The 6 Biggest Surprises & Disappointments of the Week 13 Games

Rivalry week.

One last week of the regular season before we head into Conference Championship Week. That means one last chance for several teams to impress and improve their BCS Rankings.

On the other hand, it also gives several teams one last chance to be disappointing yet once again.

As Week 13 gets ready to wind down, let's take a look at some of the surprises and disappointments from this week's action.

Surprise: South Carolina

Let's see. They lost their Heisman Trophy candidate running back in Marcus Lattimore for the season due to injury.

They lost their starting quarterback in Stephen Garcia after he was kicked off the team.

Perhaps their best player, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery saw his numbers drop dramatically from a season ago.

Add all that up and you would figure that the Gamecocks would be struggling to become bowl eligible.

Yet they've found a way to become a ten-win team after a 34-13 beating of in-state rival Clemson.

No one would have blame them if they collapsed, but they surprisingly found a way to keep things together.

Disappointment: Clemson

Just a few weeks ago, the Tigers were sitting as an undefeated team thinking about how they could possibly make a move into contention for a berth in the BCS Championship Game.

Now after laying an egg against South Carolina, Clemson sits as a three-loss team with no momentum at all heading into the ACC Championship Game and a rematch against Virginia Tech.

Surprise: Trent Richardson

No surprise on Richardson, but what he may have done with his 200-yard performance against Auburn in the Iron Bowl, is take control of the Heisman Trophy race.

Disappointment: Robert Griffin III / Andrew Luck

In the case of Griffin, it's very disappointing that he had to leave his final audition for the Heisman Trophy early with a head injury. As unfortunate as it is, he's likely seen his chances at the award pass by. One more huge week from Griffin and he may have made things very interesting.

As for Luck, even though he still appears to be right in the race, he needed a huge night to potentially wrap things up. A four touchdown performance is very nice, but an under 300 yard game looks average.

I understand Luck not wanting to run things up late in the game, but at the end of the day Richardson's final performance looks much better than Luck's on paper. That may be just enough to win him the Heisman Trophy.

Surprise: Michigan

Had you suggested to me before the season began that Michigan would head into the Ohio State game with a chance to win their 10th game of the season and a chance at a BCS at-large bid, I probably would have called you crazy.

That's exactly what Brady Hoke has accomplished, though, in his first season on the Michigan sidelines.

One thing is for sure, and that's that Hoke deserves some Coach of the Year consideration.

Disappointing: Ohio State and Urban Meyer

Not that this Ohio State team is any good, but the way Ohio State has handled the Urban Meyer rumors is a bit disappointing.

All it did was put interim head coach Luke Fickell and his current players in a tough spot in an already very tough spot heading into the Michigan game.

It's enough in one week to gameplan for Denard Robinson, but to have to deal with all the extra added distractions is a bit much for a young coach and a struggling football team.

There's a proper way to deal with things like this, and the Ohio State administration dropped the ball once again.

Would it have hurt to not comment on things until next week? Probably not.

Surprise: Alabama

It's not a surprise that Alabama is on this list, but this is about the Alabama defense in particular.

It's no surprise that they had a good week either, given how good they are, but to be as dominant as they have been and sustain it for 12 games is something special.

To allow under nine points per game—and doing it in the SEC, no less—goes to show the pure dominance of the Crimson tide defense.

In the Iron Bowl, they held a talented Auburn team to only six first downs and under 100 yards of total offense midway through the fourth quarter. Yet another dominating performance.

Disappointing: Arkansas

The Razorbacks controlled their own destiny.

They led No. 1 LSU 14-0.

They got blown out.

From the middle of the second quarter on, the Razorbacks were outclassed by LSU, proving that there is still a big gap between the likes of LSU and Alabama and teams such as the Razorbacks.

In perhaps the biggest game in recent memory for Arkansas, to not show up and compete is very disappointing.

Surprise: Logan Thomas

You can criticize Virginia Tech's schedule all you want and you will probably be right in doing so, but if you are looking for a player who has maybe improved the most over a week-to-week basis, I give you Hokies quarterback Logan Thomas.

Thomas had another big week in defeating Virginia, sending Virginia Tech into the ACC Championship Game and a rematch against Clemson.

After the Hokies lone loss of the season to the Tigers, there were questions about the play of Thomas, but since that game, Thomas has been nothing short of outstanding.

Disappointing: Penn State

With all that's happened in Happy Valley of late, Penn State had a chance to put all that emotion to good use and head to Wisconsin to fight for a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game.

It was a fight for sure.

A first-round knockout by the Badgers.

Similar to Arkansas, the Nittany Lions had a chance to win their biggest game of the season and were simply outclassed by a better team.

Losing is one thing. Losing the way Penn State did is extremely disappointing.