Tag: Utah

With major implications for Oklahoma, Oregon leads Utah 20-0 at half

The stars are aligning. Oregon leads Utah 20-0 at the half.

Before the rain began to fall early in the second quarter, the Ducks lead 17-0.

The stars are aligning. Oregon leads Utah 20-0 at the half.

Before the rain began to fall early in the second quarter, the Ducks waddled ahead 17-0. Oregon is playing lights out on defense, forcing two failed fourth down conversions, a blocked punt and a Tyler Huntley interception before the half.

Oregon quarterback, Justin Herbert has picked the Utes apart for 178 yards on 11 completions and one touchdown. Herbert’s made a few poor reads but has connected deep twice for 45 and 50 yards.

Utah has looked flat and defeated for much of the first half. The Utes were stopped twice on fourth and short by the Ducks, just needing two yards on each attempt. Huntley has been shut down by the Ducks’ pass rush throwing for just 75 yards and going 7-12 with an interception.

Oregon has gotten to Huntley three times and has sacked him once, not allowing Huntley to get into a rhythm.

Of course, a Utah loss benefits Oklahoma so long as the Sooners can take care of Baylor tomorrow. With a two-loss PAC-12 champion if Oregon wins, the path to the playoff is less muddy. if the Ducks can finish the job, Oklahoma needs a win on their own as well as LSU to beat Georgia in the SEC Championship to sneak in as the fourth seed for the College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma and Baylor are set to kick off at 11a.m. CT on ABC.

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College Football Playoff: Instant Reaction to New Rankings

how in the world can you justify Penn State being eight spots higher?

The answer is that you can’t.

The College Football Playoff rankings came out Tuesday night with a couple of shocks but nothing major in terms of the top-four or where Notre Dame will likely end up because of where they wind up in these latest rankings.

If you haven’t seen the rankings yet, here they are:

Three fast thoughts on them:

Great news for the Big XII:

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2020 4* Defensive End decommits from Texas

2020 4* defensive end Van Fillinger has decommited from Texas. Fillinger is a 6’3, 205-pound strong-side defensive end from Draper, Utah.

2020 4* defensive end Van Fillinger has decommited from Texas, reopening his recruitment. According to 247 sports, Fillinger is a 6’3, 205-pound strong-side defensive end from Draper, Utah. He is the 13th ranked SDE in the country and the second overall player in the state of Utah.

Having 17 other offers, Kansas State was the only other Big 12 school to offer Fillinger. Most of his offers have come from the west coast, with Pac 12 schools like Oregon, USC, Utah, UCLA, and Washington interested. Crystal Ball now gives Utah a 62% chance to sign Fillinger.

The Longhorns now only have one other 2020 commit from the defensive line. Vernon Boughton is a 4* defensive tackle from Houston, TX, but Texas now does not have a defensive end commit in this upcoming recruiting cycle.

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Texas football’s coaching re-set could save Tom Herman’s job, but it may cost him recruits first

Tom Herman’s decision to oust all three of the coordinators he brought in to Austin will dramatically re-shape the Texas coaching ranks and system, but will it negatively impact the team’s recruiting efforts?

Tom Herman was the big actor on college football’s Black Sunday, firing his defensive coordinator and one of his offensive coordinators while demoting the other. It only took a matter of hours for that move to have its first trickle down impact, sparking a decommitment from a four-star defensive lineman.

RELATED: Tim Beck removed from OC role, demoted | Longhorns defensive coordinator Todd Orlando fired

Van Fillinger, a four-star defensive end from Corner Canyon High School (Draper, Utah) announced he was decommitting from Texas. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound All American Bowl player made his decision public shortly after word of Orlando’s firing became public.

Fillinger’s decommitment was the first domino to fall after Herman’s Bloody Sunday took out all three of the coordinators he hired when he arrived in Austin. While there may have been philosophical reasons behind their dismissal, there’s little question that Texas’ lackluster, 7-5 2019 regular season played a significant role in Herman’s decision to move on.

That could ultimately rejuvenate both Texas’ recruiting efforts and game planning on both sides of the ball, but in the immediate aftermath of the decision it threatens to undermine Texas’ Class of 2020. Despite four decommitments from the class since mid-October alone (the same number as Florida State, which actually fired its head coach), Texas’ class is still ranked among the nation’s top-10, with a chance to move back into the top-5 should the Longhorns close on a handful of key recruits.

Of course, all that assumes Texas is able to hold on to the pledges it currently has. Whether that’s easier or harder to do with virtually an entirely new coaching staff remains to be seen, but Herman apparently felt the program had to take that chance.

