College football roundup – Page 3

College Football Roundup Week 14: What It All Means, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 14 roundup. 5 things that matter, winners, losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend and what it all means

College football Week 14 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 14 Roundup

Week 14 Roundup
Rankings AP | Coaches
CFN 1-127 Rankings | Week 15 Early Lines
Bowl Projections | Week 14 Scoreboard

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5. Winners & Losers From Week 14

– Ohio State looked great: One Really Big Thing
– Not really, but … : Most Overrated Thing
– Texas A&M and Indiana wins: Most Underrated Thing
– It’s almost over?: What It All Means, Week 14

Winner: Iowa State and QB Brock Purdy

Iowa State started playing college football in 1892, and it has never won an outright conference championship. It won a share of the Missouri Valley titles in 1911 and 1912, but that was it. No championships in the Big 12, or the Big 8, or Big 6, or Big 7. Nothing.

The program throttled a solid West Virginia team 42-6 after veteran QB Brock Purdy completed 20-of-23 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns along with a rushing score. It’ll be off to the Big 12 Championship in a few weeks to take on Oklahoma – who it beat 37-30 earlier in the year.

Loser: Blocking for Clemson RB Travis Etienne

Etienne is the ACC’s all-time leading rusher, he’s a future NFL star, and he’s been almost criminally underappreciated during Clemson’s run of national championship-level greatness over the last three seasons. But the guy who put up back-to-back 1,600+ yard rushing seasons hasn’t had any room to move.

He’s been great – rushing for over five yards per carry with 12 scores, and catching 41 passes for 512 yards and two touchdowns – but he was held to 66 yards against Virginia Tech for his sixth straight game of the season – and eighth overall – without 100 yards rushing.

Winner: Wisconsin’s defense

The Badgers lead the nation in total defense but a mile. Marshall is No. 2 in the country allowing 254 yards per game, and Wisconsin is allowing 229.

The D is No. 1 against the run, it’s No. 2 in scoring defense, and it’s No. 1 – again, by a huge margin – in third down stops. And yet the program is 2-2 because …

Loser: Wisconsin’s offense

Wisconsin can’t score.

The offense is moving the ball – it came up with 342 yards against Indiana after putting up 366 against Northwestern – but it scored just one touchdown in the last two games and 13 points total in the two losses.

The last time UW failed to score more than seven points in back-to-back games was in early November of 1991, losing to Illinois 22-6 and then Michigan State 20-7.

Winner: USC against Washington State

Kedon Slovis threw five touchdown passes and Amon-Ra St. Brown caught four first quarter scoring throws as USC looked and played the part in a 38-13 win over Washington State.

USC was LA’s most interesting football team on Sunday afternoon.

The Chargers might have been rocked on the other side of town by Cam and the Patriots, and the Rams rolled against the Cardinals earlier in the day, and then the Trojans came up with their best performance of the season by far. But …

Loser: The Pac-12

USC played its game without about five people watching – it went off Sunday night while that Mahomes guy was going against Denver.

It was the type of performance that would’ve won over hearts and minds, but the Trojans will likely struggle to push anywhere near the top ten in the next College Football Playoff rankings.

Meanwhile, Stanford beat Washington – meaning there won’t be any unbeaten team from the Pac-12 North to go to the championship, Colorado and USC won’t play, Oregon lost again, and worst of all, this really, really fun conference is being missed.

Utah’s 30-24 win over Oregon State was a blast, and UCLA’s 25-18 victory over Arizona State was one of the best games of the day.

And it’s all being played in the dark.

Winner: South Carolina new head coach Shane Beamer

South Carolina got its head coach.

Shane Beamer – the son of legendary former Virginia Tech head coach, Frank Beamer – has taken the Gamecock gig after spending the last few years working with the Oklahoma offense. He’s been an assistant on the defensive side at South Carolina and Mississippi State, on the offensive side for a few years at Georgia before going to OU.

He has a whole lot of work to do, because …

Loser: South Carolina football

South Carolina has one won conference championship since 1892 – it took down the 1969 ACC Championship with a 7-3 record before going on to lose the Peach Bowl.

Since joining the SEC in 1992, the program has had just nine seasons with a winning SEC record, 17 with a losing one, and four going .500. It has been to one SEC Championship – 2010, losing 56-17 to Auburn – and hasn’t finished ranked in the top 25 since Steve Spurrier’s 2013 team ended up fourth.

