Tag: reaction

What CFP rankings would look like after Week 6: There’s a new No. 1

Projecting how the CFP rankings would look after Week 6

Week 6 of college football was loaded with great games.

Through the the first half of the season, what excites me the most about the game this year is the depth of elite teams. Whether it be Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, Tennessee, USC or even Oklahoma State. … I could legitimately see any of those teams putting up a fight in the four-team College Football Playoff.

Right now, national championship odds, courtesy of BetMGM, are: Ohio State (plus-175), Georgia (plus-250), Alabama (plus-250), Clemson (plus-1100), Michigan (plus-2000), USC (plus-2000), Tennessee (plus-4000), UCLAs (plus-5000) and Oklahoma State (plus-6600).

Though the first round of College Football Playoff rankings are not released until Nov. 1, I tried to think like a member of the committee and projected what the CFP rankings would look like if it were released today.

The rankings…

Big Ten Week 6 Rewind: Buckeyes and Wolverines take care of business on the road

All Big Ten football final scores and updated standings after Week 6.

It may have been of an eventful weekend of college football around the country, but it was mostly business as usual in the Big Ten. The Big Ten West race continues to take some interesting turns as Nebraska is back from the dead and in the thick of the division hunt, and Wisconsin bounced back in a big way since making a coaching change following last week’s embarrassment.

But in the East, the top two teams in the conference hit the road for the first time this season and came away with comfortable victories. But two teams in the division lost at home to their opponents from the West.

Here is a quick rundown of all of the scores and results from the Big Ten’s Week 6 schedule, along with a look at the updated conference standings. Penn State and Minnesota were each off in Week 6 and will return to action in Week 7.

Joel Klatt updates his college football top 10 after Week 6

The best in the business shares his latest ranking after an interesting Week 6.

Another week, and some more college football teams had to hang on for dear life.

Alabama found itself in a dogfight against Texas A&M, but as both teams dueled with backup quarterbacks, the Crimson Tide held on, despite looking mortal. Georgia rebounded, Ohio State rolled, and the team that Fox Sports saw for the third-straight week, Michigan football, struggled in the first half before dominating the second.

Speaking of Fox Sports, Joel Klatt released his personal top 10 with all the games concluding on Saturday night, and he changed things up after having ranked Georgia at No. 5 last week. Here is how he sees the best of the best in college football.

Photo Gallery: Best photos from UGA’s win over Auburn

Best shots from Georgia’s win over Auburn.

No. 2 Georgia (6-0) dominated SEC foe Auburn (3-3) in a 42-10 win in Athens on Saturday.

The Bulldogs held a 14-0 lead at halftime over the Tigers before taking over for a 31 point second half to close the game. Georgia didn’t score in the first quarter and entered halftime with 143 total yards, but rebounded with 357 total yards in the second half. Defensively, the Bulldogs suffocated the Tigers, allowing only 258 total yards in the game.

Running back Daijun Edwards racked up 83 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns, while true freshman Branson Robinson led the team with 98 yards on 12 carries. UGA ran for a season high 292 yards. Stetson Bennett went 22 of 32 for 208 yards and added 64 yards on three carries and a touchdown on the ground.

The Georgia defense held Auburn to only 10 first downs, 5 of 17 on third down, and forced a turnover in the win.

Here’s some great photos from UGA’s win over the Tigers:

Five things we think we learned from Ohio State football’s blowout of Michigan State

Here are five things we think we learned after Ohio State’s impressive showing on the road vs. Michigan State #GoBucks

This Ohio State football team seems to keep getting better and better with every challenge thrown in front of it. Injuries? No problem? First road game of the year? Fughetaboutdit. A game against a physical opponent? OK.

It’s all coming together even without the benefit of a fully healthy team. And while we have to be careful with still waiting to see what happens against a really, really good team, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the first game of the year vs. Notre Dame was just that — the first game of the year.

The Buckeyes just went to East Lansing and pasted the Spartans by a score of 49-20, and we’re reflecting back on the game to give you five things we think we learned about this team as we head off into the bye week.

