Breakdown of Week 10 College Football Games with AP Week 11 Rankings
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
Another wild week in college football is in the books. While most Top 25 teams held up their end of the rankings, SEC teams came out of the weekend banged up looking to reset the season for a strong finish.
ACC
Teams in the Atlantic Coast came out of the weekend set the way they came into it. Clemson remains unbeaten although starting quarterback DeShaun Watson left the game with a bruised right shoulder. How his throwing shoulder responds this week could influence the Tigers going forward. Nick Schuessler came in for Watson hitting 11 of 17 for 177 yards with two scores in relief. Clemson gets Pitt next followed by Wake Forest and South Carolina.
Two teams that escaped an upset was Virginia Tech and Florida State. The Hokies dodged Duke 24-21 and the Seminoles got by N.C. State 24-20. Louisville steamrolled Boston College 52-7 and North Carolina topped Georgia Tech 48-21. Wake Forest added another win beating Virginia 27-20. Miami got a needed 51-28 win over Pitt.
Big Ten
The movement within the Big Ten this weekend went under the radar. The emerging powers, all in the East, came out unscathed with Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State winning. Michigan State continued their slide dropping to 2-7 on the season, 0-6 in conference play.
The West got interesting when Nebraska was manhandled by Ohio State 62-3. Minnesota pulled into a three-way tie atop the division with the Cornhuskers and Badgers after beating Purdue 44-31.
Big 12
Three small things happened in the Big 12 this week. 1) Oklahoma got past Iowa State 34-24, 2) Oklahoma State escaped Kansas State 43-37, and 3) Texas pulled above .500 with a 45-37 win. The wins for OU and OSU will not do them any favors with the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, but a win is a win. Texas is now at 5-4 on the season with three winnable games left against West Virginia, Kansas, and TCU. It looks like even an 8-4 Longhorns team will be the doom of Charlie Strong even though positive progress is being made, for now, over the 5-7 finish last season.
Big deal for Baylor fans, losing 62-22 at home to TCU. The second half slide of recent Baylor teams continues.
Pac-12
All remained the same in the Pac-12 by weekend’s end. Washington clubbed Cal 66-27, Colorado beat UCLA 20-10, and Washington State destroyed Arizona 69-7. USC kept within one game of Colorado in the South Division topping Oregon 45-20. The Trojans are starting to come together.
Stanford had a solid game against Oregon State winning 26-15 but with three conference losses are too far gone with Washington and Washington State atop the North at 6-0 in conference play.
SEC
The SEC did not survive the weekend without a mix up. Texas A&M, No. 4 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, dropped a 35-28 road stinker to Mississippi State. More bad news, starting quarterback Trevor Knight left the game with his arm in a sling. The Aggies are not on easy street with upcoming games against Ole Miss and the season ender against LSU. A once lofty spot in the rankings could end up being another Kevin Sumlin fold job.
The other big loss was Florida losing 31-10 to Arkansas in Fayetteville. Arkansas looked fresh for the fight with starting running back Rawleigh Williams tagging the Gators for 148 yards on 26 carries with two scores. Florida’s leading rusher was Mark Thompson with 19 yards on three carries.
A team that could have made a big push forward this weekend was Kentucky. The Wildcats had been surging forward but dropped a 27-24 contest to Georgia on a last second field goal. Even though Florida now has two losses, they are still atop the East with Kentucky behind them. Florida still has tough games against LSU in-conference and Florida State out of conference.
Auburn eked past Vanderbilt 23-16 perhaps looking ahead to Georgia. South Carolina continued their uptick with a 31-21 win against Missouri. Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly left the game with a leg injury. The Rebels got the win against Georgia Southern, but if Kelly is out for the rest of the season, Mississippi will have trouble closing on a high note with games against Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State.
Another one got away from LSU this weekend dropping a 10-0 contest to No. 1 Alabama. The Tide showed their worth as the nation’s best team playing stifling defense holding LSU QB Danny Etling to 92 passing yards and All-SEC running back Leonard Fournette to 35 yards on 17 carries.
Games of Note
Boise State beat San Jose State 45-31 and Western Michigan remained perfect with a 52-20 win over Ball State. Navy may have helped expedited Notre Dame’s coaching search with a 28-27 win over the Fighting Irish.
Top Week 11 Games
It may not be much of a game, but Baylor somehow remains ranked. If Oklahoma wins, that’ll be another resume victory for the Sooners.
Penn State cannot get caught sleeping on Indiana.
Georgia has a name, Auburn should roll.
Charlie Strong needs a win over a ranked West Virginia team, especially at home.
Virginia Tech has a good thing going. Georgia Tech’s offense can give teams fits.
Texas Tech’s offense travels but their defense has gone missing. Can Oklahoma State avoid the upset?
Arkansas could help LSU’s slide while pushing for a nice bowl with a home win over the Tigers.
Minnesota could separate from the back with a road win over Nebraska.
Perhaps the biggest game of the weekend, can USC upset Washington in Seattle?
AP Top 25
- Alabama
- Michigan
- Clemson
- Washington
- Louisville
- Ohio State
- Wisconsin
- Auburn
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- West Virginia
- Penn State
- Utah
- Western Michigan
- North Carolina
- Colorado
- Oklahoma State
- Virginia Tech
- LSU
- Florida State
- Nebraska
- Florida
- Washington State
- Boise State
- Baylor
Photo credit: al.com; Alabama wraps up LSU running back Leonard Fournette.