Category: College Football

Alabama football needed this one.

Kalen DeBoer needed it more.

In a hard-hitting, fisticuffed-filled 89th edition of the annual Iron Bowl, the Crimson Tide notched a 28-14 home victory over archrival Auburn on Saturday.

Players rejoiced − quarterback Jalen Milroe was moved to tears in the postgame locker room, per Yea Alabama’s Aaron Suttles − and rightfully so. In this series, wins warrant celebration no matter the circumstances. And circumstances in 2024 boiled down to this: Alabama is likely headed to a non-playoff bowl game after the win over Auburn, which is exactly where the Crimson Tide would’ve gone had it lost. From a postseason standpoint, this Iron Bowl didn’t come with high stakes for the team.

But it absolutely came with high stakes for DeBoer, Alabama’s first-year coach.

GOODBREAD: Alabama football defense delivers in key moments to win Iron Bowl

HIGHLIGHTS: Alabama football vs Auburn live score updates, highlights, how to watch Iron Bowl

A loss to Auburn to finish with an 8-4 thud, when the Crimson Tide was on the cusp of a College Football Playoff berth just a week earlier, would’ve left a black smear on DeBoer’s first season that little if anything could’ve washed out. A Week 13 embarrassment at Oklahoma, 24-3, diminished CFP hopes and rendered this team without the rudder of postseason glory. Likely elimination from playoff contention is a gut punch that leaves plenty of teams out of breath the next week. Take LSU, for example: The week after Alabama knocked LSU out of playoff contention, the Tigers looked shell-shocked and were unable to rebound in a loss to Florida.

This week, DeBoer was faced with the same challenge in motivating his team.

Yes, the Iron Bowl itself is supposed to be motivation enough. But Alabama isn’t chock full of in-state players anymore. Only four of UA’s Iron Bowl starters −…

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Jackie Sherrill wants you to know he has many Texas friends, Longhorn legends Darrell Royal and Mack Brown among them. Perhaps the most colorful figure in Texas A&M history when it comes to the historic rivalry renewal with Texas this week wants that clear.

But Sherrill also can’t help being just a bit subversive. That’s part of who he is. Whether it was leading the Aggies or crossing swords with the NCAA, it was always something. Sherrill, who turned 81 on Thanksgiving, spent only seven years as A&M’s coach in the 1980s, but his spice looms over the restart of a powerful rivalry this week in the Lone Star State.

“Horn chips for ball markers,” Sherrill said in the lead-up to Saturday’s first Texas game in 13 years. “They were a big hit.”

He is referring to a recent golf tournament in Houston between 50 former Longhorns and 50 former Aggies. Sherrill knew a cattle rancher who would shave off bits of horn from his livestock. Those bits were refined into rivalry reminders to mark putts.

“Texas guys [would] ask what it is,” Sherrill said.

They didn’t wonder long.

When the group was told, the rivalry, once again, was on. These teams started playing in 1894. What began as a mighty state school vs. a small all-male military school has long since evolved into one of the most intense traditional games in the sport.

We just haven’t seen that tradition in 13 years. That adds to this perhaps being the biggest of all the 119 meetings.

“Yes,” Sherrill confirmed. “It’s important to both teams, but you can say the pressure is on Texas because of where they are.”

Saturday’s winner goes to the conference championship game. But it’s bigger than that. Both teams are also in playoff contention and richer than ever. Texas has been dominant in this…

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Travis Hunter is doing everything — no surprise — to seal his run to the Heisman Trophy.

The Colorado superstar, two-way player had a touchdown reception and an interception in the first half on Friday against Oklahoma State.

Deion Sanders and Colorado led 28-0 over the Cowboys as they were trying to stay in the race for the Big 12 Championship Game.

Meanwhile, his quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, was named the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner.

Story originally appeared on Touchdown Wire

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Arthur Smith’s work week included a notable phone call from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, who called the Steelers offensive coordinator about the team’s new head coaching vacancy. 

Smith, who was an offensive lineman for the Tar Heels, broke into coaching as a graduate assistant on UNC’s coaching staff. He summed up the conversation as a “preliminary call” with the Tar Heels, who recently fired longtime coach Mack Brown. 

 “I appreciate it, love that place,” Smith said of UNC, via ESPN. “But that’s not my focus. I mean, I’ve got one of the best jobs in football right now. There’s a lot to be said too about [how you] can’t put a price on personal and professional happiness, which I have here.”

Smith is in the middle of his first season with the Steelers, who are currently 8-3 and atop the AFC North division. Pittsburgh’s improved offense has played a considerable role in the Steelers’ success so far. 

The Steelers are currently 14th in the NFL in scoring, up from 28th in the league a year ago. They’re currently in position to rank in the top 10 in rushing for the first time since 2007. 

“I’ve got an awesome job here,” said Smith, who arrived in Pittsburgh after being the Falcons coach the previous three years. “Love it here in Pittsburgh. [I] probably [have] a different mindset than I had five, four years ago where any head job, I probably would’ve walked there to take it.

“Now my perspective’s different, and when you got something good like I got here in Pittsburgh right now, family loves it here. I like the working environment, love being a Steeler.”

The majority of Steelers fans loved Smith, too, after Pittsburgh’s offense averaged nearly 31 points per game during a recent four-game stretch. But the…

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Maybe it’s best to start this celebration of Rivalry Week, and what we’re thankful for as a college football community, with a rare moment that will never, ever, be duplicated.

The Choke at Doak.

