FINAL: Week 13 Recap

November 28, 2020 by Staff

On a weekend which saw 19 games get scratched (including another last-minute no-go at Florida State, as well as game-day decisions not to play the UTEP-Rice and San Jose State-Boise State games), the Oregon Ducks got plucked, Iowa State stayed the course toward a Big 12 title and Notre Dame remained undefeated. On Saturday, Northwestern was knocked from the unbeaten ranks at Michigan State, Alabama broke out the iron on Auburn, Clemson clobbered Pitt, and a 'girl' played FBS football for a Power 5 conference team.

On Friday, Chance Nolan's 1-yard run with 33 seconds left completed Oregon State's 41-38 comeback win over Oregon in the 124th Civil War rivalry game. The Beavers outscored the Ducks 22-7 in the 4th quarter.

Notre Dame remained undefeated with a 31-17 win at North Carolina. The game was tighter than the final score indicates with the Irish scoring late to provide the final margin and extend their winning streak to 15 games. Notre Dame is now 19-2 all-time vs. the Tar Heels.

Iowa State never led at Texas until Breece Hall's 3-yard run with 1:25 left put his team ahead 23-20. That proved to be the game-winning points as Cameron Dicker's 57-yard FG attempt as time expired had plenty of length, but just veered left at the tail-end to keep the Cyclones undefeated in Big 12 play and on a path to their first conference championship since 1912. Iowa State also now owns a two-game winning streak vs. Texas for the first time in the 18-game history of the series.

Stanford blocked Cal's PAT after the Bears scored a touchdown with 58 seconds left to preserve a 24-23 win in "The Big Game".

Eastern Michigan threw two interceptions and fumbled the ball on back-to-back-to-back possessions inside the 4:30 mark as the Eagles gave up a 23-14 lead to lose 31-23 to visiting Central Michigan.

The college football week kicked off on Thanksgiving Day with a single Mountain West clash as Utah State rallied from a 13-6 halftime deficit to defeat New Mexico 41-27. Both teams entered that contest with 0-4 records. The Aggies are now 1-1 for interim head coach Frank Maile after firing Gary Andersen amidst an 0-3 start.

On Saturday, Florida State's game with Virginia fell by the wayside just hours before kick-off. “Our team underwent the mandated third-party testing yesterday and learned late last night that we had one positive test. Contact tracing this morning determined that, with opt-outs and injuries, we had just 44 scholarship players for the game, with some position groups depleted almost entirely." It's the first time that Virginia has had a game scratched.

The game between Rice and UTEP (at Rice) was also canceled on game day, due to positive tests and contact tracing within the UTEP program. The Owls have played just 3 games while the Miners have had 3 of their last 4 games get scratched.

San Jose State at Boise State was also scratched on game day due to Covid issues within the Broncos' program and will not be rescheduled. Both teams are undefeated in conference play and could wind up facing-off in the Mountain West championship game.

Thirty-four games still managed to stay on the schedule on Saturday.

One of those made history as Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play in a game for a Power 5 school when she kicked off to begin the second half of Vanderbilt's game at Missouri. Unfortunately, she never had the chance to kick again as the Tigers flattened the Commodores 41-0.

Michigan State handed Northwestern its first loss of the season. The now 2-and-3 Spartans raced to a 17-0 lead, but the Wildcats fought back to tie the game at 20-apiece with over 10 minutes left in the game. An interception set up a Michigan State field goal for a 23-20 lead at the 3:35 mark and the Spartans added a final touchdown when Northwestern fumbled the ball into its own end zone while trying a multi-lateral play as the clock expired.

Alabama had no problem remaining undefeated as the Tide rolled to a 42-13 win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl rivalry game.

Clemson (8-1) wasn't challenged, either, in a 52-17 rout of Pittsburgh.

Penn State (1-5) picked up its first win to the detriment of Michigan (2-4). The Nittany Lions never trailed in the 27-17 decision in Ann Arbor.

Indiana bounced back from its loss to Ohio State with a 27-11 victory at Maryland.

Florida moved another step closer to its first SEC East title with a 34-10 win in "The Swamp" over Kentucky.

Texas A&M stifled LSU 20-7 in College Station. The lone points for the Tigers came with 38 seconds to play.

Washington overcame a 21-0 halftime deficit to edge Utah 24-21 in Seattle and keep the Huskies (3-0) undefeated while the Utes drop to 0-2. Dylan Morris hit Cade Otton with the game-winning 16-yard TD pass with 36 seconds left in the game.

Baylor scored 10 unanswered points in the final 4:16 and edged Kansas State 32-31 in Waco on John Mayers' 30-yard walk-off field goal. 

East Carolina put SMU in a 45-7 hole at halftime, then kept the Mustangs from completely digging as the Pirates prevailed 52-38.

In a battle of high-scoring and undefeated MAC teams, Buffalo scored more than Kent State, 70-41. The Bulls have scored 42 or more in all 4 games. The Golden Flashes had scored 62 and 69 in their previous two outings. Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson rushed for 409 yards and 8 touchdowns. That was an encore performance to last week's 301-yard, 4 TD outing against Bowling Green.

Coastal Carolina clinched the Sun Belt's east division with a 49-14 rout of Texas State. The Chanticleers will face Louisiana in the championship game in a rematch of an October 14 contest that Coastal won 30-27 in Lafayette.

Speaking of Louisiana, its' rivalry games with Louisiana-Monroe have usually been close and 5 of the last 6 were decided by a TD or less. But not this time. On Saturday, the Ragin' Cajuns punted on their first possession before scoring touchdowns on each of their next seven en route to a 70-20 destruction of the Warhawks.

FCS vs. FBS

30 FBS teams are playing a total of 35 games against FCS schools this season.

There were three such games this past weekend and all three FCS schools lost by at least 40 points. North Alabama was blasted 66-14 at BYU, Stephen F. Austin was swamped 56-14 at Memphis, and Abilene Christian got rolled 55-15 at Virginia.

None are scheduled this week and only two remain to be played this season - Western Carolina at North Carolina on December 5, and Incarnate Word vs. Arkansas State on December 12.

FBS teams are 32-1 in such matchups this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are 1,467-128 (.920).

Last year, FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) in such games.

Here is the only FCS win vs. the FBS this season:
October 23: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10

These were the FCS wins vs. the FBS in the previous 2 seasons:

2019:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

2020:
August 29: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19

Streaks

NOTRE DAME - Won 15 straight over-all (FBS longest).
Last: Won 31-17 at North Carolina on Friday, November 27.
Next: Hosts Syracuse on Saturday, December 5.

OHIO STATE - Won 19 straight conference games (new FBS longest). Won 8 straight road games (new FBS longest). Won 20 straight regular season games (new FBS longest).
Last: Game at Illinois on Saturday, November 28 was canceled due to Covid issues within the Buckeyes' program..
Next: Visits Michigan State on Saturday, December 5.

CLEMSON - Won 28 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 52-17 at home versus Pitt on Saturday, November 28.
Next: Visits Virginia Tech on Saturday, December 5.

NEW MEXICO - Lost 20 straight conference games (FBS longest). Lost 13 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 41-27 at Utah State on Thursday, November 26.
Next: Plays Wyoming in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 5.

AKRON - Lost 20 straight overall (FBS longest). Lost 9 straight home games (FBS longest). Lost 11 straight road games (FBS second-longest).
Last: Lost 69-35 at Kent State on Tuesday, November 17.
Next: Hosts Miami (O) on Saturday, November 28.