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The week saw 26% of the schedule get wiped out, but the 37 games that were played were (mostly) verrr-ry interesting and all of the conference championship games are now set.
Florida, ranked 6th by the playoff committee going into the game, literally "threw" itself out of any Final Four shot. Marco Wilson tossed Kole Taylor's shoe 20 yards downfield after Taylor was stopped on a 3rd-down play at his own 29. So instead of getting the ball back with around 1:40 to play, the LSU drive stayed alive and Cade York's 57-yard field goal with 23 seconds left put the Tigers on top 37-34. The Gators actually had a chance to force overtime after three Kyle Trask completions, but Evan McPherson's 51-yard attempt veered left.
No. 1 Alabama was the only team ranked higher than Florida that saw action on Saturday and the Tide had no problem with Arkansas in a 52-3 romp.
No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Clemson were idle as they prepare to face-off in the ACC Championship game next week.
No. 4 Ohio State's annual rivalry game with Michigan was called off due to Covid-19 issues within the Wolverines' program.
No. 5 Texas A&M's contest with Ole Miss was also scrapped due to Covid issues in the Rebels' program.
No. 7 Iowa State had a 'bye' week ahead of its Big 12 Championship date with Oklahoma next week.
No. 8 Cincinnati had its regular season finale with Tulsa canceled due to positive covid cases with the Bearcats. Those two are set to face-off next week for the American Conference championship in Cincinnati.
No. 9 Georgia played and routed 25th-ranked Missouri 49-14 by outscoring the Tigers 21-0 in the 3rd quarter and 28-0 in the 2nd half.
No. 10 Miami (FLA) was a different story. The Hurricanes got caned by visiting 17th-ranked North Carolina 62-26. Michael Carter rushed for 308 yards and 2 TD's on 24 carries, and Javonte Williams added 236 yards and 3 TD"S on 23 rushes. UNC finished with 778 yards of total offense as Miami fell to 8-2 while the Tar Heels improved to 8-3.
No. 11 Okahoma's game at West Virginia was canceled due to Covid issues, as was No. 12 Indiana's rivalry game with Purdue..
No. 13 Coastal Carolina is still undefeated (11-0) but needed Jaivon Heiligh 23-yard touchdown pass from Grayson McCall with 35 seconds left for the 42-38 win at Troy (5-6). The TD capped a 5-play, 75-yard drive that took all of 45 seconds.
No. 14 Northwestern finished the regular season 6-1 with a 28-10 home win over rival Illinois (2-5). Lovie Smith's Illini teams are 17-39 in his 5 seasons in Champaign and has never beaten the Wildcats. Northwestern had already clinched a berth in the Big Ten Championship game versus Ohio State.
No. 15 USC rallied from a 28-10 deficit in the 3rd quarter to escape city rival UCLA, 43-38. The Trojans (5-0) clinched a PAC-12 title game berth against Washington (3-1) at the LA. Coliseum on Friday. The Huskies' game with Oregon was canceled due to Covid issues in the Huskies' program. If that game had been played and Oregon won, the Ducks would've played for the conference championship.
Army blanked Navy 15-0 on Saturday to set up next week's game with Air Force as a winner-takes-all meeting for the Commander-In-Chief's trophy. Navy was last year's winner while the Black Knights held it from 2017-2018. Air Force last possessed the coveted prize in 2016.
Virginia Tech avenged its loss to Virginia last season with a 33-15 win in Blacksburg. The Hokies finish the season 5-6 while UVA dropped to 5-5. The question now is whether or not Virginia Tech's 27-game bowl streak is done. Won-loss records have been waived as a consideration this season so it's not entirely unlikely that a bowl would invite the Hokies, but it's also not unlikely that the school would opt-out, just as Boston College and Pittsburgh have already done.
Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score points in a FBS game, going 2-for-2 on PAT's for Vanderbilt in a 42-17 loss to Tennessee.
Buffalo zapped the Akron Zips 56-7 as Jaret Patterson ran for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns to give him 1,025 yards and 18 scores in a 5-game season.
BYU, which had to scramble to put a schedule together after Mountain West, Big Ten and PAC-12 conferences all delayed the start of their seasons, somehow managed to cobble together an 11-game slate and win 10 of those. The Cougars capped off their season with a 28-14 win at home over San Diego State, a week after seeing their undefeated campaign come to an end with a 22-17 loss at unbeaten Coastal Carolina.
American: Tulsa (6-1, 6-0) at Cincinnati (8-0, 6-0)
Teams were scheduled to meet in regular season finale but that game was canceled due to Covid issues in Bearcats' program.
