College football week 13 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 13.
There are a lot of questions surrounding Notre Dame and how legitimate they are this season. They stepped up against Clemson, but now have another solid win under their belts after defeating North Carolina 31-17. While Ian Book made some highlight plays, the defense was the most impressive part of the performance, as they shut down the Tar Heels.
The defense held Sam Howell to just 211 passing yards a week after he threw for over 500. North Carolina has two good running backs and they totaled just 85 yards on the ground for the Tar Heels. Notre Dame’s performance against the Tar Heels proves they deserve to be where they are in the rankings. Now the question is whether they will be able to hold that spot in another game against Clemson.
Iowa State defeated Texas this week to take a commanding lead in the Big 12. From the game, two things could happen. The first thing is that Matt Campbell, who has helped Iowa State’s program become a consistent contender, will be a candidate for every big job out there. He may even be a candidate for the Texas job.
Tom Herman has been at Texas for four seasons and has posted a 30-18 record. For most schools, that record would be solid, but for Texas, that isn’t quite where they want to be. They have won a Sugar Bowl during his time in Austin, but that has been the height of his time with the Longhorns. With a 5-3 record already, Herman could be fired and one of the most desirable jobs in college football could be open.
On Friday night, Oregon had a rivalry game with Oregon State. The Ducks were favored, but Oregon State was able to come away with a dramatic win that included their backup quarterback sneaking it into the end zone in the final minute. It was a huge blow to Oregon, who was the best bet for the Pac-12 to make the CFP.
Fortunately for the Pac-12, they still have USC. The Trojans are 3-0, but only have two games left on the schedule. Colorado and Washington are both still undefeated, but they aren’t currently ranked. For any Pac-12 team to make the CFP a lot would have to go in their favor and the Oregon loss just hurt the conference’s chances severely.
Buffalo made headlines this weekend because their running back Jaret Patterson had a great day. He finished the game against Kent State with 36 carries for 409 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. The eight rushing touchdowns tied an FBS record.
On the last drive of the game for Buffalo, the Bulls had the ball on the 23-yard line. Patterson needed all 23 yards to break the all-time rushing yards record for a single game and if he got in the end zone, he would also break the all-time touchdown record for a game. Unfortunately, college football fans and Patterson were robbed of the opportunity. Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold pulled Patterson and the Bulls scored two plays later.
Northwestern was looking good coming out of the initial CFP Committee rankings. They were ranked eighth and were coming off a win over Wisconsin, which put them ahead in the Big Ten West race. Things did not go their way against Michigan State this weekend, as they lost by a field goal.
Before this game, Northwestern controlled their own destiny. If they won out, they would be in the CFP. Things may have even become easier for the Wildcats, as if Ohio State misses one more game because of COVID, they are ineligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. For the Big Ten, they’ll hope Ohio State stays healthy or that they will be in the CFP without playing a conference championship game.
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