1. Gus's finest hour. This was Gus Malzahn's eighth Iron Bowl. He was part of Auburn's two best wins in this game, a comeback from 24-0 down to preserve the 2010 national championship run and, of course, the Kick Six in 2013. So, yeah, Gus had beaten Alabama before but not like this.
He had never before, to borrow a phrase from the man himself, beaten the dog crap out of Alabama.
Auburn dictated the terms of engagement for all 60 minutes on Saturday. The Tigers ran 78 plays to the Tide's 61, won time of possession by 12 minutes and won 17 of the game's 29 third downs.
In fact, Auburn led after all three quarters: 7-0 after the first, 10-7 at the half, 20-14 after three and 26-14 at the final horn. Auburn at one point scored on three consecutive possessions -- covering 195 yards on 28 plays (6.96 a pop) over its first three possessions of the second half while Kevin Steele's defense turned away Alabama's final five possessions without a point.
This was Auburn's largest Iron Bowl margin of victory since 1969 -- Bear Bryant was the Tide's coach then -- and dropped Nick Saban to 0-7 all-time against Auburn teams with at least nine wins.
It was, to drive home my own point, Gus's best win over Alabama. He agreed.
But it wasn't even Auburn's best win over a No. 1 team this month. That came two weeks ago in the Tigers' 40-17 beat down of then-No. 1 Georgia. The Tigers will get another shota at Georgia next week.
1a. Some incredible Nick Saban stats. The greatest compliment you can give Saban is that every time he loses it feels like an event.
2. Ohio State wins The Game. Again. Ohio State beat Michigan for the sixth time in a row and 13th time in 14 years on Saturday, and two plays told the story of Saturday's game and the last decade and a half.
The first: A 3rd-and-13 at the Ohio State 47 with 3:06 to play in the third quarter. Michigan leads 20-14 and J.T. Barrett has just been knocked out of the game. All the Wolverines need is to force Ohio State's backup quarterback Dwayne Haskins to throw an incomplete pass to take the lead with the ball late in the second half -- unfamiliar territory for both teams in this series. Instead, Haskins fired a 27-yard completion and Ohio State took the lead three plays later.
The second play: A 4th-and-4 at the Ohio State 39 with 6:53 left in the game. Ohio State leads 24-20. A complete pass gives Michigan a great chance to take a lead late in the fourth quarter. Ohio State brings pressure, and third-string quarterback John O'Korn could not deliver the ball to wide-open running back Karan Higdon for a sure first down.
For the second straight year Michigan played Ohio State straight up for most of the afternoon, but Ohio State was simply better when winning time arrived. The Buckeyes scored the game's final 17 points to win 31-20.
Jim Harbaugh has built a program that played toe-to-toe with Ohio State at every position on the field except the most important position on the field. The Wolverines lost 30-27 in double overtime last season because Wilton Speight gave away two touchdowns at the goal line, and they lost Saturday because O'Korn -- who, to be fair, is Michigan's third-stringer, though this was his fifth start of the year -- missed open receiver after open receiver.
Until that changes, the results in this series will not.
3. The War on I-4 lives up to its name. You know you're in for a great rivalry football game when this is how the first touchdown is scored.
South Florida and Central Florida haven't played nearly as often as they should, but the I-4 rivals meet every year now and Friday's edition will be one they'll remember for as long as this game as played. With 19-1 combined records, the AAC West championship and seemingly much more on the line, the No. 15 Knights and Bulls waged a heavyweight bout with haymakers and counter-haymakers until the very end. USF went up first on the above score, then UCF ran off three straight touchdowns in the first quarter. USF pulled within 21-20 at the half, then took a 34-28 lead into the fourth quarter. UCF scored on consecutive possessions -- ending a string of eight empty possessions in nine tries -- by moving 152 yards in six plays to grab a 42-34 lead with 2:21 remaining. But USF needed only one play to tie it, an 83-yard strike from Quinton Flowers to Darnell Salomon, then another Flowers pass for the needed 2-point conversion, with 1:41 remaining. But UCF didn't even need one play to reclaim the lead as Mike Hughes returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. The Bulls moved inside UCF territory inside the final minute with a chance to forge the game's second tie inside the final two minutes, but the Knights' defense forced and recovered the deciding fumble to preserve a 49-42 win. UCF gained five more first downs than USF, but the Bulls out-gained the Knights by 120 yards -- largely because of Flowers. The USF quarterback was the best player on the field, hitting 24-of-45 passes for 503 yards with four touchdowns and an interception while rushing 20 times for a game-high 102 yards and a touchdown.
The win makes Central Florida the first program ever to record a perfect regular season two years after recording a winless season.
