Instant reaction to Week 8 developments on the field (and in post-game news conferences) …
1. The good, the bad and the brutal
The weekend brought a slew of notable results across the region. We’ll start with a handful of victories worthy of mention, then move to the losses.
— Perhaps the best win of all came on Friday night, when Brigham Young snatched victory away from what would have been a bad loss to Oklahoma State.
After allowing the go-ahead touchdown with 73 seconds remaining, the Cougars converted a fourth-and-seven to preserve their desperation drive, then won the game on a 35-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Retzlaff to receiver Darius Lassiter.
The victory preserved BYU’s undefeated season — a season that increasingly appears touched by destiny — and kept the Cougars tied with Iowa State atop the Big 12.
— Colorado also cleared our bar with its 34-7 demolition of Arizona in Tucson.
The margin was impressive, of course. So, too, was CU’s control of the line of scrimmage, an area that often flummoxes the Buffaloes.
The big picture counts, as well: The victory pushed the Buffs (5-2) to the brink of a postseason berth. Win one of the final five, and they’re bowling.
— We cannot ignore UCLA’s surprising victory at Rutgers, which qualified as a stupendous result for the Bruins given that they were 0-4 in Big Ten play and hadn’t won a game anywhere since the final day of August.
Add the cross-country trip and the early kickoff (9 a.m. Pacific), plus their start-to-finish control of the game, and it was a next-level performance for coach DeShaun Foster’s beleaguered program.
Before we move to the bad losses, of which there were several, a quick point of clarification: Some results don’t qualify as good wins or bad losses.
Oregon’s blowout victory at Purdue doesn’t move the Hotline’s needle because the Boilermakers are, well, terrible; the same could be said of Washington State’s dominance of Hawaii.
At the other end of our range, Arizona State’s loss to Cincinnati came on the road against a quality opponent, and the Sun Devils were without starting quarterback Sam Leavitt. That’s a loss, but not a bad loss.
There were quite a few of those, however.
2. Brutal losses, just brutal
The competition for the worst loss of the weekend came courtesy of two California schools — one imploded at home, the other on the opposite coast.
— USC found a new and creative way to blow a late lead and lost for the fourth time in five Big Ten games.
The Trojans led Maryland by 14 points early in the fourth quarter and by six with two minutes remaining. Facing fourth-and-one, coach Lincoln Riley opted for a 41-yard yard field goal that would have effectively sealed the win.
But the kick was blocked and returned by Maryland to midfield. The Terrapins needed five plays to score the go-ahead touchdown, then repelled USC’s last-gasp drive to secure an improbable 29-28 victory.
The come-from-ahead loss marked the continuation of an ugly trend: The Trojans have blown fourth quarter leads in all four conference losses.
They already were eliminated from the Big Ten race and the College Football Playoff chase. Now, it’s a long slog to the finish with Riley’s job performance under ridiculous scrutiny.
— But if you think the Trojans have cornered the market on brutal losses, allow us to present … Cal.
Remember the Bears, who blew a 25-point third quarter lead against Miami? Who lost at Pitt by two points and at Florida State by five?
Well, those same Bears worked themselves into position for a 28-yard field goal Saturday afternoon that would have produced a two-point lead against NC State with 94 seconds remaining.
But kicker Derek Morris’ attempt sailed wide, and the Bears were left with their fourth ACC loss by a combined nine points. That’s right: four losses by nine points. A team that started 3-0 and seemingly had an open road to the postseason is now left to scratch and claw for a bowl bid.
— Speaking of narrow roads into the postseason, Arizona was the third team with an afternoon kickoff to suffer a bad loss.
At least it wasn’t an excruciating finish. The 27-point defeat to Colorado was over in the first half, which is what made the result indisputably ugly for the Wildcats.
With an injury-ravaged secondary and an offense that’s completely out of sync, they were no match for the Buffaloes on either side of scrimmage.
Arizona’s preseason ranking (No. 21) seems like a decade ago. Without three wins in their final five games, the Wildcats won’t even go bowling.
— The final game of the night featured another bad loss: Utah’s 13-7 face plant against TCU.
Yep, the Utes managed a single touchdown against the same TCU defense that previously allowed 35 points to UCF, 66 to SMU and 30 to Houston.
In our view, it matters not that the Utes started freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson. They should score more than seven points against the Horned Frogs, especially at home.
The loss extinguished Utah’s ever-so-slim chance of reaching the Big 12 title game.
3. “Kicking tryouts on Monday”
Those words — and many others — came straight from the mouth of frustrated Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, whose team missed two field goals in its 10-point loss at Cincinnati. (Both misses were in the fourth quarter.)
It was hardly the first time the kicking game has failed the Sun Devils. Over the course of seven games, they have made just 7-of-13 field goals.
“Our kicking game’s atrocious,” Dillingham told reporters after the 24-14 loss. “So, if you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, email me. We’re going to have kicking tryouts on Monday, so bring it on.”
Dillingham later took to social media to apologize for his comments. Although he didn’t mention kicker Ian Hershey by name in his postgame comments, the object of his criticism was clear.
But Arizona State wasn’t the only team left wondering about special teams breakdowns.
Wayward kicks have cost Cal three victories.
The Bears failed to convert two field goals in the five-point loss at Florida State, and they missed a 40-yarder in the two-point loss at Pitt.
Add the breakdown on Saturday, and you can draw a direct line: If the Bears had made four medium-range field goals, they would be 6-1. Instead, they are 3-4.
Oh, and we should add USC to the list of teams undone by their field goal units. The blocked 41-yarder began the Trojans’ demise at Maryland.
4. Bowl math update
The postseason landscape is beginning to take shape.
Only four teams based in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones have locked up bowl berths: BYU and Oregon are 7-0 and cleared the threshold earlier this month. UNLV joined them Saturday night with its victory at Oregon State.
The fourth team? Washington State.
The Cougars (6-1) became bowl-eligible on Saturday with their 42-10 wipeout of Hawaii.
Excluding the 2020 season derailed by COVID, Washington State has reached the postseason in eight of the past nine years — a remarkable stretch of success considering the recruiting challenges posed by WSU’s geography.
And there are more wins coming for the Cougars, who should be favored in their final five games.
Put another way: An 11-1 season is well within reach for John Mateer and Co.
Meanwhile, four other teams from the region need one victory to clinch postseason bids: Colorado, Arizona State, Boise State and San Jose State.
5. The playoff shadow
Expansion has changed the math for dozens of teams that would have been eliminated from the College Football Playoff at this point under the four-team format.
But the new system means any team still alive in the race for the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC championships has a shot at the CFP.
There are 26 teams with zero or one loss in conference play across the power leagues; they are alive and well.
The group includes BYU and Oregon, which are undefeated, but also Colorado, which has one loss in Big 12 play.
The Buffaloes have a manageable schedule through the stretch run: They don’t face either of the conference leaders, Iowa State and BYU.
If they win out, mayhem elsewhere could open a path into the Big 12 championship game, and therefore the CFP, for Colorado.
It’s not likely, but it’s possible.
Under the old system, the Buffs would have been eliminated.
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to [email protected] or call 408-920-5716
*** Follow me on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline
