Rivalry week lived up to the billing as several of the top teams in the country were dragged down by their respective arch-nemesis. No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Miami lost stunners, while No. 7 Georgia and No. 8 Tennessee needed late comebacks to pull away from far lesser opponents.
The chaos had a major impact on the conference title races. Penn State will now play in the Big Ten Championship Game instead of Ohio State, while Clemson made it to the ACC title game after Miami’s loss.
However, Texas A&M was unable to capitalize on the chaos in a loss to No. 3 Texas to cost itself revenge after 13 years. Auburn also was no match for a messy Alabama squad in a 28-14 loss, while No. 18 Iowa State survived a test from Kansas State to all but punch its ticket to the Big 12 Championship Game. Here are the biggest winners and losers of college football’s Week 14.
Winner: Penn State
The Nittany Lions needed help to reach the Big Ten Championship Game and James Franklin left nothing on the table in a 44-7 victory over Maryland. The Nittany Lions exploded for 219 yards and four touchdowns on the ground to drive the Terrapins into the dirt. More importantly, Ohio State lost a shocker against Michigan, which cleared the way for Penn State to play for its first Big Ten championship since 2016. Few teams are bigger beneficiaries of the end of the Big Ten East than Penn State. A battle against Oregon is a tall task, but the Nittany Lions have a serious shot to win the Big Ten and earn a first-round bye. In a year where no one is exceptional, why not Penn State?
Loser: Texas A&M
The Aggies waited 13 long years to get their next shot on Texas in one the biggest games in the history of Kyle Field. Despite a legendary environment, the Aggies’ offense was a no-show in a 17-7 loss against the No. 3 Longhorns. Texas A&M failed to score any offensive points and was eliminated from contention for the SEC championship.
Texas A&M linebacker Taurean York said after the game that there is a big difference between playing in the SEC Championship Game and a mid-tier bowl game. Unfortunately, the Aggies failed to reach a conference title game for the 25th-consecutive season.
Winner: The Mountain West
No. 11 Boise State has emerged as the presumptive favorite to make the CFP from the Group of Five, but No. 22 UNLV will have something to say about it. After overcoming a slow start, the Rebels exploded out to a 38-14 victory over rival Nevada and clinched a spot in the Mountain West Championship Game. With the Tulane loss against Memphis, the Mountain West Championship Game is suddenly a play-in game for the College Football Playoff. The winner of the UNLV-Boise State matchup will almost certainly finish as the top Group of Five champ and will have a serious shot at earning a first round bye. In the first season of the expanded CFP, the legacy Mountain West is peaking at the right time.
Winner: Iowa State
Iowa State football had never won 10 games in a season in 127 years of playing college football. The program hit even nine wins only three times previously, with one such performance coming led by A.W. Ristine in 1906. In a marquee battle against No. 24 Kansas State, Iowa State got 187 yards on the ground and passing touchdowns to both star receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel to finally, mercifully, hit the 10-win plateau.
BYU’s win over Houston clinched Cyclones a trip to the Big 12 Championship Game. The next task? Winning their first conference title since Clyde Williams’ MVIAA co-championship in 1912. The drought is the longest in FBS history.
Loser: Ohio State coach Ryan Day
Ohio State was a four-score favorite against its hated rival. Michigan was down their two best players. The Buckeyes had the more talented roster by a massive margin. Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork confirmed that the program spent more than $20 million in the NIL market to assemble this team. It didn’t matter. Michigan shocked Ohio State 13-10 after a late field goal from Dominic Zvada to pick up one of the most devastating losses in modern Ohio State history.
Day may return next season as Ohio State’s coach and the Buckeyes still technically have a chance to win the national championship as they should still make the playoff. Still, there are three expectations in Columbus: Beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and win the national championship. Day has now whiffed on the first two in four straight seasons. If he doesn’t win the national championship this year, he could very soon be out of a job.
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers has been one of the rising stars in the sport, but his performance in a 17-14 win over No. 12 Clemson will put him firmly on the national map. Sellers threw for 164 yards and rushed for 166 and two touchdowns to pull the upset victory at Death Valley. Sellers had a game-winning 20-yard run with 1:08 remaining that will go down as one of the biggest runs in South Carolina history. There’s no guarantee that the Gamecocks find their way into the College Football playoff, but Norris’s Herculean effort at least gives them a chance.
Loser: Miami
All Miami had to do was survive Syracuse. More, all the ‘Canes really had to do was maintain 21-0 lead they took early in the second quarter and they would be essentially a lock to play for the national championship. Instead, another poor game management decision from Mario Cristobal proved costly in a 42-38 loss against the Orange.
Cristobal opted to kick a field goal from the 10-yard line with 3:42 remaining in the game despite trailing by seven points. The Hurricanes did not get the ball back again as the defense failed to get Syracuse off the field. Now, Miami has no control of its CFP fate and will be in a battle with teams like Alabama and South Carolina to make the field. It’s a total failure and could prove to be the end of the season for the best Miami passing offense in school history.
Loser: SEC title contenders
The good news for the top of the SEC is most of its top contenders ultimately pulled off victories in tight rivalry week games. However, none of them looked anywhere near national championship caliber during a miserable 24-hour stretch on Friday and Saturday.
No. 7 Georgia looked miserable in a 44-42 win over Georgia Tech that went to eight overtimes, the second-most in college football history. The Bulldogs needed 21 points in the fourth quarter just to give themselves a chance. No. 8 Tennessee similarly got off to a slow start against Vanderbilt, going down 17-7 in the first quarter before finally turning things on. No. 14 Ole Miss needed a late fourth quarter touchdown to pull away for a 26-14 win over a horrendous Mississippi State team.
Ultimately, the performances probably won’t hurt the SEC’s place in the College Football Playoff, but it certainly didn’t help.
Sitting at 2-4, Baylor coach Dave Aranda seemed dead to rights. The Bears faced a tall task just to make a bowl game. Instead, the Bears are suddenly the hottest team in the Big 12. Baylor shocked Kansas 45-17 to cap off a six-game winning streak and clinch an eight-win season for the first time since 2021. The Bears won’t get the tiebreaker luck they need to reach the Big 12 title game, but Baylor is playing as well as anyone in the conference.
Quarterback Sawyer Robertson (23 for 31 for 310 yards and four touchdowns) and running back Bryson Washington (28 carries for 192 yards and two touchdowns) have been the breakout stars of the run and present Aranda some serious building blocks. The Bears will have a serious case to be a preseason Big 12 favorite in 2024.
Loser: The AAC
No. 17 Tulane was perhaps the biggest winner of the last CFP Rankings after sitting at No. 17, ahead of multiple two-loss Big 12 teams. If Arizona State lost, there was a serious chance that Tulane could get into the CFP over the Big 12 champion as the fifth conference champion.
Instead, the Green Wave were unprepared for the moment and lost against Memphis 34-24 to pick up a third loss and likely risk their spot in the top 25. Tulane rushed for only 57 yards and gave up 242 yards on the ground, including 177 to running back Mario Anderson. Instead of being the hunter, Tulane is in rough shape as both Boise State and UNLV are likely to finish ahead of the AAC champ in the rankings.
