2024 College Football: Week 9 Takeaways
What a week! Four teams in the top 10 were idle, and they probably enjoyed being away from this insanity. Two top teams, (4) Ohio State and (5) Texas, survived scares from Nebraska and (25) Vanderbilt, respectively. #1-ranked Oregon dominated (20) Illinois, showing that they’re still the team to beat. Two of our staggering 8 unbeaten teams fell, and one of the two remaining winless teams finally got on the board (sorry Kent State). The playoff implications of this week were minimal as only one top-15 team (#8 LSU) lost. However, the playoff rankings don’t begin until next week. For now, enjoy my week 9 takeaways!
0-6 Kennesaw State Shocks 5-0 Liberty for First FBS Win
Let’s start things off with a heartwarming story. Aside from your hated rivals, you don’t root for schools to go winless. That appeared to be Kennesaw State’s destiny for at least one more week. The 0-6 Owls hosted the undefeated Liberty Flames on Thursday as 27.5-point underdogs. Of course they were! Kennesaw State hadn’t come particularly close to victory in any of their prior games this year, and they’re a first year FBS school with 0 wins against FBS opponents in program history. Well, they can now say that they have ONE win against an FBS team, and it’s the one nobody gave them a chance against.
Coach Brian Bohannon and his staff came up with a masterful game plan. It relied on running the football and controlling the clock. Although the Owls only had a 5-minute time-of-possession advantage, the strategy clearly threw the Flames off their game. If you look at the stats, you likely won’t find anything glaring for either team. The tape tells a different tale. Liberty made mistakes all night, especially penalties; they had 9 for a whopping 100 yards. Those infractions held their own offense back and allowed Kennesaw State’s offense to stay on schedule.
Kennesaw State never led by two scores until just over 4 minutes remained in the game. A mix of running and a couple of timely throws led to a field goal drive, where K Austin Welch drilled a 41-yarder to give the Owls a 27-17 advantage. Having a kicker who is now 11/11 on field goals this season is great in these situations. Liberty scored to cut the lead to 3, and a quick 4-and-out by the Owls at the Liberty 35 left just 6 seconds on the clock. Kennesaw celebrated after a subsequent incompletion, but 1 second remained. A few minutes later, the Flames ran one final (ineffective) play, and the Owls could cheer for real.
This was quite a consequential outcome. Liberty went from 5-0 to third in the C-USA standings, where their 3-1 record is behind the 3-0 marks of Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State. Any hopes they had of stealing the Group of 6 CFP berth are also dashed. The win probably won’t save Kennesaw State’s bowl hopes (they must win out to reach 6-6, and that feels unlikely), but it is something for the program to build on. A first win during a season or as a new Division 1A program does wonders for a team’s confidence. It’s up to Bohannon and his guys to take it further.
(17) Boise State Edges Past UNLV in Key Group of 6 Battle
Before moving on to the Saturday slate, we’ve got a big game from Friday night to discuss. The late-night tilt between Boise State and UNLV was expected to largely dictate which Group of 6 (with the Pac-12 reforming, we can call it that now) school would claim the #12 CFP spot. Both of these Mountain West teams came in with just one close loss against a Power 4 opponent. All eyes were on Broncos RB Ashton Jeanty, who is a leading Heisman contender. We highlighted his monster performance in week 1, but the Rebels were determined to not let him be the difference in this game. To their credit, they did limit the damage.
Jeanty ran for 128 yards and a TD, but he needed 33 carries, and nothing came easily. UNLV LB Jackson Woodard (14 tackles) shadowed Jeanty most of the night and did a spectacular job. His work helped the Rebels stake a 10-3 early lead. However, Jeanty did begin to wear the defense down, and the Broncos adjusted to rip of 17 unanswered points. Crucially, Boise State did not turn the ball over once. That’s a rarity, as UNLV ranks T-5th in the nation in turnovers forced per game. UNLV bounced back behind QB Hajj-Malik Williams (12/21, 179 yards, 2 TDs, INT; 19/105/1 rushing) and do-it-all WR Ricky White III (5/57) to take a 24-23 lead.
