#Nuggets: Michigan and Oklahoma State get it done, Alabama advances, and much more

NUGGETS

Michigan did it. They really did it. When one team wins a rivalry game 15 out of 16 times, you begin to look for the Catastrophic Moment. It's easy for the underdog to come out with its hair on fire, but it's an entirely different deal to sustain that effort and execution over 60 long minutes. So when the early effort inevitably runs out, the Catastrophic Moment is oftentimes just around the corner -- that critical mistake, bounce of the ball or swing in momentum when both sides begin thinking, "Oh boy, here we go again."

You can train all year long, develop your body, concoct the perfect scheme, tell yourself you're ready, but the only way to know you're truly ready to overcome the Catastrophic Moment is to go out there and do it.

For Michigan, the first potential CM arrived at the 8:44 mark of the first quarter, After opening the game with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive and then forcing a three-and-out, Michigan got a big punt return and completion to create a 1st-and-10 at the Buckeye 15. Cade McNamara didn't see the wide open wheel route and instead forced the post, which was intercepted by Ohio State safety Bryson Shaw. A sure 14-0 lead became 7-3 when Ohio State pieced together a 12-play drive. Now the Buckeye offense was in rhythm, and when Ohio State took a 10-7 lead it seemed the Wolverines may not see daylight again. You know every Michigan fan was burning hole in the Michigan Stadium scoreboard, envisioning a 14 that instead showed 7.

Instead, Michigan answered. A 13-play, 82-yard touchdown drive put the Wolverines back on top 14-10, which leads us to our second potential Catastrophic Moment.

Ohio State took over with 3:42 left in the half and, by the 39-second mark, had a 1st-and-10 at Michigan's 20. The Buckeyes would get the ball to open the second half, and you just know every Michigan fan feared a scenario where Ohio State would hold a 24-14 lead by the time Michigan touched the ball again, Big Mo sitting on the visitor's sideline.

Except the opposite happened. Michigan forced an Ohio State field goal, then a Buckeye three-and-out to begin the second half. From there, it was a pure maize-and-blue mauling. The Wolverines' second half offense:

3 plays, 81 yards, touchdown
5 plays, 78 yards, touchdown
9 plays, 66 yards, touchdown
5 plays, 63 yards, touchdown

Michigan hadn't out-rushed Ohio State since 2011, and on the Big House turf watched a parade of Buckeye backs run wild -- Carlos Hyde (226 yards, 2013), Ezekiel Elliott (214 yards, 2015), JK Dobbins (101 yards, 2017; 211 yards, 2019). On Saturday, Michigan flipped the script, limiting Ohio State to 2.1 yards a carry while springing Hassan Haskins for 169 yards and a series-record five touchdowns. 

Good for Jim Harbaugh, who'd earned this win. Good for his staff, who gambled by heading to Ann Arbor after the 2-4 season and a boss who clearly stood on thin ice. Good for Josh Gattis and Mike Macdonald, who'd never run their own offense or defense before Harbaugh gave them his. Good for his players, who committed to a plan and saw it pay off in front of their eyes. Good for Michigan fans, who'd earned this and then some. 

"After the first day of winter conditioning, we moved different and guys acted different from last year because of experiencing something like that last year," linebacker Josh Ross told ESPN. "We're not going to let it happen again. We don't ever want to feel like that again; we're better than that and we know that."

And good for college football. The rivalry needed this. The sport needed this. And even if they can't see it now, Ohio State will come out stronger for this experience. The proof stood across the line of scrimmage from them on Saturday.

Oklahoma State overcomes its own Catastrophic Moments. After a first half tie, Spencer Sanders raced in for a 37-yard touchdown for Oklahoma State. His score at the 13:52 mark of the second quarter provided the first offensive points by either team in the second half... and cut the Cowboys' deficit to two.

It was that kind of night in Stillwater, where Oklahoma scored 33 points and got tremendous help from their opponent on 23 of them.

-- Leading 14-7, Oklahoma State forced a punt until, on 4th-and-16, a roughing the kicker penalty gave OU the ball back at the Cowboy 27. The Sooners tied the game two plays later.

-- Leading 24-17, Sanders threw an interception to Woodi Washington, which he returned 32 yards to the Cowboy 14. Oklahoma tied the game three plays later.

-- After forcing a punt to open the second half, Oklahoma State's first offensive snap was fumbled into its own end zone and recovered for a safety.

