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EYEWEAR USED TO be a kind of prison until glasses became cool. Around the time jocks who never needed prescriptions began flaunting designer frames as a declaration of style. Which was long after Eli Drinkwitz had been memorialized in pictures from his adolescence, dorked-out in big, round lenses he inherited from his older brother, Jeremy. The head football coach of the Missouri Tigers has been the victim of lousy vision his whole life, and in his early 40s now seems the kind of glasses-wearer who forsakes image in favor of comfort. His current pair being a good example: soft rectangular lenses with practically invisible frames.

Only it turns out that Drink doesn’t like his glasses at all. He doesn’t like how they make him look on the field. He doesn’t like how they make him look in the locker room. He doesn’t like that they feed into a perception straight out of the 1950s that people think he’s a nerd. Even though he has described himself publicly as “a 5-10 dorky white dude” and, in his first year, when the Tigers upset LSU, said aloud, “Let’s be honest, I have no business being a head coach.” Within him seems to be a more ambitious evaluation of himself and what he can achieve, that he can actually take Mizzou somewhere it has never been before in football: to an SEC championship or — also his words — to the College Football Playoff. And maybe his glasses muddle in his appearance the sort of aggression such winning seems to demand.

I LIKE THE guy. When he was introduced nearly five years ago and made his first public appearance with his wife and four daughters at the ceremony in Columbia, Marching Mizzou played the fight song to lead him through a shroud of fake smoke and he walked onto Faurot Field swiveling his head to look around. He stepped in front of the microphone and pulled a visor over his eyes and then took off his glasses, in a little preview of how he would curate his appearance on the sideline. Then he set them onto the podium for a minute before putting them back on so he could see the pages of a prepared speech. He said, “For me, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.” He mentioned Gary Pinkel, Mizzou’s most successful modern coach, who was in the audience. Drink was in such stark physical contrast to him and every other Missouri coach who came before that I — someone who never played football but has worn glasses since kindergarten — told my friends I could get behind what he was doing, before he said a word.

There was some of that outward self-deprecation mingled with the confidence to employ it. He purposefully pronounced the correct “Missour-ee” and then said “MizzurUH,” too, as a nod to the people like my dad who had grown up in the Show Me State yet mispronounced it his entire life. He had not only the semblance of a personality but also a kind of panache (the nickname of Faurot Field is The Zou, and he joked that going anywhere around Columbia with four young daughters, people would get to see the real zoo). He giggled when he slipped up in saying he wanted to “win the Sun Belt … uhh, sorry, the SEC East!” But his elocution was that of someone with an easy way about himself. He barely had a track record as a head coach, but he was 12-1 the previous year at Appalachian State, including wins at South Carolina and North Carolina.

As a Mizzou graduate and native of the Bootheel, I was fascinated by this person, this seemingly new type of coach for a program in need of a risk. And that was before he made fun of Kansas and Arkansas. Before he made fun of Dan Mullen by pulling his hoodie over his head and a light saber from behind the lectern after Mizzou beat the Gators and he said, “May the force be with you” and then took a sip of Diet Coke like a mic drop. That was before Mizzou went 11-2 last season and beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and Drinkwitz became the unapologetic driver of a black-and-gold Maybach with rims.

Last August, the X account CFBTalkDaily asked college football fans to reply to a post with “One word to describe Eli Drinkwitz.” The picture they used showed Drink on the field in the middle of action, staring from under his visor. Some answers: Coach. Aura. Mid. Dork. Leader! Savior. King. Dork but we LOVE him in CoMo, it’s just part of his charm! Different. Smart. Strange.

Drink’s Tigers are 6-1 and wobble at 21 in the AP poll. Early this season the offense has struggled — it was supposed to be one of the best in the SEC, with veteran quarterback Brady Cook throwing to Luther Burden III, touted as one of the top players in college football after catching 86 passes for 1,212 yards and nine touchdowns last season. But then Boston College gave them a scare at home and Vanderbilt took them to OT, and they were defenestrated at Texas A&M, which cost Mizzou dearly in the respect department. The Vanderbilt win certainly looks better now than it did at the time, of course. The Commodores took down Alabama, who lost again last weekend to Tennessee. But the Tide remain firm in the sporting consciousness as a juggernaut, and juggernauts tend to get the benefit of the doubt. If Missouri is to beat them, Burden, who has yet to live up to those lofty expectations (partly because Mizzou has trouble getting him the ball), will have to come alive. Missouri’s defense looks good in statistical departments — ninth in the country in yards allowed and top 10 in both pass and scoring defense — but has given up a bunch of broken and big plays such as a 75-yard TD run to Texas A&M’s Le’Veon Moss that opened the third quarter and essentially buried the game at 31-0. The defense will have to have the type of game it played against Murray State and Buffalo to start the season.

Drink tells me he remembers unfondly when glasses used to be considered a weakness. “That was tough, growing up,” he says. “Those were some bad glasses. I guess I thought they were cool.” A literal magnification of his shortcomings when he was a teenager in west Arkansas, a diminutive linebacker playing football for a team that won two state championships at Alma High School in a town with a population smaller than its 6,200-seat stadium. When the Drinkwitz family crammed itself — two parents and six kids — into a doublewide trailer. When his haircut was doing him no favors, either.

“I think what Coach Drink represents, man, is that you can be who you are,” says Mizzou assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach Al Pogue, who has known Drink since they were in their 20s and in quality control at Auburn under offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. “And if that person is lighthearted and [can] still be successful? He represents that. It’s OK to be who you are.” He is referring to instances when Drink leads off a team meeting with a dad joke. Or burbles, “That’s what she said” after an innocuous comment in the hallway because he can’t seem to help himself. When he hosts a get-together for coaches every Wednesday night over the fire pit in his backyard over Wendy’s hamburgers as part of a communion. When he tells coaches to come in later if they need to take their kids to school. “That’s something I had to learn. I thought I had to look mean. I thought I had to stand on the sideline always looking like I was angry. But I wasn’t really that person,” Pogue says. “If everyone says, ‘Hey, he is a nerd’ … well, that’s a guy who I want to be like.”

DRINK TAKES HIS glasses off before football games. Everyone calls him Drink, or Coach Drink; it’s what he seems to prefer. When the meetings and preparations end and there is no turning back before kickoff, he suctions contacts onto his eyeballs and stands before his coaches and players. As a head coach who never played college football (though he was class president at Arkansas Tech) he has been subject to scrutiny — if, for example, he doesn’t call a timeout and gets a delay penalty that backs his team up 5 yards against Kansas State at the end of the game, or gets blasted so badly at Texas A&M that it doesn’t even seem he was prepared.

It’s fairly easy to understand why one of the youngest Division I head coaches of an ascending team in the greatest football conference might project himself at his best, at his strongest, at his most commanding, by subtracting a perception of his vulnerability.

Drink has done a lot of celebrating at Missouri without his glasses. His most viral speeches about brotherhood and rallying cries and buzzwords such as “STP: something to prove” have been summoned with the team crowded around him, without the specs. He conducts his postgame news conferences without them. He knelt without them and rolled over onto his back in his droopy white T-shirt and chinos and flapped his arms and legs after Mizzou — with a smothering effort from a defense that lost five starters to the NFL and a huge pass from Cook to Burden in the fourth quarter, beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl — and he made angels out of the confetti on the fake green heaven of Jerry Jones’ field.

He goes back to them Sunday morning. For church or breakfast at Cafe Berlin in Columbia with his family, when a new week of football begins. When he is back on the fourth floor of the Mizzou South End Zone complex before anyone else arrives in the morning, with a life-size cardboard cutout of him taking a drink of Diet Coke in the hall, and “SOMETHING TO PROVE” written in gigantic letters down the hallway wall, taking out of his personalized Coach Drink mini-fridge his first of eight or nine 16-ounce Diet Coke bottles for the day.

“I tell people all the time, ‘Don’t let the glasses fool you,'” he says. “I think sometimes, for me, I’m perceived either more nerdy than I really am, or maybe not as masculine. And I think I’m just trying to make sure when I’m out there proving a point, I want people to really understand me, you know? It’s kinda like Superman. He had to take his glasses off to get after people.”

HE’S WEARING THEM in the evening. He sidles down the stairwell from the private room of donors at Chicken N Pickle, a Mizzou-friendly restaurant on the banks of the Missouri River in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, where he has been taking pictures with fans all evening and glad-handing for help with Every True Tiger, the branding and NIL agency of Mizzou athletics, and a new $250 million addition to the football stadium that will enclose the North End Zone and hopefully entomb the program’s tortured past there. Hundreds of fans have gathered to hear him speak publicly for the first time since beating Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, where he trumpeted a war cry on the victor’s stage, “We’re not blue bloods, we’re a dirty, hardworking brotherhood … M-I-Z!”

