No. 3 Oklahoma in ideal position to make playoff
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma is trying really hard to avoid looking ahead.
It’s tough not to when everything appears to be stacked in your favor.
The Sooners (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) are coming off a 38-20 win over TCU on Saturday that put them in sole possession of first place in the Big 12. Notre Dame’s loss to Miami and Georgia’s loss to Auburn over the weekend solidified Oklahoma’s already strong position in the College Football Playoff picture. The Sooners moved up from No. 5 to No. 3 in the AP poll this week, and a similar jump from No. 5 could follow when the CFP rankings are revealed.
Oklahoma is aware of its position, but the Sooners want to focus solely on playing at Kansas (1-9, 0-7) on Saturday. The fact that they Jayhawks have lost nine straight, all by double digits, doesn’t matter to Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.
“We haven’t won the Big 12 yet,” he said. “They’re a Big 12 opponent that’s in the way of our goals, so it shouldn’t take any extra motivation. We have to have the same mindset no matter who we’re playing against. That’s kind of been our focus all year — it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we have to rise to the occasion and play well, week in and week out.”
The Sooners have quality road wins against Ohio State and Oklahoma State and the home victory over TCU. Their only loss was to an Iowa State squad that is already bowl eligible. The Sooners appear headed to the playoff if they can beat Kansas and West Virginia and then win the Big 12 championship game.
“I keep going back to I have confidence in this league and the strength of this league,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “If you take care of business in this league, then all that other stuff will work itself out.”
Clemson poised for another deep run
CLEMSON, S.C. — Not this year, no way. Defending national champion Clemson had lost too much, the thinking went, on offense to post another serious threat to the title. But with the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season done, the Tigers are exactly where they want to be — on top of the ACC Atlantic and poised for another deep run.
“Never had a doubt about those guys,” Clemson defensive end Austin Bryant said of his teammates, many of them first-year starters, on the other side of the ball.
The group is erasing doubts week after week. Entering the season, the Tigers looked like they would need time to grow on offense with national title stars such as quarterback Deshaun Watson, receivers Mike Williams and Artavis Scott, and tailback Wayne Gallman all jumping early to the NFL. In all, Clemson had seven new starters to blend into the attack — leaving plenty of doubters dismissing the Tigers chances.
“Nobody really picked us to win the league this year, and not many picked us to win the division,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “So I’m glad my guys didn’t get that memo. They just went to work. We’ve had a lot of guys step up and earn it.” Particularly on offense.
Kelly Bryant was a tall, untested quarterback whose only experience the past two years was at the end of big, big blowouts. The backfield appeared a mishmosh of lumbering veterans such as C.J. Fuller and Adam Choice, and youngsters filled with potential yet short on experience in Tavien Feaster and Travis Etienne.
Tight end, center, slot receiver — all had new faces taking over and had ACC opponents licking their chops dreaming of payback after getting run over the previous two seasons by the dynamic Tigers.
Instead, Clemson merely snapped the ball and kept going, defeating four Top-25 opponents on the way to their third consecutive trip to the ACC championship game after a 31-14 victory over Florida State this past Saturday.
The Tigers look to make it three straight league crowns — and trips to the College Football Playoff — when they face No. 2 Miami in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 2.
Washington reeling after consecutive losses
SEATTLE — Chris Petersen acknowledges he’s awful when it comes to handling losses.
“I’m a bad loser. That’s a flaw that I have, and even when we win can’t wait to put on the tape to figure out what went wrong,” Petersen said after having the weekend to think about Washington’s 30-22 loss Friday to Stanford. “When you lose you always think we didn’t play hard enough, our energy wasn’t right, whatever. Those kids played hard and my hat’s off to them.”
The 16th-ranked Huskies (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) were regrouping Monday after a second consecutive road setback. The loss to Stanford not only knocked Washington out of consideration for the College Football Playoff but also put a major roadblock in the Huskies’ path to the Pac-12 North title.
The only team that controls what happens in the North is Washington State, which can earn a spot in the conference title game with a win over the Huskies in the Apple Cup. Washington needs Stanford to lose to California this Saturday to have any chance at a second straight division title.
Washington should know shortly after kicking off against Utah on Saturday night what its title chances are since Stanford and California play earlier in the evening. Petersen said he won’t be seeking updates on what is happening in the Bay Area.
“There’s still so much football to be played in these two games, so much crazy stuff happens. And it doesn’t matter what happens (elsewhere),” he said. “We have no say over that. All we can control is playing as hard as we can. Let’s play this week, let’s get to the following week. These will be two really tough games and I know this: We’ll feel really good about ourselves if we can get that done. Because these are going to be tough challenges.”