Moving the Chains: Takeaways from College Football – Week 13

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko signed a 6-year deal to put him amongst the five highest paid coaches in the country.  Before that, the 5 at the top of the pay scale – Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, Lincoln Riley, Dabo Swinney, and Steve Sarkisian – averaged 10 years as head coaches.  Their composite winning percentage is 77%.  As for Elko, in the 4 years he’s been a head coach his record is 34 – 15 (69%).  

Here’s why I bring this up.  When will they ever learn – and by ‘they’ I mean whoever controls the purse strings at universities – it’s not wise making extravagant long-term commitments to coaches who have yet to prove themselves over the long haul, but are simply ‘hot’ at the moment?  Sure, Texas A&M is 11 – 0 this year, but making a high-dollar long-term commitment doesn’t always end well.  

It wasn’t that long ago Texas A&M signed Jimbo Fisher to a lucrative 10 year/$75 million contract, only to let him go before the end of his sixth season.  Fisher’s buyout, above and beyond his salary, was $76 million.  

It’s no secret that the University of Florida is pursuing Lane Kiffin to be their next head coach.  If the Gators are willing to pay $21 million to get rid of Billy Napier, why not pay Kiffin that much to get him? 

But before making the offer, they should consider Kiffin left Tennessee after one year, was fired at Southern Cal in his 4^th, and bailed on Florida Atlantic after 3 for Ole Miss.  Kiffin is now in his 6^th year in Oxford.  But a Lane Kiffin team has never won the SEC East (with Tennessee) or the SEC West (with Ole Miss), let alone the SEC outright.  

So I have to ask: is he really worth all that money?

#1 Ohio State is by far the best team in the country at the moment.  They beat Rutgers 42 – 0 to move to 11 – 0 with only their rivalry game against Michigan standing between them and a spot in the conference championship game.  The Buckeye offense has scored 417 points while the defense has allowed only 84, making their average margin of victory 30 points per game.  Michigan will have its hands full next week.

As for #18 Michigan, they beat Maryland, 45 – 20.  The win moves the Wolverines to 9 – 2, and with only 1 conference loss, they remain in contention for a spot in the Big Ten championship.  To get there they would need a win next week over Ohio State – and for Washington to upset Oregon.      

Speaking of #7 Oregon, they beat #15 Southern Cal 43 – 27.  If the Ducks beat Washington next week – and Michigan upsets Ohio State – they’ll be in the Big Ten championship against Indiana (if they beat 2 – 9 Purdue next week).  

If you’re looking for reasons why the SEC should move from 8 to 9 conference games in 2026, here are 5 of them.  (Note: the average final score of these five games was 52 – 5):

• #3 Texas A&M – 48, Samford – 0
• #4 Georgia – 35, Charlotte – 3 
• #10 Alabama – 56, Eastern Illinois – 0
• South Carolina – 51, Coastal Carolina – 7
• Auburn – 62, Mercer – 17

#8 Oklahoma, #14 Vanderbilt, and #17 Texas are all hanging by a thread for a playoff spot.  They kept their thin hopes alive by beating #22 Missouri 17 – 6, Arkansas 52 – 37, and Kentucky 45 – 17, respectively.

LSU beat Western Kentucky 13 – 10 and Florida lost to Tennessee 31 – 11 in a battle to determine who – LSU or Florida – needs Lane Kiffin more.  At least LSU won.  The only good thing to say about Florida is that they kept their NCAA record of scoring in consecutive games alive, this being their 473^rd game in a row without being shut out (the last time was in 1988).    

The big question in the SEC right now is which teams will meet in Atlanta to determine the conference champion.  Here’s the scenario heading into the last week of the regular season according to those in the know (I’m not one of them because it’s not that important to me; more on that later):

• Texas A&M is in if they beat Texas, or Alabama loses to Auburn and Ole Miss loses to Mississippi State.
• Alabama is in if they beat Auburn.  Period.
• Georgia is in if either Texas beats Texas A&M or Auburn beats Alabama.
• Ole Miss is in if they win the Egg Bowl (against Mississippi State) and Texas beats Texas A&M and Auburn beats Alabama.   

In the ACC, all #16 Georgia Tech had to punch their ticket to the conference championship game was beat Pittsburgh in Atlanta.  Spotting Pittsburgh an early 28 – 0 lead, a comeback wasn’t in the cards – particularly after Tech QB Haynes King’s 100-yard pick six that was a 14-point swing in Pitt’s favor.  Pitt – 42, Tech – 28.  

Virginia and SMU will play for the ACC title if they beat Virginia Tech and California, respectively, next week.  As for Georgia Tech, they need both Virginia and SMU to lose to make it to the championship.  Otherwise, the Yellow Jackets playoff hopes are slim at best.    

 #9 Notre Dame, the only team in consideration for the playoffs that doesn’t belong to a conference, demolished Syracuse 70 – 7.   The Fighting Irish were ahead 21 – 0 before their offense even took the field (2 pick six’s and 1 punt return for a score following a 7-yard punt).  The first time Notre Dame had the ball they scored in 2 plays.  Their lead was 42 – 0 4 seconds into the 2^nd quarter.  It was 49 – 0 at halftime.  And it was even uglier than it sounds.    

As for the Big 12, if Texas Tech beats West Virginia and BYU beats Central Florida next week, they’ll meet in the championship game.  If either of them lose, the combatants for the title will be determined by the laws of conditional probability.  I’ll explain later any of that happens.  Just pray that they don’t.     

There were some exceptional individual performances this week:

• Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame RB.  8 carries, 171 yards, 3 TD’s.
• Carson Beck, Miami QB.  27 of 32 for 320 yards and 4 TD’s.
• Joe Jackson, Kansas State RB.  24 carries, 293 yards, 2 TD’s (one for 66 yards, another for 80)
• Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt QB.  32 of 38 for 469 yards and 5 TD’s (and rushed for 1 more).  
• Arch Manning, Texas QB.  18 of 30 for 389 yards and 4 TD’s as well as 1 rushing TD and another receiving TD. 
• Deuce Knight, Auburn QB.  15 of 20 for 239 yards and 2 TD’s (1 for 91 yards) as well as 9 carries for 162 yards and 3 TD’s (one for 51 yards and another for 75). 
• Devon Dampier, Utah QB.  18 of 33 for 259 yards and 2 TD’s as well as 14 carries for 94 yards and another 2 TD’s.  

One last observation: to some degree the 12-team playoff diminishes the value of the conference championship game.  For example: Georgia is in the playoffs whether or not they win the SEC.  Perhaps it’s in their best interest if the Bulldogs get an extra week to practice and/or rest with a reduced chance of injury rather than a shot at the conference title – which is why I said the conference championship game isn’t that important to me.  Sitting out a conference championship and still making the playoffs, henceforth to be known as ‘the luck of the Irish.’   

Besides, there’s always the possibility of a longshot winning – #25 Arizona State beating #5 Texas Tech for the Big 12 title, for example – which in this case would give ASU an automatic spot in the playoffs that might otherwise go to a more deserving team, such as #6 Ole Miss or #11 BYU.  You may remember how *Clemson mucked up the playoffs last year when they won the ACC title.

*Clemson, 9 – 3 and ranked 17^th, beat 11 – 1 and 8^th ranked SMU, putting both teams 

in the playoffs.  Had SMU won the game, Clemson wouldn’t have made it.

   Clemson was seeded 12^th – last in a field of 12 – 

and lost by 2 touchdowns to Texas in the first round.

We can only hope that won’t happen this year.  Unless you’re a fan of Arizona State, maybe.