On this night, Drink could pass as a fan in the restaurant, so it’s hard to spot him at first. His brown hair is combed to the side and his long-sleeve shirt is tucked into black chinos as he stands off in the corner at various points, constantly checking his phone. He lacks any kind of security buffer or coterie to lead him through the crowd of Bud Light drinkers and nachos eaters, of kids with plush hats with tiger tails dangling from the ears shaking pom-poms, of Truman the Tiger standing by the side of a stage giving a curtsy to the coach, of older men and women in various shades of black and gold as hopeful for 2024 as for any season in the past. The dimples embedded into Drinkwitz’s freshly shaved face make him look younger than 41, the face of this now-relevant but historically misbegotten team.

Twice in my lifetime, in 2007 and 2013, Missouri was a half away from the national championship game. This was under Pinkel, the stoic former tight end who seemed to withhold any sense of humor but made up for his lack of personality by taking Missouri all the way to No. 1. But the Tigers lost in the 2007 Big 12 championship game when Sam Bradford and Oklahoma pulled away in the second half after a Chase Daniel interception, and in the 2013 SEC title showdown Malzahn and what seemed like an Auburn team of destiny road-graded Mizzou in the fourth quarter, for which I was, sadly, present. Both those nights spun endlessly nowhere after the final whistle for a childhood fan, for a native of the state, someone who understood the precedent of finally seeing the team at the threshold but unable to cross. Walking back to a car under a black sky that might as well have let history whisper through: Missouri wasn’t and isn’t going to ever get there.

Now, though, Drink is asking everyone to believe. The Tigers just went 11-2; why not? With him on stage are three players, Burden, safety Marvin Burks and a new transfer cornerback from Clemson, Toriano Pride Jr. Drink cracks a joke about their 40 times not being good enough. He believes the Tigers should be as talented on offense as anyone in the country. They did have to replace Cody Schrader, a walk-on running back who led the SEC in rushing in 2023 and was the best story in college football, and did so by signing two of the most sought-after senior running backs, Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll, from the transfer portal. Cook, a senior, should be a top SEC quarterback again if healthy. Drink tells the fans there’s no better wide receiver room in America, with Burden; Theo Wease Jr., a transfer from Oklahoma; and Mookie Cooper and Marquis Johnson. A look at the schedule and one figures: 11-1? Possible. Or 10-2 at the worst.

Drink floats atop all the morbid backstory exuding an enthusiastic charm and the temperament of someone christened as a winner, of someone whose salary will rise to $9 million next season and, at least for a while, make him bulletproof. He greets the crowd before him outside in plastic chairs and stands on a makeshift stage outside the restaurant, a few weeks before the team will be announced just outside the preseason top 10.

“I been coming to these events for four years,” he says. “I remember coming here and telling people all the things we believed we could do. We believed we could recruit elite players and we believed we could win at the biggest stage … and we’re not satisfied with where we’re at, we feel like we just realized our potential. Now it’s about continuing to push, but in order to do that, we need you.”

An older man named Rob stands up in the crowd and asks for the microphone.

“Coach, I live in Moscow Mills, Missouri,” he says, “and I’ve been a Tiger fan for a long time. Three years in my lifetime we flirted with being No. 1. The first time I remember was 1969 — we lost a heartbreaker in the Orange Bowl to Penn State. In 2007, we had a magical season with Chase Daniel and then 2013, that first SEC East championship. My question for you is, after each one of those seasons, expectations were sky-high for the following year. And we had good seasons the next year but fell short. Tell me why this season is going to be different … how are we going to take that next step and not fall back just a little bit?”

Drink is caught off guard by how deep and kind of unsettling this is. How tortured an ask. Though he has been the coach at Missouri going on five years, it is unclear if even now he fully understands the embedded self-hatred of Tigers fans, whose expectations, despite the winning, are that fate will intervene no matter his preparations and things will always go wrong.

“Well, I mean that’s the toughest question I’ve been asked in a while,” he says. “Um … there’s no way to know or predict what the future is going to be. I think our team is still extremely hungry. We want to win an SEC championship. We had six players drafted. Those guys were really good players. But if you look at the competitive depth on our team, we should be a more talented team this year. It’s really going to come down to the mindset of the coaches and players and I, and are they really hungry to reestablish their own identity? All I know is, the only thing that matters to us is being better today than we were yesterday. If you can do that continuously …” He might not always look the part, but all these gathered people are looking at him as the head football coach. And he sounds like a head football coach, relying on old-school phrases in the hope of winning people over. He trails off. The crowd applauds him.

“YOU’RE NOT A jock, Coach,” I say to him. Which is meant as a compliment, an affirmation of one of the ways he has described himself. Drink is on one of the morning walks he takes every weekday before practice begins, when he collects his thoughts and makes phone calls to donors and recruits, when he slips away for 40 minutes to an hour by himself. The compliment is a pledge of allegiance, me describing myself and pointing at my own glasses, the fact I, too, have always had to wear them; have always looked for ways to put them aside; have gone to lengths, even as a child, to hide that my vision was bad by either pretending to see the board or sitting in the front of the class. That I can’t wear contacts because of sensitivity, that I still take them off half the time my wife and I post pictures on Instagram because removing my glasses is a part of my life. There are four days before the 2024 season begins at home against Murray State, and he’s tracking his steps on an app and wearing a white safari hat that shades his face and the top of his head and the whistle around his neck. We follow his usual path from the auxiliary staircase of the South End Zone football complex past the indoor football training facility and down the walkway with huge painted tiger paws up the hill to the basketball arena. The light stands atop Faurot Field disappear behind us into pretty woodlands and a trail veined with cracked gravel and littered with leaves, chippering birds getting louder and the sound of the cars on Providence Road softening into a kind of faraway purr.

Drink does not like what I said, though. He shakes his head and says, “Well, all right,” and then, “Ah, OK,” but it is clear he does not want to be identified this way, that we are not on the same page. No matter what he has said about himself in public he will not be a member of my made-up club. “I’m a better athlete than you expect, but that’s OK,” he says, hardened by the comment and quieted by it, like it’s a lazy perpetuation of the image he has been up against since he was a senior in high school getting good grades and playing football and having to prove to people by force that the guy pictured in his yearbook wasn’t who he actually is, wasn’t all he is.

“I am probably more like Mike McDaniel than Dan Campbell,” he says. “I quit caring what people say. [Shutting people up] used to be a big motivation for me. And carrying this chip on my shoulder. But now I’ve come to realize that’s never going to quiet anybody. The only thing you have to prove is to the people who believed in you.”

I want to tell him I’m one of those people who believed, who believe. But he has me on the other side of the ledger at the moment. And from there, the “big motivation” seems like it’s not all the way in the past tense.

He walks past the quiet softball field and soccer field and over the covered bridge that leads back to the football complex where he and players enter on Saturdays before the games. Drink is the fourth of six children. He shared a room in the trailer with two brothers (his three sisters shared another) and was picked on by them. He rotated sleeping on different levels of a bunk bed at his brothers’ command.

His older brother Jeremy, the president of a hospital system in Southwest Missouri, calls him at least once a week and attends pretty much every home game. “He’s always been blind as a bat,” Jeremy says. “In all candor, we didn’t have much money, so those were the glasses given to him. Dad was a teacher and mom stayed home and took care of the kids. That’s why they were as big as his face when he took pictures. One of the funniest stories is that Mom once accidentally left him at the eye doctor. She had to take alllll these kids to school. She went and dropped him off before school, took everybody else, forgot to come back and get him.”

I ask him about Drink now, about what he sees in him. Jeremy keeps it simple. “I ask for his opinion about how to lead,” he says. “How do you motivate? How do you inspire people around you?”

ASK MALZAHN ABOUT Eli Drinkwitz and it’s like he’s talking about himself. Drink is his guy, shaped out of clay under Malzahn’s intense work schedule. He doesn’t get too deep about anything different about Drink, of course; why would he? “Well, he is unique … it’s hard to explain, it works to his advantage,” Malzahn says. But he wants to talk about Drink as a young linebacker in high school: “He’d knock your head off now. Knock your stinkin’ head off. He has those glasses and looks a certain way, don’t let the kinda whatever you call it, don’t let that kid you.” He wants to talk about him as someone willing to “grind” for $13,000 a year in the labyrinths of quality control, someone who never recoiled from the slog of watching film, as it was his job after every Auburn game to break down the tape through the eyes of an opponent, to self-scout the team and present a report to Malzahn as though Drink were the defensive coordinator. In their first year together, Auburn won the national title. Yes, Malzahn wants to talk about Drink’s leadership and communication skills, to tell me that Drink possesses an imperceptible gift of being able to be smart about football but also relate to anyone, that everyone at Auburn from the secretary to the equipment people knew him and liked him. A nerd? Hell no. Malzahn called Drink and Casey Woods, now the offensive coordinator at SMU, the Ryan Brothers, in homage to Rex and Rob. “That dude is a worker,” Malzahn says. “He’s earned everything to get where he’s at. At Arkansas State he’d get there at 6 in the morning and wouldn’t leave ’til midnight. He wouldn’t flinch. He gets crap done.”