The Knights will advance to the American Championship against No. 20 Memphis, while Scott Frost will also advance into offers for lots and lots of money from Florida and Nebraska. 4. Miami is fine... but is Miami really fine? In terms of the College Football Playoff race, No. 2 Miami's visit to Pittsburgh on Friday might as well have been a scrimmage. Either the Canes will beat Clemson to win the ACC Championship and advance to the CFP or they won't. Friday's result didn't matter. But Friday's game wasn't a scrimmage, it was a real live game against a real live opponent, and the result should calls into question Miami's ability to actually beat Clemson and realize their Playoff dreams. The Hurricanes gained only 232 yards of total offense in their 24-14 loss to Pitt, converting just four of 15 third downs. Malik Rozier hit just 15-of-34 throws, and for just 187 yards. As a team, Miami mustered only 45 rushing yards on 23 carries.
5. Meet the new No. 1. Same as the old No. 1. Many people will argue Auburn should be the new No. 1 this week, and why wouldn't they? The Tigers have beaten the No. 1 team in the country twice in three weeks.
But there's another set of Tigers that actually beat those set of Tigers and looked like a national championship threat on Saturday. On a weekend where Nos. 1 and 2 went on the road and lost, No. 3 Clemson visited No. 24 South Carolina, at night, and promptly jumped out to a 34-0 lead before cruising to a 34-10 final.
It was Clemson's fourth straight win over South Carolina, including a 90-17 margin over the past two seasons.
In addition to beating 10-win and SEC West champion Auburn, Clemson also boasts a resume that includes: a 26-point win at 8-win Louisville, a 27-point blowout over 7-win Boston College, a 14-point win at 9-win Virginia Tech, a 14-point win over 7-win Wake Forest, a 7-point win at 8-win NC State, and a 24-point win at 8-win South Carolina.
6. The Oklahoma offense is on another planet right now. With the standard disclaimer that Oklahoma did not play the 1985 Chicago Bears on Saturday, the Sooners' 59-31 destruction of West Virginia was something of a masterstroke from Lincoln Riley. Let's go through the drive chart.
- 2 plays, 70 yards, touchdown
- 4 plays, 75 yards, touchdown
- 7 plays, 89 yards, touchdown
- 7 plays, 44 yards, touchdown
- 3 plays, 64 yards, touchdown
- 9 plays, 77 yards, touchdown
- 6 plays, 75 yards, touchdown
- 4 plays, 71 yards, touchdown
By that point it was 59-24 -- the Sooners also kicked a field goal after recovering a WVU fumble with four seconds left in the first half -- and OU had rolled up 565 yards of total offense and 13.45 a play on 42 snaps. Baker Mayfield finished his final home game hitting 14-of-17 throws for 281 yards and three touchdowns, and his backup Kyler Murray accounted for 132 yards on five combined rushes and passes.
West Virginia defensive coordinator spoke to the media for all of 12 seconds after the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-F_PKgec8Q&feature=youtu.be&a= With an 11-1 regular season in hand, Oklahoma will now kick its feet up and wait to learn its bid in the College Football Play.... no, wait, OU has to go back to work to prepare to play a team it beat 38-20 two weeks ago because Big 12 leadership lacks vision. 7. The Pac-12 remains the nation's most competitive, confounding conference. The North Division championship was on the line in the Apple Cup, with No. 13 Washington State facing a win-and-you're in scenario in Seattle. And the Cougars got blitzed. No. 17 Washington jumped out to a 34-0 lead and cruised to a 41-14 win. That would've sent Washington to Santa Clara to defend its Pac-12 championship if not for the single most confusing result of the entire season -- Arizona State 13, Washington 7 on Oct. 14. That loss indirectly eliminated the Huskies from contention, so instead Washington clinched the North championship for No. 21 Stanford, who found out it was going to the Pac-12 Championship while it was in the process of ripping off a 38-20 win over No. 8 Notre Dame. The South Division champion, No. 11 USC, was off this week, because the Pac-12 schedule called for the Trojans to play for 12 straight weeks. The Pac-12 Championship is on Friday night, which means Stanford will play on a short week while USC is coming off a bye. That's perfectly on brand for this conference considering the Pac-12 knocked itself out of Playoff contention after USC, Washington and Washington State all lost Friday night road games. Now it's Stanford's turn to run through that gauntlet. 8. The Super 16... The Nuggets is honored to once again vote in this year's FWAA-NFF Super 16 poll. Here's this week's ballot.
