Every week, more national championship contenders keep going down. In the early windows of Week 11 on Saturday, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Miami were toppled and will now subsequently slide down the list of College Football Playoff contenders. An underdog of more than 10 points has won every week of the year, making this a truly unique season to this point.
Miami’s loss shakes up the ACC race down the stretch as SMU now takes sole possession of first place in the conference. Additionally, the Big 12 race received a major shakeup as Iowa State lost a shocker against Kansas, leaving Colorado as an unlikely contender.
More movement could happen Saturday night as key ranked teams are in action. No. 11 Alabama travels to No. 15 LSU in a monster SEC battle. No. 24 Missouri hosts Oklahoma in a must-win game. No. 6 Penn State also faces an interesting challenge as Washington comes to town.
Here now are the biggest winners and losers of Week 11 as we get into the primetime action.
Rebels coach Lane Kiffin has long been criticized for losing big games, but Saturday was a cathartic moment. After falling short twice this season, Ole Miss finally put together its best performance of the year in a 28-10 thrashing of No. 3 Georgia. The Rebels’ defense got five sacks on Carson Beck and a hobbled Jaxson Dart was still able to lead Ole Miss to 397 yards.
The upset victory is a huge swing for Ole Miss’ season. Suddenly, the Rebels have a serious path to the College Football Playoff despite two losses. A loss would have officially ended their chances. It can’t hurt that South Carolina should have a chance to enter the poll after beating Vanderbilt; Ole Miss crushed the Gamecocks 27-3.
Loser: Miami
The Hurricanes have been playing with fire for weeks, and it finally burned them against a physical Georgia Tech team. The Yellow Jackets simply bullied Miami, rushing for 271 yards and holding them to only 3.7 yards per carry despite losing top running back Justice Haynes to an injury. Miami quarterback Cameron Ward was his normal, sensational self, but 348 yards and three touchdowns weren’t enough.
Miami’s loss suddenly pushes them back into the field of the ACC Championship Game race. Clemson and Pittsburgh are fellow one-loss teams in conference play and the Tigers have the inside track past Miami to play for an ACC title because of strength of schedule. Miami should still be in the top 12 on Tuesday, but their spot could be perilous right as multiple teams fight their way up the rankings.
Winner: Colorado
Once the loudest team in college football, the Buffaloes might be the quietest College Football Playoff contender in the sport. Colorado moved to 7-2 and sole possession of No. 2 in the Big 12 after outlasting Texas Tech 41-27 in a key road victory. After the win, Colorado is now projected to reach the Big 12 Championship Game against BYU.
The Buffaloes are quietly one of the greatest success stories of the season after leaning on a passing combo of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter and a wildly underrated defensive front. Colorado ranks top 25 nationally in sacks and dragged down Texas Tech’s Behren Morton six times. CU will be favored in its three remaining games.
After a miserable start to the season, UCLA is quietly the owner of a three-game winning streak against quality opponents. The Bruins beat Rutgers and Nebraska on the road in the past two weeks and capped it off with a 20-17 shocker against Iowa behind a pair of second quarter touchdown passes by quarterback Ethan Garbers. UCLA held Iowa to only 17 points and 265 yards after the Hawkeyes averaged 35.5 points over their previous four games.
UCLA entered the season with a five-game losing streak against power conference competition, but beating Iowa suddenly means their season is alive. The Bruins have a game left against Fresno State and must steal only one against either Washington or USC to make a bowl game. Even getting to this point after a tumultuous offseason is a rousing success for coach DeShaun Foster in his first season. Credit to him.
Needless to say, a 49-17 loss to Texas was not how Florida hoped to start the revamped Billy Napier era. Granted, the Gators started walk-on quarterback Aidan Warner after DJ Lagway was ruled out with a hamstring injury, but Texas cleared 350 yards in the first half and averaged 8.8 yards per play on the day.
And really, the final score doesn’t quite embody the level of dominance. Texas led 42-0 halfway through the third quarter before pulling essentially every contributor. Florida made the decision to bring Napier back knowing that there could be some frustrating performances ahead against a brutal closing schedule, but Week 11 showed many of the reasons why Florida fans weren’t exactly thrilled that Napier was retained.
Yes, No. 25 Army held on to beat North Texas 14-3 in Denton and move to 9-0, but that’s secondary. The real reason the Black Knights are winners is because they put together one of the most deranged drives in college football history. On their second drive of the third quarter, Army went an absurd 21 plays in 94 yards over the course of nearly 14 minutes (13:54 to be exact). The drive took more than 28 minutes of real time and ended with Army staying undefeated and bottling up an explosive offense. The longest drive on record was a 26-play drive that lasted 14:26 by Navy in the 2004 Emerald Bowl against New Mexico. If only North Texas could have gotten one or two more stops.