This year’s team started out 2-2, but after stunning Auburn, it has lost six straight including last week’s 41-18 clunker against Kentucky.

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 13: What It All Means, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 13 roundup. 5 things that matter, winners, losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend and what it all means

College football Week 13 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 13 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
CFP Top 25 Prediction | Week 13 Early Lines
Bowl Projections | Week 13 Scoreboard

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5. Winners & Losers From Week 13

– Week 13 Winners & Losers
– Sarah Fuller kicked a football: One Really Big Thing
– Rivalry weekend?: Most Overrated Thing
– Oregon St 41, Oregon 38: Most Underrated Thing
– The season is hanging on: What It All Means, Week 13

Winner: RB Jaret Patterson, Buffalo

The 5-9, 195-pound junior ran for 301 yards and four touchdowns against Bowling Green in a 42-17 Buffalo win a few weeks ago. That was good. His 36-carry, 409-yard, eight touchdown game in the 70-41 win over Kent State was better.

Loser: RB Kevin Marks, Buffalo

No, he’s not a loser in any way, except for the attention and spotlight. All he did was run for 90 yards or more in each of the last three games and rip off 97 yards and two scores against Kent State. Did the highlight shows do anything on him? Nope – it was all about that Patterson guy.

Winner: QB Michael Penix Jr., Indiana

It was ugly, the running game saved the day with its best performance of the year, and Indiana got the 27-11 win over Maryland. Nothing went quite right and Penix was awful, completing 6-of-19 passes for 84 yards with no touchdowns with 29 rushing yards. However, he’s a winner – the Hoosiers got the W. It was such a miserable performance, though, that it made a loser out of …

Loser: The Ohio State pass defense

Everyone gets an off day, but it’s not exactly a good look for Ohio State when the guy who looks and plays like he couldn’t hit water if he was standing in a rainstorm got you for 491 passing yards and five touchdowns the week before. Rutgers has the second-worst pass defense in the Big Ten, allowing 260 yards per game. Ohio State is dead last, allowing 291 yards per game.

Winner: QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

That’s how you come back after not playing for over a month. Lawrence hit 70% of his passes for 403 yards and two touchdowns without an interception in the 52-17 win over Pitt. He didn’t even put in a full day’s work – DJ Uiagalelei got a TD pass, too.

Loser: Clemson running game

It’s stalling a bit too much. Facing Pitt and its great defensive front had something to do with that this week, but the Tigers have failed to average four yards per carry in any of the last four games.

How many times did they fail to get to four yards per pop last year? Once – the win over Texas A&M. Clemson ran for four yards or more per carry in 26 out of 27 games before this recent stretch.

Winner: UCF 58, USF 46

Now THAT’S a War on I-4. USF and UCF combined for 1,223 yards of total offense for the game with a combined 59 points in the second half. USF’s Jordan McCloud threw for 404 yards and four scores, UCF’s Dillon Gabriel threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns, and the two teams essentially had the same rushing day – 242 for USF, 241 for UCF.

Loser: UCF defense

UCF was outgained by USF 646 yards to 577, after being outgained the week before by Cincinnati 482 yards to 359.

UCF had gone 26 of its previous 28 games winning the total offense battle. The two outliers? The 2019 Fiesta Bowl against LSU, and last year’s loss to Pitt. The last time UCF lost the total yard battle two games in a row was in mid-October of 2018 against Memphis and East Carolina on the road – UCF won both games.

– Sarah Fuller kicked a football: One Really Big Thing
– Rivalry weekend?: Most Overrated Thing
– Oregon St 41, Oregon 38: Most Underrated Thing
– The season is hanging on: What It All Means, Week 13

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 11: What It All Means, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 11 roundup. 5 things that matter, winners, losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend and what it all means

College football Week 11 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 11 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
CFP Top 25 Prediction | Week 11 Early Lines
Bowl Projections | Week 11 Scoreboard
20 Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever
10 Best Games of the Weekend, Highlights

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5. Winners & Losers From Week 11

– Big Ten showdowns coming: One Really Big Thing
– All the missed games: Most Overrated Thing
– Miami 25, Virginia Tech 24: Most Underrated Thing
– We got through the week: What It All Means, Week 11

Winner: QB Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati

He’s not in the Heisman race, but he’s becoming the most important player America still doesn’t know about. He might throw a few too many interceptions – six on the year, with three coming in one game – but he’s hitting 67% of his throws, came up with 327 yards and three scores in the win over East Carolina, and he led the team with 75 rushing yards and a score.

