College football winners and losers: Ohio State takes care of business at Michigan State

A recipe for trouble? Hardly. The Buckeyes bruised their way to a 52-12 victory, taking the first of three steps this month necessary for earning a spot in the national semifinals.

Justin Fields threw for two scores, ran for two more and was generally unimpeded as the No. 4 Buckeyes (5-0) built a 28-0 halftime lead, forced four turnovers and very much looked the part of one of the country’s best teams.

More impressive than Ohio State’s offensive showing was a defense that treated the Spartans (2-4) like a high school team. Michigan State ran 22 plays on its first seven possessions; it punted six times and mixed in an interception in that span.

The question for Ohio State is whether it can get in its game next weekend against Michigan, which had to cancel Saturday’s scheduled game against Maryland because of a covid-19 outbreak. But if the Buckeyes do drub Michigan (again) and claim the Big Ten championship (again), there won’t be much argument against them for landing in the playoff.

Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s two-week payback tour for its pair of 2019 losses is complete. First came an Iron Bowl rout of Auburn. Even more predictable was Saturday’s 55-17 humiliation of LSU in Death Valley.

All of Alabama’s star skill players delivered monster days. Quarterback Mac Jones threw for 385 yards and four touchdowns. Three of those scores went to DeVonta Smith, who hauled in eight catches for 231 yards. And Najee Harris methodically rolled up 145 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Oh, and the No. 1 Crimson Tide (9-0) clinched the SEC West in the process.

If that wasn’t Alabama at its best, it was darned close — particularly a first half that saw the Tide pile up 45 points and amass 492 out of a possible 504 total yards on its first seven possessions. From here, Alabama probably needs only a split of its next two games (against Arkansas to close the regular season before facing Florida in the SEC title game) to earn a trip back to the playoff after a one-year hiatus.

Coastal Carolina. Maybe there should be more games thrown together with two or three days notice moving forward.

The No. 18 Chanticleers and No. 13 Brigham Young teamed up for a contest with more than enough entertainment value to offset the lack of game planning either team could cram in after Coastal’s original opponent this week (Liberty) had to bail midweek. And when Mateo Sudipo dragged down Dax Milne at the 1 as time expired, Coastal preserved a 22-17 victory in perhaps the most high-profile game in program history.

While the Cougars (9-1) saw their unbeaten run come to an end, the Chanticleers’ dream season continued. Coastal got 132 yards and two touchdowns from running back CJ Marable as it improved to 10-0.

Clemson. It’s off to the ACC title game for the sixth consecutive year for the Tigers, who plodded through much of the first half against Virginia Tech. No matter. Lyn-J Dixon rumbled into the end zone from 19 yards out 66 seconds before the break to give Clemson the lead, and Derion Kendrick returned a fumble 66 yards for a score in the third quarter to break things open in a 45-10 victory.

No. 3 Clemson (9-1, 8-1 ACC) doesn’t have to make up its postponed game against Florida State, so the only obstacle between it and a playoff berth is Notre Dame on Dec. 19. Win, and the Tigers will be in fine shape for a spot in the semifinals for the sixth year in a row.

Oklahoma. The Sooners opened Big 12 play with consecutive losses, and they’ll still head back to the conference championship — with a game to spare.

No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2, 6-2 Big 12) was anything but a juggernaut against Baylor, but was also never in any serious danger of falling to the Bears. It goes down as a 27-14 victory with few style points, but it got the job done and earned the Sooners a date opposite Iowa State on Dec. 19 in Arlington, Texas.

One interesting variable for that matchup: Iowa State doesn’t play next week, while Oklahoma will visit West Virginia in a makeup of a game postponed last month.

Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish (10-0, 9-0 ACC) wrapped up the regular season with a 45-21 win over Syracuse as Ian Book threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two more. Book earned his 30th victory as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, breaking a tie with Tom Clements, Ron Powlus and Brady Quinn for the most in school history.

For playoff purposes, No. 2 Notre Dame would need a lot to go wrong to not end up in the final four. The Irish would almost certainly be a top-two seed with a victory in the ACC title game, but even with a loss, their victory over Clemson in the regular season will rank among the most noteworthy accomplishments of any playoff contender.

Indiana. Surely, the absence of Michael Penix Jr. would slow down Indiana’s train, right? Well, mostly wrong. The Hoosiers didn’t pile up gaudy numbers against Wisconsin, but didn’t need to in a 14-6 slugfest in Madison.

