You can now start planning for the UNC-NC State football regular-season finale.
No matter who the North Carolina Tar Heels beat in any given football season, there’s one opponent in recent years who they can’t seem to get past: NC State, their in-state rivals from just 30 minutes down the road in Raleigh.
Last year, UNC (6-3, 3-3 ACC) started 6-0 before its epic collapse put it back in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4 ACC) were part of North Carolina’s late-season slide, stomping the boys in Carolina Blue by a 39-20 mark in Raleigh.
It’s now State’s turn to play in Chapel Hill this season – and you can bet it’ll be a loud, chippy game.
Earlier on Monday, we learned that the Tar Heels and Wolfpack will kick their regular-season finale off at 3:30 p.m. ET.
This is just late enough to have a nighttime atmosphere (it starts getting dark at 5:30 p.m.), but early enough as to where fans – and players – can celebrate afterwards.
If you remember NC State coach Dave Doeren’s infamous words about UNC after last year’s game, he said, “those pieces of **** haven’t beaten us in 1,460 days.” I have no issue with Doeren firing his players up and taking friendly jabs at North Carolina, but saying this about kids is crossing the line.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DChaVq2vp_Z/
The Tar Heels are playing their best football of 2024, winning their past three games behind a combination of Omarion Hampton and strong defense, to climb back into bowl contention. This comes after UNC’s coldest stretch, in which four consecutive losses had fans questioning how much longer Mack Brown would be coaching.
The Wolfpack, ranked in the preseason, are sitting at .500 overall after a quarterback switch and inconsistent play. They will travel to Georgia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 21 before heading up to Kenan.
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Auburn needs to win its final three games in order to qualify for a bowl game. Will a change be made?
Auburn football’s season and year two under head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] is not going as many people thought it would, and if many questions were not already raised about this program, even more are coming up now.
The Tigers are currently 3-6 on the year and 1-5 in SEC play. As if that is not enough, Freeze is sitting at 9-13 in his Auburn tenure, similar to where Bryan Harsin was in his second season on the Plains.
One of the main questions that has surrounded the team, though, is the quarterback play on the field. While [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] has shown flashes of talent at moments this season, his play throughout his career with the Tigers has had many shaking their heads.
In two years, Thorne has recorded a 62% pass completion percentage, throwing 29 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He was benched in the team’s week two loss to Cal after throwing four interceptions for backup [autotag]Hank Brown[/autotag], before returning to the starting job against Oklahoma.
Despite this season being Thorne’s final one of eligibility, Freeze said his staff is considering a change at the position during Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference.
“Payton’s played pretty solid, but at the same time you start thinking big picture and well, that’s a tough that’s a tough quandary for you as a coach,” Freeze said. “When you start thinking big picture, as opposed to one of your players that really hasn’t done anything wrong, but we certainly aren’t winning. And so we’re debating all of that this week and we’ll continue into next week, debating that.”
Outside of Brown, [autotag]Walker White[/autotag] has been working with the scout team for most of the year but is also in the running to earn some playing time here at the end of the season.
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The Bruins survived on Saturday to take down their second-straight Big Ten opponent.
The UCLA Bruins have back-to-back wins for the first time in the 2024 college football season. Taking down their second-straight Big Ten opponent, UCLA upset Nebraska on the road 27-20 to improve to 3-5 on the season.
Behind a productive performance by all three units, the Bruins offense, defense, and special teams played in perfect unison, never trailing in the game for a second.
The Bruins started the day strong, owning the time of possession and holding Nebraska to only two yards in the first quarter. A pair of field goals and a touchdown pass later, the Bruins held a narrow but pronounced 13-7 lead.
In the second half, the Bruins kept piling it on. Linebacker Kain Medrano intercepted Cornhusker quarterback Dylan Raiola and returned it for a 38-yard pick-six, and shortly after, Bruins quarterback Ethan Garbers tossed his second touchdown to wideout Kwazi Gilmerpass to give the Bruins a 27-14 lead. Despite a late surge by the Cornhuskers, UCLA’s defense stiffened to secure the win with a game-sealing pick by cornerback Kaylin Moore.
Garbers put together another nice game through the air and on the ground, combining for 275 yards on 17-25 passing with two touchdowns.
Capitalizing on the over-aggressiveness of the Cornhusker defense, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s use of play-action and misdirection proved to be a winning, on-the-fly strategy for the Bruins offense all game long.
But the most notable takeaway from the Bruins win was that head coach DeShaun Foster, for the second week in a row, had his players ready to go on the road. With four winnable games remaining for UCLA, bowl eligibility could be on the table for the surging 2024 Bruins.
The senior’s most notable run came in the early stages of the fourth quarter when he broke through the right side for 45 yards and a touchdown, delivering the knockout punch and putting his team up 14. He also had a 50-yard run as well, serving as his longest rush of the night.
