proved that they are not a cake walk. Hoosier quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was incredible, going 27-51 for 491 yards and five touchdowns. Whatever changes head coach Tom Allen made in the off-season, they are clearly working, as Indiana has proved that they are the 2-3rd best team in the B1G.
Oklahoma is still Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Sooners have made the College Football Playoffs four times, which is tied with Clemson for the most college football playoff appearances. After some early-season woes for the Sooners, they have come back as strong as ever. They proved that in their 40-13 domination of rival Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series. Spencer Rattler led the way for the Sooners. He was 17-24 for 301 yards and four touchdowns. Sooner running back Rhamondre Stevenson was a work-horse all game, carrying the ball 26 times for 141 yards.
Oklahoma State had no business playing in this game. Spencer Sanders, Cowboys quarterback, was 10-19 for 97-yards and one pick. He was eventually replaced by Shane Illingworth, who was somehow worse, going 5-21 for one touchdown. At this point, the Big-12 have basically cannibalized each other, so it is highly unlikely any Big-12 team makes the playoff.
Michigan got a Win Over Rutgers, But it took Three Overtimes to Do So: Obviously Michigan is not the team they have been for the past couple of years. On Satuday, it took the Wolverines three overtimes to squeak by a bottom-dwelling Rutgers team. Quarterback Joe Milton started the game, but backup Cade McNamara finished the game. McNamara was 27-36 for 260-yards and four touchdowns.
In the first overtime, both teams missed a field goal, to take the game to a second overtime. In the second overtime, both teams found the end-zone, forcing the game into a third overtime. Michigan hit paydirt in the third overtime. Hassan Haskins scored to put the Wolverines up by six, after a failed two point conversion. On the next Rutgers possession, they failed to score, and were picked off by safety Daxton Hill, ending the game. If you wanted excitement, this was the game for you. Michigan won the game 48-42.
Out-Gained But Not Out-Played, Northwestern Beats Wisconsin: If you couldn’t see the score of the game, and just looked at the statistics, you would think Wisconsin won pretty comfortably. Wisconsin gained 366 total yards, while Northwestern only tallied 263, including only 24 yards on the ground. With all that being aid, the Wildcats were somehow able to win the game over Wisconsin, 17-7.
The Wildcats used the passing of quarterback Peyton Ramsey, and a strong defensive effort to propel them to their biggest win in years. Ramsey threw for 203-yards and two touchdowns to guide the offense. However, the big winners on Saturday was the Wildcat defense, which forced five Wisconsin turnovers.
With this win, Northwestern is comfortably in the driver’s seat of the B1G West. They are 5-0 on the year, giving Pat Fitzgerald’s team a real shot to make the playoffs.
I Think I Speak for Everyone in saying, “What is going on in Happy Valley: James Franklin and the Nittany Lions lost on Saturday at home, to the Iowa Hawkeyes 41-21. James Franklin turned the program around post-Paterno era, and we set to have another great season this year. However, they lost on opening weekend to Indiana, and they’ve now lost five straight.
It’s highly unlikely that James Franklin is on the hot-seat, considering all he’s done for the program, but he sure needs to fix a lot of things.
Around the Country:
- Kirby Smart deserved to be fired. He finally put JT Daniels in at quarterback and the results were just as expected. He was 28-38 for 401-yards and four touchdowns. If I were a Georgia fan right now I would be livid. They had to endure the mess that was D’Wan Mathis and Stetson Bennett while Daniels rode the bench for whatever reason. With Daniels, the Bulldogs wouldn’t have beaten Florida for sure, but they would have looked a lot better.
- Coastal Carolina, Cincinnati, and BYU all remained unbeaten this weekend. Cincinnati got a win over UCF in the Bounce House, to make their resume the best among non-Power-5 teams. However, be on the lookout for the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina, as they seem to get better every week with Quarter Back Grayson McCall.
- (1) Alabama destroyed Kentucky at home 63-3. Oregon slipped by UCLA 38-35 , and finally, the Cougars from BYU looked legit again yesterday, rolling over North Alabama 66-14, adding style points to their resume.
- (4) Clemson’s game versus Florida State in Tallahassee, was postponed on Saturday, after the two teams could not agree to play after a Clemson player traveled with the team to Tallahassee, after testing positive. On Sunday Dabo Swinney made a remark to the press that basically accused the Seminoles of “ducking” their game versus the Tigers. Today, Florida State head coach Mike Norvell, fired back at Swinney by denying his statement.
- On the new AP Poll that was released today, the top five remained the same with Alabama at number one followed by Notre Dame, Ohio State, Clemson, and Texas A&M. In the Coaches Poll, Florida replaced the Aggies as the number five team in the nation. The biggest riser in the rankings? Northwestern, of course. In the AP poll they rose 8 spots to number 11, and in the Coaches poll they rose seven spots to number 13.
Well there you have it, your week twelve college football recap done by the Fourth & Long Podcast. Be sure to follow me (@BrownlojCLE), Jake (@PiccuitoJacob), and the podcast’s twitter (@4thandlongpod) for all updates on schedule changes. We will be going live tomorrow afternoon on Facebook, BackSportsPage’s YouTube channel, and can be found on Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts. This week we will go over the slate of games, our players of the weeks, how we did on our picks and locks this week (hint: not well), and of course some segments including everyone’s favorite: Trivia.
Fourth & Long Twitter: @4thandlongpod
JB’s Twitter: @BrownlojCLE
Jake’s Twitter: @PiccuitoJacob
