Week 12 Viewing Guide: The Fall of Clemson, Cincy's Toughest AAC Game Yet, and the Ducks Fly Off to the Mountains

Nooners

No. 10 Wake Forest vs. Clemson, 12 p.m. on ESPN

The bell tolls for thee, Tigers.

Clemson's fate this season has been certain since the end of September. The team that previously had the preseason third overall ranking failed to score any touchdowns against Georgia before stumbling to an overtime defeat at the hands of North Carolina State just three games later. The Tigers have only lost to Pitt since, but their lone victory by more than 10 points in 2021 occurred just last week against a lowly UConn Huskies team with no FBS wins at the moment.

It has been conference championship or bust for Clemson since the loss to the Wolfpack, but N.C. State dropping two of their last four games has opened the door for the Tigers to potentially claw back to divisional glory this season. Wake Forest remains undefeated in ACC play as of this writing, but two straight losses to end November for the Demon Deacons — and at least one in the next two weeks for the Wolfpack — will allow Clemson to advance to the conference title game on a tiebreaker.

The Deacons are fresh off an impressive 45-42 primetime win over N.C. State last weekend that went down to the wire. The Wolfpack returned the opening second half kickoff for a touchdown to go ahead in the early stages of the third quarter, but Wake Forest countered with a score of its own and Sam Hartman kept just far enough in front to the end of the game in what was arguably the Deacons' most impressive win of the season.

Coming up clutch on Senior Night

: ACC Network #GoDeacs https://t.co/LT2atyKJFH

— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) November 14, 2021

Meanwhile, D.J. Uiagalelei continues to underwhelm at the helm of Clemson's offense. The true sophomore's sub-55% completion percentage has plagued the Tigers' passing game all season. Further compounding Clemson's offensive constipation, Uiagalelei has only eclipsed 50 rushing yards once despite carrying the ball at least eight times in all but two games.

The deciding factor in this game should be how Wake Forest's offensive line handles the pressure of the Tiger defense. Clemson's front four has the 15th best overall sack rate in the country — and the 14th best on passing downs according to Football Outsiders — but Wake Forest counters with an offensive line that boasts the 21st best protection rate against sacks and the 22nd best in obvious throwing situations.

If Hartman has time to throw into the Clemson defense and take the lead for the Deacons, offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and the Tigers will not have the firepower to keep themselves in the game. Savor any Dabo Swinney tears well into Thanksgiving — they pair deliciously with pumpkin pie.

Charleston Southern vs. No. 1 Georgia, 12 p.m. on ESPN+ / SECN+

H A Z A R D   W A R N I N G

This is the most egregiously offensive college football game on the slate all year. It is an affront to the sport, and Georgia's pristine defense will inevitably find itself penalized for this crime in championship season — panicking as it cracks for the first time while the sins of the Bulldogs' sleazy scheduling come home to roost.

For Charleston Southern, today's meeting in Athens is their final scheduled game this season. The Buccaneers were just a couple of overtime periods away last weekend from entering this game 3-6 overall with a 2-5 record in the Big South. Charleston Southern ultimately managed to eke out a road win over Gardner-Webb, so there remains at least the pride of playing for a .500 record today.

But even that motivation is miniscule when considering the FCS plays merely one bowl game, and only the top 24 teams qualify for its postseason playoff bracket. The Bucs' lousy conference record speaks for itself — their only other contest against an FBS opponent this season was a three point loss to East Carolina. There are a dozen seniors on this Charleston Southern team that are going to spend the final three hours of their lives as football players running directly into the Great Wall of Georgia.

The few remaining skeptics of the Bulldogs' defense last week anticipated Tennessee's explosive offense to give Kirby Smart some trouble. The Volunteers did become the highest scoring team versus Georgia this season with a whopping 17 points, but their last touchdown arrived with only three minutes left of garbage time. The Bulldogs generated six sacks, six pass deflections, and two turnovers while comfortably keeping Tennessee out of the game beyond the first quarter with a nice performance from running back James Cook.

Back come the dawgs!

