Connect with us

Published

12 months ago

on

  • ESPN.com staff

Nov 21, 2023, 07:00 AM ET

Ah, Thanksgiving weekend, when the family gathers around the table and digs into a smorgasbord of traditional family dishes that instantly take us back in time by way of taste, smell and the memories to which those sensations are forever connected.

But it is also Rivalry Week, when college football contests involving teams and fan bases who do not particularly like each other find themselves in the midst of a similar holiday experience. When the sights, sounds and sensory overload of being inside a college football stadium also open the doors to the deepest recesses of our memory banks.

And then there is that region in between, where the truly bizarre and barely explainable kick-start the strangest of recollections. You know, like that casserole your Aunt Edith uncovers that leaves the family to spend the rest of the afternoon wondering WTH was baked in that CorningWare.

Or that jersey number being worn by the guy four rows in front of you, in the colors of thine enemy, that spawns stories of seething spitefulness that could only be born in the bizarro world of college football.

Or Aunt Edith’s ice box.

Or when her sister, Aunt Connie, gets into the sherry and starts spinning yarns about your parents that you’ve never heard before. Especially that one about them during Rivalry Week back in the day when they helped steal State U’s mascot.

The untold stories. The ones that give our lives — and college football — a little extra. That’s what we’re here to share with you. The untold stories, little-known details and forgotten tidbits that make Rivalry Week so special. Slow cooked to perfection over all these years. Like Aunt Edith’s casserole. — Ryan McGee

Jump to a section:
Ohio State’s double-bird man
Bad blood between the hedges
Playing for the platypus
Deeper than hate

Buckeyes’ double-bird man

Ohio State at Michigan, Saturday, noon ET, Fox

Marcus Hall knew all about the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry long before he became a member of the Buckeyes.

A Cleveland native, Hall could recount the star players, the Woody Hayes-Bo Schembechler battles, the gold pants tradition and the spiciest moments, like the fight between Ohio State’s David Boston and Michigan’s Charles Woodson in 1997. After signing with Ohio State, Hall couldn’t wait to be part of college football’s highest-profile series.

Ten years ago, he unexpectedly carved a place in Ohio State-Michigan lore — with two fingers.

The 2013 game pitted the third-ranked Buckeyes, 11-0 that season and 23-0 overall under coach Urban Meyer, against a 7-4 Michigan team at Ann Arbor. Hall, a fifth-year senior, was Ohio State’s starting right guard. He had started the previous season against Michigan, helping the Buckeyes to a win that capped a perfect first season under Meyer (the team was ineligible for postseason play).

“I was nervous as heck, but playing in that game, it’s like, ‘OK, I’m officially a Buckeye,'” Hall said. “That’s like your stamp.”

Hall couldn’t wait for his final go-round in The Game. He remembers the trip up to Michigan and hanging out with quarterback Braxton Miller and his other close friends on the team. The pregame atmosphere was “intense,” as the teams exchanged words in the stadium tunnel.

After Michigan took the lead early in the second quarter, Ohio State’s Dontre Wilson returned a kickoff and was tackled, only to get up surrounded by Wolverines. Pushes and punches ensued, and within seconds, players from both sidelines had entered the field as flags flew.

“I thought it was a bench-clearing brawl,” Hall said. “I’m like, ‘I’m definitely going on this field to protect my guys.’ I was an offensive lineman. That’s naturally what we do. I wasn’t going to be the only guy not out there.”

play

1:30

Marcus Hall’s infamous salute to Michigan fans

In 2013, Marcus Hall added to the OSU-Michigan rivalry lore by giving a double-finger salute to Michigan fans after getting ejected from the game.

The fracas turned out to be much tamer than Hall thought and was extinguished within seconds. But after a long huddle by the officiating crew, referee Mike Cannon announced the penalties, including three ejections: Michigan’s Royce Jenkins-Stone, Ohio State’s Wilson and, the last to be called, Hall.

Just like that, Hall’s career in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry was over.

“I didn’t hear anybody in the crowd, I didn’t hear anything,” Hall said. “All I was thinking was, ‘It’s my senior year. I’ve looked forward to my senior year playing Michigan for so long.’ The energy and preparation that goes into that game, you’re so invested in that game. For it to end before halftime, I just blew up.”

As ABC cameras followed him, Hall threw his helmet down on the Ohio State sideline, kicked a bench and then pumped his fist in anger. Then, as he turned into the stadium tunnel, he raised both of his middle fingers toward the Big House crowd.

“I compare it to, when you’re fed up on the job and it’s time to go, just let ’em fly,” Hall said.

Hall’s double bird would become the most memorable moment from the game, which Ohio State won 42-41 after intercepting a 2-point conversion pass attempt with 32 seconds left to ward off a furious Michigan rally. Other than the ejection itself, Hall said the worst part of his day was having to stew in the visitors locker room, which had no TVs and lousy cell phone reception.

Stan Jefferson, Ohio State’s director of player development, accompanied Hall and tried to calm him down. Hall kept his uniform on until the fourth quarter before showering.

“My adrenaline was still going,” he said. “I was trying to walk out the locker room and see what was going on, but they kept directing me back in. All I could hear were the oohs and ahhs and cheers from the crowd. That just had me on edge.”

Hall tried to track the game on his phone, which began buzzing with notifications as soon as he got back to the locker room. The middle-finger moment had gone viral.

Although his parents weren’t at Michigan Stadium, his uncle and aunt, who had never seen him play and aren’t big sports fans, showed up that day.

“They’re the most polite, great people, religious,” Hall recalled, laughing. “After the game, I talked to them and they’re like blown away, like, ‘Oh my God, we’ve never seen you act like that. Are you OK?’ I had to calm them down, let them know I just had a moment.”

Hall had never been kicked out of a game before. There had been some fights, but mostly in practice. He received a public reprimand from the Big Ten and did not start in the league championship game the following week. His parents were supportive, although they said he had to control his anger.

The double-bird image immediately gained traction. T-shirts were made showing Hall’s gesture, but since it was the pre-NIL days, he couldn’t profit. Hall’s attorney later contacted the company making the shirts and obtained a percentage of sales for Hall. Eventually, Hall made his own shirts, complete with his signature at the bottom “to make it more authentic.” He said he also signed “a lot of pictures” showing his salute.

