Passan: Are the Astros inevitable? Inside their pursuit of perfection
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Jeff PassanESPN
NEW YORK — There’s a hardness to this Houston Astros team, one honed by years hearing every insult imaginable, existing as flypaper for vitriol, living a life of perpetual villainy. It’s something that, by now, everyone who wears the uniform understands won’t wane, because the narratives that surround them are more stone carvings than pencil drawings. For all their magnificence, all the brilliant baseball they’ve played in their first seven games this postseason, the Astros, to those outside the Houston metropolitan area, won’t ever be anything other than the worst version of themselves.
Even with a mostly turned-over roster, that will not change. And accepting that — not embracing it but bearing it — has taken this exceptional group of baseball players and supercharged it. The Astros are going back to the World Series for the fourth time in six years. They finished an American League Championship Series sweep of the New York Yankees on Sunday night with a 6-5 victory that booked a date Friday in Houston for Game 1 against the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.
That they did it by erasing a pair of deficits and scratching out another one-run victory — their fourth in seven games during this undefeated postseason sojourn — fit this team. The Astros have done what any group abiding the weight of its own misdeeds might: absorbed the negativity, internalized it and converted it into fuel. For some, it propelled growth, for others anger. For everyone, it’s something.
“The scorn that we take — this team is mentally strong,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Sometimes when you go through adversity, it makes you stronger.”
Make no mistake, this Houston team is strong — mentally, physically, emotionally. It succeeds in spite of its failures and because of them. One can accept that the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme during the 2017 season sullied their World Series victory while acknowledging that what they’re doing in 2022 — placing themselves on the verge of an all-time postseason run — is wondrous, cognitive dissonance be damned.
Just look at the scores of their seven wins: 8-7, 4-2 and 1-0 in the division series against Seattle, followed by 4-2, 3-2, 5-0 and 6-5 against the Yankees. Six of the seven games taut, tight, capable of going sideways at any moment. But none did. The Astros defused bomb after bomb, stared down situations tense and intense, and emerged on the better end each time. And now they find themselves in rare company, alongside the 1976 Cincinnati Reds and 2007 Colorado Rockies, who went 7-0 out of the gate in the playoffs, and one win shy of the 2014 Kansas City Royals‘ record of eight straight wins to start a postseason.
The red-hot Phillies, fully embracing the team-of-destiny rhetoric that rightly accompanies a group that rode a No. 6 seed to the World Series, are all that stand between the Astros and perfection. That an unbeaten postseason is even a possibility in an October that saw the 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers and 101-win Atlanta Braves and New York Mets teams bow out in their first series reinforces the aberrant nature of Houston’s run.
“Today was really the first time I thought about it,” said Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros’ Game 4 starter and one of just five players left from the 2017 team. “I saw a lot of people making a big deal about an undefeated postseason. It really hadn’t hit me. I mean, baseball is so hard. These teams are so good. Like, Seattle, I said it the other day: I don’t think anyone else could beat Seattle. They were playing unbelievable. We come here [to New York] — once again, close games. We just scratch and claw and find a way.”
Since baseball’s postseason expanded in 1969, only the Big Red Machine have run through a postseason blemish-free, back in ’76. In the wild-card era, the closest to flawless were the 2005 Chicago White Sox and 1999 Yankees, who went 11-1. An 11-0 mark remains a moonshot for the Astros, too, with the Phillies primed to start Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler in Games 1 and 2 and left-hander Jose Alvarado and right-hander Seranthony Dominguez getting four needed days of rest and a Bryce Harper-led lineup carving pitching staffs for the better part of a month.
But it’s by no means out of the realm of possibility. In seven games, Astros pitchers have held opponents to a .178/.248/.291 line — essentially turning a pair of playoff teams’ lineups into nine hitters who would be demoted to Triple-A for ineptitude. In 33 innings, Astros relievers have allowed two runs — a 0.55 ERA — on 14 hits and 10 walks while striking out 42. Their everyday players have committed just one error, and a borderline one at that, on a bad-hop, in-the-hole backhand from Jose Altuve that precipitated an offline throw. And they’ve managed to score enough to win, despite Altuve’s offensive disappearance and, in the ALCS, New York keeping Yordan Alvarez in check.
Near perfection with room for improvement is a frightening combination, and yet that’s where these Astros are: in their fourth Fall Classic in six years.
