Nick Marshall's big game helped Auburn escape Oxford with a win. (Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports)
On the Saturday after the first College Football Playoff rankings were announced, the top three teams on the list made the 12-person committee look good … at least for one week, but not by much.
No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 2 Florida State and No. 3 Auburn – the Seminoles and Tigers playing on the home field of ranked teams – fell behind by double digits and had to stage fourth quarter comebacks to claim their victories.
Those teams, which also hold down the top three spots in this week’s Associated Press poll, cleared big hurdles on the road to the first-ever College Football Playoff semi-final match-ups.
For the Bulldogs, the challenge was unexpected by many. The Arkansas Razorbacks, whose consecutive SEC losing streak extended to 17 games with the loss, took an early 10-0 lead. They were ahead 10-7 at intermission, and were tied heading into the final quarter. But as was the case in narrow losses to Texas A&M and Alabama, the visitors couldn’t finish. The Hogs – probably the best five-loss team in the country – dominated time of possession, having the ball almost 39 minutes and put up over 400 yards of offense. But, the game is measured by points on the scoreboard, and as usual, the Razorbacks had the fewest.
After a tune-up on Saturday against Tennessee-Martin, Mississippi State faces road games in Tuscaloosa and Oxford with a Vanderbilt home game sandwiched in between. The Bulldogs don’t need any more slow starts or sub-par defensive performances.
Florida State started worse than Mississippi State. Playing at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, in front of a fired-up red-clad full house, the home team ran out to a 21-0 lead that lasted for the first 27 minutes of the game. But, their new glitzy gray uniforms couldn’t help keep the momentum. And, Michael Dyer, the Most Valuable Player in Auburn’s 2010 national championship win over Oregon, couldn’t gain enough yards or score enough touchdowns to keep the lead. After intermission, the Seminoles ran away from Louisville, scoring five touchdowns and winning, 42-31.
Among the top three teams, the ‘Noles have the easiest path for staying there. Three of their remaining games will be in Tallahassee – all of those should be wins, including against surprising Florida. Maybe the road game against Miami will be a challenge, but the Hurricanes have already lost to Louisville by 18 points on Papa John’s field.
Unlike the other two, Auburn started strong, taking the opening kickoff against No. 4 Ole Miss and driving for the first of two rushing scores from quarterback Nick Marshall, less than three minutes into the game. It was the first touchdown given up by the Ole Miss defense in the first quarter all season. But, four minutes into the second half, the Rebels led 24-14, and the electric, rowdy, hostile crowd sensed a win. The Landshark defense should be smelling blood.
That didn’t happen. Auburn drove 75 yards and pulled to within three points on Marshall’s second touchdown run. Then, after holding Ole Miss on downs, the Tigers started near their own goal after a 58-yard rolling punt pinned them deep. Eleven plays and 96 yards later, Marshall’s 17-yard scoring pass to Marcus Davis gave Auburn a four-point lead.
In a game full of big plays, the outcome came down to one – a 19-yard pass from Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace to Laquon Treadwell. As the receiver was nearing the end zone, he was tackled by linebacker Kris Frost, pulling him back from the goal and dislodging the ball, which was recovered by linebacker Cassanova McKinzy for a touchback. Replay showed that the ball did not touch the goal line before the fumble and there was no horse-collar tackle by Frost.
The play was a double whammy for Ole Miss. Not only did it end the scoring chance, Treadwell suffered an ankle injury and broken leg, had surgery that night and is gone for the season. It’s hard to overstate the significance to the Rebels. Treadwell is in the same category as Alabama’s Amari Cooper, and Auburn’s Sammie Coates and D’haquille Williams when discussing receivers … playmakers, game changers. That loss will be felt.
Lost somewhat in the horror of the injury was the game itself. Against the Ole Miss Landshark defense, which had given up only seven touchdowns in eight games, Auburn scored five touchdowns in four quarters and gained over 500 yards. Still, in a game marred by penalties and turnovers (Ole Miss lost a fumble and Auburn threw an interception, both killing potential scoring drives deep in the red zone), the final result was determined by the devastating goal-line collision.
Texas A&M, which has been less than impressive, and Georgia, which was demolished by mediocre Florida, are ahead for Auburn. Both are still dangerous, especially the road game in Athens with tailback Todd Gurley back for the Dawgs. But, those games may not be as daunting as originally feared. Then, of course, there’s the Iron Bowl, which could still decide the SEC West.
But, there’s a lot of football between now and then, beginning on Saturday.
In the circle this week … Alabama goes to resurgent LSU; two Top 10 teams (TCU and Kansas State) meet in Ft. Worth; Notre Dame visits Arizona State in a match-up of one-loss teams; Michigan State entertains Ohio State in the game to determine the Big Ten East Division champion; and Oregon travels to dangerous Utah.
So, by Saturday night, the topsy-turvy College Football Playoff rankings will almost certainly be in a state of upheaval … again.
But, at least for one week, the first week, the committee got it right.