Off we go like a TreVeyon Henderson off-tackle play.

J.J. McCarthy assesses his 304-yard passing performance and why the offense hasn’t scratched the surface

Kid is going to be a stud! #GoBlue

Michigan took care of Indiana on Saturday, 31-10. The final score looks pretty lopsided in the Wolverines’ favor, but only because the second half was dominated by the maize and blue.

The first half was a dog fight.

Michigan went down the field on the opening drive. Blake Corum had a 50-yard run to the Hoosiers’ one-yard line, and he scored a touchdown the very next play. But the offense became stagnant the rest of the half.

The Wolverines came out of halftime scoring 21 points, and the offense gained 263 yards of offense in the second half. J.J. McCarthy said that things weren’t clicking for the offense in the first half, but once the second half began, the offense clicked on all cylinders, and it was over for Indiana.

“I mean, everything just started clicking for us,” said McCarthy. “It was just like, we felt like we can move the ball on them the whole game and especially the first half, but just it wasn’t clicking, we weren’t into a rhythm. And once we got into the rhythm of the second half, it was over.”

The Wolverines have been a run-first team the past few years, and Blake Corum has been the star of the team all year. Corum eclipsed 100 yards for the third straight game after rushing for 124 yards against Indiana. But 50 of those yards came on one play, so the Hoosiers did a good job stopping Corum and the Michigan rushing attack.

McCarthy threw for his career high on Saturday. The sophomore gunslinger surpassed 300 yards for the first time as a Michigan Wolverine, airing it out for 304 yards against the Hoosiers. McCarthy said Michigan is multi-dimensional. If a team keys on the passing attack, Michigan can run the ball, but if a team keys on the run game, the Wolverines can air it out. The former five-star recruit believes Michigan hasn’t even scratched the surface of the potential it possesses.

“For sure,” McCarthy said. “I mean, us as an offense, we’re multi-dimensional. If they’re stopping the run, then we’re gonna hit him through the air. If they stop the air game, we’re gonna hit him on the run. And I mean, it just goes out to our offense. And just, even today, I just feel like we haven’t even scratched the surface yet of our potential. Once this offense comes together, and once we play as a cohesive unit, and we are in rhythm, like naturally, and we’re very dangerous offense, but we haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”

A complaint about the Michigan offense in recent weeks has been not utilizing McCarthy’s legs. Against Indiana, he ran the ball four times for 26 yards and he helped the Wolverines move the chains. McCarthy said that he is becoming more and more comfortable each week. He is starting to understand when to pull the ball down and run for a first down and to not force anything. The sophomore said he knows there are things to improve on, like when he threw his first interception of the year on Saturday, and he’s just trying to improve on his consistency.

“Yeah, I feel right at home right now,” McCarthy said. “Just my comfortability, but just being able to utilize my legs more on those third downs whenever something’s not open, just being able to use that God-given ability. And, yeah, I mean, just consistently making the right decisions consistently putting the ball where it needs to be, and just commanding the field out there. So it’s just, like, there’s so many things that I can improve on. There’s so many things I’m gonna see on the film that I can improve on, but it’s just the consistency that I’m really striving to get towards.”

But why hasn’t he wanted to run more? McCarthy said he has so many playmakers on the outside that he is dying to get the ball into their hands. But he said that the game is starting to slow down for him, so he is becoming more aware of when to run the ball. McCarthy said he was slow in high school and running the football is a new adjustment for him. But when that part clicks, he said this offense is going to be scary.

“I’m dying to get the ball in these guys’ hands,” said McCarthy. “Just let my playmakers work and going through all the progressions and all that. It’s just like things start to slow down in a way when I’m looking out there and I’m not necessarily thinking of running because I mean in high school I was running four-nine, just not fast at all. So I’m still adjusting to being able to use my legs but yeah, it’s coming with time but like I said, that’s another part of my game in this offense that’s gonna be really scary when it starts clicking.”

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Offensive/Defensive Players of the Week from Nebraska’s win over Rutgers

Here are the Offensive/Defensive Players of the Week from Nebraska’s win over Rutgers

The Nebraska Cornhuskers moved to 3-3 with a 14-13 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday night. The Cornhuskers are now 2-1 under interim head coach Mickey Joseph.

