Saturday college football coverage, Week 11: LSU-Alabama and everything else

Well, screw it. Usually I try to spread the misery around because fanbases get inured to the pain and turn off the towering bile that comes with disappointed expectations, but I’ve just watched Michigan rush for negative yards in consecutive games. I mean, this article just hit the internet…

…and the twist ending is that this guy did this after the MSU game, not Nebraska. It took me two reads and a copy and paste to figure that out. I finally did so because I realized the negative rushing number was the wrong negative rushing number. Hooray.

Abrahams. As in Harold, a legendary distance runner and one of the main characters of Chariots of Fire. You can set almost anything to the film’s theme and make it seem majestic, but once something is already disturbing, not even the majestic strains of Vangelis will salvage it.

We speak of a smiling, jubilant Lord of Darkness, Nick Saban.

Total yards in Indiana’s 52-35 win over Illinois. It was the third straight game in which Indiana has given up at least 573 yards and the fifth time in 2013 that the Hoosiers allowed at least 500; meanwhile, the Hoosiers have also gained at least 475 yards in eight of nine games. Head coach Kevin Wilson is trying his damnedest to bring offense to this conference, so much that he’s willing to put up yards on both sides of the ball.

Yards gained by Marshall in an easy 56-14 win over UAB. Now, that’s not altogether surprising since Marshall averages 494 yards per game and UAB’s defense is terrible. Marshall has one of the most high-paced attacks in the country, and the yards and points usually roll up pretty quickly.

Last Week: 17-for-28, 159 passing yards, two TDs, one INT; defeated Wake Forest, 59-3

2013 Season: 166-for-230, 2,661 passing yards, 26 TDs, seven INTs; 157 rushing yards, three TDs

Jameis Winston had another off week last week, but this one was truly off. He had just 159 yards through the air, threw a bad interception (while trying to get his backup tight end his first catch of the season), and was generally not the reason Florida State beat Wake Forest, as the Seminoles torched the Demon Deacons thoroughly. (QBR is generally a stupid stat, but it’s worth noting that the Wake QB with the best QBR on the week was the one who completed one pass for a loss of three yards.)

And yet Winston went from second place in the Heisman race to a Secretariat-style lead.

Last week: Lost 34-17 to Vanderbilt

Record: 4-5 (3-4 SEC)

Years: 3

Overall record: 22-13

School record: 22-13

Three-year record: 22-13

Salary: $2,928,000

Three-year dollars per win: $399,272

Buyout: $8 million

Football ratio: 58.9%

Subsidy: 3.5%

Ron Zook never lost four in a row at Florida. Zook never even lost three consecutive games, and lost back-to-back contests only twice.

• New BCS standings: Who’s No. 3 behind Alabama and FSU?

• Bowl projections: Bama-FSU and 34 other games

It was quite the busy weekend in college football recruiting. Alabama had an awesome group of star recruits visiting, so the biggest story lines came out of Tuscaloosa. And the Tide came through in an awesome environment in front of its four- and five-star recruits.

The most heralded player in attendance was Leonard Fournette, the best running back in the country and perhaps the best overall player. The five-star from New Orleans (La.) St. Augustine came away very impressed.

Perhaps it is poetic that in the last go-round for the BCS, in the final year before the College Football Playoff takes over the landscape, we’re getting glimpses of each of the BCS’ nightmare scenarios.

More than two major-conference undefeateds? Check. Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State, and Baylor all enter mid-November with zero losses and navigable slates.

In the first three BCS standings of the year, the big issue was whether Florida State or Oregon would play for the national championship if they both ended the year undefeated. After Stanford beat the Ducks on Thursday night, the Seminoles are on track to face the Crimson Tide in Pasadena, and there’s not a whole lot anyone else can do about it.

Where things could get crazy is if Alabama or FSU loses in the next month. The Noles have an easy path, but the Tide still have to face No. 7 Auburn on the road and possibly the East division champion in the SEC Championship Game.

Odds are good that it won’t matter which team ranks No. 3 or 4 or 5 in the BCS standings this week or next week or the week after that. No, seriously: The numbers show Alabama and Florida State as overwhelming favorites after Oregon’s loss, with Stanford, Baylor and Ohio State in the mix just in case one of the kingpins stumbles.

The fact that it will likely not matter where those three rank will not stop ink, sweat, and tears being spilled over their placement. Do you value the season’s best win (but also a poor loss) and a tough schedule over perfection? If so, you take Stanford. Do you favor total bombardment of overwhelmed competition? Baylor’s your pick. Do you reward a team for winning 21 straight games and already being shut out of the BCS once? Then it’s Ohio State.

Let’s check in on the Heisman candidates, with odds updated to reflect Thursday night’s games (aka Oregon’s big loss and Baylor’s big win).

Odds last week: 6/5

At one point during the fourth quarter of the 38-17 win over LSU, Alabama fans were shouting, “we want Bama.” It may be the only option at this point. After beating LSU and with only Auburn sitting on the horizon, the only real obstacle for Alabama may be Alabama itself.

This does not mean “Alabama can only stop themselves with mistakes Alabama makes.” No, this posits the existence of another Alabama, an anti-Alabama, one made of dark matter that must theoretically exist under certain physical models. If that one shows up and even so much as touches our Alabama, the world as we know it will end. It will, however, be the only feasible chance at a competitive game for four quarters and thus may be worth it. (And think of the ratings.)

