Midseason takeaways: Taking stock of Colorado, Penn State, USC, Notre Dame
With the college football season at its midpoint, it’s a good time to assess what we’ve seen so far and what it might mean the rest of the way.
Is the bubble bursting for Deion Sanders and Colorado after a scintillating start to the season? Can USC fix its offensive line and protect Caleb Williams in his quest for another Heisman Trophy? And will we be fortunate enough to see a rematch of Week 7’s Washington-Oregon thriller?
Can Penn State take the next step and make it to the College Football Playoff? Will Notre Dame continue to progress after its big win over USC? And could the ACC get two teams in the CFP?
ESPN’s college football reporters examine these questions in the aftermath of Week 7.
Colorado’s poor finish could be a bad omen
From the moment Colorado rallied past Arizona State on Oct. 7, Deion Sanders focused on the team’s habit for slow starts, saying he was “sick of it,” even after the Buffaloes rallied for their fourth win. Colorado answered its coach Friday night, storming out to a 29-0 halftime lead against one-win Stanford, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions and outgaining the Cardinal 324-114. “Finally put it together … like I desired,” Sanders said. The Buffs were 30 minutes away from a 5-2 start — well ahead of every external prediction for the season — and a well-timed open week. For a team that had outscored its first six opponents 126-84 in the second half, and 89-42 from the third quarter on, victory seemed secure.
But the Buffs unraveled in the second half and overtime, allowing Stanford to score on its final six possessions, including a 97-yard drive. There were substitution errors, penalties and other mistakes. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who had shown his standard brilliance with five touchdown passes, made a rare poor decision in overtime, flinging the ball toward the end zone, where it was easily intercepted. Colorado’s flaws have been there all season, even in the first half Friday, as Stanford receivers sneaked behind Travis Hunter and others. But the Buffs had masked them fairly well, mainly because of Shedeur Sanders.
“When you’re playing like you’re playing, you don’t want a bye week, you want to work it out, you want to make it happen,” a visibly frustrated Deion Sanders said. “I wish we could play next week, I really do.”
Instead, they have two weeks to stew as bowl eligibility is suddenly in doubt. For all the hype about the September schedule, Colorado’s slate is truly backloaded. Four of the Buffs’ remaining opponents — UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State and Utah — entered Saturday ranked in the top 20, and the fifth, Arizona, is clearly improved. Although the excitement and attention around Deion Sanders and his team likely will remain, the tone of the season seemed to shift early Saturday morning at Folsom Field. — Adam Rittenberg
Cascade Clash redux in the desert?
That purple-clad field storm late Saturday afternoon in Seattle at Husky Stadium was a sight to see after Washington beat Oregon in a 36-33 instant classic. The Oregon fans who made the trek from Eugene had to be disappointed, with the Ducks having come agonizingly close to forcing overtime.
The Pac-12’s farewell tour has been a joy to watch and the beauty of what awaits during the home stretch is that Dan Lanning’s team could get another crack at Kalen DeBoer’s team in 48 days when the conference crowns its final champion Dec. 1 in Las Vegas. The conference going without divisions for its last season may give college football fans a tremendous parting gift.
There’s a lot of work to be done between now and the first Friday in December, and the focus will be on each team’s defense to continue to complement two of the nation’s top three offenses. The Ducks, who have permitted their first six opponents to average 15.8 points (11th in FBS), sit 13th in total defense (282.2 yards per game), and the Huskies are 87th in the country at 394.3 YPG, allowing only 20.8 points a game.
Washington still has trips to USC and Oregon State and an Apple Cup matchup with Washington State to deal with, while Oregon visits two-time defending conference champ Utah to close out October and has USC and Oregon State on the docket in two of the last three weeks of the season. But if Washington and Oregon are the two teams left standing from a grueling regular season, get your popcorn ready. — Blake Baumgartner
Moment of truth looming for Penn State
James Franklin has been in Happy Valley for 10 years now and has won 70% of his games while at the helm (84-36). Four times he has led the Nittany Lions to 11-win seasons, including in 2022, and he has a trio of New Year’s Six victories to his credit. While he has accomplished a lot, his revitalization of the program has included only one Big Ten title (2016).
