Wildly exciting Week 9 complicates playoff scenario

What an afternoon of college football. Sadly, I was supposed to be in Columbus for Ohio State-Penn State. And I’m sick (literally and figuratively) that I missed a terrific game. But instead, here are 10 thoughts that came to mind from the comfort of my bed watching the games unfold on television.

Penn State’s collapse will doom them

There will be so many things the Nittany Lions regret from their 39-38 loss to Ohio State, a game they led 35-20 midway through the third quarter and then 38-27 with just 5:42 left. But at the end of the day, Penn State crumbled and Ohio State played perfect down the stretch. And that’s probably going to be the difference between the Nittany Lions making the playoff and missing it. They’re a terrific team, maybe as good as anyone in the country. But with their mediocre schedule, they needed to win the Big Ten East division and then the Big Ten. That almost certainly isn’t going to happen now.

J.T. Barrett redeemed himself

We’ve been critical of him in the past for his passing ability, which tends to get exposed against quality defenses, but he was outstanding against Penn State. Barrett completed 33-of-39 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns, and it’s hard to envision that he could have done anything more. The final two touchdown drives he led – 5 plays, 75 yards and 5 plays, 58 yards – took a combined 2 minutes, 41 seconds. And given the game situation, he had absolutely no time to spare. Bravo.

Ohio State still leaves a lot to be desired

The Buckeyes came back in this game despite a whole lot of sloppy play, which created that early 21-3 hole and continued throughout the game. Though their special teams ultimately pulled off a game-changing play, blocking a punt with 11:39 left that gave Ohio State a short field, they were really bad in that area, which is usually a hallmark of Urban Meyer teams.

Even though this is a great win for Ohio State – one that will probably put them in the Big Ten title game – do you really trust this team against a playoff-caliber opponent given what we’ve seen the past few years? As it is, this team still seems flawed to a degree in which you have to consider the Buckeyes a cut below Alabama, Georgia and Notre Dame, at least.

Oddly enough, a good day for Oklahoma

It actually helps the Sooners immensely if Ohio State ends up 12-1 as the Big Ten champion, as they still can claim that 31-16 win in Columbus back on September 9. Not to mention Iowa State, the team that beat Oklahoma earlier this month, also knocked off TCU. In other words, Oklahoma – which beat Texas Tech 49-27 on Saturday night – still doesn’t have a bad loss. And if the Sooners are 12-1 as the Big 12 champion, it would be hard for the committee to put them behind Ohio State in the pecking order given how resounding that head-to-head victory was and the overall similarity in the quality of their schedule.

Are we headed toward the most complicated playoff scenario yet?

It’s still early, and things are going to change dozens of times. But we can pretty much pencil in Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma (assuming the Sooners beat the Red Raiders), Ohio State, Wisconsin and Notre Dame as the primary playoff candidates right now. Given the head-to-head results (Georgia over Notre Dame, Oklahoma over Ohio State), there could be some very tough discussions in that selection committee room.

Maybe it will all shake out at the end, but it sure looks like Alabama and Georgia are two of the best four teams, though only one can win the SEC. And while Notre Dame also looks the part, what if Wisconsin runs the table and wins the Big Ten? What if Clemson rebounds and runs the table with an impressive list of wins? This could be the Big One for the committee after three relatively easy years.

Kenny Hill finally got TCU beat

We know now that Iowa State is a legitimate top-25 team, but TCU held them to 255 yards of offense and still lost 14-7 because Kenny Hill was responsible for three crucial turnovers near the end zone in the second half. Though Hill has been far more responsible with the ball this year, he took a backward step this time and finished just 12-for-25 for 135 yards

Notre Dame’s running game is legit

The only remaining question about the Irish was whether they could continue running the ball in dominant fashion against a top-notch defensive front. Mission accomplished. Notre Dame ran it 54 times for 318 yards on NC State and looked really impressive once again in a 35-14 victory. This is looking more and more like a team that could finish 11-1. Just try keeping them out of the playoff if this continues. You won’t.

Miami remains on borrowed time

The Hurricanes remain unbeaten, winning again by the skin of their teeth. But this one was more alarming than the others because it was 24-19 at North Carolina, a team that came into the game 1-7. And it was indeed just as much of a grind for Miami as the score indicated. You have to think Virginia Tech and/or Notre Dame will expose them over the next couple weeks.

Something needs to change at Florida

This has been a bad, awful, terrible week for Jim McElwain. First, he mentioned getting death threats from fans but declined to elaborate about them. Then, when the Florida athletic department got the same response, it issued a statement that at least suggested it didn’t totally believe him. Then, while Florida was getting blown out by Georgia, ESPN reported that Florida officials had explored whether they could fire McElwain with cause based on the death threat fiasco. Florida is a very bad football team, and now the coaching drama there has officially arrived. Buckle up.

Bret Bielema got a minor reprieve

Down 31-7 in Oxford to an Ole Miss team starting its backup quarterback, it wasn’t looking good at all for Arkansas. There’s been increasing chatter in the industry over the last several days around Bret Bielema’s job status, and a blowout loss to a pretty bad Ole Miss team would have been a big deal under the circumstances. While coming back to win 38-37 on a late field goal doesn’t necessarily mean a lot in the big picture – Arkansas’ problems are not fixed in any way, shape or form – at least the Hogs (3-5) have something to feel good about in the midst of a real downer of a season. (USA Today/TNS)