College football observations … For those that missed it really was a terrific weekend of college football with two of the three big games on the day going down to the last play. That included Ohio State’s dramatic 17-14 win over Notre Dame in South Bend when the Buckeyes pushed across the deciding TD with just one second left on the clock. The better news for the Buckeyes, though, maybe that star WR Marvin Harrison,the consensus top non-QB prospect for the upcoming draft, was not seriously injured after he had to be helped off the field after having his ankle bent in ways that ankles are just not supposed to be bent when he was rolled from behind while making a block. Harrison even had a key diving catch on the Buckeyes’ game-winning drive, although truth be told he really did not have a huge impact in the game catching just 3 passes for 32 yards as he was doubled most of the evening by the Irish. Harrison also struggled much of the night to beat the very tight coverage of Notre Dame sophomore CB Ben Morrison, who confirmed his status as one of the top prospects for the 2025 draft. In fact, the Irish can take some small consolation in the fact that while they ultimately lost the game, they did win the big individual match-ups. In particular, it appeared that Irish OT John Alt, another top 5-10 prospect for 2024, pretty much dominated his one-on-one confrontations with Ohio State DE J.T. Tuimoloau. The latter did finish the night with 6 tackles, including a 1/2 tackle for loss, but most of the plays he did make came when he wasn’t blocked at all; indeed, by the 4th quarter, the Buckeyes had flipped Tuimoloau from the right side in front of Alt to LDE.
Ironically, there was something of a similar story involving Florida State which established itself as the team to beat in the ACC with a dramatic 31-24 OT win at Clemson. However, the guy we were watching – ‘Noles DE Jared Verse, another top 10 prospect for 2024 – also really distinguish himself in the win. Verse did have 4 tackles, including 1/2 for loss, but otherwise wasn’t that much of a factor. In fact, the ER in this game that kind of jumped off the screen was Clemson’s Xavier Thomas. And yes it seems like Thomas has been at Clemson because he has, or at least this is his 6th season. But he was in the FSU backfield all afternoon on Saturday as he showed an explosive get-off from the snap and the flexibility to dip and drive the OTs in front of him. For those not familiar with his story, Thomas was once the top prep recruit in the country, but has struggled through an injury marred career including a foot injury last fall which limited him to just three games. That said, when healthy, Thomas has made some plays as he was as he was a freshman All-American way back in 2018, and also made several all-ACC teams over the years, although he’s never had more than 3.5 sacks in a season.
The other big story line in college football this weekend was the fact that the bubble burst at Colorado as Deion Sanders and the Buffalos were humbled 42-6 in Oregon. Lost in all the hubbub surrounding Sanders and his son Shedeur, the Buffs QB, perhaps is the fact that there are several really good Pac-12 QBs not named Sanders or Williams who are quietly having terrific seasons. Oregon’s Bo Nix, for example, was outstanding in the Ducks win over Colorado as he completed 28 of 33 passes (85%) for 276 yards and three scores, although he did also have a pick. Meanwhile, Washington’s Michael Penix continued to pile up big numbers in the Huskies 59-32 trouncing of California as he completed 19 of 25 passes for 304 yards and 4 TDs, but also with a pick. The best of the bunch, though, may have been Washington State’s Cameron Ward who completed 28 of 34 passes for 404 yards and 4 scores in the Cougars 38-35 win over Oregon State. For the record, on the season to date, Penix is on pace to throw for almost 5,000 yards as he is completing 75% of his passes including 16 for TDs against two picks; Nix is completing a remarkable 79% of his passes, has 11 TD throws with only one pick and is on pace to throw for 3,500 yards on the season; while the underrated Ward is on pace to throw for 4,200 yards, has a 75% completion mark and has thrown for 13 scores, while he is yet to be picked off. Not bad.
