Category: College Football

Caleb Williams ran away with the PFF quarterback rankings title last season as he also took home the Heisman Trophy. The other Pac-12 signal callers don’t have to worry about that in 2023 with Williams not having that kind of season this year.

The USC quarterback is still among the best out there, but with games against Washington, Oregon and UCLA, it’s difficult to see him leapfrog three quarterbacks for the title.

Right now, the winner of these rankings could very well bring home the Heisman once again, and Oregon’s Bo Nix has a good of a chance as any to be that guy. The schedule also plays in his favor although he’s not the leader at the moment, Nix has an excellent chance to be No. 1 at this time next week.

Here’s how the rankings currently stand.

Steph Chambers/Getty Images

PFF Grade: 91.5

2023 stats: 203-of-294 (69 percent), 2,945 yards (368 ypg), 24 TD, 6 INT

Last week: For the second straight week, Washington turned in a subpar performance before playing well enough in the fourth quarter to win. They pulled out a 42-33 win at Stanford with Penix going 21-of-37 for 369 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception.

What’s next: at USC

Chris Gardner/Getty Images

PFF Grade: 91.0

2023 stats: 206-of-263 (78 percent), 2,337 yards (292 ypg), 21 TD, 1 INT

Last week: Nix was calm, cool, and most importantly, collected as the Ducks won 35-6 at Utah. He led Oregon on touchdown drives to open each half as he was 24-of-31 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and no picks. He also ran for a score.

What’s next: California

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

PFF Grade: 90.9

2023 stats: 246-of-346 (71 percent), 2,637 yards (330 ypg), 22 TD, 3 INT

Last week: The Colorado offensive line continues to fail their quarterback as Sanders was sacked seven times and hit a lot more. When he was upright, Sanders was just 27-of-43 for 217…

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Iowa has long been known as a program focused on winning with elite defense and special teams under tenured coach Kirk Ferentz. The results have been consistent, if nothing else: In 24 seasons under Ferentz, the Hawkeyes have won an average of nearly eight games per year — oftentimes with middling offensive output. 

Offensive woes reached a level through eight games in 2023 that prompted Iowa to set the wheels in motion for a change on that side of the ball. The school announced Monday that offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, son of longtime Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, will not return to the Hawkeyes coaching staff in 2024. 

The announcement comes after the younger Ferentz signed a revised one-year contract in February mandating that the Hawkeyes score at least 25 points per game (including a bowl game) — by any means, including defense and special teams — and win seven games (also potentially including a bowl win) in 2023 in order for his contract to renew in 2024.

The revised contract came after Iowa was particularly abysmal on offense during the 2022 season, finishing 123rd nationally while averaging 17.7 points and 156.7 yards passing per game. Even worse, Iowa finished 130th — out of 131 FBS teams — in total offense at 256.1 yards per game. 

Iowa was running well enough towards this goal through the first three weeks of the 2023 season, sitting 3.08% ahead of pace after a rousing 41-point scoring affair against Western Michigan. And then disaster struck in Week 4 when it visited Penn State. Not only did the Hawkeyes fall off pace, they failed to score a single point against the Nittany Lions.

A month later, Iowa is painfully off pace sitting nearly 14% behind the average it should be scoring through eight weeks. Iowa has only…

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Oct. 29—Drew Allar didn’t even realize he had thrown an interception, the first of his college career.

He was under pressure and committed a quarterback’s cardinal sin of throwing late over the middle. Making matters worse, it came Saturday inside the Penn State 30 late in the fourth quarter of a close game.

“I didn’t even know I threw an interception until I got to the sideline,” Allar said. “I got hit. Usually you hear the crowd react, but there was no reaction.”

The less-than-capacity crowd at Beaver Stadium was silent because it was stunned. Could 32-point underdog Indiana upset the Nittany Lions?

Allar didn’t let that happen.

“When we were about to go on the field (after Indiana made a game-tying field goal), he said the time is now,” tight end Theo Johnson said. “He really showed up. I’ve talked a lot about how impressed I’ve been with how he’s grown week by week. He showed up big for us today.”

