Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

THIS WEEK’S FULL RESULTS:

#2 Ohio State Dominates Last 3 Quarters to Beat #5 Indiana 38-15

Indiana had greater than a 50% chance to win this game, according to ESPN’s Win Probability, as late as 5 minutes into the 2nd quarter after starting quick with a touchdown and forcing a turnover on downs.

But by halftime, the Buckeyes were back to over an 80% favorite to win, and less than 5 minutes into the 2nd half, the Buckeyes were up to a 95% chance to win. In other words, this game got away from Indiana quick, fast, and in a hurry. And this one really seemed to get out of hand and be comfortably in Ohio State’s favor after Caleb Downs returned a punt 79 yards at the beginning of the 2nd half to take a 21-7 lead.

Ohio State would go on to outgain the Hoosiers, finishing with over twice as many yards as Indiana (316-153).

Indiana struggled to move the ball, finishing with an average of 3.8 yards per pass and 2.1 yards per rush, though the rushing numbers are negatively skewed thanks to 5 Ohio State sacks. 2.5 of those 5 sacks were courtesy of Ohio State’s Cody Simon, with another 1.5 coming from Jack Sawyer.

Indiana RBs Ty Son Lawton (15/79/2) and Justice Ellison (17/62) didn’t have terrible days. Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke finished 8/18 with 68 yards and a fumble lost, a fairly underwhelming performance for Rourke.

For the Buckeyes, the trio of Emeka Egbuka (7/80/1), Carnell Tate (4/68), and Jeremiah Smith (3/34) headlined the receiving performance from QB Will Howard’s passing performance (22/26 for 201, 2 TDs, and an INT).

This leaves the Big Ten with a rematch of Ohio State and Oregon as the overwhelmingly likely scenario, though this now leaves Ohio State, Indiana, and Penn State with one conference loss. If Ohio State beats Michigan next week, that conference championship picture is simple. For Indiana, it ends its season with Purdue and then will need to await the decision of the CFP Committee to determine if they are going to be playing in the Playoff or not.

Oklahoma Stuns #7 Alabama 24-3 After Scoring 24 Unanswered Points

Alabama was on the board first with a field goal, but Oklahoma proceeded to not allow the Crimson Tide to score another point (notwithstanding a potentially controversial illegal touching penalty that wiped a touchdown off the board for the Tide).

By the end of this one, Oklahoma had thoroughly beaten Alabama in every metric and in basically every phase of the game, finishing with almost 100 more total yards and winning the turnover battle 3-1.

It was the rushing attack of the Sooners – finishing with 260 rushing yards – that kept Oklahoma ahead. QB Jackson Arnold led all rushers in this one with 131 yards rushing on 25 carries, while also throwing for a modest 68 yards on 9/11 passing with no TDs or INTs.

For the Tide, QB Jalen Milroe finished 11/26 for 164 yards and 3 picks, including a pick-six to Oklahoma’s Kip Lewis. The rushing game for the Tide had trouble getting established, which really limited Alabama’s offense, who was held to the fewest points since 2004. RBs Jam Miller (12/45), Justice Haynes (3/18), and QB Jalen Milroe (15/7) finished with an average of 2.3 yards rush attempt. WR Germie Bernard did lead all receivers in this one with 4 catches for 60 yards.

This marks Alabama’s 3rd conference loss, as they fall to 4-3 in the conference and 8-3 overall, effectively eliminating first-year coach Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide from the SEC title picture. For Oklahoma, the win over Alabama gets them to a 6th win, getting them to a bowl in their first year in the SEC.

Florida Gets to Bowl Eligibility By Upsetting #9 Ole Miss at Home 24-17

Florida earned bowl eligibility on the same day it might have effectively knocked out #9 Ole Miss from CFP contention with a 24-17 win.

Ole Miss outgained Florida 464-345, but, just like against LSU, Florida still found a way to win by winning on conversion downs, turning the ball over more, and hitting enough explosive plays.

