Week 1 features a series of marquee matchups, all of them in the eastern half of the country. On the West Coast, the intrigue level is low.
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Jon Wilner
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Weber State at Washington, Saturday, 11 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Washington by 27 1/2.
Series record: First meeting.
Less than eight months after playing for the national championship, Washington makes its debut under new coach Jedd Fisch with a completely remodeled program. Most of the stars from last year’s team have moved on either to the NFL or new schools. Fisch took control after Kalen DeBoer moved to Alabama and will unveil his overhauled roster against Weber State, highlighted by new quarterback Will Rogers and running back Jonah Coleman, and a defense under the command of Steve Belichick. Weber State returns nine starters from last year’s team that went 6-5 and the Wildcats begin the season ranked No. 22 in the FCS.
Washington returns only one full-time starter from last season’s team so the opener against the Wildcats will be a test of how well the remade roster can come together. Fisch said effort and fundamentals are the two of the things he’s most interested in seeing. There are also the concerns of complacency and making sure Washington isn’t looking past Weber State. It was only three years ago that Washington opened its season by losing to Montana at home.
Weber State: DE Brayden Wilson has been the most honored player in the preseason for the Wildcats. Wilson was named a preseason all-Big Sky and preseason All-American by some outlets. He led the Big Sky last season with 16 1/2 tackles for loss, including 7 1/2 sacks. He could be a test for Washington’s new offensive line.
Washington: Rogers and fellow QB Demond Williams Jr. Fisch made it clear that Rogers’ experience playing at Mississippi State in the SEC was a factor in naming him the starting QB. But Williams is a promising freshman who pushed Rogers in training camp and seems likely to get some amount of playing time this season.
Washington’s first game as a member of the Big Ten. Weber State’s first game against a team from the Big Ten. … The Wildcats were picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky preseason poll. … The Huskies won’t leave Seattle for their first four games. After this week, Washington hosts Eastern Michigan, plays Washington State at Lumen Field and opens conference play at home against Northwestern. … CB Elijah Jackson is the only full-time starter to return from last season for Washington – and he might not even start the opener.
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Washington head coach Mike Hopkins directs his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Washington State, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)
SEATTLE (AP) — Mike Hopkins will not return as the head coach at Washington after just one NCAA Tournament appearance in seven seasons, the school announced Friday.
Hopkins’ tenure will end at the conclusion of the season and following a frustrating stretch of mediocre results, an inability to put Washington back into the elite of the Pac-12 and with the Huskies moving to the Big Ten starting next season. Hopkins had one year remaining on his contract and will be owed $3.1 million as part of his buyout.
Hopkins will coach Washington in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament that starts Wednesday in Las Vegas.
“Mike has led the program with great integrity during his seven years at Washington, and remains a highly respected coach and one of the great gentlemen in the game,” Washington athletic director Troy Dannen said in a statement. “Everyone at the university is grateful for his service, his commitment to the experience of our student-athletes and his leadership within the department.”
The Huskies are 17-14 overall this season and finished 9-11 in Pac-12 play. It was the second major move by Dannen, who took over last October. He already faced a football coaching search and now one with men’s basketball.
Hopkins was 118-105 overall, but just 62-72 in conference play, during his time at Washington.
The 54-year-old Hopkins started quickly when he was lured away as an assistant at Syracuse for the first full-time head coaching job of his career. Once the coach-in-waiting to replace Jim Boeheim, Hopkins went 21-13 in his first season at Washington. The following year, Washington was the Pac-12 regular-season champion and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies finished the 2018-19 season 27-9.
But Hopkins’ success was largely built on the backs of players recruited by previous Washington coach Lorenzo Romar. When Hopkins was tasked with building his own program, he struggled badly. He tried with one-and-done stars like Markelle Fultz, Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels. He tried with traditional high school recruits. He tried heavily via the transfer portal in his final two seasons.
Nothing worked to the level expected. Over the past five seasons at Washington, Hopkins was 69-82, and the Huskies finished higher than eighth in the conference standings only once in the previous four seasons.
Washington’s final placement in the conference standings and seed for the upcoming Pac-12 tournament will be determined after the last conference games on Saturday.
There were loud calls from fans to make a change each of the past two seasons, but a large buyout in Hopkins’ contract – signed after making the NCAAs in his second season – made moving on challenging for an athletic department that faced a deficit at the time.
But there was no way Washington could move forward with Hopkins coming off another lackluster season, entering the final year of his contract and with Washington about to make the move to the Big Ten Conference.
Managing that move to the Big Ten after spending the entirety of the school’s history playing on the West Coast will be the task for whoever takes over. And it’s likely to make the job attractive to candidates who may not have been enticed if the Huskies were staying in the Pac-12. Dannen should be able to seek candidates both from power programs and some under-the-radar options.
“I am confident we will identify a phenomenal leader for our men’s basketball program who will embrace our institution’s high expectations for academic, social and competitive success,” Dannen said.
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Grant McHill
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Jim Harbaugh did everything Michigan fans could’ve hoped the former Wolverines star quarterback would do when he returned to Ann Arbor to take over his alma mater’s football program. He ended hated arch-rival Ohio State’s dominance in their series and flipped it around; he turned Michigan into the bully of the Big Ten; and then he led Michigan to its first national title in almost 30 years.
And now, not surprisingly, after three years of flirting with returning to the NFL, Harbaugh is back meeting with NFL teams. He is beginning by meeting with the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday, opening up the very real possibility that he will now leave behind a storied program and one of the best jobs in college sports. If he leaves, who could Michigan turn to next?
That would be promoting Wolverines offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
Moore has emerged as a strong candidate, especially after the last month of the regular season. The 37-year-old is still young, but he proved more than capable of the job when he stepped in and coached Michigan late in the 2023 season after the Big Ten suspended Harbaugh during the toughest stretch of the Wolverines’ schedule. Moore led the team to a win over top-10 Penn State in a very hostile environment, managed the road trap game against Maryland and then continued Michigan’s dominance over the Buckeyes. The team loves Moore; spend some time around the program and you see that his impact is significant.
“I was pretty close to leaving,” offensive lineman Trevor Keegan, one of the team leaders, told me about an hour after Michigan won the national title. “The recruiting process is a dangerous thing. Everybody tells you how good you are. That you’ll start as a freshman. As an 18-year-old kid, I wasn’t the most mature guy. I wasn’t playing. I kinda stopped loving football. Coming into Schembechler Hall was kind of a drag for me. Coach Moore came in and changed my whole outlook on life and football. He made me fall in love with football again. I can’t thank him enough. He’s just a guy who puts his head down and works as well. He started here as a tight ends coach and now he’s an OC getting head coaching offers.”
Moore, a Kansas native who played at Oklahoma, is beloved by his players and his coaching peers. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get the job. There have been some relatively similar situations to point to — most notably Ryan Day taking over at Ohio State after Urban Meyer left for the NFL and Marcus Freeman taking over at Notre Dame after Brian Kelly left for LSU. Day is 56-8, although Buckeye fans are not happy about the losing streak with Michigan these days. Freeman is 19-8 and it’s still a little too soon to get a real sense of whether this was the right move for the Irish. Continuity and how the players felt about the move were big factors, but both have had to grow into the jobs.
The overall results of big jobs promoting from within after the head coach moves on are mostly positive, though.
Florida State promoted Jimbo Fisher after Bobby Bowden retired, and that worked out very well for the Seminoles — Fisher led them to a national title. Stanford promoted David Shaw after Harbaugh left for the NFL a decade ago. That also worked out well, although the program backslid later on under Shaw. Bret Bielema took over for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin and that went well. Lincoln Riley took over for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma and the Sooners kept winning at a very high level.
Chip Kelly took Oregon to another level after Mike Bellotti stepped down, and then Mark Helfrich got the Ducks to the national title game, although the Ducks tailed off shortly thereafter. Conversely, Bob Davie taking over for Lou Holtz at Notre Dame a generation ago didn’t go so great (one top-20 season in five years). Neither did Jimmy Lake getting promoted after Chris Petersen retired at Washington a few years ago.
The only thing that may give Michigan brass some pause is if Moore is tied to the ongoing NCAA investigation into the sign-stealing scandal. If the investigation finds that Moore — who has not been tied to the scheme — was somehow involved, Michigan might want to start over with a clean slate.
Kansas’ Lance Leipold has worked miracles in Lawrence. He won six Division III national titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater, led Buffalo — one of the toughest FBS jobs — into the Top 25 and then resurrected Kansas, the worst Power 5 program. The Jayhawks went from 2-10 to 6-7 to 9-4 over three seasons. They ranked No. 23 in the final AP poll of the 2023 season and beat Oklahoma for the first time in a generation. The 59-year-old has Midwestern roots, having grown up in Wisconsin. He knows how to build a culture, play physical football and do much more with less. Kansas hadn’t won more than three games in a season in 11 years before Leipold arrived.
The fact that he’s still in Lawrence should make Kansas the biggest winner of the year’s coaching carousel thus far. The Athletic reported on Sunday that Leipold withdraw from the Washington head coach search before Jedd Fisch was hired.
Kansas State’s Chris Klieman, like Leipold, came from winning big in the lower divisions of football. He won four FCS titles at North Dakota State. The 56-year-old led the Wildcats to the Big 12 title in 2022, going 10-4. This past year, the Wildcats were 9-4 and had a second consecutive top-20 finish. Klieman has a good situation at K-State under athletic director Gene Taylor, with whom he worked previously, but the chance to jump to a better-resourced, blue-blood program in the Big Ten might be very tempting.
LSU’s Brian Kelly jumped from South Bend to Baton Rouge to try to better his chances at winning a national title. Kelly had an impressive debut season in Baton Rouge in 2022, going 10-4 and winning the SEC West. This past season, expectations were much higher and the Tigers went 10-3, but it felt disappointing given they had Heisman winner Jayden Daniels at quarterback and a ton of key players back. They were dreadful on defense, got blown out by Florida State in the opener, gave up 55 in a loss to Ole Miss and had only one win over a ranked opponent, Missouri.
