College Football's Ultimate Villain, Alabama, Reigns on Shake-Up Saturday

Like a collection of supersized, supercharged monsters, Alabama announced its emphatic return late Saturday night in a homecoming celebrated by few. It ripped the limbs off an undefeated team and casually tossed them aside. It ripped the heart out of a Heisman campaign and held it upward, smiling.

All the college football world could do was begrudgingly marvel at the remains.

This was destruction in its purest form—a beautiful kind of ugly. This was a demolition masterpiece. This was the sport’s most exceptional villain—a role it plays so exceptionally well—growing in strength on the national stage. This was vintage Alabama. 

Outside of Tuscaloosa, only a small portion of the nation will be happy with this development. Only a small portion will celebrate Alabama’s 30-16 win over LSU and what it means in the bigger picture. 

That’s not to say this same group won’t respect the victory immensely. When a defense can limit Leonard Fournette, the nation’s most electric running back, to 31 yards on 19 carries, there has to be some level of respect. When Tide back Derrick Henry (210 yards, three touchdowns) can make moving at 242 pounds look that easy, there has to be some positive response. And yet, much of the country will not celebrate this effort.

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It’s the national championships. It’s the recruiting dominance and the way Nick Saban stockpiles his roster yearly. It’s Saban himself, a smile-less, robotic leader who gasses this great machine.

It’s the way Alabama goes about its supremacy—choosing to suck the life out of its opponents by sitting on them and refusing to get up, rather than attempting to do it with flash. It’s the final drive on Saturday night—a 13-play, nine-minute, 18-second masterpiece that ended in the victory formation.

Oh, is it beautiful. But it’s not for everyone.

Although Alabama isn’t the villain to all, it is the antihero to many. Success will do that. And while being the villain could be perceived by some to be an overwhelming negative, college football needs a villain. It needs Alabama.

It needs a team to assume this role—playing with such a carefree, brutish style—to showcase just how powerful and different one program can operate every once in a while. That happened Saturday night, and not all will be happy about it.

That’s a good thing. That’s exactly how it should be. Alabama certainly doesn't mind.

As for other thoughts on a wild Saturday, a day that saw three of the nation's Top 10 teams fall, here is an assessment of the Week 10 carnage.

The Big 12 November Madness Starts Early 

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A few days after Baylor struggled at Kansas State, TCU’s undefeated dream season came to a crashing halt in Stillwater.

Oklahoma State didn’t just upset the selection committee’s No. 8 squad. No, the Pokes, No. 14 in the debut ranking, absolutely manhandled the Horned Frogs—sending shock waves through the Big 12 and beyond. A new contender emerged.

In the 49-29 victory, Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph threw five touchdowns. He was brilliant. Perhaps more impressive, however, was the way Mike Gundy’s defense slowed the best quarterback in the nation.

Trevone Boykin threw four interceptions. When wideout Josh Doctson left the game with a wrist injury, the offense looked completely out of sync. This was a dominant defensive showing by the Cowboys.

The result will certainly impact our perception of TCU, a team many were pegging for the playoff. On the other side of the result, this game drastically alters the way many, including the selection committee, should view Oklahoma State. An emphatic win like this is impossible to ignore.

There is still much work to be done. The Big 12 slate still will have plenty to say—continuing with Oklahoma-Baylor in Week 11. 

Don’t look now, though. After Iowa State, Oklahoma State plays both Baylor and Oklahoma at home to close the year. Things could stay weird.

Michigan State Finally, Unexpectedly, Painfully Goes Down in Flames

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Oh, Michigan State got hosed.

There is no other way to shape it. Sure, the game should have been out of reach by the fourth quarter, and the Spartans should have taken care of business. But that doesn’t make this loss any easier to stomach in East Lansing.

Up 38-33 with less than a minute remaining, Nebraska wideout Brandon Reilly scored the go-ahead touchdown that should not have been allowed. Officials ruled that Reilly was pushed out of bounds before making the catch, although replay—and even the live shot—said otherwise. It appeared as though Reilly’s exit from the field was his doing.

"We're going to collect ourselves and understand that our destiny is still in our hands,” Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio told reporters following the game.

He’s absolutely right. And yet, this loss feels like a dagger. Maybe not a dagger; let's call it a tremendous gut punch.

To many, this has been a long time coming. Michigan State narrowly escaped Purdue and Rutgers before beating Michigan on a walk-off fumble return. So yeah, the writing was on the wall. But still, Nebraska didn’t feel like the team capable of finally pulling this off—not after the Cornhuskers allowed 55 points to Purdue last week. 

Regardless of how or if it should have happened, it happened. And while Michigan State still has a shot at Ohio State and a chance at a Big Ten title, things will have to change in a hurry for this lovely bounce-back story to be written.

No Madness Here; Clemson Looks Like the No. 1 Team in the Country

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One could look at the final score of Clemson-Florida State, combing over every bit of the box score goodness, and leave somewhat unimpressed that the nation’s No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff standings didn’t win by more.

To me, however, the Tigers’ performance on Saturday generated the opposite response. What range this team has.

In beating Florida State 23-13, Clemson showed its ridiculous depth and resolve. The week prior, the Tigers won a shootout, 56-41 over NC State. This week, in an emotional rivalry matchup that has plagued the program in recent years, Dabo Swinney’s team showed it could both take and give a punch. 

Quarterback Deshaun Watson missed a handful of throws. The running game early on struggled to do much of anything. But then it got going. And then Watson got going, finishing with 297 yards passing, 107 yards rushing and a touchdown through the air. The defense that struggled so badly one week ago took over.

That’s what was so impressive—the fact that Clemson won games in consecutive weeks in such differing, impressive ways. And on a weekend rife with upsets, the Tigers looked very much like the favorite to win the whole thing.

Cinderella Is No More

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It was fun for about four days. 

When Memphis debuted at No. 13 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings last Tuesday, we embraced the still-unlikely scenario that the Tigers could crash the playoff party. Then Saturday happened. 

First, Ole Miss lost to Arkansas, which took a baseball bat to Memphis' biggest resume boost. Then the Tigers did the major damage to this unlikely push, losing to Navy, 45-20. That should about do it.

While Houston is still unbeaten and will have a place in the selection committee's Top 25 heading into Week 11, the Cougars just don’t have the resume to approach the top four. That’s not to say that interest is sucked out of these games; Memphis-Houston next weekend is hugely important, and there are still fantastic Group of Five developments to unfold. 

But the playoff? That madness will have to wait for another year.

Still, there will be plenty of madness to go around.