Allar delivered a strike to KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a 57-yard touchdown, which enabled Penn State to beat the Hoosiers 33-24 and avoid a monumental upset loss.

“You have to flush it (the interception) and move on,” Allar said.

The relief in the stadium, on the Penn State sideline and in his face was palpable.

He’s carried the pressure of being coach James Franklin’s highest-rated quarterback recruit well. He’s thrown for 16 touchdown passes against the one pick in his first eight games as the starter.

But he also has looked tentative at times, appearing to avoid throwing an interception at all costs. Maybe it’s ingrained in him. Maybe Franklin and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich have stressed protecting the football so much to him because of how well the Lions’ defense had played before Saturday.

With the game on the line, Penn State needed Allar to be aggressive and to be an elite quarterback and he was.

“You throw your…

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The college football rankings are going to undergo a major shock in the next week once the new AP Top 25 released Sunday is compared to the first set of College Football Playoff Rankings released Tuesday. AP voters, who have been submitting ballots since the preseason, are entrenched in their process at this point; however, the CFP Selection Committee’s evaluations do end up influencing the AP Top 25 over the final month of the season.

That’s why one of the biggest rankings-related takeaways from Week 9 is how No. 1 Georgia put together the type of performance that AP voters and the committee alike were seeking from a national championship contender. 

Georgia has been the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 all season, but last week’s rankings showed the closest margins of the year between the Bulldogs and No. 2 Michigan. (Here in the CBS Sports 133, it has been the Wolverines on top of the Bulldogs for a few weeks now.) The first-place votes have been spread across four different teams with Ohio State and Florida State joining Michigan with No. 1 spots on ballots, and the 32 voting points difference (1,536  to 1,504) last week represented the first real threat of Georgia getting jumped without taking a loss. 

Multiple CFP Rankings projections — including the one from our own Jerry Palm — list Georgia outside of the top four. The committee ignores preseason rankings while placing value on strength of schedule and quality wins. Prior to Saturday’s rivalry game against Florida, UGA was not only lacking wins against ranked teams but even those with winning records. The Gators may not have been ranked in the AP Top 25, but they were right on the edge of the rankings last week (26th overall) and could quickly become one of the best wins on the…

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Florida didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard against Georgia on Saturday.

True freshman wide receiver Eugene “Tre” Wilson III carved up the Bulldogs’ defense on the opening drive, catching four passes for 62 yards and a touchdown.

Early leads aren’t easy to come by, especially against Georgia, and Wilson’s score marked the first time that Florida had scored first in the rivalry game since 2015.

All scoring plays are reviewed, and there was some question as to whether Wilson’s shin or knee touched the ground before the score. The call was confirmed, though, and Florida took an important 7-0 lead to start the game.

The score

End zone look

So, you’re saying there’s a chance?

#Gators WR Eugene Wilson III is one player who can match the speed of Georgia’s D.

— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 28, 2023

You think?

Top shot

And he’s only a freshman…

Eugene Wilson III is a true freshman.

— Weiss (@ZackaryWeiss_) October 28, 2023

Do we have an all-time great on our hands?

Nobody’s Percy Harvin but I think Eugene Wilson III is the closest Florida has had even over Kadarious Toney #Gators

— Dominic Robinson (@deerob05) October 28, 2023

Cat’s out of the bag, I guess

Eugene Wilson just put the nation on alert

— Atl Gator 🐊🥶 (@Longwaycoop) October 28, 2023

Let’s just enjoy the show

Eugene Wilson III is special.

True freshman.

Makes plays every time he touches the ball.

He won’t just be a star for the #Gators… he’s going to excel at the next level.

What a start for Florida. pic.twitter.com/59rXVwwn4p

— Big Will (@BigWillLevenson) October 28, 2023

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Gator Nation gets ready for Florida-Georgia game day on Twitter

PHOTOS: Pregame highlights from Florida-Georgia matchup 2023

Five Georgia Bulldogs every Florida Gators fan should know for Week 9

Sunday Hash: 10 key points heading into Georgia Bulldogs matchup

Behind…

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TCU reportedly had knowledge of Michigan’s alleged sign-stealing scheme when the two teams met in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinal, Yahoo Sports reports. According to the report, the Horned Frogs staff used “dummy signals” in the team’s stunning 51-45 upset win over the Wolverines after they were tipped off to suspicious activity from the Michigan coaching staff.  