“Baseball is wild,” McCullers said. “The reason you don’t see a lot of teams going to so many postseasons, so many league championships, so many World Series is the game isn’t played on paper. The best teams don’t make it every year. They don’t win every year. And somehow, some way we’ve found ourselves the best team in the American League the last few years. We’ve won the American League championship many times. Now, we’ve gotta try to finish it off.”
They couldn’t in 2019, when they lost in seven games to the Washington Nationals, or in 2021, when Atlanta ambushed them and won a championship in six games. This year, though, they’re determined to — for Baker, who is more than 2,000 wins deep into a managing career that still doesn’t include a championship, and for Michael Brantley, the veteran left fielder missing the postseason following shoulder surgery. They want to do it as the ultimate validation for McCullers’ and Justin Verlander‘s returns from arm surgeries. And they want to do it to put to rest the idea that the only way the Astros win championships is by cheating.
Nobody in the Astros’ dugout was banging on a trash can Sunday, and still, there they were, down 3-0 and without a droplet of sweat on their brow. Rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña, the ALCS MVP, launched a three-run home run to tie the game. Later, trailing 5-4 in the seventh inning, the Astros parlayed an error on a potential double-play ball hit by Peña into a deluge: first an Alvarez RBI to score Altuve, then a go-ahead RBI single by Alex Bregman to plate Peña. At that point, Baker turned to Bryan Abreu, who threw a scoreless inning, followed by Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly, who continue to overwhelm hitters.
This is an idealized version of the Astros — one better than everyone else at run prevention and plenty good with the bat to make that stinginess stand up. They are an exquisitely constructed unit that marries stars with depth and spits on the vagaries of small-sample baseball that define October. And what those in the opposite dugout or their opponents’ stands think about that simply doesn’t matter to them.
“I mean, it’s not like Tupac. It’s not us against the world, you know?” Baker said — and he said it with conviction, perhaps having convinced himself that really is the case, even when evidence suggests otherwise. Part of his job, as manager, is to write his own narrative, to grab a hammer and chisel and etch the Astros a different kind of history. Houston brought him in during the aftermath of the scandal to help forge a new identity, which was an impossible task, really.
Baker, like everyone in the Astros’ clubhouse, takes the most convenient pieces and parts of the past and leverages them to create a new future. Though these Houston Astros aren’t those Houston Astros, they cannot deny that their past informs their present. It helped make them who they are. And that’s the team that the Yankees and Mariners and everyone else in baseball wants to be.
What happened in Week 13? We are now down to one undefeated FBS team following No. 5 Indiana‘s loss to No. 2 Ohio State and No. 19 Army’s loss to No. 6 Notre Dame. On top of that, four ranked teams fell to their unranked opponents on Saturday.
With No. 16 Colorado’s loss to Kansas and No. 14 BYU falling to No. 21 Arizona State, the Big 12 has a four-way tie at the top of the standings. What does each team have to do next week to reach the conference title game?
After their defense dominated the Hoosiers at Ohio Stadium, the Buckeyes have one more conference matchup left. What do they need to do to meet Oregon in the Big Ten title game?
How did Saturday’s action affect our Power Rankings?
Here’s the latest top 25 from our college football experts, who provide their insight on each team following Week 13.
Previous ranking: 1
Oregon’s second bye week of the year is as good a time as any to recognize not just how the Ducks have gotten to 11-0, but how far the offensive line specifically has come since the first few weeks of the season. In its first two games, Oregon’s offensive line gave up seven sacks. Over the past nine games, it has kept quarterback Dillon Gabriel upright, allowing only five sacks total. The improvement began in the Ducks’ third game against UCLA, when they shifted Iapani Laloulu to starting center. Lalolulu, a sophomore from Hawaii, has anchored the unit. Per Pro Football Focus, Laloulu has not allowed a sack in 270 pass blocking snaps.