This year, however, presents a unique opportunity as Penn State looks to take that next step toward gaining entry into the College Football Playoff for the first time, beginning with Saturday’s game against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. Through seven weeks, the Nittany Lions own the nation’s top units in both in total defense (193.7 YPG) and passing defense (121.2 YPG) and are second only to Michigan in scoring defense (8.0 PPG). Coordinator Manny Diaz’s impact can’t be understated as the former Miami head coach has breathed new life on that side of the ball over the last two years. What transpires in the Horseshoe in five days and then three weeks later when Michigan comes calling Nov. 11 may go a long way in defining Franklin’s tenure, especially with realignment dramatically changing the look of the Big Ten in 2024 and beyond. — Blake Baumgartner
USC’s offensive line is a problem it needs to solve
As we saw all of last season, USC’s success relies largely on Caleb Williams being Caleb Williams. What that means, however, isn’t just Williams playing up to his Heisman level, but also being allowed to work his magic thanks to an offensive line that protects him well. In 2022, Williams had plenty of time to dissect defenses in and out of the pocket behind an experienced line. This year, after key departures in center Brett Neilon and guard Andrew Vorhees, the Trojans’ offensive line has devolved from a relative strength to a question mark, at best.
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Caleb Williams throws 3 INTs for first time in USC’s loss to Notre Dame
Caleb Williams throws a trio of interceptions in the first half as USC falls to Notre Dame 48-20.
With Justin Dedich moving to center and other reshuffling of the line with players such as Florida transfer Michael Tarquin and Mason Murphy, the line has allowed 2.43 sacks per game this season for a total loss of 124 yards — the latter is 105th in the country. On Saturday night against a feisty Notre Dame defense determined to get to Williams, the unit surrendered six sacks while accounting for a handful of penalties as well. Dedich, in particular, has had several penalties called on him in recent weeks.
“I think the biggest thing that we did was we put ourselves in so many situations where we were backed up in long-yardage situations,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said postgame. “It becomes almost like third-and-long ball and they’re pinning their ears back. Do we need to protect better? Yes. But there’s a lot of things that go into that. The big thing is you can’t continually put yourself in just bad situations against a good defense.”
Williams was far from good Saturday, and he took plenty of the blame for some of his throws, including three interceptions. But with USC playing from behind from the first quarter on, the running game was never established (103 total yards) while Williams was put in a position where he needed to press. Without much time to throw, any chance at a comeback was sapped.
Now USC’s offensive line will have to deal with defenses just as tough, if not tougher, in Utah, UCLA, Cal, Oregon and Washington. As Riley said Saturday night, there’s no “magic pill” that will allow them to improve, just work. For the offensive line, however, that work needs to happen fast. — Paolo Uggetti
Marcus Freeman’s signature wins help the learning curve
After listening to Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and several players describe a historic win over USC, athletic director Jack Swarbrick left the team’s media room and walked into the brisk night, still buzzing in celebration. Swarbrick, a 1976 Notre Dame graduate who will step down as AD in 2024, told me that wins over USC are especially sweet for alums. This one was also validating.
In December 2021, Swarbrick gave Freeman a chance to lead the Notre Dame program, understanding that there would be a learning curve. Only 35, Freeman had been a Group of 5 defensive coordinator less than a year earlier. “I have no reason to suspect it’s a bigger learning curve or a smaller one in Marcus’ case, but there has to be one,” Swarbrick told me then.
Freeman has had some difficult moments in his first year-plus on the job: losing to Marshall at home to drop to 0-2; losing to a bad Stanford team, also at home, midway through last season; the 10 defenders on the field fiasco against Ohio State on Sept. 23; getting drubbed by Louisville two weeks later. But his teams have responded admirably and recorded two dominant signature wins — 35-14 over Clemson last November and 48-20 against USC — that show the potential of Freeman’s program. Notre Dame fans want to embrace Freeman, perhaps more than his undeniably successful predecessor, Brian Kelly. That much became clear Saturday night with the chants and high-fives he received after he came up the famous stadium tunnel.
Like all coaches at programs like Notre Dame, Freeman will be judged on CFP appearances. Kelly had two in his final four seasons. Freeman told me before the season that he’s less focused on tangible goals and more on getting his team to its full potential. He echoed that feeling Saturday.