We’re 30 years this week from that magical day in Tallahassee, when Florida State came back from a 31-3 deficit in the fourth quarter to tie Florida 31-31. A year later, the NCAA instituted overtime play.

And 30 years later, there’s not a sane person on the planet who doesn’t think the Seminoles would’ve converted a two-point play in the closing seconds had it tried to win the game instead of tie it.

Even Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who made the call to kick the conversion and tie the game in the first place.

Years after the fact, Bowden told me although he never regretted kicking the extra point, he too knew what would’ve happened had the Noles attempted a two-point conversion.

“Yeah, they’re on their heels,” Bowden said. “(We) probably would’ve scored, too.”

Welcome, everyone, to Rivalry Week. The joyous occasion of throwing every record and rhyme and reason out the proverbial window because, well, the hates runs deep, baby.

WEEKEND FORECAST: Experts picks for every Top 25 game in Week 13

BRACKET PROJECTION: Tennessee rising ahead of penultimate week

Despite what seems like a tsunami of change in the sport, and some classic rivalries abandoned or moved off the final week of the regular season, there is no other week on the college football calendar quite like this one.

More to the point with the current state of the sport: there are numerous games with College Football Playoff implications — despite the doom and gloom predictions that the final few weeks of the sport would be minimized by the new 12-team format. If anything, the new system has enhanced Rivalry Week.

We begin with Michigan and Ohio…

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We’re detailing the biggest throws on a weekly basis, giving extra attention to huge throws that quarterbacks make all around the country.

We start by looking at the pass plays with the most Expected Points Added, and then take into account difficulty and distance of throw, game situation, and opponent.

Here are the five biggest throws from Week 13 in college football.

DeShawn Purdie (Charlotte): 75-yard TD pass to O’Mega Blake
Charlotte came into its game at Florida Atlantic on a four-game losing streak, and with an interim head coach after firing Biff Poggi and installing Tim Brewster.

So the 49ers had a big challenge on the road, facing another team playing its first game with an interim head coach. 

With the third quarter winding down and nursing a six-point lead, Charlotte took over on its own 25-yard line. On the first play, Purdie faked the handoff and patiently waited for his receivers to get open.

He spotted Blake crossing the field and threw a dime that was just out of the reach of the defender. Blake took it the rest of the way for the 75-yard touchdown.

That play was +6.0 EPA, not even Purdie’s highest-EPA throw to Blake in this game (see below). 

DeShawn Purdie (Charlotte): 47-yard TD pass to O’Mega Blake
This is not a mistake — Purdie-to-Blake is on the list again….

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As the college football regular season comes to a close, the weekly College Football Playoff rankings reveal becomes more important. As a result, it draws increased scrutiny.

Just when it seems like the college football world has an idea of how the bracket will unfold, chaos ensues to create even more questions as to which teams will be in the 12-team field. This past weekend, which saw Ohio State comfortably beat Indiana and a few SEC contenders take crushing losses, drastically changed the projected field.

With one week of regular season football left before conference title games take place, here are the grades for the selection committee’s choices in the latest rankings reveal.

Clemson Tigers wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. (12) catches a touchdown against The Citadel.

Heading into the final week undefeated with the best win of the season (over Ohio State), the Ducks remain at the top of the rankings.

Handling Indiana proved Ohio State is a top-two team in the country and is headed toward a rematch with Oregon.

Not only would it clinch a spot in the SEC championship game, but Texas could get a nice resume boost by beating rival Texas A&M.

The win over Minnesota wasn’t all that impressive and keeping this spot is up for debate.

Army isn’t ranked anymore, but Notre Dame impressed against the Black Knights and have been dominant for months. Beat Southern California and a playoff home game is clinched.

Miami had a case to be above Alabama last week, and are now well positioned to make the playoff as long as it beats Syracuse in the regular season finale.

The first team to benefit from Alabama and Mississippi losing, Georgia should feel good about its playoff security if it enters the SEC title game at 10-2.

Rightfully behind Georgia, yet the Volunteers aren’t being held back by the confusing loss to Arkansas. Beat Vanderbilt…

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No. 20 Texas A&M will try to bounce back from its loss to Auburn and punch its ticket to the SEC Championship when it hosts No. 3 Texas on Saturday night during the Week 14 college football schedule. The Aggies still have a chance of making the College Football Playoff, but they are 6-point underdogs in the Week 14 college football odds via SportsLine consensus. No. 13 Alabama is also on the outside looking in heading into the Iron Bowl, with the Crimson Tide favored by 11.5 points against Auburn in the Week 14 college football spreads. College football score predictions can be used to identify value on those games and others this weekend. 

No. 12 Clemson is a 2.5-point favorite against No. 16 South Carolina, which is on a five-game winning streak. Which side of that rivalry week spread should you back with your Week 14 college football bets? Before you make any Week 14 college football picks, make sure you see the latest college football predictions from SportsLine’s proven model.

The model simulates every FBS game 10,000 times. Since its inception, it has generated a betting profit of well over $2,000 for $100 players on its top-rated college spread football picks, and it is a strong 27-17 on all top-rated picks over the past nine weeks of this season. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps has seen strong returns.

Now, the model has simulated every Week 14 game 10,000 times. You can only see the model’s Week 14 college football exact score predictions at SportsLine.

Top Week 14 college football picks

After diving into every game on the Week 14 college football schedule, the model is backing the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-7.5, 51.5) to beat the USC Trojans, 36-22, covering the spread in a 3:30 p.m. ET on…

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