The move and subsequent improvement has both limited the number of sacks and quarterback pressures, but beyond that, it has facilitated the Ducks’ running game. In the first two games of the season, they averaged fewer than 3 yards per carry. Since then, they have averaged over 5 and have 20 rushing touchdowns total. It has all added up to one of the most effective offenses in the country, an undefeated season so far and a potent recipe as Oregon heads toward a conference championship and playoff run. — Paolo Uggetti
Previous ranking: 2
The Buckeyes (10-1) have upped their blitz rate since their 32-31 loss to Oregon on Oct. 12. They didn’t get a single sack against Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 341 yards while averaging a whopping 9.6 yards per dropback. Since then, they have overwhelmed opposing quarterbacks. During Saturday’s resounding 38-15 win over Indiana, Ohio State sacked quarterback Kurtis Rourke five times. Off the blitz, linebacker Cody Simon especially wreaked havoc, finishing with 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble. With little time to throw, most notably in obvious passing situations, Rourke completed just 8 of his 18 attempts for 68 yards. If the Buckeyes take care of Michigan, they’ll get a rematch with Oregon in the Big Ten championship game. There, they’ll be sure to unleash the blitz in a way they didn’t in Eugene. — Jake Trotter
Previous ranking: 3
The Longhorns (10-1) have consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time since 2008-09, accomplished in both the Big 12 and the SEC. But this team hasn’t been all flash. The Longhorns have been able to adapt to whatever form necessary to keep winning, aside from their loss to Georgia this year. On Saturday, Quintrevion Wisner had a career-high 158 yards rushing, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. But the biggest difference this season has been the pass defense. Last year, Texas allowed 254.4 yards per game through the air, and this year, they have cut that to just 143.5 per game, ranking No. 1 in the nation.
The pass rush has helped quite a bit. Against Kentucky, the Longhorns pressured Brock Vandagriff and Cutter Boley on 14 of their 31 dropbacks. The Longhorns have a big one next week, traveling to College Station to renew their rivalry with Texas A&M (whom they haven’t played since 2011), with a spot in the SEC championship game for the winner. — Dave Wilson
Previous ranking: 9
The Irish won their ninth straight game Saturday night with a 49-7 blowout of previously unbeaten Army at Yankee Stadium. Since that forgettable 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7, Notre Dame (10-1) has been better at a little bit of everything and looks to be a lock for the playoff if it can finish out the regular season with a win over USC. The Irish have improved across the board on defense after giving up nearly 400 yards to Northern Illinois, and they clamped down on Army’s running game.
The Black Knights came into the game leading the country in rushing (334.9 yards per game), but Bryson Daily could never get on track. The Irish haven’t played what you would call a killer schedule since the loss in Week 2 but have won every game but one by double digits. Running back Jeremiyah Love continues to be a key weapon for the Irish. He scored two more rushing touchdowns, including a 68-yarder, and has 14 on the season. — Chris Low
Previous ranking: 5
Tyler Warren had a touchdown catch in Penn State’s (10-1) season-opening win at West Virginia, but the tight end extraordinaire wasn’t the focal point of the Nittany Lions’ offense right away. He had 50 receiving yards or fewer in four of the team’s first five games before his record-setting performance Oct. 12 at USC, when he set career highs for receptions (17) and receiving yards (224). Since then, Warren has been the centerpiece of Penn State’s offense. He has seven or more receptions in four of Penn State’s past five games, while taking on a bigger role in the run game as well.
In Penn State’s 26-25 win over Minnesota on Saturday, Warren led the team with eight receptions for 102 yards, including an 11-yard reception on fourth-and-1 that allowed the Nittany Lions to run out the clock and keep their CFP hopes firmly intact. He continues to provide quarterback Drew Allar with a reliable option and offset PSU’s limitations at wide receiver. Warren and Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr. are the top two candidates for the Mackey Award (given to the top tight end in the nation). — Adam Rittenberg
Previous ranking: 8
The Bulldogs (9-2) might have been a popular pick to reach the SEC championship game before the season, but their route in getting back to Atlanta has been far more difficult than it was the past few seasons. Injuries along the offensive line and at tailback resulted in a mediocre running game, putting more pressure on quarterback Carson Beck. He had 12 interceptions in a six-game stretch and played poorly in the first half of a loss at Alabama and another loss at Ole Miss. Beck has played efficiently and avoided big mistakes in Georgia’s past two victories over Tennessee and UMass.
