Huge Night For The SEC & Big Ten
Week Eleven certainly lived up to its billing, with both the all unbeaten clashes ending up as one-score games, while Ohio State also made a statement putting 73 points on Maryland. Things were less impressive over in the Big 12 though and although Oklahoma & Baylor both won the manner of victory will hardly impress the CFP Committee. They look destined to meet in the Big 12 Championship now, but whoever wins that one will still need a lot of help if they are to sneak into the final four. Speaking of teams on the outside looking in Clemson reminded everyone that they are still very much alive with an Eight TD performance. They have scored at least 55 points in each of their last three games and are now 10-0. They look set to have their second successive unbeaten regular season. It’s going to be an exciting run in and there is now no margin for error for the hopefuls.
The Cotton Bowl Bid Remains Wide Open
The Group of Five had a heap of contenders going into this weeks play and only UCF dropped completely out of the picture with a third loss against Tulsa. The only two of the four ranked AAC teams played on Saturday and both won. In the Moutain West, Boise State kept their hopes alive (just) with an OT win over Wyoming. Louisiana Tech moved to 8-1 in the C-USA with an impressive win over North Texas. As we said last week they are very much the outsiders but given their only loss was to Texas (who had a nice ranked win on Saturday) if they win out then they have a chance. As does Sun Belt Appalachian State, also a one-loss team, but with Two Power Five Wins. If strength of schedule counts then the Mountaineers should be right up there.
Playoff Position
Georgia is right back in contention thanks to a routine win over Missouri, and will almost certainly meet LSU in the SEC Conference Final; win in that and they have to be in. Minnesota is very much alive too with that win over Penn State, and of course, the Nittany Lions could still win out and get in, as they would meet again in the conference final in that scenario. Oregon & Utah didn’t play, so no change there, however, with Washington & USC both winning at least some of their wins look a bit better. Overall they look slightly better positioned currently than the two Big 12 contenders mentioned above. We can’t see how a two-loss team can make the final four now so we can forget the rest.
Our Predictions
We ended up 12-3 straight up and 9-6 against the spread.
CFP Top 25 Results For 2019 Week Eleven
Of note here was Wisconsin’s narrow win, which keeps them in contention for a New Years Bowl Bid. Florida similarly are likely to make and right now it looks like being the Cotton Bowl. Baylor might still make the Rose Bowl but they will probably need Oklahoma to make the final four. Notre Dame might take the ACC place in Orange Bowl if Clemson as we now expect finishes in the Playoffs. They have beaten the other ACC contenders, however, they will need to win out.
Maryland 14 @ No 1 Ohio State 73
No 2 LSU 46 @ No 3 Alabama 41
No 4 Penn State 26 @ No 17 Minnesota 31
No 5 Clemson 55 @ NC State 10
Missouri 0 @ No 6 Georgia 27
Iowa State 41 @ No 9 Oklahoma 42
Vanderbilt 0 @ No 10 Florida 56
No 12 Baylor 29 @ TCU 23
No 18 Iowa 22 @ No 13 Wisconsin 24
No 15 Notre Dame 38 @ Duke 7
No 16 Kansas State 24 @ Texas 27
No 19 Wake Forest 17 @ Virginia Tech 36
Connecticut 3 @ No 20 Cincinnati 48
Wyoming 17 @ No 22 Boise State 20
East Carolina 51 @ No 25 SMU 59
With five ranked losses this week there should be a few changes, however, three of these losses were unavoidable so there might not be too many new entries.
Racking them up
Outside of the Top 25 results, the honour goes to:
Arny 63 – UMass 7
Passing was at a premium in this one as neither breached 100 yards through the air, and UMass ended up on the wrong side of a beating for the second week running (they gave up 63 points last week as well).
Entertaining Game of the Week
Of the ranked teams, SMU once again stood out winning a shootout this time. Spare a thought for ECU’s Holton Ahlers 498 yards passing, 6TDs and on the losing side! Anyway outside of the top 25 one worth watching is:
San Jose State 40 @ Hawaii 42 – over 100 yards of offense, lots of lead changes, and generally close to the end. Neither defense came out with much credit though and there was only a single turnover. Hawaii made bowl eligibility with his win.
Honourable mention goes to Utah State 37 @ Fresno State 35 – Lots of offense and a thrilling finish.
Performance of the Week
Outside of the AP top 25, our vote goes to:
Western Kentucky 45 @ Arkansas 19 – A C-USA team winning on the road against even a struggling SEC team is not something you see every week. This was no fluke as the score indicates and will be especially sweet for the Hilltopers QB Ty Storey, who spent three seasons with Arkansas before being dropped as starter. Looks like his decision to transfer was a wise one as the Razorbacks are out of bowl contention, while WKU became eligible with this win.
One you might have missed
Appalachian State 20 @ South Carolina 15.
With all the excitement in the SEC & Big Ten, you could be excused for overlooking this one, however, it has more significance than being a rare Group of Five win at an SEC Team. The Mountaineers, who only lost their unbeaten record last time out are now the only Sun Belt team ever to beat two Power Five teams in a single season. Even better both wins have been on the road! Their other P5 win was at ACC North Carolina, and although neither are having vintage seasons South Carolina has wins over Georgia & Kentucky in SEC play while North Carolina came within a failed 2 point conversion of taking down reigning champions Clemson! Maybe its time to put a few more Power 5 vs Group of Five matchups on the Bowl Schedule.
Looking Good
Miami 52 – Louisville 27. Miami got bowl eligible thanks to Jarren Williams record six Touch Down night. He has impressed since recapturing the starting job from Perry and although it’s too late for them to figure in the ACC Championship they should finish the season with a winning record and make a nice bowl game (possibly the Sun Bowl).
Still Unbeaten – And Then There Was Five
Alabama & Penn State both lost their unbeaten records to what are now 9-0 teams, and both lost by exactly 5 points. Having watched the games we are not too sure the results would be the same if the games were replayed though. However Congrats to both Minnesota & LSU, we are pretty sure that at least one of these two will be in the playoffs.
In The ACC – Clemson
In The Big 12 – Baylor
In The Big 10 – Ohio State & Minnesota
In The SEC – LSU
Please, can we have a win!
Another week another loss – that’s the story of New Mexico State’s season. They join Rice & Arkon at 0-9 thanks to a 41-3 beat down at Ole Miss. Still if quality loses count this might keep them out of the wooden spoon race – well The Rebels do play in the SEC and this is their third Power Five loss.
Stat Attack Week Eleven
- Most Yards: Ohio State vs. Maryland, 705 yards
- Most Combined Yards: East Carolina (644) v SMU (636), 1280 combined yards
- Most Points: Ohio State vs. Maryland, 73 points
- Biggest Margin of Victory: Ohio State (73) v Maryland (14), 59 points
- Most Combined Points: East Carolina 51 v SMU 59 110 points
And Finally Something Completely Different
The unsung heroes on any team – a good punter. They can change the course of a game and in close ones, the field position battle is often the difference between a win or a loss. Anyway the following take a bow.
Average Yards Per Punt as at Week Eleven
1. Braden Mann Texas A&M 49.0
2. Max Duffy Kentucky 48.6
3. Oscar Bradburn Virginia Tech 48.6
4. Joseph Charlton South Carolina 48.3
5. Trenton Gill North Carolina State 47.7
6. Dane Roy Houston 47.2
7. Michael Turk Arizona State 47.1
8. Jake Camarda Georgia 46.8
9. Ryan Stonehouse Colorado State 46.6
10. John Haggerty Western Kentucky 46.4
We should see one or two of these in the NFL in due course.
