Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin have seen better days.
Another Saturday is in the books, folks. Was Ohio State's performance particularly encouraging? Absolutely not. And the defense's second-half efforts probably left plenty of people shaking their heads. The Buckeyes also missed an opportunity to give C.J. Stroud and/or Jack Miller some needed experience against an inferior opponent.
The good news? Justin Fields is playing out of his mind right now and Ryan Day's passing attack is a real sight to behold. Ohio State's sitting at 3-0 on the season and remains in prime position to snatch one of the four playoff spots.
The biggest story of the weekend was probably the Pac-12 making its 2020 debut. However, it was overshadowed by Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin's embarrassing performances as well as the top-ranked Tigers falling on the road.
No. 13 Indiana 38, No. 23 Michigan 21
When Ohio State traveled to Bloomington for the 2017 opener, true freshman J.K. Dobbins rushed for 14 yards on the Buckeyes' first two drives. In yesterday's action, Hassan Haskins, Chris Evans, Blake Corum, and the rest of the Wolverine team ran for just 13 yards in the entire game. What does 2017 have to do with 2020? Not a damn thing. I just felt like making fun of Michigan for being really bad at football.
It's year six of the Harbaugh era, and yesterday his team couldn't even stop itself from jumping offsides what seemed like a dozen times. Couple that with a defensive backfield that has no clue what it's doing and you've got a perfect recipe for disaster. Michael Penix Jr. lit Michigan up for 342 yards and three touchdowns. The UM secondary had no chance against Ty Fryfogle and Whop Philyor. Fryfogle caught seven for 142 yards and a score while Philyor hauled in 11 for 79 yards. As for the ground game, Stevie Scott III ran for 97 and a pair of touchdowns.
Joe Milton's erratic season continued against the Hoosiers. He completed just 18 of 34 attempts for 344 yards with three scores and two interceptions. Ronnie Bell had a big day with six catches for 148 yards and a touchdown. Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson were also on the receiving end of scoring strikes. There's nothing else to say about the ground game. It was practically non-existent.
The win marks the Hoosiers first against the Wolverines since 1987. Back then, Michael Jackson's "Bad" was at the top of the charts and a gallon of gas cost 89 cents. Jim Harbaugh is now 1-2 and has some serious issues to address even though he seems to have no plans of making any changes. Tom Allen and the Hoosiers appear to be for real as they're now sitting at 3-0 on the season.
Maryland 35, Penn State 19
Congratulations if you saw this one coming because I certainly did not. I didn't expect Penn State to blow the Terps out of the water, but I figured James Franklin would at least come away with a home win. Instead, the Nittany Lions looked absolutely atrocious as they moved to 0-3 on the season.
Maryland got off to a rough start when it got annihilated at Northwestern. But the last two games have been quite good for Mike Locksley. Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 282 yards and three scores. Jake Funk was the game's leading rusher with 80 yards and a touchdown. How about true freshman Rakim Jarrett? The five-star caught five passes for 144 yards and a pair of long first-quarter touchdowns. Dontay Demus Jr. added six receptions for 86 and a score.
I can't believe Sean Clifford didn't get pulled. The redshirt junior completed just 27 of 57 passes for 340 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions, and a lost fumble. The state line doesn't even really portray how bad he was against the Terps. The ground game didn't do a whole lot once again with just 94 yards on 36 carries. Jahan Dotson had another fine showing with nine catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.
While the game was going down, four-star safety Derrick Davis Jr. announced his commitment to LSU. That means none of Pennsylvania's top-10 prospects for the 2021 class are heading to PSU. Could James Franklin's seat be getting a little warm? One really has to wonder at this point.
KEY RACE ALERT pic.twitter.com/Bl4DOBAVd3
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) November 7, 2020
Northwestern 21, Nebraska 13
Don't look now, but Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats are sitting at 3-0. And yet I still have no idea how good the team really is. What I do know is that Nebraska was up 13-7 at the half, put up decent yardage (442 on the day), but struggled to put the ball in the end zone after moving down the field. A pair of Northwestern touchdowns proved to be the difference in the second half.