That’s coming off a 103-yard, three-touchdown rushing day against Houston, and a few games removed from a 179-yard, three-touchdown rushing outing against SMU.

Loser: South Carolina

The program let go of head coach Will Muschamp after the defense got touched in a 59-42 loss to Ole Miss. This was building, but it’s a bad three-week stretch that ended it. Just when it seemed like this was going to be an interesting year – with a few close early losses and wins over Vanderbilt and Auburn – the Gamecocks lost to LSU, Texas A&M and Ole Miss by a combined score of 159-69.

Winner: Wisconsin time of possession

With its running game, deliberate style, and defense that’s able to get off the field in a hurry, Wisconsin lives on controlling games – it led the nation in time of possession last year, owning the ball for 35:37 per game. It’s only been a two-game sample size, but this is ridiculous, even for the Badgers.

After playing Illinois and Michigan, Wisconsin’s average time of possession is 41:52 per game. Toledo is second in the nation at 38:43, and out of all the teams that played two or more games, no one else is above 35:33.

Loser: The Utah teams

There’s only one FCS team that didn’t cancel the season outright that has yet to play this season – the Utah Utes. Now, without any warm-up games, they get USC this weekend. And then there’s Utah State, who’s 0-4, lost the four games by a combined 149-45, fired head coach Gary Andersen, and now lost starting quarterback Jason Shelley, who was dismissed for violating team rules.

Winner: Indiana Hoosiers

4-0. When was the last time the Indiana Hoosiers were 4-0 playing college football? 1990, and then they tied Ohio State a week later. They get the Buckeyes this week, so … when was the last time they started 5-0? 1967. When was the last time they beat Ohio State? 1988, going 0-26-1 since then.

How about before that? 1951, going 1-55-2 against the Buckeyes since then. Now they get their chance to do something special this weekend in Columbus. On the flip side …

Loser: Penn State Nittany Lions

The last time Penn State started a season 0-4 was back in 2001. The team trend things around to go 5-2 the rest of the way. This week the Nittany Lions host Iowa, so … when was the last time Penn State started 0-5?

Never.

Lose to Iowa, and since 1889, this would be the worst start in the history of Penn State football.

To keep this all going …

Winner: San Jose State Spartans

With a win over UNLV last weekend and a trip to Fresno State coming up, when was the last time the San Jose State program started a season 5-0?

Never.

There were some great starts to the seasons in the early 1980s, and the 1955 team started 4-0 before losing to Pacific, but a win over the Bulldogs would mark the greatest start to any season of San Jose State football since 1950.

Loser: Florida State Seminoles

The 2013 Seminoles won the national championship with one of the most dominant seasons in college football history, and followed it up with a trip to the Rose Bowl in the first ever College Football Playoff game. As recently as 2016, it was 10-3 and off to an Orange Bowl win over Michigan. This year it’s 2-6 with Clemson, Virginia, and at Duke to close.

1975. That was the last time the program started 2-7.

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 10: Big Team Losses, Florida and Notre Dame Statements

College football Week 10 roundup. 5 things that matter, winners, losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend and what it all means

College football Week 10 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 10 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
Playoff Chase | Week 11 Early Lines
Bowl Projections | Week 10 Scoreboard
20 Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever

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5. Winners & Losers From Week 10

– Clemson vs. Notre Dame: One Really Big Thing
– BYU vs. Boise State: Most Overrated Thing
– Florida vs. Georgia: Most Underrated Thing
– The big-team losses: What It All Means, Week 10

Winner: QB Michael Penix Jr., Indiana

The star recruit is getting his chance to shine after a few injury issues, and he’s coming up huge. The comeback win over Penn State was nice, but over the last two games against Rutgers and Michigan, he has thrown for 588 and six touchdowns without an interception.

Loser: Michigan running game

The University of Michigan – home of the self-proclaimed Leaders and Best – ran 18 times against Indiana for a grand total of 13 yards in the 38-21 loss. It was the only time the program has been held to under 30 yards rushing since coming up with 28 yards in a loss to Michigan State back on October 3rd, 2009.

Winner: QB Kyle Trask, Florida

With his 30-of-43, 474-yard, four-touchdown day in the 44-28 win over Georgia, Trask has become the first quarterback in SEC history with five straight games with four touchdown passes or more.