This is kind of the way Cook wants to talk about Drink, too. In the irrevocable terms of what they’ve been through together, their relationship linked in that Drink will always be the coach who stuck by the player last season and even this one, when Cook was booed at home games and went on to be one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC. Cook being a Missouri kid, a St. Louisan who dreamed about playing for Mizzou when he was a child going to games, who last week brought Drink’s voice to quiver in the postgame news conference when he was injured early against Auburn and then returned from the hospital in the third quarter to lead Mizzou to 6-1. “What can I tell you about Drink?” Cook asks. “Like, he’s goofy and he has humor. But he’s cutthroat at the same time. He represents Missouri with a chip on his shoulder, a little swag. I used to think of him more of like as a nerd, kind of like that. That idea, ‘Ah, OK, this guy is really smart and has glasses but he’s probably not, like, swaggy.’ As time has gone on, it’s changed.”

Drink’s old coach in high school, Frank Vines, who led the Alma Airedales for more than 30 years and was a three-time state champion, now watches every Missouri game from the rocking chair in the living room of his house back in Alma. “I’m getting old and went through a lot of kids,” he says. “Eli was not a great athlete. But he was very smart, very dedicated, and those are the two things I think that have kind of stood out in his life. On our team he was like having a coach out on the field.”

Watching Drink now prowl the sidelines is watching someone with his own style but who exhibits an amalgamation of what he has learned at various stops: Arkansas State, Auburn, North Carolina State, App State. The intense game-planning in his office and rigorous schedule of watching film like Malzahn, even late at night with his feet propped up on the couch, at home, with his daughters. Vines was a yeller, a tough guy, “the bad guy,” he says to me, “I didn’t baby anybody around,” and that is one thing Drink must have decided he didn’t want to be; he doesn’t scream at players often, and at one point, as a student, he told Vines to his face that he didn’t like the way he said “Goddamn,” using the Lord’s name in vain. Drink, for example, sits quietly in the head chair of the staff meeting going around the room and letting position coaches talk about their observations, much more in the style of a listener than a dictator.

Zac Thomas, Drink’s quarterback for one glorious season at Appalachian State, laments what they could have done with an even better team had Drink not left for Missouri in 2019. “He does a really good job of relating to players,” Thomas says. “He’s one of the first coaches I had in that level where you could come to him with problems, he was a sounding board. The way he goes about himself, cracking jokes — yes, football is an intense game, and you go through a lot of hardships, but you also have to be able to have the laughter, bring joy to the locker room. He brings people on cookouts, paintball, skiing trips, fun activities, he does ways to reward you to keep you going. He’s not the coolest coach on the face of the planet, but he knows what he’s good at.”

VINCE LOMBARDI WORE glasses. The game of football actually seems built on those horned rims and the sport he was able to see through them that no one else could. A company in New York now sells replica frames called Vince, describing this era as an eyewear renaissance and the throwback of his championship look. Woody Hayes wore them, too, in a different way, a brutalist accentuation of the black hat yanked over his ears and his shoulders bursting through his button-up jacket, his eyes magnified through those lenses and the insatiable temper nearly popping them right out of his skull. Jim Harbaugh wears glasses like a Siberian prison wears the snow. Supposedly, he says, to honor three people: Hayes, Michael Douglas in “Falling Down,” and Malcolm X.

Drink is in his office, wearing glasses. His tennis shoes are propped up on a velvet couch. The view through his office window is of the north end zone of the stadium and a clear and inviolable sky. When the season began, the Tigers were picked by plenty of people to make the first-ever 12-team playoff; so many pundits picked them that it honestly seemed to diehard Missouri followers like a bad harbinger. Mizzou has never once been able to follow up a great season with an even better one. He shows me the customized Cuban cigar humidor in black and gold that he received as a gift for winning the Cotton Bowl. Some texts from the Chief, singer Eric Church himself, a big fan of Drink. The Cotton Bowl ring and football from the game on a stand. A dozen other trinkets from last season’s run, an actual Cotton Bowl throw rug, and this giant framed picture right outside his door that shows him wearing sunglasses and the microphone headset thing extending in front of his mouth as he stares off into the distance with a hard-won frown, as if he were Nick Saban.

The entire office wall is made of glass. The view is of the sky and the stadium bleachers and the goalposts and the grass berm and Mizzou’s “Rock M.” Beyond that Providence Road and the University Hospital, the brick dorms with the windows open, a view all the way toward the columns at Jesse Hall and the most underrated campus in the SEC. By the window, to preview this same view of the future, Drink has a poster board of what the north end zone will look like in two years. Multiple levels of luxury suites rising several stories above a shrunken Rock M, an expanded concourse, thousands of people milling about the unfamiliar edifice, new seats where most of the grass used to be. I tell Drink, who didn’t grow up in Missouri but whose parents took him to Branson a few times, that when I look out there, I don’t exactly see what he does: sunshine, sure, but there are darker implications. I look out there and see Charles Johnson pushing with the ball one more time on “fifth down” from the 1, and Colorado “winning” the national title though he still didn’t cross the goal line. I see Matt Davison in the cool night air from my vantage point in the bleachers as a 17-year-old shocked that Mizzou was about to beat No. 1 Nebraska, Davison’s gloved hands cradling a deflected pass from Scott Frost off the foot of a Husker receiver named Shevin Wiggins with no time left in regulation, as the fans begin to storm the field at Faurot but then have to pull back in stupor as the most dominant team of the 1990s miraculously ties the game and then goes on to beat the Tigers in overtime. This is known as the Flea Kicker. Drink doesn’t see the field goal attempt, like I do, hook right in double overtime to ruin an undefeated season against South Carolina in 2013. He doesn’t understand the bodies that are buried and how deep they go, and thankfully he doesn’t care. Last year, Harrison Mevis drilled a 61-yard field goal into that end zone and Mizzou beat Kansas State.

“Mizzou was a challenger brand,” he tells me. Of course, he knows it doesn’t have the cachet of Alabama, or even somewhere like Florida. Which is why he took the job thinking the state had untapped potential given the talent that St. Louis and Kansas City regularly produce but that usually goes elsewhere. NIL and Drinkwitz are changing this. He has signed three top-25 classes in his Missouri tenure and kept several of the state’s best players (and some best nationally) home, including five-star recruits such as Burden and Williams Nwaneri. The cachet thing still proves true, though, when the Tigers drop in the polls three times after victories against Boston College, Vanderbilt and Auburn. It will take forever to be seen as Alabama’s worthy opponent, even if they beat the Tide on Saturday.

“We wanted to create story and space because if you’re not a blue blood it’s hard to get written about or recognized,” Drink says. “But now we’re to the point where we’re there, and it needs to be a lot less about me and a lot more about Brady Cook and Luther and Theo Wease. Those guys are way more important to this than I am. But it took a little of me putting myself out there to get noticed. But now that they notice and know who we are, it doesn’t need to be about me. I was a lot more active on social media. When I was at SEC media days, I was a lot wittier and a lot further and willing to take shots at other people, maybe more antagonizing; this year’s approach to media days was much more calculated.” No one at Mizzou has ever spent so much time on his image or being mischievous. The Star Wars thing he did with Mullen. Taking a jab at Tennessee’s Josh Heupel by calling a timeout last year at the end of the game against Tennessee, the game well in hand. Heupel is known for running up the score and kicking onside kicks against lesser teams, and when the Tennessee kicker missed against Missouri, Drink deadpanned after, “We stand on business, Josh.” About the only opposing coach Drink has never been willing to tweak is Saban.

“I tried to avoid doing anything that would create a narrative or create a viral moment, because I wanted the focus to be on the team and the players. As great as Saban is, when he retired, they replaced him in 48 hours. And the story was no longer about him and Alabama, it was about who’s next. No matter how good you are, you’re always replaceable.”

I’D RATHER HAVE a nerd as a coach. I’d rather have this guy who cannonballs off the diving board into the backyard swimming pool at his daughters’ command. I’d rather have someone who is openly self-referential than some other kind of coach, or the idea of some other kind of coach. I’d rather have this guy who drives his daughters in the back of a golf cart through the neighborhood to the Phillips 66 to get them ice cream or cinnamon buns or Andy’s Frozen Custard. Who takes them fly-fishing in Montana and wears the little safari-style hat. This guy who once sang “Livin’ on a Prayer” in public at a Mexican resort. As someone posted on X in November, “He may be a nerd, but he’s our nerd.” At this point, after all, no one has led Mizzou all the way. Not Don Faurot, the immortal coach in statue outside the stadium and for whom it is still named. Not Dan Devine, who had an 11-win season six decades ago, walking the old sideline in a suit and tie and top hat before he went to coach the Packers. Not Pinkel. So why not this person? This history major; this occasional strummer of guitars (he has two in his office) and smoker of Cuban cigars; this lover of Wendy’s hamburgers, this doer of dishes on weeknights when he comes home from football, this guy who somehow managed to get his daughters into Taylor Swift concerts this year and last, who gets them coffee now when he takes them to school. This guy who makes opposing fans boil over simply because he is a singularity in the game. I’d really rather him change nothing about himself at all — nothing about the way he looks, about the way he speaks, about the way he seems to have gotten under Heupel’s skin. Look at him. Look at his aura. Mizzou has never had anyone like him.

