Two kicks: one with nine seconds left, one with zeros on the clock. A single miss would have rewritten the predictable image of this year’s college football playoffs; had both gone wrong, the playoff race would have imploded into chaos just steps from the regular season finish line.
No Bowl Subdivision team is more apt to win close games than the No. 4 TCU, who mounted a playoff charge out of nowhere with unwavering confidence in Sonny Dykes’ offensive scheme and a seemingly unstoppable streak of heroism at the end of the game.
Trailing 28-20 against Baylor with less than seven minutes remaining, the Horned Frogs ran 90 yards to draw 28-26 but missed the conversion by two points. After earning a stoppage on the Bears’ ensuing possession, TCU drove 45 yards to set up the game-winning field goal from 40 yards when time expired.
TCU has spent this entire season on the brink — seven of eight Big 12 wins and eight of 10 wins over FBS competition have come 10 points or less, including memorable wins over Oklahoma State, No. 17 Kansas State and the Bears.
But each victory brings the Horned Frogs closer to the playoffs. TCU can complete the most unexpected berth in format history with wins over Iowa State next Saturday and in the likely rematch with Kansas State in the conference championship game.
Follow every game: NCAA College Football Live Scores
Another team currently in the top four of the playoff standings, No. 3 Michigan, was pushed to the limit for the first time this season.
Illinois had spit the Big Ten West lead with two straight losses, but stepped up as an underdog against the Wolverines, taking a 17-10 lead in the fourth quarter before Michigan kicker Jake Moody clinched All-America honors for the second straight season with three field goals in the final 15 minutes, the last with nine seconds remaining.
Big loss:Michigan RB star Blake Corum leaves early with injury
MAJOR MATCHUPS:Scores and analysis of all the 25 best matches of week 12
It’s new for Michigan, and perhaps a reflection of the attention already focused on next week’s win-or-go-home rivalry game against No. 2 Ohio State. Only Maryland remained within single digits of the Wolverines, who entered Saturday with an average margin of victory in the Big Ten game of 21.9 points per game.
How the games were won doesn’t matter. The fact that they were won keeps the Horned Frogs and Wolverines at the heart of the playoff picture and continues what had been a very uncontroversial and uncontroversial postseason run.
No. 5 Tennessee, No. 9 Clemson, No. 19 Notre Dame and others join Michigan and TCU on this week’s list of winners and losers:
Winners
Southern California
Trojans #6 are the biggest winners of the weekend. For starters, the Trojans won a memorable 45-42 shootout over No. 16 UCLA to earn at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season crown and a berth in the conference championship game. At quarterback, Caleb Williams threw for 470 yards with two touchdowns and could have taken the lead in the Heisman Trophy race. Then there was No. 5 Tennessee’s loss to South Carolina, which opens an even more obvious doorway for USC to enter and stay in the top four of the playoff standings. With two more wins and a 12-1 result, the Trojans will be impossible to keep out of the national semi-finals.
Clemson
With all due respect to the RedHawks, who have as many wins as the Hurricanes since the start of last season, Clemson regularly makes Miami (Florida) look like Miami (Ohio). Including Saturday’s 40-10 win, the pair’s last four meetings have gone 196-30 in favor of the Tigers, helpfully illustrating the gargantuan gap separating the ACC’s top program from one sitting somewhere in the bottom half of the peloton. In addition to keeping Clemson in the mix for the playoffs, the victory marked another strong start for DJ Uiagalelei, who threw for 227 yards, ran for a team-high 89 yards and was responsible for three scores. .
State of Ohio and Georgia
No team in the top four had it easy. Georgia’s No. 1 offense exploded in the red zone and gained a season-low 361 yards in a 16-6 win over Kentucky. No. 2 Ohio State was stressed by Maryland, which led 13-10 at halftime and climbed in a basket to 33-30 five minutes into the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes managed to win 43-30 thanks to a career-high 146 rushing yards from rookie Dallan Hayden and a late defensive touchdown after the Terrapins took over with 42 seconds left.
THE BUCKEYES SURVIVE:Ohio State outlasts Maryland to stay undefeated
Iowa
For all the laughs that came at the expense of the Iowa offense, which entered the weekend ranked 128th in FBS in yards per game and 130th in yards per game, the Hawkeyes now stand less than another Big Ten West crown after beating Minnesota 13-10 on a late field goal. The offense is terrible; the defense continues to be the best in the country. With a rivalry victory next Saturday against deplorable Nebraska, Iowa will advance to face either Ohio State or Michigan in the conference championship game.