Demand was high initially, and Hall still sells quite a few T-shirts around this time every year.

“It was a big moment in the rivalry,” he said.

Hall, who signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent and later played in the CFL, worked in sales after his playing career. He lives in the Columbus area, where he has worked with youth in group homes and is trying to become a firefighter. Hall tailgates at Ohio State games with former teammates like Miller and Christian Bryant. He’s considering making the trip to Ann Arbor for Saturday’s showdown, 10 years after his notable ejection.

“It wasn’t the best thing for me, but I can be humble and say that rivalry and everything that goes into it, it’s bigger than me,” Hall said. “It’s been here way before me and it’s going to be here way after me. Just to have a piece in that, I’m thankful. I started more than 30 games at Ohio State, but if my legacy has got to live on through the rivalry that way, I’m cool with that.” — Adam Rittenberg

Bad blood between the hedges

Georgia at Georgia Tech, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Given the trajectory of the Georgia and Georgia Tech football programs the past several years, it might be difficult to remember the Bulldogs lost to the Yellow Jackets at home in 2016, coach Kirby Smart’s first season.

After the Yellow Jackets rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half and won 28-27 on Qua Searcy’s 6-yard run and the ensuing extra-point kick with 30 seconds left in the regular-season finale, many Tech players — as had become something of a tradition — celebrated by taking home a souvenir from the famous hedges surrounding the playing field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

Shortly thereafter, then-Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity and then-Tech counterpart Todd Stansbury agreed the damage needed to stop. Bulldogs players had been retaliating by taking home chunks of the natural-grass turf at Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium.

The rivalry, long known as “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate,” was getting a little ugly when it came to vandalizing stadiums.

“It was back and forth between the hedges and the turf at Tech,” McGarity told ESPN last week. “We called each other and said the time to deface each other’s facility needs to come to an end. We both agreed it needed to stop. Kirby was adamant that we don’t do that anymore, that’s not going to happen. It didn’t help the rivalry at all. All it did was add fuel to the fire.”

Tech players had been taking home parts of UGA’s hedges going back to a 35-18 victory over the Bulldogs on Dec. 1, 1984. Yellow Jackets quarterback John Dewberry, a transfer from Georgia, broke off a piece of the Chinese privet hedges and clenched it between his teeth for photographers.

Tech players haphazardly pruned the hedges six more times over the next 32 seasons, including in 2016, when the hedges were especially damaged.

“They were mangled,” said McGarity, now president and CEO of Gator Bowl Sports in Jacksonville, Florida. “Because it was the last game of the season, it didn’t do permanent damage. Those hedges grow back so fast. It was just the symbolic gesture of defacing them. I’m sure Tech was frustrated when Georgia players dug up some of the natural turf on their field.”

Georgia has security officers protecting the exterior of the hedges from visiting fans who might want a souvenir, but McGarity said he didn’t think it was a good idea to have officers surrounding the interior perimeter.

“You didn’t want to have a situation where law enforcement was getting involved with players,” McGarity said. “That would be the story the next day. We more or less protected the exterior from the fans. That’s what we focused on — preventing fans from damaging the hedges because we could control that.”

Of course, beating the Yellow Jackets at home solves the problem for the Bulldogs. Georgia has won 18 of the past 21 games in the rivalry going into Saturday’s game in Atlanta. The Bulldogs have also won each of their past 25 games at Sanford Stadium, the longest active home winning streak in the SEC. — Mark Schlabach

Playing for the platypus

Oregon State at Oregon, Friday, 8:30 p.m., Fox

The front page of the Eugene Register-Guard on Nov. 20, 1959, trumpeted two new additions to the festivities surrounding the next day’s football game between Oregon and rival Oregon State. It was also homecoming weekend, and about 50 freshmen from what was then called Oregon State College planned a run from Corvallis to Eugene, though it’s not clear if they made the whole 40-plus-mile trek.

The second addition was the unveiling of a rivalry trophy.

“Other traditional college rivals have ‘little brown jugs’ or ‘old oaken buckets,’ but there has never been a trophy for the UO-OSC ‘civil war,'” Richard Baker wrote in the newspaper.

So, naturally, the Platypus Trophy — “with the head and bill of a duck and the tail of a beaver” — filled the void. Oregon student Warren Spady sculpted the trophy from maple, and for three years, it was awarded to the winner of the game: Oregon State in 1959 and 1961; Oregon in 1960.

And then, like that, it was gone.

For four decades, the Platypus Trophy faded from public consciousness. Legend has it that it was stolen in the early ’60s and reappropriated as a water polo trophy. Spady told the Register-Guard in 2007 that in 1986 he saw the trophy in a glass case at Oregon’s Leighton Pool, but the full route of its journey following Oregon State’s football win in 1961 is best left to the imagination.

It wasn’t until 2004, thanks to a column from John Canzano, writing for the Oregonian, that the trophy’s existence was thrust back into the public eye. Like the Register-Guard story from 45 years earlier, Canzano’s column noted the rare lack of a trophy for a college football rivalry game, only for him to be informed after publication that once upon a time one did exist. And it still might.

So, in the same year “National Treasure” hit theaters, the search was on. The trophy was finally located in 2005 in a storage closet, and since 2007 has been entrusted to the winning school’s alumni association for safekeeping after every Oregon-Oregon State football game.

On Oregon’s student alumni association website, the Platypus Trophy is described as “a symbol of pride and a long-forgotten history for the Civil War games.” The website also says, “As every Duck knows — Whether you live in Eugene or in New York, the Oregon State Beavers will always be our rival.”

Headed into this week’s game, with Oregon set to depart for the Big Ten and Oregon State left with an uncertain future, the Platypus Trophy is more representative of what college football used to be: a quirky, regional sport that connected generations.

It seems those days are just about over. — Kyle Bonagura

Deeper than hate

Georgia Southern at Appalachian State, Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU

Georgia Southern and Appalachian State first met on a football field in 1932. Or maybe it was 1934. It depends on where you look. Someone forgot to write it down. Which is even more hilarious when one realizes the schools were then known as South Georgia Teachers College and Appalachian State Teachers College.

