Week 12 in College Football
It’s hard to believe the season is nearly over. Of course, the best weekend of the season is yet to come. Before we start salivating over turkey and Rivalry Week, here are my profound (or not) thoughts about week 12 in college football:
Oklahoma 41, Kansas 3
So Oklahoma is pretty good, and Kansas… isn’t. But we knew that already. Baker Mayfield is a bit of a hothead, and has some rabbit ears on him. That’s not completely new information either, but the extent to which both are true is. Any NFL team with even vague thoughts about drafting Mayfield this spring would have been disappointed in his behavior yesterday. The jawing with opposing fans alone is unacceptable in the NFL. The obscene gesture? Completely over the line.
I realize Kansas got the animosity started with the bush-league refusal to shake hands, and Mayfield did take one hit that was both late and should have been called targeting. How the refs missed it, I have no idea. But the bottom line is, as a 23-year-old senior and a leader on his football team, Mayfield spent most of the game acting like a teenager. NFL teams want to see guys in his position behaving like adults.
Wisconsin 24, Michigan 10
This was a heartbreaker for the Wolverines. They were playing well and trailed by just four points in the third quarter when the Badgers’ Andrew Van Ginkel absolutely leveled Michigan quarterback Brandon Peters. Peters was eventually carted off with an apparent head injury, but it was like someone let the air out of his team. Wisconsin increased their lead by a field goal and a touchdown on their next two possessions, and Michigan failed to get anything going on offense behind John O’Korn.
The question now in Ann Arbor: is there any way Peters can play next week against Ohio State?
Penn State 56, Nebraska 44
What happened to grind-it-out Big Ten football? Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those scores went to tight end Mike Gesicki, who now holds the school’s career scoring record for a tight end with 13. Saquon Barkley broke the Penn State career touchdown record for all players with his 39th- and remember, he’s a junior. In total, the Nittany Lions racked up 609 yards of offense, their most in over 20 years.
The Huskers, a week after losing badly to Minnesota, rebounded nicely on offense. They trailed 42-10 at halftime and outscored Penn State 34-10 after the break to make the final score respectable. Quarterback Tanner Lee had a 399-yard game with three touchdown passes. Nebraska will, however, miss out on a bowl game for the first time in a decade.
LSU 30, Tennessee 10
As sideline reporter Allison Williams pointed out post-game, it was raining sideways at one point. Poor LSU running back Derrius Guice was shivering as Williams interviewed him. This was a sloppy, messy game in more ways than the weather. Ultimately, LSU got the job done.
LSU quarterback Danny Etling threw for 81 yards and no touchdowns, but the Tigers rushed for 200 yards and four scores (including one from Etling). The Vols’ quarterbacks combined for 249 passing yards and a touchdown, but they rushed for just 38 yards and no touchdowns. It goes to show you how important the ground game is in terrible weather. I honestly have no idea how Tennessee was able to pass as successfully as they did.
USC 28, UCLA 23
I had to see this twice to figure out what happened. I’m honestly surprised teams don’t try this more often.
Miami 44, Virginia 28
Want to troll a Notre Dame fan today? Point out that Miami trailed Virginia at one point, so they must be way better than that team Miami embarrassed last week.
Uniform of the Week:
I love the all-purple on Clemson. They should wear those more often.
Surprise of the Week:
Washington 33, Utah 30 is a lot closer than I was expecting. Other than that, no big surprised this week.
Now that week 12 in college football is in the rearview mirror, we can look forward to Rivalry Week! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, American readers, and remember to emerge from your turkey coma in time for football on Friday and Saturday!
