Michigan hits new low with loss
Penn State beat Michigan 27-17 for its first win of the season, snapping the worst start in program history and dropping the hapless Wolverines to 2-4 amid questions over coach Jim Harbaugh's immediate future.
Those questions may not have any basis in reality: Harbaugh's contract does not expire untilafter next season, leaving plenty of time for both parties to reconvene and recommit to a longer partnership.
The better question asks whether Michigan and Harbaugh believe there is reason to maintain the relationship long into the future given this year's slide into irrelevancy.
Losing to previously winless Penn State feels like the lowest point of this already lost season, which had already surfed through a series of low moments – losing to Michigan State, getting blown out by Wisconsin, even needing overtime to rally back and beat Rutgers a week ago.
Barring a miraculous upset win against Ohio State next month, should that game be played as scheduled, Michigan will finish with a losing record for the first time since 2009 and just the fourth time since 1968.
As a program, Michigan has ceded enormous ground to the Buckeyes, which have lapped the field, and fallen behind several others in the Big Ten. Is there one missing ingredient that would vault the Wolverines back into the College Football Playoff in 2021? Is the strangeness of this offseason and regular season to blame for the Wolverines' plummet?
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 13, including the games played Friday:
Winners
Buffalo: The Bulls are the class of the MAC and a contender for the Top 25 after beating Kent State 70-41 in a battle of the league's two best offenses. The win moves Buffalo to 22-9 since the start of the 2018 season under coach Lance Leipold, who will be in the running for Power Five job openings. The biggest star of the day: Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson tied the Bowl Subdivision singlegame record with eight rushing touchdowns and ran for 409 yards, 18 shy of the FBS record.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide sailed past Auburn 42-13 to win this year's Iron Bowl without coach Nick Saban, who missed Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19. While contributing to a more conservative approach, Saban's absence didn't seemed to play a huge role in the bottom line: Alabama racked up 445 yards of offense, quarterback Mac Jones completed just under 70% of his throws with five touchdowns (two to star receiver Devonta Smith) and the defense forced two turnovers.
Trevor Lawrence: After more than a month on the sidelines, Lawrence had 403 passing yards in leading Clemson to a 52-17 win against Pittsburgh. It was over early: Lawrence threw for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Tigers took a 31-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mississippi: The Egg Bowl took on two new coaches – Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, Mike Leach at Mississippi State – but stayed pretty wacky, as the two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense, 99 pass attempts and 47 first downs in the Rebels' 31-24 win. Mississippi State drove to the Ole Miss 36yard line and had time for one shot at the end zone, which fell incomplete.
Washington: The Huskies reversed a 21-0 halftime deficit and beat Utah 24-21 on a late touchdown pass by quarterback Dylan Morris, who overcame a shaky first half to keep UW unbeaten through three games. Morris completed six passes for 71 yards on the game-winning drive, which spanned 88 yards on 12 plays, and finished with 272 passing yards and two scores.
Texas A&M: One year after losing 50-7 to LSU, the Aggies flipped the script and suffocated the Tigers in a 20-7 win. The switch illustrates the changed fortunes of these two programs since the end of last season: A&M has soared into the playoff chase as one of the top contenders for the top four while LSU has fallen from 15-0 to 3-4.
Notre Dame: After a fast-paced first quarter, Notre Dame slowed the tempo into its comfort zone against North Carolina and pulled away in the second half to beat the North Carolina 31-17 and remain on track for the College Football Playoff.
Iowa State: Here are the two latest achievements for the Cyclones under Matt Campbell, who for all his recent accomplishments might remain the most underrated coach in college football. The first: Iowa State has now beat Texas
twice in a row for the first time in program history. And the second likely achievement: Campbell will have Iowa State in the Big 12 championship game, playing for the program's first conference title of any kind since 1912.
Losers
Northwestern: Northwestern's unbeaten start ended with a thud, as Michigan State took a 17-0 lead, weathered the Wildcats' comeback and notched the game-winning score with more than three minutes left to win 29-20. For Northwestern, the loss eliminates the odds of a winner-take-all Big Ten championship game against Ohio State.
Schools that could’ve hired Greg Schiano: More than a few could've pulled the trigger on the former and current Rutgers coach, who now has the Scarlet Knights at 2-4 and ahead of Penn State and Michigan in the Big Ten East after beating Purdue 37-30.
SMU: A poor second half in a loss to Tulsa on Nov. 14 carried over to the first half of a surprising 52-38 loss to East Carolina.
Syracuse: Syracuse football in a nutshell: Down 36-29 to North Carolina State but inside the red zone, facing a fourth down with seconds left but with time enough to run one more play, the Orange ... spiked the ball. Game over. N.C. State wins. Syracuse is now 1-9.
Texas: The pressure is higher than ever on coach Tom Herman after Friday's loss shattered the Longhorns' hopes of reaching the Big 12 championship game. Herman is now 30-18 overall and 21-13 in league play since his debut in 2017.
Nebraska: The Cornhuskers have now lost six straight to rival Iowa, the last three by single digits. With as many as three games left to play this season, Nebraska's 19 losses since the start of 2018 tie for the program's most over a threeyear span since 1957-59.