Kelly, 62, is a really good coach, but the bar in Baton Rouge is incredibly high. The last three coaches there all won national titles. Making it to a 12-team College Football Playoff but not winning a title won’t cut it. The fit with him in Louisiana has seemed odd, even bizarre, from the moment he arrived. He now has to overhaul his coaching staff. Top recruits still want to come to LSU, but I’ve heard lots of chatter that if he could get in on Michigan, he’d probably go for it. Kelly spent almost two decades in the state of Michigan while coaching at Grand Valley State. How attractive would he be relative to Michigan’s other options? I’m a little skeptical at this point.
Harbaugh may not have been for everybody, but all the people inside Michigan — especially his players — love him for his authenticity. With Kelly, it seems like you might be talking about the polar opposite.
(Top photo of Sherrone Moore: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
The New York Times
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By Christopher Kamrani, Bruce Feldman, Kennington Smith III and Chris Vannini
The man chosen to succeed the greatest college football coach in the history of the sport is from rural South Dakota, who certainly some Crimson Tide fanatics have never heard of. At least until the last 72 hours.
Kalen DeBoer, known within the industry as both a program builder and excavator, told his staff at Washington he’s accepting an offer from Alabama for Nick Saban’s former coaching job, team sources confirmed Friday. DeBoer met with his Washington team Friday afternoon to explain why he’s making the move, the sources said.
News of the hire was officially announced by Alabama on Friday evening.
“Following coach Saban is an honor,” DeBoer said in a school statement. “He has been the standard for college football, and his success is unprecedented. I would not have left Washington for just any school. The chance to lead the football program at the University of Alabama is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
DeBoer, 49, went 25-3 in two years at Washington, leading the Huskies out of the frustrations of a 4-8 campaign under a previous coaching regime in 2021. Saban, who won six national championships while in charge of the program, shocked the sporting world Wednesday afternoon when it was announced he was retiring at the age of 72.
DeBoer, Washington and its revitalized fan base were not even 48 hours removed from the heartbreak of a 34-13 loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff national championship Monday night in Houston.
“Kalen DeBoer has been an outstanding leader of our football program and what he accomplished in two seasons on Montlake will forever be a part of our storied history,” Washington athletic director Troy Dannen said. “We are sad to see him leave and we did all that we could to keep Kalen at UW.”
While the pool of candidates to replace Saban ranged from former trusted assistants like Texas’ Steve Sarkisian to those groomed under him like Oregon’s Dan Lanning, the list was slowly whittled down throughout the swift process undertaken by Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.
On Thursday morning, Lanning — a former graduate assistant under Saban — announced on social media he was staying in Eugene. Sarkisian is close to finalizing a contract extension to stay with Texas.
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Eventually, it came down to DeBoer, Florida State head coach Mike Norvell and Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Earlier Friday, Norvell and FSU agreed to a new deal.
In DeBoer, Byrne went with what some might perceive to be an unconventional hire, a man who has never coached in the SEC. At some point this fall, DeBoer hired college football coaching superagent Jimmy Sexton who represents a majority of coaches in the SEC, including Saban.
“Coach DeBoer has proven he is a winner and has done an incredible job as a head coach at each of his stops,” Byrne said Friday. “One of the things I told our team the other day is we are going to get someone who is not only a great coach with the Xs and Os, but also someone who cares about his players and someone I’d want my sons to play for, just like I would have wanted them to play for Coach Saban. We got that in Coach DeBoer.”
As seen in the last two days, several dominoes needed to tip in the direction of Byrne going all the way to Seattle to find his Saban successor.
There will be no rebuild or extraction from the depths for DeBoer in Tuscaloosa. This is strictly a contend-for-and-win national titles every single year operation he faces. At Washington, DeBoer installed an offense that became the most entertaining in the sport in 2023, highlighted by a Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback in Michael Penix Jr., three future NFL wideouts and the best offensive line in the country.
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“I think it goes to how he’s wired,” former Washington coach Chris Petersen said last month when asked what makes DeBoer such a great coach.
“Kalen is strong in his convictions. He knows what he wants to do. He’s calm. He’s poised. ‘So-and-so just got hurt. So-and-so is gonna transfer.’ I know it bothers him. But it’s not the end of the world, and he’s fluid,” Petersen continued. “Like how do we keep adjusting and adapting? Those are the things that really jump out to me. Yes, he’s a really good offensive mind. Yeah, he’s a good organizer. That is lower on the totem pole of what makes him special, in my opinion.”
DeBoer was hired in November 2021 after two years at the helm at Fresno State, where he went 12-6 and tutored future NFL quarterback Jake Haener. From 2005 to 2009, he won three NAIA national titles with Sioux Falls and had the program in the title game all five years in charge. From 2010 to 2019, DeBoer bounced around the country at various levels as an offensive coordinator from Southern Illinois (2010-2013), Eastern Michigan (2014-2016), Fresno State (2017-2018) and Indiana (2019).
At each stop, DeBoer’s offensive philosophy predicated on capitalizing on open space for playmakers and freedom for the quarterback has been among the top in the country.
“I think there’s a foundation of what the system is, but it’s got a lot of flexibility to be able to grow and evolve. It’s always going to be around our personnel. It’s going to be quarterback-driven,” DeBoer told The Athletic before the Sugar Bowl win over Texas. “The quarterback is going to be able to take us as far as he can with what his skills are and his understanding of the offense. But in the end, it’s going to work around the players that we have. We’ve done it with the strength of our team being the tight ends, we’ve done it with the strength of our team being the running backs, the receivers, we’ve had success in a lot of different ways.”
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Over the past two years, the Huskies went 10-1 versus Top 25 teams. DeBoer is 12-2 all-time against ranked opponents. He’s also been dominant against his contemporaries in the sport and some who were in the mix for the Alabama job. He was 3-0 against Lanning, 2-0 against Sarkisian and 1-0 against USC’s Lincoln Riley.
Washington was the No. 1 passing offense in the country in 2023 and 12th overall in total offense. Despite Alabama also qualifying for the College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide offense was not what it had been in recent years. It ranked 56th in total offense and 68th in passing offense.
Before the national title game, Washington defensive lineman Faatui Tuitele told The Athletic that DeBoer fixed a broken locker room.
“Our culture was really damaged during that time, but then coach DeBoer came,” he said. “Everything has been so amazing. He really changed our culture for the better.”
At Alabama, the culture has been Nick Saban and contending for titles since 2007. But those who know DeBoer well believe he is uniquely made up for such circumstances.
“Kalen has a humble swagger to him,” said a former Washington staffer who spoke under condition of anonymity. “His temperament is very unique. He doesn’t swear. He stays very steady all the time.”
Recruiting and retention of Alabama’s roster is of the highest priority, as evidenced by wide receiver Isaiah Bond entering the transfer portal Friday. The best way for DeBoer to do that is to assemble his coaching staff with the same urgency that the head coaching search had.
The first question is which of Alabama’s current coaches will DeBoer retain? Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who interviewed for the head coaching position this week, is of particular interest and secondary coach Travaris Robinson, a valuable assistant and recruiter within the Southern footprint is likely a high-priority coach for DeBoer to keep on staff.
Three assistant coaching positions are vacant: wide receivers, outside linebackers and defensive coordinator. The wide receiver position is perhaps the most important position to fill, as securing that position as soon as possible will help Alabama’s chances of regaining the commitment of 2024 five-star Ryan Williams, who decommitted from Alabama amid Saban’s retirement and is signing during late signing day in February.
Overall, finalizing the coaching staff and mobilizing to retain the current roster and start recruiting the 2025 class is DeBoer’s first major assignment as Alabama’s coach.
Regarding what’s in store for Washington, it remains to be seen if DeBoer is going to bring offensive coordinator and longtime coaching partner Ryan Grubb with him to Tuscaloosa. Ironically, Saban offered Grubb the offensive coordinator position last offseason, but Grubb turned it down to see how far the 2023 Huskies could go.
Regardless of whether Grubb moves on, Washington will be a different team next season. A slew of stars are departing, including Penix and wide receiver Rome Odunze, though former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers has transferred in. UW is also heading to the Big Ten, where the competition will be tougher and the Huskies will be at a financial disadvantage, not receiving a full conference share.
Grubb would be an easy internal promotion. Potential outside names could include Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox, San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan, Washington State head coach Jake Dickert, former Auburn/Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin and New Mexico head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
But new athletic director Troy Dannen just got to Seattle from Tulane in October, meaning this search could go in numerous directions.
(Photo: Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
The New York Times
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Nick Bromberg, Yahoo Sports
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By Lauren Merola, Max Olson, Austin Meek, Jim Trotter and Nicole Auerbach
It’s been 26 years, but finally, no one has it better than Michigan.
The Wolverines rushed for 303 yards and held flame-throwing Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in check to emerge as the College Football Playoff national champion with a 34-13 defeat of the Huskies on Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston. The win marked Michigan’s first national title since 1997 and the completion of a long-anticipated return to the top of college football under head coach Jim Harbaugh.
The Wolverines, who entered the night ranked second in the FBS in passing yards allowed per game, held the Heisman Trophy runner-up Penix to 255 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 27-of-51 passing, well below the usual output from the nation’s passing yards leader (4,648). Washington’s explosive offense finished with just 301 total yards, as injuries to Penix and running back Dillon Johnson limited the Huskies’ effectiveness.
Michigan running back Blake Corum finished with 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns to set the school’s single-season touchdown record (28), padding the margin after backfield mate Donovan Edwards scored the first two touchdowns of the game, nearly doubling his own season total in one quarter. By the time Michigan held a 14-3 advantage with 2:23 to go in the first quarter, it had 115 rushing yards. Washington had allowed only two rush plays of 40-plus yards all season before Monday, when it let up three such rushes in the first half, including Edwards’ two touchdowns.