Offensively, the Cornhuskers got off to a slow start, as they put up zero points in the first half. However, they bounced back and scored two touchdowns in the second half.

Defensively, they continued to show rapid improvement. Over the last two weeks, their defense has given up a combined 34 points. In their prior two games, they allowed a combined 94 points.

Let’s take a look at the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.

Michigan football calls shenanigans on bad ref calls vs. Indiana

This was not a well-called game. Kidding me? #GoBlue

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Michigan entered Saturday’s contest at Indiana as the least penalized team in the nation. That’s about to change once the stats are updated, it seems.

The Wolverines had 10 penalties for 85 yards against the Indiana Hoosiers, while the home team had just four for 50. While some were legitimate, others were a little — lacking — in reality.

The most egregious came when Michigan had stopped Indiana, thanks to edge rusher Jaylen Harrell breaking through for a big sack. He celebrated, wiping the back of his hand up near his forehead. Moments later, the flag came out, and he was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Indiana gained a first down and new life. Instead of the maize and blue getting off the field, the Hoosiers kept the ball and marched down the field to tie the game with a touchdown.

“I guess the ref thought I slashed my throat,” Harrell said. “Can’t have those penalties. Won’t happen again.

“Matt Judon does a celebration where he brushes his nose. That was the intent, but can’t have penalties like that.”

After the game, head coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t mince words about what happened, saying that it wasn’t what he thought he saw, and if Harrell couldn’t celebrate as such, then no player could do anything after the play but remain emotionless.

“I could tell with what the referee saw, but I mean, it was one of those — wipe the brow. Which, I guess you can’t do anything,” Harbaugh said. “That was the message that I got back. I mean, he can’t do anything of any nature. And I pointed out a few other ways that players signal first down and there’s things. I mean, I think he’s kind of equating it to some kind of throat slash, but it certainly wasn’t and as I said, that was called really tight on that one.

“And, yeah, just continue to keep coaching it. We coach that one big time. No celebrations, you can’t bring any attention on yourself. That’s what the rule, was the explanation I got. Which seems inconsistent, because you see a lot of, at times, attention being brought to somebody’s self for the rest of the game. Not for us. All we can do is do better, not give any kind of close to where it could be — don’t leave that to any type of a judgment call is our message.”

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But that wasn’t the only call that went Indiana’s way. There was a roughing the passer that extended a second-half drive, while the offense had a few calls against it with scant evidence.

Wide receiver Ronnie Bell called shenanigans on the refereeing, being a little more tongue-in-cheek while also noting the same thing Harbaugh did.

“C’mon guys, y’all know what was going on!” Bell said. “Y’all know. It’s part of the game. Sometimes they want to have more fun than usual — it’s OK.”

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy acknowledged that sometimes, that’s just the way the game goes. They don’t have to like it, but with a 31-10 win, the Wolverines sometimes just have to grin and bear it.

“We’ve got no control over some of those calls,” McCarthy said. “You’ve just gotta run with it! It is what it is.”

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Jaylen Harrell talks about Michigan’s seven sack performance against Indiana

The pass rush was so good! #GoBlue

Although Michigan had three sacks against Maryland and four sacks against Iowa the previous two weeks, the Wolverines struggled to have consistent pressure on the opposing quarterback.

Saturday against Indiana was an entirely different story.

Quarterback Connor Bazelak had a long, long day thanks to the Michigan pass rush. The maize and blue sacked the Indiana quarterback seven times en route to a 31-10 Michigan victory.

Jaylen Harrell had one of the seven sacks that Michigan generated on Saturday. He says that Michigan keeps trying to bring the heat each and every play. Harrell says that the Wolverines’ defense needs to stay hungry and that this same thing is possible every week.

“So you know, we try to get better each every week,” said Harrell. “Each and every practice, every snap, we just got to keep coming. Keep bringing it each and every day. This one transferred over to the game because you know, we’re gonna be doing a lot next week as well. It’s gonna keep going. Stay hungry.”

