Highlights in Final Week of College Football Regular Season


Maybe you should shut up your cousin who insists on saying it. NS Soothe the Cincinnati sister-in-law who is sick of being overlooked at Ohio State University or the university on Interstate 71.

Maybe it’s a brother who’s sure this is Georgia’s year, like some of his fan friends who’ve had it nearly every season since the Reagan administration, or a team that went to Texas but other (and, this season, much better) Big 12 Conference in

The end of the regular season of college football rarely brings out the best in us, so when is it better to ponder conflicting views and revisionist history than Thanksgiving?

It’s largely up to you to come up with other arguments for the holiday—mashed potatoes are definitely better than dessert—but here’s a cheat sheet for the best teams in the College Football Playoff standings.

Take a few unnecessary hits at the Atlantic Coast and Pac-12 Conferences, neither of which has a team on the playoff hunt, and it should be enough to get you on dessert.

East all the time.

Saturday at Georgia Tech (3-8). (midday on ABC)

During the first few years of Coach Kirby Smart’s tenure in Athens, Georgia believers sometimes wondered if the school had chosen the right person to lead the Bulldogs. Following Smart’s long apprenticeship under Nick Saban, Alabama fans advised patience.

Those concerns have largely subsided this season. With the country’s best defense – Georgia allowed an average of 7.5 points and nearly 236 yards per game – it was easy to overlook any offensive shortcomings. Just this week, Nakobe Dean, a junior with seven losses and 4.5 sacks this season, was selected as a finalist for the Butkus Award for the game’s best defender.

The Bulldogs have not won a national championship since the 1980 season. However, the team has managed to avoid back-to-back goals in a Southeastern Conference game this season, a feat they haven’t had since the title race.

It’s at #5 in Michigan (10-1) on Saturday. (Noon on Fox)

The game is coming back in great style.

A trip to the Big Ten Conference championship game in Ann Arbor, Mich, will be on Saturday, one year after the pandemic forced the cancellation of one of the most legendary rivalries in sports, Ohio State’s grudge-held game against Michigan.

Buckeyes overtake early this season worries: Ohio State lost by a touchdown at home, which Oregon Utah left To drop the Ducks from #3 to #11 on Saturday night, Coach Ryan Day’s team humiliated Purdue and wasn’t number one at the time during the weekend. 7 State of Michigan.

Quarterback CJ Stroud is a contender for the Heisman Trophy, largely due to his completion of more than 71 percent of his passes and 36 touchdowns while leading the nation’s greatest offense.

The Buckeyes average 560 yards per game, 30.6 yards per second more than Pittsburgh.

Saturday at Auburn (6-5). (3:30 p.m. on CBS)

It’s often unwise to count the Crimson Tide out of any national title talk. Still, Alabama, which led Ohio State last season win the championship, sometimes seemed unusual this fall.

Big wins were made—this is Alabama, after all—but also a loss at Texas A&M and one-touch escapes over a better-than-normal Arkansas and an absolutely crappy State of Louisiana. And an Iron Bowl date in Auburn isn’t easy either.

However, sophomore quarterback Bryce Young, who is also considered a Heisman contender, has Alabama’s nearly 502-yard average offense and defensive lineman Will Anderson Jr. Saban’s defense is the second best in the SEC.

Friday in East Carolina (7-4). (3:30 p.m. on ABC)

No team from a group of 5 leagues reached the playoffs. Cincinnati, a member of the American Athletic Conference, can do just that. The 24-13 autograph win at Notre Dame, which is currently in sixth place, certainly helped.

In East Carolina on Friday, Desmond Ridder will struggle to repeat his performance against Southern Methodist over the weekend, finishing 17 of 23 passes, passing 274 yards and three touchdowns.

He also ran for points and caught a touchdown pass. Yes really.

Ohio State #2 (10-1) will host Saturday. (Noon on Fox)

Cincinnati aside, perhaps there has never been a bigger debate over what Michigan will become in this season’s playoff standings.

The Wolverines were barely defeated at Michigan State on October 30 but soon found themselves ahead of the Spartans as the playoff committee described Michigan as “a more complete team.”

And Michigan is really good: #9 on overall defense, #23 on overall offense, and the nation’s most parsimonious at allowing the fight for losses, powered from the scrimmage line. Sharing the lead of the Big Ten with 10 sacks each, Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo are the first Michigan duo to collect double-digit sacks in a single season.