Peyton Ramsey threw for 169 yards with two scores and a pair of interceptions. Drake Anderson led the charge on the ground with 89 and a touchdown. The Huskers rotated Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey under center, but it was all McCaffrey after Martinez threw a third-quarter pick. The two combined to go 24 of 45 for 218 yards with no scores and two interceptions. Martinez ran for 102 yards while the redshirt freshman added 93.
McCaffrey was also picked off on the day, but he's the guy Scott Frost trusted most late in the fourth when the Huskers needed a potential game-tying drive. It'll be interesting to see who gets the nod next week.
| TEAM | W-L | RANK | PREV. |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 3-0 | 1 | 1 |
| INDIANA | 3-0 | 2 | 3 |
| WISCONSIN | 1-0 | 3 | 2 |
| PURDUE | 2-0 | 4 | 4 |
| NORTHWESTERN | 3-0 | 5 | 5 |
| MARYLAND | 2-1 | 6 | 10 |
| IOWA | 1-2 | 7 | 12 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | 1-2 | 8 | 6 |
| MICHIGAN | 1-2 | 9 | 7 |
| MINNESOTA | 1-2 | 10 | 13 |
| PENN STATE | 0-3 | 11 | 8 |
| NEBRASKA | 0-2 | 12 | 9 |
| RUTGERS | 1-2 | 13 | 11 |
| ILLINOIS | 0-3 | 14 | 14 |
No. 20 Southern Cal 28, Arizona State 27
Kegs and eggs, anyone? This game kicked off at 9 a.m. in California, so I feel bad for the college kids who wanted to enjoy their Friday evening before getting up bright and early to watch the season opener; albeit not from the stands. The No. 20 Trojans needed an onside kick and two fourth-quarter touchdowns – both of which came with less than three minutes on the clock – to take down the Sun Devils.
Kedon Slovis threw the ball 55 times against ASU. He completed 40 of those attempts for 381 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Drake London was the game's leading receiver with eight catches for 125 and a score. Amon-Ra St. Brown hauled in seven for 100 yards. Three lost fumbles and the interception nearly cost Clay Helton at home.
For the Devils, sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels threw for 134 yards and a touchdown. Daniels had a big day with his legs adding 111 more on 11 carries. Akron native DeaMonte Trayanum dazzled in his backfield debut. The true freshman and one-time Ohio State target rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
No. 8 Florida 44, No. 5 Georgia 28
The Gators were down 14-0 less than four minutes into the game. At the time, I thought to myself "hey this is problematic because Georgia has an incredible defense." Kyle Trask and the Florida offense then proceeded to amass 411 yards – including 341 through the air – in the first half alone. Dan Mullen had a 38-21 lead going into the intermission. I then had another thought: "Stetson Bennett is Georgia's quarterback, so the Dawgs are in trouble." That one turned out to be a bit more accurate.
Florida wasn't quite as explosive in the second half thanks in part to Kyle Pitts getting knocked out of the game. Still, Trask connected on 30 of 43 passes for 474 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Malik Davis caught five for 100, Pitts added two for 59 and a score before exiting, and Trevon Grimes hauled in a nifty little 14-yard touchdown score. The ground game didn't need to do a whole lot. Dameon Pierce led the way with 52 yards and a touchdown.
This Florida offense is cooking! pic.twitter.com/lJK6sI1OsV
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 7, 2020
Whose quarterback situation is worse – Georgia or Penn State's? Stetson Bennett connected on just 5 of his 16 attempts for 78 yards with a touchdown and a pick. D'Wan Mathis then took over and things didn't get any better. Mathis was 4/13 for 34 yards with a score and a pair of interceptions. Zamir White took the first play of the game 75 yards for a touchdown. He was mostly quiet afterward and finished the evening with 107 and the score.