Amway Coaches Poll: Notre Dame Moves Up

It doesn’t ultimately matter in terms of ending the 31 year drought of winning a national championship but Notre Dame’s resumes stacked up next to a few teams ahead of it is interesting.

Following their 45-24 win at Stanford, Notre Dame moved up in this week’s Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA Today.

Just who then did they pass?

Well, to some Fighting Irish fans delight they moved past that team that embarrassed them on national television at the end of October.

The latest Amway Coaches Poll:

1. LSU

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Georgia

5. Utah

6. Oklahoma

7. Florida

8. Baylor

9. Alabama

10. Wisconsin

11. Penn State

12. Auburn

13. Oregon

14. Notre Dame

15. Minnesota

16. Memphis

17. Boise State

18. Michigan

19. Iowa

20. Appalachian State

21. Cincinnati

22. Virginia

23. Navy

24. Southern Cal

25. Air Force

Dropped out: Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech

Realistically we could see Oregon and Wisconsin both lose next weekend, both having tough matchups in their respective conference championship games. If they both lose we could see Notre Dame move into the top-12 at the conclusion of the regular season.

It doesn’t ultimately matter in terms of ending the 31 year drought of winning a national championship but Notre Dame’s resumes stacked up next to a few teams ahead of it is interesting.

Many reputation vs. actual production discussions to be had. We will discuss as the week goes on.

CFP Rankings: Cotton Bowl Dream Dead for Notre Dame

Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.

Although no games were played Tuesday night Notre Dame saw their hopes of ending their season in the Cotton Bowl for a second year in a row come to an unofficial end.

As the College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, Notre Dame remained at number 16 in the country, still the lowest of any two-loss power-five teams and also still behind three-loss Auburn.

So as it sits with No. 16 Notre Dame having just one game remaining against an under-500 Stanford team that won’t count for much, even if it does end with a 50 point win for the Irish.

The problem is that Notre Dame has already routed better teams than Stanford in recent weeks and gained no ground.

Unless you can figure out a way that Notre Dame jumps six teams and gets into the top-ten, then they’re headed to Orlando for the Camping World Bowl against a Big XII team.

With the games remaining it’s hard to find six losses that are going to benefit Notre Dame.

Auburn losing to Alabama would probably finally get the Irish ahead of the currently three-loss Tigers.

Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.

Kansas over Baylor or Rutgers over Penn State?  No help coming in either of those.

Same pretty much going for Colorado’s chances against Utah, Florida State’s to upset Florida.

Not only would Notre Dame need one of those to happen, they’d need three of the last four listed in order to have a chance, couple with those Auburn, Michigan and Wisconsin losses listed above.

As you can tell the chances at the Cotton Bowl are about as good as gone. so if interested you might as well get those flights booked to Orlando.

That’s the unfortunate reality when what happens in Ann Arbor in late October happen to you in front of a national audience.

 

Georgia football falls in CBS Sports’ CFB rankings

Georgia football dropped in CBS Sports’ CFB rankings.

It’s a good thing the only poll that matters is the College Football Playoff rankings. Well, at least for now. We’ll find out if I will still be saying that on Tuesday night when those are released.

But after a week in which Georgia did not look particularly great in a 19-13 win over Texas A&M in Athens, CBS Sports dropped the Bulldogs one spot in its rankings, swapping them with Alabama. The Dawgs remained No. 4 in both the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25.

Related: Kirk Herbstreit predicts CFP teams if Georgia beats LSU

CBS Sports’ new-top is as follows:

1. LSU

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Alabama

5. Georgia

6. Utah

7. Oklahoma

8. Florida

9. Minnesota

10. Baylor

Alabama looked good, sure. But it was against Western Carolina. The Tide may very well still be able to win a national championship over any of the playoff committee’s top-four teams, but if you don’t win your conference, let alone your division, you should not be given the opportunity to prove that.

Here is my prediction for what the College Football Playoff rankings will look like on Tuesday night.

Five-star Noah Sewell gave Oregon recruiting win before tough ASU loss

Oregon’s loss to Arizona State on Saturday likely ended the Ducks’ dreams of a spot in the College Football Playoff. But Oregon still got good news thanks to the commitment of 5-star LB Noah Sewell.

Noah Sewell entered the weekend as one of the highest-rated recruits yet to pull the trigger on his collegiate decision. He exited the weekend as a future Oregon Duck.

Sewell, a five-star linebacker from Orem (Utah) High, committed to Oregon rather than 32 other power programs that extended offers, including Alabama, Georgia, Arizona State and others.

