Week 11 takeaways: Jimbo Fisher’s QB problem, Kalen DeBoer’s milestone, Marvin Harrison Jr.’s Heisman case
Week 11 brought bigger news off the field than on it, as Texas A&M fired coach Jimbo Fisher on Sunday despite having to pay a $76 million buyout. And of course, the Michigan sign-stealing saga reached a head with the suspension of coach Jim Harbaugh before the Wolverines’ game with Penn State.
On the field, a pair of unbeaten teams — Georgia and Washington — posted impressive wins, while two more players tried to force their way into the Heisman Trophy conversation.
Our college football reporters look at the fallout from all the action in this week’s takeaways.
Jimbo Fisher, Florida State follow QBs in opposite directions
It’s not exactly breaking news to suggest a team is only as good as its quarterback, but Week 11 reinforced just how essential having a genuine star at the position actually is.
Where would LSU be this season without Jayden Daniels‘ heroics?
How many big throws has Michael Penix Jr. made in leading Washington into playoff contention?
Is there a more significant development this season than Jalen Milroe‘s transition from liability to foundation for Alabama?
But if you want to understand the true significance of elite QB play — and the often fickle nature of the position — look no further than Florida State and its former head coach.
The Seminoles are 10-0, carried back from the brink of the abyss by a quarterback no one believed in. Jordan Travis has done it all for FSU over the past three years, and his emergence has almost perfectly mirrored Florida State’s return to glory.
Meanwhile, Jimbo Fisher was fired by Texas A&M on the heels of a 6-4 start after his last, best hope at the QB position, Conner Weigman, went down with a season-ending injury in Week 3.
In Week 11, Travis fueled Florida State’s 27-20 win over rival Miami for his third straight victory over the Hurricanes.
In Week 11, Fisher was forced to start Jaylen Henderson against Mississippi State. It was Fisher’s fifth different starting QB in the past three seasons.
There was a time, not all that long ago, when Fisher was considered the preeminent quarterback whisperer in college football. He turned JaMarcus Russell, Christian Ponder, EJ Manuel and Jameis Winston into first-round NFL draft picks. Then, suddenly, the magic was gone. Fisher saw one QB recruit after another run into off-field issues, transfer, flame out or never emerge. He left FSU with a black hole at the position — one worsened by Willie Taggart’s inability to even sign a high school quarterback for two years — and headed to Texas A&M expecting to find greener pastures.
Instead, Fisher’s best years at A&M came with the QB he inherited, Kellen Mond, and none of his recruits — Zach Calzada, Haynes King, James Foster, Eli Stowers — amounted to much of anything.
Fisher’s fate was effectively sealed because he could never find a quarterback.
Meanwhile, Florida State’s salvation came from a castoff from Louisville, a guy Taggart didn’t think could play the position. Travis nearly quit football altogether in 2021, only to be salvaged by Mike Norvell, Kenny Dillingham and McKenzie Milton, who all saw something he didn’t even see in himself.
Fisher’s run of bad luck, bad evaluation and bad development ended with his termination.
Florida State’s good luck, bold vision and long-term investment might end with a playoff berth.
It’s amazing what the right QB can do to change the fates of powerful coaches and blue-blood programs. — David Hale
Georgia is never the hunted, always the hunter
Kirby Smart has done an incredible job of building Georgia’s program through recruiting, development of players and creating the kind of competition on the practice field that leads to quality depth few teams can match.
But after two straight national championships — really, after one, for that matter — most teams and players get complacent. It’s human nature to enjoy success by basking in it rather than using it to drive you harder.
But the more the Bulldogs win, the hungrier they become.
With their winning streak at 27 straight games, they can tie the SEC record on Saturday with a triumph at Tennessee. When Alabama won 28 in a row under the legendary Bear Bryant from 1978 to 1980, and certainly as the years have gone by, a lot of people thought that record that might never be broken. After all, it has stood for more than 40 years. Alabama also won 28 in a row on the field from 1991 to 1993, but it later had to forfeit eight wins and a tie in 1993 because of NCAA sanctions.
Making the Bulldogs’ run even more impressive is that they’ve lost a ton of talent to the NFL over the past two years yet just keep steamrollering along. They’ve had a staggering 24 players selected in the draft during the past two years, but the loss of such elite personnel hasn’t translated on the field.