Hunter is extremely close to breaking the 1,000-yard mark on the year, sitting at 863 heading into this weekend. He only has five touchdowns however, and with two of those coming in last week’s victory, it seems apparent that getting him the ball will be a key to victory during the rest of the season.
Should Hunter break 1,000 yards, it will be his only season throughout his time on the Plains that reaches the milestone, capping off his career with a solid performance.
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Hunter put up 23 carries for 278 yards and two touchdowns, making noise nationwide and gathering the attention of many. That included catching the eyes of ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who named Hunter one of his week nine top performers.
Hunter made a large dent in the scoreboard when he broke off a 45-yard run in the fourth quarter of the victory, putting the Tigers up by 14 and helping finish the win. He also made a 50-yard carry as part of his explosive night.
The 278 yards by the senior marked the first time in his career that he surpassed 200 yards in a single game, inching him closer and closer to the 1,000-yard mark for the year. Should he break that mark, it will be the first time in his career to do so.
Hunter only holds five rushing touchdowns to his name in 2024, but with two of those coming against the Wildcats, he seems to be a clear component to success for Auburn.
He looks to make the same mark on Nov. 2 when the Tigers take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at home in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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Auburn ended October on a high note by taking down Kentucky on the road.
Auburn football is finally finished with its month-long stretch of road games, but comes out of it with the sweet taste of victory that it has not felt since September.
This game started like recent ones, where the offense showed a very slow start while the defense gave the team somewhat of a chance. This time though, the offense turned things around throughout the action.
Here is what we learned about the Tigers after the win.
Starting quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] finally made necessary changes after yet another slow start, and his smart decisions helped drive a lot of momentum into the entire offense.
Thorne threw an interception in the first quarter, but overall, went 20 for 26 with 172 yards and one touchdown. His vision got better as the game went on, but things still have a lot of room to improve in that facet if the team wants a better start.
Senior running back [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] needs to be handed the ball in order for Auburn to have success down the stretch. The star in the backfield rushed 23 times for 278 yards and two touchdowns, becoming a workhorse throughout the night and pushing the team towards the win down the stretch.
Hunter showed all night that he has the skills to break off big runs, which were evident in a 50-yard run and a 45-yard touchdown run that he had in the fourth quarter to put the dagger on the Wildcats.
As for the offensive line, things need to be reviewed with its blocking scheme, as Thorne took five sacks on the night. As tough opponents near at the end of this season, Thorne needs to have more time in the pocket than he does in order to make plays and stay healthy.
As for the defense, it was an all-around complete performance. Two interceptions and three sacks were a big reason why Kentucky’s offense was shut out after the first quarter, making big plays all night.
Freshman cornerback [autotag]Jay Crawford[/autotag] is going to continue to be a force for this defense… and he is only in his first season. Crawford made the first interception of the night for Tigers, arguably seen as the turning point of the game. He also only allowed a 33% completion rate on six targets for the night.
As for the special teams, [autotag]Alex McPherson[/autotag] made his way back into action for the first time in the 2024 season. While he missed and made one kick each, there is some optimism that he will make a steady return over the course of November.
Auburn returns home to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 2 to welcome Vanderbilt and former New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia to town. Kickoff is set for 11:45 a.m. CST and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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How does ESPN analytics project Saturday’s game between Auburn and Kentucky to play out?
Four consecutive losses are sitting on the back of the Auburn Tigers and head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] as they prepare for their final game in October. While things may be looking up in some aspects of the game, the Tigers keep finding ways to lose when they can no longer afford it.
That luck must turn around on Saturday as Auburn takes on the Kentucky Wildcats, a game that looks to be fairly even according to the metrics.
According to the ESPN Football Power Index and matchup predictor, the Tigers are not currently favored to win, having a 48.7% chance to beat the Wildcats on the road. That is their highest favorability in a while, however, trying to use it to their advantage.
The numbers have stayed the same for the most part. BetMGM shows Kentucky as a 2.5-point favorite, not having changed since the line opened. The point total has increased, though, rising from 42.5 to 43.5, keeping the narrative that neither of these offenses will score much.
The Wildcats’ offense is currently ranked No. 15 in the SEC with just an average of 319.9 yards per game, while Auburn is sitting over a full 100 yards ahead at 421.9 (No. 9). It also sits dead last in passing offense and points scored not being able to move the ball down the field on many occasions.
Kentucky’s defense, however, has kept it in many games and is strong, similar to Missouri. The Wildcats rank in the top five in the conference in total defense, passing defense, and rushing defense, containing opponents and limiting yard production consistently throughout this year.
The Tigers will meet Kentucky in their final road game of this month-long stretch, kicking off at 6:45 p.m. CST at Kroger Field on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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It could get ugly for a couple of teams in the SEC. Check out our best games on the Week 9 slate.