After All-America guard Tate Ratledge returned, the offensive line has provided enough protection (one sack in the past two games), and the Bulldogs are running the ball again. Georgia’s tight ends have also stepped up, and freshman tailback Nate Frazier looks like a star. If Georgia beats Georgia Tech at home Friday night, it should be back in the CFP, regardless of what happens against the Texas-Texas A&M winner in the SEC championship game. — Mark Schlabach
Previous ranking: 10
Cam Ward has dazzled for the majority of the season, starting with the opener against Florida. But where Miami (10-1) has improved the most is building depth in its running back room, and that showed in a 42-14 win over Wake Forest. The Hurricanes added freshman Jordan Lyle to the mix with Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr. Lyle had seven carries for 115 yards and a score, while Martinez added 63 yards and Fletcher 55. Miami rushed for 228 yards and a whopping 7.1 yards per carry. Ward added 280 yards passing, showing the type of balance Miami wants but has not achieved consistently. Up next is a Syracuse team that has struggled to stop the run this season. A win clinches a spot for the Hurricanes in the ACC championship game. — Andrea Adelson
Previous ranking: 13
Kevin Jennings and the offense were dominant again, and SMU’s emphatic win at Virginia offered the latest statement that the Mustangs aren’t just ACC upstarts, but the genuine favorite in the conference and a legitimate playoff team. SMU (10-1) is one of just eight remaining undefeated or one-loss teams in the Power 4, and since Jennings took over as the starting QB, the Mustangs are 8-0 and averaging 41 points per game. — David Hale
Previous ranking: 12
While SEC (and CFP) rivals Ole Miss and Alabama were suffering upset losses, Tennessee benefited by simply handling its business against UTEP in a 56-0 win. Nico Iamaleava overcame a slow start — three punts in the first three drives — to complete 17 of 23 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns, including Bru McCoy‘s first two touchdown catches of the season. Iamaleava was nearly perfect as the Volunteers unleashed a 28-0 second quarter to salt the game away. Tennessee’s offense hasn’t averaged over 5.8 yards per play in an SEC game all season but cruised along at 6.8 against the outmanned Miners, and after finding themselves on the outside looking in with this week’s CFP rankings, the Vols should be comfortably in the field of 12 when the rankings are updated Tuesday. — Connelly
Previous ranking: 4
Even though Indiana got routed by Ohio State 38-15 on Saturday, the Hoosiers have continued to impress with their red zone defense. In the first half at Ohio Stadium, Indiana allowed just one touchdown on three Ohio State possessions in the red zone. The Hoosiers stuffed Quinshon Judkins on fourth-and-1 from the Indiana 2-yard line.
Later, D’Angelo Ponds broke up a pass, which landed in the arms of Jailin Walker for an interception at the Hoosiers’ 11, thwarting another Ohio State scoring opportunity. Those plays kept Indiana in the game through halftime, even though its offense gained just 53 yards, the Hoosiers’ lowest first-half total in a decade. In Indiana’s previous game, it allowed Michigan to score just one touchdown on three red zone chances. The Hoosiers are now in the top half of the Big Ten in red zone defensive efficiency. — Trotter
Previous ranking: 11
For all of the attention Ashton Jeanty and Boise State’s offense gets, there isn’t much discussed about the Broncos’ defense. When the season began, there wasn’t much to praise on that side of the ball. Opponents scored over 30 points in three of the first five games, and Boise State allowed over 400 yards three times. Over the past five games, however, the unit has shown slight yet important improvements. No team has scored more than 24 points on the Broncos (10-1), and they’ve held teams under 350 yards three separate times. Spencer Danielson’s team has shown time and time again that it can win shootouts. All they need is for the defense to be serviceable and do enough to allow their offense to win games. In the back half of the season, the Broncos have done just that. — Uggetti
Previous ranking: 20
The Sun Devils (9-2) are one of the hottest teams in the country, and a trip to the Big 12 title game (and even the CFP) is now within reach following their dramatic 28-23 win over BYU. They’ve won four in a row ever since Sam Leavitt came back from his rib injury. We’re watching the redshirt freshman blossom into one of the best young QBs in the FBS on a weekly basis. Leavitt has the second-best QBR in the Big 12 over the past month (83.8) (behind only Shedeur Sanders) and is averaging 8.7 yards per attempt with a 10-1 TD-INT ratio. He’s taking care of the football and playing his best at the best possible time. — Max Olson
Previous ranking: 19
The Tigers picked a good week to play an FCS team. While chaos ruled the day around them, Clemson took care of business with a 51-14 win over The Citadel behind three touchdown passes by Cade Klubnik. The Tigers are now 9-2, marking their 14th straight season of nine wins or more. More importantly, the losses around them in the top 25 leave the door wide open for a playoff berth. A win next week against South Carolina would offer a signature victory over the SEC — home of the majority of the teams Clemson would be judged against. A Miami loss next week would also push the Tigers into the ACC title game, which could be either a blessing or a curse at this point. — Hale
Previous ranking: 6
It’s difficult to pull many positives after the Crimson Tide’s crushing stumble at Oklahoma in Week 13, but a once-vulnerable Alabama secondary that Georgia tore up for 439 passing yards on Sept. 28 has steadily improved over the course of the season. The Sooners’ success on the ground — and the overall state of their passing game — meant there wasn’t much work for the Crimson Tide defensive backs in Saturday’s 24-3 defeat.
