By Week 12 of the college football season, almost every game is consequential. Nowhere is that more clear than the ACC. Conference leader No. 14 SMU needed every last second to survive Boston College, while No. 20 Clemson and Pittsburgh played an elimination game. No. 19 Louisville dropped a stunner to Stanford that could have playoff implications and Miami fans were thankful for a Hurricanes bye.
Across the sport, highly-ranked teams found themselves in trouble. No. 22 LSU lost in the afternoon window. No. 3 Texas played an inconsistent game against Arkansas. At this point of the season, survival is at the top of everyone’s mind, even if it doesn’t come with style points.
Additionally, conference championship game races are slowly starting to come into focus. The AAC became the first league to formally set its title game as Army and Tulane both clinched. Boise State did as well in the Mountain West. After that, things remain murky.
Here are the biggest winners and losers of Week 12.
Loser: BYU
BYU has made a living off making the right play at the right time, but luck finally went against them in a 17-13 loss against Kansas. The Jayhawks attempted a pooch punt that happened to hit a BYU defender in the head, making it a live ball that was recovered by Kansas. KU converted the turnover into what became the game-winning touchdown. The Cougars had one final push, but got stopped on fourth down in the red zone to end the game.
Now, BYU’s path to the College Football Playoff suddenly becomes much more complicated. The Cougars have to win the Big 12 to reach the postseason field, which would require taking down Arizona State in a difficult road test. The Big 12 runner-up is also now guaranteed to have two losses, which makes any opportunity for an at-large bid unlikely. BYU’s record-breaking season flipped in an instant.
Beck has shouldered most of the blame for Georgia’s disappointing two-loss campaign after throwing 12 interceptions in six games. Against No. 7 Tennessee and without his top rusher and another key receiver. the senior laid it all out on the field.
On key downs, Beck even leaned on his legs, converting a key second-and-10 and reaching the end zone for his first rushing score of the year. His receivers dropped four passes, a few of them pinpoint. And still, Beck threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns in a must-win performance.
Beck has not been perfect in 2024 and still faces a steep hill to get back in the NFL Draft discussion. But against Tennessee, he proved that he is still capable of playing like one of the nation’s best.
Curses aren’t real, but there might be an exception in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers are on one of the most astonishing runs of bad luck in college football history. Nebraska has lost eight straight games with a chance to make a bowl game over the past two years after reaching 5-1 and 5-3. The 28-20 loss to USC was one of the most frustrating.
USC took over with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Trojans converted three third downs, burned nearly eight full minutes of clock and punched the ball into the end zone to push the lead to eight. Nebraska earned one last throw into the end zone and appeared to draw pass interference. Instead, the pass was intercepted.
Nebraska has games left against Wisconsin and Iowa, but failing to pick up a sixth victory against USC could cost them a postseason trip once again.
The Sun Devils might be the quietest conference title contender in America, but they kicked the door down on Saturday. Arizona State shocked No. 16 Kansas State 24-14 and positioned itself as the first team out should Colorado or BYU slip. Quarterback Sam Leavitt threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns and the Sun Devils forced a pair of interceptions off KSU sophomore Avery Johnson.
Now, Arizona State is 8-2 for the first time since 2014 in Kenny Dillingham’s second season. ASU was picked at the bottom of the Big 12 after a 3-9 season. Instead, Arizona State is set to enter the CFP Rankings and will host BYU next in a marquee Big 12 showdown.
Colorado athlete Travis Hunter has slowly put together a robust Heisman Trophy case, but he showed off the whole package in a 49-24 win over Utah. Hunter posted 55 yards rushing, an interception and rushed for a touchdown in the win as Colorado scored the most points on Utah’s elite defense since 2014 Oregon.
Hunter continues to build up an elite two-way resume. After 10 games, he has cleared 900 all-purpose yards, 10 total touchdowns and three interceptions. He rates as one of the top cover corners in college football and has a game-winning forced fumble against Baylor.
The case for a defensive back to win the Heisman will never be easy, but Hunter is hitting all the benchmarks he needs to if he wants to become the first to do it in nearly 25 years.
