Category: College Football

Eight weeks into the 2024 college football season, clarity is still hard to come by. 

Who will win the Heisman Trophy? Who will make the College Football Playoff? The candidates pool for both has shrunk, but it still feels as wide open as it has in a long time, a credit to the new 12-team CFP format keeping more teams in the hunt than ever before. 

Where we lack clarity on who will win college football’s most important trophies, we have lucidity on the ones that expected to be in those mixes but will fall far short. More than midway through the season, these are the 10 programs that have disappointed the most so far. 

Auburn (2-5)

In Year 2 of the Hugh Freeze regime, Auburn was supposed to take a leap into the eight or nine win territory. Auburn heavily invested in acquiring top position players, believing with the right surrounding cast, quarterback Payton Thorne would return to the version that guided Michigan State to a 11-2 record in 2021. Instead, Auburn has regressed, TV cameras keep showing Thorne and Freeze bickering at each other on the sideline and the Tigers are all but assured of missing a bowl game. Like another team on this list, Auburn has displayed an incredible ability to blow games it should have won. It all builds to Freeze having a worse record (8-12) than his predecessor Bryan Harsin (9-11) had through 20 games. Harsin, of course, was fired after his 21st game. 

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The trickle of fans over the low brick walls of Neyland Stadium started slow on Saturday night. Yes, Tennessee had beaten its hated foe Alabama, the cigar smoke was rising, and “Rocky Top” filled the air. It was a cause for celebration, sure, but field-storming? The uncertainty in the crowd was palpable. Didn’t we just do this two years ago? Should we…?

And then the mob mentality took over, and all reason flew away into the Knoxville sky. The Vol faithful swarmed the field, pulling down the goalposts (again) and tearing up chunks of checkerboard turf (again). The Tennessee powers-that-be weren’t pleased; the turf had just been laid down a couple weeks ago after a Morgan Wallen concert, and police wouldn’t let either goalpost leave the stadium this year for a tour around Knoxville and a dunk in the river. Old-school Vols groused quietly that this was silly; beating Alabama after a 15-year losing streak is one thing, but storming a field after beating them for the second time in three years is embarrassing.

For the second time this season — and the second time in Tennessee, incidentally — Alabama’s players had to wend their way through a tide (sorry, Bama) of onrushing fans storming the field. (At least this time no Alabama players shoved any opposing fans, though they surely would have loved to release some frustration somehow.)

Vanderbilt and Tennessee followed in the field-storming path of LSU in 2022, Texas A&M in 2021, Ole Miss in 2014 and Auburn on three separate recent occasions — moments when the euphoria of bringing down big, bad Alabama culminated in a glorious, communal stomp on the grass where it happened. It’s an understandable impulse, particularly in the cases of Vandy, Tennessee in 2022 or Auburn in 2013, the Kick Six year. Sometimes, you can’t just celebrate in your seat, you gotta…

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The road is wide open, and as the SEC’s usual contenders steer erratically between lanes, two dark horses are on a collision course.

A five-team pileup of one-loss teams clogs the standings, but above them with unblemished SEC records are No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 8 LSU. They face off Saturday in College Station, Texas, on six-game winning streaks apiece with intent on stealing the spotlight in a sport that had been obsessed with Georgia, Alabama and Texas as contenders; those three enter Week 9 with one loss in the SEC. 

The parity prompts the query: Why can’t Texas A&M win the SEC? And why not LSU?

“I think that’s pretty clear, that this group kind of understands that now,” LSU coach Brian Kelly told CBS Sports after a 34-10 demolition of Arkansas. 

LSU (6-1, 3-0 SEC) was relegated to the back of the list of contenders after opening the season with a loss to USC. The Trojans have struggled since then, but it was clear after Week 1 that LSU has improved defensively after a historically bad group flopped in 2023. The turnaround has been re-tooled by defensive coordinato, Blake Baker, who LSU successfully lured away from Missouri with the richest contract for an assistant coach ($2.5 million) in college football.

LSU is better in every category defensively, particularly against the run (No. 33 nationally) and with its back against the wall. It’s top-20 in touchdowns allowed from the red zone, a more than 100-spot improvement from a year ago.