41 YARDS TO THE HOUSE 🏠
Michigan’s Donovan Edwards strikes first in the #NationalChampionship
🎥 @espn pic.twitter.com/SCuRDbtWRV
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 9, 2024
Washington appeared to regain some momentum by cutting the lead to 17-10 before halftime, but Penix threw an interception to Michigan defensive back Will Johnson on the first play of the third quarter, then hobbled to the sideline after a lineman stepped on his ankle during the play. The Huskies defense came up big, with the help of two Michigan penalties, to only surrender a field goal and keep the game within reach. Down 27-13 with less than five minutes to play, Penix tried to thread a pass to wide receiver Jalen McMillan on fourth down but was picked off by Michigan defensive back Mike Sainristil, who ran it back 80 yards before Corum punched in the final score of the night.
“I just feel like it came down to executing,” Penix said postgame. “I missed a couple of throws, just a couple of reads on routes and stuff like that. Just small details within our system that we do great all the time.”
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After the game, Penix had noticeable trouble walking off the field but said that “no matter what, I was going to make sure I finished it for the guys.”
“I’m not healthy, but I’ll be there. I’m good. It’s nothing major. I know that for sure,” he said. “I talked with the doctors and stuff like that. It’s nothing major. If I had to play tomorrow, I’ll play.”
“I’m just super proud of this team and how far we’ve come, always being the underdog,” Penix said. “This is the only time you all were right, but we were able to fight and push through so much adversity and just people doubting us and not believing us throughout the season. To get to this point, it’s a blessing.”
Michigan finally broke through and brought home a national championship in a year that at times felt more like a wild season of reality TV. This team had the right stuff to finish the job after consecutive CFP semifinal losses in 2022 and 2023, won its third consecutive Big Ten title thanks to gritty wins over Penn State and Ohio State, kept fighting for an overtime triumph against Alabama in the Rose Bowl and, in its biggest test yet, shut down Washington and its prolific offense. This was a special team on a path to destiny.
And that path was littered with drama, from Harbaugh serving a three-game suspension to start the season to the in-season investigation into Connor Stalions’ impermissible signal stealing operation to another three-game Harbaugh suspension served up as his team landed in State College, Pa. Through it all, no matter who was coaching or who they were playing, these Wolverines were undeterred. They had the No. 1 defense in college football, experienced leaders who refused to lose and the poise to play their best in their biggest games. — Max Olson, college football senior writer
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Edwards has a reputation for showing up in big moments. He wasn’t much of a factor for much of this season, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry in a limited role. But in the national championship game, big-game Edwards reappeared in stunning fashion.
Edwards opened the game with a 41-yard touchdown burst and scored again on Michigan’s next drive with a 46-yard run. Edwards laid the groundwork for Michigan’s victory and Corum finished it, plunging into the end zone from 12 yards out to give the Wolverines a two-touchdown lead.
The two-headed rushing attack Michigan envisioned with Corum and Edwards didn’t materialize for much of the season, but it showed up in the biggest game of the year. Both players topped 100 yards on the ground, with Edwards rushing for 104 and Corum rushing for 134. When the Wolverines run the ball that way, nobody can stop them. — Austin Meek, Michigan beat writer
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Statistically, it was not the worst performance of Penix’s brilliant season. But considering the stakes, it felt like it.
One week after putting on a dazzling performance in a College Football Playoff win over Texas, Penix was beaten and beaten down, with he and his Washington teammates falling to Michigan in the national title game. The pinpoint accuracy and explosive plays that wowed observers against the Longhorns were nowhere to be found Monday night.
He appeared in physical pain by the end, though the loss of a perfect season likely hurt more. There were opportunities for big plays, but Penix was uncharacteristically off on several opportunities. And when he was on target he was hurt by dropped passes. — Jim Trotter, senior writer
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It looked early like Michigan was going to run away with the game — literally, after two Edwards touchdown runs of more than 40 yards. But credit Washington’s defense for its resilience and toughness for allowing the Huskies to hang around in this game, even with Penix not nearly as crisp as he was a week ago in the Sugar Bowl.
After all the fireworks in the game’s first 17 minutes, Michigan went punt, turnover on downs, punt, field goal, punt, punt, punt; the longest drive the Wolverines put together only went 41 yards … until that touchdown drive at the midpoint of the fourth quarter that resulted in a Corum touchdown and put Michigan up by two scores. — Nicole Auerbach, college football senior writer
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Monday night’s game was such a bittersweet moment for the Pac-12 conference. The Huskies finally broke through to reach the CFP and snap a seven-year drought for the conference and they win an exhilarating semifinal to reach a national championship game … and it’s the very last game for the Pac-12 as we’ve always known it, with 10 of its 12 teams set to depart for other power conferences next season. This Washington team has been a blast to watch all season, as was the entire Pac-12 conference, with surging teams like Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona and the national phenomenon that was Colorado. It’s a tough pill to swallow because it feels like if the Pac-12 had the season it did this fall a year or two ago, its demise would have never happened. Alas.
But the Big Ten is excited it will boast both title game participants as league members come August. A national championship game rematch will be a Big Ten conference game, on Oct. 5. — Auerbach
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
The New York Times
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Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia’s run of dominance in college football’s signature event might not be over, but it is on hiatus this year. Instead, there’s new blood after Michigan and Washington advanced to the national title game.
Since the BCS began in 1998, neither team has played for a national title.
“This is probably the first time I’ve ever been fired up for a national championship game,” said one coordinator who faced Washington earlier this year. “I’m so fascinated with this game because they’re like two polar opposites going against each other.”
Michigan’s bruising play along the lines and run-heavy offensive style will square off with Washington’s high-flying, pass-first attack at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday night. The Athletic spoke with 10 head coaches, coordinators and assistants who have faced either Michigan or Washington this season to gauge their thoughts on the matchup, granting them anonymity to discuss both teams candidly.
No coaches leaned toward Michigan or Washington winning big, but a majority picked Washington to win as an underdog. One coach was shocked to learn Michigan was a four-point favorite. But another assistant said Michigan may be the better team in all aspects.
“It’s hard to go against Michigan, but I just think Washington is more battle-tested, and they find a way to do it one more time,” said one head coach.
One place there was no debate: the brilliance of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting and followed it up with a masterful 430-yard, two-touchdown performance to carry the Huskies to a semifinal victory against Texas.
“Man, you watch enough of the tape on a whole season of his throws, and you’re blown away with the (tight) windows and the touch he throws with,” one head coach said. “It’s rare because to know when and how to throw it with touch like that is remarkable. It’s as accurate as you’ve ever seen.”
Added another head coach, “Penix makes some amazing throws. Some ‘holy smokes’ throws. His ability to decipher and read coverages is pretty special and he’s got that quick release to get it. That is a gift.”
Every coach The Athletic spoke with raved about Penix, even coaches who faced Penix when he wasn’t at his best.
What makes Washington’s offense so effective is the chemistry between Penix and his trio of receivers: Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk. They were targeted 20 times in the win against Texas and combined for 19 completions, 353 yards and two touchdowns.
“His trigger is so quick,” said one assistant who faced Washington this year. “Offseason seven-on-seven must be insane. The rhythm and chemistry those guys have? Man. This guy has so much trust in these receivers it makes no sense. If you watch the film and you watch it when the ball is released, the receiver isn’t open. He throws guys open. He throws with a bunch of trust. I told our guys we have to stay in phase with them the entire game, all the way down the field. There won’t be indicators the ball is coming.”
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Michael Penix Jr.’s journey isn’t only about football — it’s overcoming fear
Odunze has 87 catches for 1,553 yards and 13 touchdowns this year, including six catches for 125 yards in the win over Texas. He was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to college football’s best receiver.
“He’s just different. His body control and the way he and Penix are synced up, whether it’s gonna be back-shoulder or over the top, they’re just in such a rhythm,” one head coach said.
Multiple coaches also raved about Washington’s tight sets, which create difficult angles to defend and unique route combinations to scheme receivers open downfield.
Washington is second in the FBS with 39 passing plays longer than 30 yards this season, but it runs the ball just 27.9 times a game. Only six FBS teams, and just two from the Power 5, run it less often.
“I would try to force them to hand the ball off,” said one coordinator who faced the Huskies this season. “But they will throw the ball in man with two high safeties or if you drop eight and still dice you up.”
Added another assistant, “They’ll throw the ball when they shouldn’t throw the ball. I think their game management is suspect, but they find ways to win.”
Two coaches pointed to Oregon as the game when Washington was most committed to its run game. If that happens, they said, an already elite offense becomes truly unstoppable.
Washington’s skill at receiver allows it to often lean on max protect schemes with six or seven blockers, so even if teams blitz, the experienced unit that won the Joe Moore Award this year as the nation’s best offensive line can keep Penix’s pocket clean and allow him to deliver the ball downfield.
“Their offensive tackles, to me, are incredible,” said one head coach. “If you’re gonna beat ’em, I think it’s gotta be on the interior, but you’ve got to be willing to take chances.”
Texas’ defense managed zero sacks against the Huskies in the semifinal win.
Outstanding pocket movement by Michael Penix Jr. to avoid the pressure. Finds Rome Odunze for a chain mover. pic.twitter.com/REN72eNsGa
— Justin M (@JustinM_NFL) January 2, 2024
“(Byron Murphy II) beat his guy so many times, but Penix would side-step and get the ball out. He’s such a good player. Texas couldn’t just play man, and then when they did cover their guys perfectly, they didn’t play the ball. That’s where Michigan will probably be at an advantage, because their DBs play the ball better,” said one assistant.
Another assistant agreed.