Seeing tight end Brock Bowers return in a 52-17 rout of Ole Miss was especially revealing. Smart said a lot of people had advised Bowers to sit out the rest of the season, get even healthier and enter the NFL draft. Bowers is one of the top pro prospects in college football, and he returned to action just 26 days after having surgery on his ankle.
Smart said Bowers was even more hell-bent on returning the more people told him he should sit out the rest of the campaign, to “prove them wrong.”
It’s the same with this Georgia team. It’s never enough, and real or perceived, the Dawgs are always trying to prove people wrong. — Chris Low
Washington coach Kalen DeBoer hits 100-win milestone
Kalen DeBoer has only entered the national consciousness in, really, the past year and a half. In his brief time in Seattle, the Huskies have gone 21-2, and they currently own the nation’s second-longest winning streak at 17 games. This comes on the heels of an impressive two-year stint as the coach at Fresno State (12-6), the first season of which was soured by the pandemic.
Not a bad start to a coaching career, right?
Well, actually, DeBoer has been winning games — a lot of games — as a head coach dating back to when Reggie Bush and Vince Young were still in school. His five-year run as the coach at NAIA Sioux Falls from 2005 to 2009 was one of the most dominant stretches in the sport’s history. The Cougars went 67-3 in the span with four national titles.
Saturday’s win against Utah, the two-time defending Pac-12 champion, was DeBoer’s 100th as a head coach. The 10 years he spent climbing the coaching ladder seem absurdly long in hindsight, but there is no question now that he is one of the best coaches in the sport and, at 49, is positioned to become one of the faces of college coaching.
“He’s just a guy that everybody attracts to and everybody trusts because of the person he is,” Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said. “He’s the same guy every day, and he leads us very well. He continues to make sure that he puts the person over the player. He always makes sure that as a person, we’re good — we’re good in our daily lives and everybody has lives outside of football.”
That kind of perspective can feel rare in college football. When asked how winning game No. 100 compares with No. 1, DeBoer said he appreciates it more and more.
“I think realizing that the moment that these guys are in right now is what’s special to me, and that getting these wins and the experiences that they’re going to have, the memories that they’re going to have that last forever — the stories they’re going to be able to tell,” DeBoer said. “Hopefully, we’re far from being where this all ends, but I think I have appreciation for that and try to give them a dose of that every once in a while. But we’re trying to keep the pedal down to where we can realize the real goals that we have for this season.”
It doesn’t get easier. Washington will travel to No. 10 Oregon State on Saturday before ending the season with the Apple Cup against Washington State in Seattle. Then a likely rematch with Oregon awaits in the Pac-12 title game, where a College Football Playoff spot could be on the line. — Kyle Bonagura
Michigan remains undeterred by drama, distractions
The opinions about Michigan and the severity of the alleged sign-stealing operation led by former staff member Connor Stalions are both strong and wide-ranging. Did the Big Ten overstep its authority and set a problematic precedent? Did commissioner Tony Petitti go far enough with his discipline for coach Jim Harbaugh? How much should the sign stealing take away from Michigan’s remarkable turnaround since the end of the 2020 season? These questions and others have sparked vastly different and entrenched positions.
But some things aren’t really up for debate, including the ability of Michigan’s players to set aside the drama and distractions that have overwhelmed the program, even long before anyone outside of Schembechler Hall knew the name Connor Stalions. I wrote about this in August, after visiting on campus with Michigan players as well as university president Santa Ono and athletic director Warde Manuel. We discussed Harbaugh’s NFL flirtations, co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss’ mysterious firing, the brief return and departure of Shemy Schembechler and other things that could have sidetracked Michigan but didn’t.
None of those incidents had more potential to impact Michigan on the field than what began Friday afternoon, when the Big Ten suspended Harbaugh while the team was en route to play at Penn State. When the Wolverines arrived at Beaver Stadium without Harbaugh, they didn’t know whether he would be allowed to be on the sideline. Sources with the team described the players as “locked in” and “pissed,” but how would they perform? The Wolverines responded with a clinical takedown of Penn State, leaning on their defense and run game without completing a pass for the final 36-plus minutes (and only attempting one, a play nullified by a PSU penalty).
They didn’t dominate the line of scrimmage the way they did last year against Penn State, but after back-to-back Wolverines touchdown drives in the season quarter, it never felt like the Nittany Lions would come back and win. Michigan did not commit a turnover and was penalized just twice through the first three quarters. The game’s notable coaching errors came from the Penn State sideline, not the one acting head coach Sherrone Moore patrolled.
