Winners and Losers: College Football Week 10
(Photo by Tony Gutierrez / ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Winner: Chandler Morris and the Patterson-less Frawgs
For the first time since 1997, the TCU Horned Frogs took the field at Amon G. Carter Stadium without legendary head coach Gary Patterson at the helm.
And boy, did it not disappoint.
TCU took down No. 12 Baylor behind a magical breakout performance from backup quarterback Chandler Morris, in place of Max Duggan.
TCU’s success over Baylor is one of recent dominance, with the Frogs going 10-4 against the Bears since 2006, plus 6-1 in their last seven meetings.
The loss for the Bears eliminates their slim playoff hopes and sets them a game back from 2nd-place Oklahoma State (who holds the tiebreaker over them, too).
TCU is second-to-last in the Big 12, with OK State, Kansas and Iowa State to go, needing to win two out of three to make a bowl for the first time since 2019.
The Frogs’ last home game when Coach P wasn’t employed there? A 21-18 victory over SMU to end the season.
Perhaps bright futures are ahead for the Frogs.
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Loser: The Playoff Committee
Oh, man.
We knew the College Football Playoff Committee has been iffy at best and a disaster at worst, and their initial 2021 rankings have already aged horribly.
If this stat doesn’t scream ‘mediocrity’ enough, I’m not sure what will.
Mississippi State, ranked 17th, lost to Arkansas, both teams having the same record before the game. Now with Arkansas at 6-3, watch the committee (hopefully) correct their mistake.
Minnesota was also egregiously ranked at No. 20, which embarrassingly lost to Illinois (!!!) and only putting up six points. Mind you, Illinois has averaged allowing over 21 points per game and almost 400 yards.
Even early-season darlings No. 23 Fresno State got absolutely rocked by unranked Boise State, losing 40-14 at home.
(Photo by Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Winner: Good Ole Rocky Top
Heyo, welcome Tennessee to the winners column! And they do well deserve this title.
After a miserable last two weeks, the Vols earned a massive road win at No. 18 Kentucky to pull within one game of a bowl.
UT still has South Alabama and Vanderbilt after the Georgia game next week, so it looks like this *should* be a 7-5 team.
The biggest hero of the game was quarterback Hendon Hooker, who put up an impressive 15-20, 316 yard, four-touchdown performance.
The touchdown mark is a career-high one for Hooker, and the win is the Vols first over a ranked team since they did it against Kentucky in 2018.
The Wildcats had not won back-to-back games over the Volunteers since 1976-77, and that streak will be kept alive. This is despite the fact the series is a competitive 3-2 in favor of Tennessee since 2017.
(Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)
Loser: Sparty Nation
We’ve seen Purdue make the winners list only a few weeks ago as the giant-killers, and they’ve somehow done it again.
The Michigan State Spartans, riding high after taking down Michigan last week, crashed back down to earth with a pitiful performance against Purdue, losing 40-29.
Kenneth Walker III still rushed for over 130 yards and a touchdown, plus QB Payton Thorne threw for 276 yards, his most in four weeks.
The main issue was the defense giving up the most points of the season.
Sparty allowed over 30 points just twice before, against Western Kentucky and Michigan, but had an average of 16.5 points allowed per road game before this disastrous performance.
Purdue’s win nabs them a bowl spot, and MSU’s loss will certainly result in a major poll drop and makes their final three games (Maryland, @ OSU, Penn State) all must-wins.
(Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Winner: THE ARIZONA WILDCATS
For the first time in 25 months, the Arizona Wildcats have won a game.
The ‘Cats only scored 10 points, ironically the second-lowest point total of the season, but it was enough to best Cal.
The touchdown came late, with just 2:17 to go, and Arizona fans flooded the field, screaming and singing ‘Bear Down’ in a very long-awaited celebration.
Rushing was the key to the win, with 52 total team carries for 202 total yards, with eight (!!) players getting positive yardage.
No passing touchdowns were thrown, with three Arizona interceptions. The real painful statistic here is third-down efficiency, with Cal going 1-14 and Arizona 7-19. Yeesh.
Cheers to the Wildcats.
(Photo by David J. Phillip / AP)
Loser: Bo Nix
Speaking of big cats, the Auburn Tigers did not share the same fate as Arizona, embarrassing themselves in a blowout loss to Texas A&M.
Nix threw for a measly 153 yards in his lowest output of the season (counting full games played) and one interception.
The Tigers also had scored a touchdown in every game this year, even against No. 1 Georgia’s insanely powerful defense.
This is the first game Auburn was held out of the endzone since losing to UGA last season.
Nix now has 1,917 passing yards (54th), 9 passing touchdowns (T-83rd), and a QBR of 67.7 (46th). Ouch.
The loss places the Tigers at 6-3, moving to 2-3 against ranked opponents and 2-2 on the road.
Fortunately for Auburn, they play Mississippi State and South Carolina before their home date with the Crimson Tide to end the season.
Meanwhile, on the other sideline, the Aggies are up to 7-2, second-best in the SEC West.