To be fair, this wasn’t the most exciting college football weekend, but even an average college football weekend is more exciting than a great day in most other sports. Let’s recap all of the important events of Saturday.
Close Call
All of the talk of Clemson breezing through the ACC season without trouble may have been overblown. The top-ranked Tigers survived a close scare with North Carolina on Saturday, escaping Chapel Hill with a 21-20 win. The Clemson offense was largely held in check, managing just 21 points. Meanwhile, it was the defense that came up big.
After allowing a 16-play touchdown drive that ate up over eight minutes of clock in the fourth quarter, the Tigers got a stop on a two-point conversion attempt that could have ended their hopes of a repeat.
Of course, the Tigers suffered losses during the regular season in 2016 and 2017 and went on to the College Football Playoff. But there may not be enough quality on Clemson’s schedule this year to guarantee a spot in the CFP for a one-loss Clemson team. On the bright side, the Tigers may have lost a game like this in past years but found a way to extend their winning streak to 20 games.
More Records
It was another week of records for No. 2 Alabama. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw an Alabama-record six touchdown passes during the team’s 59-31 win over Ole Miss Saturday. In the process, he passed A.J. McCarron for the all-time Alabama record in career touchdowns. He also tied the SEC record for seven total touchdowns in a single game after also rushing for a score as well.
Meanwhile, DeVonta Smith broke two single-game Alabama records with his five touchdowns and 274 receiving yards, breaking records previously held by Amari Cooper.
Bad Encore
Washington State suffered a dreadful loss last weekend, letting a 32-point lead disappear in less than two quarters in a 67-63 loss to UCLA. The follow-up from the Cougars wasn’t much better, as they fell to Utah 38-13. Naturally, head coach Mike Leach wasn’t pleased, calling his players “fat, dumb, happy, and entitled” after the game.
“I think we’ve got a bunch of free agents running around there that think they’re pretty special, and then as soon as something doesn’t go their way, they want to pout,” said Leach.
Pac-12 Blues
Washington State wasn’t the only Pac-12 team to have a bad weekend. The conference has gotten some good press this year for putting several teams into the Top 25, but those days could soon be over. Washington State was knocked out of the Top 25 after last week’s loss to UCLA, and now No. 15 Cal and No. 21 USC have their spots in jeopardy.
Cal lost Friday at home to Arizona State, one week after winning at Ole Miss and one week before its showdown with Oregon. USC, meanwhile, lost 28-14 to Washington, as third-string quarterback Matt Fink couldn’t replicate his performance from last week’s win against Utah.