And at Arkansas, the Tigers never trailed against a team who beat Tennessee in that very stadium two weeks prior. The Razorbacks have been otherwise competitive in the SEC this year, but were held to under 300 yards of offense. As Georgia smothered Texas and garnered most of the sport’s eyes on…

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Indiana football (7-0) is ranked No. 13 nationally by both the coaches and the media.

How many teams make the College Football Playoff? 12.

The Hoosiers are rolling after their nationally televised blowout win over Nebraska, and the hype is growing. ESPN’s “College GameDay” is coming to Bloomington next weekend, when IU hosts Washington.

This game will bring a challenge the Hoosiers haven’t faced: Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is out with a thumb injury, putting Tayven Jackson in the spotlight on IU’s biggest stage since … who knows when.

Plenty of national observers remain bullish on the Hoosiers.

We’ve got options: Who should be guest picker on ‘College GameDay’?

Will Indiana football make the College Football Playoff?

Ralph D. Russo, The Athletic

The Hoosiers are real, and they are spectacular. Coach Curt Cignetti’s crew overwhelmed Nebraska 56-7 to improve to 7-0 and have to be taken seriously in the Big Ten race as a team with double-digit win potential.

The Hoosiers’ fast start has been built on weak competition. Nebraska was viewed as something of a step up. Maybe not that big of a step up, but still. The Huskers came in with the sixth-best defense in the country, allowing 4.37 yards per play.

The Athletic’s Austin Mock’s projections place the Hoosiers 10th, with a 61% chance of making the field.

ESPN: Kyle Bonagura projects IU 8th; Mark Schlabach projects IU 10th

Bonagura: “The biggest mover this week was Indiana, which left no doubt in a 56-7 win against Nebraska. The Hoosiers still haven’t beaten a ranked opponent, but they’ve won decisively each week. The only ranked team left on their schedule is Ohio State, so while it’s still too early to feel overly confident about Indiana’s postseason chances, it feels as if we’ve reached more-likely-than-not territory. “

R.J. Young, Fox Sports: 12th

The Hoosiers are one of…

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No. 5 Georgia sent a message on Saturday that perhaps some of us have written them off too soon after the Bulldogs went into Austin and knocked off No. 1 Texas 30-15 in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate.  

The result of that game now has Georgia sitting as the projected No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff field, replacing the Longhorns. Texas, meanwhile, has dropped to sixth behind Oregon. The Ducks, a 35-0 winner over Purdue on Friday, may replace Texas as the No. 1 team in the polls this week, for what that’s worth.

No. 7 Alabama fell at No. 11 Tennessee 24-17 and dropped to the No. 8 seed in the projected CFP bracket.

I have said all along that Tennessee would have to beat either Alabama or Georgia to earn a CFP berth, but with Texas A&M still in play, the Volunteers may very well have to beat Georgia when they travel to Athens on Nov. 16. We should have a better idea whether that is must-win for the Vols by then.

The Big Ten has some unusual names fighting for spots in the CFP as well but are not projected to a berth just yet. No. 22 Illinois knocked off No. 24 Michigan 21-7 to end any hopes for the Wolverines to repeat as national champions. No. 16 Indiana is off to a 7-0 start for just the second time in its history, but a soft schedule could keep the Hoosiers out of CFP contention even at 11-1, assuming that loss comes at Ohio State. Indiana could win 11 games but none against an opponent with more than seven wins. The Hoosiers could possibly overcome that, but it depends on the competition.

Quarterfinals

Jan. 1

Sugar Bowl
New Orleans

(1) Georgia vs. (8/9) Winner

Jan. 1

Rose Bowl
Pasadena, Calif.

(2) Ohio State vs. (7/10) Winner

Jan. 1

Fiesta Bowl
Glendale,…

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Photo: Isaiah Hole

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — After losing to Washington in Week 6, Michigan football went back to the drawing board, and it had time to work things out. The Wolverines spoke of urgency but not panic as the maize and blue intended to recalibrate during the bye week.

However, at least offensively, Michigan looked worse than it has since probably 2014, and with only seven points in the 21-7 loss to Illinois, it’s the lowest that the Wolverines had scored since being shut out by Notre Dame that same year.

After the game, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore put all the blame on himself, not having the offense and special teams ready for Saturday’s showdown. Here is everything he said after the game.