While the secondary remains the weak link in Alabama’s defense, the unit anchored by Malachi Moore and Domani Jackson was strong enough to keep a lid on LSU’s passing attack on Nov. 9, and the Crimson Tide (8-3) entered the weekend ranked 18th among FBS defenses in pass defense (181.2 yards per game) after holding four of their past five opponents below 200 passing yards. — Eli Lederman
Previous ranking: 7
All Ole Miss had to do was beat Florida and Mississippi State, and Lane Kiffin’s Rebels would have likely secured their first College Football Playoff bid. Instead, they became the second straight ranked team to fall in the Swamp, suffering a 24-17 defeat. Jaxson Dart threw for 323 yards and two touchdowns, but he lost the plot late, throwing two bad interceptions; his 22-yard scoring strike to Cayden Lee with 9:05 left in the second quarter turned out to be the Rebels’ last touchdown of the day. Ole Miss (8-3) scored just three points in its last eight drives. There was enough chaos elsewhere that the Rebels’ playoff hopes aren’t completely dusted, but they’re going to need some more chaos over Rivalry Week to have a chance. — Bill Connelly
Previous ranking: 18
With the CFP bubble getting a lot weirder, and a couple of key conference mates joining the pile of three-loss teams on Saturday, South Carolina, 18th in the CFP rankings, got a breather with a 56-12 win over Wofford. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers overcame an early interception to go 23-for-27 for 307 yards and three touchdowns, and he added 53 rushing yards and another score. Dalevon Campbell caught five passes for 120 yards, and 12 different receivers caught at least one pass. The Gamecocks (8-3) gained 608 yards with 34 first downs, and while this was obviously an FCS opponent, the improvement of South Carolina’s offense has been a consistent storyline over the second half of the season. Even with the SEC’s Saturday upsets, they might not have a particularly realistic path toward the CFP, but their hopes aren’t completely dead yet, either. — Connelly
Previous ranking: 22
The Cyclones (9-2) didn’t crack 90 rushing yards in either of their first two games this fall and have emerged as an effective complement to the Big 12’s fifth-ranked passing attack. Sophomore rusher Carson Hansen upped his touchdown tally this fall to 11 with another pair of scores at Utah on Saturday, including his go-ahead, 3-yard touchdown with 1:31 remaining in a 31-28 road win that got dicey late for the Cyclones. Iowa State’s run game remains middle of the pack in the Big 12, but the Cyclones leaned on the program’s ground attack heavily in conference wins over Baylor (265 rushing yards) and UCF (256), and Hansen has emerged as a red zone weapon with seven of his 11 touchdowns coming from inside the 5-yard line. — Lederman
Previous ranking: 21
The Green Wave offensive line allowed eight sacks across a pair of September losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma. Since then, Tulane quarterbacks have been sacked just six times during the eight-game winning streak that vaulted the Green Wave (9-2) to No. 20 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings coming off of an idle weekend. Tulane is buoyed by one of the Group of 5’s rising stars in freshman quarterback Darian Mensah and the AAC’s leading rusher in Makhi Hughes. And both are succeeding this fall with the help of an offensive line that enters the final weekend of the regular season ranked 25th in sacks allowed while powering the nation’s 10th-ranked rushing attack. — Lederman
Previous ranking: 14
The Cougars (9-2) played a dangerous game for weeks and their luck has caught up with them having now suffered back-to-back losses with a 28-23 loss at Arizona State on Saturday. The defeat leaves BYU as one of four two-loss teams in the Big 12 and it no longer controls its destiny, as it would not reach the title game if both ASU and Iowa State win next week. After falling behind 21-0 to ASU, the Cougars played much better, but their Hail Mary fell two yards shy of the end zone, which could be the difference between a second-tier bowl game and a College Football Playoff appearance. — Kyle Bonagura
Previous ranking: 15
The Aggies (8-3) lost a heartbreaker on the road at Auburn, with the first drop of Amari Daniels‘ season coming on the last play of the game, as the ball bounced off his hands in overtime in the end zone. It was improbable in many other ways: It marked Auburn’s first win in 15 tries against an AP-ranked team and the first overtime loss by the Aggies after winning seven straight.