Loser: LSU
After a disappointing loss in their opener Tigers fought back their way back into the SEC Championship Game race with a resume that includes an overtime win over No. 9 Ole Miss. After the last three weeks, it looks like that victory was the exception and not the rule. LSU dropped an embarrassing 27-16 game to Florida, knocking the Tigers down to 6-4 and out of a realistic shot at an SEC title. Florida was 0-4 against ranked teams heading into the game, but the Tigers lost by double digits.
Had LSU won, the Tigers would have been in favorable tiebreaker possession to reach the SEC Championship Game. Instead, LSU’s season is over. Making matters worse, the Tigers offense struggled to reach the end zone against a defense that ranks among the worst in the SEC. There are no real answers in this program. The Tigers under Brian Kelly are miles away from real contention.
Winner: Hot seat coaches
Coming into the 2024 season, few coaches sat on on hotter seats than Baylor’s Dave Aranda and Florida’s Billy Napier. After the performances this weekend, both have essentially locked up their returns to their programs in 2025.
Aranda faced a tough road after falling to 2-4 in the middle of October. Since the bye week, the Bears have revved their engines. Baylor shocked West Virginia 49-35 to pick up their first-ever win in Morgantown and return to bowl eligibility. The Bears are suddenly on a four-game winning streak and should be favored in their final two contests. Suddenly, the Bears’ first winning record since 2021 is on the table.
Napier previously earned a vote of confidence from athletic director Scott Stricklin but pushed his luck with a lopsided 49-17 loss to No. 3 Texas. Beating LSU is the first win over a ranked opponent in 14 months and gives the Gators a chance to make a bowl game with a win over a hapless Florida State squad on Nov. 30. Napier just needed one positive moment, and he has it.
Loser: Pittsburgh
Pitt had a massive opportunity to pick up a rare win against Clemson and stay in the ACC Championship Game picture. Despite outplaying them for much of the game and finishing with nearly 100 more yards, a few serious mental errors cost them in a 24-20 loss.
The worst came at the beginning of the first quarter when Pitt charged all the way to the 1-yard line. The Panthers committed an illegal formation, delay of game and false start to astonishingly turn it into a third-and-goal at the 16-yard line. Four more points would have been incredibly valuable in a 4-point loss.
Clemson got the ball back with 96 seconds remaining. On the third play of the drive, quarterback Cade Klubnik flummoxed the Pitt defense for a 50-yard touchdown. They had eight yards rushing on 26 carries before the breakaway.
Pittsburgh’s loss drops it to 7-3 and essentially knocks them the Panthers of the ACC title game race. With a win, they would have been in a tie for third place with a tiebreaker over Clemson. The Panthers are still having a great year, but are now on a three-game losing streak. SMU broke them.
Winner: Tulane
Maintaining success through coaching changes is one of the hardest things to do in college football, especially at the Group of Five level. Prior to Will Fritz’s departure, the last time a Tulane coach finished with a winning record was 1998. The Green Wave dropped from 12-0 to 3-8 the next season. In his first year at Tulane Jon Sumrall is again establishing himself as a rising superstar in the sport.
With a 35-0 win over Navy, No. 25 Tulane clinched a spot in the AAC Championship Game for the second straight season. The Green Wave have won eight straight games and their only losses were fourth quarter games against Kansas State and on the road against Oklahoma. Tulane has won only two conference championships since last winning the SEC in 1949. Sumrall can add a second in three years.
Western Michigan got off to a blazing 4-0 start to MAC play, but the Broncos have fallen back to earth and out of the conference title race in recent weeks. Western Michigan fell 31-13 to fellow MAC contender Bowling Green, as the Falcolns bottled up the Broncos’ productive offense. Star running back Jaden Nixon was held to only 22 yards on seven carries and quarterback Hayden Wolff turned it over twice. The MAC title race is now likely down to Miami-Ohio, Bowling Green and Ohio.
One of the biggest upsets in college football came at the FCS HBCU level this weekend. Mississippi Valley State entered the matchup against reigning Celebration Bowl champs Florida A&M as 31-point underdogs and on a 15-game losing streak. FAMU was on a 23-game home winning streak. MVSU quarterback Ty’Jarian Williams led the Delta Devils with 251 yards and two touchdowns and the defense forced three fumbles in a 24-21 win.