The College Football Playoff race is heating up as the regular season winds down to its final two weeks.
Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU remain the only unbeaten teams in the country while a handful of one-loss teams eye conference crowns that could help them earn a berth in the CFP.
In the latest edition of Eleven Warriors' stock report, we take a look at the fallout from Week 11, assessing who boosted their stock and whose stock dropped from Ohio State's 56-14 win over Indiana to the wider landscape of college football.
Stock Up
Kam Babb
Ryan Day said it best on Saturday: Kamryn Babb’s first reception in a Buckeye uniform was “magical.” The five-year Ohio State veteran who has suffered four ACL tears since his final year of high school made his first appearance since 2020 and hauled in a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against Indiana. For a player whose football future seemed severely jeopardized on a number of occasions, the play was proof of Babb’s resolve and unwillingness to quit no matter how many obstacles were thrown his way.
This is what it's all about. Kamryn Babb moment. pic.twitter.com/Ouyv4x7Byh
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 14, 2022
Xavier Johnson
Add another surprise touchdown to the Xavier Johnson highlight reel. The former walk-on scored a go-ahead touchdown in the season opener to help save the day against Notre Dame in the second half, and he had an even more spectacular – if far less consequential – house call on Saturday. Asked to return from wide receiver to his former running back position due to the long list of injuries in Tony Alford’s room, Johnson took his only carry of the day back and forth across the field for a 71-yard score. Sure, the stakes weren’t all that high by that point, but Johnson may have earned himself some more reps at the position if injuries persist to other players on the roster.
Momma, there goes that man. Xavier Johnson to the house. pic.twitter.com/L2fBnS1SBu
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 12, 2022
Jack Sawyer
Entering Saturday, Jack Sawyer had gone five straight games without a sack for Ohio State. During that stretch, fellow sophomore pass rusher J.T. Tuimoloau broke out with one of the best games anyone’s ever seen from a DE against Penn State, and Zach Harrison’s been a game-wrecking playmaker as well. Sawyer picked a good time to step up, finishing Saturday’s Indiana matchup with 1.5 sacks and three total tackles in a largely dominant defensive day for the Buckeyes. Now with 3.5 sacks for the season and at least three more games (if not four or five) to build on that number, Sawyer’s season stat total is beginning to look a bit more respectable, even if not quite as gaudy as some might have hoped.
Things you love to see from Jack Sawyer = This. pic.twitter.com/wkyGEB6aYo
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 12, 2022
Dallan Hayden
Johnson may have had the biggest play among Buckeye rushers who stepped up in relief of injured backs Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson, but Hayden was the workhorse of the afternoon. The first-year back received a career-high 19 carries and finished with 102 yards and a touchdown against the Hoosiers. Hayden actually scored a 14-yard touchdown on his very first carry of the game, even before Williams left with injury, and he did the bulk of his work thereafter. If injuries at running back continue to haunt the Buckeyes, Hayden is likely to be the most consistently used backup option, which makes him highly important to Ohio State’s success in the coming weeks.
Josh Fryar
For the first time all season, Ohio State was without starting right tackle Dawand Jones for Saturday’s matchup with the Hoosiers. Longtime sixth man of the OSU offensive line Josh Fryar stepped in to fill the void left by the 6-foot-8 behemoth, and he did more than hold his own. Fryar seemed to excel in the run game in particular, where Ohio State had a season-best day with 340 yards and three scores. Given the struggles of the Buckeye front five in the previous three games since the bye week, some fans seemed to think Ohio State should stick with Fryar for the time being, but Day says Jones is expected to return back healthy next week.
TCU
All the Horned Frogs do is win games and silence critics. TCU improved to 10-0 as it took care of Texas by one score, and everyone who’s assumed it would drop a game at some point is starting to look increasingly foolish as the season enters its final two weeks. While it was a one-score win over an unranked Longhorn program, Saturday’s win only further cements TCU’s status as a clear CFP team as of now.
Drake Maye
Only one player in the FBS has thrown for as many touchdown passes as C.J. Stroud this season. North Carolina’s Drake Maye has also passed for nearly 700 more yards, thrown one less interception and leads a Tar Heel team with just one loss through 10 games. Maye’s darkhorse Heisman candidacy continued to pick up steam Saturday with a performance in which he racked up more than 500 total yards and four total scores. North Carolina beat Wake Forest by two points and is suddenly ranked as high as No. 13 in the AP poll.
Washington
No team boosted its standing in the AP Top 25 more than Washington this weekend, as the Huskies knocked off No. 6 Oregon, 37-34. The victory marked Washington’s fourth straight after dropping back-to-back contests to UCLA and Arizona State to be ousted from the rankings in early October. Michael Penix Jr.’s stellar season at quarterback continues as the Indiana transfer racked up more than 400 yards through the air and a pair of touchdowns on Saturday.
Stock Down
RB health
Ohio State was so desperate for depth at running back at a point against Indiana that it was handing the ball off to Johnson, a wide receiver and former walk-on, and Mitch Rossi, a tight end/fullback hybrid. The Buckeyes were down TreVeyon Henderson and Chip Trayanum before the game, and lost Miyan Williams to an apparent right leg injury in the second quarter. Given Evan Pryor’s preseason ACL tear, Ohio State was down to only Hayden as far as healthy scholarship rushers. Day maintains faith that the Buckeyes can get multiple running backs back into the fold “in pretty short order” but the Michigan matchup is only 11 days away.
Oregon
The Ducks had a clear path to a CFP berth entering this weekend. Win out, and they’d have a good shot to make it as a one-loss Power-5 conference champion. Not to mention, Oregon’s only defeat was at the hands of reigning national champion and current No. 1-ranked Georgia, and all the way back in Week 1. But Oregon dropped to Washington, giving it a second loss to ensure it stays at arm’s length from the CFP conversation.
Pac-12 CFP hopes
A couple of Pac-12 developments over the weekend have opened the door for USC to get back into CFP contention, but there’s little doubt that Oregon gave the conference its best chance to get in the playoff before its loss. With the Ducks’ loss, even if USC runs the table the rest of the way, it will have to contend with the likes of Clemson as another one-loss Power-5 conference champ. Beyond that, Tennessee and the loser of Ohio State-Michigan may also have cases to make, given that their potential one loss would be to presumptive playoff teams and conference champions, unlike the Trojans. But with two ranked teams remaining on its schedule, USC still can still impress committee members down the stretch and potentially sneak into the CFP.
Quinn Ewers
Steve Sarkisian and Quinn Ewers had another chance to notch a signature win in their era of the Longhorn program as unbeaten, No. 4-ranked TCU came to Austin over the weekend. Texas only lost by a touchdown, but the loss was the Longhorns’ fourth of the season and Ewers had another poor day at the office in the process. The former Buckeye completed just 17 of his 39 pass attempts for 171 yards, failed to throw a touchdown and tossed a pick. Ewers’ 75.3 passer rating was his lowest of the season.