“Michigan’s defense is basically just Texas with better DBs,” he said. “Washington’s strength was Texas’ kryptonite. If Washington is going to win this game, they have to do it throwing down the field.”
The Wolverines rank third nationally in opposing passer rating. Texas ranked 49th.
“I think Michigan is gonna win. They just don’t give up big plays,” said one coordinator who faced Michigan this season. “Washington exposed Texas’ DBs. They are not elite DBs playing elite wide receivers. Michigan has elite DBs and an elite D-Line. (Mike Sainristil) is such a good player. He’s everywhere. They’re elite at all three levels. Michigan’s linebackers don’t miss a lot of tackles.”
Pressure is the simplest way to limit any passer’s effectiveness, but doing that against Washington’s front has proven difficult all season. The Huskies have given up just 11 sacks in 14 games. Only four teams have surrendered fewer.
“The other thing I laugh at is, they’re one of the only O-lines along with Oregon State who don’t wear knee braces, and those are the two best offensive lines in the conference,” said one head coach. “I wonder if there’s something to this? These guys are athletic and powerful and can really move.”
Pressuring Penix without leaving the secondary vulnerable is almost impossible. That leaves defenses with one other option, said multiple coaches: Confuse him.
“If I’m Michigan, I’m utilizing a lot of disguises in my coverages. Pre-snap, I want Michael to see Cover 2 but really I’m Cover 3. I want him to see man but at snap, we’re getting into Cover 3, Cover 4. You press those corners, you disguise and you send pressure. That’s what Arizona State did. They were in his head a little bit. He didn’t have time to go through his reads, and it wasn’t as clean as he wanted it to be.”
That 15-7 win over the Sun Devils was the only game this season in which Penix threw more than one interception and one of two games in which he was held without a touchdown pass, and the Huskies didn’t have a pass play longer than 21 yards.
“Michigan is so tough on defense,” said one coordinator who faced the Wolverines this season. “They made Alabama one-dimensional. Their D-line is that good. They made Bama look like an average O-line.”
If Penix, in his sixth year playing college football, can sniff out coverages clearly before the snap and check into a different play, it’s a disaster for defenses.
“They have more Cover 3 zone beaters than you’ve ever seen,” one head coach said. “Schematically, these guys are incredible. I have the utmost respect for them.”
Washington has nine sixth-year players and has now won its last 10 games by 10 points or less. Multiple coaches pointed to a complete lack of panic from the Huskies in tight games this year.
“I do think (Michigan) is physical enough up front to get (Penix) off his spot and good enough on the back end to at least hold disguises and play multiple things, but Washington keeps finding a way,” said one coordinator who faced Washington this season.
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Coaches agree on one thing: The road map to Michigan’s success on offense is nothing fancy. It’s the skill that has kept them undefeated all season and the strength they turned to on the last 32 plays of their win against Penn State in November:
Run the ball.
It’s not just the Wolverines’ best offense. It’s their best defense against Washington’s best player.
“Michigan should just run it down their throats and just keep Penix off the field,” said one assistant.
Another assistant said it was clear Michigan was physically and mentally tougher than Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
“I don’t think there are many teams in football that are patient enough running the football, but Michigan is,” said one head coach. “They keep proving that. They keep running it at you. No one else in the Pac-12 will do that other than maybe Oregon State. If Texas would’ve (Monday) night, they’d probably have been better off. They were ripping off runs on them.”
Two other coaches said Texas didn’t lean heavily enough on its running game in the loss. The Longhorns ran for 180 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns.
“You can run the ball on Washington. Texas could. If their backs didn’t fumble, they probably win that game.”
Washington ranks 86th in the FBS in yards per carry allowed.
“Michigan wants to run the ball and get downhill on you,” said one head coach who faced Michigan this year. “They gotta run the ball against Washington and keep (Penix) off the field. Michigan’s defense is really good — their secondary is better than Washington’s — but their offense is gonna be their best defense.”
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy was a divisive topic of discussion among coaches. His play this season left coaches less than fawning, but most were impressed with what he did to help Michigan beat Alabama.
“J.J. hadn’t played that well in a long time, but he played really well against Alabama. I was more scared about him on the move than in the pocket. We tried to keep him in the pocket. He is very fast, and he really throws well on the run,” said one head coach who played Michigan this year. “He can make all these accurate throws from different arm angles. He’s better going to his right but can still hurt you going to his left. He’s deadly to his right.”
McCarthy earned Heisman buzz during the season and was No. 16 in Dane Brugler’s most recent list of the top 50 NFL Draft prospects.
“They have explosive playmakers, but chunk plays? J.J. McCarthy ain’t that guy. I don’t know what Harbaugh is talking about. He’s out of his mind. If you’re freakin’ Kyle Shanahan you might like him, but in college football, I don’t know if he’s gonna get the job done,” said one assistant.
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Washington’s defensive scheme, led by co-coordinators Chuck Morrell and William Inge, could confuse McCarthy, multiple coaches The Athletic spoke with said.
“They put everybody up at the line and make the quarterback think a little bit. Then he’ll drop everybody into coverage and you don’t know if he’s playing zone or man. He can get creative with disguising,” said one coordinator who faced Washington this year. “He makes it look like a zero pressure where you have to have a lot of conversations as a staff on how you’re going to handle it. He may bluff and drop out. He was making it look like Cover Zero but it was Cover 3 and he’d shoot guys out. He had our QBs in a tough look at times. If you can keep McCarthy guessing, I thought that’s what they did to Ewers. Even when it’s on the (13)-yard line in the last two plays of the game. He was mugged up and made him throw hot. Quinn was throwing fade balls the entire time because he didn’t know if it was a hot pressure or not.”
One assistant pointed to Michigan’s third-down packages with three tight ends as a place the offense has thrived this year. The Wolverines could continue to do so against the Huskies’ defense by bringing the beef.
“They do some really good stuff. They bring (tight end Max Bredeson) in and he creates problems. He’s a stud. We treated him like a fullback. He’s the difference-maker in those packages, and they do some unique stuff with him and all the pre-snap movement they do,” the assistant said. “He’s a great weapon for them. He explodes through contact and is able to keep his feet moving and displace guys.”
Overall, coaches weren’t certain how the game would play out, though more leaned toward Washington than Michigan. It’s a product, they said, of the contrasting styles the two teams play.
One coach said if Washington can hit big plays early and jump out to a double-digit lead, Michigan’s lack of explosiveness would mean the Wolverines could break their game script and struggle to rally.
Michigan has just 19 plays of longer than 30 yards this season, which ranks 112th nationally.
Georgia and Alabama, facsimiles of one another, are easier to predict. But with the Huskies’ skill position talent going up against Michigan’s dominance on both lines, multiple coaches expected a more fun national title game than some SEC-heavy games in the past where teams had similar schemes.
“It’s one people are going to want to watch,” said one assistant. “There’s a lot of variables.”
(Top photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
The New York Times
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He has come further than any star player in college football the last two years — 3,064 miles and from two wins to the College Football Playoff — but on a dreary Monday in Seattle in April, Michael Penix Jr. showed much more than tangible measurements of the depth of his journey. It’s one even his parents at the time didn’t fully realize. But now, days before Penix leads No. 2 Washington in the CFP Semifinal Sugar Bowl against No. 3 Texas, everyone can appreciate it.
Penix had a spectacular debut season for the Huskies in 2022, leading the nation in passing and helping turn a 4-8 team into an 11-2 squad that finished No. 8. The lefty launching balls deep downfield didn’t just vex rival defenses, he re-energized a sports-crazed city. A week after that April morning, three quarterbacks — all younger than him — would be selected with the first four picks of the 2023 NFL Draft, but Penix said it was not a tough decision to return to school for another season.
“I felt like I had more to do here,” he told The Athletic then. “I wanted more — not just out of myself but out of this team, for this team, for this university and for this city. We’ll do better this year and correct some of the mistakes we made last year.”
Penix finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting in 2022, but shook his head when asked if the award was also a motivator of his return.
“Nuh-uh.”
“It is Playoff or bust?”
“Yup. That’s me.”
The now-23-year-old Penix is a brilliant mix of so many things that seem to be so opposite. He is the eldest son, described by his parents as very introspective, but he loves to be silly and dance the latest viral dances in his kitchen. On the field, he is fearless, hanging in the pocket until the last heartbeat for a receiver to break open deep downfield. Off the field, he can be vulnerable, transparent and refreshingly candid. For 10 minutes that April morning, after he bluntly talked about 2023 being Playoff or bust, he became emotional.
“What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever been through?”
He paused for 15 seconds. He stammered. His voice broke.
“2021.”
In 2020, Penix sparked his former school, Indiana, to its best football season in 53 years. The Hoosiers finished No. 12. He was named team MVP, even after a torn ACL ended his season in Game 6 of the eight-game COVID-19-shortened season. But in the following year, Indiana finished 2-10. The Hoosiers’ plummet was only part of what rattled Penix.
“It was more like, the guy was done with his ACL recovery, and then his doctor called him and said, ‘You’re technically not cleared the week of the game,’ and put those fears in that person,” Penix said. He spoke in third person, trying to convey the scope of his fears: That 2020 ACL injury was different from his other season-ending injuries. Different from his 2018 ACL injury and his 2019 shoulder injury. Much different.
“It was hard. I was scared,” Penix said, teary-eyed. “It’s hard. I was scared to play, but I still tried to. It was just a lot. In my head, I said if I’d gotten hurt again, I was gonna quit football.”
He leaned on his family and his loved ones to persevere. His two little brothers are “part of the reason why I never quit,” he said. That’s what’s made this particular comeback, this part of his journey, so much sweeter.
“Do you have a deeper appreciation for the game, since it was so close to being taken from you?”
Penix leaned forward, nodding his head eagerly.