THE PLAYERS GATHER around him. The light is heavy outside. The turf of the practice field steams. He has been watching from a distance and standing behind a machine that sends footballs into the air to mimic a punt. He has a microphone that he talks through and huge speakers on the side of the field project his voice so players in every position group can hear him. Earlier in the day, the first time they saw him he ran into the team meeting room with his arms waving in the air, clapping to get the team going, shouting expletives when talking about getting the football into the air against Murray State. But then later out on the turf, the players put their hands on each other’s shoulders as he speaks to them, lost in the group except for the sound of his voice. And to be fair to him, from a distance, in the middle of the field with the players and his staff, in a white hoodie in the noonday sun, nothing really stands out about him. He looks like any other coach. Except for two red indentions on the sides of his nose where his glasses used to be.

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Best of Rivalry Week: Saturday’s results offered a healthy dose of certainty

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November 30, 2025

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Best of Rivalry Week: Saturday's results offered a healthy dose of certainty

  • David HaleNov 30, 2025, 01:05 AM ET

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

It was just a little more than 10 months ago that Ohio State won a national championship. In the time since, the Buckeyes have only offered further assurance of their greatness, marching through the 2025 season with one emphatic win after another, a convincing No. 1 team in the country entering Rivalry Week.

But, of course, none of that really mattered — not when Michigan still had the last word.

For every genuinely astounding new note on Ohio State’s résumé, there was always the simple retort: “Yeah, but … Michigan.”

For every big win the Buckeyes enjoyed, there was the reminder, like one of those signs that keeps tabs on how many days have passed since the last time someone needed medical treatment after getting their hair caught in the industrial sandblaster. By Saturday, Ohio State’s sign read: 2,191 days.

For all the superstars, high-priced transfers and NFL draft picks who have come and gone over the past six years, none of them could claim a victory over the most hated rival.

And then Saturday, it all changed.

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin followed an early interception with a brilliant performance. Wideouts Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate were dominant. Bo Jackson powered his way through the Wolverines’ defensive front. The Buckeyes’ defense was stifling, holding Michigan to a mere 163 total yards.

When it was over, Ohio State had exorcised its greatest demon, toppling Michigan 27-9. And to paraphrase the great statesman Hans Gruber, coach Ryan Day could stare out across the vastness of the Big House and weep, for he had no more worlds to conquer.

The Buckeyes’ triumph was less a statement of their dominance; that much had been obvious all along. And while Saturday’s outing felt like affirmation of Sayin’s ascension into the rarified air of the nation’s top QBs, and while it was a performance in which so many of Ohio State’s stars shone their brightest, it was ultimately more of a relief than a victory. Nothing Ohio State did was surprising. This is the team we’ve come to expect. Only, we also had come to expect that in this game, all that makes the Buckeyes great could sneak out the back door, like a head coach facing NCAA sanctions for a comically overwrought sign-stealing scam.

Saturday’s outcome also was relief for Oklahoma. The Sooners’ 17-13 win over LSU was hardly a College Football Playoff-worthy performance. The offense was again frustratingly out of sync, saved only by a pair of big plays — a 48-yard catch-and-run by Deion Burks and a 58-yard bomb to Isaiah Sategna III that proved to be the difference. Instead, Oklahoma continued to rely on an intractable defense, one that held LSU to just 198 total yards and forced the Tigers’ QB into the worst performance by a Van Buren since the Panic of 1837. By the time LSU called a delayed timeout before a fourth-and-2 that would decide the game, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables looked as if he had just slipped a whoopee cushion onto LSU’s chair, his sly grin making it clear it was only a matter of time before the Tigers embarrassed themselves.

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LSU Tigers vs. Oklahoma Sooners: Full Highlights

LSU Tigers vs. Oklahoma Sooners: Full Highlights

Oregon took a deep sigh of relief too after Dante Moore delivered a dart to Malik Benson for a 64-yard touchdown with 7:55 to play, securing a 26-14 win over Washington. The Ducks had controlled the game throughout, but a Denzel Boston touchdown had pulled Washington to within five and, suddenly, Oregon’s playoff spot didn’t feel quite so secure. In truth, this has been the story of Oregon’s season. Given the Ducks’ offensive weapons and relentless defense, this campaign has often felt just a touch too difficult, like trying to put plastic wrap on a casserole dish. But here they are, 11-1 and safely in the playoff, while Ohio State and Indiana head to the Big Ten title game. The Ducks are positioned like last year’s version of Ohio State — rested ahead of the playoff, its best football still ahead, biding its time, waiting to assert itself when the time is right, like a woman named Karen who’s displeased with her Panera order.

Perhaps no team felt more relief Saturday than Alabama. Logically, there was no reason to worry about this Auburn team, a program that had fired its head coach and frittered away every opportunity to win a big one. But this is the Iron Bowl: Strange things happen, and this contest had all the makings of another shocker.

The first half was a slog for Alabama’s offense, but its defense was virtually impenetrable, like a quarter-inch of snow on Interstate 20 through Talladega. After the break, however, the script flipped, and suddenly a 17-6 Crimson Tide lead disappeared, as Auburn’s Jeremiah Cobb rumbled into the end zone to tie the score at 20.

So, would Bama flop like the bangs that bear its name?

Alas, all the dark magic that resides within the storied history of this rivalry wasn’t enough to cover up what Auburn has been all season. A series of Tigers penalties kept an Alabama drive alive, and coach Kalen DeBoer opted to go for it on a fourth-and-2 from Auburn’s 6-yard line. Ty Simpson hit Isaiah Horton in the end zone for the score, assuring DeBoer would be allowed to return to Tuscaloosa without full-time security.

Auburn still had a shot to tie it, driving into Tide territory, but a Cam Coleman fumble effectively ended the comeback bid.

Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma and Alabama all now look like locks for the playoff. The same can’t be said for others.

Were Saturday’s results a relief for Vanderbilt, BYU and Miami? All three won, remaining alive for the playoff. But the lack of chaos around them only made the margin thinner. BYU controls its destiny, at least, getting a shot at the Big 12 title against Texas Tech. Vandy and Miami can do nothing more than wait and hope the committee reevaluates assumptions it has already clarified again and again.

For Miami, which utterly dismantled a ranked Pitt team 38-7, the wait is particularly galling. The Hurricanes are clearly the ACC’s best team but surely feel like a chance at a conference title — and the guaranteed playoff bid that comes with it — has been stolen from them like so many Lamborghinis in Carson Beck‘s driveway. Instead, 7-5 Duke will go to the league title game in Charlotte, North Carolina, to face Virginia, all because some convoluted tiebreaker scenarios are punishing Miami for losing a pair of games. Oh, and the ACC refs; they’re always helping out Coach K.

The last bits of stress before the College Football Playoff remain, but Saturday’s results offered a healthy dose of certainty, effectively stacking the deck and leaving Championship Week as a final chance to shuffle the cards.

No, the final chapter of the 2025 regular season didn’t upend the status quo. We end it all but assured of seeing Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma and Alabama in the playoff. But we learned something about each on Saturday in the way that they fought and survived and prevailed.

In January, there’s a good chance we’ll look back at what happened in Week 14 and see that the foundation for a national title was built among the chaos held at bay by teams that refused to loosen their grasp on a championship.

More:
Rivalry recaps | Trends
Under the radar | Heisman five
CFP takeaways

Rivalry recaps

Rivalry Week never disappoints, and the 2025 installment was another chance for hated rivals to add fuel to their longstanding hatred.

Lone Star Showdown

Texas‘ playoff hopes were on life support, but the Longhorns did what they had to do Friday to warrant continued consideration, knocking off previously undefeated Texas A&M 27-17.

Arch Manning recovered from a miserable first half to finish with 232 total yards and two touchdowns, including a 35-yard run that proved the dagger.

After the win, Texas rubbed a little salt in the wound, reminding Aggies coach Mike Elko of his statement that A&M was “the flagship program” in the state.

This, of course, forced A&M to retort with a brutal “I’m rubber, you’re glue” followed by Texas trumping the Aggies once again with a jumbled “alosersayswhat,” baffling Elko who was forced to ask for clarification, after which officials declared the battle over and Texas the victor.

A&M remains securely in the College Football Playoff field, but Texas’ case is one worth revisiting. Few contenders have a better track record against high-level competition, with the Longhorns now owning wins over A&M, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt — all top-15 teams — plus a one-possession defeat on the road against No. 1 Ohio State. And, while the committee isn’t supposed to consider dreaminess, Manning did state the Horns’ case by pushing his bangs back from his forehead nonchalantly and batting his eyes, to which committee chair Hunter Yurachek responded by fainting onto a couch and declaring he had “a case of the vapors.”

Egg Bowl

Unlike Lane Kiffin’s job search, Ole Miss had no trouble putting Mississippi State to bed Friday, as Trinidad Chambliss threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-19 win.

The final score was of little consequence. There were bigger questions to be answered: Who stole Chambliss’ jersey from the Ole Miss locker room before the game? Would Kiffin leave for another job? Would he be allowed to coach in the playoffs? Would Marty Smith’s perfectly manicured beard survive another day in Oxford?