Today, their rivalry has become one of the platforms upon which the league of true regional bile, the Sun Belt Conference, has been built.

One year ago, GSU outlasted App State 51-48 in a contest that produced more than 1,100 yards and a dozen lead changes. On Halloween night 2019, the 4-3 Eagles stunned Eliah Drinkwitz’s No. 20 and New Year’s Six-dreaming Mountaineers with a 24-21 win in Boone, North Carolina. There has been a quartet of games in which the No. 1-ranked FCS team was upset. There was GSU over ASU in 2007, just seven weeks after App State’s legendary defeat of Michigan. There was even a game in 2015 that was interrupted by a laser pointer from the stands, a fire alarm in a dorm adjacent to Kidd Brewer Stadium and a stolen ambulance.

But the roots of the title that has been bestowed upon this series — “A Feeling Deeper Than Hate” — reach back to Dec. 5, 1987, the schools’ first post-World War II meeting. It was the FCS (then I-AA) quarterfinals. The Eagles were the two-time defending national champions, coached by College Football Hall of Famer Erk Russell, who earned national notoriety as Georgia’s defensive coordinator under Vince Dooley. Erk was the godfather of the legendary Junkyard Dawgs and left Athens for Statesboro to help Georgia Southern restart its program. Using the brain inside his famous bald head (which he routinely headbutted his helmeted players with, leaving a trail of blood trickling down his face at kickoff), Russell won quickly, posting a pair of 13-2 seasons that led to those nattys.

When Georgia Southern arrived in Boone for the second round of the NCAA I-AA playoffs in 1987, the Eagles were greeted by an 11-2 Mountaineers team helmed by future South Carolina head coach Sparky Woods. They were also greeted by snow. A lot of snow. And under that powder was a totally frozen playing field.

For three hours, both teams slipped and slid, but App State found better footing at home and pulled off a 19-0 win. App State students rubbed ice into the wound during the second half when they used their boots and gloves to inscribe a snowy hill overlooking one end zone with a message: CAN YOU SCORE?

A group of angry Southern fans stormed the hill and ignited a snowcapped brawl. When police intervened, one officer pulled a move worthy of the “Home Alone” Wet Bandits on the cellar stairs, lost his footing and slid down the hill to crash into a sideline fence.

It was the only time Russell, who added a third and final national title in 1989, ever coached against Appalachian State. Even now, after all these years and all the games the Eagles and Mountaineers have played, through FCS playoffs, the Southern Conference and now the FBS and the Sun Belt, App State fans still love to irk GSU loyalists by grinding up that Erk stat. Meanwhile, every few years Georgia Southern fans still file petitions to the NCAA to have that 1987 Ice Bowl reclassified as a hockey game. — Ryan McGee

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Sports

Best of Week 12: Georgia returns to form, Oregon escapes and Travis Hunter takes control of the Heisman race

Published

6 hours ago

on

November 17, 2024

By

Best of Week 12: Georgia returns to form, Oregon escapes and Travis Hunter takes control of the Heisman race

  • David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterNov 17, 2024, 01:49 AM ET

    Close

    • College football reporter.
    • Joined ESPN in 2012.
    • Graduate of the University of Delaware.

Georgia entered Week 12 in an unusual place. Coming off an emphatic loss to Ole Miss, the Bulldogs were scuffling, looking for answers, and if the season had ended on Tuesday with the College Football Playoff committee’s most recent rankings, they’d have been on the outside looking in.

We had become accustomed to Georgia’s dominance at all turns. The close games were more a product of boredom than any actual defect, and the losses, rare as they were, were offered as little more than tribute to Nick Saban, the man who had sent Kirby Smart to lead Georgia to the promised land.

But in 2024, even amid the wins, things have just felt … off.

There has been the familiar parade of players landing in legal hot water away from the field. There has been the rising frustration with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. There’s the gut-wrenching losses to bitter rivals that seem destined to doom the Bulldogs to second-class status. If this were pro wrestling, the first notes of “Jesus, Take the Wheel” would begin playing and Mark Richt would emerge from the tunnel, revealing he had been in charge all along.

On Saturday, however, we got our reminder that this isn’t the Georgia of old, even if it’s not quite the Georgia of 2021 and 2022 either. In a game that felt almost algorithmically engineered to prove the Dawgs had addressed each of their most blatant faults, Carson Beck and crew devoured Tennessee 31-17 and reasserted dominion over college football — if not officially in the standings, then certainly in the hearts and minds of every team that might have the misfortune of drawing the Dawgs in the playoff.

Beck, who had thrown 12 interceptions in his past six games, was nearly flawless Saturday. He threw for 346 yards and totaled three touchdowns, but more importantly, he looked supremely confident with each fastball he delivered downfield.

The offensive line, which handed out party favors to Ole Miss pass rushers en route to he backfield last week, held its own against one of the most ferocious defensive fronts in the country. Beck wasn’t sacked, and Tennessee managed just two tackles for loss in the game.

The ground game, scrambling for answers and without injured starter Trevor Etienne, turned to Nate Frazier and, in so many critical moments, Beck to provide the spark. They delivered a pair of rushing touchdowns as proof of life for a backfield that had so often looked dormant.

So it is, too, that Georgia has life in the crowded SEC.

Certainly SEC fans are too modest to say it, but the fact its, the league is pretty good this year. We entered Week 12 with a logjam of teams with a loss or two or three, but a résumé warranting real playoff consideration. The depth of talent threatened to overwhelm the conference, however, with the committee inserting four Big Ten teams in the top five and leaving Saban to lament to Pat McAfee that the committee can’t “just look at the record,” echoing Greg Sankey’s long-held belief that wins are an overrated metric compared to things such as revenue, attendance or prevalence of cowbells.

But Saturday proved to be something of a palette cleanser for the SEC — like the white bread that comes with Dreamland ribs. While a handful of teams took a mental health day — Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M and Kentucky all played lower-tier competition and won by a combined 154 points — the rest of the slate helped clarify something akin to a pecking order.