“I just love the game so much now,” he said. “I didn’t want to give it up, but obviously going through what I was going through, it was hard. But I couldn’t give up because I have so many people depending on me and looking up to me. So, if I can play, I was gonna play. Unless the doctor said I couldn’t. The bowl game last year (an Alamo Bowl win against Texas) made me emotional. Being able to do what we did last year was special.”
A few days before Penix and his parents went to New York City for the 2023 Heisman presentation, just after the quarterback capped a 13-0 regular season with the Pac-12 title, his parents acknowledged they were unaware of the depth of their oldest son’s emotional struggles with his injuries.
“Honestly, the first I really knew that he was dealing with that was when I watched the Pac-12 special (in September), where they had that interview with him,” said Penix’s mother, Takisha. “That was the first time that I’d seen him open up. He internalizes a lot of his emotions. I feel like watching that interview I learned a lot about what he was going through. We’d always encouraged him to keep fighting. Don’t give up. Push forward. I think he just didn’t want us to worry.”
That Pac-12 Network special featured Penix detailing the depths of his coping with the uncertainty of his recovery.
“There were times when I’d wake up the day of the game,” Penix said on TV, “I’d wait until my roommate left, and I’d just lie on the floor, and I’d just cry to God, praying that He’d protect me that day because I knew where my head was at the time, and it wasn’t truly fresh. It was a lot of tears. It was a lot of stuff.”
Takisha Penix said they’ve opted not to dig back into it with their son at the moment. “I didn’t want to bring it back up, especially now during the season,” she said. “He poured his emotions out right there at that time. I don’t feel like it’s right time.”
“You hate to see your kids go through stuff like that,” said Michael Penix Sr., “but at the same time, it was a blessing in disguise. If he hadn’t gone through stuff like that, he wouldn’t be where he is right now.”
Penix is currently preparing for the CFP Semifinal matchup with Texas, the next step toward winning a national title. The Huskies lead the nation in passing again. They are a gritty team that follows the lead of their biggest star. The Huskies, riding a 20-game winning streak in the past two years, are 10-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less and 9-0 vs. Top 25 teams.
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“He seems to be a guarded young man, and won’t let anyone into his circle — you have to gain his trust,” said Yogi Roth, the Pac-12 Network analyst who interviewed Penix during that emotional special. “What he’s done for his entire team has proved that adversity can make you dramatically stronger. Before when he was at Indiana, he was talking about how he was on his knees crying and praying to God that He’d protect me. No human would be able to play free like that, but now, he plays as free as anybody in America. Watch him bow-and-arrowing it and making all these big throws. There’s something about resiliency and how it can give you a freedom that can prove to be a superpower.”
The beauty in Penix’s story, as it sometimes is with college sports, is the development of players as people, not as finished products when they’re 18 or 19 years old. In evaluation, whether that’s in recruiting or in the eyes of coaches or NFL scouts, players are often defined by what they can’t do or what people think they aren’t.
In truth, Penix’s evolution is about someone who is almost the opposite of what he looked like two years ago.
“Being able to be present for my teammates and be available is definitely a big thing for me,” Penix told The Athletic this week. “Something that I’ve taken full advantage of. I’ve had times where it was taken away from me. I feel very confident now. I am around a group of people who, when times are hard, will be there to support me and the rest of the team. I’m in a much better place and doing whatever I can to help my team win football games.”
Penix has not only been supported in Seattle, but has provided support to his teammates, many who have come through their own challenges and from a disastrous 4-8 season in 2021 that led to head coach Kalen DeBoer’s arrival.
Edefuan Ulofoshio, a sixth-year senior linebacker and the leader of the defense, leaned on Penix while recovering from an upper body injury that had sidelined him for the first half of the 2022 season.
“He inspired me to really hone in on my rehab and my work ethic and gave me the confidence of when I can come back and be better than I was before I got hurt,” said Ulofoshio, a former walk-on who was voted the team’s most inspirational player in 2023. “That rehab process is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. You can lose your mind in it because as an athlete, the one thing you value more than anything in the world is your body, and when you’re not even able to move your arm or your leg for six weeks, you’re losing your mind. He saw me go through it. He helped me a lot.”
In Seattle, Penix reunited with DeBoer, Indiana’s offensive coordinator in 2019.
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“I felt that he just needed a fresh start,” DeBoer said. “I think he knew there were still people that believed in him, and I think he’s probably got all the doubters back believing, and that’s fun. He’s really one of those guys that if I was his age, as a teammate, I could see myself hanging out with him. He’s just really loose, but there is a switch that gets flipped when the pads go on — where you can tell that it’s really important to him.”
His parents haven’t been able to attend every game, but they have been around enough to have met so many people who have come to tell them how their son has inspired them.
“I feel like it brought him closer to God too,” Takisha Penix said. “I see a difference in him in how he approaches life now. Being able to experience all these emotions and then coming through it, that’s incredible. Not everybody can go through all these ups and downs emotionally and make it through it.”
Michael Penix Sr. coached his son in football, basketball and baseball when he was growing up in the Tampa, Fla. area. He taught his son discipline and preached determination, and to remember that everything happens for a reason.
“Injuries make people mentally tougher,” Michael Penix Sr. said. “Once when you get that mental toughness and put it into athletic ability, that’s a mean combination. A lot of athletes when those injuries happen, they can’t develop that mental toughness and it destroys them, but he overcame it. He was blessed.”
Penix didn’t win the Heisman. He finished second to LSU’s Jayden Daniels. But Penix made a profound statement upon arriving for the show when he walked the red carpet and revealed the inside of his jacket. In the lining were all the names of his Washington teammates and coaches.
“I just wanted to show my appreciation to those who helped me get to that point,” he said. “After everything that I’ve been through, the path that I took, it wasn’t the easy one, and I wouldn’t say I wanted that to happen, but I feel like all of that has shaped me into the person I am today. I am just appreciative of every moment that I have now with my teammates and to be able to just go out there and play the game that I love.”
(Photo illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Photos: James Black, Icon Sportswire via Getty Images,
Brandon Sloter / Image Of Sport / Getty Images)
The New York Times
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This sport’s identity crisis has existed since the inception of the College Football Playoff a decade ago, but never before have we had to come to terms with it the way we did on Sunday.
That identity crisis? Whether the teams that play for the national championship should be the best or the most deserving. In the nine years before this season, the best and most deserving seamlessly became one, resulting in cut-and-dried decisions on which teams would make the field.
In the final season of the four-team era — before it expands to 12 in 2024 — the CFP committee was charged with a very difficult decision that was guaranteed to result in a worthy team feeling cheated. The committee, for the first time, was actually going to have to choose what it values more — the teams that earned it or the teams that look the best on TV.
Florida State, the most deserving, became the first unbeaten Power 5 conference champion left out of the field. The Seminoles were the ones left feeling cheated.
And with that one decision, the committee didn’t just choose teams in a given year. It revealed to the world the ugly truth about college football — this sport is a beauty contest where decisions on which teams can win the national title are sometimes made as much in a cozy hotel boardroom in Grapevine, Texas, as they are on the actual field.
The Playoff field is as follows: 1. Michigan, 2. Washington, 3. Texas, 4. Alabama.
Michigan and Washington made it through the season unscathed. Texas lost a nail-biter in its rivalry game to Oklahoma, and the Longhorns, wait for it, beat Alabama.
We wouldn’t be having this discussion if Florida State’s star quarterback, Jordan Travis, didn’t break his leg two weeks ago. But the Seminoles team that just beat Louisville 16-6 in the ACC Championship Game was relying on a third-string quarterback. The win was far from impressive.
devastated. heartbroken. In so much disbelief rn, I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!
— Jordan Travis (@jordantrav13) December 3, 2023
The committee, knowing it was going to unjustly break someone’s heart, decided to break Florida State’s. In that room on Saturday night, the committee members decided the Seminoles weren’t good enough for us.
That’s not what sports are supposed to be about. And with the four-team CFP era ending after this season, fans will be viewing it as a broken system that needed to be changed rather than the first frontier of the modernization of the sport.
It’s very easy to fathom why the committee couldn’t choose between Alabama and Texas. Alabama is a one-loss SEC champion that beat Georgia on Saturday, ending the Bulldogs’ 29-game winning streak. Texas, a one-loss Big 12 champion, beat Alabama by 10 points in Tuscaloosa in September.
Many fans were hoping that the SEC would be left out entirely for the first time, but the committee — charged with picking the “best teams” — couldn’t ignore what the ultra-talented Crimson Tide accomplished. But if Alabama goes, how could the committee leave the team out that beat it?
It couldn’t.
This is probably the path of least resistance. Outside of Florida State fans, the general population will move on convinced that the Playoff semifinals will be more entertaining with more high-level teams. The best teams, as they say, won out.
The problem with choosing the best is that it’s entirely subjective and ultimately misleading given this is a sport that routinely features unpredictable results and unforeseen runs. The last time a team was relying on a third-string quarterback heading into the College Football Playoff — Ohio State in the inaugural season of the four-team field — won the national title.
The difference between those Buckeyes and this Florida State team was that Ohio State won the Big Ten title game that year 59-0. Florida State was in a close game with Louisville that was, quite frankly, not an enjoyable watch for people who love the excitement of big-time offense. Perception, wrongly, became reality.
“Florida State is a different team,” CFP committee chair Boo Corrigan said after the field was revealed. “You look at who they are as a team without Jordan Travis — they are a different team.”
That’s a well-informed opinion that’s probably true. It, however, is not a fact. You could make the case that Florida State is so good that it won a Power 5 conference championship game with a true freshman quarterback. In the CFP, Florida State would have gotten second-string quarterback Tate Rodemaker back with a month to prepare for a semifinal game.
Florida State was robbed.
And its head coach didn’t hide his disappointment.
“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games,” Mike Norvell said in a statement. “What is the point of playing games?”