All those questions were left to simmer throughout Saturday’s action, with answers likely sometime Sunday. Our preference remains that Kiffin announces his retirement then buys a house right next door to Nick Saban in a “Dennis the Menace” situation wherein Kiffin routinely sets Saban’s lawn on fire while trying to turn his skateboard into a rocket ship; but that’s admittedly a long shot.

Instead, we’ll likely spend the coming weeks debating the moral implications of taking another job while your team still has playoff aspirations. Oh, we’re talking about North Texas‘ Eric Morris, of course.

Sunshine Showdown

Six days after Florida State announced Mike Norvell would return for the 2026 season, Norvell offered a clear response: “Seriously? Can’t we ‘Old Yeller’ this situation? I’m dying here!”

DJ Lagway threw for three touchdowns, Florida ran for 272 yards, and the Gators torched Florida State 40-21.

The loss means FSU won’t play in a bowl game, which is probably for the best given that Norvell had already printed out most of the Amazon return labels for the bulk of his roster and arranged a UPS pickup on Monday.

For Florida, it was a small consolation after a lost season that ends with a 4-8 record, a 2-6 mark in SEC play and a large floral display that reads “Welcome Lane” that it now has no use for.

‘Clean Old-Fashioned Hate’

Georgia toppled Georgia Tech for the eighth straight time 16-9, matching the longest streak by either team in the rivalry’s history (previously set by Bobby Dodd’s Yellow Jackets teams from 1949 through 1956). It was hardly a stellar day for Gunner Stockton, who threw for just 70 yards — the lowest output for a Georgia offense since 2019 — but still finished the game leading both teams with 23 “we’ll get ’em next times,” six “bless his hearts” and four older people helped across the street. Stockton’s Heisman campaign likely took a hit, but he remains the favorite for this year’s top QB who knows a really good fishin’ hole, and his touchdown-to-“aw shucks” ratio remains elite.

Territorial Cup

Kenny Dillingham’s elaborate ploy to convince Jeff Sims that the past six years of his career never happened and were instead just a horrible dream came to a screeching halt Friday when Sims glimpsed a Waffle House en route to the game, igniting a vivid flashback to his time at Georgia Tech, and suddenly the reality all became clear like the final scene of “The Usual Suspects.” Sims proceeded to throw three interceptions as Arizona State fell to Arizona 23-7.

Palmetto Bowl

A year after LaNorris Sellers bulldozed the Clemson defense in an upset win in Death Valley, the Tigers got revenge, sacking the South Carolina QB five times, forcing two fumbles and picking off Sellers twice en route to a 28-14 win.

Clemson finished the regular season with four straight wins, allowing Dabo Swinney to celebrate afterward by gleefully tearing up a piece of paper labeled “Guys I guess I have to go get in the portal for 2026,” then opening an envelope labeled “Christopher Vizzina Heisman campaign materials.”

Commonwealth Cup

For just the second time in 21 years, Virginia upended rival Virginia Tech, securing the Cavaliers’ spot in the ACC championship game with a 27-7 victory.

J’Mari Taylor, once a walk-on at North Carolina Central, led the way with 80 yards on the ground, 34 receiving yards and both a touchdown run and a scoring pass in the win.

It’s a watershed moment for Virginia’s program. Just three months ago, a Virginia team capable of making the College Football Playoff after knocking off the Hokies in emphatic fashion would’ve seemed like a unicorn or a leprechaun or some other sort of mythical creature. Instead, the Cavaliers are playing their best football of the campaign behind a dominant defense and a ground game that has blossomed down the stretch.

Now all that’s left for the Hoos is to keep the ACC from massive embarrassment. It might be their greatest challenge of all.

Victory Bell

Jayden Maiava threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, King Miller ran for 124 and a pair of scores, and USC mercifully ended UCLA‘s season with a 29-10 win Saturday.

USC has now won eight of the past 11 against UCLA, including three of four under Lincoln Riley. If UCLA can’t turn the tables in the rivalry after moving to SoFi Stadium, the Bruins have promised to keep moving home games farther and farther away until USC gets so sick of traffic on Interstate 405 that the Trojans just forfeit.

Nameless NC State–North Carolina rivalry game

The Wolfpack wasted no time dispatching Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels 42-19.

North Carolina ends Belichick’s first season at 4-8, including an 0-8 mark against teams that finished 5-7 or better.

Belichick was tight-lipped about the future after the game, suggesting he would begin evaluating the team’s progress this week, having not given it any thought at all prior. But he is definitely committed to UNC and not just coaching out of spite (as he mumbled about Robert Kraft being a real jerk).

Governor’s Cup

Despite playing with a roster made up almost entirely of guys Jeff Brohm found at the KFC drive-through, injury-ravaged Louisville demolished rival Kentucky 41-0 Saturday. Miller Moss threw for three touchdowns, Louisville ran for 258 yards, the Cards’ defense picked off Cutter Boley twice and sacked him six times, keeping the Wildcats from becoming bowl-eligible in the process. After it was over, a defiant Mark Stoops sat at his kitchen table, sipped a coffee amid a blazing inferno, and announced, “This is fine.”

Week 14 vibe shifts

The regular season has drawn to a close, and it has been a wild ride. Some stories were impossible to miss — Lane Kiffin’s job search, Penn State and Clemson falling from the top five, shirtless men everywhere — but others were so subtle we might not fully grasp their impact for years to come. We’ve tried to capture those smaller vibe shifts here.

Trending up: A Big 12 showdown

Texas Tech and BYU clinched their spots in the Big 12 title game, setting up a rematch of the Red Raiders’ emphatic win from Nov. 8.

Texas Tech finished the regular season with a dominant 48-0 victory over West Virginia, the Red Raiders’ 11th win of the season by at least 20 points. In the playoff era, only 2018 Alabama (12 such wins) and 2019 Ohio State had done that — though both fell to Clemson in the College Football Playoff and did not win a title.

BYU also locked up its spot with a 41-21 win over UCF, ensuring Scott Frost’s sixth straight losing season as a coach after the famed 13-0 season with the Knights in 2017. After the loss, Frost returned to his office, unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk, pulled out an envelope and read the note that helped explain his career’s shocking downward spiral: “Never hold a parade after I win a title. I have powerful friends. – Nick S.” that helped to explain his career’s downward spiral.

Should the Red Raiders win the Big 12, plans are to immediately melt down the championship trophy, sell the gold at a local pawn shop and add the funds to the school’s NIL collective.

Trending down: NCAA eligibility rules

It’s possible — likely even — that Saturday represented the last regular-season game of Diego Pavia‘s career. If so, he’s going out in style, accounting for 402 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 45-24 Vanderbilt win over Tennessee, the Commodores’ 10th win of the season.

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Diego Pavia hits the Heisman celly after Vanderbilt TD

Diego Pavia celebrates a rushing touchdown for Vanderbilt by doing the Heisman pose vs. Tennessee.

And sure, Pavia has been playing college football since the Carter administration, but that doesn’t change the fact that the sport is simply a lot more fun with him on the field. So, we beseech the NCAA to change its rules and allow him to keep playing for as long as he would like.

In a just world, we’ll all be settling in to our cryogenic pods to enjoy the 2056 Moon Bowl (which, despite its name, is actually played in Myrtle Beach) to see 73-year-old Pavia quarterback lead Akron past Space Force with 160 passing yards, 105 rushing yards and another 64 crypto-yards before retiring to the locker room, handing out hard candies to his teammates and regaling them with tales of embarrassing Hugh Freeze.

Trending up: Utah State‘s social cache

Utah State blew a 24-13 second-half lead and fell to Boise State 25-24 on Friday. It was a stroke of genius by head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

With the loss, Utah State falls to 6-6. Lose a bowl game and the Aggies will wrap up a season with a sterling 6-7 record, and as anyone under the age of 16 can tell you, there is no greater accomplishment in our current society than being 6-7. Even more impressive though is that this would make Utah State’s fifth 6-7 season of the playoff era, two more than any other team.

So, to recap, Utah State is the most 6-7 program in America and now awaits its invitation to the White House or the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

Trending up: Bird battle in Conference USA

Jacksonville State‘s Garrison Rippa booted a 28-yard field goal as time expired to lead the Gamecocks over Western Kentucky 27-24 and lock up a berth in the Conference USA championship game.

Jacksonville State will take on Kennesaw State, which upended Liberty 48-42 on Saturday, for a chance to hoist the Conference USA championship trophy, which, thanks to a nice infusion of cash from Missouri State and Delaware joining the league this year, is no longer just a Burger King crown that came with a value meal Rich Rodriguez ordered two years ago.

Trending down: Prime time in Boulder

Kansas State knocked off Colorado 24-14 on Saturday, ending the Buffaloes’ season with a 3-9 record.

Times are bleak in Boulder without Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. Colorado could never figure out its offensive identity, cycling through QBs repeatedly, and ending the year with five straight losses.

A year ago, Deion Sanders had Colorado at the tip of the cultural zeitgeist, with social media abuzz, games drawing big ratings and A-list celebrities on the sideline each week. This year, the TikTok algorithm downgraded Buffs content beneath videos of cats wearing mittens, and the biggest celebrities to attend a game were the surviving members of “The Love Boat” cast and the kid in the “Charlie bit my finger” video from 2007.