No. 4 Notre Dame 47, No. 1 Clemson 40 (2OT)
Even without Trevor Lawrence, I did not see Notre Dame pulling this one out. I was wrong as it took two overtimes for Ian Book and the Irish to get it done. And it was a pair of double-overtime sacks on D.J. Uiagalelei that helped to put things out of reach for the Tigers. Props to Brian Kelly on what is now the most impressive win on the season.
Things started off with a bang as Kyren Williams ran 65 yards for a score on the second play of the game. Williams had a fine evening rushing for 140 and three touchdowns – including both overtime scores – on 23 carries. Book connected on 22 of 39 pass attempts for 310 yards and a score. He added another 68 with his legs and had a disastrous fumble inside the Clemson five. Book wasn't spectacular, but he actually played far better than what I was expecting.
Uiagalelei also had a big day completing 29 of 44 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns (plus a rushing score). The Irish defense was superb against the run and held Travis Etienne to just 28 yards and a score on 18 carries. Cornell Powell and Amari Rodgers both delivered through the air. Powell caught six for 161 and a score while Rodgers hauled in eight for 134. B.T. Potter booted four field goals for the Tigers.
Does this game really change that much for Dabo Swinney's playoff hopes? Not really. And the two teams are likely to see each other again in Charlotte. The bigger question may be whether or not the ACC can now get two teams into the playoffs.
No. 12 Oregon 35, Stanford 14
The Ducks are expected to be the class of the Pac-12, and an Ohio State/Oregon matchup would have brought plenty of excitement. Mario Cristobal was victorious in his opener thanks to a superb ground attack and a solid debut for new quarterback Tyler Shough. CJ Verdell and Co. ran for 269 yards and four scores. Verdell was the game's leading rusher with 105 and a touchdown. Shough added 85 yards and a score on the ground in addition to his 227 and touchdown through the air.
There's not a whole lot to say about the Cardinal. Jack West connected on 13 of 19 attempts for 154 yards. Tailback Austin Jones rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries and was responsible for both of Stanford's touchdowns.
As usual, there were a few other games worth mentioning. Michigan State looked horrendous after last week's win over the Wolverines. The Hawkeyes scored a defensive and special teams touchdown to help crush the Spartans by a score of 49-7.
Luke Fickell and the No. 6 Bearcats are now 6-0 after a win over Houston. Cincinnati should find itself in the top five. How about Liberty moving to 7-0? The 25th-ranked Flames went to Blacksburg and beat Virginia Tech 38-35. It's really weird seeing Coastal Carolina ranked No. 15, but the Chanticleers are still rolling after yesterday's win over South Alabama.
- Week's Best: Michael Penix Jr., Kyle Trask, Rakim Jarrett, Brian Kelly, Tom Allen
- Week's Worst: James Franklin, Sean Clifford, Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown, Michigan/Georgia secondaries
- Week's Weirdest: Someone please explain this to me. The kick was missed, but why on earth did Texas Tech even try it? Is this some weird "analytics" thing where a coach tries to get cute?
— nick pants (@stnap_kcin) November 7, 2020
Much like last week, the Big Ten power rankings are difficult to piece together. I think the top and bottom of the list are at least somewhat straight forward, but the middle tier is where things get tricky. I decided to flip-flop the Hoosiers and Badgers while moving Maryland up several spots. I'm still not 100 percent confident about where Purdue and Northwestern should be slotted, but I've got both of the unbeatens in the top five. Who's your No. 2 team right now?
Next weekend isn't shaping up to be all that special. Ohio State hits the road to face Maryland in what could be an interesting one if the defense continues to struggle. Mike Locksley has the Terps playing well over the last two weeks. Jeff Hafley has a chance to put an end to the Irish hot streak. Alabama will head to Baton Rouge, and we'll see if the Badgers can return for the scheduled road trip to Ann Arbor.