“There is a process to guarantee you have a chance to have success,” he said. “That’s what we couldn’t cheat. I’m proud of the way the coaches and the players really attacked it.”
Freeman’s process to become a top-level coach might not be linear, but growth spurts like the USC and Clemson wins show he’s on his way. — Adam Rittenberg
Two ACC playoff contenders?
One of the biggest knocks against the ACC in the College Football Playoff era — or really in any era — is that the conference never had multiple teams in the hunt for a national championship in the same season. This could be that season.
Both Florida State and North Carolina hit the midway point undefeated and have each scored more than 30 points in all their games thus far. They have some remaining tests along the way: Both teams play Duke, Florida State still has Miami and Florida and North Carolina still has Clemson.
But they don’t play each other in the regular season, so the possibility exists that they could end up in the ACC championship game, both as undefeated teams. If this scenario were to unfold in any other conference, there would already be talk about possibly getting two teams into the playoff. It happened to the ACC in the pandemic year in 2020. One-loss Clemson avenged its loss to Notre Dame in the conference championship game, handing the Irish their first loss. But both teams ended up making it into the playoff.
But the narrative around this conference makes talk of getting two teams in the playoff premature. Part of that is because Florida State has looked shaky at times, part of it is because North Carolina has not been able to sustain early success in recent years, part of it is because the rest of the conference outside the top five is mediocre.
If both teams keep winning, then perhaps the conversation changes in the second half of the season. But this is the ACC, of course, and fans have been scarred into believing the worst will happen at any moment (#goacc anyone?) For the latest examples, see undefeated Miami blowing the game versus Georgia Tech two weeks ago, and undefeated Louisville losing on the road to 1-4 Pitt on Saturday.
That leaves the last two standing. As of right now, ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Florida State a 30.1% chance to win out, and North Carolina a 7.9% chance. Not great odds, but certainly better than at any point last season for two teams. The ACC will take that. — Andrea Adelson
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
Tennessee‘s Nico Iamaleava has been cleared medically to play Saturday against Georgia and is set to return as the Vols’ starting quarterback, sources told ESPN.
Iamaleava, a redshirt freshman, missed the second half of the 33-14 win over Mississippi State last week after suffering a blow to the head. He was listed as questionable earlier this week on the SEC availability report but has been removed in the latest report.
Iamaleava practiced this week, including team periods, and there was optimism among the staff that he was trending in the right direction and would be able to play. But the final call was made by medical personnel. Iamaleava was examined by doctors for what sources told ESPN were concussion-like symptoms after leaving the Mississippi State game. He did not return to the sideline for the second half.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on Monday that he felt like Iamaleava would be in “great shape for Saturday” and noted that Iamaleava was with the team earlier Monday morning for meetings and team activities. The Vols’ first full-scale practice was Tuesday.
Iamaleava was having his most productive outing against an SEC team this season before leaving the game against Mississippi State. He completed 8 of 13 passes for 174 yards, no interceptions and a pair of touchdowns as Tennessee built a 20-7 halftime lead. In Iamaleava’s previous five SEC games, he had accounted for three touchdowns and turned it over five times. He was also sacked 15 times in those five games.
Redshirt senior Gaston Moore filled in for Iamaleava in the second half last week and finished 5-of-8 for 38 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Getting Iamaleava back for the Georgia game is big news for Tennessee, which is right in the middle of the SEC championship race and College Football Playoff picture.
Receiver Dont’e Thornton (hand) has also been given the green light to play for Tennessee after earlier being listed as questionable.
Week 12 is here as we take a look at an SEC matchup that has College Football Playoff implications, learn about three of the nation’s top passers who all played under the same coach and see what’s going on in the Big 12.
No. 7 Tennessee will visit Sanford Stadium as it takes on conference opponent No. 12 Georgia on Saturday night. With so much at stake, what can each team improve on ahead of this SEC showdown?
The Big 12 has six teams in the hunt for a spot in the conference title game. With the final CFP rankings coming out in less than a month, what scenario looks most realistic for the conference in terms of how many of its teams could make the 12-team field?
Our college football experts preview big games and storylines ahead of the Week 12 slate.
Jump to a section:
Tennessee-Georgia | The coach behind three top QB passers
What’s going on in the Big 12 | Quotes of the Week
What has each team done well in conference play? What improvements can be made?