In Gainesville, the Billy Napier redemption tour continued, with DJ Lagway and Elijhah Badger leading the Florida charge on a 27-16 win over LSU. After the game, Napier celebrated the Gators’ fifth win of the season by calling human resources at Zaxby’s and letting them know he won’t be able to start on Dec. 1 as previously promised, now needing just a win over either Ole Miss or (more likely) Florida State to secure a bowl.

LSU, meanwhile, is effectively cooked in the chase for the playoff after the loss, and it’s possible Brian Kelly’s anger management classes are no longer covered by his insurance.

After the game, Kelly lambasted the team asking of his players, “Do you want to fight or not?” It was not immediately clear if he meant in LSU’s remaining games or in the parking lot out back as soon as his press conference was over. Either way, things are bleak in Baton Rouge. It’s sad to see a situation where everyone felt like faaaamily devolve into something completely inauthentic.

If LSU is tumbling in the SEC standings, however, Saturday was South Carolina‘s time to shine against Missouri.

LaNorris Sellers threw for 353 yards and five touchdowns and continued to treat pass rushers like softballs bouncing off a fungo.

play

1:16

Highlight: South Carolina wins fourth-quarter thriller behind Sellers’ heroics

No. 23 Missouri comes roaring back in the final frame only to be stomped out by LaNorris Sellers as the No. 21 Gamecocks escape with a 34-30 victory.

What started as a defensive tussle ended with four touchdowns — two by each offense — in the game’s final 9:12. The Gamecocks took a 27-22 lead with 5:04 to play on Sellers’ fourth TD pass of the game, only to see Brady Cook and Luther Burden III hook up on a gorgeous 37-yard bomb to regain the lead with just over a minute to go.

But South Carolina had an answer, marching 70 yards on six plays in just 47 seconds, culminating with a 15-yard touchdown run by Raheim “Rocket” Sanders to secure the win. That Shane Beamer didn’t celebrate by head-butting a player still wearing his helmet really shows how far he has come as a coach this season.

So here’s where things stand amid the rubble of another Saturday in the SEC: Texas and Texas A&M are atop the standings at 5-1, but they’ll play each other in Week 14. Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Alabama all have two losses, but each have secured a win versus at least one of the other tied teams, leaving their fate to the SEC’s arcane tie-breaker policies which involve opponent records, scoring differentials and a pie-eating contest between Lane Kiffin and Josh Heupel. And, of course, there’s still South Carolina, looming on the fringes of the playoff debate at 7-3.

The case for the SEC’s supremacy is clear. With seven teams playing such high-level football, all losses come with an asterisk and all wins feel epic. In that case, Georgia’s two losses and occasionally confounding struggles will pale in comparison to the immense talent on the roster, and this win over Tennessee will be Exhibit A for why the road to the national championship still runs through Athens.

But the path toward the SEC’s demise is also clear: Either the committee fails to reward depth or, more likely, in a fit of rage, Kelly uses a flamethrower he bought on the dark web to burn the entire conference to the ground.

Jump to:
Ducks hold off Badgers | Hunter’s Heisman case
Big 12 drama | Klubnik delivers late
USC finds a spark | Irish roll
Tulane capsizes Navy | Lobos rally | Week 12 trends
Heisman five | Under the radar

Ducks D plays big

The College Football Playoff committee is going to have to take a hard look at Wisconsin this week. With a three-point loss to No. 1 Oregon, the Badgers now have a top-five résumé.

More importantly, the committee won’t have to select a new No. 1, as Oregon’s defense came up big in a grueling 16-13 win.

Dillon Gabriel finished with 218 passing yards and an interception, just the second time in 60 career starts that he threw a pick without also throwing a touchdown. Instead, the Ducks relied on tailback Jordan James to lead a second-half comeback after falling behind 13-6. James finished with 25 carries for 121 yards and a game-tying TD with 13:14 to go in the fourth quarter.

It was Matayo Uiagalelei who sealed the win, however. Wisconsin got the ball at its own 17 with 1:26 to play, but Jamaree Caldwell tipped a Braedyn Locke pass, and Uiagalelei caught the carom for the game-sealing INT. (Note to Florida State fans: It is possible for the words “Uiagalelei” and “interception” to appear in a sentence not involving a brutal loss.)

The win keeps Oregon undefeated and headed toward a Big Ten title game berth, but it’s not without some red flags. Wisconsin held the Ducks to just 354 total yards — a week after Oregon mustered just 363 against Maryland. That’s the first time Oregon has had back-to-back games with fewer than 400 yards of offense since 2020.

On the other hand, winning games while accumulating a frustratingly limited number of yards and relying on a power run game and a stout defense suggests Oregon has acclimated nicely into the Big Ten’s way of life.

Hunter states Heisman case

Colorado is still coming, according to Deion Sanders, but according to the Big 12 standings, the Buffaloes are already there.

Coach Prime lamented a less-than-exceptional performance by his Buffs in a 49-24 win over Utah, and yet there’s little other than platitudes in the aftermath. Colorado is tied for No. 1 in the Big 12, and if it wins out against Kansas and Oklahoma State, a date in the conference title game is assured.

Shedeur Sanders struggled early against the Utes’ defense, but he ultimately finished with 340 yards passing and three touchdowns in Colorado’s usual demoralizing fashion.

Meanwhile, after a season-ending injury to Brandon Rose, Utah turned to Isaac Wilson, who is actually just an AI-generated representation of what a Utah QB might be after feeding Rose, Nate Johnson, Bryson Barnes, Charlie Brewer and Jake Bentley into the algorithm. The important takeaway here, however, is he’s not Cam Rising, so of course, Utah struggled. Wilson lost a fumble and threw three interceptions in the game, including one to Travis Hunter, who struck a Heisman pose afterward.

play

1:12

Travis Hunter stakes Heisman claim after great plays on both sides of ball

Colorado’s Travis Hunter makes a nice interception off a deflection in the first quarter, followed by an incredible first-down catch in the second quarter vs. Utah.

Hunter caught five passes for 55 yards, and after Coach Prime checked the rule book and learned his team was also allowed to run the ball, Hunter got a carry that also went for a 5-yard touchdown. On the downside, Hunter did allow his first TD of the season in coverage, a 40-yard dart to Dorian Singer in the third quarter.

