Week 11 college football rankings: Army, Ohio State, Indiana rise as Clemson, Penn State, Iowa State fall

The Vanderbilt Commodores just barely fell out of our top 25 college football rankings last week after a close loss at home to Texas. On Saturday, the Commodores went into Auburn and came out with a two-score victory. While it wasn’t a strong performance by QB Diego Pavia (9-for-22) or this Commodores’ rushing attack (84 yards, 2.2 yards per carry), Vanderbilt’s defense (15.4 percent third-down conversion rate allowed) won this game. Vanderbilt has six wins for the first time since 2018 and a victory next week over South Carolina would mark the first seven-win season since James Franklin left the program (2013).

Related: Highest paid college football players

It’s not often a team on the bye week pops up into the Week 11 college football rankings. However, Memphis and Illinois lost on Saturday, while the Missouri Tigers’ resume under closer inspection is underwhelming. While former Tulane coach Willie Fritz will receive a majority of the credit for leaving behind a very talented roster, first-year head coach Jon Sumrall is proving his success at Troy in the last two years (23-4) was no joke. Tulane isn’t getting a ton of national recognition right now, but it can change that with victories against Navy (Nov. 16) and Memphis (Nov. 28).

The Kansas State Wildcats had seemed to fix their issues offensively after a brutal 38-9 loss to BYU. All of that came undone in Week 10 on the road against Houston. Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson was picked off twice and running back DJ Giddens averaged a season-low 2.9 yards per carry. It’s a shame on a night that saw the Wildcats defense forced a turnover and hold Houston to 3-of-12 on third-down attempts, allowing just 10 first downs the entire game.

Credit where it’s due, Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes program have exceeded our expectations in 2024. The college football schedule didn’t even hit November when the Buffs earned bowl eligibility with a win over Cincinnati. This same team probably beats Kansas State (31-38 loss on Oct. 12) if not for some critical injuries. Regardless of what happens at Colorado next season, the Buffs are 6-2 with the talent to beat Texas Tech and Kansas, putting this team at 8 wins with an outside shot at double-digit victories.

Related: Heisman Watch 2024

The previously undefeated Pittsburgh Panthers didn’t just lose on Saturday night, they were demolished. The SMU Mustangs jumped out to a 31-7 halftime lead, totaling over 250 total yards in a dominant first half. That’s all she wrote for Pitt. With the CFP rankings coming out on Tuesday, the Panthers will likely be clinging to a top-25 spot with Clemson (Nov. 16) and Louisville (Nov. 23) remaining on the schedule.

The Washington State Cougars got to open November with a bye and that provides an opportunity to turn the spotlight on John Mateer. In his first season as the full-time starter, the sophomore quarterback has three games with 2 rushing touchdowns, two 100-yard rushing performances and four games with 295-plus passing yards. He is the Cougars offense. With upcoming sets against Utah State and New Mexico, there’s no reason why Washington State shouldn’t be 9-1 in late November with an outside shot at a playoff spot.

Related: Best college football stadiums 2024

The Army Black Knights suffered a blow before Week 10, with quarterback Bryson Daily ruled out due to an undisclosed injury/illness. Without the focal point of their offense, the Black Knights put the ball in the hands of Kanye Udoh. The sophomore running back delivered, with a season-high in rushing yards (158) along with 2 touchdowns. Just as crucially, this defense held Air Force to a 33.3% third-down conversion rate with 3 takeaways, helping maintain Army’s undefeated record.

The Ole Miss Rebels finally have a winning record again against SEC opponents. Jaxson Dart made sure of it in Week 10, overcoming a quiet first quarter with four second-quarter touchdown passes to take a 35-10 halftime lead. Ole Miss got it up to 56-17 before the Razorbacks made it a little closer thanks to garbage time. Still, a program with losses to Kentucky and LSU can’t get anywhere near the top 15 of our college football rankings. Besides, a third loss is coming next week against Georgia.

