Week Nine of the 2018 College Football season was expected to be a quiet week with 5 of the top 11 not playing and most of the big divisional games being scheduled for next week. However, it turned out to be a bit of a “what the heck happened?” week Eleven of the 20 ranked teams playing losing! Expect to see a lot of new and or returning faces when the new rankings are announced.
The top 25 results panned out as follows:
1 Alabama – didn’t play
2 Clemson – Beat Florida State 59-10 This was FSU’s biggest home loss ever!
3 Notre Dame – won at Navy 44-22
4 LSU – didn’t play
5 Michigan – didn’t play
6 Texas – lost at Oklahoma State 38-35
7 Georgia – beat Florida 36-17
8 Oklahoma – beat Kansas State 51-14
9 Florida – lost at Georgia
10 UCF – didn’t play
11 Ohio State – didn’t play
12 Kentucky – won at Missouri 15-14
13 West Virginia – beat Baylor 58-14
14 Washington State – won at Stanford 41-38
15 Washington – lost 12-10 at California
16 Texas A&M – lost 28-13 at Mississippi State
17 Penn State – Beat Iowa 30-24
18 Iowa – Lost to Penn State
19 Oregon – lost 44-15 at Arizona
20 Wisconsin – Lost a Northwestern 31-17
21 South Florida – Lost at Houston 57-36
22 North Carolina State – lost 51-41 at Syracuse
23 Utah – Beat UCLA 41-10
24 Stanford – lost at home to Washington State
25 Appalachian State – lost 34-14 at Georgia Southern
Amidst the chaos things, playoff-wise actually became clearer as Texas, Florida, and Washington no longer have any realistic scenario which sees them included. Also despite not playing UCF’s minuscule chances also ended along with South Florida’s unbeaten record. They meet in the last divisional game and two unbeaten AAC teams clashing might have been enough to pique the Bowl Committees interest. As it stands Houston could end up being the AAC’s best chance at a New Years Bowl as they now control the West and have scored at least 40 points in every game they have played in this season.
Racking them up
Utah State 61, New Mexico 19 – Utah led 52-5 at the half!
Wake Forest 56 Louisville 35 – Incredibly there was no scoring in the 4th quarter.
Is it Basketball?
Plenty of contenders this week but the award goes to Maryland 66, Illinois 33 who racked up 8 touchdowns between them in the second half.
Game of the day
Plenty of contenders but overall for us, it was Washington State’s clutch win a Stanford to keep theirs and the PAC-12 as a wholes hopes of a play-off place alive. A back and forward game where passing ruled & plenty of lead changes took place. Stanford had Bryce Love back but he still looked banged up and could never really get going – despite gaining 71 yards on 6 carries.
Washington State’s Gardner Minshew threw for 438 yards and another 3 TDs making it 26 on the season and he kept his cool as he drove them down the field to secure the win with a Field goal with 19 seconds remaining. Right now he must be in Heisman contention.
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
Has to go to Clemson not only did they cement their playoff credentials but also handed Florida State a record-breaking loss. The Tigers were 45-0 up midway through the 3rd Quarter.
Honourable mention too for Northwestern who after a pretty dismal September have won 4 in a row including two wins over ranked teams. They should find themselves in the rankings this week and have a shot at the Big 10 Conference Final.
Looking Good
Army 37 East Michigan 22 – another dominant ground & pound performance, racking up 289 yards rushing while holding EMU to 34. Not sure what Army has to do to get some love in the rankings, they are 6-2 and both losses have been to Power 5 teams including a narrow OT loss at no 8 Oklahoma!
Wake Me Up When Its All Over
Was the phrase that sprung to mind following Northern Illinois 7-6 win at BYU. Two field goals and a 1 yard TD run summed up the scoring.
And Finally a Win
San Jose State 50, UNLV 37 – After trailing twice in the 1st half SJSU finally managed to pick up that elusive first win. Now only UTEP remain winless in the FBS.
Image Evgenii Matrosov/Shutterstock
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