Winners and Losers: College Football Week 12
(Photo by Rick Egan // The Salt Lake Tribune)
Winner: Salt Lake Shockers
All the quacks quickly rang silent in Utah this weekend, as the No. 23 Utah Utes bodied No. 3 Oregon, and a silencing showing it was.
Utah running back Tavion Thomas added three more rushing touchdowns to his impressive total of 17 this season, plus 94 yards on the ground. The Utes finished with 208 rushing yards on the night compared to the Ducks’ 63.
Oregon star running back Travis Dye finished with just 29 yards on six carries, one of his worst performances of the season.
Utah's special teams were also spectacular, as they returned a punt 78 yards to the house to end the half, capping 14 points in the final 30 seconds of the first half.
Oregon’s playoff hopes are essentially dead, as a two-loss Pac-12 champion (assuming ORE wins out), would not be seen above teams like Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama and even Cincinnati, plus if Oklahoma State or Oklahoma wins out.
Utah is already out of the playoff race with three losses, but the Utes earn their first Pac-12 South title since 2019 and their fourth all-time. They will attempt to win their first-ever Pac-12 title in a couple of weeks.
(Photo by Jack Wallace // Sports Illustrated)
Loser: Duke’s Defense
This one’s more Louisville as another winner, but we need another loser and Duke’s defense certainly earns that nod.
Louisville absolutely rocked Duke, outpacing the Blue Devils 62-22 and Malik Cunningham turned into Mick Vick from Madden 06.
Cunningham put up 303 passing yards with five passing touchdowns, PLUS 224 rushing yards AND two more rushing touchdowns. Oh, and other players tacked on 14 more points.
The Cardinals’ offense put up 687 yards, by far their highest total of the season, and they clinched bowl eligibility after missing bowl season last year.
Duke, meanwhile, drops their 8th game and 7th ACC game, allowing an average of 47 points per game.
With a loss to Miami next week, Duke will complete a winless ACC season and solidify a last-place finish in the conference.
(Photo by Rick Osentoski // USA Today)
Winner: CJ Stroud’s Heisman Case
Ok, damn Ohio State. We get it.
The No. 4 Buckeyes decided to punish No. 7 Michigan State for being a bad little brother, and a 56-7 finish left nothing for the imagination.
Ohio State earned their first big win of the season in style, as C.J. Stroud led the way with 432 yards and six touchdowns through the air.
Stroud leapt back into the Heisman leaderboard over Bryce Young (ALA) and Matt Corral (MISS), and deservingly so. He only had three incompletions.
Stroud now ranks 8th in passing yards (3,468) and is tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (36) with just five interceptions. He’s also first in QBR at a very impressive 90.7 statline.
With just No. 5 Michigan to go, Ohio State is on the cusp of another playoff appearance. The Buckeyes win the Big Ten East with a W over Michigan, but the Wolverines advance to Indy with a win as they would win a 7-1 tiebreaker with the Buckeyes.
(Photo by Wally Skalij // Los Angeles Times)
Loser: US(ad)C
Southern Cal had 27 out of the 40 first-place votes in the preseason Pac-12 South poll.
The Trojans lost 62-33 to now 7-4 UCLA this Saturday, wrapping up USC’s 10th game and 6th loss. This was the first time the Trojans have lost to the Bruins since 2018 and just the second since 2015.
The Bruins have won just two games in the LA Coliseum since 1997.
In what has been a terrible season for old college football powerhouses (Florida, USC, Texas, Florida State, etc.), USC’s fall from Pac-12 expectations is embarrassing.
The Trojans haven’t won the division in a full season since 2017, beating Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship and losing to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
Sixth-year head coach Clay Helton was (finally) fired after an abysmal first two games (including a blowout loss to Stanford) and the wheels have yet to be back on for this poor, poor team.
UCLA’s 62 points were a record against their rivals, and no one has scored 60+ points in this rivalry since the now-vacated 66-19 USC win in 2005.
Additionally, the Bruins point total is tied for the most USC has ever given up in a game.
(Photo by Jacob Kupferman // Getty Images)
Winner: The Clemson of Old
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have fallen back to earth, and all it took was an unranked Clemson team to do it.
It only took 11 games, but the Tigers are back. Clemson beat Wake 48-27 and it never really seemed close.
The Tigers have won 13 in a row against the Deacs, and Clemson running back Kobe Pace ran for a career-high 191 yards and two scores to clinch the win.
Despite their three losses (all to ranked teams), the Tigers have won 34 in a row at home. Their home winning streak may mean not much, however, as Clemson will need some extra help to make it back to the ACC Championship game.
The Tigers have completed their ACC slate, so they can’t do anything themselves. They need Wake Forest to lose at Boston College and NC State to lose against UNC on Friday night (as the Wolfpack hold the tiebreaker over Clemson).
(Photo by Michael C. Johnson // USA Today)
Loser: Anyone Trying to Score against OKST
No. 7 Oklahoma State has only trended upward, and the way they’ve locked teams down this year is nothing short of remarkable.
The Pokes won 23-0 over Texas Tech, blanking the Red Raiders to guarantee their debut appearance in the Big 12 Championship game in Arlington.
Spencer Sanders finally had a decent game with 239 yards and one touchdown, but this defense has clobbered everyone since the Iowa State road loss.
The Cowboys have outscored their last four opponents (Kansas, @ West Virginia, TCU, @ Texas Tech) a combined 165-23, and now are 10-1.
This is the 7th 10-win season for head coach Mike Gundy and his first since 2017 (which ended a three-year run). Gundy has been bowl eligible every year but one, and that season the Pokes went 4-7 back in 2005.
Next week is Bedlam, where the Pokes host the No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners in a battle for Sooner State supremacy.
The Cowboys seek their first win in Bedlam since 2014 and their first win at home since 2011. OK State has won just twice in the series since 2003 (2-16 in that stretch).
State only has one Big 12 title under their belt (2011) and only had one Big Eight title all the way back in 1976.