Two kicks: one with nine seconds to go, another with zeros on the clock. Just one miss would have rewritten the predictable picture of this year’s college football playoffs; Had both gone wrong, the playoff race would have turned into chaos just steps from the regular season finish line.
No team in the Bowl Subdivision is more adept at winning close games than No. 4 TCU, which has mounted an unexpected playoff charge with unwavering confidence in Sonny Dykes’ offensive scheme and a seemingly unstoppable streak of late-season heroics. play.
Down 28-20 to Baylor with less than seven minutes to go, the Horned Frogs ran 90 yards to tie it 28-26 but missed the two-point conversion. After stopping the Bears’ possession, TCU marched 45 yards to set up the game-winning field goal from 40 yards as time expired.
TCU has spent the entire season on the brink: Seven of eight Big 12 wins and eight of 10 wins against FBS competition have come by 10 points or fewer, including memorable comeback victories against Oklahoma State, No. 17 Kansas State and the Bears.
But each win brings the Horned Frogs one step closer to the playoffs. TCU can fill out the most unexpected berth in format history with wins against Iowa State next Saturday and a likely rematch with Kansas State in the conference championship game.
Follow all the games: Live NCAA College Football Scores
Another team currently sitting in the top four of the playoff standings, No. 3 Michigan, was pushed to the limit for the first time this season.
Illinois had lost the Big Ten West lead with two straight losses, but stepped up as an underdog against the Wolverines, taking a 17-10 fourth-quarter lead before Michigan kicker Jake Moody clinched the honors. All-America for the second straight season with three field goals in the last 15 minutes, the last one with nine seconds remaining.
Huge loss:Michigan star RB Blake Corum leaves early with injury
MAIN ENCOUNTERS:Scoring and analysis of each of the top 25 games in week 12
This is new for Michigan, and perhaps a reflection of the attention already being paid to next week’s win-or-go-home rivalry game against No. 2 Ohio State. Only Maryland had stayed within single digits of the Wolverines, who entered Saturday with an average margin of victory in Big Ten play of 21.9 points per game.
How the games were won doesn’t matter. The fact that they won keeps the Horned Frogs and Wolverines in the thick of the playoff picture and continues what had been an uncontroversial and uncontroversial postseason run.
No. 5 Tennessee, No. 9 Clemson, No. 19 Notre Dame and others join Michigan and TCU on this week’s list of winners and losers:
Winners
southern california
The No. 6 Trojans are the biggest winners of the weekend. For starters, the Trojans took home a memorable 45-42 shootout against No. 16 UCLA to earn at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season crown and a berth in the conference championship game. At quarterback, Caleb Williams passed for 470 yards with two touchdowns and could have taken the lead in the Heisman Trophy race. then there was No. 5 Tennessee’s loss to South Carolina, which opens an even more obvious door for USC to enter and remain in the top four of the playoff standings. With two more wins and a 12-1 finish, it will be impossible for the Trojans to miss out on the national semifinals.
Clemson
With all due respect to the RedHawks, who have won as many games as the Hurricanes since the start of last season, Clemson routinely makes Miami, Fla., look like Miami, Ohio. Including Saturday’s 40-10 victory, the last four meetings between the two have gone 196-30 in favor of the Tigers, helpfully illustrating the yawning gap that separates the best program in the ACC from one that sits somewhere in the middle. bottom of the group. In addition to keeping Clemson on the playoff roster, the victory marked another solid start for DJ Uiagalelei, who passed for 227 yards, rushed for a team-high 89 yards and was responsible for three scores.
Ohio State and Georgia
No team in the top four had it easy. Georgia’s No. 1 offense faltered in the red zone and gained a season-low 361 yards in a 16-6 win against Kentucky. No. 2 Ohio State was stressed by Maryland, which led 13-10 at halftime and came within a field goal at 33-30 five minutes into the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes were able to win 43–30 thanks to a career-high 146 rushing yards from freshman Dallan Hayden and a late defensive touchdown after the Terrapins took over with 42 seconds remaining.
THE BUCKEYES SURVIVE:Ohio State tops Maryland to stay undefeated
Iowa
Despite the laughs at the expense of Iowa’s offense, which came into the weekend ranked 128th in the FBS in yards per game and 130th in yards per game, the Hawkeyes are now one win away from another Big crown. Ten West after beating Minnesota 13-10 on a late field goal. The offense is terrible; the defense is still the best in the country. With a win in the rivalry next Saturday against woeful Nebraska, Iowa will advance to face either Ohio State or Michigan in the conference championship game.
our lady
Losses to Marshall and Stanford threatened to engulf Notre Dame’s season and cast a negative light on coach Marcus Freeman just six games into his tenure. With very little fanfare, however, the Fighting Irish have spent more than a month among the top teams in the Bowl Subdivision and come into the regular season finale against No. 6 Southern California ranked one spot in the Six New Year’s Bowls. Saturday’s 44-0 shutout of Boston College continues a streak of strong play that really began with a 45-32 win against No. 11 North Carolina on Sept. 24.