On the year, he has thrown for 1,815 yards with 22 touchdowns and three interceptions. Last year after five games, Joe Burrow had thrown for 1,864 yards with 23 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Loser: Georgia pass defense in big games

The secondary was without star defensive back Richard LeCounte after a frightening accident, but it was still supposed to be better than it showed against Florida. The Dawgs allowed 474 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Two games earlier against Alabama, they gave up 417 yards and four touchdowns.

Winner: RB Breece Hall, Iowa State

With his 133 yards in the 38-31 win over Baylor, Hall has hit the 1,000-yard mark seven games into the season. It was his seventh 100-yard day in seven games, and he ran for multiple scores for the fifth time.

Loser: Oklahoma State passing game

The offense was supposed to be a high-flying fun show, but quarterback injuries and inconsistencies have been the issue. The Cowboys threw for 400 yards in the loss to Texas, but last week, Spencer Sanders threw for for 108 yards and no scores in the win over Kansas State. Just a few years ago, the 2017 OSU team led the Big 12 in passing. At the moment it’s seventh.

Winner: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA

Now a veteran in the Chip Kelly system, he only hit half of his throws in the 48-42 loss to Colorado, but they went for 303 yards and four scores with an interception, and he ld the team with 109 rushing yards and a score. However …

Loser: UCLA in season-openers

With this loss, UCLA is 7-18 so far under Kelly. It’s the third year in a row the Bruins have lost their season-opener, and it’s the fourth time in the last five seasons.

– Clemson vs. Notre Dame: One Really Big Thing
– BYU vs. Boise State: Most Overrated Thing
– Florida vs. Georgia: Most Underrated Thing
– The big-team losses: What It All Means, Week 10

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 9: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 9 roundup. 5 things that matter, winners, losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend and what it all means.

College football Week 9 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 9 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
College Football Playoff Chase | Week 10 Early Lines
Bowl Projections | Week 9 Scoreboard, Predictions
20 Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever
Week 10 College Football Schedule

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5. Winners & Losers From Week 9

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 9

Winner: QB Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland

While big brother Tua was busy preparing for his first NFL start – a win over the Rams – Taulia pulled off an epic comeback 45-44 overtime win over Minnesota. He got past the miserable three-interception, 94-yard day in the blowout loss to Northwestern to completed 74% of his passes for 394 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran for two scores.

Loser: Minnesota

The Gophers were up 38-21 going into the fourth quarter and gave up 24 straight points before scoring a TD in overtime and losing on a missed extra point. After two games, 0-2 Minnesota – who finished third in the Big Ten last year in total defense allowing 307 yards per game – is dead last in the conference in total D by a mile.

Winner: QB Justin Fields, Ohio State

48-of-55 (87%) for 594 yards and six touchdowns with no picks and a rushing touchdown in blowout wins over Nebraska and Penn State. That’s how you start a season for a team with national championship aspirations.

Loser: Georgia’s offense

The five interceptions and 50% passing in the last two games from Stetson Bennett doesn’t help, but the offense as a whole hasn’t been good enough. This is a national championship-caliber team dealing with Florida this week, and it’s seventh in the SEC in total O.

Winner: Virginia Tech running game

The Hokies are the only Power Five team in the top nine in rushing yards per game averaging 291 every time out. They might have problems in shootout after shootout, but after taking off for five touchdowns in the win over Louisville, they’re 4-0 when running for 283 yards or more, and 0-2 when coming up with fewer.

Loser: North Carolina’s run defense

Virginia Tech ran for 260 yards and four touchdowns. Florida State ripped off 241 yards and two scores, and last Saturday, Virginia cranked out 210 yards and three touchdowns. The Tar Heels were able to get by the Hokies, but they lost on the road to the Seminoles and Cavaliers.

Winner: WR Romeo Doubs, Nevada

The 6-2, 200-pound junior caught 44 passes for 649 yards and four touchdowns last year. In just two games he has 18 catches for 328 yards and two touchdowns after tearing up Wyoming on the mid-range plays and UNLV on the deep ones. He currently leads the nation with 164 receiving yards per game. Next up his Wolf Pack play …

Loser: Utah State offense

There are several good parts to the Aggie offensive mix, and to be fair, they all had to work against Boise State and San Diego State over the first two games. However, the offense is the worst in college football by anyone with more than one game played – UMass is technically at the bottom – with just 418 yard and 20 points in the first two games.