Trending up: Extraction missions

One of the season’s most memorable highlights came during Louisville’s come-from-behind win against Pitt, when a Cardinals ball boy was tasked with retrieving a pick-six from Rasheem Biles, who was having none of it.

Not to be outdone, a Texas A&M equipment manager tussled with an even more fearsome adversary on Friday as he attempted to retrieve a ball from Bevo.

Of course, none of that compared to the nearly impossible task faced by an Ole Miss staffer who was sent on a mission Friday to retrieve Lane Kiffin, who had boarded a Greyhound bus bound for Louisiana at halftime of the Egg Bowl.

Holding steady: James Madison playoff hopes

James Madison issued a statement to the playoff committee on Saturday by demolishing Coastal Carolina 59-10.

The Dukes, who remain unranked and behind at least Tulane in the race for the Group of 5 playoff berth, have played a relatively light schedule in a down Sun Belt Conference, but they’ve largely destroyed their opposition.

Yet while JMU was celebrating an easy win, its top competition — North Texas and Tulane — also won with ease.

The Mean Green demolished Temple 52-25, and Tulane shut out Charlotte 27-0.

A Tulane win in the American championship game would effectively lock up a playoff bid for the Green Wave. How the committee would view a comparison between North Texas and James Madison is tougher to figure, but a Mean Green win over Tulane would likely be a boost for UNT.

But thanks to SMU‘s loss to Cal, there is another option. The ACC title game will feature Virginia and Duke, a team with five losses, including two to teams outside the Power 4. Could that leave the door open for the Sun Belt’s champion to jump the ACC’s champion should the Blue Devils topple the Cavaliers?

Surely nothing that catastrophic could happen to the ACC, a league whose entire personality is basically that pharmaceutical commercial in which the lady holds up a cutout smiley face everywhere she goes so people won’t realize how miserable she is.

So, Duke or Dukes? Green Wave or Mean Green? The 11th and 12th playoff seeds might be the last truly interesting debate heading into Championship Week.

Trending down: Hope for Rutgers

Rutgers led Penn State 36-33 midway through the fourth quarter and appeared well on its way to bowl eligibility. But even in 2025, when Penn State misery would appear to be at its apex, it’s impossible to outdo Rutgers for sheer football ineptitude.

Driving deep into Penn State territory looking to go up two scores, Athan Kaliakmanis fumbled, and Penn State’s Amare Campbell recovered the ball and returned it 61 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.

Rutgers still had a chance, thanks largely to KJ Duff‘s miraculous one-handed grab on third-and-13, setting up another Scarlet Knights scoring chance.

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‘What a catch!’ KJ Duff with an unbelievable catch with one hand

Athan Kaliakmanis makes a 42-yard pass to KJ Duff who grabs it out of the air for a one-handed catch vs. Penn State.

Rutgers picked up 8 yards on first down but then went nowhere on three straight plays, turning the ball over on downs. Penn State ran out the clock on its ensuing drive, giving the Nittany Lions bowl eligibility and sending Rutgers home for another long offseason wearing track pants on a leather couch and rewatching the “Entourage” movie over and over.

Trending up: MAC parties

The hottest club in FBS is MACtion.

It has everything: Eddie George, feral raccoons, random Tuesday night shootouts and that thing where a giant bird does the Griddy with a bunch of sentient stuffed Christmas ornaments.

Anyway, congratulations to Western Michigan for wrapping up the MAC regular-season title, which we assume comes with a gift card to Culver’s and a framed poster of Jordan Lynch arm wrestling a kangaroo.

Trending down: Memorable UMass seasons

The Minutemen wrapped up their first season in the MAC with a perfect record, a 12 in one column and a zero in the other. No, no, don’t ask follow-up questions. Just enjoy that information.

Actually, UMass was 0-12, with only two games decided by single digits after a 45-14 loss to Bowling Green in Week 14. As bad as UMass has been since moving to FBS, the first winless season for a program that has gone 1-11 five different times (plus an 0-4 COVID season) since moving to FBS in 2012. Still, it wasn’t the worst recent FBS season — Kent State was demonstrably worse last year — and it probably wasn’t even the worst UMass performance. UMass’s 2019 campaign in which it finished 1-11 but was outscored by an average of 33 points per game almost certainly was worse overall. So, congratulations to 2025 UMass. The Minutemen even lost the battle to be the worst UMass team.

Under-the-radar play of the week

South Dakota State dominated New Hampshire 41-3 in the opening round of the FCS playoff Saturday, a win highlighted by a 42-yard touchdown reception by Jack Smith, who then celebrated with his teammates in a snowbank that, we assume, is permanently installed inside the Jackrabbits’ stadium.

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Chase Mason throws 42-yard touchdown pass vs. New Hampshire

Chase Mason throws 42-yard touchdown pass vs. New Hampshire

The play marked the most notable snow celebration following a touchdown since Wisconsin’s Jim Leonhard enjoyed a big win at Camp Randall by adding an enchanted sweatshirt to a snowman, who then came to life and went on to a successful career coaching the Badgers, Arkansas and Illinois.

Under-the-radar game of the week

New Mexico‘s game against San Diego State on Friday had been a fun back-and-forth affair that, by the start of the fourth quarter, had devolved into an elaborate “Three Stooges” routine that lacked only someone dropping an anvil on Sean Lewis’ head.

The two teams combined for six fourth-quarter punts, SDSU took a sack with 17 seconds left to end regulation, then both turned the ball over in the first overtime. The Aztecs tossed a pick on their first play of overtime, with New Mexico only too happy to respond by fumbling away the ball three plays later.

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Keith’s one-handed catch-and-run TD wins it for Lobos in 2OT

Jack Layne finds Cade Keith for a 25-yard touchdown to win it for New Mexico in double overtime.

But New Mexico found a little magic in the second overtime period, with Jack Layne connecting with Cade Keith for a brilliant one-handed touchdown grab.

The win moves New Mexico to 9-3, the Lobos’ best season since 2016, and it sets up a four-way tie atop the Mountain West that will be settled Sunday via either a combination of computer metrics or a rap battle, depending on whether or not Dan Mullen gets his way.

Heisman five

Next week’s Big Ten championship game between Indiana and Ohio State might also be the deciding factor in who wins the Heisman Trophy. This stands in stark contrast to nearly every other Big Ten game this season in which the quarterback position remains a theoretical anomaly Wisconsin’s finest physicists still haven’t proven actually exists in the real world.

1. Ohio State QB Julian Sayin

If there was a knock on Sayin’s Heisman candidacy, it’s that it felt buoyed as much by the talent around him as anything he had done himself. That myth was dispelled Saturday as Sayin lit up the Michigan defense, rebounding from an early interception to look poised, dynamic and aggressive, throwing for 233 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-9 win. Sure, he looks as if a sorting hat assigned him to the least likable clique at his high school, but the important takeaway is he finally took down Ohio State’s Voldemort.

2. Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza

Mendoza was just 8-of-15 passing for 117 yards in his final game of the regular season, but that was still enough to account for three touchdowns and a blowout win over Purdue to secure the Old Oaken Bucket. As opposed to last year’s riveting rivalry win at Cal when Mendoza famously went “98 yards with my boys,” this was a bit more like “117 passing yards with some guys I met nine months ago against a team that hasn’t won a Big Ten game in two years,” which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it but we assume is special to Mendoza anyway.

3. Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love

Love carried 10 times for 59 yards and a touchdown before leaving Notre Dame’s game against Stanford with an apparent injury. Though he did reenter the game, we implore Notre Dame to keep Love covered in Bubble Wrap until we know whether the Fighting Irish are in the playoff or not.

4. Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson

Remember a month ago when everyone was so certain Penn State would hire Matt Rhule that Nebraska went out and locked him up through the 2032 season? Those were simpler times. Since then, the Huskers have lost three of four games and will finish with five or more losses for the eighth year in a row, the third-longest streak among Power 4 programs (trailing Boston College and Rutgers). Anyway, none of that should overshadow the fact that Johnson was one of the most prolific players in the country this year, including 217 yards rushing in a 40-16 loss to Iowa. How does a player rush for 217 yards and his team manage just 16 points? How does anyone give up 40 to Iowa? These are questions best posed to “Tungsten Arm” O’Doyle.

5. North Texas QB Drew Mestemaker

The Mean Green are 11-1 and headed to the American Conference championship game with a real shot at a playoff berth, and they’ve done it all with a QB who didn’t even start for his high school team. Mestemaker was a walk-on who got a chance in last year’s bowl game and won the job this year. He finished the regular season with another 366 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-25 win over Temple. For the year, Mestemaker has thrown for 29 touchdowns. In comparison, the entire Iowa team has 29 passing touchdowns over the past three years combined. So, we restate our longstanding theory that Iowa could’ve just found a guy who was the backup on his high school team and is now working the overnight shift at Walmart and gotten more production in the passing game than it currently has.

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Projecting Tuesday’s penultimate CFP top 12

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6 hours ago

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November 30, 2025

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Projecting Tuesday's penultimate CFP top 12

Alabama’s black (hoodie) magic continued.