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
- Auburn
- Georgia
- Miami
- Alabama
- Wisconsin
- Ohio State
- Central Florida
- USC
- TCU
- Penn State
- Stanford
- Washington
- Notre Dame
- Oklahoma State
9. Odds and Ends a. The MAC Championship is set. Akron clinched its first MAC East title since 2005 on Tuesday with a 24-14 win over Kent State, and Toledo wrapped up its first MAC West crown since 2004 with a 37-10 destruction of Western Michigan on Friday. b. After not playing on a single Saturday throughout the month of November, the #MACtion championship... is a noon kick on Saturday. Okay. c. It didn't come against the toughest competition in college football history, but Missouri won its final six games and averaged 51.3 points a game in doing so. The Tigers scored 54.3 points per game in their seven wins and 18.4 in their five losses. d. In what has been a season from hell, Ole Miss closed the year with a 31-28 Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State. After the year this program has been through and Mississippi State's role in that year, Thursday night's win has to rank near the top of Ole Miss's 64 wins over Mississippi State. e. Iowa 56, Nebraska 14. That'll leave a mark.
f. Sometimes you have to laugh so that you don't cry.
g. Gary Patterson had himself a nice little Friday. He beat hated Baylor for the third straight year, clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championship, secured his 11th 10-win season and revealed a contract extension through 2024.
h. In a game he had to win, Kliff Kingsbury won it... with defense. Texas Tech held Texas to three second half points, won 15-of-22 third downs and forced four second half turnovers, including one interception inside the final three minutes to help take a 27-23 lead and another inside the final minute to preserve it. Those picks helped Tech secure a 4-2 turnover advantage and move to 5-0 when winning the turnover margin by two or more.
i. North Texas secured its first 9-win regular season since re-joining FBS in 1995 with a 30-14 victory at Rice.
j. Virginia Tech booked its 14th straight win over Virginia with a 10-0 win on Friday.
k. Wisconsin and Minnesota played their first game in 1890. Minnesota won that game and has led the series ever since. As recently as 2003 it looked like the Gophers would never trail in the series after grabbing a 59-46-8 lead. Fast forward 14 years, add in 14 straight Wisconsin wins and the Badgers now own the series, 60-59-8, after a 31-0 blanking on Friday.
l. Purdue won its win-or-stay home game with Indiana, 31-24, sending the Boilers to their first bowl game since 2012 and the Hoosiers home for the winter. m. Northwestern dominated Illinois 42-7, closing the regular season with seven straight wins. The Wildcats won nine regular season games for the sixth time in school history. n. Florida State won its win-or-stay home game with Florida, 38-22, sending the 'Noles to their 36th straight bowl -- assuming they beat ULM next week -- and the Gators home for the winter. o. Prior to 2013, Vanderbilt hadn't beaten Tennessee in back-to-back years since taking seven straight from 1920-26. The 'Dores won two straight in 2012-13, lost two straight in 2014-15 and have now won two straight again with a 45-34 win in Nashville last season and a 42-24 win in Knoxville on Saturday. Tennessee finished 4-8, its first 0-8 SEC season ever.
p. Tulane needed to gain one yard to beat SMU and extend its season into December. It couldn't get it.
q. Fresno State beat Boise State, 28-17 in Fresno. Next week's Mountain West championship will be Fresno State vs. Boise State... in Fresno. r. Utah won a win-or-stay home game over Colorado, 34-13 in Salt Lake City. s. UCLA claimed its win-or-stay home game over Cal, 30-27 on Friday. A far more important victory came on Saturday. t. Middle Tennessee won the final win-or-stay home game of the weekend, 41-10 over Old Dominion. u. In the closest thing the Sun Belt has to a championship game, Appalachian State beat Georgia State 31-10 in Atlanta. Troy and Arkansas State also won, setting up another de facto championship game next week in Jonesboro. v. Arizona State scored a 42-30 win over archrival Arizona -- Khalil Tate leaving the game with a second half injury helped -- and Sun Devils AD Ray Anderson celebrated the win by giving Todd Graham a "no comment" on his job status. w. San Diego State secured back-to-back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time ever with a 35-10 win over New Mexico. x. Louisville's 44-17 blowout of Kentucky means the Cardinals have finished with a better regular season record than the Wildcats every year this decade. y. UAB concluded its first regular season back from the dead at 8-4. Simply remarkable. z. Temple beat Tulsa 43-22 to send the Owls to a bowl game in three consecutive seasons for the first time ever. 10. And finally... In by far the most wonderfully petty move of Rivalry Weekend, Oregon, leading 52-7 just before halftime, expired its allotment of timeouts to ice the Beavers' kicker on a try just before halftime. He missed. Oregon State players said this week they knew they were going to win last year's game when Ducks players pulled out raincoats to shelter themselves from a Corvallis shower, so what did Willie Taggart do during the tail end of the Ducks' 69-10 blowout?