Michigan was in a dog fight in the first half. The Wolverines entered halftime tied up at 10 all. Harrell said that the team and coaching staff talked about adjustments to make. Indiana runs an up-tempo approach that found some mismatches against the Michigan defense in the first half. Harrell noted that Michigan needed to get to the perimeter better in that first half.

“You know, in the first half, they hit a couple big plays,” said Harrell. “I think they would get on the perimeter a little bit. We just changed a couple of things. Made some halftime adjustments with our coaches that we had to do in the second half.”

The Wolverines allowed 29 yards of offense in the second half against Indiana. Michigan went on to sack Bazelak four times that half. Harrell said that the defense has struggled recently finishing games and getting home to the quarterback. He said that the defense wanted to impose their will against the offense, and it just so happened to be the Hoosiers’ quarterback that took the brunt of the punishment.

“Our goal in the second half? You know, we haven’t finished the past couple games,” said Harrell. “So we really just trying to impose our will on any offensive player but happen to be the quarterback a good amount of times, you know, what we strive to do.”

Six times that IU had the ball ended in a punt in the second half. The seventh time was a turnover on downs. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy says that the defense is a relentless and determined group. He credited the offseason workouts that the team had to do keeps them going hard each and every play.

“Yeah, it was every possession they had ended in a punt,” said McCarthy. “I touched on this last week. They’re just nonstop determination. I mean, they are relentless. Yes, they are relentless, every single play. And once they get tired, all those 150s we ran in the summer, all those cross fields, everything like that. That’s where they show up. That’s where it comes to fruition. And those guys are just dogs.”

The Michigan defense will need to have the same pass rush next week when the Wolverines host a 5-0 Penn State squad. A battle of the unbeaten in Ann Arbor.

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Jim Harbaugh and Tom Allen address Mike Hart’s collapse during Michigan football vs. Indiana

This was a horrifying moment in Saturday’s game, but it sounds like he’s OK now. #GoBlue

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It was a scary moment on the sidelines during what should have been a joyous occasion.

Michigan football running backs coach Mike Hart, who formerly held the same position at Indiana before coming to Ann Arbor in 2021, collapsed on the sidelines, having what was an apparent seizure in the first quarter. Once the band had stopped playing, the stadium fell silent, trying to understand what was happening as the cart came out onto the field, well away from the action of the game.

Moments later, Hart was carted off and gave a thumbs up, indicating he was OK. But it appears he’ll be held overnight in Bloomington for observation.

“Yeah, Mike had a medical emergency during the game,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “And he’s in stable condition. He’s going to stay overnight here in Bloomington for continuing observation. Mike’s a strong guy and just abundant prayers go his way and really put things in perspective.”

After that moment, play on the field seemed superfluous, and the Wolverines appeared to take it that way, to some degree. After having marched down the field for a touchdown, the air was taken out of all maize and blue units, and they didn’t appear to have re-galvanized until the second half.

Harbaugh said after the game that everyone’s mind shifted from the game to Hart’s health, which is obvious, given the circumstances.

“Everybody in the moment, everybody’s thoughts are with Mike — mine were, everybody around us was (looking) to get him to get the care that he needed,” Harbaugh said. “And I thought they knew he was able to, before they took him off, looked like he was back. Most important thing is just health at that point in time.”

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Of course, Tom Allen has some familiarity, especially since Hart was the assistant head coach near the end of his tenure with the Hoosiers. He had a few words for his former assistant after the game, noting that he also shared his thoughts with Harbaugh during the postgame handshake.

“Just prayers for Mike Hart,” Allen said. “I don’t know the situation. I did talk to coach Harbaugh at the end of the game. Very close with Mike. Talked to him even this week via text before we played him. It sounds like he is going to be OK, but obviously, a concern when he went down.

“Our hearts for him are heavy and his family. Prayers for them. Thoughts for them. We’re praying that he is going to have a full recovery.”

Michigan said it’s giving the game ball from Saturday’s contest to Hart once he returns to Ann Arbor.

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