Week 12 of college football opened up with a shootout between two of the AAC’s top gunslingers as Cincinnati outlasted East Carolina 54-48 on a Bearcat 47-yard field goal with 15 seconds left. Gunner Keil (29-43, 436, 4-3) out-dueled ECU’s Shane Carden (35-61, 418, 2-0). East Carolina led 46-45 before the long FG. Cincinnati returned a fumble 20-yards on the game’s final play for the final points which didn’t affect the spread as Cincinnati was a one-point dog. In the nightcap, USC held off Cal 38-30 in a strange game. USC led 31-2 midway through the second quarter before taking their foot off the pedal.
The Bears fought back, finally getting the backdoor cover (-14, 74) with 1:36 to play. Central Florida (-19, 54.5) mauled Tulsa 31-7 in the lone Friday night game.
There were two battles between ranked teams out of the early 12:00 PM EST kickoffs as No.18 Georgia Tech smoked No.19 Clemson 28-6 while No.8 Ohio State kept its playoff hopes alive with a 31-24 win over feisty No.24 Minnesota. In Atlanta, Clemson starting QB Deshaun Watson returned after missing four games with a broken hand but was hurt again in the first quarter with a knee injury and never returned. The Jackets took advantage of two pick sixes and a Justin Thomas touchdown pass to potential set up an ACC Championship game matchup with Florida State. In Minneapolis, the Buckeyes used three touchdown passes to down the Gophers. Barrett also rushed for 189 yards and a score as Ohio State looks to be on a collision course with Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game.
The No.20 Badgers blew out No.16 Nebraska 59-24 in a game that saw an epic performance by Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon. The Wisky tailback broke the NCAA rushing record with a whopping 408 yards on just 25 carries for an average of 16.3 yards per try. Goldon scored four times and did not even play the fourth quarter with the horse already out of the barn. The Badgers led 24-17 at the half before closing out the Huskers with a 28-0 third quarter. Wisconsin overcame three early turnovers and a 17-3 deficit to take control of the Big Ten’s Western Division.
In the marquee matchup of the week, No.4 Alabama took down top-ranked Mississippi State 25-20. The Crimson Tide jumped on the Bulldogs right away, cruising to a 19-0 lead before State started chipping away with a field goal before the half. With Bama not getting much done on the offensive end in the second half, Dak Prescott got things going and moved the ball at will versus the vaunted Tide defense. Prescott engineered drives resulting in a touchdown and a field goal and as also picked off twice inside the 20 before getting the ball back down 12 with 3:18 on the clock. Prescott drove MSU 72 yards on 13 plays, finally hitting Jameon Lewis on a four-yard scoring strike with 15 seconds left and the backdoor cover (-9.5, 54.5) that will likely keep Mississippi in the top four of the rankings.
On the late show, No.3 Florida State showed their usual MO by getting down early to Miami before staging one of their patented furious late rallies to down the Canes 30-26. No.6 Arizona State couldn’t escape the cold or the upset bug in falling at Oregon State 35-27. Dalvin Cook rushed for two touchdowns including the winner with 3:05 to play for the win and (-2.5) cover. Roberto Aguayo, the
best college football kicker in the country, nailed three long field goals to keep the Seminoles alive to repeat as national champions.
In Corvallis, Oregon in 19 degree weather, Oregon State kept it’s bowl hopes alive with their win over the Sun Devils. Four-year Beaver starter Sean Mannion threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns in the biggest win of his Oregon State career. Terron Ward kicked in 148 yards on the ground and a touchdown versus an Arizona State outfit that was outgained 498-367 and could,’t take care of its business.
Several other ranked teams went down including No.9 Auburn who was crushed 34-7 by No.15 Georgia, No.18 Notre Dame 43-40 to Northwestern and No.21 Duke 17-16 to Virginia Tech.
Feature games this week include:
(Thurs) No.12 Kansas State at West Virginia ….. the Mountaineers are -2 (58.5)
No.25 Minnesota is at No.23 Nebraska …. the Huskers are -10 (56.5)
No.15 Arizona is at No.17 Utah ….. the Utes are -4 (54)
No. 24 Louisville is at Notre Dame …. the Irish are -3 (54)
No.19 USC is at No.9 UCLA …. the Bruins are -3.5 (61)
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