As difficult as it would have been, the right thing for the committee to do would have been to leave Alabama out. Most of us know in our gut that the Crimson Tide — the most talented team, on paper, in the sport — are one of the four best teams. Alabama is certainly equipped to win the whole thing.
But Alabama — like peers Georgia and Ohio State, teams with a wealth of raw talent on their rosters — lost a game (at home). Better teams have been left out in the past than this Alabama team because losses had consequences.
Alabama’s loss to Texas didn’t have a consequence because we’re enamored with the SEC and what it means to beat Georgia. It didn’t matter that Alabama — though perceived to be an entirely different team in September — lost to the Longhorns. That game could have been a Playoff game in September. It turns out it was an exhibition.
There are plenty of people who are against the expansion of the field to 12 because of the sanctity of the regular season. But if the games in the regular season aren’t going to matter when it comes to picking the final four, then there are no consequences for expanding to 12.
The regular season didn’t decide who made it this year. Thirteen people did.
The games mattered. The results didn’t.
(Photo of Mike Norvell: Isaiah Vazquez / Getty Images)
The New York Times
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Next year, all this College Football Playoff arguing will be moot with the CFP expanding to 12 teams. Arguing over Nos. 3, 4 and 5 is very different than 10, 11, 12 and 13. You lose your benefit of the doubt when you lose games. Even in the SEC.
But this year is still a four-team field, and with so many variables factoring into the decision, there is a lot to dissect. And to state it plainly: the College Football Playoff committee got it wrong. College football has, or at least it used to have — up until right now — the best regular season in sports because the games mattered most. We have a smaller sample size in this sport than in any other.
To leave out an undefeated 13-0 Florida State team in a Power 5 conference was the wrong decision.
Michigan and Washington, both undefeated with top-10 wins, were the easy ones. The problem for the College Football Playoff committee was that there were three teams with legitimate arguments for the final two slots.
Sorry, Georgia. You didn’t win your conference title, and in this format, that has to count for something.
Booger McFarland is not happy that Alabama got into the CFP over an undefeated Florida State team.
“To me, this is a travesty to the sport…One team has a loss, and that’s Alabama. One doesn’t in Florida State.” pic.twitter.com/3rhBvvpT1D
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 3, 2023
Alabama and the SEC are the proverbial elephant in this room. Nick Saban is the greatest coach of all time, and to me, this year was the greatest coaching job he’s ever done in-season. His team got whipped at home by Texas in Week 2 and didn’t look any better struggling with a middling USF team the following week. But Jalen Milroe kept making big strides and when it mattered most, he and the Tide made enough plays to knock off a Bulldogs team that wasn’t anywhere near as dominant as it was in its previous two title seasons.
The problem for Alabama — and the SEC — is the partner they’re about to bring in: Texas did beat Alabama convincingly in Tuscaloosa. That happened, and there was nothing fluky about it.
The Longhorns, 12-1, were the class of the Big 12. There wasn’t a second-best team in the Big 12 this year, but Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma, the team Texas stumbled against and, as expected, Texas hammered the Cowboys Saturday. Remember, this was an Oklahoma State team that went 9-3 and had lost by a combined score of 78-10 against South Alabama and UCF. That wasn’t going to help Texas’ cause, but do we just forget that a week ago Alabama barely escaped against an Auburn team that got blown out at home the week before by New Mexico State, 31-10?
The bigger issue was with Florida State, the 13-0 Seminoles from the ACC. As we all know, FSU lost star quarterback Jordan Travis two weeks ago. The Seminoles’ backup Tate Rodemaker, who had led them to a comeback win over Louisville a year ago when Travis had gotten hurt, didn’t look great in the regular-season finale at arch-rival Florida. He also sustained a concussion.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips calls it “unfathomable” that Florida State was left out. “Florida State deserved better. College football deserved better.”
Statement from him: pic.twitter.com/3BYozQOSog
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) December 3, 2023
FSU’s third-stringer, Brock Glenn, had a shaky outing in the ACC Championship Game, but the defense was dominant. Led by Braden Fiske and Jared Verse, the Seminoles had 14 TFLs and seven sacks and became the first team in five years to hold a Jeff Brohm offense under 200 total yards. Not so coincidentally, that same FSU defense began the year by dominating LSU and the SEC’s biggest star, Jayden Daniels, 45-24, and held the SEC and the nation’s No. 1 offense to its worst performance of the season.
FSU was the only team that held Daniels under 60 percent passing in a game. Daniels ran for almost 100 yards less (99) against the Noles than when he played the Crimson Tide.
The CFP rankings often devolve into an argument over “best” versus “most deserving.” Best is usually the get-out-of-jail free card whenever your team loses or has a bad loss that it can’t explain. Similar to the nonsense of, “Well, Vegas would make so-and-so more than a touchdown favorite against them.” Great. But tell that to Washington. The Huskies were almost a double-digit underdog against Oregon last week, a team they’d already beaten this year. … Well, the Huskies beat the Ducks again.
I get it. The SEC has been the most dominant conference in college football for the past two decades. But this year hasn’t been like those other years if you’ve been paying attention. It’s simply been a down year for the SEC. The ACC actually went 6-4 against the SEC this year. If this was a one-loss FSU team, I’d say the Seminoles didn’t earn their way in, but they did. Texas should not have been left out either for a team it beat in its own place.
As colleague David Ubben wrote Saturday night, the games have to matter. What’s the point of playing them if we’re going to try and rationalize them away?
(Top photo Florida State: John Byrum / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The New York Times
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The No. 5 Oregon Ducks are headed to Las Vegas, NV, to take on the No. 3 Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 Championship Game on December 1 at 8:00pm ET. This clash is not just a game; it’s a rematch with significant implications for the Pac-12 title and a potential College Football Playoff berth. Oregon seeks redemption after a 36-33 loss to Washington earlier in the season.
You can listen to every snap live from Allegiant Stadium on the SiriusXM app and in car radios with your choice of the home or away feed.
Stream the Washington Huskies broadcast (Ch. 84)
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Under head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Huskies hold an impressive 23-2 overall record and are currently 12-0 for the second time in school history. Their dynamic offense ranks No. 2 in passing and No. 12 in total offense nationwide.
Star receiver Rome Odunze is closing in on a school record with 1,326 receiving yards, and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is making history with 63 career TD passes.
The Huskies enter the matchup with the nation’s second-longest active FBS winning streak at 19 games.
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On the other side, the Oregon Ducks, led by quarterback Bo Nix, are eyeing the 2023 Heisman Trophy. Nix, with 59 career starts, tops the nation in passing yards per game and completion percentage.
The Ducks, currently sitting at No. 5 in the CFP rankings, are balanced both offensively and defensively, placing in the top 10 for scoring offense and defense.
Wide receiver Troy Franklin enters the game with 77 receptions, tied for the most in UO single-season history.
Want to listen to more games? Throughout the 2023 College Football season, SiriusXM listeners get access to dozens of game broadcasts each week involving teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and other conferences — plus Army, Navy, HBCU football and more. For more information about SiriusXM’s college football offerings, click here.
Matthew Fanizza
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The Washington Huskies are headed to Corvallis, OR, to take on the Oregon State Beavers on November 18 at 7:30pm ET.
You can listen to every snap live from Reser Stadium on the SiriusXM app and in car radios with your choice of the home or away feed.
Stream the Oregon State Beavers broadcast (Ch. 84)
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The Beavers boast a remarkable home streak with nine consecutive wins, the longest since 1999-2000. Their turnover margin is a solid 10, ranking them second in the Pac-12 and tied for sixth nationally.
Running back Damien Martinez has accumulated 1,024 rush yards this season, marking the 18th 1,000-yard season in Oregon State history. Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei has been a key contributor, throwing 20 touchdown passes, tying for the eighth-most in a single season.
The Beavers’ defense has been stellar, with 19 sacks over the last four games and 53 passes defended, the second-most in the Pac-12. Andrew Chatfield Jr. has been on fire, recording six sacks in the last three games.
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Under head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Washington Huskies enter the matchup with an undefeated record of 10-0, a feat achieved only once before in school history, in 1991 when they went on to win the national title. With 17 consecutive victories, the Huskies hold the second-longest active winning streak in FBS, only behind Georgia.
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is leading the nation in passing offense and boasting impressive individual stats. The offense has excelled in explosive plays, recording 71 scrimmage plays of 20 or more yards and 35 plays of 30 yards or more.
Washington’s defense ranks second in punt return defense and sixth in kick return defense.
Want to listen to more games? Throughout the 2023 College Football season, SiriusXM listeners get access to dozens of game broadcasts each week involving teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and other conferences — plus Army, Navy, HBCU football and more. For more information about SiriusXM’s college football offerings, click here.
Matthew Fanizza
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The No. 5 Washington Huskies are headed to Los Angeles, CA, to take on the No. 20 USC Trojans on November 4 at 7:30pm ET.
You can listen to every snap live from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on the SiriusXM app and in car radios with your choice of the home or away feed.
Stream the USC Trojans broadcast (Ch. 82)
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USC’s offense ranks second in the nation with an average of 45.9 points per game. They also come in third in the nation for first downs, tallying an impressive 212. When it comes to passing, they are seventh in the country with an average of 328.3 yards per game, and their team passing efficiency ranks eighth at 172.21.
USC’s Caleb Williams dominates stats. He tops the nation in points responsible for with 208, averaging 23.1 per game. Also nationally, Williams shares the lead in passing touchdowns with 25 and sits at number two in passing yards with 2,646. He is tied for the number one spot in rushing touchdowns in the conference with 9.
Washington’s quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is making waves with his arm, leading the nation in passing yards and yards per game. He’s third in the nation in passing touchdowns with 24 and fifth in yards per pass attempt (9.98).
The Huskies have a fierce aerial assault, featuring a dynamic receiving corps. Eight different receivers have reached the end zone, with Rome Odunze and Ja’lynn Polk leading the charge, each boasting seven touchdowns and over 100 yards per game.