Winner: QB Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina

He wasn’t expected to play against Georgia State, but he got the all-clear, and then he went off hitting 18-of-24 passes for 254 yards and four touchdowns with a rushing score in the 51-0 win.

Loser: Memphis pass defense

And it’s not even close. Among teams that played more than one game, Memphis is dead last in the nation in pass defense allowing 406 yards per game. The second-worst? That Georgia State defense McCall just carved up, but it’s allowing 56 fewer passing yards per outing.

The 271 yards given up by the Tigers in the 49-10 loss to Cincinnati were the fewest allowed by the team all year, but Desmond Ridder averaged well over ten yards per throw with three touchdowns. Fortunately, the passing-challenged USF Bulls are up next.

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 9

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 8: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 8 roundup. 5 things that matter, winners, losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend and what it all means.

College football Week 8 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 8 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
College Football Playoff Chase | Week 9 Early Lines
Bowl Projections | Week 8 Scoreboard, Predictions
20 Most Important College Football Thoughts Ever
Week 9 College Football Schedule

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5. Winners & Losers From Week 8

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 8

Winner: Big Ten new guy, Rutgers version

Well, welcome back, Greg Schiano. Rutgers hadn’t bothered to win a Big Ten football game since the middle of 2017 – the victory over Maryland was the last win over any Power Five program – going 3-24 since then. Schiano returned to the program he helped build up from 2001 to 2011 and beat Michigan State 38-27 with just 276 yards of total offense.

Loser: Big Ten new guy, Michigan State version

Mel Tucker took over a Michigan State program that needed a new energy and a few new ideas. His defense did the job against Rutgers, but seven turnovers later, this wasn’t exactly how he wanted to kick things off with road games at Michigan and Iowa up next.

Winner: Big Ten championship-level quarterbacks

Ohio State and Wisconsin played in last year’s Big Ten Championship, and they’re the odds-on favorites to meet again this season. Assuming all goes okay health-wise – more on that in a moment – the two likely starting quarterbacks combined to hit 40-of-42 passes for 524 yards and seven touchdowns and no interceptions in their respective wins. Ohio State’s Justin Fields went off on Nebraska – he ran for a score, too – and the night before, Wisconsin’s Graham Mertz was even better in the win over Illinois.

Loser: Maryland

Northwestern 43, Maryland 3. The Terps took a 3-0 lead early, and allowed 43 unanswered points and 517 yards of total Wildcat offense. The Maryland attack generated a mere 207 yards, turned it over four times, and couldn’t get much of anything to work quite right. Alabama transfer Taulia Tagovailoa – Tua’s brother – threw for 94 yards and three picks.

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Winner: QB TJ Finley, LSU

The rough start to the season had absolutely nothing to do with QB Myles Brennan. He was hurt, though, and couldn’t go against South Carolina, so in stepped freshman TJ Finley. He hit 17-of-21 passes for 265 yards and ate touchdowns with a pick and a rushing score in the 52-24 win.

Loser: Pitt backup quarterbacks

Pitt quarterbacks don’t play defense, but they didn’t help out the other side by failing to keep the offense moving. In the brutal 45-3 loss to Notre Dame, the Panther passing game – without injured starter Kenny Pickett – got a combined 12-of-33 day for 118 yards and three interceptions out of three quarterbacks.

Winner: Cincinnati

And now it’s Cincinnati’s New Year’s Six bowl slot for the taking. Despite rising up into the top ten in the polls – they don’t matter, the College Football Playoff ones do when they come out in late November – it’s not really in the playoff chase. However, the 42-13 win at SMU put on a national show on both sides of the ball, highlighted by the 179-yard, three-touchdown rushing day from QB Desmond Ridder.

Loser: Kansas

With the 55-14 loss to Kansas State, Kansas has now started the season 0-5, getting outscored 225-75. The 15-point loss to Coastal Carolina to kick things off was as close as the team has been able to get. Going back to last year, under Les Miles, KU has lost nine in a row and 14 of the last 15, with 12 of those losses by double digit blowouts.

Winner: QB Dillon Gabriel, UCF

All the UCF sophomore has done so far is lead the nation with over 430 yards per game with 19 touchdown passes and two interceptions. He followed up his 601-yard, five-touchdown day against Memphis with 422 yard and five more scores in the win over Tulane. Next up? Houston.