What else can explain the Tide’s wild, playoff-saving, SEC title game-clinching, penalty-laden win against rival Auburn on Saturday night?

While bubble teams such as Miami and Texas were hoping for chaos, 11 of the committee’s top-12 teams won during Rivalry Week, leaving Texas A&M the lone team to drop in this week’s projection.

And that’s it.

With the exception of teams that will play for their respective conference championship games, the résumés are complete. Though there likely will be some shuffling after the conference championship games, the fifth and penultimate ranking Tuesday night will be the best indicator all season of which teams should feel comfortable heading into Selection Day — and which might need some help.

Here’s a prediction of what the committee might do in its fifth ranking Tuesday night.

Jump to:
Ranking | Bracket

Projecting the top 12

Why they could be here: This is where the selection committee has had the Buckeyes in each of its first four rankings, and beating No. 15 Michigan will further cement their place at the top. It was only Ohio State’s second win against a CFP top-25 opponent, along with the season-opening win against Texas, but the committee has been wowed by Ohio State’s talent and consistent dominance.

Why they could be lower: It wouldn’t make sense for the committee to drop the Buckeyes after beating a ranked rival on the road when Indiana defeated a 2-10 Purdue team 56-3. After Texas A&M’s loss to Texas on Friday night, though, Indiana entered Saturday ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s strength of record metric, but Ohio State was No. 1 in game control. The Buckeyes have the lowest schedule strength (No. 54) of the top contenders, except Texas Tech (No. 57).

Need to know: Given that Ohio State is entering the Big Ten title game undefeated, it still has a strong chance of finishing in the top four with a first-round bye, even if it loses to Indiana. The top four seeds are no longer reserved for conference champions.

Up next: Ohio State will face Indiana in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Why they could be here: This is where the committee has had the Hoosiers for four straight weeks — looking up at No. 1 Ohio State — and a lopsided win against Purdue is unlikely to change that. The Hoosiers’ best win was Oct. 11 at Oregon, and it remains their lone victory against a CFP top-25 opponent.

Why they could be higher: It would be surprising if the committee flipped Ohio State and Indiana at this point — not to mention difficult to justify — but if the Hoosiers win the Big Ten championship game, it’s an easy move. Indiana entered Saturday leading the nation in total efficiency — just a percentage point ahead of Ohio State — and is No. 1 in ESPN’s strength of record metric.

Need to know: No two teams in the country have better chances of earning the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye, according to ESPN Analytics. Indiana leads the country with a 99.7% chance to earn a bye, followed by the Buckeyes at 96.8%. Because the Hoosiers will enter the conference title game undefeated, they still have a strong chance of finishing in the top four, even with a loss.

Up next: Indiana will face Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Why they could be here: The committee will likely bump the Bulldogs up a spot after their win against rival Georgia Tech, and Texas A&M’s loss to Texas. Georgia also played Texas, and the Bulldogs beat the Longhorns soundly 35-10. The committee would consider that common opponent along with Georgia’s wins against Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech, though the Jackets could fall out of the CFP top 25 this week.

Why they could be lower: Georgia entered Saturday ranked outside the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency, and has trailed in several games this season. Against Georgia Tech, quarterback Gunner Stockton completed 11 of 21 passes for only 70 yards and an interception.

Need to know: Georgia’s win against Georgia Tech was critical because it gives the Bulldogs some margin for error in the SEC championship game if the Bulldogs finish as a two-loss runner-up. Georgia’s only regular-season loss was by three points to Alabama on Sept. 27. If the Bulldogs lose a close game to the Tide again, the committee would have a hard time ignoring the head-to-head results, which means Georgia would lose its first-round bye, but not its place in the playoff.

Up next: Georgia will face Alabama in the SEC championship game Dec. 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Why they could be here: The Red Raiders brought the sledgehammer down on West Virginia — in the first half — and could get a bump into the top four after Texas A&M lost to Texas. The committee has been impressed this season with the Red Raiders’ consistent dominance, ranking No. 2 in the country with an average points margin of 30.4 points per game. Texas Tech is No. 3 in the country with an average of 42 points per game while holding its opponents to 12.27 points per game, No. 3 in the country.

Why they could be lower: The Aggies have entered the one-loss debate, and how far they fall will be one of the biggest questions for the committee this week. Texas Tech has the worst loss (to Arizona State) of any of the one-loss contenders. The Red Raiders also trail the Aggies, Oregon and Ole Miss in strength of record and strength of schedule, according to ESPN Analytics.

Need to know: Texas Tech’s chance at a first-round bye depends on whether it wins the Big 12 title. The Red Raiders will face BYU in the Big 12 championship game and should feel secure in their playoff place, whether they win or lose. The victory over WVU gives them a cushion to earn a CFP spot even as a two-loss Big 12 runner-up. Nobody else in the country could claim a regular-season win against the eventual Big 12 champs in that scenario.

Up next: Texas Tech will face BYU in the Big 12 title game Dec. 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Why they could be here: The Ducks could get a small promotion this week if the committee drops the Aggies after their loss to Texas on Friday night. Oregon earned a respectable win at Washington, and has impressed the committee with its top-five ranking in offensive and defensive efficiency. Even if the committee keeps the Aggies above Oregon, the Ducks should be in a position to host a first-round home game as one of the committee’s highest-ranked one-loss teams on Selection Day.

Why they could be lower: With Texas A&M joining the pack of one-loss teams, it’s possible the committee still believes the Aggies are better than Oregon, an opinion it has indicated for the past four weeks. How much does a loss to Texas change that perception? The Aggies’ road win against Notre Dame is better than Oregon’s best victory, which was at home against USC.

Need to know: It’s possible that by Selection Day, Oregon’s only loss is to the Big Ten champs. It’s one small factor that could help the committee distinguish the one-loss teams. Oregon’s loss to Indiana would likely be viewed as better than Texas Tech’s defeat (Arizona State) and Texas A&M’s (Texas), but both were on the road, while the Ducks lost to IU at home.

Up next: Oregon will await the Selection Day results.

Why they could be here: The Aggies have only one win against a team in the CFP top 25, and that was the 41-40 victory at Notre Dame on Sept. 13. It was carrying them before, and it might not be enough now to keep a first-round bye as one of the top-four teams. The Aggies will likely drop to the four to six range behind Georgia. The Bulldogs have better wins, including a 35-10 drubbing of Texas, a common opponent. Georgia also has a better loss (to No. 10 Alabama), and has now clinched a spot in the SEC title game. There would be a strong debate, though, about whether the Aggies should fall below Texas Tech and/or Oregon. The Ducks have impressed the committee lately by ranking in the top five in offensive and defensive efficiency.

Why they could be higher: The committee has a lot of respect for the Aggies’ four road wins. The Aggies entered the weekend with a noticeable edge over Texas Tech in strength of record (23 to 56) and strength of schedule (1 to 10). It’s possible the committee drops the Aggies only one spot, flipping them with Georgia, which means they’d still be in position to earn a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed.

Need to know: The top-four seeds and first-round byes are no longer reserved for conference champions, so it’s still possible for Texas A&M — or another at-large team — to earn a first-round bye without winning its league.

Up next: The Aggies have been knocked out of the SEC championship game, and will wait for Selection Day.

Why they could be here: With the win against rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, the Rebels should be a lock for the CFP and are still in position to host a first-round game. Their Oct. 18 loss at Georgia will keep them behind the Bulldogs, but the Oct. 25 win at Oklahoma gives the Rebels an edge against the Sooners. The Rebels’ Sept. 20 victory against Tulane is one of their best wins, as the Green Wave is still leading the Group of 5’s playoff contenders after they clinched a spot in the American championship game.

Why they could be higher: It would be a bit surprising to see the Aggies fall as far as No. 7, but some committee members could reward the Rebels for their win against No. 8 Oklahoma more than the Aggies’ victory against No. 9 Notre Dame. Some could also argue that the Aggies’ loss to Texas is worse than the Rebels’ defeat to Georgia. The Bulldogs hosted both schools, but beat the Rebels 45-35 and the Longhorns 35-10.

Need to know: If Ole Miss turns to an interim coach for the playoff, the selection committee could consider that. CFP protocol states the group will consider “other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.” Ole Miss won’t miss the playoff because Kiffin left for another job, but it could get dinged a spot or two if the committee surmises the team won’t be the same without him.

Up next: Ole Miss will await Selection Day results.

Why they could be here: The Sooners’ defense continues to play at an elite level, helping compensate for what OU has been lacking on offense. Oklahoma has found ways to win all month, including back-to-back road victories at Tennessee and Alabama. The loss to Ole Miss will keep the Sooners behind the Rebels, but the setback against Texas is still likely to be overcome because the Longhorns have a third loss.

Why they could be lower: Oklahoma ranked No. 48 in offensive efficiency heading into Saturday — a glaring discrepancy from the other CFP contenders. The Sooners are No. 101 in the country with 128.2 rushing yards per game, and the selection committee has noted flaws like that. The members have done it with Alabama this year, pointing out the Tide’s inability to run the ball since their season-opening loss to FSU.