Offensive evaluation

Photo: Isaiah Hole

Just overall offensively, it wasn’t it was not good enough at all. Disappointing in a lot of Creas. can’t turn the ball over. Got to get the guys that, when they’re open, we got to lead those passes, just got to be better. And Colston played well. He made some plays. Kalel played well, ran hard. But we had three turnovers in a Big Ten game. Doesn’t matter who you play, you’re not going to win. So we just have to be better on offense.

Is there a quick fix?

Photo: Isaiah Hole

I think we just have to reevaluate. See and look. We had a bye week. I feel disappointed in myself as the head coach that we didn’t come out and execute at a better level. There’s too many bits and pieces, not enough consistency. So, I have to look at myself too. There’s no finger-pointing. Reevaluate myself and see what I need to do to be better for them, for the players and coaches as well.

Will the QB competition be ongoing?

Photo: Isaiah Hole

We can’t turn the ball over. You don’t want to go to four quarterbacks. You don’t want to have to go through this process, but you got a guy that’s — got to take care of the…

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USATSI

No. 13 BYU held off an upset bid from Oklahoma State with a dramatic 38-35 win on Friday. Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff connected with Darius Lassiter for a 35-yard touchdown with 11 seconds remaining for the game-winning score.

Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman found Brennan Presley for a 6-yard touchdown to give the Cowboys a 35-31 lead with 1:13 remaining. Then Retzlaff led BYU on an eight-play, 75-yard drive to keep the Cougars season intact. 

BYU is one of three Big 12 teams — with Iowa State and Texas Tech being the others — that have yet to lose a game in Big 12 play.

Retzlaff finished with 218 passing yards and two touchdowns and ran for 81 yards on the ground. He ripped off a 27-yard run on the final drive that set BYU up inside Oklahoma State territory and led to the go-ahead touchdown two plays later.

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon ll put together his best outing since rushing for 126 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 1 win over South Dakota State. Gordon came into the week with less than 80 yards in his first three conference games, and finished with 16 carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

BYU (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) will head south to face UCF next Saturday. Oklahoma State (3-4, 0-4) will travel to Waco, Texas to face Baylor on the same day.

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JAMM AQUINO /JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Rainbow Warriors coach Timmy Chang is 0-13 when his team scores 17 points or fewer, compared to 10-9 when scoring more than 17 points.

1 /2 JAMM AQUINO /JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Rainbow Warriors coach Timmy Chang is 0-13 when his team scores 17 points or fewer, compared to 10-9 when scoring more than 17 points.

BRIAN LOSNESS / IMAGN IMAGES Washington State coach Jake Dickert has never won a bowl game, losing the Sun Bowl in 2021 and LA Bowl in 2022.

2 /2 BRIAN LOSNESS / IMAGN IMAGES Washington State coach Jake Dickert has never won a bowl game, losing the Sun Bowl in 2021 and LA Bowl in 2022.

JAMM AQUINO /JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Rainbow Warriors coach Timmy Chang is 0-13 when his team scores 17 points or fewer, compared to 10-9 when scoring more than 17 points.

BRIAN LOSNESS / IMAGN IMAGES Washington State coach Jake Dickert has never won a bowl game, losing the Sun Bowl in 2021 and LA Bowl in 2022.

RAINBOW WARRIORS OFFENSE WO—1 Jonah Panoke 6-1 200 Sr.

SB—23 Koali Nishigaya 5-7 165 Sr.

LT—78 Ka ‘ena Decambra 6-3 300 Jr.

LG—58 Zhen Sotelo 6-3 305 Jr.

C—66 Sergio Muasau 5-11 300 Sr.

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RG—59 Kuao Peihopa 6-3 295 Jr.

RT—70 James Milovale 6-6 330 Jr SB—3 Nick Cenacle 6-2 195 Jr.

WO—0 Alex Perry. 6-5 195 So.

QB—13 Brayden Schager 6-3 225 Sr.

RB—30 Landon Sims 6-1 210 Jr.

It has been a series of Whac-A-Mole challenges for the Warriors. In the past two games, four drives started inside the 20 following kickoffs. Penalties have put the Warriors in down-and-distance holes or sabotaged drives. Of nine offensive…

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