The LSU Tigers have a home win over the Ole Miss Rebels. That’s pretty much their resume, aside from being an SEC team. Of the Tigers’ six wins this season, only two (Arkansas) have come against teams with a winning record. It’s also worth mentioning that LSU is barely top-25 in scoring offense (35.8 PPG) and it ranks 58th in scoring defense. In short, more losses are coming.

Related: College Football Games Today, College Football Schedule 2024

So much for the darkhorse College Football Playoff hopes. The South Carolina Gamecocks did whatever they wanted to Mike Elko’s Texas A&M defense, in large part because of LaNorris Sellers and Raheim Sanders. The Gamecocks’ backfield duo each rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown, with Sellers also throwing multiple touchdown passes and eclipsing 240 passing yards. Texas A&M had a 17-point second quarter and didn’t show up for the rest of the night.

Matt Campbell and the Iowa State Cyclones can only blame themselves for blowing a chance at the first 8-0 record in program history. Despite Texas Tech turning it over twice, going 6-for-15 on third downs and losing the time of possession battle by nearly 10 minutes, the Cyclones fell short in this one. There’s plenty of blame to go around, especially on a day when Iowa State set a season-high in penalties (eight). In the end, just an ugly home loss that effectively wipes out the program’s playoff hopes days before the first CFP rankings are released.

On a night that saw teammate AJ Davis leave the game in an ambulance, the SMU Mustangs provided a performance that will make everyone who supports and is involved with the program feel a little better. Against Pitt, SMU demonstrated who the better team is with a statement win that saw the Mustangs take a 34-3 lead early in the third quarter and never look back. Moving to 8-1, the only mark on SMU’s record is an 18-15 loss to BYU. A BYU team that’s now in the top 10 of our college football rankings this week.

The Clemson Tigers are not, in fact, back. A defense that entered Week 10 ranked 60th in points allowed (23.0) allowed Louisville to clear that mark in the third quarter. It was an odd night, with Clemson converting more than half of its third-down attempts and avoiding turnovers, but still falling behind by three scores at home against Louisville. Even if Clemson wins on the road against Pitt on Nov. 16, its playoff hopes look very bleak right now. But hey, at least Dabo Swinney is sticking to his ‘thing’ of not using the transfer portal in the modern era.

The hope is that last Saturday’s dominance over the Missouri Tigers is a sign that the Alabama Crimson Tide have turned things around. However, that 34-0 victory might’ve been a bigger indictment on Mizzou. Alabama barely snuck by South Carolina at home, sandwiched in between road losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee. LSU’s issues against mobile quarterbacks given Jalen Milroe a chance to win next Saturday at Tiger Stadium, but Kalen DeBoer and the rest of the Alabama coaching staff showed a lot of reasoning in October to believe a third loss is possible.

Unlike most Boise State victories, it wasn’t the Ashton Jeanty show early in Week 10. Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen threw two first-quarter touchdown passes and then A’Marion McCoy snagged a pick-six to make it a 21-0 game against San Diego State. Jeanty (149 rushing yards) didn’t even find the end zone until the third quarter. Still, Boise State cruised to a 56-24 victory and the only blemish on its 4-1 record remains a narrow 37-24 loss at Oregon.

Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have handled their business since a Week 2 upset loss to Northern Illinois, winning six consecutive games including three blowouts. It should be even easier coming out of the bye against a one-win Florida State program that gave up on the 2024 college football season months ago. While Army (Nov. 23) poses something of a threat, that season finale on Nov. 30 against the USC Trojans will ultimately dictate whether or not Notre Dame is a CFP team.

Related: Highest paid college football coaches

Life is great for the BYU Cougars coming out of the bye. While junior quarterback Jake Retzlaff is still having issues with interceptions, he’s rushed for a touchdown in three of his last four games and cleared 200 passing yards in his last four starts. The Cougars are going to need mistake-free football from him next Saturday night on the road against the Utah Utes, one of the last two opponents remaining on the BYU schedule who could realistically end this undefeated regular season.