Loser: Florida International

0-26. That’s what FCS teams were against FBS teams this season, and then Jacksonville State came into Riccardo Silva Stadium, got up 16-3 on the Golden Panthers, and held on for a 19-10 win and the first bit of fun to be had by any FCS team so far this year. The 0-3 Panthers managed just 156 yards of total offense with six first downs.

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 8

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 7: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 7 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

College football Week 7 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 7 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
College Football Playoff Chase, Who’s Alive?
Bowl Projections | Week 7 Scoreboard, Predictions

5. Winners & Losers From Week 7

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 7

Winner: SEC streak-enders

Kentucky beat Tennessee 17-12 back in 1984. That was the last time the Wildcats won in Knoxville and are now 3-33 overall in the series since then with a 34-7 win over the Vols.

While that was happening, South Carolina got by Auburn 30-22. The last time those two played was back in 2014, and the last time the Gamecocks beat the Tigers was … 1933, 16-14. USC had never beaten Auburn in Columbia.

Loser: The first half of SEC Mississippi games

Ole Miss ripped through Alabama two weeks ago. This last weekend? It was down 20-0 at halftime to Arkansas in the 33-21 loss. Mississippi State was down 14-0 to Texas A&M at halftime, and didn’t get its first offensive score – it came up with a pick six in the third – until the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs have now managed just seven points in the first halves of their last three games.

Winner: North Texas offense

In the 52-35 win over Middle Tennessee, QB Jason Bean threw for 181 yards and two scores and ran for a game-high 169 yards and three touchdowns. The team ripped through the Blue Raiders for 768 yards of total offense with 306 though the air and 462 on the ground.

Loser: Duke ball security

The mistakes just aren’t stopping. The Duke defense hasn’t been bad at taking the ball away, but the offense has turned it over 22 times in just six games. NC State came up with three interceptions in the 31-20 win, making this the fourth time in five games the Blue Devils turned it over three times or more.

Winner: Virginia Tech rushing offense

No. 2 in the nation behind Air Force – who only played one game – in rushing yards per game, the Virginia Tech ground attack is averaging 312 yards with 15 scores. In the 40-14 win over Boston College, the Hokies came up with their third 300-yard rushing day of the season with 250 yards and four scores.

Loser: Mississippi State rushing offense

Mike Leach offenses are at least supposed to be productive on the ground when they try to run. It didn’t help that star RB Kylin Hill was out against Texas A&M, but now the Bulldogs are dead last in the nation in rushing, averaging 1.54 yards per carry with just 114 yards. They averaging 28.5 yards per game on the ground – ULM is the second-worst team averaging 56.2 yards.

Winner: QB Dillon Gabriel, UCF and QB Brady White, Memphis

All Gabriel did against Memphis was throw for 601 yards and six touchdowns, and run for 49 yards and a score … and lose.

All White did was throw for 486 yards and six touchdowns, and run for 39 yards and a score … and win.

In all, UCF and Memphis combined for 1,501 yards of total offense in the 50-49 Tiger win.

Loser: UMass Minutemen

UMass wasn’t going to play this year, and then the independent decided to give it a go with a flexible schedule. It all started against Georgia Southern, and … 41-0. The Minutemen came up with 191 total yards – most of them late – couldn’t get a first down early on, and got hammered by the Eagles for 309 rushing yards.

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 7

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 6: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 6 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

College football Week 6 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 6 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
Week 7 Early Line Predictions
College Football Playoff Chase, Who’s Alive?
Bowl Projections | Week 6 Scoreboard, Predictions
5 Thoughts: Texas A&M – Florida | Texas – OU

5. Winners & Losers From Week 6

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 6

Winner: The Over

If it seemed like every game was a wild and wacky offensive fun-fest, you’re right. Out of the 27 main FBS vs. FBS games this weekend, 20 of them hit the over on the Vegas point total, and seven went under.

The SEC went particularly insane, with Texas A&M-Florida going 21.5 over the total, South Carolina-Vanderbilt going 6.5 over, Missouri-LSU going 35 over, Georgia-Tennessee going 20 over, Arkansas-Auburn going 12.5 over, and Alabama-Ole Miss went a whopping 40.5 points over the point total.

There was one SEC game that didn’t quite get there …

Loser: Mississippi State

The Bulldogs lost 24-2 to Kentucky – the point total was 57.5, by the way – despite outgunning the Wildcats 295 to 157 and holding on to the ball for almost 35 minutes. The problem? Six turnovers, all interceptions.

