College Football Throwaround, Week 11: Absence of upsets

At Alligator Army, we love and cover the Florida Gators - but the Gators are part of a larger national landscape of collegiate gridiron goodness.

Here’s a look at what happened this past Saturday in college football.

Don’t expect a shake-up in the top-ten

The top ten teams in college football were all victorious in Week 11, with most of them rolling comfortably to wins. Even outside the top ten, there were few upsets or victories of note on a somewhat sleepy Saturday.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide rolled again, defeating No. 16 Mississippi State 24-0 at home. The story of this game was Tua Tagovailoa leaving with a leg injury. Tagovailoa had already been dealing with an injured knee on the same leg but was replaced by redshirt freshman Mac Jones after a third quarter hit. The Tide could be in a trickier spot moving forward if Tagovailoa continues to be limited, as previous starter Jalen Hurts is also limited by an ankle injury.

The rest of the College Football Playoff’s top five teams also had successful Saturdays. No. 2 Clemson took down No. 17 Boston College 27-7 on the road, No. 3 Notre Dame handled Florida State 42-13 in their home finale, No. 4 Michigan ran over Rutgers 42-7, and No. 5 Georgia took care of No. 24 Auburn between the hedges, 27-10.

One top-ten team that did have some trouble on Saturday was No. 6 Oklahoma. Bedlam lived up to its name with Oklahoma State hanging around all day in a shootout with the Sooners. The Cowboys even had an opportunity late to tie the game and go to overtime but Mike Gundy instead opted to go for the win and attempt a two-point conversion for the lead.

The Sooners held on for a 48-47 win.

In the SEC West, No. 7 LSU edged Arkansas, 24-17. The Razorbacks have had some limited scoring success against both Alabama and LSU, but just cannot get out of their own way. Here’s a two gif microcosm of Arkansas’ season:

The next two teams in the top-ten, No. 8 Washington State and No. 9 West Virginia, cruised to wins and kept their conference championship and playoff hopes alive. The Cougars defeated Colorado, 31-7, and Will Grier and the Mountaineers ran up the score on hapless TCU, 47-10.

No. 10 Ohio State also won on Saturday, but mostly struggled against No. 18 Michigan State. The Buckeyes notched two safeties against the Spartans - only one of which was planned!

There was one exemption to the mostly upset-free Saturday slate

Oh Kentucky.

Kentucky’s offense has struggled and not looked the same of late. A week after having their SEC East dreams dashed by Georgia, the No. 11 Wildcats coughed up a loss on Rocky Top, falling 24-7 to Tennessee.

This Saturday - save Bedlam - may have been a bit of a snooze, but with only two more weeks left in the regular season, it’s time to savor any and all college football which presents itself.