Related: Heisman Trophy winners history

The Indiana Hoosiers and quarterback Kurtis Rourke found themselves in an early hole on Saturday against Michigan State, trailing 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. Evidently, it served as a wake-up call. Rourke responded with a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes, part of 47 unanswered points by the Hoosiers. It was over by the third quarter, with Curt Cignetti extending his record to 9-0 in his first season as Indiana’s head coach.

James Franklin is now 3-18 against top-10 teams. It’s the same story as always for Franklin-coached programs and there are no signs it’s ever going to change. While the Penn State Nittany Lions jumped out to a 10-0 lead early, the touchdown came off a pick-six. After that, the Ohio State Buckeyes outscored the Nittany Lions 20-3 in front of Penn State’s home crowd. The Nittany Lions don’t face another ranked opponent during the regular season, so Franklin should win out, but everyone knows by now what will happen in a bowl game when Franklin faces one of the best college football teams.

Related: Best College Football Coaches 2024

It’s always a good bye week for a top-10 program when one of the teams ahead of you in the college football rankings loses. The Texas Longhorns move up a spot following their Week 10 bye and now get to roll through their November schedule against Florida, Arkansas and Kentucky. It’s a great opportunity to get this rushing offense (158.4 rush ypg, 67th in FBS) going. If all goes well for Texas, that trip to Kyle Field on Nov. 30 against Texas A&M will have some of the highest stakes in that rivalry’s history.

Nico Iamalaeava was the big name heading into the 2024 college football season for the Tennessee Volunteers, but the real story is running back Dylan Sampson and this Tennessee defense. Sampson broke the school’s single-season rushing touchdown record on Saturday night, with multiple games remaining. Meanwhile, the Vols’ defense kept them in the game (3 takeaways) until this offense came alive. It’s rarely been pretty for Tennessee, but this program has outstanding playoff odds right now. Although, Georgia (Nov. 16) and Vanderbilt (Nov. 30) are looming road challenges.

The Georgia Bulldogs survived, likely in part due to Florida QB DJ Lagway going down early with an injury. Carson Beck had another multi-interception game (3), his fourth of the season with three of them coming in consecutive games. While he improved in the second half, Georgia won this game because of Nate Frazier (82 yards, 1 TD) and this defense (18.8% third-down conversion rate allowed). Still, this is another piece of evidence that raises significant questions about the Bulldogs’ consistency.

The Miami Hurricanes found themselves in trouble again, trailing the Duke Blue Devils 28-17 in the third quarter. Cam Ward deserves a ton of credit for leading the comeback, accounting for 3 second-half touchdown passes. Equally deserving of credit, though, is the Hurricanes secondary. Interceptions by DJ Frederique Jr, Mishael Powell and Jadais Richard swung this game back in Miami’s favor, working in lockstep with Ward’s second-half dominance to protect Miami’s undefeated season.

It’s one thing to go on the road and defeat a previously unbeaten Penn State Nittany Lions team. What truly stands out from the Ohio State Buckeyes’ Week 10 victory is their dominance up front. Ohio State’s offensive line is practically a mash unit at this point of the season, but it allowed just 3 sacks on Saturday, giving Will Howard enough of a pocket to make plays and paving the way for the Buckeyes’ run game (176 yards, 4.4 ypc). Ohio State desperately needed this win and it secured it, affirming that it’s one of the best college football teams this year. Just an impressive win for Ryan Day and this entire Buckeyes football team.

Related: Winners, Losers from Ohio State Buckeyes win over Penn State Nittany Lions

Considering how bad the Michigan Wolverines’ passing game has been, it’s a bit concerning to see the ease at which Davis Warren threw against this Oregon Ducks defense. With that said, in a week that saw another undefeated team go down, what matters for Oregon is staying undefeated. Now at 9-0, the Ducks have wins over No. 2 Ohio State and No. 14 Boise State. That’s more than enough for the top spot in the Week 11 college football rankings.