Florida QB DJ Lagway might have only thrown for 180 yards, but he averaged 18 yards per completion. Lagway completed pass to 4 different Gators, with each having a long of double digits as Elijhah Badger (5/87/1) had a long of 27, Chimere Dike (3/54) had a long of 54, Jadan Baugh (1/25/1) had a long of 25, and Ja’Quavion Fraziars (1/14) had a long of 14. Baugh also finished with 13 carries for 46 yards as RB Montrell Johnson Jr. finished with a game-high 107 rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart had a couple chances to get the Rebels into a tie ballgame late, but Dart threw a pair of late interceptions, both to the Gators’ Bryce Thornton, when the Florida defense needed them most. Dart finished 24/41 for 323 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 INTs. Dart also led all Ole Miss rushers with 71 yards on 14 carries.

Caleb Banks and Tyreak Sapp combined for 4 sacks for a Florida defense that also finished with 9 tackles for loss, as that defensive front gave Ole Miss troubles all game.

Dart did a good job of spreading the ball around, though, as Cayden Lee (6/94/1), Jordan Watkins (8/70), and Dae’Quan Wright (4/57) were targeted fairly consistently, with Tre Harris only making one catch, but for an impactful 43-yard touchdown.

With the loss, Ole Miss falls to 8-3 and 4-3 in the conference, while Florida gets to 4-4 in the conference and 6-5 overall.

Auburn Picks Up Defining Win in Hugh Freeze Era with 43-41, 4 OT Win over #15 Texas A&M

The win probability graph in the Auburn and Texas A&M game looks like a roller coaster that would be shut down halfway through its first day at a theme park for being too dangerous with how back and forth this game was.

Ultimately it was Auburn who prevailed to get a defining win in the still-young Hugh Freeze era over #15 Texas A&M.

Auburn raced out to a 21-0 start as true freshman WR Cam Coleman was everywhere in this one, but Texas A&M and QB Marcel Reed bounced back from their shaky start.

With just over 4 minutes to go, Texas A&M took its first lead of the game, but Auburn would bounce back and kick a field goal to tie it up at 31 with only a few seconds left in regulation.

In overtime, both teams scored a touchdown to start, but had to settle for field goals in the 2nd overtime period after some penalties set the drives back too far. In the 3rd overtime, neither team was successful on their 2-point try, and in the 4th overtime, Auburn converted on a pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith – who was also everywhere for Tigers last night, while Texas A&M did not convert as Marcel Reed’s pass was dropped in the end zone.

Auburn QB Payton Thorne finished 19/31 with 301 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception while also adding 38 rushing yards on 11 carries. Jarquez Hunter, on senior day, led all rushers in this game with an impressive statline (28/130/3). Hunter also finished with 23 receiving yards on 4 catches.

Cam Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith each eclipsed 100 receiving yards, as Coleman finished with 7/128/2 and Lambert-Smith finished with 2/104.

For the Aggies, QB Marcel Reed was 22/35 for 297 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception. He also added 66 rushing yards. Amari Daniels led all Aggies with 90 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

With the win, Auburn gets to 5-6 and is a win over a reeling Alabama program away from getting to bowl eligibility. For Texas A&M, they fall to 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference, which means they have no other way in to the SEC conference championship aside from beating Texas this weekend.

Kansas Plays Spoiler Once Again, Beats #16 Colorado 37-21 on Senior Day

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Kansas played spoiler against a ranked team in the Big 12, causing a shakeup in the standings that complicates a messy conference even further.

Kansas beat the Buffs 37-21 in a game where the Jayhawks got out to a 17-0 lead.

Early in the 3rd quarter, Colorado was able to cut the Jayhawk lead to just 2 (23-21), but Kansas was able to extend the lead with another couple of scores.

Perhaps most telling to show that Kansas outperformed Colorado is that Kansas had 7 drives before the final drive where they ran out the clock. Kansas scored on all 7 drives.

Colorado did not get a single stop against Kansas’ offense, as the Jayhawks improved to 5-6 on the season with an away game against Baylor to determine if Kansas is going to earn bowl eligibility.