“We’ve been going through a lot lately,” Michigan running back Blake Corum said, “but it’s only brought us closer together. I love my brothers. It was a good job today.”
Michigan should learn Friday whether Harbaugh will miss its final two regular-season games (versus Maryland and Ohio State) or return to the sideline on Saturday. But whatever happens off the field, the Wolverines likely won’t be fazed by it. Could they lose a game? Sure. But don’t expect it to be because they aren’t focused. — Adam Rittenberg
0:36
Marvin Harrison Jr. strikes again with his 2nd TD
Marvin Harrison Jr. scores another touchdown for Ohio State, giving the Buckeyes a 14-0 lead over Michigan State.
There’s little doubt Marvin Harrison Jr. will be in New York on Dec. 9, the night the 2023 Heisman Trophy will be handed out. But the Ohio State wide receiver is making a compelling case that he should be the first Buckeye to win the award since Troy Smith in 2006 and break the program’s tie with Notre Dame for the most Heisman winners (seven).
For the second straight year, Harrison went off against Michigan State. A season after catching seven passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns at Spartan Stadium, Harrison was even better Saturday night at Ohio Stadium, registering seven catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns plus a 19-yard scoring run for good measure as the Buckeyes rolled 38-3. In the process, Harrison tied David Boston’s program record for the most 100-yard receiving games at 13.
Harrison enters the final two weeks of the regular season, when Ohio State plays Minnesota and at Michigan, with 59 receptions for 1,063 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is the first wideout in program history to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons after catching 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore.
Harrison is getting revved up at precisely the right time and will give Michael Penix Jr., Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix and any other contender a good run at the trophy as he looks to become the second wide receiver in four years — following Alabama’s DeVonta Smith in 2020 — to lay claim to the world’s most famous bronze stiff-arm. — Blake Baumgartner
Give the former walk-on some love
The Heisman Trophy favorites — Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Penix, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels — are certainly worthy of attention, but how about some love for Missouri running back Cody Schrader?
The former walk-on from Division II Truman State leads the SEC and ranks ninth in the FBS with 112.4 rushing yards per game. He has accumulated 1,124 rushing yards with 11 touchdowns and is averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
In Saturday’s 36-7 rout of No. 13 Tennessee, Schrader ran for 205 yards with one touchdown and caught five passes for 116 yards. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, he is the first SEC player in the past 25 years with at least 150 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game. He also is the first Missouri player to total more than 100 yards in both rushing and receiving in the same contest.
“Absolutely,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said when asked by reporters if Schrader should be among the contenders for the Heisman. “If you’re talking about the best player in college football who’s done more for his football team than anybody else. He’s the leading rusher in the SEC. When’s the last time the leading rusher in the SEC on a top-10 team wasn’t considered for the Heisman?
“The guy shows up in the biggest games on the biggest stages.”
Schrader, a 5-foot-9 senior from St. Louis, is already a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the best player in the FBS who started his career as a walk-on. At Truman State, a public university in Kirksville, Missouri, with an enrollment of about 4,000 students, Schrader led Division II with 2,074 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns in 2021. He ran for 745 yards with nine scores at Missouri last season.
Tennessee’s defense wasn’t the only one Schrader has victimized this season. He had 112 yards with a touchdown in a 30-21 loss at Georgia on Nov. 4 and 159 yards with two scores in a 34-12 victory over South Carolina on Oct. 21.
But none of his previous performances was more impressive than the one against Tennessee.
“What an incredible day that little Superman had for us,” Drinkwitz said. “I had to. I can’t call him the Smurf anymore. He’s risen to a new level.” — Mark Schlabach
-
David Schoenfield
PHILADELPHIA — Welcome to October chaos.
With a dominant effort from Blake Snell, one perfectly executed wheel play and one fortuitous scoop from Freddie Freeman for the game’s final out, the Los Angeles Dodgers escaped with a tense, thrilling 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their National League Division Series.
“I’ll take off my Dodgers hat and just put on a fan hat,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “I think that was a really, really dope baseball game. I think both of these games were really, really dope baseball games, fun to be a part of. Obviously, it’s a lot better when you’re on the winning side, but you can’t ask for better postseason baseball. It’s just fun. This is why we play.”
The first six innings were a classic pitcher’s duel between Snell and Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo as the game was scoreless through six innings. The final three innings were a wild affair of hits, walks, tag plays at home plate and on the bases, second-guessing of managers and a nearly costly throw in the dirt from Tommy Edman that Freeman scooped with the tying run on third base to close it out.
