College football Week 7 wrap-up
Michigan impressive; Pac-12, SEC, ACC issues
Every college football season, at right about the halfway point, we get a week that forces us to reset expectations and re-evaluate what we think about some of these teams.
This was that week.
Georgia and West Virginia fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, Notre Dame escaped a scare, Miami (Fla.) got exposed and Oregon knocked Washington out of the College Football Playoff race.
Here are takeaways from the weekend in college football. The Pac-12 will almost certainly
miss the Playoff again: Washington’s
30-27 overtime loss at Oregon puts the
Pac-12 in a position where it will take a miracle of epic proportions to make the Playoff. That would mark the third time in five years of the College Football Playoff that the Pac-12 hasn’t made it, which is a reflection on a lot of things: That league standardbearer Southern California has become an average program, that Commissioner Larry Scott hasn’t fixed important issues such as scheduling and television, that the league’s schools have fallen behind financially.
The problem with the Pac-12 is that it has several pretty good teams but no great team. Washington was its best hope going into the season, but even then, an opening loss to Auburn looked pretty bad in retrospect. Stanford just can’t seem to be healthy or consistent enough to make it through a season without multiple blemishes. Oregon is still developing but not quite there yet. USC is wandering in the wilderness. UCLA needs a lot of time to turn it around under Chip Kelly.
This sport is cyclical, and the Pac-12 might one day be in position to compete for national titles, but right now it’s hard to give this league much credibility. Michigan has become really interesting: You don’t get any do-overs in college football, so Michigan will have to live with that opening 24-17 loss at Notre Dame and the margin-of-error erased that night. Since then the Wolverines have become a really impressive team, a point that was underscored in a 38-13 thrashing of Wisconsin. Now 6-1, Michigan will have to go on the road next weekend at suddenly resurgent Michigan State, which scored a huge upset at Penn State. But Michigan’s defense was always real, and the Wolverines have put up 80 points the last two weeks, including 444 yards of offense against Wisconsin. That’s a really strong trajectory for a program that struggled mightily to move the ball against quality opponents the last couple of years and was derided for losing to Notre Dame. Shea Patterson won’t always put up huge passing numbers, but he looks more comfortable every week and ran for 90 yards against Wisconsin. A lot will happen between now and then, but there could be huge stakes for Michigan-Ohio State this year.
Auburn is in a free-fall: Give Tennessee credit for going into Auburn and getting its first Southeastern Conference win since Nov. 19, 2016, breaking an 11-game losing streak in conference. This is a breakthrough for first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt and something he can build on. But the real story coming out of Tennessee 30, Auburn 24 is the Tigers’ absolute collapse from a preseason top-10 team to an offensive horror show that has completely lost confidence and might struggle to make a bowl game. It’s crazy how the boom-orbust cycle at Auburn continues, but the common thread here is that Gus Malzahn’s offense simply struggles without a dominant running game. Auburn needed 34 carries against Tennessee to run for 126 yards, and that’s just not good enough. The ACC Coastal is a mess: Miami was always a flawed team, but its surprising 16-13 loss at Virginia throws the Coastal into chaos. Virginia Tech leads the division at 3-0, but only after coming from behind to beat woeful North Carolina 22-19. It doesn’t seem like there’s much separation from the best team in the division to the worst, which means we’re a long way from deciding who’s going to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game, likely against Clemson. Even Pittsburgh, which is 3-4 overall but 2-1 in the ACC, has a shot.
Matt Campbell is the real deal: Iowa State isn’t going to win every week be-
cause it’s Iowa State. There’s simply a ceiling on the talent level in Ames. But as long as Campbell is on the sideline, Iowa State isn’t a game anyone in the Big 12 can take for granted. West Virginia found that out in a 30-14 loss in which it was outgained 498-152. That’s about as thorough of a domination as you’ll see of a team that was ranked in the top 10. People make fun of Big 12 defenses, but the Cyclones make it tough for everybody, as evidenced by holding Will Grier to 11 of 15 passing for 100 yards. Campbell, 38, is a bona fide star in coaching whose team plays disciplined, physical football, and at some point a blue blood is going to try to hire him. The question is which one will be the right fit for Campbell.
Baylor, UCLA showing signs: Two impressive, under-the-radar performances Saturday came from Baylor and UCLA. Baylor has come close on a couple of occasions to a real breakthrough win under Matt Rhule, but never closer than Saturday when quarterback Charlie Brewer had three shots at the end zone in the final seconds against Texas. Though Baylor came up short 23-17, Rhule has made a lot of progress in his second year and it seems like the Bears are right on the verge of winning some of these games. As it is, Baylor is 4-3 and could very well end up in a bowl game after going 1-11 last season. UCLA, meanwhile, got the first win of the Chip Kelly era, beating California 37-7 in Berkeley. The Bruins have gotten their act together, and they might be a problem in the second half for someone such as Oregon, USC or Stanford. This year is all about setting the foundation for Kelly’s program, and a 30-point road win is proof that his message is taking hold to some degree.