A few small miscues ultimately hurt the rebels. HC Barry Odom had to burn two third-quarter timeouts, one to avoid a delay of game penalty. Those really came back to haunt UNLV at the end of the game, when they trailed 29-24 and couldn’t stop the clock (or Jeanty). Williams missed a few throws in the second half and took a couple of sacks that short-circuited some drives. Conversely, Boise State QB Maddux Madsen (18/33, 209 yards, TD; 3/58/1 rushing) played mistake-free football and showed everyone why 5-star transfer Malachi Nelson is sitting on the bench. Those little differences decided a tight game.
With all due respect to Army, these are the most complete teams in the Group of 6. UNLV is probably out of the playoff race, but they’ll be in a good bowl and have built a quality program. Why did former QB Jayden Maiava transfer to be USC’s backup again? Everything lies ahead of the Broncos. If they win out, given that they’re already ranked 17th, they’re a playoff lock. Should anything weird happen in another conference, they could leap all the way to the #4 seed as a Mountain West champion. This is a strong team whose only loss was a nail biter against Oregon, the #1 team in the nation. Boise State is the real deal.
(12) Notre Dame Quietly Turned Their Season Around After Loss to NIU
The last time we talked about Notre Dame, they were coming off an embarrassing home loss to Northern Illinois. Since then, the Irish have been stacking some pretty dominant wins. Their “most impressive” win during that span was a 31-24 victory over then-#15 Louisville, but the shine has come off given Louisville’s fall out of the rankings. Facing an undefeated Navy team currently ranked 24th provided Notre Dame a chance to make a statement. After all, we just discussed how good Navy has been this season. Irish coach Marcus Freeman obviously told his team the right things because they obliterated the Midshipmen.
Part of the new-look Irish stems from the return to health of QB Riley Leonard (13/21, 178 yards, 2 TDs; 10/83/1 rushing). His ankle injury lingered into the offseason, and he didn’t look quite right in his first action of the season. Now, he appears healthy and mobile, which has allowed him to thrive and open up the offense. He stopped turning the ball over as much because he can evade pressure and extend plays. That in turn has kept defenders from stacking the box, thus helping the running game (265 yards and 4 TDs versus Navy). The defense and weapons were already good, but the offense is joining the fun.
In a 51-14 beatdown, Notre Dame displayed a balanced attack and even won the time of possession battle against Navy, which seldom happens. Stealthily, this team rebounded from a laughing stock to squarely inside the playoff bracket. They don’t have a conference championship to win, but winning out should suffice, and their last real test is against Army on 11/23. Just to give the defense their due: although Navy had success on the ground (222 yards and 2 TDs), the Irish clamped down when necessary by forcing 6 turnovers (INT, 5 fumbles). You never win games in which you lose the turnover battle 6-0. Well, almost never…
Duke Kicker’s Miscues Spare SMU and Their Six Turnovers
In one of the weirdest games you’ll see all year, (22) SMU committed 6 turnovers against the 6-1 Duke Blue Devils and somehow still won. This was in spite of Duke not turning the ball over once themselves. Call it a missed opportunity by the Blue Devils or an exercise in determination by the Mustangs, but it was not normal. SMU showed us what we were in for when they drove 60 yards on their first drive, only for QB Kevin Jennings to fumble the possession away. Jennings (13/24, 258 yards, TD; 13/41/1 rushing) has been a revelation this year, but this was by far his worst game as a starter.