“Can Florida State claim No. 2 over Oregon?” is such a passé debate. Any college football fan keeping up with the latest trends must be asking, “Can one-loss Stanford overtake undefeated Ohio State?”

But if the Seminoles or Crimson Tide falter down the stretch, the battle for No. 2 will be on, and it should be intriguing. The computers and voters favored the Buckeyes going into Week 11, but it’s possible Stanford could garner more respect as the season winds down. The Cardinal’s strength of schedule was ranked No. 12 before this weekend’s action, and Ohio State’s was 81st. After its win over No. 3 Oregon, Stanford’s SOS can only improve.

Wyoming hung around with Fresno State for two quarters but could not keep pace with the Bulldogs in the second half and Fresno State pulled away late for a 48-10 win.

No. 16 Fresno State remains undefeated and would automatically qualify for a BCS bowl if it keeps winning and either a) remains ranked ahead of an automatic qualifying conference champion or b) finishes with a ranking of No. 12 or higher in the BCS standings.

UCLA and Arizona went down to the wire, but Wildcat quarterback B.J. Denker threw an interception with less than two minutes to go, sealing the victory for the Bruins. With the win, UCLA took control of the Pac-12 South and will represent the division in the conference championship game if it can win its remaining games against Washington, Arizona State, and USC.

Box Score Hero: Myles Jack was absolutely unbelievable. He had 120 yards rushing and a touchdown on six carries and tallied eight tackles and recovered a fumble on defense. Either one of those lines would have been an exceptional performance on just one side of the ball.

On most college football Saturdays, you’ll be able to find Phil Knight decked out in Oregon colors. On this Saturday, the Nike chairman traded in his green and yellow for some Alabama crimson and white.

Knight was in Tuscaloosa for Alabama’s matchup with LSU. He was spotted on the sidelines before the game wearing an Alabama sweatshirt and hat.

LSU fumbled away a couple of chances to score points early, and that’s exactly the kind of thing that comes back to haunt you against Alabama. The Crimson Tide pulled away in the fourth quarter on the strength of its bruising ground game, led by T.J. Yeldon’s 133 rushing yards and pair of touchdowns. Meanwhile, LSU could muster very little on the ground, picking up just 1.4 yards per rush. Alabama has now dispatched with the only real threat standing between it and a game with Auburn on Nov. 30 that will determine the winner of the SEC West.

Florida State celebrated its suddenly clear path to the BCS National Championship by beating the living daylights out of Wake Forest. At one point in the second half, FSU had twice as many interceptions as Wake Forest had completions, and the FSU defense scored on two consecutive plays from scrimmage in the victory. Famous Jameis Winston had a quiet day, but it’s hard to make noise when your defense is making all the big plays for itself.

LSU threatened Alabama early, but the Crimson Tide dominated the second half on their way to a 38-17 win against the Tigers.

The Tigers tied the game with a field goal on their opening possession of the second half, but it was all Alabama from there. The Crimson Tide ate up clock and chewed up the LSU defense on a 14-play, 79-yard touchdown drive to regain the lead. The drive took 7:50 off the clock and set the tone for the rest of the game. LSU struggled to get much going the rest of the way, and Alabama added a pair of touchdowns to blow it wide open.

They needed overtime, but the Texas Longhorns came away with a 47-40 win against West Virginia on Saturday. The win was the Longhorns’ sixth in a row and improved Texas to 6-0 in Big 12 play.

The Longhorns tied the game with a field goal late in the fourth quarter and took the early advantage in overtime. Case McCoy hit Alex De La Torre for an opening touchdown. It appeared West Virginia was going to force a second overtime after the Mountaineers drove deep into Texas territory on the first play. The Longhorn defense stiffened, however, and WVU’s fourth-down attempt ended in an interception.

Logan Thomas’ inability to meet first-round draft pick expectations has been a running joke in college football over the past few seasons, but there was nothing funny about what Thomas did to the Hurricanes’ secondary on Saturday night. The same quarterback who threw four interceptions against Duke two weeks ago absolutely carved up Miami (in the pouring rain, no less) on the way to perhaps the most impressive performance of his career.

With Duke Johnson out for the year with an ankle injury, Miami was able to do very little against the vaunted Virginia Tech defense. The Hurricanes managed just 1.6 yards per carry on the ground and were held to just nine first downs prior to a pretty successful drive with less than a minute to go and the game already well in hand.

No. 21 Central Florida survived a battle between the top two teams in the American Athletic Conference on Saturday night to defeat Houston, 19-14.

The win puts the Knights in sole possession of first place in the AAC as the only team still unbeaten in the conference. The Cougars drop to 4-1 in the league and are tied for second with Louisville and Cincinnati.

After a first quarter highlighted by strong defensive play, Alabama and LSU have seen their offenses pick up some steam in the second quarter, trading two touchdowns apiece as the Tide lead 17-14 at halftime.

LSU started the second quarter with the ball on the Alabama three-yard line, and were able to punch it in by giving it to Jeremy Hill. The Tigers took a 7-3 lead on Hill’s touchdown run, just the third touchdown the Tide defense has given up since their week two battle with Texas A&M.

This is shocking, but some LSU-related people are even weirder than Les Miles. Evidence came for us after the Tigers scored their second touchdown against Alabama to make Alabama’s lead just three points:

Go LSU T-Rexgers.

The Longhorns still have Malcolm Brown, the other half of their two-headed rushing attack, but Gray has received most of the carries and has been the more effective of the two in 2013.

Gray had carried the ball 8 times for 56 yards prior to the injury.