College football Week 9 takeaways: Boise State’s CFP possibilities, Miami’s
Oct 28, 2024, 07:30 AM ET As we say goodbye to October and get in the final complete month of the routine season, some teams made a huge push to remain in College Football Playoff conversations this past week.No.
15 Boise State continued its storybook run with a 29-24 win over UNLV. In what was set to be its most challenging staying match, the Broncos pulled off the win. With their only loss concerning No. 1 Oregon– and by just three points– could we see a rematch in between these challengers in the playoff?After routing
in the last 4 minutes, No. 16 Kansas State beat Kansas on a field goal, keeping its title and playoff hopes alive. The Wildcats are 4-1 in conference play but have a big hurdle ahead with matchup against No. 11 Iowa State on Nov. 30.
Our college football specialists break down crucial stories and takeaways from Week 9.
The Group of 5 playoff spot is Boise State’s to
lose On Friday night at UNLV, Boise State won its most difficult remaining game, adding to its playoff resumé and sealing the Broncos as the clubhouse leader for an ensured area in the CFP as one of the 5 highest-ranked conference champs. Boise State shouldn’t have to displace the No. 12-ranked group for a seat at the table, either– the Broncos are good enough that they can be ranked in the committee’s top 12 on their own merit.Boise State’s resumé consists of a win versus a 7-1 Washington State team and a 6-2 UNLV group. Those alone are better wins than some other competitors have actually stocked (see: Clemson, Indiana.) The Broncos have a Heisman Trophy competitor in running back Ashton Jeanty. They have a defense that has actually offered opposing quarterbacks headaches. And they have the best loss in the nation– by a field goal at Oregon, which ought to be the committee’s No. 1 group. If Boise State runs the table and surfaces as a one-loss Mountain West Conference champion, the Broncos will almost certainly have a possibility to contend for the national title– and perhaps meet Oregon again along the method.– Heather Dinich
Notre Dame continuing to benefit from Texas A&M’s success
As Texas A&M jumped ahead of LSU and began to distance itself, sending Kyle Field into a craze Saturday night, another group of college football fans cheered along with fantastic interest. Notre Dame advocates weren’t simply taking pleasure in a loss for previous coach Brian Kelly, they recognized that a schedule that has dragged down the Combating Irish profile is starting to end up being more of a selling point. A season-opening win against Texas A&M in College Station, against what is now the only undefeated group in SEC play, is looking much better and better for Notre Dame. The Irish will be rooting for the Aggies the remainder of the way.Notre Dame
also helped itself with a definitive win versus formerly undefeated Navy, which could still win the AAC. The Irish likewise have Army, presently unbeaten, later on in the season. Although opponents such as Florida State and perhaps even USC will not assist Notre Dame’s profile, an 11-1 mark shouldn’t keep the Irish out of the CFP, as some thought it would after a Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois. That defeat continues to look even worse– NIU fell to Ball State on Saturday– but excellent wins ought to exceed bad losses, and Notre Dame has one that keeps getting better. The Irish also are stacking drama-free wins, as their past 3 have actually come by approximately 32.3 points.– Adam Rittenberg
Miami proudly declares state champion
Miami stays unbeaten under QB Camera Ward as it protected a big win over Florida State this week. Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire Miami might not have thrown for 300 lawns or scored 40 points, however what the Hurricanes performed in a 36-14 win over Florida State was declaration enough for coach Mario Cristobal.So much so that
he ended his press conference with a mic-drop minute.”Seriously crucial to
go out there and beat this program and to be unbeaten in the state of Florida, “Cristobal said.” I think it sends a strong message. I think all employees, in-state and out-of-state, can now clearly see the trajectory of this program versus the trajectory of the other programs.”He knocked his fist on the podium to even more underscore his point, then left.While those competing schools will no doubt keep what Cristobal stated in the back of their minds, it is essential to comprehend why Cristobal stated what he stated. When he reached Miami in 2022, the Seminoles were on the increase under Mike Norvell and Florida had actually made it to numerous New Year’s Six games under Dan Mullen.In his very first game versus Florida State as head coach that season, the Seminoles won 45-3. The sting from that game provided limitless inspiration. Even without that outcome, Cristobal understood what his program needed to do in dealing with such a”huge task”to return to competing for champions. “We understood when we came here that we were going to get our teeth kicked in early, “Cristobal said.” It’s a terrific example of working your butt off
and keeping your head down and not worrying about all that crap that includes rebuilds.” Miami opened the season with an emphatic 41-17 win over Florida that served notice things would be various this year. Next came a 50-15 win over USF. Lastly Saturday night,
the first win over Florida State for Cristobal as a head coach. Miami is 8-0. Florida State dropped to 1-7 and is out of bowl contention, a year after winning the ACC title. Florida is 4-3, facing an end-of-season gauntlet versus four top-25 teams that will make it challenging to get to six wins.For even more evidence of just how much Miami worths being state champ, linebacker Francisco Mauigoa showed up to the postgame press conference using a black Tee shirts that said,”We run FL,”including a broken spear and the mounted heads of a bull and a gator.– Andrea Adelson Many frustrating in Huge 12? In the preseason media survey, Utah( 20), Oklahoma State(14), Kansas( 5)and Arizona(3) were four of the fives groups that got first-place votes( Kansas State was the other