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Want to listen to more games? Throughout the 2023 College Football season, SiriusXM listeners get access to dozens of game broadcasts each week involving teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and other conferences — plus Army, Navy, HBCU football and more. For more information about SiriusXM’s college football offerings, click here.
Matthew Fanizza
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YPSILANTI, Mich. — Emoni Bates and Tyson Acuff scored 19 points apiece and Eastern Michigan spoiled a big night by Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis in a 79-77 victory over the Titans on Sunday.
Davis scored 30 points for Detroit Mercy (5-7) to zip past Bradley’s Hersey Hawkins (3,008) into 10th place on the all-time scoring list. Davis, who came in averaging 24.3 points per game, upped his points total to 3,031. He passed Hawkins on a 3-pointer with 16:37 left in the first half. Davis needs 28 points to pass Saint Peter’s Keydren Clark for ninth place.
Davis and former Washington Huskies women’s standout Kelsey Plum are the only two players to top 3,000 points and 500 assists in an NCAA Division I career. Davis also extended his NCAA double-digit scoring streak to 123 straight games.
Yusuf Jihad’s three-point play with 2:35 left pulled the Eagles (3-9) even at 72. Acuff and Noah Farrakhan had back-to-back layups and Eastern Michigan grabbed a 76-72 lead. Gerald Liddell and Farrakhan traded two free throws before Davis sank a 3-pointer to get the Titans within 78-77 with 4 seconds left. Acuff sank 1 of 2 free throws for the Eagles and Davis missed a 3 at the buzzer.
Jihad finished with 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Eastern Michigan. Farrakhan scored 11.
Liddell, who played three years at Texas and one at Alabama State before transferring to Detroit Mercy, finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds. He has a double-double in all five games since becoming eligible to play. A.J. Oliver pitched in with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Despite the loss, the Titans lead the all-time series against the Eagles 59-21.
———
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25
For close to 15 minutes Saturday afternoon, it seemed like Alabama was doomed. Bryce Young was hurt. Arkansas had all but erased a huge Crimson Tide lead. The college football world held its collective breath.
For more than three quarters of action Saturday night, it seemed as if the kings had been dethroned. Georgia‘s offense sputtered. Missouri built a double-digit lead. The foundation of the college football world began to crumble.
For five plays Saturday, Rutgers led Ohio State. No one really panicked here. It’s still Rutgers, and there was only so much stress to go around.
In the end, college football’s Big Three of 2022 — the Buckeyes, Bulldogs and Tide — all survived. Ohio State rolled, Alabama used a pair of long runs to assert its dominance even without Young, and Stetson Bennett rallied Georgia to a 26-22 come-from-behind win. Order had been restored.
It was a reminder that the Big Three are worthy of their place atop the sport, but also served notice that no one has a playoff berth carved into stone after just five weeks.
0:22
Jamon Dumas-Johnson is frustrated with Georgia’s defense as the Bulldogs give up a touchdown to go down by 10 in the second quarter to Missouri.
Young’s injury served notice of how tenuous title hopes can be, even at a place like Alabama. And Ohio State has its own injury woes at the moment, with a trio of solid defenses awaiting on the schedule. Georgia has delivered back-to-back stinkers against the likes of Kent State and Missouri. After the game, Kirby Smart shrugged off the struggles by noting, “There’s nothing easy in the SEC.” Kansas State, which beat Missouri by 28 two weeks ago, might disagree, but who are we to argue with the coach who won last year’s national championship?
So what happens if, one of these Saturdays, the Big Three don’t survive? Who’s next in the playoff pecking order?
If Week 5 didn’t deliver the shocking upsets, it did offer some separation between the pretenders and contenders behind the Big Three.
In Oxford, Ole Miss was decked out in helmets made of the same material used for those Coors Lite cans that turn blue when they’re cold, then delivered a silver bullet to Kentucky’ Wildcats playoff hopes. That the Rebels won with defense was an emphatic statement that Lane Kiffin’s team isn’t a one-dimensional attack. Kirby Smart and Jimbo Fisher each earned wins over Alabama last year, and Kiffin might now be the former Saban assistant with the best shot to upend his old boss.
After NC State beat Clemson in double overtime last year in Raleigh, Dave Doeren celebrated with a red Solo cup and a cigar. We doubt Dabo Swinney will do the same after Clemson’s impressive 30-20 win over the 10th-ranked Wolfpack Saturday (though, perhaps he’ll indulge in a tall glass of milk and some wheat toast?), but the win was a statement that the Tigers are back in the playoff hunt in 2022. DJ Uiagalelei accounted for three total touchdowns, and the Clemson defense turned in a vintage performance, all but paying rent for the amount of time it spent in the NC State backfield.
Baylor thwarted Oklahoma State twice last season, but on Saturday, the Cowboys delivered their response with a 36-25 win. Spencer Sanders, who struggled mightily in last year’s two losses, threw for 181 yards, ran for 75 more and accounted for two touchdowns. Mike Gundy’s team hasn’t gotten much love so far, but the Cowboys have won all four of their games by double digits and, if not for Big 12 power Kansas, would be a clear favorite to win the league.
Iowa‘s plan to lull Michigan to sleep by playing offense failed miserably, too. The Hawkeyes punted on each of their first five full drives, which is usually a winning formula, but not against Blake Corum, who carried 29 times for 133 yards and a touchdown in Michigan’s 27-14 win.
Meanwhile, Kentucky and NC State are likely to tumble out of the top 10. Penn State won, but served up five turnovers in an ugly performance against Northwestern. Minnesota couldn’t move the ball in a loss to the Purdue Owls with star tailback Mohamed Ibrahim sidelined. Oklahoma, Florida State and Washington all fell by the wayside in Week 5, too.
We’re just one Saturday into October. We’re still farther from the finish line than the starting blocks. There’s little point in making sweeping declarations about the contenders at this point, but Week 5 did offer a clearer picture than we’ve had before.
Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State keep winning — even if it hasn’t always been pretty.
But Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma State and others offered their own reminder that, while only four playoff invites will go out at year’s end, the Big Three don’t need to check their mailboxes just yet.
It’s just like we’ve been saying for weeks: It’s time the rest of the country started paying attention to the upstart Big 12 team that’s opened the season 4-0 and deserves to be ranked.
Oh, no, not Kansas. We’re talking about TCU.
After finishing last season 5-7 and firing Gary Patterson, the Horned Frogs were hardly considered contenders in the Big 12 this season, but Sonny Dykes has clearly injected some life into the offense, and Max Duggan has emerged as one of the nation’s most productive QBs.
If you weren’t a believer before Saturday, the 27 points TCU hung on Oklahoma in the first quarter should’ve had you convinced. And if you’ve ever wondered how many big plays are needed before Brent Venables’ head explodes, well, this game certainly took a swing at providing an answer.
0:39
Taye Barber has no one anywhere near him downfield as he hauls in the 73-yard touchdown.
TCU racked up 668 yards in the 55-24 win, including four plays of 60 yards or more.
Duggan was sublime, throwing for 302 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 116 yards and two more scores. If the stat line looked familiar for Sooners fans, it should. In the playoff era, the only other Big 12 QB with 300 pass yards, 100 rush yards, three pass TDs and two on the ground in the same game was Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts in 2019. Duggan is just the eighth player in the playoff era from any conference to hit those marks against a Power 5 foe.
So, if Oklahoma can officially be scratched off the list of playoff contenders, is it time to start thinking about TCU as a possible Big 12 champ?
This is the Horned Frogs’ first 4-0 start since 2017 and they now have notable wins vs. the Sooners and SMU. They’ve put up 38 points in each of their first four games and, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, the 55 points vs. Oklahoma marked the most allowed by the Sooners since the 2019 Peach Bowl. That one came against Joe Burrow and LSU. The last time Oklahoma allowed 55 or more against an unranked foe was 2016. That one came against Patrick Mahomes. Yikes.
Still, for all the deserved attention TCU’s big win will get, it’s worth noting the Horned Frogs couldn’t deliver on their mid-game trolling. The family of Roger Maris will now need to attend every TCU game until the Horned Frogs score 62.
Who hits 62 first?
Like for TCU
RT for Aaron Judge #GoFrogs #DFWBig12Team— TCU Football (@TCUFootball) October 1, 2022
The Ole Miss defense delivered a brutal blow to Kentucky‘s SEC hopes Saturday with a 22-19 win, then the Ole Miss social media team delivered an even more brutal blow after the win.
u like what u see? @KentuckyFB pic.twitter.com/MP8xYYzrFP
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 1, 2022
Somewhere, John Calipari is sipping a bourbon, throwing darts at a photo of Shaheen Holloway he keeps pinned to his wall and laughing. Yes, Kentucky remains a basketball school.
The Wildcats had their chances to pull off a road win, but an early safety left Will Levis‘ finger looking like he was trying to use his hands to do long division and was left with a remainder.
But all is not lost for the basketball schools.
Kansas had a message to those cowards voting in the AP poll, holding Iowa State cyclones to just 26 yards on the ground in a 14-11 win. Jalen Daniels‘ Heisman campaign took a bit of a hit as he completed just seven passes for 93 yards (we’re assuming he got in early foul trouble), but the defense more than made up for the offensive shortcomings.
Syracuse, too, moved to 5-0. The Orange played Wagner, which may or may not have been a bunch of elementary school kids standing on each others shoulders, wearing trench coats and jerseys.
And UCLA toppled Washington in a statement win Friday night, moving the Bruins to 5-0, too.
Add in 4-1 starts by North Carolina and Maryland, and the basketball schools are looking awfully good on the gridiron — even if Kentucky didn’t get its one shining moment at Ole Miss.
The Bryan Harsin Experience just keeps getting weirder.
