College football week 10 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are 5 things learned from college football week 10.
Related: 5 Things to watch in college football week 10
Miami had a great offense last year, but didn’t play well on defense. This year, there was more hope for the team to make a run to the CFP because of the talent in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Rueben Bain has been great at getting pressure for the defense, while the offensive line is playing well too. Things didn’t hold up in week 10, as Miami lost on the road to SMU.
The loss to SMU likely will leave Miami out of the CFP. They have a quality win against Notre Dame, but they now have two losses, to Louisville and SMU. A two-loss team from the ACC would need a whole lot of help to make the CFP. The frustrating part for Miami fans has to be that they were favored by over a touchdown in both games, but they couldn’t get the job done.
Texas has had a rough season that has featured two losses and some close calls. The loss to Ohio State was understandable, while the loss to Florida was more head-scratching. In the last two weeks, they have had close calls to Kentucky and Mississippi State. They returned home for their first game in Austin since September 20. The Longhorns were able to hang on to beat Vanderbilt.
With the win, Texas has just two losses with three games left in the season. They play Georgia, Arkansas and Texas A&M. There is a slight chance they can get in with three losses, but at the very least the win over Vanderbilt gives them some life. The path won’t be easy, but they will be fun to watch down the stretch. More importantly than the path, Steve Sarkisian seems to have schemed up the offense to help Arch Manning be more successful. If they can build on that, they can win some big games down the stretch.
Oklahoma has two losses this season, which were to Texas and to Ole Miss. They have a tough schedule down the stretch and need to win out to ensure a spot in the 12-team CFP. The Sooners may get in with three losses, but it would likely take some help. They lined up against Tennessee this week, another SEC team with two losses that needed to win out to make the CFP.
The Sooners were able to go on the road and defeat Tennessee, 33-27. They were able to run the ball well, which hasn’t always been easy for them and their defense stepped up by forcing turnovers. The win sets up some big games down the road for the Sooners, as they have Alabama, Missouri and LSU left on the schedule.
Utah had some aspirations to win the Big 12 and make the CFP. After taking losses to Texas Tech and BYU, that dream looked bleak. The Utes have regained some life, though, which is partially their own doing, but also some other things in the Big 12 have opened up. They have two straight wins, one over Colorado and another over Cincinnati, who was previously undefeated in conference.
The two conference losses will make things tough for them to make the Big 12 Championship Game, but there is some hope. Arizona State has plenty of injuries to deal with despite them also having just two losses. Houston had one conference loss heading into the week, then dropped a game to West Virginia. They have the head-to-head win over Cincinnati and although they lost to BYU, the Bearcats and Cougars play in a few weeks. Texas Tech has a loss in conference, but they also play BYU, meaning that if the Utes take care of business, it is still possible to reach their goals.
Due to Miami losing their second ACC Game, things have really opened up in the ACC. Virginia sits at the top of the conference with a 5-0 conference record. While they did lose to NC State, that was a scheduled nonconference game. Behind the Cavaliers, there are five teams that have one loss in the conference. Georgia Tech was undefeated, but lost this week to NC State, which puts them right in that mix of teams with just one loss.
Other than Georgia Tech and Virginia, Pittsburgh also has just one conference loss. They have looked good since making the move to Mason Heintschel at quarterback and are 7-1 overall. Louisville has just one loss and defeated Miami, helping open things up for the rest of the conference. SMU upset Miami this week, and although they have three overall losses, they could make the ACC Championship and get an auto-bid. Duke defeated Clemson this week and they, too, have three losses, but are alive in the ACC race. The next few weeks of ACC football will be crazy to watch just to see how it all unfolds.
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