James Cook gets @GeorgiaFootball on the board after some great blocking. pic.twitter.com/M9ZgCOXMOP

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 13, 2021

There has been much heated debate around the "scheduling for championships" that takes place in the SEC. Ohio State hosts more than its fair share of local MAC factions, but seldom anymore do the folks putting the football schedule together call up the Youngstown States or Florida A&Ms of the world for a layup contest. It has certainly not happened in the heart of conference play for decades, if ever.

Putting regionally-situated FCS creampuffs up against gridiron institutions is not new behavior, but remains unsightly in every sense. Seeing these games in November scheduled for a team that has consistently piloted the polls of a tumultuous college football season induces a Medusa effect on the eyes.

Now imagine being a player on Charleston Southern, in the final near-meaningless game of a second pandemic-plagued football season, facing a juggernaut that has limited opponents to single-digit scoring in six of its 10 wins — all against superior FBS teams.

This is going to be the worst streaming content Disney has put out since The Lion King remake in 2019. But Mickey Mouse knows the crowd loves animals, and Bulldogs remain no exception.

Afternooners

A Cocktail Hour Quintet

With two key meetings featuring potential College Football Playoff teams and a handful of others containing interesting storylines and matchups, the afternoon slate in Week 12 is rich with potential. These five games start at various times over a two hour span, so feel free to flip around for the best viewer experience possible.

• Illinois vs. No. 17 Iowa, 2:00 p.m. on FS1
  Consider this game a diet hazard warning. Iowa has had a bit of a bounce-back after costly losses to Purdue and Wisconsin, most recently defeating Minnesota at home last weekend. But the Hawkeyes are still probably the worst team with eight wins in college football, and a loss today would more than likely drop them out of the top-25 rankings as well as the Big Ten West race.
  
  Illinois won't win the Big Ten West, but they already relish in the spoiler role in the same way the Boilermakers have this season. The Illini's two most recent wins have been road victories over at-the-time top-20 Big Ten teams in Penn State and Minnesota. If Ohio State's game becomes a rout late and Clemson leads Wake Forest, this could be a good viewing alternative heading into the later afternoon.
   
• SMU vs. No. 5 Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
  Ohio State's pretend older brother for all of five minutes faces its greatest challenge today since the Bearcats took down Notre Dame at the beginning of October. Cincinnati remains undefeated, but has flirted with disaster in four recent games — leading by a field goal or less at halftime in the three contests prior to last week's win over South Florida. The game ended a 45-28 victory, but stood tied after one quarter.
  
  SMU's pride was hurt following a gut-wrenching loss to Houston on a final-minute go-ahead kick return touchdown followed by an upset defeat on the road at the hands of Memphis. But the Mustangs bounced back with a 600+ yard offensive showcase against Central Florida last weekend, and SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai will be keen to take on Cincy's acclaimed defense. Mordecai seeks to add to his 37 passing touchdowns that currently place him 2nd among all FBS quarterbacks.

  In case you missed it, here are the highlights from @SMU_Football's 55-28 win over UCF!
  
  Presented by @AcmeBrick pic.twitter.com/qTfCksJYcf

  — SMU Athletics (@SMUMustangs) November 13, 2021

• No. 21 Arkansas vs. No. 2 Alabama, 3:30 p.m. on CBS
  It went from Hog Heaven to 60 Minutes of Hell real quick for the Razorbacks in October. An extremely impressive opening four games for Arkansas that include double-digit wins over Texas and Texas A&M preceded an embarrassing shut-out loss to Georgia followed by heartbreaking losses to Ole Miss and Auburn. The once-resolute Razorbacks have most recently edged out wins over Mississippi State and LSU by a field goal apiece, which makes them a bit unpredictable heading into Tuscaloosa.
  
  Speaking of the Crimson Tide, one of the most heated storylines this week was Jameson Williams throwing down the gauntlet on his feelings about Ohio State fans. The comments are amusing given many Buckeye fans wished Williams well even in the immediate aftermath of his transfer to the squad that most recently defeated his own team. Jamo appears to be the lone load-bearing pillar for Bryce Young's Heisman campaign at the moment, so it is further amusing that he would make such comments as C.J. Stroud prepares to kick down the door for the award himself — with the help of three more talented friends.
  
  Woo Pig Sooie, with love from Ohio.
   