It has been a historic (and dominant) season for Tennessee’s defense, which has yet to give up more than 19 points in any of its nine games. Against SEC competition, the Volunteers lead the conference in scoring defense, giving up 16.7 points per game, and also lead the way in third-down defense and red zone defense. In other words, they’ve given up very little of anything on defense and are buoyed by a line that’s both talented and deep. Tennessee plays a ton of players up front and has been especially good at forcing key turnovers. In 23 trips inside its own 20-yard line, the Vols have forced six turnovers.
The reality is that Tennessee has played to its defense for much of this season out of necessity. The offense has lacked consistency and struggled to generate explosive plays, particularly in the passing game. It’s not all on redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, either. Iamaleava has thrown only five touchdown passes in six SEC games, and the Vols are tied for 10th with an average of 7.5 yards per completion. Iamaleava, who sustained a head injury in a win over Mississippi State last week, has been the victim of poor pass protection at times, and his receivers have dropped some costly passes. Iamaleava has also been shaky when it comes to overthrowing receivers and occasionally holding onto the ball too long.
The bright spot on offense for Tennessee has been running back Dylan Sampson, who has a school-record 20 rushing touchdowns. He has been a constant for the Vols on offense and has an SEC-leading 772 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in conference play. As good as he has been, the Vols are probably going to need more from their passing game to win in Athens. — Chris Low
The Bulldogs didn’t do much of anything well in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, which was the first time in a long time that Kirby Smart’s team was manhandled on the lines of scrimmage.
The good news for Georgia: It’s heading home to Sanford Stadium for the first time in more than a month. Georgia hasn’t dropped back-to-back games in the regular season since 2016, Smart’s first season, and it has bounced back after each of its past eight losses. The Bulldogs have won seven of their past eight games against the Volunteers.
For all of quarterback Carson Beck‘s turnovers, Georgia’s problems on offense probably start up front. The offensive line hasn’t done a good job of protecting him, and the Bulldogs’ lack of a potent running game has prevented them from effectively utilizing play-action passes. Their banged-up offensive line is going to face another formidable defensive front Saturday. Georgia has 27 dropped passes, fourth most in the FBS, according to TruMedia, so its receivers need to become more reliable as well. — Mark Schlabach
The coach behind three of college football’s top passers
Miami‘s Cam Ward, Washington State‘s John Mateer and North Texas‘ Chandler Morris are three of the top five quarterbacks in total offense this season in FBS. All three have the same head coach to thank for where they are today.
North Texas coach Eric Morris coached Ward at Incarnate Word and Washington State, recruited Mateer to the Cougars and signed Morris out of the transfer portal this offseason. All three hailed from Texas and are putting up big numbers this season. Morris, a Mike Leach disciple, knows what he’s looking for when it comes to QBs.
For each one, the journey was different. Ward was a zero-star recruit out of West Columbia, Texas, played in a wing-T offense and had no scholarship offers. But he showed up to Incarnate Word’s camp in 2019 and impressed with his quick release and accuracy. Morris saw appealing traits, too, in Ward’s multisport talents.
“He was such a good basketball player,” Morris said. “He was a bigger guy who could really handle the ball and move with ease. He had a twitch and quickness about him that was almost Mahomes-esque, where he’s not fast but you see him get out of the pocket and scramble and he’s nifty on his feet. He saw the floor great and shot the basketball great.
“It might be easier at an FCS school to take that risk, but it was something we were really confident in.”
Ward came in with extreme confidence, telling coaches he’d win the starting job over their returning all-conference player (and he did). He followed Morris to Pullman, Washington, out of loyalty to the coach who believed in him. Now he’s playing on a big stage, chasing a College Football Playoff bid and a Heisman Trophy with the No. 9 Hurricanes.
“It’s been fun to watch him flourish and get rewarded for being patient all these years,” Morris said.
When Morris left UIW to become Washington State’s offensive coordinator in 2022, he brought Ward but needed another QB. On his first recruiting trip in Texas, he stopped by to check out Mateer. The two-star recruit had a prolific senior season at Little Elm High School but was committed to Central Arkansas. Morris didn’t understand what FBS programs were missing and convinced Mateer to flip.