As for Colorado, the Big 12 is such a mess, with 4 teams at 2 conference losses and another 5 at 3 conference losses, that it takes pages of notes to determine all possible outcomes, however Colorado does need some help now. Before the loss, Colorado controlled its own destiny, but now that right is gone.

Despite Second Half and Chaotic Finish, #21 Arizona State Beats #14 BYU 28-23 to Control Destiny in Big 12 Title Picture

Arizona State took an early 21-0 lead in the first half with something like a 98% chance to win the game deep into the 3rd quarter.

And even after BYU scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-9, Arizona State came back with a 2-play drive to push the score to 28-9.

BYU stuck around for all 60 minutes though, coming close on a couple of occasions to steal the win from the Sun Devils, even having a Hail Mary attempt that nearly was converted into a touchdown, though it ended a couple yards short.

Chaos ensued in this game as Arizona State got the ball back after an interception was nearly returned for a touchdown with just over a minute left. Arizona State ran a play with RB Cam Skattebo on the next play, but then Sam Leavitt and the offense ran around, going backwards over 35 yards trying to burn the clock before a 4th and 51 heave into the stands landed when there was still 1 second on the clock. Of course, the clock ran out initially and the fans stormed the field before having to be pushed on to the sidelines for one final play (and a second field storming).

BYU’s Jake Retzlaff’s Hail Mary just did not get enough air, and Arizona State won.

Retzlaff finished 22/38 for 297 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions.

WR Darius Lassiter was the leading receiver for BYU, finishing with a statline of 5/103, with Chase Roberts (5/59), Jojo Phillips (2/37), and Keelan Marion (4/36) also playing factors for the BYU passing game.

RB LJ Martin led the Cougars with 42 rushing yards on 9 carries, while Marion also added 30 yards on 5 carries.

For Arizona State, RB Cam Skattebo was a workhorse, finishing with a statline of 28/147/3 with an additional 3/12 in the receiving game. Jordyn Tyson led all pass catchers in this one, though, with 9/125, which was more than half of QB Sam Leavitt’s 247 passing yards that went with his 16/25 passing day where he also threw a touchdown and an interception.

As for both teams, they now each have 2 conference losses and are 9-2 overall. From a cursory readings of tiebreakers, it would appear that Arizona State controls its own destiny next week before playing Arizona, but BYU might need some help to get a chance in the Big 12 Conference Championship.

#6 Notre Dame Routs Previously Unbeaten #19 Army 49-14

Jeremiyah Love ran for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 7 rushes as Notre Dame routed an Army team that entered the game undefeated. Love also caught a pass for a touchdown to find the end zone 3 total times.

Notre Dame scored 49 points in a game where it ran just 46 plays from scrimmage, finishing with 464 yards (10.09 yards per play).

QB Riley Leonard finished an efficient 10/13 with 148 yards and a 2 touchdowns while also adding 30 rushing yards. Even though there were only 14 total completions for Notre Dame, 8 different Notre Dame players caught a pass, with Jordan Faison leading all receivers in this one with 2 catches for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Army QB Bryson Daily led all rushers in this one, though, with 139 yards and 2 touchdowns on 39 carries. He also was 4/8 passing for 26 yards.

Notre Dame’s defense did a great job at stopping the Black Knights offense, as Army finished with just 3.48 yards per play.

With the win, Notre Dame improved to 10-1 on the season with just its game against USC to end the regular season.

#4 Penn State Wins Close One On the Road Against Minnesota 26-25

#4 Penn State avoided the upset on the road against Minnesota coming away with a narrow 26-25 victory.

The Nittany Lions outgained the Gophers 361-282 and won the turnover battle 2-0, but struggled on 3rd down, going just 1/11 and 4/15 on all conversion downs (compared to Minnesota’s 6/13 performance on conversion downs).

Minnesota also struggled to run the ball with much consistency, finishing with just over 3 yards per carry. Darius Taylor led Minnesota rushers with a statline of 17/58 while Marcus Major was the only rusher to find the end zone, finishing with a statline of 10/37/1.

For Penn State, rushing was only marginally more efficient, as the most common rushers were Nicholas Singleton (13/63/1) and Kaytron Allen (7/10).

