Survival Saturday in the Big Ten: Week 11 CFB Recap
I will be the first to admit Saturday was not the best slate of college football we've had this year. Two of the three ranked matchups were total snoozefests and several opportunities for great upsets were thwarted in the final minutes. But similarly to the last guy in a medical school class being called "Doctor," these Saturdays sure beat whatever you're going to be doing in February.
Here's the recap:
- Holy Cow, Omar Cooper Jr.
They just don't get any better than that, folks. This could reasonably be called one of the best catches anyone has ever seen even if you had no idea what the time or score was. And then you see it was to win the game with less than a minute left to preserve a perfect season and give Indiana a victory at Penn State for the first time ever.
Incredible.
- Oregon Earns Its Big Ten Stripes With Gutsy Comeback Win at Iowa
We've seen Oregon take down the likes of Ohio State and Penn State in its short time as a Big Ten member, but you can't really call yourself a Big Ten team until you've had to scratch and claw for an 18-16 victory on a rainy November afternoon in Iowa City.
Iowa played exactly the kind of game it needed to win, but even a 93-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter wasn't enough to stave off the Ducks. Dante Moore led his squad right back down the field and completed one of the most beautiful passes you'll see this season to set up a game-winning field goal. Oregon might not be the same caliber of team it was last year, but it's a group of guys that knows how to win.
- Best of Luck Scoring on Texas Tech
Thoughts and rayers to the offensive coaching staff of whatever team draws Texas Tech in the CFP, because that defense is horrifying. The front four features two first rounders in David Bailey and Romello Height and then you have Jacob Rodriguez in the middle, who has been so good lately, the Red Raiders are pushing for him to be a Heisman finalist. There is no escape.
BYU's only score came in the fourth quarter when already trailing 26-0 and the Cougars became the seventh opponent TTU has held to 14 or fewer points. These guys will suffocate you.
- Texas A&M Just Keeps Doing It
Ho hum, just another ass whoopin' delivered to a ranked team in its own building courtesy of the Texas A&M Aggies.
A&M's 21-point win at Missouri — in its third straight SEC road game, by the way — was its third road win over a ranked team this season. Ohio State and Indiana have combined for two such wins. I don't really have an issue with however you want to arrange those teams at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings, but the Aggies absolutely have a real case to be the No. 1 team in the country right now.
- Cam Coleman Is Going To Be a Very Rich Young Man
If you haven't watched much Auburn this season or aren't familiar with Cam Coleman for whatever reason, you need to watch some tape of this guy in the next few weeks, because I have a sneaking suspicion he will be in the transfer portal next month and his services are going to fetch an obscene amount of money.
And if we're fully in the trust tree right now, I am not prepared to concede that Jeremiah Smith is definitely the best receiver in the country. If Coleman had a halfway competent quarterback in either of his years at Auburn, he would be right there in that conversation. He is a nightmare to cover and will be putting up insane numbers somewhere next season.
- Virginia Finally Pays
It's about damn time. Virginia has finally lost an ACC game after somehow escaping time after time for more than a month.
The Cavaliers are still alive for an ACC Championship Game berth, though, as they now join Georgia Tech, Pitt, SMU and Duke as one-loss teams tied atop the conference standings with just two games to go. Best of luck sorting all that out.
- What a Day for Mississippi Engagements
This is what it's all about, folks. I have always said if you can get engaged on the field during a TV timeout of a 20-point loss to Georgia, you gotta do it.
Congrats to both of those couples, though. They seem lovely.