Need to know: Oklahoma likely locked up a playoff spot with its win against LSU, but hosting a first-round game is still fluid. The order can still change on Selection Day with conference championship game results. If Alabama and BYU win their respective conferences, they could make significant jumps, and OU would lose its first-round home game if it got bumped out of the top eight. The committee would also consider, though, that Oklahoma won at Alabama on Nov. 15, and that could be a road victory against the eventual SEC champs.

Up next: The Sooners will await Selection Day results.

Why they could be here: The Irish earned a decisive win at Stanford, leaving no doubt that they’re the better team against unranked competition — something other contenders struggled with during Rivalry Week. Though the committee compares common opponents — Notre Dame and Miami beat Pitt — the results were similar enough that it wouldn’t sway the committee enough to make a change. Notre Dame beat Pitt 37-15 while Miami topped Pitt 38-7. The committee has used losses to help separate Notre Dame and Miami, as the Irish lost to the Canes and Aggies by a combined four points. Miami’s loss to SMU looks worse after the Mustangs collapsed against Cal and were knocked out of the ACC championship game picture.

Why they could be lower: If the committee didn’t reward Alabama for its schedule strength yet, it’s unlikely to change after the Tide beat Auburn. Though there has been much public debate about Miami’s head-to-head win against Notre Dame, the bigger conversation in the room has focused on Notre Dame and Alabama.

Need to know: Notre Dame isn’t a lock for the CFP, though it would be difficult to imagine the Irish being excluded. If Alabama wins the SEC, though, and jumps Notre Dame, the Irish could be in danger of being excluded if two Big 12 teams are in. That could happen if BYU beats Texas Tech, and both teams finish in the top 10. That would mean a team currently ranked in the top 10 would have to be excluded to make room for BYU.

Up next: The Irish will await the Selection Day results.

Why they could be here: Alabama will play Georgia in the SEC championship game after punctuating its résumé with a road win against rival Auburn. Alabama continues to have one of the best résumés in the country, including what could be a top-three win at Georgia on Sept. 27. The Tide’s Oct. 4 victory at Vandy continues to boost their résumé, but Alabama will stay behind Oklahoma for now because of the Nov. 15 home loss to the Sooners. The committee has kept Alabama behind Notre Dame in part because of the Tide’s defeat to Florida State, and that took yet another hit Saturday after the 5-7 Noles lost to 4-8 rival Florida.

Why they could be higher: The committee has already had an in-depth conversation about Notre Dame and Alabama, and made its decision — and a win against 5-7 Auburn is unlikely to change the votes now. Alabama can leapfrog Notre Dame with an SEC title, though, as it would be one more win against a ranked opponent the independent Irish won’t have. The committee would have a difficult decision about how high to rank Alabama if it wins the SEC, though, because of its loss to Oklahoma. Would the head-to-head result keep the Tide behind the Sooners, even with an SEC title?

Need to know: The potential for chaos isn’t over. One of the selection committee’s biggest decisions could be what to do with Alabama if the Tide finish as a three-loss SEC runner-up. Alabama would have lost to Georgia — a team it beat on the road during the regular season. At No. 10, Alabama is already in a dangerous position if the Big 12 has two teams in the field. Three-loss Alabama could potentially wind up with the same fate as last year — ranked in the top 12 on Selection Day but excluded during the seeding process to make room for conference champions that are guaranteed spots.

Up next: Alabama will face Georgia in the SEC championship game Dec. 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Why they could be here: The Cougars’ lone loss was at Texas Tech, which could be a top-four team Tuesday. The double-overtime road win at Arizona looks a little better with the Wildcats’ victory against rival Arizona State this week, and the committee will continue to value the 24-21 win against Utah. BYU entered Saturday ranked No. 7 in ESPN’s strength of record metric and No. 6 in total efficiency.

Why they could be lower: The committee could reward Miami for its convincing 38-7 win against No. 22 Pitt, and the Canes’ victory against No. 9 Notre Dame trumps anything on BYU’s résumé. BYU also hasn’t been as consistently dominant as Miami, ranking 14th in game control compared with Miami at No. 6 entering Week 14.

Need to know: If BYU doesn’t win the Big 12, it’s unlikely to earn an at-large bid as the league runner-up because the Cougars are already on the bubble and would be eliminated during the seeding process if the playoff were today. It’s not impossible, though. If Alabama finishes as a three-loss SEC runner-up, it could at least open the door for debate. It could be as simple as No. 10 Alabama and No. 11 BYU flipping positions on Selection Day. The difference would be that BYU lost to Texas Tech twice, while Alabama would have defeated the eventual SEC champ once — and it was on the road.

Up next: BYU will face Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game Dec. 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Why they could be here: The Canes did what they needed to: earned a convincing road win against a ranked Pitt team. They’ve also shown the committee the consistency it is seeking. Miami has earned four straight wins by outscoring its opponents 151-41 and still has one of the best wins in the country, against Notre Dame. “I don’t think Miami has ever had a problem passing the eye test,” committee chair Hunter Yurachek said last week. “When we watch the games and we watch them on film, Miami is a really good team. What we have talked about as a committee in the middle of the season, Miami lacks some consistency, especially on the offensive side of the ball. It appears in the last three weeks, they have fixed that …” Now, they have to see if it was enough to unseat BYU and Alabama. The committee will also compare the Canes with Texas, and Miami’s win against Florida can help separate them from the Longhorns.

Why they could be higher: Miami has scored at least 34 points in each of its past four games, but No. 12 is probably the Canes’ ceiling, given there weren’t upsets immediately above them. Entering Saturday, Miami was also a notch below Notre Dame in ESPN’s strength of record, game control and strength of schedule metrics. The Canes (No. 47) are also significantly behind Alabama (No. 10) in strength of schedule.

Need to know: Virginia and Duke will play for the ACC title, so Miami’s only path to the playoff is through an at-large bid. The committee isn’t ignoring the Canes’ head-to-head victory against Notre Dame, but the members also are not only comparing Miami with the Irish. The Canes also need to earn an edge against Alabama and BYU — two teams the committee has deemed better than Miami to this point.

Up next: Miami will await Selection Day results.

Bracket

Based on the rankings above, the seeding would be:

First-round byes

No. 1 Ohio State (Big Ten champ)
No. 2 Indiana
No. 3 Georgia (SEC champ)
No. 4 Texas Tech (Big 12 champ)

First-round games

On campus, Dec. 19 and 20

No. 12 Tulane (American champ) at No. 5 Oregon
No. 11 Virginia (ACC champ) at No. 6 Texas A&M
No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Ole Miss
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma

Quarterfinal games

At the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

No. 12 Tulane/No. 5 Oregon winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech
No. 11 Virginia/No. 6 Texas A&M winner vs. No. 3 Georgia
No. 10 Alabama/No. 7 Ole Miss winner vs. No. 2 Indiana
No. 9 Notre Dame/No. 8 Oklahoma winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State

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Sources: LSU expected to hire Kiffin on Sunday

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November 30, 2025

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Sources: LSU expected to hire Kiffin on Sunday
Nov 30, 2025, 01:00 AM ET

OXFORD, Miss. — The Lane Kiffin saga is finally coming to an end.

Sources told ESPN on Saturday that the expectation is LSU will hire Kiffin away from Ole Miss on Sunday. A source cautioned that the deal was not signed as of late Saturday but added that it “would be a shock” if he didn’t sign it.

Should Kiffin agree to the contract, it will pay him, a source said, around $12 million annually across seven seasons, with the potential for bonuses, making him one of the highest paid coaches in the sport.

Kiffin, 50, and the Rebels just wrapped up an 11-1 regular season with a 38-19 win over rival Mississippi State, all but assuring them a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff. That said, the expectation among Ole Miss officials is that Kiffin will not coach the Rebels in the CFP, barring an unexpected change.

Sources told ESPN’s Marty Smith on Sunday that Kiffin will hold a 10 a.m. ET meeting with Ole Miss players, followed by an announcement about his future.

After Kiffin said he would decide on Saturday whether he’ll coach at Ole Miss or LSU in 2026, he met with Rebels athletics director Keith Carter and chancellor Glenn Boyce for a couple of hours at the chancellor’s home in Oxford.

But the day came and went without an announcement.

There was a growing sense at Ole Miss on Saturday that Kiffin might coach the Rebels in one more game if they clinched a spot in next week’s SEC championship game in Atlanta.

However, No. 10 Alabama‘s 27-20 victory against rival Auburn in Saturday night’s Iron Bowl eliminated the Rebels. The Crimson Tide will play No. 4 Georgia for the SEC title.

While Florida and LSU courted Kiffin, Carter and Boyce were adamant that he wouldn’t be allowed to coach the Rebels in the CFP if Kiffin took a job with an SEC rival. Kiffin had lobbied the Ole Miss administrators to change their minds, but Carter and Boyce dug in their heels on that issue.

Among other reasons, Ole Miss doesn’t want Kiffin around its players with the transfer portal opening on Jan. 2. The Rebels also don’t want their CFP games to be a “commercial” for LSU’s future under Kiffin.

Even with Kiffin potentially leaving, the Rebels will probably still be in the mix to host a first-round CFP game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Dec. 19 or 20.

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