How much does a single defeat weigh on a season of a college football team that had only collected victories until now? A lot, everything, perhaps. The example I am referring to can only be that of Miami, which during this day suffered its first defeat of the season against Georgia Tech. Miami had never lost, but it certainly hadn’t proven to be a dominant team in every aspect like Oregon, another undefeated team until now, could be.
More than once during this season there have been hard-fought victories, as in the case of the match against California, or the one against Virginia Tech. In last Saturday’s game, although the statistics tell us that Miami threw more, at the same time Georgia Tech made the most of its running games, which made the difference. It ends 28-23 for the Yellow Jackets.
First defeat of the season for Miami, which loses several positions in the ranking
One of the matches that could not be missed was the one between Georgia and Ole Miss, a match with an outcome that was by no means a foregone conclusion, as the pitch actually demonstrated. The bulldogs started the season in first place in the rankings, but now they find themselves with two defeats that have demonstrated the limits of this team, especially with regards to QB Carson Beck, who ends the day without scoring a single TD. Ole Miss has always remained organized and, above all, consistent. 28-10 the final result in the heaviest defeat for the Bulldogs, in terms of points, from 2020 onwards.
The last time the Bulldogs lost by at least 18 points was in November 2020. In that case it was the Florida Gators who beat them 44-28.
Oregon takes home its tenth victory and does so, as always, in total serenity and also providing entertainment and entertainment to its audience. This time Maryland is beaten, with the result 39-18. To demonstrate the ease and the now almost guaranteed first place in the ranking, just look at who made it to the box score, i.e. the lineman Gernorris Wilson, with number 78, who improvised as a receiver for an action. As if that wasn’t enough, from this TD a 2-point conversion is then masterfully executed with the run of another lineman, Josh Conerly Jr.
Will it be Oregon’s year? It could, in the meantime the first place in the ranking certainly seems to be a done deal
Ohio State wins against Purdue, confirming itself perhaps as the team that Oregon could fear the most, despite being the only one that managed to beat the Buckeyes this season. 45-0 for them against Purdue. The match against Indiana on November 23rd will be decisive and most likely spectacular. Texas also remains, at the moment, with only one defeat of the season after the victory against Florida 49-17. Penn State and Tennessee also win, against Washington and Mississippi State respectively.
A team that has perhaps been kept under close scrutiny this season is Indiana, which with Michigan gets its tenth victory of the season without having yet suffered defeats. The same could be said with BYU. Both have not had too formidable opponents up to now, but the merit of having reached this point of the season with a 0 in the defeat sheet must certainly be recognized. Notre Dame wins again, having never lost again after that sensational defeat on the second day against Northern Illinois. Who knows what their ranking situation would be like now without that debacle.
Although their season was a bit compromised after the defeat against Tennessee, Alabama also wins convincingly against LSU, its third defeat of the season
The new ranking after week 11
Oregon, Ohio State and Texas make up the podium. Followed by Penn State, Indiana and BYU. Tennessee remains in 7th, while Notre Dame advances in 8th. Miami ends up in ninth place after Saturday’s defeat, while Alabama is back in the top 10. Georgia drops dramatically to number 12. Never this low in the ranking for several seasons. New entries South Carolina, in 21st and Tulane, in 25th. Iowa State and Pitt drop out of the ranking.
What does Week 12 have in store?
We are now at the end of the regular season, but several decisive matches still have to be played in these final days. At 6pm Italian time on Saturday we start immediately with a bang, with several important matches scheduled. Ohio State travels to Evanston, where they will find Northwestern. Texas goes to visit Arkansas, Colorado hosts Utah instead. At 9.30pm Penn State will challenge Purdue, at the latter’s home, and Notre Dame will meet Virginia at home. During the night Oregon will play against Wisconsin, at the same time Georgia will host Tennessee, in what will probably be the most anticipated match of the day. Late night BYU will host Kansas.
Student in “Communication Sciences”, great NFL fan since 2020 and writer in his free time. I love the United States, for this reason I dedicated a personal blog (@Speaking of USA) to write articles about this splendid country.