The key play of the game, however, occurred earlier in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Castellanos‘ bloop two-run double to shallow left field made it 4-3 with nobody out. With Alex Vesia entering to face Bryson Stott and Los Angeles expecting a bunt, the Dodgers huddled up and called for the wheel play, which entails having the third baseman charge toward the plate and the shortstop cover third base. It’s a play third baseman Max Muncy said the Dodgers don’t practice in spring training.
“Immediately, Mookie was like, ‘Hey, we need to be doing this,'” Muncy said. “It speaks to his baseball IQ and his intuition in that situation. We were all thinking it, but Mookie was definitely the one that brought it up and said we need to do this.”
Betts, who just finished his first full season at shortstop, explained his thinking.
“It’s just another learned behavior,” he said. “I’ve got to give that credit to [Miguel] Rojas. I think we did it earlier in the year in Anaheim, and I remember asking him, ‘When’s a good time to do it?’ He said, ‘In a do-or-die situation,’ and he and Woody [Dodgers coach Chris Woodward] have really helped me a lot just learning situations.”
Manager Dave Roberts gave the go-ahead. If the Dodgers failed, it would put runners on first and third with nobody out.
“I think it just speaks to the experience that a lot of us have been in a lot of these big games before, and we have a lot of experience doing these types of things,” Muncy said. “Doc trusts us as much as we trust Doc, and it’s not an easy thing to gain, and so that’s why in that moment, Doc heard us talking and right away he was on board with it.”
The first pitch to Stott was a slider out of the zone. With Muncy charging and Betts hustling to third, they were worried they might have given away their strategy.
“When it comes to the wheel play as a third baseman, your first job is obviously to field the ball, and then you’ve got to make a good throw,” Muncy said. “But the one thing no one talks about is you got to make sure the guy’s there to catch the throw.”
Betts got there.
“God blessed me with some athleticism, so I was able to just kind of put it on display there,” Betts said.
“It’s tag play, too,” Woodward said. “Running the wheel on a force out is a lot easier because the third baseman just has to catch it. But if you have to tag him, it presents a more difficult play. For Muncy to field it, know right away, make a good throw. Mookie hung in there. That was the play of the game.”
The Dodgers didn’t have a 5-6 putout in the regular season, the only team in the majors without one, according to ESPN Research.
In an era with few sacrifice bunts, the attempt was debatable. The Phillies had just 16 sacrifice bunts all season. Manager Rob Thomson explained the decision: “Just left-on-left,” he said, referring to Stott against Vesia. “Trying to tie the score. I liked where our bullpen was at, compared to theirs. We play for the tie at home.”
He praised the Dodgers’ execution.
“Mookie did a great job of disguising the wheel play,” Thomson said. “We teach our guys that if you see wheel, just pull it back and slash because you’ve got all kinds of room in the middle. But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up.”
The Phillies eventually put runners on second and third with two outs in the ninth. Roberts went to Roki Sasaki, whom Roberts hoped to avoid using for the second time in three days after Sasaki missed most of the regular season because of a shoulder injury. Sasaki got Trea Turner to hit a routine grounder to second — which Edman fielded but nearly threw away.
For the first two-thirds of the game, Snell and Luzardo were dominant. Luzardo allowed just one hit through six innings and fired 20 fastballs at 97-plus mph. Snell didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning. He got his biggest outs in the sixth. After walking Turner and Kyle Schwarber with one out, he struck out Bryce Harper on a 2-2 slider.
“I needed weak contact,” Snell said. “I knew I was going to have to attack him somewhere where he could hit, but I felt confident with the slider. Like today, I felt really confident with that pitch. Just kind of rode it out against him in that at-bat and ended up winning.”
Snell then got Alec Bohm to ground out to third base. Rojas fielded it and dove to tag the base just ahead of the speedy Turner.
Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner whom the Dodgers signed for $182 million in the offseason, had made 10 postseason starts before this season and never made it through six innings. He has now done it twice this year after pitching seven innings in the Dodgers’ wild-card opener against the Reds.
The Dodgers are one win from advancing to the NLCS as the series shifts to Dodger Stadium. The Phillies’ top three hitters — Turner, Schwarber and Harper — are a combined 2-for-21.
“Huge, huge momentum maintainers,” Roberts said. “Great ballgame, great plays, huge win.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024