Winners and Losers from Week 15 of College Football
The 2014 college football season is coming to an end. In a way, though, it feels like everything is just getting started.
On Sunday, the College Football Playoff selection committee will unveil its four-team field. Some of those spots appear to be secured, while others could be more open to discussion. In any case, everything college football fans have waited months on end for is coming to fruition.
From convincing wins by Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon, to a wild Bedlam game finish, there were plenty of takeaways from the weekend.
Which players and teams were winners? Which ones ended the season on a sour note? The answers are in the following slides.
Winner: Oregon
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Well, that was convincing.
Not that Oregon needed style points heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The formula was simple: Win and the Ducks were in the playoff. And did they ever win, beating Arizona 51-13 in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota all but officially sealed up the Heisman, too, with 313 passing yards and five total touchdowns. However, it was Oregon's defense that was the story of the game, limiting Arizona to just 224 total yards.
Arizona had a great season, and as Ralph Russo of The Associated Press tweeted, the Wildcats probably overachieved.
Still, that's a great win for the Ducks, who also have convincing victories over Michigan State and UCLA. Any narrative about head coach Mark Helfrich falling a game short and failing to emerge from Chip Kelly's shadow can be put to bed.
As Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer wrote on Friday, this is not your old "soft" Oregon. Arizona, Michigan State, UCLA and others will tell you as much.
Winner: Central Florida's Hail Mary
2 of 13And here you thought Hail Marys were reserved for #Pac12AfterDark. How about one with a little #AACtion?
Central Florida appeared to have its Thursday night game against East Carolina well in hand. The Knights led 26-9 entering the fourth quarter, but 21 straight East Carolina points put the Pirates up 30-26 with 2:17 to go.
That was just enough time for UCF quarterback Justin Holman to throw up a 51-yard Hail Mary, which was caught by Breshad Perriman for the game-winning score.
The 32-30 win gives the Knights a 9-3 record and a share of the American Athletic Conference title (along with Memphis).
Loser: Oklahoma
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Want to talk about a collapse? Look no further than Oklahoma in Saturday's 38-35 loss to Oklahoma State in the Bedlam game.
Up 35-21 midway through the fourth quarter, Oklahoma allowed 14 straight points to send the game into overtime. The first score by the Cowboys came on a 43-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mason Rudolph to receiver Brandon Sheperd, who broke a tackle on his way to the end zone.
The second touchdown, a 92-yard punt return by Tyreek Hill, showed what can happen when teams are silly enough to actually kick it to him.
Oklahoma seemed to be rolling with freshman running back Samaje Perine, but a sprained ankle in the third quarter sidelined Perine for the remainder of the game—not to mention it completely changed the tone of Oklahoma's offense.
Some questionable calls by head coach Bob Stoops, including a decision not to try a Hail Mary, only made things more frustrating for fans of the Sooners.
The win makes Oklahoma State bowl eligible, while the loss puts Oklahoma at a disappointing 8-4.
The Sooners began the year as one of the preseason favorites to make the playoff, but things have hardly gone as planned down the stretch. Stoops has now lost three home games in a season for the first time ever at Oklahoma.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Winner: SMU
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Well, would you look at that? SMU won a game.
It took 15 weeks and a lot of heartbreak, but the Mustangs broke a 13-game losing streak extending back to last season in a 27-20 win over UConn.
Naturally, it wasn't a drama-less win. SMU actually committed two pre-snap penalties in the victory formation—you can't make this stuff up. But it's not like you can say this team should finish like it's been there before.
Still, it's a nice way for SMU to close out a tough season. And with that, there are no more winless teams in major college football.
Go crazy, Mustangs. Y'all deserve it.
Winner: Marshall
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That's what you call a rebound, Marshall.
The loss to Western Kentucky last week could have sucked the life out of Marshall. The Herd, only just ranked in the College Football Playoff Top 25, saw their New Year's Eve/Day bowl odds take a mega hit with the first loss of the season. Would Marshall suffer a WKU hangover against Louisiana Tech in the Conference-USA Championship?
Early on, it looked like it would.
The Herd's offense was stale, but more harmful were the penalties and turnovers. Marshall entered halftime down 17-13.
However, Marshall managed to keep the score close, and quarterback Rakeem Cato threw the go-ahead touchdown with 1:50 left in a 26-23 win.
Marshall still may not get to a major bowl, and the financial implications of that are not to be overlooked. But viewed another way, it showed a ton of character on Marshall's part to come from behind like it did on Saturday.
Winner: TCU Quarterback Trevone Boykin
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Whether TCU actually needed to make an impression in the final week of the season is debatable. What isn't is that the Horned Frogs absolutely made their statement, as did quarterback Trevone Boykin.
Boykin, a completely transformed quarterback from a year ago, finished his superb season in a game with 460 yards passing, four passing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. With Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett out for Saturday and the bowl season with an ankle injury, Boykin has a chance to punch his ticket to New York for the Heisman ceremony.
Not that he'll win it, but it'd be a great honor all the same.
Furthermore, TCU may have cemented its spot in the first four-team playoff. According to Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com, the Frogs have, at worst, a 96 percent chance to make the playoff.
"I don't know what happens tomorrow, but bottom line is we've done everything we can do," head coach Gary Patterson said, via Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com.
Loser: Missouri Sans Shane Ray
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The formula for Missouri to pull off the upset against No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game was fairly simple, since it's what the Tigers have done in a handful of victories this season.
Mizzou needed to keep the game close heading into the fourth quarter, get pressure on Alabama quarterback Blake Sims and play great defense.
