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The Irish have the lead going into half 👀
In a massive matchup like No. 5 Notre Dame visiting No. 3 Ohio State there are going to be plenty of hot takes. There was a rollercoaster of emotions for both teams and here are the best reactions to game action during the first half.
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What potential CFP team has the biggest risk of getting upset today?
The College Football season is winding down with only two weeks of the regular season remaining. As the race for the College Football Playoff is on and bowl projections become somewhat more clear each week, we have a big Saturday of action ahead of rivalry week in the sport next week.
As always, ESPN’s College Gameday staff made their predictions for the biggest games of the week on Saturday morning. What upsets do some of them see coming today and which favorites will roll?
The band Twenty One Pilots served as this week’s guest pickers and here are the picks the staff gave on Saturday morning:
Should Notre Dame start getting consideration as a top-six team?
Week 11 of college football saw just one College Football Playoff contender get hit with a loss as previously unbeaten Oklahoma went down at Baylor, but Kirk Herbstreit’s new top-six rankings had some significant changes.
Herbstreit, who announced the Ole Miss vs. Texas A&M game on Saturday night, tweeted out his new top-six rankings on Sunday morning and they go as follows:
Should Michigan be ranked ahead of Michigan State?
What is the best part of the first day of college basketball season?
If you said the conclusion of the first game in the annual Champions Classic then you are correct, because at the end of that game ESPN always unveils the latest College Football Playoff rankings for that given week.
They did that Tuesday night and here is how their updated top 25 looks:
What does your current top six in all of college football look like?
Kirk Herbstreit has released his updated college football top six rankings after a fairly crazy week nine wrapped up this weekend.
Despite winning by 19 on the road and staying unbeaten as they won fairly easily at Tulane, Cincinnati slid in Herbstreit’s rankings. Who then moved up in order to bump them down?
Below are Herbstreit’s latest top six rankings:
Not the most surprising thing but still a bummer…
Five-star offensive tackle Zach Rice, who ranks seventh overall in the 2022 247Sports Composite rankings listed Notre Dame among his five finalists, but the Irish didn’t win his services Thursday night as he announced his plans to attend North Carolina.
Joining Notre Dame and North Carolina as finalists were Alabama, Ohio State, and Rice’s home-state Virginia.
Rice becomes North Carolina’s 15th overall commitment in the 2022 class that is currently ranked ninth nationally by 247Sports. He’s also their second five-star recruit in the class based off those same Composite rankings.
Notre Dame currently checks in fifth in the 247Sports team rankings that include five-star linebacker Jaylen Sneed of Hilton Head Island.
Related:
Notre Dame’s current 2022 recruiting class commitments
Notre Dame’s all-time results against each ACC football team
Notre Dame’s statistical leaders through six games
Not that this is much of a surprise for Spartan fans, but Ohio State fans get more nervous about the MSU game than Michigan.
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Four-star strongside defensive end prospect Tunmise Adeleye announced on Tuesday his decision to decommit from OSU for the 2021 class cycle.
Four-star strongside defensive end prospect Tunmise Adeleye announced on Tuesday via Twitter his decision to decommit from Ohio State University for the 2021 recruiting class cycle.
The country’s No. 4 rated strongside defensive end and No. 30 overall recruit in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings out of prospect powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., committed to Ohio State back in April. At the time he said it was a lifelong dream of his to be Buckeye, but it appears that he has had a change of heart.
Elite #Gators DL Target decommits from Ohio State following Florida’s surge on the trail. UF is the obvious team to watch here. https://t.co/VWA9ZRPJ66
— Zach Goodall (@zach_goodall) August 11, 2020
OSU is one of four schools listed by 247Sports as “warm” interest locations for the young defensive lineman’s services, which also includes the University of Florida, Alabama and Texas A&M.
While there are some concerns regarding size and athleticism, the 6-foot-3-inch, 245-pounder would add some more beef to a defensive line class that already includes five-star SDE Tyreak Sapp and three-star Justus Boone, as well as three-star defensive tackles Christopher Thomas and Desmond Watson, the latter who just recently committed to the Gators back on July 30.
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Ohio State boasted two of the top-three 2020 NFL Draft picks on their defense in 2019, and their dominance shouldn’t be forgotten.
The Ohio State Buckeyes defense in 2019 was one of the best in the NCAA. What was the absolute best in the association by a long shot was their two-man duo of Chase Young and Jeff Okudah.
Young, the No. 2 overall pick, set the university’s single-season sack record despite being suspended for two games.
He finished the season with 16.5 sacks and was taken by the Redskins, oftentimes being hailed as the best draft’s best prospect.
Immediately after Young was Jeff Okudah.
The No. 3 overall pick was an absolute lockdown corner. While his numbers aren’t great, if quarterbacks had the opportunity to avoid him, they did. Okudah has no weakness as an outside cornerback.
The Buckeyes were a few blown calls away from making the national championship game with these two leading the way.
The duo, along with other solid cornerbacks, safeties, and lineman, helped pave the way above a 90.0 grade in both pass-rush and coverage, the only team do have such numbers.
This team’s defense was at-large the best in the nation, and Pro Football Focus has them graded as the best pass-rush, coverage duo as well.
Ohio State Buckeyes: Only team in college football to have 90.0+ grades in both team pass-rush and coverage pic.twitter.com/T0Y8vQcnbM
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 19, 2020
The Buckeyes will lose many key starters including their best and second-best corners.
These two will leave irreplaceable holes, and it’s a shame they couldn’t have help up the national championship trophy during their three-year stint with the Buckeyes.
