The College Football Week 11 schedule is over. Saturday’s action-packed events featured a huge upset, with Cam Ward’s Miami Hurricanes losing their first game of the year. Meanwhile, Ohio State and Texas took another step toward proving they’re among the best teams in college football.
But what stuck out the most from Saturday’s college football games? Click through to see the biggest winners and losers from college football Saturday.
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Winner: Quinn Ewers and the Texas Longhorns
Coming off his first two-interception game of the season, Quinn Ewers was at his best against Florida. The junior quarterback needed just three quarters and 19 completions to rack up 333 passing yards plus a career-high five touchdowns. The crazy part is Ewers had 297 yards and four touchdowns by halftime. Despite fans being eager to see more from Arch Manning, the Longhorns’ starting QB just had one of his best games yet.
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Loser: Billy Napier and the Florida Gators
Expectations were already low for the Florida Gators without starting quarterback DJ Lagway. But not even Gators fans could have expected Billy Napier’s team to come out of the gates so flatly against the Texans Longhorns. The Gators completely embarrassed themselves by letting the Longhorns get out to a 42-0 lead before finally putting three points on the board in the third quarter. The final 49-17 score may have saved some face, but make no mistake, Florida got dominated.
Winner: Jeremiah Smith and the Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes have had a lot of talented receivers in their program’s rich history. One of them is competing to win Offensive Rookie of The Year. But not even Marvin Harrison Jr has done what Jeremiah Smith has. After adding 87 yards and a touchdown, Smith became the first Ohio State freshman receiver to have nine receiving touchdowns in a single season. Good luck slowing him down over the next two years.
Loser: Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes
Just when it appeared that Cam Ward would be a top Heisman candidate all season long, he stumbles against an unranked Georgia Tech. To the Yellow Jackets’ credit, they did rack up 271 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Completing 25-of-39 passes, Ward could have been more efficient, but he still tallied 349 passing yards and three touchdowns. Yet, Ward still had a chance to win had he not lost a strip-sack fumble on the game’s final drive, and that made him a loser this week.
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Winner: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Few expected the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to make any noise against the undefeated Miami Hurricanes. Yet, coach Brent Key had his team playing their best ball of the season. Dual-threat QB Haynes King played a major role, racking up 93 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while running back Jamal Haynes added 83 more yards and a touchdown despite having just three carries. But really, the best play was made by junior pass-rusher Romello Height, who had a clutch strip-sack in the fourth quarter to send Miami home with a loss. As if the weekend couldn’t get any better, Georgia lost.
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Loser: Georgia Bulldogs
So much for being one of the best teams in the nation. Usually, Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs are one of college football’s best, but Carson Beck hasn’t lived up to expectations. On Saturday, that included Beck making an ill-advised throw placed well behind his target, leading to an easy Ole Miss interception. But the Bulldogs also got obliterated in the trenches, getting outrushed 133 yards to 59 and allowing five sacks while only recording one of their own. Georgia got beat in every aspect by a team that entered the day just 3-2 in SEC conference play.
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Winner: Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks started the day at 2-6, so no one gave them a chance to take down the 17th-ranked 7-2 Iowa State Cyclones. But coach Lance Leipold found a way to create a spark on Saturday. Dual-threat QB Jalon Daniels was a big reason why. Even though he completed just 50% of his passes, Daniels only needed 12 completions to go off for 295 yards and two passing touchdowns.
He also chipped in another 68 rushing yards plus a touchdown, which complemented the 116-yard and two-TD performance from running back Devin Neal nicely. Overall, the Jayhawks had one of Saturday’s biggest upsets.
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Loser: Iowa Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz
Sometimes, you just have to make a change. Kirk Ferentz will go down as a legend with the Iowa Hawkeyes, he’s been doing it since 1999 and this program found a way to win 10 games last year. Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes are also demonstrating that the game is starting to pass Ferentz by. Already 69 years old and likely headed for his second five-loss season in four years, it might be time for Iowa’s athletic department to ‘encourage’ Ferentz to retire.
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Winner: Jalen Milroe and the Alabama Crimson Tide
Where has that Jalen Milroe been? Entering Week 11, the Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback had 107 rushing yards combined in his last four games. On Saturday night at LSU, he rushed for over 190 yards with 4 touchdowns on the ground. That’s not even tacking on his work through the air. Milroe single-handedly crushed LSU in this one and if the Crimson Tide defense can play like it did on Saturday in the weeks to come, this is a dangerous team once again.
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Loser: Brian Kelly, LSU Tigers
Jayden Daniels is playing like an NFL MVP in his rookie season and the LSU Tigers lost three games with him in a historic Heisman season. With Daniels gone, Brian Kelly’s coaching job at LSU looks even worse. The Tigers were embarrassed at home on Saturday night by Alabama, marking the third consecutive season LSU has lost at least 3 games under Kelly. The program just doesn’t look any better under Kelly than it did under Ed Orgeron, which is big trouble for LSU considering how much money they are paying this coaching staff.
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Winner: College Football world’s support for Kirk Herbstreit
College Football Week 11 got off to a heartbreaking start with Kirk Herbstreit announcing that Ben, one of the most beloved dogs in the country, had passed away. Herbstreit was understandably emotional on College GameDay, even more so after fans showed out with incredible signs and tributes to Ben. It wasn’t just college football fans. LSU paid tribute to Ben in the press box, just another example of how many lives Ben touched even from afar. While the loss of Ben is painful, the love he provided is what will be remembered.