What a week! This week featured Alabama giving former #1 Mississippi State its first loss of the year, Virginia Tech going into Duke and knocking off the Blue Devils, Nebraska getting humbled by Wisconsin and Melvin Gordon (more on that in a second), and Arizona State becoming the latest highly-ranked team to come into Corvallis, Oregon, and leave a loser against an underdog Oregon State. As a result, there is now only one unbeaten team in the Power 5, and only six one-loss teams. The closest analog to this year that I could find is 2007, where after week 12, there was only one major conference undefeated and seven one-loss teams. Can you name the team that was undefeated? The answer is at the end of the column!
Melvin Gordon is a running back from Wisconsin. On Saturday, he played in the first three quarters of a football game against Nebraska. He gained 408 yards rushing. That is a new major college record, breaking the previous mark of 406 by LaDanian Tomlinson of TCU. Three amazing stats that I’ve seen as a result of this incredible performance:
- In three quarters, Melvin Gordon gained more rushing yards than Wake Forest has all year (341).
- Gordon ran the ball 25 times…and gained 16.3 yards per carry. Not surprisingly, it’s the most yards per carry for a back who rushes at least 25 times in I-A history.
- Wisconsin running backs now hold the record for most rushing yards in a game, most rushing yards in a career, and most touchdowns. The three records are held by three different players: Gordon, Ron Dayne, and Montee Ball respectively.
ESPN introduced the concept of QBR (Total Quarterback Rating) to illustrate more in-depth how effective a quarterback’s performance is for a season or a game. It breaks down each play for a quarterback, taking into account the down, distance, score, time remaining, and the quality of the opposing defense, among other factors. Eventually, a score from 0 to 100 is assigned for the quarterback’s performance, where 50 is an “average” game. The rating can extend to a season or career as well. The leader this season is Marcus Mariota from Oregon, with a QBR of 90.9. That’s not much of a surprise; Mariota is a top Heisman Trophy candidate. But there are some interesting facts hiding in the ratings:
- Who’s currently second on the list? Alabama’s Blake Sims. The Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback wasn’t even expected to be the starter at the beginning of the year; so far, he’s compiled an 88.5 QBR.
- Georgia Tech runs the triple-option, but the threat of the vertical passing game is crucial to its success. (Calvin Johnson, the NFL superstar wide receiver, came from that offense.) This year, the Yellow Jackets’ Justin Thomas has been very effective, with an 83.9 rating, good for 6th in the country.
- Texas A&M’s Kenny Hill is still 9th on the list with an 81.3 rating, and he isn’t even the starter for the Aggies now.
- Quarterbacks are penalized for sacks in this rating. Who has the lowest sack penalty in the country? Mariota? Sims? Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett? Auburn’s Nick Marshall? All good guesses, but all wrong. The answer is actually Syracuse’s Terrel Hunt.
In small-school news, you think that Baylor is being treated unfairly by being ranked outside the top four? Try being the University of Sioux Falls. The South Dakota Division II school had a 10-1 record this season. Their single loss was a 27-14 to the number one team in Division II, Minnesota State – Mankato, on the road. After a 63-28 win over Wayne State three days ago, the Cougars waited for a call from the Division II playoff committee. It never came. The Division II playoff format consists of 24 teams, but there are four regions, and only the top six from each region advance to the playoffs. USF’s region includes the aforementioned Minnesota State – Mankato and fellow undefeated teams Minnesota – Duluth and Ouachita Baptist, as well as Pittsburg State and Northwest Missouri State, two of the most historic powers in Division II. Unfortunately, the 16th-ranked Cougars were left out. It makes one wonder if the format for the Division II playoff really does the best job of inviting the best teams in the country. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Okay, now the answer to the trivia question. Would you believe that the answer is Kansas? The Jayhawks were 10-0 at the time. In fact, the Jayhawks would finish the season as the only major conference school with a single loss, at 12-1.
Congratulations to GODAWGS, who wins week 12 (their second win in a row!) with 87 points in a tough week overall. JagRag was second with 86 points, and pachyderm was third with 83.
Overall standings after twelve weeks:
| 1st | Allison | 1818 |
| 2nd | JagRag | 1811 |
| 3rd | AUBrian | 1810 |
| 4th | maestro | 1802 |
| 5th | pachyderm | 1794 |
| T-6th | GODAWGS | 1784 |
| T-6th | SicEmFrogs | 1784 |
| 8th | JHutto | 1780 |
| 9th | Crimson Gator | 1765 |
| 10th | The Tradition | 1764 |
This week features a strange set of games. Juxtaposed between tune-up games such as Western Carolina – Alabama and Charleston Southern – Georgia, there are actual rivalry games such as North Carolina – Duke and USC – UCLA. There are 21 total games this week, so loads of points are available! Note that there are two Thursday games, but the first game is Kansas State at West Virginia, Thursday, November 20 @ 7 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!