The 11th week of college football was the best one that fans have seen this year by far. With the the amount of ranked teams losing, the latest polls are going to be left significantly different than last week.
For the first time since 1985, three of the top four teams in the nation lost in the same week, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4.
No. 2 Clemson lost a shootout to Pittsburgh, 43-42. This was the game I paid the most attention too.
Clemson reminded me so much of Florida State in 2014, an undefeated team led by Jameis Winston who got their record based off of luck. Eventually the Seminoles lost to No. 3 Oregon in the college football playoff, their first tough opponent of the season.
Clemson has ridden their top four-ranking throughout the entire season after losing to Alabama in the national championship last season. I think the only game Clemson proved worthy of this ranking was in their early season win over Louisville.
The Tigers avoided multiple losses with slim overtime victories, last second mistakes of other teams and final two-minute drives, none of which could aid the Tigers in their one point loss.
The game was an offensive battle throughout, with over 1000 yards of total offense and Pittsburgh quarterback Nathan Peterman leading the Panthers with five touchdown passes.
What hurt the Tigers was the three turnovers they had and their inability to complete fourth down conversions.
With under a minute to go, 45 yards away from the end zone and up by two points, the Tigers were forced to go for it on fourth down due to them being out of field goal range. The Tigers got stuffed behind the line of scrimmage, giving the Panthers the ball, 50 yards away from the end zone.
Nathan Peterman led the Panthers down the field, setting up kicker Chris Blewitt, who had a blocked extra point and missed a field goal earlier, for a 48 yarder which defeated Clemson, 43-42.
No. 3 Michigan lost to unranked Iowa, 14-13. The Wolverines have lost five of their last six meetings with the Hawkeyes.
This wasn’t a game I paid too much attention too due to starting and ending very late, but based on highlights and statistics I think Michigan and Jim Harbaugh should be ashamed of themselves.
The only excuse the Wolverines are allowed to make is that their starting quarterback Jordan Speight broke his collarbone and was carted off of the field. There’s a 50-50 chance Speight will be out for the rest of the season.
If Speight doesn’t come back this year, I think the Wolverines will be left out of the playoff and lose to conference rival, Ohio State. Michigan’s defense held up their end of the stick, allowing only 14 points, which is suitable for their No. 1 team defense ranking, but their offense didn’t seal the deal.
Michigan’s offense is ranked No. 6 in the country and have put up an average of 44.5 points per game. They scored 13 on Saturday night.
Penalties and third down conversions worked against the Wolverines, as well. They were penalized five times for 48 yards and went 5/15 on third downs. That’s not a statistic that the No. 6 offense in the country would have.
The Wolverines can only blame themselves for this game and have three weeks to cruise through wins and hold their No. 4-ranking before their showdown with No. 2 Ohio State.
Finally, No. 4 Washington lost to USC, 26-13.
This game didn’t disappoint me as much, knowing the ability of both USC and Washington.
I think that USC needed to prove their case in this game, being 6-3, now 7-3 after the win. They needed to prove that they were better than a three-loss team, which they certainly did.
Washington is a great football team, don’t get me wrong, but the only thing playing in their favor to get the No. 4-seed was the fact that they were undefeated.
The Huskies don’t have a rushing offense meaning they have to substitute for it with their passing game, but 259 yards won’t do it.
The Huskies also only had one touchdown. That won’t help win games either.
The game changer of this game was when USC’s Adoree Jackson intercepted the ball twice, one of which being late in the 4th quarter, and sealed the deal for the Trojans.
With these key losses, Ohio State moves up to No. 2, Louisville moves to No. 3 and Michigan slips to No. 4.
With only a few weeks left in college football, anything can happen.
