College Football: Week 12 Recap, Game Attended and Pick Results

After Week 12 of the 2014 college football season, things have gotten very interesting regarding the College Football Playoff rankings.

No. 1 Mississippi State went into Tuscaloosa hoping to come away with its first win against No. 5 Alabama in seven years and keep its national title hopes alive. The Crimson Tide defense had other plans, though, as it caused Heisman-contending quarterback Dak Prescott to throw three interceptions.

Nick Saban's squad pulled out to a 19-0 lead in the first half, before the Bulldogs finally answered with a 23-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the second quarter. Prescott would eventually throw a four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Fred Ross early in the fourth quarter to tighten things up at 19-13, but Alabama answered back on its next possession with a 15-play drive that resulted in a T.J. Yeldon seven-yard touchdown run. In the end, Mississippi State wasn't able to make the plays when it needed to and fell to the Crimson Tide 25-20.

Other drama took place in Miami, where Jameis Winston and the third-ranked Seminoles were down 16 points twice in the first half against in-state rival Miami (Florida) and didn’t take the lead until there was 3:05 left in the fourth quarter. Florida State made a comeback yet again and came away with a 30-26 victory.

It got interesting for No. 4 TCU, who was expected to run all over an inferior Kansas team on the road but ended up with more than it bargained for. The Horned Frogs were down most of the game until Cameron Echols-Luper returned a 69-yard punt for a touchdown with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter. They managed to escape Lawrence with a 34-30 win, but it should be interesting to see where they’ll land in the rankings Tuesday evening.

The Big Ten West Division had an important weekend with 25th-ranked Minnesota looking to stay in the division hunt with a home game against East Division foe, eighth-ranked Ohio State, while West Division rivals 16th-ranked Nebraska and 20th-ranked Wisconsin collided in Madison.

The Golden Gophers hung with the Buckeyes but weren’t able to do enough defensively to contain freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett. Barrett passed for 200 yards, rushed for 189 yards and scored two total touchdowns in a 31-24 win.

The Cornhuskers appeared to be in control with a 17-3 lead early in the second quarter, and then everything fell apart. The Badgers scored 56 unanswered points with help from Heisman candidate running back Melvin Gordon, who rushed for an FBS-record 408 yards, and won in dominating fashion, 59-24.

The Pac-12 South Division race will now likely be decided the week before the Pac-12 Conference title game with Oregon State upsetting No. 6 Arizona State 35-27 late Saturday night in Corvallis.

Game Attended

No. 16 Nebraska 24 at No. 20 Wisconsin 59

Nebraska appeared to be in control early by causing three Wisconsin turnovers, two of which were fumbles by the top running back in the nation, Melvin Gordon. With a 17-3 lead, it looked as if the Badgers were going to have their hands full in a must-win game.

Momentum began to change near the end of the second quarter, though, when Wisconsin took a 24-17 lead on a Sam Arneson five-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Joel Stave.

It was all Badgers once the second half began, as they went on to score 56 unanswered points, with Gordon leading the way in the backfield. Gordon broke LaDainian Tomlinson’s FBS single-game rushing record with a 408-yard, four-touchdown performance in just three quarters.  

The Wisconsin offense racked up 581 yards on the ground against a Nebraska defense, which heading into Saturday’s matchup had held opponents to 123.8 rushing yards per game. While much of the focus was on Gordon’s record-breaking performance that is likely to send him to New York City for the Heisman Trophy Presentation, Cornhusker running back Ameer Abdullah was held by a stout Badger defense to just 69 rushing yards on 18 carries and no touchdowns.

Since joining the Big Ten Conference, Nebraska has lost to Wisconsin in three of four meetings and has been outscored by a combined total of 204-102. It has also had its troubles at Camp Randall Stadium by losing to the Badgers by an average of 33 points.

Gary Andersen’s squad now controls its destiny in the Big Ten West Division with a road contest at Iowa this Saturday and a home game against rival Minnesota on Nov. 29.

Pick Results

Overall Record: 39-21

Week 12 Record: 4-1

Note: Team in bold indicates author’s pick


Prediction: Ohio State 38, Minnesota 26

Result: Ohio State 31, Minnesota 24


Prediction: Clemson 41, Georgia Tech 35

Result: Georgia Tech 28, Clemson 6


Prediction: Alabama 28, Mississippi State 24

Result: Alabama 25, Mississippi State 20


Prediction: Wisconsin 30, Nebraska 24

Result: Wisconsin 59, Nebraska 24


Prediction: Georgia 45, Auburn 38

Result: Georgia 34, Auburn 7