That obviously didn't happen in a 42-13 loss. Not helping matters was that star defensive end Shane Ray, who led the SEC with 12 sacks heading into the game, was ejected in the first quarter for targeting. You can see the hit on Alabama quarterback Sims here.
Mizzou was still able to have a semblance of a pass rush against the Tide, but clearly Ray's absence was felt.
With the exception of a few big plays, Missouri's offense mostly struggled to get anything going. The defense needed to step up big-time, but that's much harder to do when Ray isn't on the field.
Winner: Blake Sims and Amari Cooper
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Remember when Blake Sims wasn't supposed to be the starting quarterback for Alabama? Or when he was supposed to bridge the gap until Jake Coker assumed the starting role?
Yeah, about that...
Sims has completely surpassed expectations this season, capped off by a convincing 42-13 win over Missouri in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday. That victory all but officially secures Alabama's spot in the playoff, likely as the No. 1 seed.
Sims' 262 yards passing helped him become the all-time single-season passing leader at Alabama (3,250 yards), according to Cecil Hurt of TideSports.com.
Additionally, Tide receiver Amari Cooper, who should be in New York as a Heisman finalist, had 12 catches for 83 yards. The 12 catches were a SEC Championship Game-best, and his 115 catches on the season surpasses former Vanderbilt wideout Jordan Matthews' SEC single-season record.
Winner: Florida State
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It took up until conference championship week, but Florida State finally put together its most complete performance—well, up until Georgia Tech's late-game touchdown.
The selection committee has repeatedly dropped the Seminoles down its rankings, even though they remain the only undefeated team in major college football. A 37-35 win over the Yellow Jackets, though perhaps unnecessarily close at the end, is as impressive as anything Florida State has done this season.
Quarterback Jameis Winston was brilliant with 309 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-30 passing. Meanwhile, freshman running back Dalvin Cook had 177 rushing yards and shouldered the load of the running game.
Though the Seminoles defense was picked apart, it was also without defensive lineman Eddie Goldman, who had an apparent ankle injury.
At this point, it would seem unfathomable for Florida State to be left out of the playoff. Yes, the Noles have played with fire on more than one occasion, but each time they've come out the other side without any serious burns. That has to count for something.
Besides, going undefeated in back-to-back seasons is nearly impossible in modern college football.
Winner: Ohio State
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This is probably an impossible request, but we'll make it anyway: Forget about the playoff for two minutes. If nothing else, the opinion of the selection committee is out of Ohio State's hands.
The Buckeyes completely dismantled Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten Championship. The Badgers were favored by four points heading into the game, according to OddsShark.com, and it took less than 15 minutes to realize that was a mistake—a huge mistake.
A big reason for that was the performance of backup quarterback Cardale Jones, who went 12-of-17 for 257 yards in his first start.
The Buckeyes coaching staff did a good job of getting Jones comfortable early but without holding him back. The preparation and development head coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Tom Herman have overseen this season is nothing short of sensational.
For Ohio State to win 12 games in any conference against any competition with two backup quarterbacks is impressive. It's not just that Jones and J.T. Barrett won a lot of games, it's that they looked phenomenal in the process.
They've been so good, in fact, that Ohio State's quarterback competition with Braxton Miller, who missed the season with a shoulder injury, will be a must-follow storyline. All three could start at a lot of other places.
Loser: Wisconsin Running Back Melvin Gordon
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Give Wisconsin credit. It tried just about everything to get star running back Melvin Gordon the ball. The Badgers tried using the traditional north-south approach, sweeping Gordon to the sideline and doing everything in between.
Ohio State had an answer just about every time. You have to give props to the Buckeyes for that.
Gordon finished with 26 carries for 76 yards, his lowest total since rushing for 38 yards against Western Illinois in September. Since the game was 38-0 at the half, Gordon's role was going to be somewhat unimportant anyway, but Ohio State did a good job of containing him all the same.
Gordon likely wasn't going to win the Heisman, given how well Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota has played, but a solid performance against Ohio State could have at least made things interesting.
Winner: Baylor
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Or is Baylor a loser? The Bears would appear to have a lot of ground to make up after coming in at No. 6 in Tuesday's playoff rankings. Will the committee view Baylor's 38-27 win over Kansas State on Saturday as less impressive than TCU's 41-20 win over the Wildcats last month?
We'll find out in about 12 or 13 hours. It seems like there have been a lot of reasons—some might call those reasons "excuses"—why Baylor isn't worthy of a playoff spot.
"The Big 12 slogan is One True Champion," Baylor offensive lineman Spencer Drago said, per Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports. "I'll leave it at that."
But here's what can be said about Baylor: It has won back-to-back Big 12 championships (or at least a share of said championships) and has become the king of the Big 12 mountain. Criticize the Bears' non-conference schedule if you must—and it is clearly deserving of it—but to navigate through a nine-game, round-robin schedule with a 16-2 record in the past two years is worthy of praise.
Baylor closed out the season strong Saturday with a statement win. For not controlling its destiny, so to speak, that's not a bad way to end things.
Winner: Boise State
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After all this time, through a coaching change and rise of other programs, Boise State remains the king of the mid majors.
While the rest of the college football world debated TCU, Baylor and Ohio State, the Broncos won the Mountain West championship over Fresno State, 28-14. Boise State was outgained by Fresno 402-304 in total yards but had three takeaways.
The win puts Boise at 11-2 on the year. Come Sunday, Boise should be the highest ranked Group of Five team. That puts the Broncos in line for a major bowl bid—likely the Fiesta Bowl against Arizona.
That's a nice first season for head coach Bryan Harsin. Any concerns about the Boise program in the post-Chris Petersen era have been put to bed for now.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