With the win, Colorado moves to 8-2 — just the second eight-win season for the program in the past 20 years, making it likely other teams will attempt to copy Sanders’ program-building blueprint of bringing in a whole bunch of transfers, at least one of whom is the best player in the country.

BYU falls, Sun Devils rise

BYU’s perfect season came to an end with a tackle at the 6-yard line on fourth down against Kansas, and thanks to Utah AD Mark Harlan, no one at Big 12 headquarters buzzed down to the officials to have them throw a random flag for excessive playing of “Carry On My Wayward Son.”

Kansas walked off with a 17-13 win after recovering a muffed punt deep in BYU territory that the Jayhawks turned into the game-winning touchdown. BYU still had a chance to win, driving into the red zone but coming up empty on four tries inside the Kansas 15.

Devin Neal became the first player in Kansas history with 4,000 career rushing yards, racking up 52 yards and two TDs in the win Saturday.

Meanwhile, Arizona State remains alive to be the Big 12’s Cinderella team, shocking Kansas State 24-14 behind a three-touchdown performance from QB Sam Leavitt.

Sun Devils’ head coach Kenny Dillingham’s reputation as a QB whisperer is going strong with Leavitt. After Dillingham helped shape Jordan Travis and resurrect Bo Nix, Leavitt has blossomed after transferring from Michigan State and has Arizona State riding high at 7-2.

The Sun Devils take on BYU next week, with the winner gaining the inside track on a trip to the Big 12 title game. BYU would clinch with a win and a loss by either Colorado or Iowa State, who toppled Cincinnati 34-17 behind a pair of Rocco Becht touchdowns.

The Cyclones (5-2) remain alive, too, along with Colorado (6-1) as the Big 12 works to adopt a full ACC coastal approach to this season.

Klubnik delivers late win

Pitt hosted Clemson on Saturday in a game that figured to settle any debate over who was the third-best team in the ACC, which is like RC Cola and Shasta getting into a slap fight over cola rankings.

The results often looked like two teams who didn’t exactly warrant their space on the playoff periphery, too.

Indeed, Pitt followed up that defensive series with one of the most mind-numbing offensive stretches possible. The officials missed a clear false start on second-and-goal, but Pitt was stuffed. Pitt called a timeout to avoid a delay of game, then was flagged for an illegal formation, then was flagged for a delay of game, then topped the whole thing off with a penalty for a false start before ultimately kicking a field goal.

Could those four points Pitt left on the field have helped?

The Panthers actually erased a 17-7 deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 20-17 lead, but on a second-and-3, Clemson QB Cade Klubnik took a QB sneak up the middle and scrambled virtually untouched for 50 yards and a score. Pitt’s last-gasp drive stalled at the Tigers’ 26, and Clemson held on for a 24-20 win that was marked by abysmal O-line play, missed opportunities and some astonishingly questionable officiating.

Afterward, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi summed up the game by utilizing all seven of George Carlin’s words you can’t say on TV and also making up several new ones.

USC finds a spark

After climbing to No. 11 in the AP poll in September, USC entered Week 12 losers of five of its past seven, with all five losses coming by a touchdown or less.

After opening the season 5-1, Nebraska entered Week 12 losers of three straight, two by a touchdown or less.

USC made a QB change, giving UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava the start. Nebraska made a change at offensive playcaller, with Dana Holgorsen emerging from his basement to see daylight for the first time in 11 months and recoiling in horror.

Both teams were in desperate straits, and they met at the Coliseum on Saturday to chase something approaching credibility like two pigeons fighting for half a discarded baloney sandwich.

The game didn’t disappoint.

USC led 14-7, Nebraska charged back to take a 17-14 lead, USC scored to jump ahead by a point, then found the end zone again on a 2-yard Maiava TD run with 2:45 to play.

The game was in Holgorsen’s hands from there.

After being fired despite what he had called “an impossible buyout” at Houston last year, Holgorsen had largely disappeared from the public eye, focusing instead on the finer things in life. But Saturday was like the montage scene in any ’80s movie where the down-and-out character resolves to get his life together, showers, shaves and puts on a new suit, emerging like a conquering hero. Only Holgorsen didn’t shower or shave and may have been wearing a Nebraska hoodie that Mike Riley left in a desk drawer 10 years ago after splilling some spaghetti on it.

But there was still a little Holgo magic left, and Dylan Raiola and the Huskers marched to the USC 14 with 5 seconds to play and a chance to tie the game.

But we know how this story ends. It always ends this way for the Huskers.

USC prevailed 28-20. Nebraska has now lost 38 one-possession games since the start of the 2017 season — 10 more than any other Power 4 school. After getting to win No. 5 in each of the past two seasons, it has subsequently lost a combined eight straight, seven of them by one-possession.

Dante’s ninth circle of hell is called “treachery.” Then there are like 14 more he didn’t write about, one of which involves being really into downloading bootleg Nickelback live shows, and then you finally reach something approaching where Nebraska fans are at right now.

Leonard, Irish roll

In 2014, Notre Dame and the ACC entered into a scheduling agreement in which the Irish promised five matchups per year against the conference in exchange for a home for their non-football programs. Since then, Notre Dame has effectively been Biff from “Back to the Future” to the ACC’s McFly family. They roll into the house unannounced, raid the fridge and eat Wake Forest’s leftover chicken and then take Georgia Tech’s car without asking.

And so it was that the Irish throttled Virginia 35-14 on Saturday behind Riley Leonard‘s three touchdown throws. Jeremiyah Love ran for 137 and the defense picked off Anthony Colandrea three times. Notre Dame finishes 5-0 against the ACC, the sixth time in 11 years the Irish have gone undefeated against the conference in the regular season. Overall, Notre Dame is 50-9 in the regular season against the ACC since 2014, including a 9-0 record as a full member in 2020, and somewhere Jack Swarbrick is inviting his buddies to crash at John Swofford’s beach house for the entire summer again.

The rigging was set, the masts were raised, ye old Navy set sail for a win. But before it had reached shore, the Green Wave climbed all aboard, and plundered its gold and its gin.

Yo ho, yo ho, to the league championship game they go.

If Tulane ain’t the best on all seven seas, certainly it’s tops on at least five. And before it was done, it had won 35 to none, keeping their playoff hopes still alive.

