NCAA Football News and Notes: Power 5 Recap

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#15 Ole Miss vs Texas A&M

A classic good SEC matchup was had at College Station. Ole Miss came into this game as the 15th-ranked team in the nation with a record of 7-1. Texas A&M is not having an ideal year as they are below 500 at a record of 3-4 and were hoping to get even in this game.

Right off the bat Jaxson Dart and Ole Miss drove down the field and scored a quick touchdown to Dayton Wade from 18 yards out to go up early. After that drive, their offense went stagnant and A&M took advantage. The third-string quarterback, Conner Weigman, drove down the field two drives in a row to throw touchdowns. The one went to Moose Muhammad and the other to Evan Stewart. At the first start of his young career, he started out making plays and standing out to the fans. Later on, in the half, Dart went down the field and got them into field goal position before the half ended. Jonathan Cruz kicked in the 46-yard field goal to make it a 14-10 Aggie lead going into the half.

Coming out of the half the Aggies punted the ball and Ole Miss never looked back. Dart and the Rebels marched down the field on consecutive drives scoring touchdowns on both from the arm of Dart. Weigman finally answered back, getting on the board for the first time since the first quarter throwing a passing touchdown to Noah Thomas to make this game a three-point difference. Yet again, the Rebels went down the field quickly because of Quinshon Judkins rushing for 75 yards and a touchdown on only four plays. Ole Miss went back up 10 and Weigman answered again, not going away till the very end. Ole Miss had a quick three and out, which gave way to the Aggies for one more shot with 50 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, they didn’t get anything going and turned the ball over on downs on four plays ending the game in a 31-28 Ole Miss victory.

Jaxon Dart had an exceptional game throwing for three touchdowns and 140 yards on only 20 passing attempts. He had these little attempts because of the running game. Dart ran for 95 yards but the real star was Quinshon Judkins. Judkins ran for 205 yards on 34 carries with a touchdown and the whole team ran for 390 yards on 63 attempts. Talk about killing your opponent on the ground, wow. For the Aggies, they may have found a future quarterback in themselves finally. Conner Weigman threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns, what a debut for the Freshman. Devon Achane had another exceptional game running for 138 yards but no touchdowns. For the leading receiver, Moose Muhammad caught eight balls for 112 yards and one touchdown.

Ole Miss is now sitting pretty at a record of 8-1 and moved up to 11th in the rankings. They now face their toughest opponent yet at home, Alabama. It will be a true test for their team and a good challenge for them. For the Aggies, they got to start winning if they want a bowl game sitting at 3-5. They play Florida at home this week which should be a very good game to watch as both teams are needy for a win.

#7 TCU vs West Virginia

One of the better games in the week came as TCU played West Virginia. TCU came into this game as one of the hottest teams in college at 7-0 and the seventh-ranked team in the nation. For West Virginia, it has not been an ideal season for them at 3-4 but they were looking for a huge upset win this past week.

Surprisingly TCU was not the first team to score in this game, as it went to WVU first. CJ Donaldson punched in the first score of the game and they were up right away hoping for a huge upset. After seeing that score, we saw six out of seven straight scoring drives from these teams. The one without a score was a WVU turnover which may have been costly to them. Max Duggan threw two very long touchdowns and TCU also had two very impressive rushing touchdowns as well to score 28 points on four consecutive drives. For West Virginia, they had another rushing touchdown from Donaldson and a throwing one from the former Bulldog, J.T. Daniels. The score was 28-21 TCU and we were witnessing a very high-scoring matchup early on this past Saturday.

The start of the second half was the complete opposite of the first half. We saw six straight drives with no touchdowns but we did have three field goals, two accounted for by TCU. TCU was up 34-24 until J.T. Daniels led a long drive down the field to throw a 23-yard touchdown to Reese Smith to go down by three points late in the fourth quarter. Max Duggan trying to end the games on first downs does the opposite. He threw an interception but West Virginia did nothing with the ball punting it back to TCU. TCU then went down the field quickly scoring a touchdown to essentially end the game on a 29-yard touchdown pass to Savion Williams. Daniels ended the game on an interception himself losing to TCU, 41-31.

