Was Saturday an important day for sportsmanship? By no means. Nevertheless it was a reminder that Rivalry Week is not manufactured drama. For higher or worse, these groups actually do not like one another.
Loser: Ryan Day
This was presupposed to be the yr. Ohio State was too large to fail. As a substitute, Day’s $20 million Buckeyes roster misplaced for the fourth consecutive time to Michigan, the primary time that is occurred to this system since 1988-91.
Regardless of posting a 66-10 document in seven seasons as Ohio State head coach, Day’s failures in opposition to Michigan (he is 1-4 all-time) reveal a coach who shrinks in large moments. With a possible highway playoff recreation looming within the first spherical of the 12-team CFP, the losses may maintain coming.
Winner. Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord
The scapegoat for Day after shedding to Michigan in 2023, McCord capped his robust 2024 season with an upset 42-38 win over No. 6 Miami (10-2, 6-2 in ACC).
Syracuse (9-3, 5-3 in ACC) erased a 21-point deficit to complete head coach Fran Brown’s with solely its third nine-win season since 1998.
McCord completed his season with the Orange 367-of-558 (65.8 %) for 4,326 yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. We’re considering he wasn’t the issue at Ohio State.
Loser: Miami
The Hurricanes blew their probability to clinch an ACC Championship Recreation berth with its loss to Syracuse.
Miami now finds itself able no staff desires to be: with its destiny within the palms of the committee, which is able to probably evaluate it to three-loss SEC groups No. 13 Alabama (9-3, 5-3 in SEC), No. 14 Ole Miss (9-3, 5-3 in SEC) and No. 15 South Carolina (9-3, 5-3 in SEC). If SEC bias is actual, Miami can be neglected of the Playoff.
Winner: South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers
Talking of the Gamecocks, their sophomore quarterback had an epic efficiency of their 17-14 highway win in opposition to No. 12 Clemson (9-3, 7-1 in ACC).
Sellers had 164 passing yards, 166 dashing yards and two dashing touchdowns, together with the profitable rating with 68 seconds remaining, as South Carolina gained its sixth consecutive recreation.
Loser: Texas A&M’s offense
The Aggies’ lone path to the CFP was to win the SEC, which was doable till their offense was shut out in a 17-7 loss to No. 3 Texas (11-1, 7-1 in SEC).
No. 20 Texas A&M (8-4, 5-3 in SEC) scored its solely landing on a 93-yard pick-six. The offense was held to 244 yards, 0-of-2 within the purple zone and 4-of-11 on third downs.
Winner: Notre Dame and Indiana
The state of Indiana had loads to be happy with on Saturday, as two Indiana schools probably clinched playoff berths.
No. 5 Notre Dame (11-1) pulled away from USC (6-6, 4-5 in Massive Ten) with two lengthy interceptions returned for touchdowns in a 49-35 win, whereas No. 10 Indiana (11-1, 8-1 in Massive Ten) simply dispatched Purdue (1-11, 0-9 in Massive Ten), 66-0.
The Hoosiers outgained the Boilermakers 582-67. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed the win 23-of-31 for 349 yards and 6 touchdowns.
With each groups sporting just one loss, their spots within the 12-team playoff must be secured. Relying on how championship weekend unfolds, the 2 may even play one another within the first spherical.
Loser: Purdue
It wasn’t all good for Indiana. The state, that’s. As famous above, Purdue was shut out to finish one of many worst seasons in program historical past.
Not solely have been the Boilermakers outscored 261-17 in opposition to playoff-bound groups Notre Dame, Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana, however one of many program’s most distinguished alumni, Drew Brees, disowned it at Faculty Station.
“I at all times needed to be an Aggie,” Brees, who performed quarterback at Purdue from 1997-2000, stated in a candid video posted to social media.
