College Football: Week 9 Recap, Pick Results and Final Thought

The nation wasn’t sure what it would be in for with only two matchups featuring ranked teams, but Week 9 of the 2014 college football season did not disappoint.

There were dramatic endings in both Death Valley and Happy Valley, along with an exciting game-winning final minute drive late Saturday night in Salt Lake City and an 82-point clinic put on by TCU.

No. 3 Ole Miss was looking to win its first game in Baton Rouge since 2008 with a 7-3 lead in the fourth quarter, but No. 24 LSU wasn’t going down without a fight. On a long, 95-yard drive that lasted six minutes, the Tigers managed to score on a three-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Jennings to Logan Stokes to take a 10-7 lead with 5:07 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace failed to convert on a quarterback sneak on 4th-and-1, giving the ball back to LSU. The Tigers failed to convert a first down themselves, however, and were unable to close out the game before affording Ole Miss one last chance to pull off a win.

Wallace drove the offense down the field and appeared to have his team in field-goal position, but there was a monumental collapse for Hugh Freeze and company with nine seconds remaining. The field goal unit failed to get the ball off in time and it resulted in a delay-of-game penalty. Instead of putting freshman kicker Gary Wunderlich back in for a 47-yard game-tying field goal, Freeze put the offense back out. Wallace then made a critical error by trying to throw for a touchdown, which ended up being intercepted by LSU safety Ronald Martin on the 1-yard line.

The Rebels' hopes and dreams of going undefeated this season ended in Death Valley with a disappointing 10-7 loss.

No. 13 Ohio State was in for a surprise when it traveled to Penn State. Not only did the Buckeyes get an unexpected 4 a.m. wake-up call from Nittany Lion fans Saturday morning, but they also had to settle things in overtime after giving up 17 unanswered points in the second half.

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett didn’t have his strongest outing of the season with two interceptions, but he helped lead his team to a much needed 31-24 double overtime victory with two rushing touchdowns.

As if there hadn't already been enough excitement Saturday night, the late night Pac-12 showdown between No. 20 USC and No. 19 Utah did not disappoint. Steve Sarkisian’s Trojans once again had trouble closing out a game when they failed to get a first down deep in Utah territory on 4th-and-2 with about two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Utah quarterback Travis Wilson then took advantage of USC’s missed opportunity and led the Utes down the field for a game-winning touchdown with eight seconds remaining.

With Utah’s come-from-behind victory, it is now in a position to contend for the Pac-12 South Division title. The Utes have yet to win the division since joining the conference in 2011.

The No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs seemed to be the big story of the day though, as they did more than just dismantle in-state Texas Tech.

Gary Patterson’s squad is currently one of the hottest teams in the country and it's fair to say that TCU’s 82 points—the most scored in a Big 12 Conference game—would give any opposing team’s defense nightmares. Quarterback Trevone Boykin threw a school-record seven touchdowns, while also leading the offense to a school best of 785 yards on offense.

No. 1 Mississippi State managed to get by an improving Kentucky team on the road. The 45-31 came with help from running back Josh Robinson’s 198 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, No. 11 Kansas State shutout Texas 23-0. It was the first time the Longhorns had been shut out since 2004.

Heisman contending quarterback Marcus Mariota helped No. 6 Oregon blow past Cal 59-41 with 326 yards and five touchdowns.

Finally, No. 5 Auburn got all it could handle from Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks, but the Tigers came away with a close 42-35 victory. 

Pick Results

Overall Record: 28-17

Week 9 Record: 4-1

Note: Team in bold indicates author’s pick

Prediction: Michigan State 35, Michigan 13
Result: Michigan State 35, Michigan 11

Prediction: Ole Miss 35, LSU 27
Result: LSU 10, Ole Miss 7

Prediction: Auburn 38, South Carolina 24
Result: Auburn 42, South Carolina 35

Prediction: Ohio State 34, Penn State 17
Result: Ohio State 31, Penn State 24 (2OT)

Prediction: Utah 37, USC 34
Result: Utah 24, USC 21

Final Thought

The College Football Playoff selection committee will meet for the first time this season in Dallas on Monday. It now gets interesting, as the current 12 members are getting their first opportunity to put their top four teams together.

With so much anticipation for this new era, there is already controversy over which teams should be in the third and fourth spots. The first and second spots should be set in stone, as Mississippi State and Florida State are both still undefeated.

Though there is a group of one-loss teams vying for two of the spots in the top four, there are two specific teams that the nation should see in the three and four spots when the first rankings are released Tuesday night. 

3. Alabama Crimson Tide

Record: 7-1 (4-1 SEC)

Quality Wins: West Virginia, Texas A&M

The Alabama Crimson Tide have taken care of business since their 23-17 loss at Ole Miss and narrow 14-13 win at Arkansas. Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide blew out then-No. 21 Texas A&M 59-0 at home on Oct. 18 and handled Tennessee on the road 34-20 this last week. With the offense clicking and things appearing to be smoother in Tuscaloosa these past two weeks, expect Alabama to be in the top four when the rankings are released.

4. Ole Miss Rebels

Record: 7-1 (4-1 SEC)

Quality Wins: Alabama, Texas A&M

Yes, the Rebels did defeat the Crimson Tide earlier in October, but the chances of being ranked higher than Alabama after a heartbreaking loss at No. 24 LSU on Saturday night are low. If not for a questionable decision by Hugh Freeze to not give his kicker a chance to tie the game right away—or quarterback Bo Wallace trying to be heroic with a pass to the end zone that was intercepted—this team very well could still be undefeated. The offense had an off night, but the landshark defense was in full force while holding LSU to only 10 points. Ole Miss is deserving of the No. 4 spot this week.

Just Missed:

Auburn Tigers

Record: 6-1 (3-1 SEC)

Key Wins: Kansas State, LSU

It’s difficult to leave Auburn out of the top four with a quality win at Kansas State in September and a blowout win at home against LSU, but it struggled at Mississippi State on Oct. 11 in a 38-23 loss. Quarterback Nick Marshall had a rough game against the Bulldogs when he threw two interceptions. The Tigers also had to hold on for dear life against a South Carolina team last week that has not been as good as advertised. 

Oregon Ducks

Record: 7-1 (4-1 Pac-12)

Key Wins: Michigan State, UCLA

A loss to then-unranked Arizona at home on Oct. 2 was a tough one to swallow for the Ducks—and it's basically the reason they don't make the top four, despite not having key left tackle Jake Fisher at the time and the Wildcats continuing to win. Since the return of Fisher, the Ducks have averaged 48.7 points per game, but the defense continues to be the big question.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish  

Record: 6-1

Key Win: Stanford

If not for an offensive pass interference call at Florida State, Notre Dame would find itself in at least the No. 2 spot. Stanford is now unranked and, other than that, the Fighting Irish haven’t defeated a quality opponent. The teams they’ve beaten are a combined 17-22.