At QB, Drew Allar outdueled Minnesota QB Max Brosmer. Allar finished 21/28 for 244 yards and a touchdown to Omari Evans, while Brosmer was 15/23 for 175 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and a fumble lost.

Of the pass catchers, TE Tyler Warren led all receivers in this one with a statline of 8/102, while Daniel Jackson led all Gophers’ targets with 6 catches for 90 yards.

With the win, Penn State improved to 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference, but they do not hold the tiebreaker over Ohio State, so their path to make the Big Ten Conference Championship is pretty unlikely.

#13 SMU Comfortably Dispatches Virginia 33-7 to Clinch Spot in ACC Championship in First Season in Conference

SMU continues to walk through its new ACC schedule as a new member of the conference, with its most recent result being a 33-7 win on the road against Virginia to remain unbeaten in conference play.

The Mustangs took a 17-0 lead into halftime that, frankly, felt like it should have been a bigger lead as Virginia struggled to sustain drives and SMU didn’t quite execute on every play like it probably could have.

However, SMU finished the game with >50% conversion rate (8/14) on conversion downs and more than 250 more total yards than Virginia (434-173).

SMU QB Kevin Jennings impressed, going 25/33 for 323 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, an interception, and a rushing touchdown. On the ground, Brashard Smith had a somewhat modest performance of just 19/63/1 with LJ Johnson also providing some help in the run game, finishing with a statline of 11/43, plus another 49 on 4 catches in the passing game.

Receiving, 6 different Mustangs had at least 30 yards, with Moochie Dixon leading the way with 4/89 and Jordan Hudson finding the endzone to finish with 6/56/1.

Perhaps the most impressive performance was the Mustangs’ defense, who finished with 9 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Isaiah Smith and Jared Harrison-Hunte both finished with 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss, but otherwise, the tackles for loss and sacks were distributed fairly evenly by several Mustangs, a testament to the defensive depth they have in Dallas.

Malachi Fields (4/42/1) and Tyler Neville (4/35) were solid receiving targets for Virginia yesterday as QB Anthony Colandrea finished 18/27 for 108 and a touchdown.

With the win, SMU clinched a spot in the ACC Championship in its first season in the conference. If Miami beats Syracuse next week, SMU will play Miami, and if Miami loses to Syracuse next week, SMU will play Clemson.

#25 Illinois Stuns Rutgers With Last Second Touchdown on 4th and Long to Win 38-31

Illinois and Rutgers combined for 37 points in a 4th quarter that ‘only’ saw 69 total points. And 23 of those 37 points were in the last 3 minutes and 7 seconds.

With very little time remaining, Illinois had the ball on the 40 yard line for a 4th down, so Illinois lined up for a field goal only down 1. Right before the ball was snapped, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano took a timeout to ice the kicker. With the kicker’s kick no where near good, and with the wind the way that it was, Illinois Coach Bret Bielema pivoted to sending the offense back out there.

Luke Altmyer found Pat Bryant for a 40-yard touchdown that would be the game-winning touchdown for #25 Illinois over the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers ran for over 200 yards, including 84 yards and 2 touchdowns from QB Athan Kaliakmanis, a QB not usually noted for dual threat capabilities. Kaliakmanis also was 18/36 for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns throwing the ball. His most popular targets were Ian Strong (6/66/1) and Dymere Miller (3/38). RB Kyle Monangai ran for 122 yards on 28 carries, also factoring in the passing game for a statline there of 3/23/1.

For Illinois, QB Luke Altmyer finished 12/26 with 249 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns while also leading all Illini rushers with 74 yards and a touchdown. RB Josh McCray also added 58 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

WR Pat Bryant had himself a DAY, finishing with 7 catches for 197 yards and a touchdown, while WR Hank Beatty also found the end zone on one of his 2 catches.

With the win, Illinois improves to 8-3, while Rutgers falls to 6-5. This game had very little implication on the grand scheme of the conference picture, but it’s still an important win for the Illini as they are currently helping prop up teams in the Big Ten, namely Penn State.