Still, Ohio State is by far the biggest test of the season for the Wolverines, who have only had one win against a team still in the playoffs this season. Michigan has beaten Ohio State only twice since 2001, most recently in 2011.

Saturday at Stanford (3-8). (8pm on Fox)

Three of Notre Dame’s wins were by 3 points, so it was great for the Fighting Irish to put together a 10-1 record. Thanks to the sterling defense that allowed only 9 points in three games in November.

Defender Isaiah Foskey is responsible for 10 of Notre Dame’s 38 sacks, and the team has 21 takeaways this season. And many goals have come from the defense, who have scored multiple goals in two games this season. (Notre Dame’s defense actually beat all opposing teams 12-9 this month.)

A tight end Michael Mayer stays busy on the offensive court and caught 55 passes for 663 yards, while the comeback Kyren Williams ran another 928.

Oklahoma #10 (10-1) will host Saturday. (19:30 on ABC)

The Cowboys put on the best defensive performance in Coach Mike Gundy’s 17 seasons leading the team – Oklahoma State conceded a total of 108 yards to Texas Tech on Saturday – but they’re about to face Oklahoma, the highest scoring offense of the Big 12.

Oklahoma State’s offense isn’t lackluster: In their last four games, the Cowboys have averaged nearly 482 yards and 41 points. Their offense is among the most balanced in the Big 12, but Tay Martin has logged at least 100 receiving yards in four games this season.

Saturday’s roster will determine Oklahoma State’s opponent in next weekend’s Big 12 championship game. If Oklahoma wins, the Sooners and Cowboys will meet in Arlington, Texas. If Oklahoma loses and Baylor #8 beats Texas Tech, the Cowboys will play the Baylor team they beat by 10 points in October.

Texas Tech (6-5) is hosting Saturday. (Noon in FS1)

Although Dave Aranda is a defensive coach – he was Louisiana State’s defensive coordinator at the Tigers. Won the national championship of the 2019 season — Baylor’s offense gains more yards per game than any other Big 12 team. The Bears prefer to rush, playing more than 400 games on the field this season and collecting almost six yards per try.

The star of the hasty attack wasn’t in Baylor’s backcourt in 2020; he was actually nowhere on the attacking side of the ball. But Abram Smith, who made four starts as a defender last season, is leading this year’s team with 1,249 fast yards.

The Bears have not won a Big 12 title since 2014. They can still play once next weekend.

Thursday in the State of Mississippi (7-4). (19:30 on ESPN)

Ten-win seasons in Oxford don’t come often: Mississippi is aiming for its third season and first 10-win regular season since 1972.

first known college football team 100 percent vaccinated Against the coronavirus, Alabama and Auburn fell, but Mississippi also beat Arkansas and Texas A&M with the SEC’s most prolific offense in the yard.

Little Mississippi pushes Heisman to win, one of three quarterbacks to land at least 15 touchdowns and run 10 or more in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Braylon Sanders has been a favorite target, with an average of 22.1 yards per reception, the SEC’s best.

Thursday’s Egg Bowl will test Mississippi’s defenses, as Mississippi State and Coach Mike Leach are conducting an Airstrike that directs the SEC to the yards that passed.

No.7 in Oklahoma State (10-1) on Saturday. (19:30 on ABC)

The only Big 12 show to make it to the playoffs, Oklahoma will head to the competitive show at Stillwater, focused solely on holding a conference championship game.

It’s been a strange road to 10 wins. The Sooners got rid of 40-35-year-old Tulane to open the season. The following week, Oklahoma scored 76 points and kept West Carolina at zero. Then came some narrow victories against teams like Kansas State and West Virginia. But Oklahoma didn’t lose at Baylor until November 13.

Spencer Rattler, who was all-American in the preseason, lost his quarterback job in mid-October. His replacement, Caleb Williams, had 1,418 yards and 15 touchdowns. Despite the turmoil, Oklahoma put together the most points-scoring offense in the Big 12 and came as no surprise under Coach Lincoln Riley, who is widely regarded as one of the nation’s best offensive players.

The Sooners will visit Oklahoma State with some confidence as they have a six-game winning streak against the Cowboys.



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