Our Lady
Losses to Marshall and Stanford threatened to engulf Notre Dame’s season and cast a negative spotlight on coach Marcus Freeman just six games into his tenure. With very little fanfare, however, the Fighting Irish have spent more than a month among the hottest teams in the Bowl Subdivision and enter the regular season finale against No. 6 Southern California within reach. New Year’s Six Bowl berth. Saturday’s 44-0 shutout of Boston College continues a streak of solid games that really started with a 45-32 win over No. 11 North Carolina September 24.
Texas
Texas put on a dominating performance on both sides and beat Kansas in a 55-14 win that might be the Longhorns’ best effort this year. At various times this season, including losses to Alabama and TCU, the Longhorns have appeared to be part of a program poised to break through under second-year coach Steve Sarkisian. While it will take a little help getting into the Big 12 championship game — the Jayhawks are expected to beat Kansas State and Texas must overtake Baylor — this season is starting to represent a notable step forward for the Longhorns. .
Boise State
It’s turning into a great rebound season for Boise State, which failed to win at least eight games last year for the first time since 1998, not including the abbreviated COVID-19 season. After making a late interception in the end zone to hang on and beat Wyoming 20-17, the Broncos are 8-3 overall and undefeated in Mountain West play heading into the season finale against Utah State.
losers
Tennessee
Tennessee was poised to join the top four in the penultimate playoff standings, replacing loser Ohio State and Michigan, and would have been tough to topple even without reaching the championship game. of the SEC. But only if the Volunteers ended in a single loss — and South Carolina made sure that wouldn’t happen. The Gamecocks scored 35 points in the first half and won 63-38 to knock Tennessee out of the playoffs, potentially paving the way for runner-up Big Ten or ACC champion Clemson to a loss. After playing much better lately, the Volunteers’ defense gave up 606 offensive yards while Spencer Rattler had his best game since moving from Oklahoma with 438 passing yards and six touchdowns. And it’s getting worse: Hendon Hooker suffered an apparent lower-body injury late in the game with the Gamecocks ahead by 25 points.
BAD NIGHT:Tennessee playoff hopes end in loss to South Carolina
North Carolina
If it’s still a long shot, UNC had a real chance of reaching the playoffs with a very narrow plan: to win by beating Clemson along the way, while Tennessee and champion Pac -12 added a second loss. Despite leading 17-0 at the break, the Tar Heels lost 21-17 to Georgia Tech and are eliminated from playoff talk, although a six-man New Year’s Bowl remains a possibility. To enter one of the major bowls, UNC must beat Clemson or lose while the Tigers advance to the National Semifinals, which would give the Tar Heels the ACC spot in the Orange Bowl.
Central Florida
Losing 17-14 to Navy is bad news for the No. 18 Knights and potentially worse news for the American, who was expected to send another champion to the New Year’s Six but could now lose that bowl access offer. at a one-loss or two-loss team from the Sun Belt. Defeat isn’t necessarily fatal: UCF may still be in the U.S. Championship game depending on the outcome of next weekend’s game between No. 22 Tulane and No. 21 Cincinnati. But the three-game losing Knights could beat South Florida next Saturday, beat one of the Green Wave or Bearcats, and still be squeezed out of the New Year’s Six by No. 23 Coastal Carolina, for example, if the Chanticleers finish with just one loss.
Florida
The inconsistency was not unexpected in coach Billy Napier’s debut. Since beating No. 10 Utah in the season opener, Florida has alternated between hot streaks and losing streaks, seemingly landing somewhere in the middle of the SEC after the wipeout from South Carolina last week. So what should we think of the Gators’ 31-24 loss to Vanderbilt? No matter how you might try to call it off – that it’s Napier’s freshman year, that the Commodores have improved, that every week is unpredictable given the early stage of this rebuilding project, which the Gators have basically given victory with multiple sloppy errors – there’s simply no excuse for Florida to lose this game, even though Vanderbilt has turned a corner under coach Clark Lea.
state of michigan
Back then a year ago, Michigan State coach Mel Tucker was considered one of the hottest names in the business and just days away from signing one of the hottest deals. moneymakers in the history of training. A year later, the Spartans will most likely not be bowl eligible after losing 39-31 in double overtime to Indiana. The Hoosiers crawled out of a 17-point hole at halftime and won despite having nothing to do: MSU passed IU over 250 yards, gave up just 33 yards passing, had 17 more first downs and had possession for over 36 minutes. . Now 5-6, the Spartans will need to score a major setback against No. 12 Penn State to reach the playoffs.
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