The reason for Sewell’s commitment to the Ducks? The All-American Bowl and Polynesian Bowl star announced his choice shortly after his Orem squad repeated as Utah state champions, and apparently picked the school where he was most comfortable.

“Noah has always felt comfortable there and, honestly, has felt like a part of that team being around those guys,” Sewell’s father, Gabriel, told 247Sports. “He has always been about visualizing things and the start Oregon had this year, especially defensively, as well as being in that locker room a couple times this year to feel the change in culture, helped open his eyes even more to the possibility of Oregon.

“The program is trending up fast in the defensive side of things. When people think of Oregon, they don’t think of a power defense. But coach Andy Avalos and that staff have developed a great relationship with Noah. When he’s watched them play, it’s been more in line with what they have been talking to him about. The relationship with coach Joe (Salave’a) and coach Mario (Cristobal) was longstanding and meant a lot to him as well.”

Sewell was in Oregon less than a month ago, celebrating the Ducks’ victory against Washington State with fans and fellow recruits. He came away convinced that Oregon’s coaching staff and system are the right fit to get the most out of him.

That’s all music to the ears of Mario Cristobal and his staff, which will get an enormous boost from Sewell’s commitment. The 6-foot-2, 266-pounder is ranked among the top-20 overall recruits nationwide and one of the top linebackers in the nation, and he told 247Sports he plans to sign in December’s Early Signing Period and enroll early in Eugene.

College Football Playoff projections following Week 13

Predicting the College Football Playoff rankings after Week 13.

Week 13 saw Georgia football beat a talented Texas A&M team to advance to 10-1 on the season.

Georgia looked like it has all season – unable to finish a drive on offense but smothering on defense.

That’s been Georgia’s recipe this season, but how much longer will it work? We will find out in two weeks when the Dawgs take on LSU in Atlanta.

Right now, Georgia is sitting at No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings behind LSU (1), Ohio State (2) and Clemson (3).

Right behind the Bulldogs is Alabama, hoping that it can not only win next week vs Auburn but also that LSU will take care of business in the SEC Championship, thus eliminating Georgia from playoff contention.

Behind Alabama currently is Oregon, but that won’t last long after the Ducks lost to Arizona State. The best part about Oregon losing is that now we don’t have to hear about how Rob Mullens, the Oregon AD and the chair of the CFP selection committee, is “recused from the room” when the committee discusses the Ducks. Is it just me, or has that been mentioned way too many times this season?

Ohio State definitely had the most impressive win of the weekend among the teams near the top of the rankings (Arizona State probably had the best win, though, in beating Oregon). I would not expect the committee to swap LSU and OSU, however. LSU’s beaten plenty of top-ten teams itself.

Then there’s Utah, which is 10-1 and needs some help to make it into the final four. The Utes have not really beaten anyone, but if Georgia and Alabama both fall and Utah wins its conference, then it has a much better argument.

Oklahoma, however, assuming it wins out, will be right there with Utah vying for that last Playoff spot if both Alabama and Georgia lose before the final rankings reveal after the conference championship games wrap up.

Here’s our College Football Playoff projections:

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Latest Amway Coaches Poll: Does Notre Dame Move Up?

After a 40-7 drubbing of Boston College on Senior Day, Notre Dame moved to 9-2 on the season with only Stanford remaining next weekend. With only Oregon and Penn State losing ahead of the Irish, was it enough to move them up from the No. 15 spot …

After a 40-7 drubbing of Boston College on Senior Day, Notre Dame moved to 9-2 on the season with only Stanford remaining next weekend.

With only Oregon and Penn State losing ahead of the Irish, was it enough to move them up from the No. 15 spot they sat in last week?  The latest Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA Today is out and your answer is unfortunately, no.

Latest Amway Coaches Poll:

  1. LSU
  2. Ohio State
  3. Clemson
  4. Georgia
  5. Alabama
  6. Utah
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Florida
  9. Minnesota
  10. Baylor
  11. Michigan
  12. Penn State
  13. Oregon
  14. Wisconsin
  15. Notre Dame
  16. Auburn
  17. Cincinnati
  18. Memphis
  19. Boise State
  20. Iowa
  21. Oklahoma State
  22. Appalachian State
  23. Virginia Tech
  24. Navy
  25. Southern California

What might be the biggest takeaways here for Notre Dame isn’t that they didn’t move from 15, but that Virginia Tech, Navy and Southern California all are now ranked.

If that holds true with the College Football Playoff Committee who releases their rankings Tuesday night, Notre Dame having three wins over top 25 teams may be enough on the resume to lift them from their No. 16 ranking.