-- After forcing another punt on OU's second possession, Brennan Presley muffed the punt, which Justin Broiles recovered in the end zone for a Sooner touchdown.

-- Now trailing 33-24, Oklahoma State moved to the Sooner 25-yard line but missed a field goal.

-- After forcing a Caleb Williams fumble, Oklahoma State gave the ball right back when Sanders was picked again, and again by Washington.

There you have three turnovers, a safety, a missed field goal and a penalty that functioned as a turnover, a black-and-orange potporrui of Catastrophic Moments. Yet Oklahoma State overcame all that, and a century-plus of losing to Oklahoma, to win the game because they had the better team.

Oklahoma did not score after halftime, punting five times, fumbling once and turning the ball over on downs twice. (In fairness, OU also allowed a kickoff return for a score and muffed a punt of its own for a quick OSU touchdown. There was plenty of catastrophe to go around at Boone Pickens Stadium.)

The vaunted Cowboy defense stiffened when it mattered most, stopping Williams on a 4th-and-10 scramble to seemingly win the game with 1:16 to play, then sacking him on 4th-and-10 at the OSU 24 with eight seconds to play in the game, a stone's throw from another Catastrophic Moment.

Collin Oliver crawled on his hands and knees to sack Williams on that final play, and with him came Oklahoma's 6-year Big 12 championship streak. The nightmare scenario of OSU's hated rival beating them twice in a row to deny them an all-too-rare conference title and a landmark College Football Playoff berth will not come to pass. 

Alabama's offense was awful, until it was perfect. With 1:32 to play, Alabama needed to go 98 yards to avoid its first touchdown-free day since the 2011 Game of the Century loss to LSU. From an offense that couldn't get out of its own way for 58 and a half minutes, what followed was a master class of execution. 

Alabama ran 12 plays in 71 seconds, not once completing a pass inbounds short of the sticks. With no timeouts, Alabama went 98 yards with 24 seconds to spare, striking pay dirt when Bryce Young hit freshman Ja'Corey Brooks, who entered the game with two catches all season. 

In overtime, Alabama scored a touchdown -- Young hit Slade Bolden on 3rd-and-4 for the score -- kicked a field goal, and then converted both 2-point conversions to secure the unlikeliest of 24-22 wins. 

“After halftime, it just seemed like everybody was all-in and we were fighting like I’ve never seen us fight all year long,” Nick Saban said. “It’s a great feeling. The players were as happy as I’ve ever seen them after the game.”

How does Bryan Harsin look his team in the eye after not going for two and the win? You're a massive underdog, playing with a backup quarterback on a bum ankle. The longer the game continues, the less chance you have to win. You clearly have a great 2-point play in your hip pocket -- the throwback to the tight end -- that you used in triple overtime. Most importantly,

After the first overtime, you have to go for two from that point forward anyway.

Auburn had a much better chance of out-executing Alabama over a single play than over two consecutive series, and the remainder of overtime was proof of that. 

Michigan-Ohio State wasn't the only division championship game on Saturday. In the game of the day outside Ann Arbor, Kent State won the MAC East by fending off Miami (Ohio), 48-47 in overtime. And it was a pair of goal line stands that did it.

Clinging to a 41-38 lead, Kent State had to defend a 1st-and-goal inside the final minute, stoning two straight runs and forcing an incompletion, leading Miami to opt for a 20-yard field goal to tie the game with four seconds left.

After the Flashes scored a touchdown in the top of the first overtime, Miami answered with a touchdown on its first snap. They went for two and the win, and instead got zero and the loss. 

In the C-USA East title game, Western Kentucky scored 47 (47!) second half points in overcoming a 14-0 deficit to beat Marshall 53-21... at Marshall. After starting 1-4, WKU rides a 7-game winning streak into San Antonio on Friday night. 

Minnesota didn't just snap an 8-game home losing streak to Paul Bunyan's Axe rival Wisconsin, their 23-13 win sent Iowa to the Big Ten Championship for the first time since 2015. 

The conference championship schedule is set.