The Aggies found some rhythm in their passing game (Marcel Reed was 22-of-35 for 297 yards and a career-high three TDs, adding 66 rushing yards), but the Aggies’ defense imploded, giving up 43 points to a Tigers team that hadn’t scored more than 24 in SEC play this season. The loss is a blow to hopes the Aggies had of reaching the College Football Playoff, but Alabama’s loss means the Aggies can still reach the SEC championship game with a win over Texas next weekend, leaving the door cracked for them to play their way back in. — Wilson
Previous ranking: 24
The Rebels (9-2) can wrap up a 10-win regular season with a win against Nevada next week and would qualify for the Mountain West title game against Boise State in the process. If UNLV loses to Nevada and CSU wins, then it would go to a computer tiebreaker. Beyond the conference title, the Rebels are still in play for the playoff. If they win the Mountain West and finish ranked ahead of the AAC champion in the final CFP rankings, then the Broncos would be in. The early-season QB drama seems so long ago now as UNLV is on pace to finish with one of its best seasons in school history. — Bonagura
Previous ranking: 16
It was Army’s first loss of the season and a lopsided one, as Notre Dame outmanned the Black Knights 49-14 on Saturday in Yankee Stadium. Afterward, Army coach Jeff Monken said it would be unfair to judge his team on that one game and he was proud of the way his team had continued to progress in all areas. Army had one turnover against Notre Dame but has been terrific at taking care of the ball this season.
The defense couldn’t stop Notre Dame, but the goal-line stand in the first half was indicative of the way Army has fought on defense this season. The Black Knights (9-1) still have a lot to play for. They face UTSA on Saturday and then Tulane the following weekend in the AAC championship game and of course rival Navy in the finale. — Low
Previous ranking: 25
The offense started with a pair of three-and-outs, but a 28-7 run resulted in a comfortable 39-20 win for Missouri at Mississippi State. It was the Tigers’ first win over the Bulldogs in three tries since joining the SEC in 2012, and it moved them to 8-3 for the season. Brady Cook completed 15 of 20 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown, and after gaining under 300 yards for two straight games while Cook was battling injury, the offense followed up on last week’s 381-yard effort by gaining 472 against MSU. The difference? Big plays. Cook completed five passes of 28 yards or more, and to four different receivers. The Tigers are still out of the playoff picture, but they have a chance to finish 9-3 with a Battle Line Rivalry win over Arkansas on Saturday. — Connelly
Previous ranking: NR
Coach Bret Bielema’s teams always have been known for running the ball, but Illinois (8-3) showed other strengths for much of the season before returning to its roots down the stretch. The Illini ran for 182 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s 38-31 road win against Rutgers, marking their second straight game with three rushing scores and third in the past six contests. Other than the loss to Penn State, when Illinois finished with 34 net rushing yards, the Illini have averaged 158.3 rushing yards in their other seven Big Ten games. Quarterback Luke Altmyer and running backs Josh McCray and Aidan Laughery all found the end zone at Rutgers, as Illinois averaged 5.1 yards per carry. The Illini aren’t the elite run outfit that Bielema frequently had at Wisconsin, but they provide enough on the ground to balance out a passing attack led by wideout Pat Bryant, who had 197 receiving yards and the game-winning touchdown with four seconds to play. — Rittenberg
Previous ranking: 17
The Buffaloes’ defense showed so much progress under new defensive coordinator Robert Livingston throughout this season, but they had no answers for stopping Devin Neal and Kansas in their 37-21 loss in Kansas City. Colorado (8-3) had held every opponent on its schedule under 200 rushing yards — and gave up just 31 yards vs. Utah last week — until the resurgent Jayhawks burned them for 331 yards on 57 carries, with Neal surpassing 200 all by himself. Deion Sanders believes it was an uncharacteristic performance for his defense in every way. They can prove it was a fluke by slowing down Ollie Gordon II and the Oklahoma State Cowboys in their regular-season finale on Friday. — Olson
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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
NORMAN, Okla. — Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer lamented his team’s “uncharacteristic” mistakes in the aftermath of a 24-3 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday night that dealt a significant blow to the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff hopes.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe threw three interceptions, and the Crimson Tide (8-3, 4-3 SEC) never shook off a slow start against an Oklahoma defense that held them to a season-low 70 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, the Sooners (6-5, 2-5) — relying on the legs of quarterback Jackson Arnold and freshman running back Xavier Robinson — gashed Alabama for 257 rushing yards on their way to sealing bowl eligibility for a 26th consecutive season.
