10 Takeaways from Week 9 of the college football season

Despite five of the top seven teams in the nation taking the weekend off on byes, there was plenty of drama around the nation in Week 9 of the college football season.

We witnessed a bit of everything, from breakout performances to outbursts on the sidelines, from nail-biting finishes to blowouts that were over before halftime.

We’ve got you covered with the top takeaways from the action, starting with a look at what’s sure to be a crazy finish in the offensive-minded Big 12.

1. Big 12 still up for grabs

Unbelievably, there are still three undefeated teams in the Big 12. Baylor (No. 2), TCU, (No. 5) and Oklahoma State (No. 12) made it through nine weeks without a blemish on their records.

This is about to change, because TCU hits the road to face the Cowboys next weekend, who will face Baylor in their second-to-last game of the year, and Baylor will take on the Horned Frogs the weekend after that.

This high-scoring conference will almost surely be represented in the four-game playoff at the end of the year unless no team emerges undefeated. Should all three teams lose at least a game, then detractors harping on the lack of defense in the conference as a means to poke holes in the legitimacy of the success currently being enjoyed by all three undefeated teams will have ground to stand on.

Until then, there can be no doubt there is no conference in American that produces as much consistent action as the Big 12. On a personal note, it would be a lot of fun to see one of them emerge unscathed so we can finally see if a top Big 12 team stands a chance against the heavyweights of the SEC, Big Ten and the ACC.

2. Time to recognize Navy’s Keenan Reynolds

It was a banner day for Navy. Not only did quarterback Keenan Reynolds tie the NCAA’s all-time career rushing touchdowns mark, but the Midshipmen set a school record with three individuals rushing for at least 100 yards.

Reynolds scored twice on the ground Saturday against South Florida — both in the fourth quarter — and tied Montee Ball’s career mark of 77 in the process.

His second score sealed the win with less than two minutes remaining. Making things even sweeter for Reynolds and the Midshipmen, the 29-17 win over the Bulls made them bowl eligible for the 12th time in 13 years, per NavyTimes.com.

With an overall record of 6-1 and an undefeated record in the American Athletic conference, Navy is looking good heading into the stretch run to the end of the season.

3. Deshaun Watson surges into Heisman discussion with six TDs

Clemson (No. 3) was tested on the road Saturday by North Carolina State, which was down by just three after one quarter and by six heading into halftime. During that tenuous first half, sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson was the glue that held the Tigers together, and he had an answer every time the Wolfpack made a move.

By the end of the third quarter, there was no doubt about which team would win the game. Watson engineered three touchdown scoring drives to go up by give his team a 20 point lead heading into the final stanza, throwing two long touchdown passes in the process.

All told, Watson scored six touchdowns — five by way of the pass, and one on the ground — and totaled 437 yards. Four of his touchdown passes went for 35 yards or longer. It’s clear he deserves to be counted among the top Heisman contenders as we head into the final weeks of play.

https://twitter.com/Matt_Fortuna/status/660609399962996736

Indeed, next weekend’s showdown in Death Valley will be a definitive encounter for both Clemson and FSU. And, and if Watson has another monster performance like the one we saw Saturday, then the Seminoles won’t stand a chance on the road.

4. Sean Maguire should remain starting QB for FSU against Clemson next weekend

Florida State (No. 17) is going to need every bit of offensive firepower it has to keep up with the Tigers at Death Valley next Saturday. With Deshaun Watson coming on so strong, the Seminoles will be hard pressed to keep up on the road unless Sean Maguire is the man taking snaps behind center.

Notre Dame transfer Everett Golson has been solid this year for FSU, but the passing game has suffered through stagnant periods all too often under his guidance. Golson has only two games this year in which he’s thrown more than one touchdown, and his offensive playmakers have been lacking opportunities to make big plays down the field.

Mainly, it’s been running back Dalvin Cook making the big offensive plays for FSU this year, but he was out with an ankle injury on Saturday while Golson was held out with concussion symptoms.

In his stead against Syracuse, Maguire opened things up in a major way, tossing three touchdown passes, including 45-yard and 75-yard touchdown strikes to receiver Travis Rudolph, who had five catches for 191 yards and three touchdowns. Before this game, Rudolph was averaging just over 1o yards per reception (30 catches for 310 yards) and had only three touchdowns all year playing with Golson.

Macguire’s ability to connect deep makes him a better quarterback for Florida State this upcoming weekend, and beyond, than Golson. He finished with 348 passing yards, averaging 9.9 yards per attempt.

With a more potent aerial assault, Florida State’s entire offense will be more explosive and diverse. Head coach Jimbo Fisher has a tough decision to make, but it seems clear going back to Golson would be a mistake.

5. Iowa is going to make it extremely difficult on playoff voters

Iowa (No. 10) made easy work of Maryland, going up 31-7 midway through the fourth quarter after cornerback Desmond King took an interception 88 yards to the house. The Terrapins did manage to return the following kickoff back for a touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to make it 31-15. But that final score makes the contest seem closer than it actually was.

Utilizing a swarming defense and better-than-advertised offense, Iowa has mowed down the competition thus far in 2015 and remains undefeated through Week 9. Standing in the way of an undefeated record at the end of the year is Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska.

At this point, the only team standing in Iowa’s way is Iowa.

The problem here is that despite what could be an undefeated record at the end of the year, the Hawkeyes could miss out on a playoff opportunity to a bigger school with one loss on its record. Currently Alabama, Notre Dame and Florida fit into this category, and it’s easy to imagine the voters opting for one of these schools, rather than allowing Iowa and its small market into the four-team playoff.

No matter what, the final decision would be controversial and difficult to make for those in charge of making it.