-- American: No. 24 Houston at No. 4 Cincinnati (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
-- ACC: No. 17 Pitt vs. No. 18 Wake Forest -- Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte (8 p.m. ET, ABC)
-- Big Ten: No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 16 Iowa -- Lucas Oil Field, Indianapolis (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
-- Big 12: No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 8 Baylor -- AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas (noon ET, ABC)
-- Conference USA: Western Kentucky at UTSA (7 p.m. ET Friday, CBS Sports Network)
-- MAC: Kent State vs. Northern Illinois -- Ford Field, Detroit (noon ET, ESPN)
-- Mountain West: Utah State at No. 21 San Diego State -- Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, Calif. (3 p.m. ET, Fox)
-- Pac-12: No. 16 Utah vs. No. 11 Oregon -- Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas (8 p.m. ET Friday, ABC)
-- SEC: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 3 Alabama -- Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta (4 p.m. ET, CBS)
-- Sun Belt: Appalachian State at Louisiana (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

FRIES

The Super 16. This week's FWAA-NFF Super 16 poll.

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Cincinnati
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma State
6. Notre Dame
7. Ohio State
8. Baylor
9. Ole Miss
10. Oregon
11. Michigan State
12. Iowa
13. Pitt
14. Wake Forest
15. BYU
16. San Diego State

Odds and Ends

a. The 2021 Hiring Class Gold Star award has to go to Utah State's Blake Anderson. He inherited a 1-5 team and is taking them to the Mountain West Championship -- the program's second MW Mountain Division title -- in year one on the job. It's the fourth time Anderson has won a conference or division title in his last seven seasons. 

b. Last we saw Brady Hoke as head coach, he went 5-7 and got fired at Michigan. He's now 11-1, has his team in the CFP Top 25, and will host the Mountain West Championship on Saturday as the Aztecs play for their third MW title. 

c. NC State rallied from down 30-21 with two and a half minutes to play to stun North Carolina, winning 34-30 in Raleigh. It was possibly the unlikeliest win all season, and it came at the perfect time for the Wolfpack.

d. And they beat Texas in Fayetteville.

e. Walked outside Friday to toss the football around with Nebraska leading 21-9. Walked back in and they were down 28-21. It would've taken a blocked punt, a fumble, a safety, a three-and-out, a 55-yard breakaway run allowed, and a WTF interception for Nebraska to gag that game away, which is exactly what Nebraska did. A magnum opus in how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

f. Northwestern 2018: Big Ten West champions
Northwestern 2019: 7th place in Big Ten West
Northwestern 2020: Big Ten West champions
Northwestern 2021: 7th place in Big Ten West

g. Teams that won win-or-stay home games: Florida (over Florida State), Maryland (over Rutgers), LSU (over Texas A&M), Middle Tennessee (over FAU), Ball State (over Buffalo), North Texas (over UTSA), Old Dominion (over Charlotte), Virginia Tech (over Virginia), Tulsa (over SMU), West Virginia (over Kansas), and Memphis (over Tulane).

h. North Texas started 1-6 and will now go bowling thanks to a 5-game winning streak, closing with a 22-point win over a UTSA team that had won 11 in a row coming in. 

i. Middle Tennessee's 27-17 triumph at Florida Atlantic pushed Rick Stockstill over the century mark.

j. You can't say enough good things about Ricky Rahne and his crew at Old Dominion. The Monarchs took last year off, started 1-6 (the one win came over Hampton) and then won five straight C-USA games to reach a bowl game.

k. Virginia Tech is 21-2 against Virginia since 1999.

l. Clemson has beaten South Carolina seven straight times, six of them by 18 points or more.

m. Producing those graphics ahead of time is great. What's also great? Just firing off a burn off the cuff like this.

n. Oregon moved 12-2 against Oregon State since 2008 with a 38-29 win.

o. Arizona State has won the Territorial Cup five years in a row, its longest streak since ripping off a record nine in a row from 1965-73.

p. Florida's three straight wins over Florida State are its most since winning six straight from 2004-09. Here's how it happened: trailing 24-21, FSU wanted to try an onside kick with two kickers. The first would fake a kick, and the second would really kick it. Except that's not what happened.

q. Michigan State went from 2-5 to 10-2 with a 30-27 win over Penn State. And they did it in the snow.

DESSERT

Ed Orgeron likely coached his final game as a head coach on Saturday night, exiting stage left with a 27-24 upset of No. 15 Texas A&M in which Max Johnson hit Jaray Jenkins for a 28-yard touchdown with 20 seconds to play to provide the winning margin.

If this is it for him -- at least in the spotlight we've grown accustomed to seeing him -- it's been a pleasure to observe one of the game's great characters.