Week 11 gave us two top-15 matchups in Alabama-LSU and Ole Miss-Georgia. Both of those games did not deliver on the level that they were expected too. We also saw Indiana and Michigan barely survive against inferior opponents. Also, Miami was finally exposed by Georgia Tech and it probably will not be the last loss Miami suffers. Let’s jump into the winners and losers of the weekend.
Winners of the Weekend:
1). Ole Miss finally got their elusive program-defining win by beating Georgia 28-10 at home. Outside of the first two drives of the game, Ole Miss dominated Georgia from start to finish and left no doubt. I know a lot of talk will be about Jaxson Dart and rightfully so, but the real hero of the game for Ole Miss was Austin Simmons the freshman. He was only in for 1 drive but it was a massive one. Jaxson Dart had just thrown a pick on the first drive of the game and went down injured and then Georgia scored easily. Georgia had all the momentum in this game after that and could have put their foot on Ole Miss’ throat. Instead, Simmons goes in for an injured Dart for a drive and goes right down the field and scores and it felt like the game flipped from there. After this victory, Ole Miss controls their own destiny now. They are essentially a lock for the playoffs right now. They are also playing some of the best football in the country right now. You do not want to see them in the Playoff. I truly believe that right now Ole Miss is the second-best team in the country behind Oregon.
2). Jalen Milroe finally got his mojo back as Alabama throttled LSU in Baton Rouge. I have to admit I was not expecting this one. I had no read on who would win the game, but I expected it to be a down-to-the-wire, final-possession game. That did not happen. Alabama looked like the more prepared team coming off of their byes. Jalen Milroe had a massive game for Bama. It wasn’t through the air, but on the ground he ran for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns. This was massive for the team and Milroe because he had not been as effective with his legs the last couple of games. This is the kind of win that can propel Bama into the Playoff and set them up to go on a run. The defense for Bama also looked very much improved against LSU. They looked way faster on the defensive side of the ball. They shut down the LSU passing attack. That was the weakness of the team. You could tell they focused on their pass defense during the bye. Bama has Mercer, Oklahoma, and Auburn left so they should be able to take care of business and should be competing for a conference championship spot and a playoff spot.
3). Georgia Tech upset Miami at home 28-23. It was a massive win for Tech. They pretty much just ran the ball right down Miami’s throat the whole game. Georgia Tech as a team had 48 carries for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns. They only had 99 yards passing. The most impressive thing though was the defense. They shut down Miami and forced them to play a certain brand of offense that Miami did not want to play. If you look at the box score you would think that Miami had a good game through the air. They had 348 yards but that was because Georgia Tech put them in a situation to where they had to just throw the ball the entire second half. The defense also was all over the Miami receivers and forced Cam Ward to scramble a lot in the game and try and make off-schedule plays. This was an impressive win for Georgia Tech and I expect for this to be a program builder for them.
Losers of the Weekend:
1). Carson Beck is a loser for this week. He was not the only reason Georgia lost to Ole Miss, but he was a massive reason. I do not know what has happened this year to him. He has not been the same quarterback whatsoever this year. The craziest thing is that he has the exact same players around him except for Brock Bowers. That is a massive loss for any team, but the other tight ends behind Bowers were productive last year and this year they are not putting up the same numbers. Beck went into this season being the consensus number 1 QB in this draft class. He is playing himself out of the first round right now. He has another big game this weekend against Tennessee. A massive performance against a top 5 defense in the country can put him back at the top of the class conversation. Georgia cannot afford to get the Beck they got against Ole Miss though.
2). LSU’s playoff hopes were on the line against Alabama and they got absolutely throttled at home. It was an embarrassing effort from them especially when you consider they were coming off of a bye. They were completely unprepared for Bama and it showed. It was a middle finger to the fans that LSU let Jalen Milroe run all over them from the QB position. Especially after a loss to Texas A&M when they lost the game because of the QB run. To let back-to-back teams beat you courtesy of the QB run is grounds for Brian Kelly to be fired. It was like they did not even realize that Jalen Milroe could run. Enough of the defense. Garrett Nussmeier has played terrible football in the last two games. The offense was supposed to be their bright spot, but if they do not even have that going for them it is going to be a very long rest of the season. LSU is really going to regret losing the week 1 game to USC because that loss is going to keep them out of the playoffs.
3). Miami finally got got on Saturday when they lost 28-23 on the road to Georgia Tech. Miami had been playing with fire recently and it finally bit them. The defense is bad for Miami. They let Georgia Tech run the fumble all over them. They owned the line of scrimmage the whole game on that side of the ball. The defense is a reason why I have never thought highly of Miami. I’ve always thought they are a top-15 team, but I have never thought they were a team that can truly compete in the playoff. The Miami offense in this game was not good either. People think this offense is really good, but I just do not see it working against good teams. They only pride themselves on big plays and that just does not work against the better teams. You have to have your QB play on time. Cam Ward does not just take what the defense gives him. He showed it off in this game. There were many plays where he had open receivers, but he decided to wait and try and make a big play out of nothing. I never thought Miami was good and they finally got got by an average team.
Honorable Mention Winners:
1). UCLA
2). Kansas
3). Colorado
4). Virginia
5). Army
Honorable Mention Losers:
1). Big-12 Officiating- Specifically BYU-Utah refs
2). Pitt
3). Iowa St
4). Oklahoma
5). South Carolina
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