It happens every year. A team with no chance of losing loses in the most unpredictable way. On Saturday night, it happened in Happy Valley. Earlier in the day, it happened in Dallas.
College football is great and put the NFL product to shame this weekend.
James Franklin gets his signature win at Penn State. Will more follow?
As Grant Haley returned a blocked field goal for a go-ahead touchdown against No. 2 Ohio State Saturday night, Penn State fans erupted in Beaver Stadium in a way that has not happened in a long time. Given all the program and community has been through since the breaking of the vile Jerry Sandusky scandal, this was a moment everyone involved with or connected to or simply rooting for the program has been waiting for. On Saturday night, they got it and for at least one week, the thought of James Franklin possibly being on the hot seat in Happy Valley has been put to rest.
Franklin scored the biggest win of his coaching career as Penn State held on for a 24-21 victory over Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes. It came in very unlikely fashion and may have been even more improbable than the Cubs clinching the pennant, which happened about an hour before. Consider that Ohio State had won 20 straight road games, outgained Penn State 413-276 and dominated the time of possession by 15 minutes and Penn State’s offense converted just two third downs out of 13 and quarterback Trace McSorley completed just eight passes out of 23 attempts. How does that happen? Because college football is awesome. That’s the only explanation.
For Franklin, this is a confidence boost for him and the entire program. No matter what had happened in the final five minutes, Penn State showed something to be proud of, the way they played and hung with the Buckeyes. Now, Penn State is suddenly in the thick of the Big Ten East race (although still on the outside lane heading into the final turn). What Penn State does next will be just as important as this monumental night. Franklin can’t let this moment be the end.
Ohio State is down, but not out
It’s true, the Buckeyes took a real punch to the gut Saturday night, but this wasn’t Negan delivering the fatal blow with his trusty bat, Lucille. This was more a bump in the road for Ohio State, as they still have a shot to win the Big Ten and reach the College Football Playoff for a second time. The Buckeyes must win the remainder of their games to win the Big Ten East and play for the Big Ten title. Going 12-1 with the Big Ten title very likely places Ohio State in the playoff mix.
Easier said than done? Absolutely, but it’s not as though this team is incapable of doing so. We have already seen them go on the road and win games at Oklahoma and Wisconsin. We know they are capable of what they need to do. And perhaps Penn State will once again be the kick Ohio State needs to make a championship run.
Two seasons ago, Ohio State had to escape Beaver Stadium with an overtime victory against a clearly overmatched Nittany Lions team. After doing so, Ohio State went on a tear, blasted Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game and then took out Alabama and Oregon to win the national championship. Will the Buckeyes get back into championship form after this setback? We’ll find out.
Box Score of the Week: No. 16 Oklahoma 66, Texas Tech 59
What Oklahoma and Texas Tech did Saturday will either excite you or disgust you. There really is no middle road here. What the Sooners and Red Raiders did on the field was obscene in so many ways, with defense not just being optional, but impossible. Both teams put up 854 yards of offense in the game. Each. Not combined. Each! Together, they combined for 76 first downs. Texas Tech did most of their damage through the air, which is their style, while Oklahoma managed to have a somewhat more balanced approach. It didn’t matter, because Texas Tech wasn’t going to stop the Sooners.
Only in the Big 12, and perhaps only at Texas Tech can a quarterback pass for 734 yards and five touchdowns and still lose. If you ever wonder why the Big 12 doesn’t get any respect and few will take Patrick Mahomes seriously as a Heisman candidate, this is why. This was just a joke of a football game from start to finish.
Group of Five Situation: So long, Houston!
The preseason favorite to land at least a spot in the New Years Six out of the Group of Five is now done. Barring an extreme miracle, Houston will not be in the running to make a return trip to the New Years Six lineup. That was made perfectly clear Saturday when SMU smashed the Cougars from the start and sent them home with a 38-16 defeat. Houston dropped two games back of Navy in the loss column in the AAC West Division, meaning Houston needs to win all of their conference games and hope Navy stumbles three times in conference play. That is not at all likely to happen.
Even if it did, Houston is far behind Boise State, who remained undefeated after a win over BYU on Thursday night. Western Michigan is also undefeated after getting by in-state rival Eastern Michigan. It was a rough week for the Cougars, who found out they will not be invited to join the Big 12. (Nobody will, of course.) Now this? Tom Herman is still going to be a hot name in the coaching carousel though, rest assured.
Boise State is the leading candidate for now, but a one-loss Navy would likely stay in front of an undefeated Western Michigan. In fact, a one-loss Navy could potentially jump ahead of Boise State if the Midshipmen win this week at South Florida and next week against Notre Dame. Both games should be tough for Navy.
This is just silly
While not quite to the degree of writing off the Big Ten in the first year of the College Football Playoff during the second week of the season, this take on college football is pretty short-sighted.
https://twitter.com/jasonrmcintyre/status/789892376005226496
Only six teams are truly relevant before Halloween? That is absurd, considering the last two seasons of the College Football Playoff have included teams ranked 15th and 16th in the initial Playoff rankings. Last season, none of the teams ranked in the top five at this point in the season reached the College Football Playoff.
Yes, perhaps the national focus is on roughly six teams. But to lose sight of the fact that there are a number of big games still to play this season, as if they will not change the outlook in some way, is unwise. And if the knock on college football is having only six relevant teams before Halloween, is the same true of the NBA with two “relevant” teams? How many NFL teams are deemed relevant this season?
My Top Four
If the College Football Playoff started today, here is who I would have in:
- Alabama
- Michigan
- Washington
- Clemson
The College Football Playoff doesn’t start today. Here is how I am currently projecting the top four to look at the end of the season:
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Washington
- Ohio State
Next in line? Michigan and Louisville.
Question of the Week: Will Lane Kiffin be a head coach in 2017?
The mailbag came up empty this week, so I made up a question for your entertainment. And the answer is yes. There are going to be a number of opportunities for one of the best offensive coordinators in the country.
One just opened up on Sunday with Fresno State moving on from Tim DeRuyter. Fresno State is Kiffin’s alma mater, which has already led to his name being included in a few Fresno State stories in the first 24 hours. It also makes sense for him, as it would be a job with a chance to run a program he is familiar with, in a region he is comfortable in, and without the heavy scrutiny that comes with a big time job like USC or Tennessee. Unless you feel Kiffin can jump right back into that spotlight, which he may, then a job like the Fresno State job makes so much sense for Kiffin. It even allows him to get his feet wet as a head coach again and prove he is capable of handling the job before taking on a larger program, if that is what he wants to do.
Kiffin has been away from head coaching long enough and been working and learning under Nick Saban long enough to have matured as a coach. It’s time to set Kiffin free once again and see how he fends for himself, and let Alabama start the rehabilitation process for Steve Sarkisian as the next offensive coordinator.
Submit your questions in the comment section below and I’ll attempt to satisfy you with my answer in next week’s column, or send you into a fit of rage. You can also tweet your questions to me on Twitter (@KevinOnCFB).