Despite the Georgia Bulldogs taking the week off, there are still plenty of massive matchups in the SEC. The week will be headlined by the top 15 matchup between the LSU Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies.
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns are both looking to get back into the swing of things in Week 9. Alabama has a Missouri Tigers squad that is coming off an emotional comeback against the Tide’s in-state rivals. Texas has to play a red-hot team that is playing with house money at this point. A team picked to finish last in the SEC is a win away from bowl eligibility.
What about the Ole Miss Rebels? They have dropped two of their last three games and don’t look like the team many expected to be at the top of the SEC along with the likes of Georgia, Texas, and Alabama. They will host another struggling team, the Oklahoma Sooners.
Who has this edge in these four SEC showdowns in Week 9?
LSU Tigers vs Texas A&M Aggies
Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports
No offense to Indiana, but the LSU Tigers vs Texas A&M Aggies should have earned a visit from ESPN’s College Gameday crew. Not only are they the last remaining undefeated teams in SEC play but we get Brian Kelly facing his former assistant Mike Elko. What a difference a year makes after firing Jimbo Fisher and bringing Elko back to College Station. LSU has been a problem for every team since the opening weekend loss to USC. Keep your eyes on Garrett Nussmeier and this attacking defense.
Mike Elko is on the verge of doing something that Jimbo Fisher never did, well two things actually. After starting 6-1, the Aggies could win 10 games in a year for the first time since 2012. Ironically that was the season Texas A&M first joined the SEC. Elko also has this team believing in College Football Playoff aspirations. This will be a major test for the Aggies. As long as Conner Weigman stays healthy, they are a problem for a lot of teams.
Prediction: I will go with the visitors, just like the way the defense has played since Harold Perkins went down.
Texas Longhorns vs Vanderbilt Commodores
Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
If you had told me that the Texas-Vanderbilt game would be one of the ranked matchups in Week 9, I would have sent you to be drug tested. But here we are and the Longhorns need to get back on track this week. The good news is that they won’t face the Georgia front that made Kelvin Banks Jr look like a walk-on. The bad news is that Vanderbilt is a tough matchup this season. Texas just needs to get back to what they were doing the first six weeks of the season.
No one has meant more to their team than Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. Based on what he has done for the program and college football, he should be one of the favorites to win the Heisman. It will be another major test this week at home against the Longhorns. The big question is which Commodores team shows up, the one who lost to Georgia State or the one that punched Alabama in the mouth for 60 minutes?
Prediction: Texas prevents Vanderbilt from becoming bowl-eligible for another week, Longhorns win by 14.
Missouri Tigers vs Alabama Crimson Tide
Syndication: The Knoxville News-Sentinel
One week after the epic second-half comeback against the Auburn Tigers, Mizzou gets to go for the Alabama state title against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. Despite the shortcomings this season for Bama, winning at Bryant-Denny Stadium is no easy task. However, this might be Missouri’s best chance to do so. They just need to avoid falling behind early as Alabama is a lot better defensively than Auburn by a long way. The Tigers haven’t bested the Tide since Aug. 8, 1975.
It hasn’t looked like Alabama football as of late. Following the emotional win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 28, it has been rough going for the Tide. They have lost to Vanderbilt and Tennessee and narrowly escaped with a two-point win over South Carolina. Kalen DeBoer needs to get things right this weekend against Missouri and work on the kinks in the open week before they travel to Death Valley.
Prediction: Alabama gets a critical win to keep their fading playoff dreams alive, but it will be a close game.
Oklahoma Sooners vs Ole Miss Rebels
Bryan Terry-USA TODAY Sports
It will be “put up or shut up” for Billy Bowman and the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday in the Sip. Bowman is no stranger to the microphone and even took to social media to rip on Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart during the offseason. If he isn’t careful he might have to eat his words once again. But if the Rebels win, he can always claim they “didn’t earn” the win as he did with Texas right?
As Dart said in his response to Bowman back in June, “Yeah okay buddy we gone see.” We might need to see some life from the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend after suffering losses in two of the last three games. They fell to Kentucky in the last home game, 20-17. Fortunately for the Rebels, the OU offense has posed much of a threat in recent weeks with a combined 12 points in the last two losses.
Prediction: Ole Miss handles an overmatched Oklahoma team by 17, 31-14
Despite perfect record, BYU not among CFP projections.
The Big 12’s college football regular season is roughly halfway through with each team having played four conference matchups. With five conference games left on each team’s remaining slate, there is still plenty to be determined with the Iowa State Cyclones and BYU Cougars leading the way. Iowa State is the highest-ranked team in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll checking in at No. 10 overall, BYU is on their heels at No. 12.