6. Florida will likely run away with the SEC East 

Georgia had no chance against a ticked-off Florida squad that hung tough with LSU last weekend but ultimately failed to defeat the Tigers at home. The No. 11 Gators feasted on the Bulldogs, 27-3, handing them their third, and worst, loss of the season.

With the victory, Florida moved two games ahead of Georgia in conference play. If the Gators can dispatch Vanderbilt next weekend at home, then they will clinch the SEC East with six conference wins.

This would set up an SEC Championship game against either LSU, Alabama or Ole Miss to finish off what has been a remarkable first season for Florida head coach Jim McElwain.

“Where we are now, we can only stop ourselves,” UF star cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III said, via Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. “… The attitude on this team changed as soon as Coach Mac took over. … His message was clear. He said, ‘I’m going to show you how to do it, and if you don’t want to do it right then there’s another guy who will.'”

Clearly, “Coach Mac” has inspired his players to perform at a higher level than anyone expected. And, perhaps the Gators will be able to exact some revenge against LSU in the championship game, which could set the program up for a playoff bid, depending on how things shake out around the nation.

7. Don’t count out Ole Miss in the SEC

Ole Miss could still win the SEC West after the Rebels beat Auburn on Saturday by a score of 27-19 to improve their conference record to 4-1. The team’s two losses to Florida and Memphis are certain to keep the Rebels out of any playoff conversations, but an SEC title is very much still in play.

Obviously there are significant hurdles still remaining in their path to the SEC Championship. However, the path is available nonetheless, thanks in large part to plays like this one from receiver Laquon Treadwell, who could be the best in the nation at his position.

Ole Miss still has LSU to face, along with an end-of-year battle against Mississippi State. But if the Rebels win out — with wins over the Tigers and Crimson Tide — and get some help along the way from LSU and Alabama, an SEC title isn’t out of the question. LSU and Alabama have yet to square off, and both schools have challenging schedules the rest of the way.

8. Michigan finally feels the love from the football gods

A few weeks after the football gods crushed Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines, they showed remorse by causing Minnesota to make a couple of last-minute blunders at home, thus handing Michigan the 29-26 road victory.

The Golden Gophers had a chance to either tie or win the game with 19 seconds remaining after quarterback Mitch Leidner completed a 22-yard pass to Drew Wolitarsky, who was down at the half-yard line. With a timeout in his pocket, Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys decided not to use it, and the clock started running after the officials deemed Wolitarsky hadn’t crossed the goal line upon review.

After a failed pass attempt, which was hastily executed,due to Claeys’ mismanagement of the clock, Minnesota had a chance to tie the game with a field goal on the last play of regulation. Instead, Claeys decided to go for the win, which is admirable. However, the way he chose to attack Michigan’s No. 1-ranked defense was arguably worse than his decision to not use his final timeout.

Predictably, Michigan stuffed the ill-conceived quarterback sneak to win the game and claim the Little Brown Jug.

9. DeShone Kizer coming into his own for Notre Dame

Notre Dame (No. 9) barely hung on to beat Temple (No. 21) on Saturday night in Philadelphia, 24-20. The stellar late-game performance by sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer was the difference for the Fighting Irish.

Totaling 442 yards with three touchdowns, Kizer saved his best for last. Down by three points late in the fourth quarter, after throwing two interceptions in the game, he connected with receiver Will Fuller on a 17-yard touchdown strike to go ahead by four points with just over two minutes remaining.

Temple turned the ball over four plays later, allowing Notre Dame to walk out of Lincoln Financial Field with the nerve-racking victory.

Speaking of nerves, head coach Chip Kelly seemed to have trouble controlling his late in the game when he went after one of his assistants on the sideline. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, but Kelly has some explaining to do and perhaps an apology to be made after his heat-of-the-moment grab-and-yell exchange.

Notre Dame, with the victory, remains on the outskirts of the playoff hunt with an overall record of 7-1. Temple, on the other hand, will likely fall out of the top 25 after the tough loss at home to the Irish, the first of the season for the Owls.

10. Stanford’s season saved by horrible call from Pac-12 refs

Stanford eked out an ugly win, 30-28, against Washington State late Saturday night, but the Cardinal caught a huge break on a blown call by the Pac-12 refs in the game.

Christian McCaffrey had the ball stripped near the left sideline and it landed in the lap of a Washington State defender, but the referees maintained McCaffrey was out of bounds when the ball was stripped, even upon review.

It was a bad call on the field, and there is no way to justify the mistake upon review, yet that was the final verdict.

The missed call gave Stanford the opportunity to make a short field goal, which as it turns out was the difference in the game. After a missed 43-yard field goal by Washington State’s Erik Powell — his only miss on six attempts all night — Stanford escaped with the narrow two-point win, keeping the Cardinal in the race for the four-team playoff with just one loss.

Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan was the offensive star of the game, rushing for 112 yards and two touchowns on 14 carries. Heisman hopeful McCaffrey added 107 yards on the ground and another 26 through the air in what was a down week for him.

Bonus: Miami reminds us football is fun

Miami was visiting Duke (No. 22) on Saturday night, one week after the worst loss in school history and just days after head coach Al Golden was fired.

Rather than give up, the Hurricanes rallied around interim head coach Larry Scott and pulled off an improbable last-second win on a walk-off kickoff return you have to see to believe.

There was a yellow flag on the field, but after nine minutes of reviewing the play, the refs determined there was no illegal block in the back during the crazy run.

Football is a game, and it’s supposed to be fun. Given the immense pressure many college players and coaches face on a weekly basis, it’s nice to be reminded of this fact.

While most of the nation reveled in the remarkable play, Duke and its fans will lament the miraculous play for some time. The loss was the second of the year for the Blue Devils, who will likely fall out of the top 25.