Winner: RB Najee Harris, Alabama

He’s not close to leading the nation in rushing, but is ten touchdown runs are two more than Iowa State’s Breece Hall. No one else has more than seven. In the win over Ole Miss, Harris ran 23 times for a hard 206 yards and five scores – averaging nine yards per carry – with three catches for 42 yards.

Rip up Georgia this week, and he’s in the lead for the Heisman. There’s one problem with that …

Loser: Tennessee running game

Georgia leads the nation in run defense, allowing just 38 yards per game on the ground. Pitt is No. 2 allowing 52 yards per game, and everyone else has given up 70 or more. So you’ll forgive Tennessee – who was great on the ground in its first two games – for its problems on Saturday in the 44-21 loss with -1 yard on 27 carries.

Winner: QB Phil Jurkovec, Boston College

How this for a transfer coming though better than expected? Jurkovec came to Boston College from Notre Dame to run new head coach Jeff Hafley’s offense, and so far he hit the 300-yard passing mark in three of the four games with eight touchdown passes, two picks, and three rushing scores. He threw for a season-high 358 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-30 upset overtime win over Pitt.

Loser: Syracuse offensive line

It’s been a rough start for the Orange front five, allowing a nation-high 21 sacks in the first four games. Only Duke with 19 has allowed more than 16, but it only gave up two in the 38-24 win at Syracuse. How many times did the Blue Devils get to the quarterback? Six, with nine tackles for loss.

Winner: North Carolina

Roll call on the great – or, at least, pretty decent – state of North Carolina. Appalachian State and Wake Forest were off, but …

Charlotte beat North Texas 49-21; Duke won at Syracuse 38-24; East Carolina whacked USF 44-24; North Carolina got it done against Virginia Tech 56-45; and NC State rolled Virginia 38-21.

By the way, four of those five games were on the road.

Loser: Florida

UCF didn’t play this weekend. That’s the most positive thing to happen to any FBS team in Florida.

Florida Atlantic had to postpone its game against Southern Miss due to COVID-19 issues.

Florida’s defense went bye-bye in the 41-38 loss to Texas A&M; Florida State got trucked by Notre Dame 42-26; Miami got blown away by Clemson 42-17 in a game that wasn’t even that close; East Carolina got its first win of the season at USF with a 44-24 blasting; and FIU, at home, handed Middle Tennessee its first win of the year.

At least the Dolphins were fantastic.

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 6

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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College Football Roundup Week 5: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 5 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

College football Week 5 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 5 Roundup

Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
Week 6 Early Line Predictions
College Football Playoff Chase, Who’s Alive?
How’d We Do? Week 5 Predictions

5. Winners & Losers From Week 5

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 5

Winner: Tulsa

Is Tulsa really that good? It beat UCF for the second year in a row – taking down the Group of Five darling 34-26 at the Bounce House in Orlando – and that was coming off a decent decent performance in a 16-7 loss to Oklahoma State.

It helped that UCF was flagged for 18 penalties and turned it over three times, but Gulden Hurricane Zach Smith was good, the running game was solid, and the program got a special win in just the second game of the year.

Loser: Oklahoma

When was the last time Oklahoma lost back-to-back Big 12 games? 1998, losing four in a row before, ironically, beating Iowa State. The team went 5-6 in the last season of the John Blake era. The next season, Bob Stoops took over.

Stoops lost at Notre Dame and then to Texas in the first two weeks of October in 1999. That was the last time OU lost back-to-back regular season games before dropping the dates to Kansas State and Iowa State over the last two weeks.

– 5 Thoughts: TCU 33, Texas 31

Winner: QB Mac Jones, Alabama

Alabama lost QB Tua Tagovailoa to the Miami Dolphins, WR Jerry Jeudy to the Denver Broncos, and WR Henry Ruggs to the Las Vegas Raiders, and the passing game keeps on going.

With his 435-yard, four touchdown performance in the 52-24 win over Texas A&M, Jones has thrown 16 scoring passes in his last five games and is over 327 yards in three of his last four outings.

Loser: Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M D vs. Alabama

This was Fisher’s third crack at Alabama in his time at Texas A&M, losing all three games in blowouts. How bad has the defense been? Over those three losses, the Aggies have allowed 146 points and 1,516 yards, for an average of 505 yards and 49 points per game.

Winner: TCU vs. Texas

5-1 in the last six. That’s what TCU is against Texas as Gary Patterson continues to roll in a series between two programs that used to be a major part of the old Southwest Conference.

