Week 12 passed relatively uneventfully with West Virginia being the only loser in the top 12. That loss put pay to their already wafer-thin hopes of a playoff place, however, they are still in with a chance of an NY6 Bowl. Alabama made hard work of beating The Citadel only pulling away in the second half, and Ohio State was a trifle lucky to escape with a win. Notre Dame had another statement win which should be enough (assuming they take care of USC next week) to ensure they are in the playoffs – despite not having a Conference Final game, while Washington State kept the PAC 12’s hopes alive with a blow out win over Arizona; Gardner Minshew for the Heisman anyone? Anyway the main results panned out as follows:
AP Top 25 results
1 Alabama – Beat the Citadel (and FCS Team) 50-17
2 Clemson – Beat Duke 35-6
3 Notre Dame – Beat Syracuse 36-3
4 Michigan – Beat Indiana 31-20
5 Georgia – Beat Umass 66-27
6 Oklahoma – Beat Kansas 55-40
7 West Virginia – Lost 45-41 at Oklahoma State
8 Ohio State – Won at Maryland 52-51
9 LSU Beat Rice 42-10
10 Washington State – Beat Arizona 69-28
11 UCF – Beat Cinncinatti 38-13
12 Kentucky – Beat Mid Tenessee 34-23
13 Syracuse – Lost to Notre Dame
14 Utah State – Won at Colorado State 29-24
15 Texas – Beat Iowa State 24-10
16 Fresno State – Beat San Diego State 23-14
17 Boston College – Lost at Florida State 22-21
18 Mississippi State – Beat Arkansas 52-6
19 Florida – Beat Idaho 63-10
20 Washington – Beat Oregon State 42-23
21 Penn State – Won 20-7 at Rutgers
22 NC State – Won 52-10 at Louisville
23 Iowa State – Lost to Texas
24 Michigan State – Lost 9-6 at Nebraska
25 Cincinnati Lost to UCF
Racking them up
Nine teams managed 50 plus points this week including one who lost! see below. No one came close to Clemson though with 77. They were 63-3 up nearing the end of the 3rd quarter and scored at least 2 TDs in each quarter. A nice way to move to 9-0 and they are hitting top form at just the right time.
Is it Basketball?
Plenty of contenders this week but the award goes to (minor drum roll) UMass 62 – Liberty 59. The Minute Men are no strangers to high scoring games with 7 of their 10 games this season involving one team scoring over 49 points; including losing by exactly 58-42 two weeks running – the odds of that must have been in the millions to one.
Honourable mention her goes to Memphis 59 East Carolina 41. 100 points is no mean feat and its the 5th time this season Memphis have scored 50+ points, and only one of their games has had less that 60 in it!
Game of the day
For sheer gutsy play, it has to go to West Virginia who went for 2 to cap off a come from behind win with 16 seconds left. There were 9 lead changes in the game and the Mountaineers are not completely out of the playoff hunt thanks to this win.
A close contender was Oregon State for their crazy comeback win against Colorado. The Beavers looked dead and buried trailing 31-3 in the Third Quarter but battled back to win it 41-34 in Over Time.
Performance of the day
For us it was Missouri who bounced back from last weeks heartbreaking loss to Kentucky with a huge win at Florida. Bowl eligibility now looks within reach and a top 25 ranking is not out of the question by the seasons’ end.
Looking Good
UAB 52 UTSA 3 – as we mentioned in out half-term report on C-USA the Blazers are having a great season and are way ahead of expectations having only recently restarted their football programme. But for that somewhat incomprehensible loss to Coastal Carolina they would be undefeated and at 8-1 they look set to play in the conference final. Their defence is the star with 3 shutouts and they have conceded 7 points or less 6 times. They are getting no love in the rankings but with a game at Texas A&M to come, that could change (although we can’t see them competing with the Aggies). A nice Bowl awaits them whatever.
Wake Me Up When Its All Over
Snooze of the day was at Tennessee who edged past C-USA also-rans Charlotte 14-3. All the points came in the first half a 16 yard TD pass, a punt return for a TD, and a solitary FG for Charlotte. Tennessee had 20 yards rushing!
And Finally
UTEP’s run of 20 consecutive losses came to a shuddering halt as they beat fellow strugglers Rice 34-26. Rice are now the worst team in the FBS having lost 9 in a row; sporting a 1-9 record.
