Ugly victories count, too
Cincy, Oklahoma struggle but prevail
There is a developing College Football Playoff race between an outgoing Big 12 school and an incoming Big 12 school.
No. 2 Cincinnati, heading to the Big 12 at some point, and No. 3 Oklahoma, leaving the Big 12 at some point, remained undefeated Saturday, though neither was at its best.
The Sooners trailed Kansas — yes, that Kansas (1-6) — 10-0 at the half before Caleb Williams led a 35-13 second half that put away the 38-point underdog Jayhawks, 35-23.
“I’m excited for the win, but we played poor football in the first half,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said.
The Bearcats trailed Navy (1-6) deep into the first half before leading by three at the break. Cincinnati looked as if it had pulled safely away in the third quarter, then needed a late interception to finally seal a 27-20 win.
“We’ve got to find ways, especially on the road, when you’re up, whatever it is, 13 points or something, to kind of close things out,” Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said. “That’s probably the only thing that I’m somewhat disappointed we couldn’t and didn’t do today, but we needed a challenge and we got one.”
Winning ugly is still winning, and in a season where nine top10 teams have lost to unranked teams, including two on Saturday, maybe don’t get too caught up in style points.
For Cincinnati (7-0), which has nothing else but double-digit victories on its resume, one sluggish clunker is no reason to panic.
For Oklahoma (8-0), the struggles with Kansas looked familiar. The Sooners have won five one-score games, and Saturday would have been six if they hadn’t punched one in from short range in the final minute.
The emergence of freshman quarterback Williams has brought the explosiveness back to the Sooners’ offense. He is a difference-maker. The defense that was expected to be one of the best in the Big 12 is simply not.
So who is better? The Sooners or Bearcats, one of the three American Athletic Conference teams the Big 12 has announced will join the league to help replace SEC-bound Oklahoma and Texas?
Throw away the Power Five benefit of the doubt for the Sooners and it could be a tough call.
Both teams will have winnable homes games next week (OU vs. Texas Tech; UC vs. Tulane) before the College Football Playoff selection committee gets to weigh in, but a Cincinnati Oklahoma debate could be one of the juicer possibilities for the stretch run. Wonder who Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby will be rooting for?
THE LONGEST YARDS: The new overtime rules put in place this season by the NCAA were intended to decrease the chances of marathon games that go beyond three possessions for each offense.
Illinois and No. 7 Penn State blew up that plan with an epic performance of ineffective offense that produced the first nine-OT game in NCAA history.
The Illini and Nittany Lions went through the first two OT periods, matching field goals and tied at 16. The third round now goes to a 2-point shootout under the new rules. One play for each team from the 3 yards out.
Never has 9 feet felt so far away.
The Big Ten teams put up five straight double scoreless tries before trading 2s in the eighth possession. The Illini finally won it 20-18 in the bottom of the ninth with a score after stopping Penn State.
The Nittany Lions (5-2) have now lost two straight heading into a road game at No. 5 Ohio State that is difficult to see being much of a fight with the way Penn State is playing offense.
AROUND THE COUNTRY: Being an Oregon fan must be incredibly stressful. For the second straight week, the 10thranked Ducks’ defense needed a late defensive stop to hold on for a 34-31 victory. Nice to have Kayvon Thibodeaux in those situations. The defensive end and possible first overall NFL draft pick wrecked UCLA, with nine tackles, 4½ for loss, including two sacks. … No. 4 Alabama has now won 15 straight games against Tennessee. Is this rivalry really worth saving the SEC’s divisional setup? … The U.S. Military Academy has been playing football since 1890 and has never played in a higher-scoring game than it did Saturday. No. 16 Wake Forest beat the Cadets 70-56 to stay unbeaten.
Mountain West
NO. 22 SDSU 20, AIR FORCE 14: At Air Force Academy, Colo., Matt Araiza kicked two field goals, Kaegun Williams and Chance Bell ran for touchdowns and San Diego State withstood the Falcons’ comeback bid.
San Diego State (7-0, 3-0 Mountain West) beat Air Force for a ninth straight time. Air Force (6-2, 3-2) had its four-game winning streak snapped.
FRESNO STATE 34, NEVADA 32: In Fresno, Calif., Jake Haener threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, Jordan Mims ran for 134 yards and a touchdown and the Bulldogs (6-2, 3-1) edged the Wolf Pack (5-2, 2-1).
Down 34-26, Nevada’s Carson Strong threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Cole Turner to cut the deficit to two points with two seconds left, but the 2-point conversion attempt was caught out of the back of the end zone.
UTAH STATE 26, COLORADO STATE 24: In Logan, Utah, Connor Coles kicked a career-best four field goals, including a 34-yarder to give Utah State a two-score lead with five minutes left, for the victorious Aggies (5-2, 3-1) on Friday night. Coles was four-for-four with kicks of 45. 30. 42 and 34 yards.
State
TAMU-KINGSVILLE 28, WNMU 19: In Silver City, the Javelinas (4-3, 2-2 Lone Star) jumped to a 21-0 lead and held off a fourthquarter rally by the Mustangs (1-7, 0-6).
NMHU 24, BLACK HILLS STATE 10: In Spearfish, S.D., Ramone Atkins threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns as Cowboys (3-5, 3-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic) beat the Yellow Jackets (4-4, 2-4).
UT PERMIAN BASIN 44, ENMU 21: In Midland, Texas, the host Falcons (5-2, 3-1 Lone Star) scored the game’s final 27 points, all in the second half, to pull away from Eastern New Mexico (3-5, 1-4).