Indiana (6-1) got solid play from backup quarterback Jack Tuttle (130 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions), then leaned on its defense to stymie the Badgers (2-2). It worked well enough; Wisconsin mustered only a pair of field goals as the Hoosiers won at Camp Randall Stadium for the first time since 2001.

Kyle Trask. The Florida quarterback took one step closer to a Heisman Trophy, torching Tennessee for 433 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-19 victory that clinched the SEC East for the No. 6 Gators (8-1). Trask became the first Florida quarterback to ever post three 400-yard passing games in a season.

Trask even threw in (kicked in?) a pooch punt inside the Tennessee 5 in the fourth quarter to cap his latest efficient performance, which helped put Florida within two victories — next week against LSU and then the SEC title game — of playing its way into the playoff.

Iowa State. The Cyclones locked up their place in the Big 12 championship earlier in the day when Oklahoma State lost, but Iowa State decided it needed to celebrate in style. Hence the 42-6 woodshedding of West Virginia to secure a first-place regular season finish.

No. 9 Iowa State (8-2, 8-1) stitched together three consecutive touchdown drives of at least 10 plays to open the game, and it held West Virginia to 101 total yards in the first half. By that point, the outcome was pretty well set thanks to quarterback Brock Purdy (20 of 23, 247 yards, three TDs) and running back Breece Hall (153 total yards, two TDs).

Matt Campbell’s program is a victory away from earning its first conference title since 1912 and its first major bowl berth ever. It has won 31 games over the last four seasons, its most ever (surpassing the 30 collected from 1903 to 1906).

It’s no stretch to say this is the golden age of Iowa State football. Its fans should savor every bit of the buildup to the conference title game, and quite possibly beyond.

Tulsa. No comeback necessary this time for No. 24 Tulsa, which earned a 19-6 victory at Navy to clinch a spot in the American Athletic Conference title game. The Golden Hurricane (6-1, 6-0 American) held the Midshipmen to 153 total yards.

Now comes back-to-back games against No. 7 Cincinnati (8-0, 6-0). Next week’s date at Tulsa determines the American’s regular season champ and home-field advantage for the Dec. 19 league title game.

Akron. The Zips’ 21-game losing streak — the longest in the FBS — is finally over thanks to a 31-3 pounding of Bowling Green. It’s the first victory for Akron under coach Tom Arth, who was hired nearly two years ago but endured an 0-12 debut and then endured an 0-4 start to this season.

It was the Zips’ first victory since a 17-10 defeat of Central Michigan on Oct. 27, 2018.

Texas A&M. The No. 5 Aggies (7-1) remain in the playoff picture after scoring 17 fourth-quarter points to overcome Auburn, 31-20.

A masterpiece? Not completely. But Texas A&M’s offense — which took much of last week’s game against LSU off — rolled up 313 yards on the ground and 509 total yards. It marched at least 55 yards on all five possessions when it scored. It offered a reminder of what it did earlier in the season to Florida, overwhelming the Tigers (5-4) whenever it was really required.

The Aggies still need help. Losses by No. 3 Clemson and No. 6 Florida in the next couple weeks would be especially useful, and they won’t complain if the likes of No. 7 Cincinnati and Ohio State stumbled as well.

But for now, all they can do is try to get to 9-1 and hope for the best. Mississippi (tentatively) is up next for Jimbo Fisher’s bunch.

Rice. It’s still difficult to figure out if much about this goofy, disjointed season really means much of anything. But even if there might not be many long-lasting conclusions to draw, there are still achievements a player or team should rightfully revel in.

Take the Owls’ 20-0 defeat of No. 21 Marshall, one of the most unexpected scores of the season. Rice (2-2, 2-2 Conference USA) recorded its first victory over a ranked team since Nov. 11, 1997 (Brigham Young) and its first such victory on the road since Oct. 12, 1991 (Baylor). And it did so by shutting out a Marshall bunch that entered the day averaging 37.4 points.

Who knows if Rice plays again this season; it is scheduled to play UAB next week, but when you’ve only wedged four games in so far, nothing can be assumed. But Saturday definitely marked high tide — so far — in coach Mike Bloomgren’s three-year tenure, and the Owls have every reason to be thrilled about the best moment in a weird autumn.

Battle Line Rivalry offenses. One of the things the all-or-nothing nature of the playoff era has obscured — wrongfully — is the potential for magical memories when two middle-of-the-road teams get together well after their chances of posting best-in-a-long-while seasons have faded.