Beyond the top two teams in the conference, it is crowded at the top with six teams separated by just a game. One of those teams is the Colorado Buffaloes, who just keep winning football games in an impressive turnaround from Year 1 of the Deion Sanders era. The start of the season was a bit rough but Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter have this team humming along. This week the Buffs take on Cincinnati at home.
Before we dive into Week 9 action, Erick Smith of USA TODAY Sports released his weekly bowl projections. There are two teams from the conference projected to make the College Football Playoffs and one of them is not BYU.
College Football Playoff Projections
Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Despite a close call the last time out against the UCF Knights, who have been hot and cold, the Iowa State Cyclones are very much in the thick of the CFP chase. They land at No. 11 overall in Smith’s projections and would face the Oregon Ducks in Eugene in the opening round. That is a tough matchup but perhaps they beat the Ducks in a bowl game again, just as they did in the 2020-21 Playstation Fiesta Bowl?
As for the second team in the projections who hails from the Big 12 we have the Kansas State Wildcats. It might surprise some to see BYU get overlooked but the Wildcats are a proven commodity. They get the nod and based on the projection are viewed as the favorite to win the conference. The only argument and a valid one is BYU’s 38-9 win over Kansas State in Provo, Utah, on Sept. 21.
Iowa State vs Oregon (Campus site CFP first-round matchup)
Kansas State vs Texas (Fiesta Bowl, CFP quarterfinal matchup)
Big 12 Bowl Projections
Rob Gray-Imagn Images
Of the 16 teams in the conference, 11 are going bowling according to the latest projections.
Oklahoma State vs Maryland (Guaranteed Rate Bowl)
Cincinnati vs Vanderbilt (Liberty Bowl)
Utah vs Missouri (Las Vegas Bowl)
Colorado vs Duke (Holiday Bowl)
Texas Tech vs Pittsburgh (Pop-Tarts Bowl)
BYU vs Washington State (Alamo Bowl)
Arizona State vs Tulane (Independence Bowl)
TCU vs South Carolina (Texas Bowl)
West Virginia vs Marshall (First Responders Bowl)
Who gets left out of the postseason
Rob Gray-Imagn Images
The teams that are left out of the postseason projection all share an identical 1-3 conference record. The only team with one conference win that is projected to make the postseason is the Utah Utes, who are currently 4-3 overall. The Oklahoma State Cowboys are the only team in the Big 12 with a conference win at 0-4, were included in the postseason bowl projections. That’s a bold move Cotton, let’s see if it works out for them.
We learned plenty from Auburn’s most recent loss to Missouri.
The Auburn Tigers came off of their bye week with high expectations of improvement, heading into the back half of their schedule with a losing record and many sour tastes of defeat.
That luck did not change, however, as the Tigers saw yet another second half lead slip away late in the game in Saturday’s 21-17 loss to Missouri on Faurot Field. The loss dropped [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]’s squad to 2-5 on the season and 0-4 in SEC play.
The trend of this game was the same as that of many others, where the defense gave the team a chance to win all day, but the offense could not execute when it mattered most.
Here is what we learned about Auburn after the loss.
One thing is for sure, the ball needs to get out of hands quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] a lot sooner and more often than it has been.
Thorne went 17 for 29, passing for just 179 yards and one touchdown in Columbia, with that score coming on a 47-yard deep ball to [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag]. Thorne did take three sacks though, not being able to get the ball out in time when under pressure.
His other issue: he committed a turnover for the first time in a while. On a quarterback scramble in the second quarter, Thorne was gaining good yardage before taking contact and fumbling the ball, something that was crucial as the offense was driving down the field. He must protect the ball and give his offense more of a chance as it begins to move the ball.
The rushing game also lacked, only putting up 110 yards on the day as Missouri’s defense came on strong against Auburn’s offensive line throughout the entire game. This has been a struggle at times during the year, but Saturday was one of the more severe instances.
On the receiving end, this team needs to get Coleman the ball when it can, as he is not being targeted very often. In fact, his touchdown catch was his only reception of the day, signifying his lack of production.
It is also no secret that [autotag]Robert Lewis[/autotag]’ dropped touchdown pass in the third quarter was detrimental to the team, as it ultimately led to another missed field goal by [autotag]Towns McGough[/autotag] and gave the Missouri offense momentum.
The defense played solid for much of the game, racking up five sacks on the day and finding itself in Missouri’s backfield on a consistent basis. One 78-yard pass from Brady Cook was all Missouri needed though, proving to be a large turning point in the game and one that Auburn could have easily prevented on a late-down situation.
The special teams woes continue for McGough as well, as the young freshman kicker missed a field goal in the third quarter from 30 yards out and moved to 5 for 10 on the season.
The Tigers take the road for the final time in the month of October this week with a trip to Lexington and a date with the Kentucky Wildcats. Kickoff is set for 6:45 p.m. CST and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes and opinions. You can also follow Tyler on X @traley34