Yo ho, yo ho, to the league championship game they go.

He threw for two scores and ran for one more, Darian Mensah did everything right. The corners and pass blockers, put Navy in Davy Jones locker, now the Wave turn attention to the Army Black Knights.

Yo ho, yo ho, to the league championship game they go.

The steely men of fair Tulane, a right fine crew be they. They fight and they tussle, they’re all brawn and muscle, and they’ll earn their way back to the SEC one day.

Yo ho, yo ho, to the league championship game they go.

Lobos rally for win

A month into the season, Bronco Mendenhall’s New Mexico team was 0-4 and appeared destined for a lost season amid a massive rebuild that included turning over more than half the scholarship roster this past offseason.

After Week 12, the Lobos are 5-6, and just secured their first win over a ranked foe in 21 years, toppling No. 18 Washington State 38-35.

New Mexico’s Devon Dampier and Wazzu’s John Mateer put on an absolute clinic at QB throughout the game.

Mateer accounted for 443 yards and five touchdowns, including a 37-yard bullet to Kyle Williams that gave Washington State a four-point lead with 3:12 to play. Dampier answered with 366 yards and three touchdowns of his own, including a 1-yard scamper with 21 seconds to play that secured the biggest win for New Mexico since toppling a ranked Utah team in 2003.

New Mexico now needs only a Week 14 win over Hawai’i to secure bowl eligibility.

Mateer, meanwhile, will remain college football’s most interesting man. This was his fourth game with four passing TDs and one rushing score of the season — the most by any QB since 2018, all while also doing battle with the Joker to keep the citizens of Gotham safe.

Week 12 vibe shifts

Each week, the Top 25 endures major shake-ups that transform the college football landscape. But there are more subtle changes every Saturday, too, and we capture those here.

Trending down: Noon kickoffs

Ohio State fans are frustrated with so many noon kickoffs this year, noting that only farmers and nerds wake up before 11 a.m. As it turned out Saturday, it was Northwestern who was still asleep at kickoff.

Northwestern somehow held the ball for 32 minutes but managed just 251 yards, spending most of its time on offense working out the details of this year’s team Secret Santa program. Thankfully, the game was played at Wrigley Field, and the Cubs’ bullpen coughed up 31 points in the middle quarters, with Carnell Tate starring. He hauled in four catches for 52 yards and two touchdowns.

Northwestern is the sixth opponent this season Ohio State has held to single digits. Only Oregon has topped 20 against the Buckeyes.

Trending up: Narrow Texas wins

Quinn Ewers tossed two touchdown passes — including a 1-yarder with 9:05 to play that effectively sealed a 20-10 win over Arkansas — but he averaged just 5.5 yards per pass, and the Horns had just 315 yards of total offense, their second-lowest production in a game, trailing only the loss to Georgia.

Texas has now played three bowl-eligible teams this season, and the results have been pretty meh. The Horns were stampeded by Georgia, escaped Vanderbilt by 3 and now struggled offensively against Arkansas in a 10-point win.

The answer here is clear: more Arch Manning. Play him at receiver. Have him provide pre-drive inspiration by reenacting famous motivational scenes from movies such as “Braveheart” or “Weekend at Bernie’s,” have him challenge Bevo to a foot race at halftime. Whatever it takes to get more Arch on the field, Texas needs to make it happen.

Trending up: ACC irony

SMU held off Boston College 38-28 to move to 6-0 in ACC play, all but assuring the Mustangs of a trip to the ACC championship game in their first season in the league. Kevin Jennings threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns, and Brashard Smith ran for 120 yards and a score.

It’s worth noting as SMU moves toward a conference title game appearance, that the only reason it’s in the ACC is because NC State changed its vote to approve expansion last year. NC State, in its 72nd season in the ACC, has never played in the ACC championship game, though it has heard it’s not that great anyway. Plus, it had plans, like catching up on the new season of “Only Murders in the Building.” And maybe a Home Depot trip. And it’s just nice to have a staycation after a busy football season. Really, don’t worry about NC State. It’s doing just fine, and it definitely didn’t just DoorDash six pints of Jeni’s ice cream.

Trending up: The smell at the Brown residence

LeQuint Allen ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns, Kyle McCord threw for 323 yards and a score, and both will be getting a nice gift basket from Fran Brown’s wife this week after they lifted Syracuse to a 33-25 win over Cal.

Brown will presumably wait to shower until the team returns to Syracuse, so everyone on the plane can still enjoy the smell of victory.

On the flip side, Cal lost its fifth one-possession game of the season — one that would’ve had the Bears bowl eligible — and Cal coach Justin Wilcox decided he’s boycotting cutting his toe nails, he’ll be blasting Smash Mouth’s “I’m a Believer” cover on repeat at practice and he won’t be throwing away that old tuna sandwich that has been in the office refrigerator until the Bears get win No. 6. Honestly, he had forgotten about the sandwich weeks ago, so this was really just a convenient excuse.

Trending down: Hot seats

Florida already announced Billy Napier would be back next year, and after Saturday’s 49-35 win over West Virginia, Baylor decided Dave Aranda will also be back for 2024.

If Sam Pittman survives at Arkansas, too, it’ll be a remarkable turn for coaches who entered the season on the hottest of seats, and will allow boosters to use all that money typically reserved for buyouts on something more useful, such as building a water slide on the moon.

Aranda now has Baylor set for a bowl game, too, after winning four straight. Baylor’s offense, in particular, has been a revelation, topping 38 in each of the past four.

Meanwhile at Auburn, boosters have scheduled a meeting at their secret hideout behind the Jimmy John’s, and are just going type in Bobby Petrino’s cell number but won’t press send until at least halftime of the Iron Bowl.

Trending up: Big man TDs

Southern demolished Arkansas-Pine Bluff 31-9 on Saturday, and senior defensive tackle Willie Miles delivered a play for the ages in the process.

Miles, who according to Southern’s media guide checks in at 5-foot-9 and a gentlemanly 350 pounds, picked up a loose ball after a DJ Stevenson fumble, and set his sights on the end zone. A Golden Lions lineman appeared to have him corralled at the 5, but Miles had ice water in his veins. He pulled loose from the tackle attempt, spun, gathered his balance, and sprinted for the end zone — running through the back and around to the sideline where his teammate wisely opted against lifting him into the air “Dirty Dancing” style.