with 19). As such, they were all dreaming about the College Football Playoff. A couple of months later, those same four schools are a combined 3-17 in the Big 12 in what has turned into a competitive race to be thought about the most disappointing team in the conference.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Preseason surveys are wrong all the time, however there has rarely ever– possibly never ever?– been such a miscalculation of conference strength.Conversely, BYU is 8-0 after being selected to come in 13th, while Colorado (6-2, 4-1)and Arizona State(5-2, 2-2 )have actually taken significant advances after being slotted
at No. 11 and last location, respectively.There are certainly numerous factors in play here, but possibly it is finest a reflection of how various groups can be year over year now in college
football with the lax transfer constraints. It’s too early to understand if this is useful about what things will be like in the future, however it has produced a fascinating year in the new-look Big 12.– Kyle Bonagura Oregon looks comfortable at the top Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel runs in a goal, amounting to four in a win over Illinois in Week 9. AP Photo/Lydia Ely There was no doubt that the Ducks would get up for their matchup against Ohio State a couple of weeks back. However after outlasting the
Buckeyes in a thriller, the comedown could have captured them off guard and caused an incapacitating loss versus an inferior opponent. Instead, Dan Lanning and Oregon have not let up– on a short-week journey to Purdue, the Ducks shut out the Boilermakers, and today, they made Illinois, the 20th ranked team in the nation, look defenseless on both sides of the ball.Lanning has actually said he does not appreciate the Ducks being ranked No. 1, and that frame of mind seems to have actually dripped down to the rest of his group.”Everyone wishes to be at the top of the food cycle. Every day we know we got a target on our back, but we do not really care who’s coming after us,”pass receiver Tez Johnson said.”We don’t care about the primary area. We simply appreciate going one-and-oh at the end of the week. I indicate, it is great, however we don’t truly
care … we just want to win football games.” Oregon is 8-0 for the very first time considering that 2013 and ranked No. 1 for the first time given that 2012. With an offense that looks
even more in sync than it did at the beginning of the year and a defense that continues to enhance, it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.Next week, the Ducks head to Michigan for what is arguably the hardest match remaining on their schedule, but absolutely nothing recommends they won’t be ready for any game that’s left between them and an undefeated regular season.”I believe just the way Coach Lanning has actually done
it from the top down, everyone’s concentrated on a week at a time, “quarterback Dillon Gabriel stated.” We’re so concentrated on being team oriented due to the fact that the rest will take care of itself. “– Paolo Uggetti Farmageddon looming big Kansas State left the Sunflower Face-off
with a 29-27 victory Saturday night over Kansas. The Wildcats routed with 4 minutes to go. However K-State linebacker Austin Romaine overthrew scrambling Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels and Brendan Mott recuperated the fumble. Chris Tennant then tied a career high with a 51-yard field goal to lift the Wildcats to their 16th straight success in the series.The significant win kept K-State alive in the Huge 12 title and playoff races. Going forward, the Wildcats should be significant favorites in their next three games leading into a Nov. 30 showdown at
Iowa State.The Cyclones, who had a bye
over the weekend, are unbeaten and in the thick of the playoff discussion too. If Iowa State can likewise function, the Cyclones and Wildcats could square off in the most meaningful Farmageddon tilt in the history of college football’s longest undisturbed rivalry(108 games ).– Jake Trotter Alabama isn’t done Throughout a Saturday early morning chat with Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, less than 5 hours before hosting his
homecoming match against fellow rushing top-25 SEC foe Missouri, anybody seeking a sense of panic, concern or worry for his future would’ve been disappointed. Instead, he talked very matter of reality about a pregame routine of media, a team walkthrough at the hotel and “looking after what we can control, and that’s football. Particularly, taking care of the football.”That is precisely what Alabama did, benefiting from Missouri’s injured offense to nab 3 interceptions. Meanwhile, Jalen Milroe’s first game this season without a goal pass(
he did run for a score)
was also his very first game in a month without at least one pass selected off. DeBoer reminded Saturday morning before kickoff and Saturday night after the win that Milroe”has been tossed a lot change “between a new offensive playbook and the absence of so many colleagues from last season’s CFP team. But he likewise admitted that his staff was doing a better task in more recent days of “changing what we do to the workers we have, specifically a quarterback that in our opinion is the very best in the country from
a football and management viewpoint.”Even with the two losses that everybody in Nick Saban-spoiled Tuscaloosa has had to make their own changes to, ESPN analytics state the Tide still have a 53%possibility to go back to the CFP. Nobody is more familiar with that than the head coach and group that seems emerging from a roller-coaster October with the most stability it has enjoyed in a long time.– Ryan McGee