Max Duggan had another excellent game as usual throwing for 341 yards and three touchdowns but he did throw an interception. Kendre Miller who has been a beast all season ran for 120 yards with a touchdown on only 12 rushing attempts. For the receivers, Taye Barber, Savion Williams, and Quentin Johnston combined for 272 yards on 11 receptions and three touchdowns. What a game all around from TCU’s offense. For WVU, J.T. Daniels had a moderate game throwing for 275 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. CJ Donaldson played very well rushing for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Another player who played very well against TCU’s tough defense was Sam James who caught six receptions for 95 yards.

TCU didn’t move in rankings but they stay undefeated hoping for a college playoff spot. They are at home against Texas Tech which they should win and keep their undefeated season alive. West Virginia is now 3-5 and has to start winning to reach bowl eligibility, six wins. They play Iowa State on the road who is a very underrated team that record doesn’t show. They need a win and it may be hard to come this week.

#2 Ohio State vs #13 Penn State

One of the biggest rivalries in all of sports was the best game of this past week. Ohio State was sitting pretty at 7-0 coming into this game as the second-ranked team in the nation. Penn State was also having a great year as the 13th-best team in the nation and was 6-1.

Starting in the game OSU got a quick field goal to get the early lead. For PSU, Sean Clifford threw two straight interceptions with the Buckeyes capitalizing on the one for a touchdown from Miyan Williams. Clifford had to step up in this game if Penn State wants any shot of winning. Later on, in the second quarter, Clifford finally started to get it together. He threw two straight touchdowns on consecutive drives to go up 14-10 to take the lead. OSU then kicked another field goal from the leg of Noah Ruggles to make it a 14-13 game going into the second half.

Going into the second half, PSU was driving down the field very easily until they go into the RedZone. They had a fourth and two but they didn’t convert which may come back and haunt them later in the game. Luckily OSU didn’t do anything with the turnover on downs, punting the ball. Later in the game after a Buckeyes field goal, PSU scored a touchdown but OSU answered right away with their own 41-rushing touchdown, from TreVeyon Henderson. PSU trying to answer, Clifford, fumbled the ball which led to C.J. Stroud throwing a pass to Cade Stover for a touchdown to go up 30-21. PSU then answered with a field goal to make it a one-possession game again but the Buckeyes’ offense was too good to be held back the whole game. Stroud yet again went down the field and had Henderson run in another touchdown to make it a 37-24 game. Trying to make something happen to get back in the game, Clifford did the opposite again. He threw his third interception and it was a pick-six by J.T. Tuimolau. The game was essentially over and the upset at Beaver Stadium the fans were hoping for was shut down once again, losing 44-31 to Ohio State.

Heisman candidate, C.J. Stroud threw for 354 yards and a touchdown on only seven incompletions with 33 passing attempts. He once again proved against a very good defense how good he is at showing up big when needed. TreVeyon Henderson ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns with a very efficient day from him. Marvin Harrison Jr. once again went nuclear having 10 receptions for 185 yards. The Buckeyes’ defense also played very well forcing four turnovers. Sean Clifford was the one who had all four turnovers and did not have his best game. He did throw for 371 yards and three touchdowns so credit to him, but the turnovers were a key reason why PSU lost. Kaytron Allen had a nice game rushing for 76 yards and a touchdown. The real star of their offense was Parker Washington who had a very special game. He had 11 receptions for 179 yards and a touchdown. A great day from him and a very good sign for PSU looking forward.

Ohio State stayed the same in the rankings as the second-best team in the nation and they are still undefeated at 8-0. They now play Northwestern on the road which should be an easy win for them and continue their championship hopes. On the other side of the ball, Penn State moved down to the 15th-ranked team in the nation at a 6-2 record. They play on the road at Indiana this week needing a win.