He fumbled 4 times (losing 2) and throwing 3 INTs. TE Matthew Hibner added a lost fumble for good measure, and that’s how you cough up the ball six times in one game. You’d think that a quality team like Duke would win in a laugher as a result. Here are the results of their possessions after the 6 turnovers (in order): turnover on downs, turnover on downs, end of half, punt, missed FG, and blocked FG. Those last two outcomes were key. As poorly as SMU played, Duke K Todd Pelino has a worse night. He missed the aforementioned 42-yard FG and a PAT, and he had a game-winning 30-yard attempt blocked.
Duke also generally struggled to score points. QB Maalik Murphy (27/48, 295 yards, 3 TDs) had a fine night, and WR Eli Pancol (11/138/1) starred, but the running game did not help him. Conversely, SMU ran the ball well; RB Brashard Smith ran 26 times for 117 yards and 2 TDs, and Jennings ran well when he didn’t fumble the football. That led to a 21-21 game with 2:55 left. The Mustangs reached their own 35 with 1:07 to go when Jennings lost his 2nd fumble. It bounced all the way to the 14, so all Duke had to do was run a couple of times and kick the chip-shot FG. As stated above, that didn’t happen, and OT ensued.
SMU scored in 2 plays on a Smith TD and kicked their PAT. The Blue Devils responded in just one snap, as Murphy hit Pancol on a 25-yard TD strike. That’s where HC Manny Diaz made a fateful decision: he went for 2 and the win. I normally DESPISE when teams do this instead of tying the game with a PAT. This was a different case; Diaz’s kicker had no confidence and might’ve lost the game even from 18 yards out. Unfortunately, the 2-point attempt failed, and SMU won 28-27. I still agree with Diaz’s decision, but it’s sad that Pelino put him in the position to make it. That is how you lose to a team with 6 turnovers.
Are QB Controversies Brewing in State College and College Station?
Two ranked teams, (3) Penn State and (14) Texas A&M, won against tough opponents this week, but they only took control after switching QBs. In the case of the Nittany Lions, they trailed Wisconsin 10-7 at halftime. QB Drew Allar (14/18, 148 yards, TD) was having one his his best statistical games, but he didn’t produce many points and suffered a knee injury just before the half. He was slated to return but could not, forcing Beau Pribula into the game. It was at that point when Penn State took over. They went on a 21-3 run and won 28-13, causing fans to question why Pribula wasn’t starting in the first place.
To their point, he looked good. He completed 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards and a TD, and he ran for 28 yards as well. The offense functioned much better with him in the game, so it’s natural to wonder whether HC James Franklin should stick with him. I’ve never been nearly as high on Allar as the media is, but this seems like an overreaction to me. The Badgers game-planned for Allar, so Pribula might have thrown them off. Furthermore, they reached 6-0 with Allar, so he hasn’t been a problem. Finally, Allar has superior arm talent, which may give him a higher ceiling. Nothing is (yet) broken here, so this situation doesn’t need fixing.
Texas A&M had an even more challenging matchup against (8) LSU. In their case, a lack of offense simply was not going to cut it, and QB Conner Weigman (6/18, 64 yards) struggled mightily. Down 17-7 in the 3rd quarter and seeing no progress, HC Mike Elko benched Weigman for freshman Marcel Reed. Taking over at LSU’s 8 following an INT, Reed ran for a score and gained immediate confidence. He ended up leading 4 straight TD drives, helping the Aggies cruise to a 38-23 victory. Reed went 2/2 passing for 70 yards, but his running (9/62/3) changed the complexion of the game. Fans REALLY want him to be the starter, but let’s step back.
Reed definitely opened up the rushing attack, as TAMU ran for 242 yards and 5 TDs. However, he threw just two passes all game. Granted, they were big completions, but that’s not much of a sample size. Suggesting that Reed is going to be an immediate star is a projection that I’m not ready to make. The best argument for a switch is the ineffectiveness of Weigman. He has just 3 TDs and 4 INTs on the season and really only excelled against Missouri and McNeese. This team is good, but he appears to be holding it back. The upside of Reed might be too tempting for Elko, especially with hard games ahead and a CFP berth on the line.