This was a fitting highlight in what was Miles’ final home game at Southern.

Trending up: Air mail

At the Utah High School state championships Saturday, a fight for the football happened after a football was dropped from a helicopter hovering over the field.

Though in the long run it did not actually replace the coin toss, it should be implemented as such immediately at all levels of football. However, some schools may not have easy access to a helicopter, so we would also accept wrestling a bear for possession of the football, a wing-eating contest, a breakdancing competition, a series of “Yo Mama” jokes or, if absolutely necessary and only for Ivy League games, a race to see which team can solve the equation from “Good Will Hunting” first.

Trending up: Classy coaches

A week ago, Kennesaw State fired its only coach in program history, Brian Bohannon. First, the school said he resigned. He denied it, and the school relented.

If he’s angry at his former employer though, he’s sure not taking it out on his players.

Kennesaw State played one of its better games in Bohannon’s absence on the sideline, falling to Sam Houston 23-17 in overtime. But what’ll be remembered by most Owls fans is their former coach making a classy gesture in the aftermath of a brutal week. Either that or his moving van has been stuck in traffic on I-75 since Monday.

Heisman five

It’s really a three-man race for the Heisman now, unless you want to count offensive Travis Hunter and defensive Travis Hunter as separate players, in which case he’s going to need to buy another suit for the ceremony.

1. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter

Hunter Week 12 touchdown count: 1 scored, 1 allowed.

He should be ashamed of himself, giving up a touchdown like that. It’s the type of performance that would get one of Deion Sanders’ kids docked three spots on his child ranking list.

2. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty

play

0:18

Ashton Jeanty seals Boise State’s win with 3rd TD of the night

Ashton Jeanty is the first player to record 26 rushing touchdowns in his first 10 games of a season since Ricky Williams in 1998.

Boise State fell behind San José State 14-0 before somebody remembered to wake Jeanty up and tell him to go smash things. He finished the Broncos’ 42-21 win with 32 carries for 159 yards and three touchdowns, putting Jeanty now just 107 rushing yards shy of 2,000 on the season. Jeanty has also eclipsed 30 carries in five straight games, just the third player of the playoff era to do so.

3. Miami QB Cam Ward

The Hurricanes were off Saturday, giving Ward more time to stew over the loss to Georgia Tech. He has called Brent Key’s house 23 times already this week to ask if his refrigerator is running.

4. Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel

Any chance of Gabriel making a real run at the Heisman probably evaporated Saturday in Madison, as he failed to throw a touchdown pass and the Ducks’ offense struggled. Only a home game against Washington and the Big Ten title game remain before voting commences. The good news is, after 23 seasons of college football, Gabriel will still be a favorite to take home a lifetime achievement award.

5. Penn State TE Tyler Warren

In Saturday’s 49-10 win over Purdue, Warren had eight catches for 127 yards and a touchdown and three carries for 63 yards and a score. All season, he has been Penn State’s do-it-all guy, so long as “all” doesn’t also include beating Ohio State. He’s the first Big Ten non-QB to account for at least 10 touchdowns in a season — at least one each passing, rushing and receiving — since 2017, when another Nittany Lion, Saquon Barkley, did it.

Under-the-radar play of the week

Liberty‘s kicker was pretty, pretty … pretty good in overtime of Saturday’s 35-34 win over UMass.

Normally, UMass is an easy win, but this one seemed destined to go down like a dry scone. UMass jumped out to a 20-7 halftime lead, with the majority of Liberty’s offense coming from pity points. Losing to UMass, of course, is one of the most humiliating things a man can experience along with trying on pants.

But the Flames pulled the old chat-and-cut in the second half, tying the game at 28 with 3:49 to play and forcing overtime. UMass scored first in OT, but kicker Jacob Lurie, who we assume doesn’t respect wood, missed his PAT try. Liberty then matched the touchdown and sent Colin Karhu in to win the game with the extra point — and to stare down the legend, Larry David.

play

0:43

Liberty hits winning extra point despite Larry David scoreboard distraction

Quinton Cooley rushes in for a 5-yard Liberty touchdown and hit the winning extra point despite a Larry David distraction on the videoboard.

From there, the scoreboard flickered to the actual final score — 35-34 Liberty — which feels offensive. They could’ve at least lied to UMass. A lie is a gesture, it’s a courtesy, it’s a little respect. This was very disrespectful.

Under-the-radar game of the week

Louisville technically joined the ACC in 2014, but it wasn’t until Saturday that the Cardinals truly hit the type of rock bottom misery the ACC foists upon all who approach it.

Louisville, which figured to win easily since it has many Cardinals, whereas Stanford is just one Cardinal, cruised early and led by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. But Stanford scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 45 seconds left to tie the game at 35, forced a Louisville turnover on downs after the Cards ran seven plays in just 35 seconds and Stanford got the ball back with 10 seconds to play at its own 45. That should’ve meant overtime, but Louisville committed an unsportsmanlike penalty, setting up Stanford for a 57-yard field goal try. Quincy Riley then was flagged for being offsides, shaving another 5 yards off the kick, and Emmet Kenney delivered from 52 yards out for the win.

play

0:41

Emmet Kenney’s 52-yard FG gives Stanford the upset over Louisville

Emmet Kenney’s kick is true as his 52-yard field goal seals an upset victory for Stanford over Louisville.

With one minute to play in the game, ESPN gave Louisville a 90% win probability. With 15 seconds left it was still a coin flip. And with no time left on the clock, it was a full-on #goacc for the ages.

Continue Reading

Sports

Beck, Georgia rebound with pivotal win over Vols

Published

9 hours ago

on

November 17, 2024

By

Beck, Georgia rebound with pivotal win over Vols

  • ESPN News Services

Nov 16, 2024, 11:53 PM ET

ATHENS, Ga. — On a raucous Saturday night between the hedges, Carson Beck once again looked like a quarterback who could lead Georgia to another national title.