The Crimson Tide have three losses for the first time since 2010.
Alabama began Week 13 in line to reach the SEC title game on Dec. 7 with wins over Oklahoma then Auburn during the final two weeks of the regular season. Instead, the Crimson Tide’s road stumble helped No. 10 Georgia clinch a spot in the conference championship and left Alabama’s path into the CFP on shaky ground. Even if the Tide beat the Tigers in the Iron Bowl next weekend, Alabama will need plenty of help in order to land a spot in the 12-team playoff field.
Following the program’s lowest-scoring performance since 2004, DeBoer focused on the Tide’s early errors in a game he said “got away” from them after halftime.
“We got to be better in all ways,” DeBoer said. “Some simple things, uncharacteristic things, happened early in the game where we didn’t get the momentum on our side. And really, it comes down to the end of the first half [with] them scoring a touchdown and the turnovers really kind of changing the momentum of the game there.”
It was a particularly rough night for Milroe. The junior went 11-for-26 for 164 yards passing and managed just 7 yards rushing on 15 attempts. Alabama trailed 10-3 early in the third quarter when Oklahoma cornerback Eli Bowen intercepted Milroe, setting up Robinson’s second touchdown run of the game four plays later. The Sooners’ lead grew to 24-3 on the ensuing possession after linebacker Kip Lewis jumped Milroe’s throw to tight end Robbie Ouzts and returned it 49 yards for a score.
Oklahoma’s 21-point advantage marked Alabama’s largest deficit against an unranked opponent since 2003. The Tide picked up only five first downs and 80 yards total after Milroe’s back-to-back picks. He became the first Alabama quarterback to throw three interceptions in a game since 2015 on Woodi Washington‘s game-sealing pick with 6:53 remaining in the contest.
While Milroe struggled, DeBoer saw wider problems in an offense that never recovered from a sloppy first half, which included punts on three of the Tide’s first four possessions.
“I think stepping back, it just felt like early in the game there were different things — drops, balls we lost in the lights — different, uncharacteristic things. Weird things that happened,” DeBoer said. “I thought [Milroe] was actually putting the ball where he needed to. We just needed to help him out a little bit.”
Sooners coach Brent Venables said Oklahoma was the more “physical football team,” and his offense proved it with 205 first-half rushing yards that marked the most Alabama has allowed in a half since 2007. The Tide continued to struggle against the Sooners’ rushing attack after halftime without linebacker Deontae Lawson. Alabama’s second-leading tackler was ruled out for the remainder of the game after exiting with a lower body injury in the second quarter.
DeBoer did not provide an update on Lawson’s status following the game.
“Anytime you lose a great player like Deontae, it’s going to affect you,” DeBoer said. “His leadership. He’s the guy who makes a lot of the calls on the field. Just seems like he’s always in control.”
The stunning defeat leaves the Tide’s postseason hopes in a precarious position entering the final week of the regular season. With those playoff aspirations no longer in Alabama’s control ahead of an Iron Bowl visit from the Tigers, its quarterback was focused on moving forward.
“It’s all about finish,” Milroe said late Saturday night. “We’ve got to finish. There’s so much left for the football season. We’ve got to get everyone together to have a like-mindedness and just keep on competing. Every opportunity that we have, we’ve just got to seize it.”
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