Compared to the last few weeks, this weekend felt pretty quiet. All of the top ten ranked teams who played this weekend won and did so pretty convincingly. There weren’t many major upsets (with the exception of Rice-Marshall), but the BYU-Coastal Carolina game certainly delivered plenty of excitement. With no Penn State or Michigan playing this weekend we also finally had a slate of games with neither team making headlines for their ineptitude! Here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 14 in college football.
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Winners
Coastal Carolina
The hastily arranged matchup between BYU and Coastal Carolina delivered on its billing as the best game of the weekend. Both teams entered to weekend 9-0 and had played some of the most exciting football that we’ve seen all year at the collegiate level. The game was close, but Coastal Carolina ran out 22-17 winners.
This was the one of the biggest wins in the Chanticleers’ 17 year history and sees them go 10-0 with two games left to play. They dominated on the ground and put up 281 rushing yards and three touchdowns on a BYU defense that ranked 10th in rushing EPA per play coming into the weekend. A place in the New Year’s Six is now a real possibility for a team that only joined the FBS in 2018.
Devonta Smith
Alabama were heavy favourites coming into the weekend and looked predictably dominant in their 55-17 win over LSU. The standout performer was Devonta Smith once again. In this game he racked up eight catches for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Right now he looks like the clear favourite for the 2020 Biletnikoff Award.
Through nine games he has put up 1,305 yards and 15 touchdowns, both of which lead all FBS receivers. His 145 yards per game ranks second, behind just Elijah Moore. This game was the fifth time this season he has had over 150 receiving yards. There hasn’t been a wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy since 1991, but with this level of play Smith should certainly enter the conversation.
Iowa State
Iowa State’s rankings have been controversial so far this year. They came in at No. 13 with a 6-2 record and rose to ninth last week with another win. They’ve been silencing their doubters though, and these last few performances have been absolutely lights out on both sides of the ball. Since Week 12 they’ve outscored their opponents 110-26, including a shutout against Kansas State and a near-shutout of West Virginia this week.
The Mountaineers ranked seventh in defensive EPA per play coming into this week but the Cyclones made light work, putting up 42 points and 483 total yards. With this win they secured their place in a Big 12 championship game for the first time in their history. Another win would secure them their first conference title since 1912.
Ohio State
Ohio State’s win over Michigan State this weekend was never really in question, but it was a hugely important result for the program. They ran out 52-12 winners, with another excellent performance from Justin Fields. Fields finished 17 of 24 for 199 yards and two touchdowns, adding a further two scores and 104 yards on the ground.
This was all despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis that forced the cancellation of their game with Illinois last weekend. They had 23 players out for this game but in the end it didn’t matter as they moved to 5-0. This game takes them closer to the six games they need to qualify for the conference championship. There are rumours that the Big Ten is looking to lower this threshold. If this happens, the Buckeyes will make the conference championship regardless of whether next week’s game at Michigan goes ahead.
Losers
BYU
BYU have had an excellent season so far, but their loss this weekend to the Chanticleers pretty much guarantees that they will miss out on a place in the New Year’s Six. It came in heartbreaking fashion, with Dax Milne stopped at the 1 yard line as time expired. Coastal Carolina did a good job to contain Zach Wilson, who had his worst game of 2020, finishing 19 of 30 for 240 yards with a touchdown and a pick.
To make matters worse the Cougars had a 91-yard touchdown wiped off on their opening play of the game with a holding call. Their defense has to shoulder a large portion of the blame for this result. Despite giving up just 22 points to a potent offense, they allowed 281 rushing yards at an average of over five yards per carry. Their inability to contain the Chanticleers allowed them to grind out the clock and keep BYU’s offense off the field for long stretches of time.
Grant Wells and Marshall
The season had been going so well for the Thundering Herd. They entered the weekend 7-0 and ranked at No. 21. An undefeated season looked like it could be on the cards with three very winnable games, starting with a 1-2 Rice team. Marshall entered the game as 23 point favourites but Rice proceeded to deliver one of the biggest upsets of the season.
The final score saw Rice win 20-0, shutting out a Marshall offense averaging over 37 points per game. A lot of this came down to Grant Wells, who had by far the worst game of his young career. The Marshall quarterback finished 18 of 35 for 165 yards and five interceptions, with a quarterback rating of 4.3. They had three drives end in turnover on downs and looked like a shadow of the team we’ve seen so far this season.
LSU
The Tigers were absolutely blown away in their 55-17 loss to Alabama this weekend. It is a mark of how quickly things have changed in Baton Rouge that nobody was really surprised at this result. In truth, that scoreline doesn’t even do justice to the Crimson Tide’s dominance. The Tigers have obviously been hit hard by the loss of many of their big names. Last year they tied the NFL record with 14 players drafted and they’ve since lost bot Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall to opt-outs.
This loss set records for all the wrong sort of reasons. Their 38 point margin of defeat was the largest by a defending national champion in the AP Poll era (since 1936). They are also set to become only the third defending national champion in this period to have registered a losing record. This was always going to be a difficult year, but the scale of the decline has been concerning.
Oregon
Oregon may have started the season as the Pac-12’s best hopes of fielding a playoff team, but things haven’t gone to plan at all. After winning their opening three, they have now lost two on the bounce. Both have been close games, lost by a combined seven points. They’ve been plagued by turnovers in both games, with two last week and three against Cal this weekend.
At 3-2 they still have a chance to make the conference championship, but they will need a bit of help from elsewhere. If they can beat Washington and Stanford beat Oregon State next weekend, their place will be safe. That said, even in a shortened and crisis-hit season they will be disappointed with their record so far.
