Notre Dame likely to play SEC champ in title game

Well… yeah, Michigan only lost by five at Ohio State and the spread was three and basically everything went according to expectation. But when Twitter blows up with people who don’t care about or even kind of hate Michigan because the offensive coordinator is holding up a giant sign that says “RUN” or “INEFFECTIVE RUN or PASS,” yeah people get mad.

Like this guy in the inbox:

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The 2012 BCS bowl picture is likely to see a non-AQ finish ahead of the lowest-ranking AQ conference champion -- in this case, either Boise State, Kent State or Northern Illinois (or all of them!) above the Big East champion. And if one of those three can finish at No. 16 or better, it’ll likely be going to either the Sugar Bowl against Florida or the Orange Bowl to take on Florida State.

Kent State’s all the way up at No. 17, meaning a win over NIU would put them in very good shape to make the BCS, especially if UCLA loses. Don’t count Boise State or NIU out yet, either. Sooners fans should probably root for Northern Illinois and Nevada and UCLA this weekend, though.

From there on it became a defensive affair, and Ohio State had their way. The Buckeyes would wrap things up with three field goals and shut Michigan down offensively the entire second half.

Ohio State finishes the 2012 season 12-0, but are under probation and won’t be allowed to be a part of the national championship game in January.

After a few uneventful drives, it was more Riddick and Golson, with the big play being a throw to Eifert that set up another Brindza field goal to put the Irish up two scores. USC would move the football towards the goal-line twice in the second half, but would manage only three points, kicking a field goal the first time and turning it over on downs the second time. Notre Dame would kick an insurance field goal to assure victory.

L.A. Times columnist T.J. Simers has made a history of becoming the story rather than reporting the story. Moments after UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora congratulated Stanford on the 35-17 victory, Simers launched his crusade for a column:

“So I figure after the first quarter, you’re thinking that’s time to pack it in and play it like a preseason game when you realized you couldn’t beat them,” Simers said.

2. Alabama. A 49-0 win over Auburn adds to this impressive statistical pile: the 129 points Auburn has lost their last three games by, a margin rounding out the fastest collapse by a BCS championship team ever. This entry wasn’t about Alabama, but when the other team doesn’t score a point, one does tend to look less at the semi truck, and more at the poor deer blasted all over the highway by the impact.

3. Georgia. Speaking of horrendous impact: 42-10 over Georgia Tech, a team that will now turn around and play in the ACC title game with a 6-6 record against Florida State. This sets up a possible 7-6 ACC representative for a BCS slot. College football is so very stupid at times, and that is one of its most endearing traits.

Although there will be several contenders invited to New York City, only two real finalists remain to capture the award, with no one really making a move to leapfrog over anyone else. Here are your nominees for this week.

USC’s Marqise Lee was steady this week, and had a big catch that nearly brought the Trojans back into it, but was relatively quiet in comparison to his more explosive performances with five catches for 75 yards. Lee still stands a good shot in getting invited to New York City.

“I’m disappointed too,” said Kiffin, according to Inside USC. “I hear (the fans). I feel them. We’ve got to do better.”

The Trojans became the first preseason AP No. 1 to have five losses since Ole Miss went 5-5-1 in 1964, according to ESPN Stats. The loss, the fourth for USC in five weeks, was due in large part to the team’s struggles at the goal line. Kiffin gave praise to Notre Dame for the defense down close while lamenting his own team’s failure.

Item one: “Notre Dame Irish have relegated themselves to insignificance.“

Item two:

Not so funny now, huh?

This, however, is pretty funny:

The defenses would settle in, however, and South Carolina were the only ones able to punch through. Ace Saunders scored on a 31 yard touchdown pass from Thompson, and Ellington caught his second touchdown on a six yard pass with five minutes remaining.

Box Score Hero: Dylan Thompson started only the second game of his career in extremely hostile territory, and came up with a huge game for the Gamecocks. He finished 23-41 for 315 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, while also running for 37 yards.

On the other end, D.J. Swearinger decided to do this, which likewise drew a (probably more justifiable) flag (via @cjzero):

Twitter especially hated those PI calls, as did Tigers fans in attendance:

The game started out with both teams trading passing touchdowns from their respective freshman quarterbacks, but the scoring exchanges ended there for the Bruins. The Cardinal then scored two touchdowns in the second quarter, entering halftime with a 35-10 lead.

Following Taylor’s second score, the Cardinal scored immediately after, forcing a fumble on the kickoff and returning it for a touchdown.

And if Golson ends up being unable to go, well, Notre Dame’s kind of got this Tommy Rees-as-closer thing going anyway.

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This did happen before the game, though:

We’ve learned Wittek can throw a football really far. That’s about it. If not for a little confusion, he could’ve dropped a perfect touchdown pass in Lee’s hands despite double coverage.

ESPN2 reported he’s having a trainer track down his knee brace, so let’s not rule him out of a return. He’s now headed to the locker room.

That it’s 21-0 could affect things. At this point, A&M does not need to put any more pressure on Manziel than he can handle. Showers is a capable quarterback all his own -- he was actually expected to be the starter before Manziel took the job.

The Bedlam Series has been historically dominated by the Sooners. With the victory, OU improves to an 83-17-7 all-time record in the football series.

Rankings Ramifications: Both teams were ranked, as the Sooners entered as the higher-ranked team. The victory is unlikely to move the Sooners up too much, but could be enough to drop OSU out of the top 25.

Did Bill O’Brien say, “They’re a bunch of fighters,” here? Well, he probably meant to -- note that he followed it with, “They fight hard.” But that’s not how it came out -- the nation’s ears heard something else entirely.

O’Brien has not made many mistakes this year, and if he has to add the FCC to the list of acronym organizations that stand in opposition of Penn State football achieving things, that shouldn’t prove to be any serious obstacle.

That sent the game into overtime. There, Penn State kicked a field goal and managed to force a loss of yardage that made Wisconsin miss theirs, sealing the 24-21 win.

Wisconsin might have been able to win the game with that drive late in the fourth quarter, if only Phillips hadn’t been intercepted by Jacob Fagano on the previous drive, after Wisconsin drove into Penn State territory. The Badgers held a 14-7 lead heading into halftime, but Penn State quickly took over in the third as Wisconsin suffered through multiple 3-and-outs. Not coming alive

Minnesota head football coach Jerry Kill remained in the locker room when the rest of the team came out at halftime, and did not return to the sidelines. It’s unclear why didn’t return, but health issues have hampered his ability to coach before. There is no indication that health played a factor on Saturday, however.

Box Score Hero: Regardless of the final score, Michigan State got a huge game out of running back Le’Veon Bell, who carried the ball 35 times for 266 yards, good for an average of 7.6 yards per carry. Bell finally found the end zone halfway through the fourth quarter, scoring on an 8-yard rush.

Box Score Hero: Stacy tallied 180 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just 21 carries.

Rankings Ramifications: Vandy isn’t ranked, but did receive votes in both major polls. This dominant win will likely earn them more and possibly get them into the top 25.