College football week 11 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are five things learned from college football week 11.
1. COVID is Going to Shape the Rest of the Season
Over the last two weeks, COVID has caused 25 games to be canceled. Some games for week 12 already look like they aren’t going to happen. Teams are having multiple weeks canceled, which only hurts their chances to prove who they are.
Teams with huge aspirations are having games canceled. This includes Ohio State and Texas A&M. With so many games getting canceled, it will make things interesting for the rest of the year. It will also make the CFP Committee’s job way harder with fewer data points to review.
2. Penn State and Michigan Have Changed
Michigan’s struggles have already been noted in these articles. Their season got even worse after they lost to Wisconsin 49-11. The Wolverines did not put up a good fight, as their record dropped to 1-3 on the season. There is a good likelihood that Michigan will finish .500 or below. They clearly aren’t the same program that they once were.
Penn State showed they may be worse off than Michigan. They dropped to 0-4 with a loss to Nebraska. The Nittany Lions benched starting quarterback Sean Clifford and have been dealing with injuries, but there isn’t an excuse that makes Penn State being 0-4 ok. For both programs, they will want to get back on track for next season, but there is a long way to go before that happens.
3. All Things are in Play When Style Points are Needed
Cincinnati added another win this week, as they defeated East Carolina on Friday night. Because they are trying to make a push towards the College Football Playoff, they know they need to beat teams big. The greater the margin of victory for Cincinnati, the better their chances are to make the CFP.
This came into play during their game against ECU. In the fourth quarter, on a fourth and two, the Bearcats ran a fake punt and converted. They were able to extend their lead and eventually win the game 55-17. This may have ruffled some feathers on the ECU sideline, but with the way the system is set up currently, Cincinnati will get no rewards for taking it easy on opponents.
4. Miami Could be the Best Team Left Out of a Conference Championship Game
Miami won a close game over Virginia Tech this weekend, 25-24. This win gave Miami a 7-1 record on the season, as they have turned the program around in Manny Diaz’s second season as head coach. In most conferences, they would be looking forward to a conference championship game.
With Notre Dame joining the ACC this season, they will participate in the ACC Championship Game if they remain undefeated. The Fighting Irish should be favored in their remaining games. Clemson is favored to win out, which means Miami will be hoping for either team to lose in the last few weeks so that they can play in the ACC Championship if the Hurricanes can win out. There is still hope, but Miami could be the best team not in a conference championship game this year.
5. Indiana is a Top Two Team in the Big Ten East
The Indiana Hoosiers were able to make their record 4-0 this weekend with a win over Michigan State. Indiana has defeated Michigan, Rutgers, Penn State and Michigan State so far on the year. They only two teams they haven’t defeated in the Big Ten East are Maryland and Ohio State.
Maryland is just 2-1 on the season, so as unlikely as it may have seemed coming into the season, Indiana is the second best team in the Big Ten East. If they want to push things even further, they will need to beat Ohio State this week.
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