Winners, losers from College Football Week 14: Arizona State shines, Ryan Day, Miami implode

The Michigan Wolverines beat the Ohio State Buckeyes again, improving coach Sherrone Moore’s record against OSU to 2-0. Except, unlike last year, the Wolverines had no business competing with what was the No. 2 ranked team in the nation coming into college football games today. Michigan didn’t get much from quarterback Davis Warren, who finished with 62 yards and two interceptions. Yet their defense was excellent, forcing two interceptions while holding Ohio State’s star RB backfield to three yards per carry. No wonder Michigan players were so excited to plant their flag at midfield of Ohio Stadium.

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What’s going on at Ohio State? The Buckeyes entered play with a firm grasp on one of the top spots in the College Football Playoff at 10-1, but suffering a loss to an unranked Michigan team will cause their profile to crater. Ohio State will still be in the Playoff, but their seeding surely took a hit.

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He may have thrown an interception and lost a fumble, but the South Carolina Gamecocks don’t defeat the Clemson Tigers without the help of dual-threat quarterback LaNorris Sellers. He only tallied 164 yards through the air, but Sellers ran through Clemson’s defense for 166 yards and two scores to defeat the 12th-ranked team in the nation.

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The Tigers managed to compile 419 yards of total offense, but they couldn’t score more than 14 points. The defense couldn’t get a much-needed stop in the game’s final minutes, but Cade Klubnik’s game-sealing interception sealed Clemson’s fate despite the Tigers winning the turnover battle.

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Texas Tech closed out their regular season in style, with a lot of help from running back Tahj Brooks. The senior running back was a dominating force, rushing for a career-high 188 yards and three touchdowns, helping Texas Tech defeat West Virginia 52-15.

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The Miami Hurricanes really wasted a phenomenal season from Cam Ward. Ward played near a Heisman-caliber level this season, even having a few signature moments on the road to win games that the Hurricanes’ defense nearly threw away. Unfortunately, for the second time this season, Ward wasn’t perfect and that’s what Miami needed on another night when its defense underwhelmed. There’s now a strong case to be made that the Hurricanes don’t deserve a CFP spot.

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The Ohio Bobcats don’t typically garner much attention, but they deserve it after Saturday’s effort, which included 475 yards and 42 points in a convincing win over Ball State. Quarterback Parker Navarro stuck out, needing just seven completions to rack up 169 passing yards and three touchdowns. But he wasn’t done. Navarro also led the Bobcats with 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns to cap off an incredible performance. He did so with the help of senior receiver Coleman Owen, who had 142 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

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The wins on the recruiting front are saving Hugh Freeze from even more criticism. Auburn bailed on Bryan Harsin after less than two full seasons because he couldn’t win big games and wasn’t even good enough to post winning records. In two seasons under Freeze, Auburn is experiencing the exact same results. We recognize that the school will give Freeze another year, but quite frankly, the best move might be to move on from a coach who is 16-21 (5-7 at Ole Miss in 2016) in his last three seasons with a Power 4 program.

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Herm Edwards left the Arizona State Sun Devils football program in awful condition. So, ASU hoped that Arizona native and Sun Devils’ alum Kenny Dillingham could get things turned around slowly but patience was necessary. He only needed two years. After going 3-9 in his first season at the helm, Dillingham helped deliver a blowout 49-7 victory over rival Arizona in College Football Week 14. The win gives Arizona State its first 10-win season since 2014 and this football program couldn’t be in better hands. Best of all, Dillingham has no reason to leave his alma mater for another Power 4 gig.

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Among the things we’ll remember from College Football Week 14, the reactions to flag planting will be one of them. The victors in rivalry games – Michigan, NC State and Arizona State – took their ‘flag’ and planted it at midfield at the home team’s field on Saturday. In each case, players for Ohio State, North Carolina and Arizona either tried to start fights or sparked brawls. It’s shameful behavior and the worst display of a loser’s attitude. As the saying goes, though, attitude reflects leadership. The coaching staff for each of these teams failed their programs on Saturday in multiple ways. If you don’t want to see your rival plant their flag in your logo, you have four quarters to prevent that. Once the game is over, you lose the right to complain or suddenly show fight when the game’s over.

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This isn’t even about what happened to the Florida State Seminoles and Mike Norvell on Saturday night against rival Florida. Instead, this is about the news that emerged before kickoff in Week 14. The Seminoles ‘poached’ Central Florida coach Gus Malzahn, bringing him on as offensive coordinator for the 2025 season. Not only does that mean that Mike Norvell is staying, it also means the Seminoles’ offense will be orchestrated by a coach whose offense entered Week 14 ranked 53rd in scoring (28 PPG), 46th in third-down conversion rate (41.96 percent) and 66th in red-zone trips per game (3.5). Good luck with that one Florida State, there’s a reason UCF is happy Malzahn is leaving voluntarily.

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