Now the Horned Frogs have to beat someone else.

TCU beat Texas 37-27 last year, and then lost six of its next seven games before stopping the slide on Saturday against the Longhorns.

Loser: Texas, in general

TCU got the job done, but that was Texas on Texas action.

The Longhorns lost. So did UTSA to UAB. So did Texas A&M to Alabama. So did Texas Tech to Kansas State, Baylor to West Virginia. So did Abilene Christin to Army and North Texas to Southern Miss.

SMU was able to get by Memphis, but Texas was 2-7 overall, and again, one of those was in-house.

Winner: Arkansas

Before taking out Mississippi State in the 21-14 stunner on Saturday, the last Arkansas win over a Power Five program was …

38-37 over Ole Miss in late October of 2017.

The win over the Bulldogs halted another streak. The Hogs were 2-24 against FBS programs before the trip to Starkville, and it marked the first time they were 1-1 in the SEC since the start of the 2015 season.

– 5 Thoughts: Arkansas 21, Mississippi State 14

Loser: Mike Leach

With the loss to Arkansas – and including the stunning win over LSU the week before – Leach is now 4-8 in his last 12 games as a head coach. It was the third time in his last four games his offense scored 21 points or fewer.

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 5

NEXT: The really big thing was …

Pages: 12345

College Football Roundup Week 4: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

College football Week 4 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

College football Week 4 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 4 Roundup

5. Winners & Losers From Week 4

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 4

Winner: QB Kyle Trask, Florida

So imagine you’re Kyle Trask, Florida’s excellent senior quarterback. All you did was come out and hit 30-of-42 passes for 416 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in a 51-35 win over Ole Miss, and absolutely no one outside of the greater Gainesville metropolitan area will remember it because of what KJ Costello did in Mississippi State’s win over LSU.

Loser: Florida State offense

The Mike Norvell offense was supposed to be fast, explosive, and ready to put up points in bunches after taking over the Florida State head coaching gig. It’s been a rough first two weeks – besides Norvell being stricken with the coronavirus – with a loss to Georgia Tech and a 52-10 whacking from Miami.

Last year, FSU struggled in its first two games, but it put up 927 yards of total offense. So far in two games, the Noles have just 637 yards and back-to-back passing games under 200 yards for the first time since late in the 2017 season.

Winner: SEC passing games

Remember when the SEC was all about defense, tough running, and hard-nosed football? That tippy-tappy passing game thing was supposed to be for the Big 12 and Pac-12. In Week 1 of the SEC season, five teams hit the 300-yard mark through the air, three of those were over 400, and everyone but Texas A&M and Vanderbilt – who played each other – got to 200 yards.

Everyone was throwing, so …

Loser: SEC running games

No SEC team ran for 200 rushing yards and five teams didn’t even hit the 100-yard mark. Alabama was the only team with over two rushing scores, and only three teams averaged over four yards per carry.

Winner: UTEP

With a 31-6 win over ULM, UTEP got to 3-1 on the season. The program’s last 3-1 start came back in 2010, and the last win over an FBS team by 25 points or more happened at the end of the 2016 season against North Texas. In the three seasons after that win from 2017 through 2019, the program went 2-34.

Loser: Kansas

Oh Kansas. At least it scored first in the 47-14 loss to Baylor.

With that defeat and the opening loss to Coastal Carolina, the program has gone nine years without starting 2-0. Worse yet, going back to last year, the Jayhawks have lost six straight games – all by double-digits – and is 1-10 since getting by Boston College in mid-September of 2019.

Winner: RB Ulysses Bentley IV, SMU

Welcome to the nation’s leading rusher in total yards.

The SMU offense is known for QB Shane Buechele and the passing attack, but the Sonny Dykes ground game has been fantastic so far with over 800 yards and 12 touchdowns in the first three games.

Bentley – a 5-10, 184-pound freshman – is averaging 10.6 yards per carry with 380 yards and seven touchdowns, coming off a six-carry, 104-yard, two-score day in the 50-7 win over Stephen F. Austin.

Loser: Oklahoma running game

Oklahoma ran for 664 yards and seven touchdown in the first two games of last season, and ran for 495 yards and nine scores to start 2018. In two games against SE Missouri State and Kansas State, the Sooners have rushed for a total of 254 yards, averaging 3.6 yards carry with two touchdowns. They ran for 130 yards in the loss to Kansas State.

– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 4

NEXT: The really big thing was …

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