ACC: Clemson (9-1, 8-1) vs. Notre Dame (10-0, 9-0) at Charlotte
Notre Dame won regular season meeting 47-40 in double-overtime on November 7.
Big Ten: Northwestern (6-1, 6-1) vs. Ohio State (5-0, 5-0) at Indianapolis
Ohio State beat Northwestern 45-24 in the 2018 title game.
Big 12: Iowa State (8-2, 8-1) vs. Oklahoma (7-2, 6-2) at Arlington
Iowa State won regular season meeting 37-30 on October 3 in Ames.
CUSA: UAB (5-3, 3-1) vs Marshall (7-1, 4-1)
Host to be determined by old BCS computer rankers on Sunday. FAU played its way with a 54-31 loss at Southern Miss on Thursday. UAB played its way in with a 21-16 win at Rice on Saturday. Despite being in the same conference, UAB and Marshall haven't met since 2014 and the Herd lead the series 8-2. .
MAC: Buffalo (5-0, 5-0) vs. Ball State (5-1, 5-1) at Detroit
Ball State played its way in with a 30-27 home win over Western Michigan. The wild finish saw the Broncos score on a game-ending multi-lateral play, but it was nullified on review as replay showed one of the laterals was actually a forward pass. Buffalo's only MAC title was won in 2008 by defeating Ball State 45-24. Ball State has never won the title and that's the only year they played in the championship game. Buffalo lost the 2018 title game to Northern Illinois 30-29 as NIU rallied from as many as 19 down and scored the game-winning points with 1:09 to play.
MOUNTAIN WEST: Boise State (5-1, 5-0) vs. San Jose State (6-0, 6-0) at Boise
San Jose State played its way in by rallying past Nevada for a 30-20 win on Friday after trailing 20-7 at the half. Boise will host due to a halt on sports in Santa Clara County, California. These teams were scheduled to meet in regular season on November 28 but that game was canceled due to Covid issues in Broncos' program.
PAC-12: Washington (3-1, 3-1) at USC (5-0, 5-0)
USC played its way in with a comeback 43-38 win over UCLA. Washington secured its spot when its game versus Oregon was canceled due to Covid issues in the Huskies' program.
SEC: Alabama (10-0, 10-0) vs.Florida (8-2, 8-2) at Atlanta
Florida basically wrecked its chances of a Final Four bid with a 37-34 loss to LSU. This will be the 10th time these teams have played for the title with Alabama winning 5 of the previous 9 and the Gators' last beating the Tide in the championship game in 2008.
SUN BELT: Coastal Carolina (11-0, 8-0) vs. Louisiana (9-1, 7-1) at Conway, SC
Coastal Carolina won the regular season meeting 30-27 at Lafayette on October 14 and is 2-1 all-time vs. the Ragin' Cajuns, but 0-1 in Conway.
This Saturday's schedule final FBS-FCS matchup of Incarnate Word at Arkansas State was canceled and no other FBS-FCS games are remaining to be played.
A total of 30 FBS teams played a total of 34 games against FCS schools this season with the FBS going 33-1. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are 1,468-128 (.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
NOTRE DAME - Won 16 straight over-all (FBS longest).
Last: Won 45-21 at home over Syracuse on Saturday, December 5.
Next: Regular season complete. Plays Clemson in Charlotte for ACC title on Saturday, December 19.
OHIO STATE - Won 20 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 9 straight road games (FBS longest). Won 21 straight regular season games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 52-12 at Michigan State on Saturday, December 5.
Next: December 12 game vs. Michigan canceled. Plays Northwestern in Big Ten Championship game at Indianapolis on Saturday, December 19.
CLEMSON - Won 28 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 45-10 at Virginia Tech on Saturday, December 5.
Next: Regular season complete. Plays Notre Dame in Charlotte for ACC title on Saturday, December 19.
NEW MEXICO - Lost 13 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 49-39 vs. Fresno State in Las Vegas (New Mexico's adopted home) on Saturday, December 12.
Next: Regular season complete.
AKRON - Lost 12 straight road games (FBS second-longest).
Last: Lost 56-7 at Buffalo on Saturday, December 12 at Buffalo.
Next: Regular season complete.
KANSAS - Lost 13 straight overall (FBS longest), 6 straight home games (tied with Rutgers for FBS longest).
Last: 16-13 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday, December 5.
Next: December 12 game vs. Texas canceled. No more games presently scheduled.
UTEP - Lost 15 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 45-43 at North Texas on Friday, December 11.
Next: Regular season complete.