After two seasons behind Ward, Mateer has emerged as one of the top dual-threat QBs in college football with 2,332 passing yards, 805 rushing yards (excluding sacks) and 33 total TDs.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Ward said. “He’s just so dang hard to tackle in the open field. Just a kid that loves ball and was under-recruited. The tide’s turned and he ends up being a big-time ballplayer.”
Chandler Morris was not an under-the-radar talent, but he’s having his best season yet at North Texas. He began his career at Oklahoma, won the starting job at TCU in 2022, sustained a knee injury in its season opener and then watched Max Duggan lead the Horned Frogs to the national title game.
Morris had a six-game stint as TCU’s starter last season before injuring the same knee. At UNT, he’s leading the nation’s No. 3 passing offense with 3,244 total yards and 30 TDs. Like Ward and Mateer, he processes information quickly, makes plays with his feet and throws outside the pocket with accuracy. If you ask Eric Morris, those traits are a must in today’s game. When paired with his version of Air Raid ball, you get big-time results.
“It’s been fun to see him get his swagger back,” Morris said.
Eric Morris points to Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels. The QBs thriving at the highest level are becoming unstoppable by creating plays out of the pocket. And so are his guys.
“Everybody obviously watches Cam and the magic he makes,” Morris said, “but I think all three of ’em can make plays when it’s not a perfect play call. There are a bunch of really good pure passers nowadays, but that’s what sets them all apart.” — Max Olson
What’s going on in the Big 12?
Two-thirds of the way through the Big 12 schedule, six teams are still in the hunt for a title-game appearance: BYU (6-0), Colorado (5-1), Arizona State, Iowa State, Kansas State and West Virginia, all of which are 4-2. There are too many variables to discuss all the scenarios, but the conference has a straightforward tiebreaker policy.
It’s possible to come up with scenarios in which the Big 12 could get two bids, one bid or shut out altogether.
For the Big 12 to get two bids, BYU probably would have to finish 12-0, then lose a close game in the championship to a two-loss team (Colorado, Iowa State or Kansas State). A 12-1 BYU team would get consideration, but it would become a question of how far it would fall and what else happens around the country.
The most likely scenario is the Big 12 will get one team in: whichever one wins the conference title game. If BYU wins out, it will have a bye, but if it slips up even once — or if another team wins the title — Boise State might be in position to get a first-round bye, assuming the Broncos win out.
The doomsday scenario in the Big 12 is if the conference champion has two or three losses and Army and Boise State win out. If that’s the case, there is a good possibility both of those schools would be ranked ahead of the Big 12 champion and the Big 12 would be left out. — Kyle Bonagura
Quotes of the Week
“They’re stubborn, man. They’re physical. He is an elite runner. The runs they run are sometimes nontraditional. They run some runs that other people don’t run because of the space in the box. He’s very patient. He hits small creases. He’s hard to tackle. How many touchdowns has he got in the SEC? Twenty-something? That’s crazy. In the SEC? The SEC is the hardest league in the world to run the ball in on because they’ve got the most size defensive lineman, and he continues to do it at a crazy pace to me.” — Kirby Smart on Volunteers tailback Dylan Sampson.
“I never try to take a step back. I try to take a step up. I’m always putting my head out the window. I’m trying to see around the corner, not trying to see straight ahead. It’s normalcy for everybody to see what’s in front of them. I’m trying to see around the corner. That’s the relationship I have with the Lord, to help me see around the corner so I can help navigate these young men as well as the women that’s attached to our program to a better way and a better life. So I don’t get caught up in the ‘You go, boys!’ or the ‘You ain’t nothing.’ You know, if I would’ve listened to you guys earlier, I’ve gotta listen to you now. So I might as well just put some headphones on and block you out. Notice I don’t have a sponsor for headphones, but that would’ve been a good placement for a sponsor.” — Deion Sanders when asked if he takes time to step back and appreciate the magnitude of Colorado’s turnaround.
“I hope anyone who has ambitions about playing in the National Football League, let’s see what you’ve got against Clemson. Let’s see you play your best game here. If you weren’t focused for Virginia, which I can’t imagine you weren’t — and I’m not saying anybody was not focused — but if they didn’t get your focus, I imagine Clemson will get your focus when you put the tape on.” — Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi on whether playing Clemson gets the attention of his players.
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