Tennessee falls, but Michigan and TCU somehow survives
It took 12 weeks to get to college football, and it announced itself with a bang. From the outset, Michigan and TCU showed an expectation of awarding a W just for such a regulatory disparity. Maryland held the ball against Ohio State with enough time to win a W, and Georgia was held to a 16-point draw.
All of the teams currently in the College Football Qualifiers, plus USC, passed the tests given to them despite brave efforts from Kentucky, Maryland, Illinois, Baylor, and UCLA. . One person was not so lucky.
Tennessee was caught looking ahead
The fifth-placed team wasn’t so lucky when the holes in Tennessee’s defense finally discovered them. It took a while, but Spencer Rattler’s honesty emerged ahead of the Vols with six TD passes. South Carolina got to the bottom of the field for the first five times they touched the ball, and any chance UT had for a spot in the knockout stages went up in smoke when QB contenders and Heisman Hendon Hooker were both dropped. wounded in the second half.
The final score of 63-38 in Columbia was more or less accurate. The cockfighting receiver ran free all night, and the fact that the Vols had trouble getting off the field on their third loss of the season was another problem. Shane Beamer’s team converted eight of the 11 third drop, including a big third and 20 in the final inning, and converted two into two on the fourth drop.
Michigan fans still can’t breathe
As for the Wolverines, Fighting Illini took the lead for all but nine seconds of the fourth round. Jim Harbaugh chose to score in the final half, shooting on goal to make it 16-17. They needed three or more goals on the next hold, and got it to set up a winning goal of the game and avoid UM’s first goal of the season.
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Of greater concern is Blake Corum’s status on the Ohio State game. The backrunner leaves the match with an injury and will be further evaluated. An illness that requires additional diagnosis is like your spouse saying they need more time to think about something they’re going to reject, and I’m really worried about Big Blue moving into Columbus.
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TCU’s weekly stress test includes: No lead until the end of the third quarter, missed one more point, TD has two minutes left to try to finish the game, convert two dropped points to tie the game , three-no safety net keeping the ball and out, a last-minute goal and a 17-second drill to get the teeing team out to take a 40-yard penalty kick when it ran out time because they made a spot run in third and seventh places without succeeding a stop of the clock.
Sonny Dykes is either a genius or a sadist. I’m not sure which one. This team needs to win Iowa State and most likely Kansas State to make it to the College Football Qualifiers. However, I think by saying that the Wildcats will lose to Kansas next week, and Texas will overtake Baylor to sneak into the Big 12 title game and ruin TCU’s dreams.
I’ve supported Adrian Martinez so many times that I don’t know how this will end.
Caleb Williams’ artwork is in progress and he just painted his Heisman
The Trojans aren’t the only playoff contenders to take the lead in the second half, but they are the only ones who need to overcome a double-digit deficit. The Bruins took a 14-0 lead, a total of 513 fouls and scored 45 points, but lost 48 points and 639 yards, including 503 to Williams. Lincoln Riley’s statue of David crossed 470 yards, rising by 33 points above the ground and taking up a total of three points.
His opponent Dorian Thompson-Robinson had a total of 390 yards of fouls and six touchdowns, but also a total of four turns, including a pick with a minute and a half left. The Trojans were able to get on their knees in the final seconds instead of watching DTR potentially end or win the game through closed eyes.
Oregon waits for the Trojans in the Pac-12 title game while Notre Dame has its next game against USC on Saturday. The winners of their past five matches, Fighting Irish, are 8-3 and appear to have fully recovered from a 0-2 start.
I won’t expand on Buckeyes or Bulldogs because both shows play with their food. Terps got the ball with 42 ticks left, down six, and went back in the driveway before giving the defensive TD to OSU. Georgia led all night, and Wildcat QB Will Levis looked pedestrian as usual.
Saturday was a reminder that college football programs – outside of the top two or three – are subject to just as much complexity as the next group of 18- to 22-year-olds.