1. The Big Ten might have eliminated themselves from the College Football Playoffs- A rough week for the Big Ten, coming into the week they seemed as a lock to get a team into the playoffs and had 3 legitimate contenders. Penn State lost a tough game to Michigan State after a lengthy rain delay and Ohio State got absolutely man handled by Iowa in probably the most shocking game of the week. Now the third team in that mix is Wisconsin, and they did everything they needed to this week by handling Indiana on the road. The problem is that Wisconsin likely won’t have a win over a ranked team in the regular season and now if they get one in the Big10 championship it will probably be over a team ranked somewhere between 8-15 instead of a 3rd or 4th ranked team. I think Wisconsin still has a good shot because I think other teams will lose, however if you put them up against a one loss Notre Dame or one loss Oklahoma they won’t go ahead of them
2. The Heisman race is wide open once again- First off, I don’t like the Heisman, I think the idea of it is great but I’m not always a fan of how they determine the criteria for the winner. That being said, I thought that Saquon Barkley had this thing wrapped up and in the bag. After back to back losses and poor performances I don’t think it’s a lock anymore. Baker Mayfield had a monster week and is skyrocketing up the list. I still think Barkley has a good shot at it and will have a chance to prove himself again, but at this point I have no clue at who I think will and should win it.
3. Oklahoma State blew it late against Oklahoma- Wow, this was frustrating to watch. After an offensive clinic all day by both sides Oklahoma State caught a break on a targeting call that gave them the ball back with about a minute and a half left on the Oklahoma 38. Down 3 at this point a Touchdown would be nice but a field goal would do. All they needed was about 5 yards for an attempt and about 10 for a good chance of making the field goal. What do they do…they crap their pants on the play calls and execution. On first down they threw a short pass and the receiver easily could have picked up 5 or 6 yards by running forward, but he danced around to try to get out of bounds and didn’t make it. First of all they had three time outs so getting out of bounds isn’t necessary. If you can get out then get out but don’t run out of your way and give up a potential 5 or 6 yards. On second down they ran a pitch to the short side to try to get some yards. I don’t hate this play because it gives you an opportunity to get in the open field but also get out of bounds and stop the clock. After only a yard gained it set up a third and 8. At this point just run a short pass to pick up 5 or 6 yards minimum. You know that OU is going to play soft, you can get a short gain and have a chance to break it but if not you are in field goal range. Instead they run a pass down field that falls incomplete leading to a 4th and 8. I really like the play call and decision making here by Rudolph but that was probably his worst throw of the game. He had a man on the far sideline open and all he had to do is put it up and let him man make a play but he threw it on a line and out threw his man by about 5-10 yards. Overall it was an exciting game but I was sitting there questioning how a team that put up over 50 points just fell apart there.
4. Miami is for real- A lot of people questioned Miami up to this point, and for good reason. They are undefeated but have yet to beat a team that is currently ranked. This week they beat a very good Virginia Tech team 24-10, and really dominated the game from start to finish. The real test will be next week when they host #3 Notre Dame. Miami’s defense is the real deal and their offense is solid enough to have a chance against Notre Dame next week. While I think it will be a tough game next week and at this point I think Notre Dame will win, a win for Miami will put them right there in the conversation to make the College Football Playoffs.
5. Kansas Sucks- Kansas has to be one of the worst power 5 football teams ever. Everyone knew that they were bad but a loss at home by 31 to a winless Baylor team has to be as low as they can get. I mean, I’ve seen some bad teams before but this Kansas team is an absolute embarrassment to college football. As a team with such a good college basketball program a lot of people question why they even have a football program at this point. I don’t like the idea of eliminating your football program because of how bad you are, I think the simple solution is to bring back the legend himself, Mark Mangino to lead this program back to where they need to be.