Take Missouri and Arkansas, who combined for 1,219 yards, 71 first downs and three lead changes in the final five minutes Saturday before the Tigers escaped with a 50-48 victory on Harrison Mevis’s 32-yard field goal as time expired.

Without a crisp Connor Bazelak-led drive in the final 43 seconds, this trick-shot two-point conversion would have been the day’s defining play.

Kudos to Arkansas coach Sam Pittman for choosing to play for the win. It’s exactly what the Razorbacks (3-6) should be doing in the final minute of a relatively nascent rivalry game.

Good for Missouri (5-3) for rallying from a two-touchdown deficit to clinch at least a .500 regular season.

And hats off to anyone who enjoyed the proceedings, which won’t impact the playoff picture in any way but in aggregate had to be among the season’s most entertaining games.

Texas. The Longhorns rushed for 334 yards, with Bijan Robinson (172 yards, three touchdowns) and Roschon Johnson (139 yards, three touchdowns) pacing the ground game. They put up 35 points in the third quarter. They forced three turnovers, finished with 608 total yards and pulverized Kansas State 69-31.

It was the most points Texas (6-3, 5-3 Big 12) has scored since its 70-3 pounding of Colorado in the 2005 Big 12 championship — a game before the Longhorns’ classic national title defeat of Southern California. Saturday was a breathtaking performance.

Yet in a way, that sort of underscores the befuddlement of the Longhorns’ three losses — a two-point stumble against Texas Christian, an overtime setback against Oklahoma and a muddled showing in a 23-20 defeat against Iowa State.

That’s not to say Texas should be out hanging 50-plus on conference foes every week. But Saturday was a reminder of the frustrating gap between the Longhorns’ peak (even against a so-so Kansas State team that’s been down its starting quarterback for weeks) and its more typical performances.

Virginia Tech. The Hokies don’t land here because they got pounded by Clemson. That was to be expected.

Nonetheless, the 45-10 loss at home dropped Virginia Tech to 4-6 with one regular-season game remaining. That means the Hokies will post a sub-.500 regular season record for the first time since going 2-8-1 in 1992.

Oregon. From clear-cut Pac-12 favorites to 3-2 in a little more than a week, the No. 23 Ducks have more than done their part to render the Left Coast’s power conference irrelevant.

At least their day-after-Thanksgiving loss to Oregon State was wonderfully wacky. Saturday’s 21-17 loss at California was about as much fun as watching a tire deflate.

California (1-3), short on practice time but feisty enough to make things interesting the previous two weeks, wasn’t about to quibble with the outcome. But it had three punts and a turnover on downs in its final four possessions and just 271 total yards (and 1.9 yards a carry) for the night.

But Oregon wasn’t any better, with a pair of fourth-quarter fumbles in Cal territory helping to doom its night. The Golden Bears’ game-clinching play was appropriate: The Ducks, driving but showing little urgency, fumbled with 52 seconds left.

Washington. The No. 22 Huskies (3-1) weren’t going to make the playoff, but they still had an undefeated season to play for. But that’s not happening after spotting an opponent a big lead for the second week in a row.

Whereas Utah allowed the Huskies to rally from down three touchdowns for a victory, Stanford survived a comeback attempt to secure a 31-26 victory. The Cardinal (2-2) clinched it in classic David Shaw-era fashion, with Austin Jones (138 yards, two touchdowns) using his 31st and final carry of the night to convert a fourth-and-short in the closing minute.

Oklahoma State. The Cowboys’ Big 12 title hopes basically evaporated right along with their early 13-point lead at Texas Christian. Despite forcing five turnovers — including a pair in the fourth quarter in TCU territory — Oklahoma State sputtered to a 29-22 loss.

That’s three losses in five games for the Cowboys (6-3, 5-3 Big 12), who a little more than a month ago were the last undefeated team in the Big 12. Saturday, they helped put one piece into place for the conference title game; their loss clinched a Big 12 championship berth for Iowa State.

Marshall. The Thundering Herd’s undefeated season was brought to a screeching halt with a 20-0 loss at home to Rice. Marshall quarterback Grant Wells threw five interceptions — one returned for a score, another that set up the Owls’ other touchdown — and the Thundering Herd (7-1, 4-1 Conference USA) mustered 245 total yards and two red zone trips.