An anonymous TCU coach told Yahoo Sports that Sonny Dykes’ staff used outdated play-call signals at various points in the game. TCU players were instructed to ignore the signals and run the plays as originally called. The Horned Frogs, who entered the contest as roughly a touchdown underdog, never trailed in the game. They built a 21-3 lead in the first half before ultimately hanging on for a six-point victory and advancing to the College Football Playoff National Championship against Georgia. 

“Sometimes we froze a play before the snap,” the coach told Yahoo! Sports. “We’d call a play and then we’d signal in another play with an old signal but we told players to run the original play.”

Suspended Wolverines analyst Connor Stalions allegedly spearheaded an operation that saw more than 30 tickets bought over a three-year period with the purpose of filming and decoding play-call signals. Included were games to a dozen Big Ten venues and four games involving non-Big Ten CFP contenders that Michigan suspected it might face. While sign-stealing itself is not a NCAA violation, in-person scouting and recording of opponents…

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Nick Saban and the Alabama football team are currently in the midst of their annual bye week before the team prepares for its Week 10 opponent, SEC West rival LSU.

Even with the Crimson Tide enjoying the week off from game preparation, that hasn’t slowed down Coach Saban and his weekly obligations with the media.

One such obligation is his weekly radio show called “Hey Coach” where he joins Eli Gold to answer questions from the fans.

With Coach Saban at his lake house in Georgia, the Crimson Tide’s head man would join over the phone and spend around 15 minutes with Gold.

Here is everything Coach Saban had to say!

On former Alabama players in the NFL, NBA

Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images

“I thought it was really interesting that – I don’t get to see many NFL games, but lots of people asked me if I was going to watch the Tua (Tagovailoa)-Jalen Hurts matchup on (Sunday) night, and I actually did watch the game. And I think we had (12) players from Alabama on those two teams. So that really makes you proud, and I know it makes Nate (Oats) proud that he’s been able to recruit and develop some of these guys and to see those guys do well in the NBA really makes you feel good as a coach.”

On his assessment of the offense in the second half against Tennessee

Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

“I think the key to the game was the fact that we got the ball in the second half and had an explosive run on the first play and an explosive pass for a touchdown on the second play. The electricity in the stadium went off the charts. And from that time on, we were pretty much able to dominate the game. So I was really pleased with the way we played in the second half. But you kind of experience is an accumulation of your mess-ups in life. That’s what helps you learn and gain experience, and I used that analogy with our…

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No. 10 Penn State might be working through some pent-up frustration Saturday when it hosts Indiana in a Big Ten East battle. A week after falling 20-12 at Ohio State, the Nittany Lions will be looking to get back on the impressive trajectory they enjoyed during a 6-0 start — when they outscored opponents by an average margin of 36.3 points.

Playing the Buckeyes exposed some of Penn State’s offensive shortcomings, but a game against the Hoosiers should help get things back on track. IU’s only victories are against Indiana State and Akron, and it has lost its four Big Ten games by an average of 27.3 points. Most recently, the Hoosiers fell 31-14 against Rutgers after failing to score after halftime. 

The visit from Indiana also marks a reprieve for the Nittany Lions before the schedule picks up again with a trip to Maryland and a visit from No. 2 Michigan in the coming weeks. If Penn State wants to have any choice when Wolverines roll into town, it must show that it can be more explosive offensively. 

On the other side of this matchup, the Hoosiers should enter motivated for one final chance to slay one of the Big Ten’s big boys before entering a November schedule featuring four opponents that are currently unranked. Seventh-year coach Tom Allen is on the hot seat, and an upset of Penn State would go a long way toward changing the narrative around a program that is just 2-20 in the Big Ten over the past three seasons.

Penn State vs. Indiana: Need to know

Moving on: Penn State coach James Franklin said Tuesday that the Nittany Lions “haven’t gotten a whole lot of sleep” since the Ohio State game “for a number of reasons.” Franklin’s team squandered a chance to shine on the national stage, failing to score a touchdown until the final…

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