With three matchups featuring teams in the top 10 highlighting what many were calling “Separation Saturday”, we saw a lot of good football. We also learned a lot of things as the regular season begins to wrap up.
Miami Is Legit
The U is officially back after their dominating win on Saturday night over Notre Dame. It’s a great time to be a fan of the Hurricanes and that turnover chain has been a motivational tool for a defense that took the fight out of the Fighting Irish.
After what happened earlier on Saturday, it seems like the Georgia Bulldogs are kicking themselves right now for letting go of Mark Richt in 2015 after failing to make the SEC title game. It’s going to be an interesting Championship Saturday with Miami and Clemson facing off for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.
Auburn Is Better Than We Thought
Just about a month ago, it felt like Auburn was beginning to slip down the power rankings of the SEC after blowing a 20-0 lead against LSU. However, that seemed to wake up head coach Gus Malzahn from a slumber and get them back into contention for the SEC West crown.
What we saw last Saturday against Georgia was an Auburn team that is driven to spoil the Tide’s chances of making the College Football Playoff in two weeks. Auburn made it look incredibly easy against the Bulldogs and are way better than anyone thought they were a month ago.
Mayfield Makes Strong Case for Heisman
While the Big 12 isn’t known for strong defenses, the TCU Horned Frogs have been one of the better defenses in the conferences. This defense allowed Baker Mayfield to make them look silly, especially in the first half with 333 yards through the air in a 38-20 win for the Oklahoma Sooners.
With Saquon Barkley’s stock dropping a little bit over the last couple of weeks, Mayfield has to be considered the front runner after his big game against TCU. He was super-efficient, going 18-of-27 and made three touchdowns through the air to give Oklahoma the win. If he can do that in the next couple of games, the Heisman Trophy is going to be his.
Alabama Looks Beatable
Mississippi State came extremely close to coming away with the biggest upset of the weekend against the Alabama Crimson Tide. One of the biggest reasons why is because Alabama’s defense, especially at linebacker, looks a little more human.
The Bulldogs were able to capitalize on the deficiency at linebacker and got out to a pretty decent lead until the final minutes. It took a big final drive to avoid overtime to give Alabama the win after the defense loaded the box and blitzed half of the defense, giving Jalen Hurts the chance to use his legs to make a big play. With what we saw on Saturday, it seems like Alabama is just a little more beatable.
-Clint Domingue