Last week, Harsin was down to his fourth-string QB and just inches away from a loss to Missouri that seemed sure to be the final nail in his coffin — and he survived.
Then this week, former Alabama QB A.J. McCarron made the unsubstantiated comment that Auburn had actually already fired Harsin, but was allowing him to keep coaching for a while longer, undoubtedly following the “Office Space” principle of simply fixing the glitch in payroll and assuming Harsin would eventually realize he was no longer employed.
Nevertheless, Harsin was back on the sideline Saturday as Auburn hosted LSU, and for the first 20 minutes of action, it looked like he might find another escape hatch as Auburn jumped out to a 17-0 lead with 9:38 left in the first half.
Then LSU figured out its offense, and Auburn never scored again. Its second-half drives: punt, turnover on downs, interception, punt, fumbled punt return, interception.
OMG Auburn… the fan reactions 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/PrrG5Tx9iF
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) October 2, 2022
Auburn will now be moving Harsin’s office downstairs to Storage B. They’ve got a lot of new people coming in, and they really need all the space they can get.
Ladies and gentlemen, UConn has an FBS win.
Please, take a moment to gather your emotions.
The Huskies engineered a 94-yard drive to score a go-ahead TD with 2:20 to play and finished with a shocking 19-14 win over Fresno State.
It had been 1,050 days since UConn last won a game against an FBS opponent. In the interim, 23 teams have announced they’re changing conferences (including UConn, which went independent), Miami has been back — then not back — eight times, and James Madison, which was an FCS team a month ago, has won three games vs. FBS foes.
Even that undersells just how long it’s been since UConn did something as unexpected as Saturday’s win. UConn had been a 19.5-point underdog — the money line for a UConn win was +1050 — and yet the Huskies pulled off a win. The last win was actually at home against equally woeful UMass in a game UConn was favored to win. To find UConn’s last FBS upset, you’d need to go all the way back to 2017. This was, like, five Taylor Swift albums ago.
This is the beauty of UConn football. It serves as a time capsule for the rest of us, a means by which we can measure not the struggles of the Huskies, but rather how far the rest of us have come.
Nearly every week this season, we’ve gotten an email from a reader accusing us of being a “Georgia homer.” It’s not true. We’re simply biased in favor of teams that win national championships. Still, last week, he noted Stetson Bennett‘s No. 2 ranking here and asked, “Do you even watch football? How do they let you get away with this stuff?”
Well, dear reader, we’d like to let you know we flipped over to the Georgia-Missouri game several times this week during commercials in the big ULM-Arkansas State tilt, and we must admit — you’re right. Bennett did throw for 312 yards, but it was hardly a Heisman-worthy performance against woeful Missouri.
So, we’re retiring Bennett from the Heisman Five and simply awarding him a Lifetime Achievement Award, which he can put on his trophy case next to his national championship trophy and his “World’s Greatest Dad” coffee mug Alabama’s defense gave him for Father’s Day this year.
1. Alabama QB Bryce Young
Nick Saban said Young’s shoulder injury isn’t serious, which is great news. Well, not for Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M Aggies, who’ll now lose by 30 next week, but for Alabama fans, it’s great news.
2. Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud
It was hardly Stroud’s best game — 13-of-22 for 154, two touchdowns and a pick — but Ohio State won easily and not it was actually a very sportsmanlike move to not pad his stats against Rutgers, as so many Ohio State QBs have done before.
3. Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker
Tennessee was off this week, but we assume Hooker at least got in a game of NCAA Football ’14, downloaded new rosters and threw for 600 yards and nine touchdowns against Florida, then sent some taunting text messages to dudes from the 2014 Gators just for fun.
4. USC Trojans QB Caleb Williams
Williams shrugged off last week’s struggles against Oregon State Beavers, accounting for TDs on each of USC’s first three drives against Arizona State on Saturday.
5. North Carolina QB Drake Maye
Maye threw for 363 and three touchdowns, ran for 73 and two more scores, and UNC dominated Virginia Tech Hokies 41-10. Maye has thrown for 300 yards and three TDs in four of his five games so far this season. And given that UNC’s defense has played horribly for most of the season, Maye’s going to have plenty of chances to keep putting up big numbers.
We’re five weeks into the season, and it feels like an appropriate moment for the college football world to take a quick step back, peruse the standings, and ask a question that has frustrated even the most renowned philosophers, scientists and scholars: Hey, is Illinois good?
The Illini are 4-1 for the first time since 2015 after throttling Wisconsin 34-10 on Saturday, led by a Syracuse cast-off and an absolutely dominant run defense. It was Illinois’ biggest road win since 2015, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, and it snapped an eight-game losing streak at Camp Randall.
On Saturday, QB Tommy DeVito pulled off a pretty neat trick: He ran for minus-2 yards in the game, but he also had three rushing touchdowns. It’s a rare feat to have five fewer rushing yards than rushing TDs, but at Illinois, DeVito has managed to combine a new-found scoring touch to go with his long established ability to serve as a tackling dummy. From 2019-21, DeVito was sacked 70 times at Syracuse, despite starting just 18 games. He’s been dumped in the backfield 11 more times this season, but he’s also racked up 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
The big key to Illinois’ success thus far has been the defense, which has been a brick wall against the run. Wisconsin managed just 2 rushing yards on 24 carries Saturday, marking the worst output on the ground by the Badgers since 2015 against Northwestern. For the season, Illinois has allowed just 351 yards on the ground, and has held four straight opponents to less than 100 yards rushing.
Phil Jurkovec led Boston College to a 34-33 win over Louisville on Saturday, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns, including completions of 50, 57 and 69.
Unfortunately, the throw that’ll likely show up most on SportsCenter this week wasn’t one to remember. Jurkovec was essentially in a full-on Neo-in-The Matrix position as he tossed the ball backward in the general direction of running back Pat Garwo III. From there, it got silly.
This was ugly. Like real ugly.
Trying to avoid the sack, BC QB Phil Jurkovec threw the ball away, but it went backwards.
BC RB Pat Garwo III tried to recover the now-fumble. Instead, though, Louisville’s YaYa Diaby hopped on it.
Third Eagles turnover of the game. pic.twitter.com/QZTmULRBYQ
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) October 1, 2022
But hey, all’s well that ends well. Malik Cunningham scored two plays later to give Louisville the lead, but the Cardinals couldn’t hold on, as Boston College earned its first ACC win of the season.
Jaivian Lofton‘s catch to open the scoring in Liberty‘s game against Old Dominion would warrant its inclusion here regardless. It’s a ridiculous one-handed snag on a 34-yard TD. But what truly puts this one over the top is the reaction.
0:26
Liberty QB Kaidon Salter lofts a ball into the end zone, where Jaivian Lofton makes a one-handed catch for the score.
Lofton basically treated the catch like he was picking up a DoorDash order at Arby’s. Zero emotion. We hope Lofton is like this in every aspect of life. Ace a test? No biggie. Win the lottery? Cool, he’ll send you his routing number in the morning. Finds out Kansas is 5-0? OK, no one could take that in stride.
Holy Cross toppled Harvard 30-21 on Saturday to move to 5-0 and, perhaps, put in its claim as the best team in Massachusetts this season.
Crusaders QB Matthew Sluka threw for 300 yards and two TDs, while Jalen Coker caught 10 balls for 166 yards in the win. It marked the first time Harvard lost a game by more than one possession since its 2019 opener.
Holy Cross is now 5-0, including a road win against FBS Buffalo last month, giving the Crusaders a pretty good case as the Commonwealth’s top team. Holy Cross has head-to-head wins over Merrimack and Harvard now, and both BC and UMass are below .500 for the season. That leaves Stonehill (3-0) as the only other contender, and frankly, we just learned that Stonehill was in Massachusetts.
Syracuse was cruising toward an easy cover over FCS Wagner on Saturday, but it turns out, it was a little *too* easy.
The line closed at Syracuse -54, which seemed about right given that Wagner is 1-27 since 2019 and had already lost to Rutgers by 59 this season. And, as expected, Syracuse rolled early, jumping out to a 49-0 lead at the half.
Easy cover, right?
Well, no. Wagner waved the white flag, and sports books waived the bets.
Syracuse went on to win 59-0 — a cover for the Orange and the under, but due to the shortened quarters, the bets didn’t count. Kudos to Caesars for having the courage to say what the rest of us were thinking.
Ohio State would never pic.twitter.com/X328yS5rCT
— Caesars Sportsbook (@CaesarsSports) October 2, 2022
There’s no such thing as easy money, but the service academies at least offer something close. Air Force hosted Navy on Saturday in the first Commander’s Cup matchup of the season, and that means it’s time to throw some money on the under. What was the total? Doesn’t matter. Whatever the total is, bet the under. In the playoff era, the under in Commander’s Cup games is 22-2-1, and it’s hit 77% of the time.
In this case, the the total closed at 38. It’s a low number. Low enough to worry about the under? Heck, no.
OK, so you bet the under, then Air Force found the end zone on its opening drive on a 67-yard pass play. Now you’re worried, right? Ah, still no.
Of the remaining 19 drives in the game, 10 ended with punts. The others: a Navy touchdown, two field goals (including one after Navy got the ball deep in Air Force territory), a turnover on downs, two fumbles (including one in the red zone), a missed field goal and a seven-play drive that chewed up the final 3:49 of the game.
That, friends, is a recipe for another under. Final score: Air Force 13, Navy 10.
The under has now covered in nine straight games that featured two of the three service academies, and 14 of the last 15.
Oklahoma State jumped out to a big lead and cruised to a 36-25 win over Baylor. The Cowboys had been a 2.5-point favorite, which is hallowed ground for head coach Mike Gundy. As ESPN’s Chris Fallica noted, since 2016, Oklahoma State is now 14-3 in games when the spread is +/- 3.5 points, including a ridiculous 13-2 in those situations on the road.