• Louisiana vs. Liberty, 4:00 p.m. on ESPNU
  W I L D C A R D   of the   W E E K
  For those that missed Liberty quarterback Malik Willis in the Flames' meeting with Lane Kiffin's rebels in Week 10, today grants another chance. Willis and head coach Hugh Freeze have had a bye week to regroup following just their third loss, and will go up against a Rajin' Cajuns unit that has won nine straight games since dropping their season opener to Texas.
  
  Louisiana has a dynamic rushing attack that features three running backs all averaging over 5.7 yards per carry this season on 40+ attempts each — scoring a combined 21 touchdowns along the way. But the star of this game remains Willis, currently tied for 7th in scoring among offensive players with 188 overall points. That is the highest total among the four FBS players to score 10 rushing and passing touchdowns each through mid-November.

  .@MalikWillis pass @sietee_7 catch
  TOUCHDOWN pic.twitter.com/7gmGnDlcTk

  — Liberty Football (@LibertyFootball) October 30, 2021

• UCLA vs. USC, 4:00 p.m. on FOX
  Hard to go wrong with one of the most classic rivalries in college football. Though the end-of-year stakes for this game have hardly held to tradition in recent seasons, the aesthetic duel between two home uniforms with the pride of Los Angeles' two most major campuses on the line — basking in the golden hours of a California afternoon — remains one of the finest in the sport.
  
  For USC, the Drake London show continues to be a treat. Last week was only the second game this year that London failed to eclipse 100 receiving yards, but he still caught two touchdowns in the team's win over Arizona. He has merely one game with less than nine receptions all season, while UCLA has allowed the 21st most passing yards among FBS schools through 11 weeks of play.

Primetime

No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 23 Utah, 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Though the Ducks would presumably be in the Playoff if it started today, Oregon is somewhat stunningly favored to lose this Pac-12 cross-divisional clash tonight. The Utes enter as three point home favorites after defeating Arizona on the road last weekend. However, two more impressive recent wins for Utah shed light on why many find them an appealing upset pick this evening.

Oregon's lone loss this season came on the road courtesy of a currently 3-6 Stanford team that lost to the Utes just two weeks ago by 45 points. Additionally, UCLA only lost to the Ducks by a field goal when they hosted Oregon towards the end of October, but Utah managed to take down the Bruins by 20 points the following weekend.

If Louisiana's afternoon fleet of running backs was not appealing enough, perhaps the Utes' rushing attack will be of greater interest. Four players in the Utah offense — each with more than 40 attempts through 10 games — average roughly six or more yards per carry this season, including quarterback Cameron Rising. The Utes' rushing offense currently boasts the ninth most rushing touchdowns in FBS, and the system gets a nice aerial complement from Rising putting up a TD / INT ratio of seven to one so far.

This Utah offensive line is playing ridiculously good football rn pic.twitter.com/8YomuiSS6r

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) November 13, 2021

Oregon's run stop ability is much more effective than its passing defense, so the path to victory for Utah could be through the air. The Ducks receive a surprisingly awful pass rush from their defensive front despite the presence of Kayvon Thibodeaux, and are particularly one of the ten worst teams in FBS at generating sacks in throwing situations according to Football Outsiders.

The Utes seldom throw the ball more than 30 times per game, but their offensive line has done an exceptional job of protecting Rising since he took over the starting quarterback job for Charlie Brewer in mid-September — with only three sacks across nine games played. Rising has only gone over 300 yards passing in one game this season, but he should have no problem taking the time he needs to air it out inside the familiar altitude and atmosphere of Salt Lake City.

Oregon's win over Washington State last weekend put them two games ahead of the next two closest teams in the Pac-12 North, with only Oregon State remaining on their schedule after tonight. A loss for the Ducks would open the door for the Beavers to steal the division next weekend.

More importantly, it would most likely doom the only team to beat Ohio State this season from making the College Football Playoff.

On the Radar for Next Week

• The Game: No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Michigan, 12 p.m. on Fox
• Iron Bowl: No. 2 Alabama vs. Auburn, 2:30 p.m. on CBS
• Bedlam Series: No. 13 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State, 7:30 p.m. on ABC