Texas
Texas turned in a commanding performance on both sides and hammered Kansas in a 55-14 victory that might be the Longhorns’ best effort of the year. At various points this season, including losses to Alabama and TCU, the Longhorns have seemed part of a program close to breaking through under second-year coach Steve Sarkisian. While some help will be needed to get into the Big 12 championship game (the Jayhawks would have to beat Kansas State and Texas must beat Baylor), this season is beginning to mark a notable step forward for the Longhorns.
boise state
This is shaping up to be a good turnaround season for Boise State, which failed to win at least eight games last year for the first time since 1998, not including the shortened COVID-19 season. After making a late interception in the end zone to hold on and beat Wyoming 20-17, the Broncos are 8-3 overall and unbeaten in the Mountain West heading into the season finale against Utah State.
losers
Tennessee
Tennessee was set to join the top four in the penultimate playoff seeding, replacing underdog Ohio State and Michigan, and would have been hard to unseat even without reaching the SEC championship game. But only if the Volunteers ended up with just one loss, and South Carolina made sure that didn’t happen. The Gamecocks scored 35 points in the first half and won 63-38 to knock Tennessee out of playoff contention, potentially opening a path for Big Ten runner-up or one-loss ACC champion Clemson. After playing much better of late, the Volunteers defense allowed 606 yards of offense while Spencer Rattler had his best game since transferring from Oklahoma with 438 passing yards and six touchdowns. And It Gets Worse: Hendon Hooker suffered an apparent lower body injury late in the game with the Gamecocks leading by 25 points.
BAD NIGHT:Tennessee’s playoff hopes end with loss to South Carolina
North Carolina
If it’s still a long shot, UNC had a genuine shot at making the playoffs on a very narrow plan: win, beating Clemson along the way, while Tennessee and the Pac-12 champion added a second loss. Despite leading 17-0 at halftime, the Tar Heels lost 21-17 to Georgia Tech and were eliminated from the playoff talk, though a New Year’s Six bowl remains a possibility. To get into one of the major bowls, UNC needs to beat Clemson or lose as the Tigers reach the national semifinals, which would give the Tar Heels the ACC berth in the Orange Bowl.
central florida
Losing 17-14 to Navy is bad news for the No. 18 Gentlemen and potentially worse news for the American, who was slated to send another champion to the New Year’s Six but could now lose that bowl bid. one’s. loss or two-loss team from the Sun Belt. The loss isn’t necessarily fatal: UCF can still enter the American championship game depending on the outcome of next weekend’s game between No. 22 Tulane and No. 21 Cincinnati. But the Knights, who have lost three games, could beat South Florida next Saturday, beat one of the Green Wave or Bearcats and still be knocked out of the New Year’s Six by No. 23 Coastal Carolina, say, if the Chanticleers finish with just one loss.
Florida
Inconsistency wasn’t unexpected in coach Billy Napier’s debut. Since defeating No. 10 Utah in the season opener, Florida has alternated between hot and cold streaks, seemingly landing somewhere in the middle of the SEC after last week’s destruction of South Carolina. So what should we make of the Gators’ 31-24 loss to Vanderbilt? No matter how you try to dismiss it: that this is Napier’s first year, that the Commodores have been getting better, that every week is unpredictable given the early stage of this rebuilding project, that the Gators basically gave away the win with multiple sloppiness mistakes: it just there’s no excuse for Florida to lose in this game, even if Vanderbilt has turned the corner under coach Clark Lea.
michigan state
At this time, a year ago, Michigan State coach Mel Tucker was being feted as one of the hottest names in the business and just days away from signing one of the most lucrative deals in coaching history. A year later, the Spartans will likely miss bowl eligibility after losing 39-31 in double overtime to Indiana. The Hoosiers came out of a 17-point hole at halftime and won despite having nothing to do: MSU outscored IU by more than 250 yards, allowed just 33 passing yards, had 17 more first downs, and had possession for more than 36 minutes. . Now 5-6, the Spartans will need to score a big upset against No. 12 Penn State to make the postseason.
