Week 10 in College Football caused chaos. The two marquee games, Ohio St-Penn St and Texas A&M-South Carolina delivered. The Big 12 and the ACC are absolute dumpster fires at the top. And we are going to see some next-level tiebreakers to decide who goes to the SEC and the Big 10 Championships if everything stays the way it is. Let’s break down the winners and losers of the week.
Winners of the Weekend:
1). Ohio St went into Happy Valley and shattered Penn St fan's dreams again with a 20-13 win. This was very impressive for this Buckeye group. They went down 10-0 after the first two drives of the game and then after that they flipped the switch and decided that they were not going to lose this game. The team and the fans should gain so much confidence from this game. To play your B+ game and beat a top-5 team on the road is impressive and is a massive momentum booster for the team. The make shift offensive held their own against a good defensive front. And on the last drive where they iced the game, the offensive line bullied Penn State. That was the one spot where you felt Ohio St could be exposed in this game and it just never happened outside of two plays. Obviously, Ohio St still has some flaws, but so does everyone else and if they can build off this and ride this momentum they will be a very tough team to beat and are square in National Title contention.
2). South Carolina came shooting out of a cannon off their bye week and beat number 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Outside of the second quarter, South Carolina was in full control of the football game. They held the Aggies scoreless in the second half and left no doubt that they were the better team. This win was massive for the South Carolina program. They had come so close to beating LSU and Alabama and were finally able to beat an elite team. It should be added that if it was not for the refs, South Carolina would have beat LSU earlier in the season. This is the type of win though that changes your program. You know you're getting your QB LaNorris Sellers back next season and this was his coming out party. He is going to have a really good future at South Carolina and in his football career. South Carolina is not out of it though this season. Sitting with 3 losses they have a favorable rest of the schedule and can still possibly make a conference championship or the playoff. It is also a shame that the AP Poll decided to not rank South Carolina in the Top-25. There are not 25 teams playing better football than South Carolina right now.
3). Louisville went on the road and left no doubt with Clemson and beat them 33-21. Do not let the scoreboard fool you. This game was never close. Louisville did something that no team has done to Clemson in a really long time. They absolutely dominated them from start to finish. You can’t talk about Louisville without first talking about freshman running back Isaac Brown. He is having a phenomenal season and is already a top-10 running back in the country as and freshmen. He is going to have a really good college career and he is a guy that is going to be playing on Sundays as well. Against Clemson, he had 20 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown. Louisville would not be where they are at this season without him. Louisville is a dangerous team down the stretch. It will be impossible for them to get a conference championship bid because they are two games back of Miami and SMU and they lost to both of them, but you do not want to play this team in a bowl.
Losers of the Weekend:
1). Kansas St is one of the more disappointing teams in the country this season. They were they supposed to be really good and they haven’t been bad, but they didn’t help their case by losing to Houston. Houston is not a terrible team, but with the expectations K-State has this loss was inexcusable. They were in great position for a spot in the Big 12 title game and now they are going to need help and have to win out. The best case scenario for K-State is to win out and have Colorado lose 1 game because they hold the tie breaker over them. With a bye week, Arizona St, Cincy and Iowa St remaining on their schedule they can’t afford to lose. This might be harsh but if K-State does not make the Conference Championship game, this year was a complete failure for them and they seriously need to consider making changes, whether it be the QB or Offensive or Defensive Coordinators.
2). Penn St has to be feeling absolutely horrible knowing that they let that game slip agaisnt Ohio State. They could not have scripted a better start to that game. Long seven minute first drive that ends in a field goal. Then right after that you get a pick-six on Ohio St’s first drive of the game and you have 111,000 fans rocking. They had all the momentum and just let Ohio St back in and take control of the game. Just a quick bad lock stat for how bad Penn St’s offense was in this game. Their leading rushers were they tight end and their immobile quarterback, and their leading receivers were their running backs. Their receivers only had 3 catches in the entire game. If Penn St wants to beat the Ohio St’s of the world and be serious contenders for a National Championsip in the future, they really need to start brining in some difference makers at the receiver position. Until then, they are just going to be a good team not a great team.
3). Clemson got absolutely embarrassed at home by Louisville. The score was 33-21 but the game was never close. It was pure domination from the start. Clemson finds themselves in a tough spot. Yeah they only have 2 losses, but Miami and SMU don’t look like they are losing anytime soon and I don’t see a way the ACC is going to get more than 1 team in the playoffs now. The season isn’t over for Clemson but they cannot afford to lose and need Miami or SMU to get knocked off. Clemson does not have an easy schedule either. They go to Virginia Tech, to Pitt, home against the Citadel, and then close their season with probably the hottest team in the country right now in South Carolina. Clemson needs to do some serious soul searching though. They are in a spot right now as a program where they are good enough to win the ACC and get to the playoffs, but they are not good enough to be a serious threat in the playoffs. I guess no team in the ACC is actually a serious threat though in the playoff, but still the standard at Clemson should be higher than good. They should be a great team every year. It starts at the top. Dabo needs to start changing his approach and get with the times.
Honorable Mention Winners:
1). UCLA
2). SMU
3). Texas Tech
4). Indiana
5). Minnesota
Honorable Mention Losers:
1). Liberty
2). Iowa St
3). Pitt
4). Virginia Tech
5). Illinois
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