by The best of what we learned, what we now know and what we still need to find out following this past Saturday in college football.
Clemson ain’t done yet
I said it after Week 1 and I’ll say it again: Georgia is that good and Clemson is still going to be a legit ACC title contender. Since that loss, Clemson has a 66-20 win against App State and a 59-35 win against NC State (a team whose given them issues in the past) on Saturday. Cade Klubnik looked a lot more loose and has opened up since being shut down by that elite UGA defense. To say that the Tigers can’t compete with Miami and make the CFP would be downright foolish. Don’t count this team out.
Mizzou is not a Top 10 team.
At least right now they’re not. Explosive plays keep gutting this defense, who has seemingly taken a step back after losing a few key pieces and DC Blake Baker. The offense is still fun, even though Brady Cooks hasn’t looked super sharp, but sloppy football and ugly wins over BC and Vandy has gotten these Tigers to 4-0. They have a bye week to figure some things out, but we’ll see if Mizzou is a different team in two weeks when they head to College Station.
Sidenote: S/O to Clark Lea and Vandy. A well-coached team who (besides choking at Georgia State) is defying odds and should go bowling this season.
Tennesee is more than just offense.
It’s not just the Nico Show down in Knoxville. Josh Heupel’s adaptability to develop a top-end defense is what is shifting the narrative of Tennessee being a “playoff contender” to a “national title contender.” The Vols, led by James Pierce and that stout defensive front, held OU to 222 total yards and 1.1 yards per rush. They are a serious candidate to end up in Atlanta for the SEC title game and be a top-four seed.
Oh no, OU.
The guy who you replaced Dillon Gabriel for to be the guy isn’t the guy and now you’re stuck in quick sand. In what was the most lopsided 10-point loss against Tennessee on Saturday, OU was gutted and shut down offensively in a game that saw Jackson Arnold get benched. This begs the questions: how ugly can this season get, especially with #1 Texas around the corner, and how much longer will Brett Venables be in charge?
USC is still a Big Ten title contender.
Sure, they lost to Michigan on Saturday. But this is still a program who is light years ahead defensively and has a stud quarterback that kept them in the game against the Wolverines. Let’s not write USC off and keep them out of the conference championship chase, either. They play Penn State at home and dodge OSU and Oregon down the road. The margin for error is indeed smaller, but there’s no doubting this is a program built for the playoff.
Sidenote: Michigan desperately NEEDED that win for multiple reasons, but mainly to boost morale, recruiting, and the momentum of the program. I can’t see them dropping out of the Top 25 for the rest of the year, even if they lose another game or two.
Utah no in control of Big 12
I whiffed last week when I said that K-State was the clear conference title front runner because four days later the Cats got upset at BYU. While I’m still not counting out K-State, Utah has kicked it into high gear and is the current odds-on favorite to win the Big 12 after edging Oklahoma State on the road this past Saturday (led 22-3 in 3Q). Impressively enough, backup Isaac Wilson stepped in and led the offense to victory, but that still does not negate the fact that Utah likely needs Cam Rising healthy if it wants to win the Big 12 and make the CFP.
Sidenote: do not sleep on Iowa State (3-0) or UCF (3-0) either — two programs sitting in the shadows with favorable schedules ahead.
Group of Five race is still fireworks
It’s every week with these guys. Down goes Memphis (L, 56-44 at Navy), NIU (L, 23-20 OT vs Buffalo), and Toledo (L, 26-21 at WKU) who were all coming off huge wins at Power Four opponents. What this past weekend once again reminded us is that the G5 field is so even that the No. 12 seed likely won’t make it through the year undefeated (although, Liberty is making quite the case).