College football is a thrilling, unpredictable game, and rivalry week is a crucible where legends are made and dreams go to die.
Yesterday Alabama lost a bid for a third straight national championship on the last play of the game when Auburn ran back a 57-yard field goal attempt 108 yards for a score. No time left on the clock, game over, and Missouri versus the Barners for the SEC title. A caustic Nick Saban screamed into his headset, “I told you that would happen.” (Thebiglead.com photo).
Tiger fans were jubilant after the second miracle victory in November, 11-1 and in the Top Five after a disastrous 3-9 season last year. An 8-year-old Bama fan wept in the stands, consoled by his father, a grown man wearing a red-and-white pom-pom for a wig.
Up north in the Big 10, Ohio State escaped with a 42-41 victory when Michigan missed a two-point conversion with 32 seconds to go.
Baylor edged 4-8 TCU 41-38, intercepting a pass in the end zone with 28 seconds on the clock. Lache Seastrunk needed 34 carries to get 94 yards, held to just two after halftime. The offense sputtered, Bryce Petty picked once, 19-38 passing, but the defense stole three from TCU quarterback Casey Pachall, the last with the Horned Frogs in range of a tying field goal at the Bears’ 23.
Clemson endangered their BCS hopes with a 31-17 loss to South Carolina, and Friday night, undefeated Fresno State fell 62-52 to 6-6 San Jose State, allowing 547 yards passing and six touchdowns by Spartan quarterback David Fales.
Heisman Trophy candidate Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M lost their fourth game of the year 28-21 to #5, SE East Champion Missouri. The Tigers throttled Johnny Football, holding him to 195 yards passing and one touchdown, 11 carries for 21 yards. Despite the 8-4 record the Aggie athletic department announced before the game that they’d signed highly sought-after coach Kevin Sumlin to a new 6-year contract with an undisclosed raise, trying to ward off a move to USC or the pros.
The Ducks remain mathematically alive for a BCS bowl, even an Orange Bowl matchup against Alabama according to some projections. A lot hinges on the outcome of conference championships and the complex calculations of who is eligible and who would buy 40,000 hotel rooms in a host city. Michigan State could fall out of contention if they lose the Big 10 Championship Game to the Buckeyes. Undefeated Northern Illinois remains automatic for an at-large bid, unless they lose in the MAC Championship to Bowling Green. Despite their loss ACC Atlantic runner-up Clemson, 10-2 with losses to the Gamecocks and Florida State, remains attractive to the Orange Bowl for proximity and a rabid, big-spending fan base.
An Oregon-Alabama matchup would be great for TV ratings, but an imposing challenge that the Ducks don’t seem ready for after an unsteady November.
The most likely matchup at this point seems to be a Big-12 opponent in the Outback or Alamo Bowl, perhaps Oklahoma or Baylor depending on the outcome of next week’s games. No matter how the matchups shake out, it’s an opportunity for the Oregon coaches and players to work on improvement and adjustments, and potentially send out a special group of seniors with one more positive memory.
Oregon will have to shore up run defense, offensive execution and get healthy to win any kind of confrontation with an upper-tier team. The national reception will be deservedly skeptical.
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