Showing off his arm and his legs, Beck silenced his critics by throwing for two touchdowns and running for another, leading the No. 12 Bulldogs to a 31-17 victory over No. 7 Tennessee that gave a huge boost to their College Football Playoff hopes.

Georgia (8-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from a 28-10 loss at Ole Miss that left the Bulldogs just outside the provisional 12-team postseason field.

Now, they are positioned for a likely playoff berth — and a shot at winning their third national championship in four years — if they can close out the regular season with wins over UMass and Georgia Tech.

“Our kids showed resiliency. I’m proud of them,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “A week ago, we were dead and gone. People had written us off.”

Tennessee (8-2, 5-2) could have moved a big step closer to a berth in the SEC championship game, but the Vols’ postseason prospects are now a whole lot murkier after what had all the makings of a playoff elimination game.

In the midst of a disappointing season, Beck came up huge for the Bulldogs when they needed him most, guiding them to a 29th straight home victory in an FBS-leading streak that dates to 2019.

“He gets judged on outcomes and stats, but we don’t judge based on that,” Smart said. “We judge internally on what gives us the best chance to win. He’s got poise, he’s got composure. He gets us in the right play over and over again.”

Beck connected on a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Oscar Delp in the first half and scrambled for the go-ahead score in the third quarter, darting 10 yards to the end zone for his first rushing TD of the season.

Georgia sealed the victory with a 92-yard drive — its longest of the season — in the closing minutes. Freshman Nate Frazier finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown run with 2:26 remaining.

Beck, who had thrown 12 interceptions in the previous six games, didn’t have any picks against the Volunteers. He completed 25 of 40 passes for 347 yards.

With quarterback Nico Iamaleava cleared to play after going through concussion protocol, Tennessee jumped to a 10-0 lead on Miles Kitselman’s 1-yard dive and Max Gilbert’s 52-yard field goal, dampening the mood of more than 93,000 at Sanford Stadium.

But the Bulldogs, after a sluggish start that has become their trademark, grabbed the lead as Beck connected with Delp on similar-looking scoring passes of 19 and 4 yards in the back of the end zone.

Dylan Sampson put the Vols back in front with his 21st rushing touchdown of the season, a 27-yard scamper through a huge hole right up the middle.

But Beck guided the Bulldogs into position for Peyton Woodring’s 36-yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining in the half, sending the teams to the locker room tied at 17.

Beck’s runs The Georgia quarterback isn’t known as much of a runner, but he posted a career-high 32 yards on three carries — all of them huge plays for the Bulldogs.

A 14-yard run set up his first touchdown pass to Delp, an 8-yard run on third down extended the drive that led to Woodring’s field goal near the end of the first half, and the touchdown run came on third-and-7 from the 10.

“He’s a good athlete,” Smart said. “He can make plays with his feet.”

The takeaway

Tennessee: The Vols defense had not allowed more than 19 points all season, but they couldn’t contain the Beck-led offense. Georgia piled up 453 yards and 24 first downs while converting eight of 13 third-down opportunities. Tennessee just doesn’t have an answer for the Bulldogs, who have dominated the series with eight straight victories – all of them by margins of at least two touchdowns.

Georgia: The Bulldogs played without top running back Travis Etienne, who was sidelined by a rib issue, and the offense took another blow when receiver Dillon Bell went out with an ankle injury sustained on a hit along the sideline late in the first half. But Frazier, the first true freshman to start at tailback for the Bulldogs since 2014, rushed for 68 yard and London Humphreys stepped up to make three huge catches for 63 yards. Big kudos, as well, to the offensive line, which did not give up a sack after Beck was dumped five times the previous week by Ole Miss.

Up next

Tennessee: The Vols return home next Saturday to take on UTEP before wrapping up the regular season with a short trip to Nashville to face Vanderbilt on Nov. 30.

Georgia: With their SEC schedule complete, the Bulldogs close out the regular season with two non-conference games at home. UMass (2-8) shouldn’t present much of a problem next Saturday.

Continue Reading

Sports

Jeanty bolsters Heisman case, sets school record

Published

9 hours ago

on

November 17, 2024

By

Jeanty bolsters Heisman case, sets school record

  • Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff WriterNov 17, 2024, 12:31 AM ET

    Close

    • Covers college football.
    • Joined ESPN in 2014.
    • Attended Washington State University.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty bolstered his Heisman Trophy résumé Saturday night by breaking the single-season school rushing record in a 42-21 win against San José State.

Jeanty rushed for 159 yards on 32 carries with three touchdowns to up his season total to 1,893 yards through 10 games. He broke the school record set by Jay Ajayi, who ran for 1,823 yards in 14 games in 2014.

“He’s the best football player in the country,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “He is also a big-time leader and an elite human being.”

The win guaranteed the Broncos, ranked No. 13 in the College Football Playoff rankings, a spot in the Mountain West championship game, which means Jeanty is on pace to rush for over 2,400 yards by the time the Heisman Trophy ballots must be submitted. With a bowl game or an appearance in the playoff, Jeanty could challenge Barry Sanders’ single-season FBS rushing record of 2,628 yards set in 1988.

“It means a lot,” Jeanty said of the school record. “All the past running backs are great and amazing, but to keep the legacy going, the tradition of great running backs at Boise State, I think is a big deal to me.”

Things did not start well for the Broncos and Jeanty against San José State. He was limited to 19 yards on his first nine carries as Boise State fell behind 14-0. But after the Spartans failed to convert on fourth-and-goal to go up 21-0, the Broncos started to find their way.

Jeanty keyed a strong drive to finish the half, which he capped with a 2-yard score to tie the game with 38 seconds before halftime.

“[The challenge] every week is wearing the defense down,” Jeanty said. “We got 8-men boxes, 9-man boxes, so not as many big runs, but over the course of the game, if we’re able to grind them down, get ’em tired, those big runs will come.”

That’s what happened against SJSU. In the second half, Jeanty had runs of 36, 12, 13 and 11 yards, and the Spartans couldn’t keep pace, despite 446 yards passing from quarterback Walker Eget.

Boise State (9-1, 6-0 MW) travels to Wyoming next week before ending the regular season at home against Oregon State on Nov. 29.

Continue Reading

Trending