Bama won #ManballChristmas. A wild Ole Miss loss (more on that in a second) meant that this game was going to decide who controlled the SEC West. That would be Alabama, which cruised to a 30-16 win over the No. 2 Tigers and look poised for another Playoff appearance.
Everything to know about Saturday, from Alabama’s LSU beatdown to Nebraska’s controversial win
Good morning! It’s your wakeup roundup of college football stuff.
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The Tide dominated in the trenches, limiting Leonard Fournette’s room to run and pressuring Brandon Harris on throws. Derrick Henry’s 210 rushing yards and three touchdowns were enough to give the Tide plenty of breathing room and the win.
Basically:
So, guess Bill Connelly was right about Bama deserving its No. 4 ranking in the first Playoff standings, huh?
That’s good for Bama, because it helps make up for the really bad GameDay signs, including a Star Wars-themed sign with at least five major problems.
And Rick Ross picked the Tide on GameDay, so he's happy.
Mizzou boycott. A large group of black players at Missouri is boycotting the team in protest of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe after his response to a series of race-related incidents. The Tigers are scheduled to play BYU this upcoming Saturday.
Clemson won its big game too. The Tigers survived their biggest remaining Playoff test, beating the visiting Seminoles 23-13. It took two carries for Dalvin Cook to become the leading rusher against Clemson this season, and when the Tigers spiked the ball on third down to lose a shot at a TD, things weren't looking great. But the Tigers rallied thanks to a strong performance from Deshaun Watson, and now sit at 9-0 with three 3-6 teams (Wake Forest, Syracuse and South Carolina) left on the schedule.
Clemson fans stormed the field, but pipe down, haters. The Tigers do this after every win. Oh, and you know Dabo and the TIgers danced, per tradition.
Your weekly WILD AS HECK ending. Following in the illustrious footsteps of Michigan-Michigan State, Georgia Tech-Florida State and Miami-Duke, here's the miraculous fourth-and-25 BACKWARDS HAIL MARY conversion that helped lead Arkansas to an upset over Ole Miss.
Ole Miss’ resident police had jokes on Twitter during the game ...
Asking us to kick the Arkansas QB out of the stadium is not a legit reason to dial 911. #ARKvsMISS
— Oxford Police Dept (@OxfordPolice) November 7, 2015 ... and then Brandon Allen, the Arkansas QB in question, had the game-winning score on a bold two-point conversion attempt in overtime.
That wasn’t the only wild ending. Nebraska took down No. 7 Michigan State on a maybe-illegal last-minute TD. Huskers reciever Brandon Reilly went out of bounds and returned to catch the ball, but officials ruled he was forced out by the Michigan State defender.
Former Spartan wide receiver Plaxico Burress was unhappy about it, and nominated his dogs to take over officiating duties. Seems fine, in my opinion.
Here’s Nebraska celebrating in the locker room after the latest in its series of close endings went in its favor for once.
The Big 12 had an undefeated eliminator. And Oklahoma State shocked TCU with a 49-29 win. Next up for the 9-0 Cowboys: Iowa State, followed by home dates with Baylor and Oklahoma. TCU's now reduced to hoping for chaos, but the Frogs' star still went out of his way to make time for the winning team's fans.
Five of 11 undefeateds lost in Week 10, getting us back on track after we entered the weekend with almost twice as many as usual. Along with LSU, Michigan State and TCU, Toledo lost to Northern Illinois Tuesday and Memphis lost to Navy Saturday. The Midshipmen still have never lost in conference play, by the way. Ever.
That leaves Baylor, Clemson, Houston, Iowa, Ohio State and Oklahoma State, with a maximum of four possibly left. Baylor and Oklahoma State play each other in the regular season, and Iowa and Ohio State might meet in the Big Ten Championship. And Houston has to face that same Navy team that just knocked off Memphis.
It was quite the day for officials. Beyond the controversial Nebraska-Michigan State ending, Michigan got called for "substitution with intent to deceive." (Jim Harbaugh later went for two up by 25, which is not a penalty.)
What is a penalty, apparently: high fiving a fan.
Washington State also scored a touchdown on fifth down thanks to a bizarre inadvertent whistle.
Your weekly #Bert. Here’s Bret Bielema after the big win, saying he’s “looking forward to hoppin’ on the wife” before correcting himself.
Bielema is the best. pic.twitter.com/tHv6Rydkqy
— Kyle Deckelbaum (@KyleDeckelbaum7) November 8, 2015 Elsewhere in SEC upsets. Jeremy Johnson returned for Auburn at quarterback and led the Tigers to a 26-10 win over No. 19 Texas A&M. Aggie fans are wondering if this was Kevin Sumlin’s worst loss.
Jumpmen. UNC dunked (basketball term) an absurd amount of points on Duke, moving to 8-1 on the year. The game also featured a flea flicker and a shoving match.
How bad is Cal’s defense? Oregon put a school-record 777 yards on the Bears despite not really being Oregon Oregon this year. Elsewhere, multiple national outlets are now reporting Cal head coach Sonny Dykes could leave.
GameDay’s headed to Waco for Oklahoma-Baylor.
Individual feats of excellence:
- Georgia running back Keith Marshall, who straight up chokeslammed a Kentucky defender out of existence.
- 312-pound Alabama defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, who literally hurdled another human to block a kick.
- North Dakota State wide receiver Zach Vraa, who made a catch so good the defender couldn’t help but stop and stare.
- UCF wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith, who made an incredible catch over the back of a Tulsa defensive back. The Knights are now 0-10 though :/ .
- 290-pound Texas Tech defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko, who caught an interception as if it was a baby tumbling from a burning building.
- Arizona State punter Matt Haack, who booted a mystical kick that somehow stayed out of the endzone.
- 305-pound LSU offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins, who did his best Odell Beckham Jr. impersonation on a play that was legal only in our hearts.
- Cincinnati, which is not an individual but did manage to get called for four penalties on one play.
- Washington State head coach Mike Leach, with a perfect sign-stealing zing after beating Arizona State.
- Florida kicker Austin Hardin, who clinched the SEC East title for the Gators after being benched for a dental student.
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