College football Week 9 winners, losers, overreactions: ACC emerges as worst of Power Five conferences

The ACC has struggled with depth for years, however Week 9 marked a low level for the convention simply days earlier than the preliminary College Football Playoff Rankings are launched. Nearly all of the joy within the ACC is gone after the highest two groups featured on Saturday fell in embarrassing trend. 

Wake Forest moved into the AP prime 10 and the sting of New Year’s Six consideration following a 6-1 begin. How did the Demon Deacons reply? By turning the ball over six occasions in a traditionally horrible third quarter in a 48-21 loss to Louisville. No. 16 Syracuse, in the meantime, adopted up its near-upset of Clemson by dropping 41-24 towards a struggling Notre Dame workforce.

Down the board, Boston College gave UConn its first win over a Power Five opponent since 2016, whereas Miami went to 4 overtimes towards lowly Virginia. Even No. 24 NC State wanted 19 unanswered factors to edge out Virginia Tech. No. 21 North Carolina did handle to erase a deficit towards Pitt to stay undefeated in ACC play, in order that at the least partially salvaged the day.

Clemson stands as the one true nationwide contender within the convention as lengthy as it will probably keep away from the Notre Dame pitfall on the highway subsequent week. Still, the ACC is the worst of the 5 Power Five conferences heading into CFP Rankings season, and it isn’t significantly shut. 

Here are extra winners, losers and overreactions from the faculty football motion in Week 9. 

Winners

Tennessee: If one workforce has the potential to take over the unbeatable mantle, it is the Vols. After beating Alabama in its final SEC recreation, the Volunteers took a tire iron to No. 19 Kentucky in a dominant 44-6 win. The Vols doubled up the Wildcats in yardage as Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker threw for 3 touchdowns and rushed for an additional. UK quarterback Will Levis, a projected first-round NFL Draft choose, threw three interceptions as the Volunteers confirmed their protection has one other gear as they head into the stretch run. 

Oregon QB Bo Nix: Has anybody’s high quality of life improved extra over the course of a 12 months than Bo Nix? Instead of being caught up within the Auburn dumpster hearth, Nix is tearing up the Pac-12. Granted, it wasn’t his greatest efficiency together with his first two-interception recreation because the opener towards Georgia, however he scored a pair of touchdowns within the fourth quarter to zoom previous Cal 42-24. The Ducks are 7-1 because of Nix, and he’s finishing greater than 70% of his passes and has 20 touchdowns to solely 5 interceptions. Nix could have a really reputable case for an All-Pac-12 First Team choice. Not dangerous for Auburn’s backup final season. Boy, the Tigers certain may use him now, huh?

UConn: Jim Mora Jr. took over a program that had simply 4 wins over the previous 4 seasons. After surprising Boston College 13-3 for the Huskies’ first victory over a Power Five opponent since 2016, UConn sits at 4-5 with a really actual shot to earn a bowl journey for the primary time since 2015. The Huskies have been in as deep a gap as anybody in school football, however Mora has shortly discovered his footing regardless of having to play freshman quarterback Zion Turner. 

Losers

Cincinnati: Three years in the past, Luke Fickell’s Cincinnati workforce ended UCF’s 19-game convention profitable streak. On Saturday, the Knights returned the favor whereas handing the Bearcats a 25-21 loss after a game-winning landing run from RJ Harvey. The loss drops Cincinnati from full management of its future to proper within the thick of the AAC race. Three groups — Cincinnati, UCF and Houston — all have only one loss whereas Tulane stays undefeated. Cincinnati has a house recreation towards No. 23 Tulane on Black Friday that might resolve a title recreation berth.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys have been plagued with accidents over the previous few weeks, however nothing may have ready them for what occurred on Saturday in a 48-0 loss. No. 22 Kansas State handed No. 9 Oklahoma State one of essentially the most traditionally embarrassing losses ever for an AP top-10 workforce, and the loss marked the primary time a top-10 squad has been shut out by 40 or extra factors since 1968. It was OSU’s first shutout loss of any kind since 2009 and the worst loss in a shutout since 2000, the 12 months earlier than Les Miles arrived. Needless to say, the Cowboys need to do some soul-searching and work out find out how to end the season stronger. 

Overreactions

There is not any Death Star: Two weeks in the past, Penn State was walloped 41-17 towards No. 4 Michigan. The loss dropped the Nittany Lions out of the highest 10 and made them a two-touchdown underdog at residence towards No. 2 Ohio State. Ultimately, it took a breakaway landing from Buckeyes operating again TreVeyon Henderson and a Sean Clifford fumble for Big Ten favourite Ohio State to flee Happy Valley with a win. It was removed from the one shut name of the weekend. No. 1 Georgia wanted a robust remaining 16 minutes to drag away from a feisty Florida squad, whereas only a satisfactory offense may have stored Michigan State within the recreation towards No. 4 Michigan. 

During the College Football Playoff period, a handful of Death Stars have emerged which are near unbeatable towards lesser competitors. This 12 months, none of them have reached the untouchable degree. The championship race is actually broad open for the primary time in years as seemingly each workforce is flawed. 

The Big 12 title recreation shall be all purple: Kansas State picked up an early nonconference loss towards Tulane, after which fell with a third-string quarterback towards No. 8 TCU. But after demolishing Oklahoma State, the Wildcats are all of a sudden within the driver’s seat to succeed in the Big 12 Championship Game. 

On the opposite aspect of the bracket, TCU remained undefeated after surviving an upset try from West Virginia. The Horned Frogs already maintain tiebreakers over Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, which ought to set them up nicely for the stretch run. The final matchup between these groups was a recreation of runs as Okay-State received out to a 28-10 lead whereas the Frogs got here again to win after Howard suffered an harm. 

At a impartial web site, there is no telling which workforce will escape with the crown. Neither TCU nor Kansas State have gained a Big 12 Championship Game since 2003. The Wildcats incomes a visit would make a sixth straight 12 months that the title recreation featured a brand new participant since its reintroduction in 2017.