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A busy week of college football marked the return of Urban Meyer, the Virginia Dominic upheaval at Old Dominion, and much more.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI
Alabama receiver Jerry Jeudy passes a Texas A & M defender in his Bryant-Denny Stadium game.(Photo: Marvin Gentry, USA TODAY Sports)
The comparison is too easy to make. Clemson played Texas A & M two weeks ago. The Tigers won 28-26 in a game about as tight as the score indicates. Alabama played at Texas A & M on Saturday. The result was slightly different.
The Crypson Tide's 45-23 win over the Aggies was undoubtedly impressive, echoing the same performance that the Tide beat against Louisville, Arkansas State and Mississippi to kick off the season. In any case, the score did not reflect the dominance of Alabama.
Now, Clemson's victory has arrived on the road and Alabama's home. Jimbo Fisher, the first year coach of the A & M, was much more familiar with Clemson than with the Tide following his previous stint at Florida State. In other words, the fact that Clemson won by less than one goal on the field against the same team dominated by Alabama does not mean that the Tigers are not one of the best teams in the country.
But that could simply mean that Alabama operates at a different level than the rest of the Football Bowl subdivision.
QUICK START: Alabama No. 1 sets the tone early in the loss against Texas A & M 22
MISSING MAN: Wake Forest sits on goal against Notre Dame without kicker
COLD TAKING: Trolls of Wendy Nebraska, Scott Frost with Jab "Frosty"
The Tide has won more than 500 yards four times in 14 games in 2017. She has already reached that total in each of her four games this fall. The 13 points Aggies at halftime almost doubled Alabama's points total in the first period in three games. In four weeks, Alabama has surpassed its 858-yard competition – averaging 214 yards per game.
No player in Alabama or anywhere else has been as spectacular as Tua Tagovailoa. The Aggies attacked the Tide racing game with some success and asked Tagovailoa to beat their defense, and the sophomore did: 387 yards, 22 assists out of 30 and four touchdowns.
Tagovailoa now has 1,033 yards passing with 10 non-interception touchdowns while shooting 72% of his throws. It's crazy. That's also why everyone plays catch-up in the Heisman Trophy race. Hey, everyone is following Alabama anyway.
Here are the other winners and losers of Saturday:
winners
Texas
The jury is still in both Southern California and TCU. But that should have no impact on what the wins against this pair in the last two weeks have meant for Texas, who had to take a series of wins to erase the taste of a loss to Maryland. The 31-16 victory against TCU on Saturday was the first of the Longhorns in the series since 2013. And with several underachieving teams at the Big 12 Conference, the Texas team that presented the last two weeks could be enough for nine regular season wins. . It would be a huge springboard for Tom Herman's program before the off season.
ON THE TRACK: Texas seems to be back after beating No. 17 TCU
Buffalo
The Bulls were a rare eligible team at the start of the playoffs World Cup a year ago. It can be said that Buffalo and coach Lance Leipold did not hesitate to leave in 2018. Buffalo rose to 4-0 on the road and defeated a Big Ten opponent in a 42-13 victory. The Big Ten team in question is Rutgers, but that still counts.
our Lady
Beat Wake Forest is nothing special for Notre Dame, but Saturday may have helped settle a quarter riddle. Throwing 325 yards in the 56-27 win, sophomore Ian Book may well be the answer the Irish are looking for before embarking on a key sequence that will start next week against Stanford.
SMART SWITCH: Kelly made change our Lady QB to Book
MISSING MAN: Wake Forest sits on goal against Notre Dame without kicker
Old Dominion
After a disappointing start, Old Dominion may have won the most significant victory in school history with a 49-35 win over Virginia Tech. The Hokies are of course the gold standard, while the monarchs continue to become one of the youngest programs in the country. ODU Head Coach Bobby Wilder saw his team ready to face a much-loved opponent.
SHOCKER: Old Dominion stuns Virginia Tech number 10 for first win of the season
Losers
Oregon
We call the formation of victory for a reason. At the end of the fourth quarter against Stanford, Oregon had the ball, lead and clock on their side: the Ducks were 31-28 ahead with 54 seconds to play and could have taken a knee twice before to return to the Cardinal with just seconds remaining The odds of a Stanford in this scenario were extremely low, almost impossible to imagine. But Oregon coach Mario Cristobal and the Ducks decided against the formation of victory and instead ran the ball – and then escaped. Stanford kicked off at the end of regulation time for the draw and scored in possession of overtime for a superb 38-31 victory.
On the Oregon side, it's a complete and total disaster. Maybe it's not loud enough. This is the best time for a coach who can often linger long after the final whistle. It's a defeat that puts the Ducks behind the eight balls in the race for a division title. And this is the base for those who had wondered if Cristobal had what it took to bring Oregon back to national prominence after Willie Taggart's one-off season with the Ducks. It's a total disaster. Have I already said that?
Virginia Tech
It was a rather embarrassing moment for the Hokies program, which may have been the target of some setbacks – East Carolina and James Madison come to mind – but should overtake the ODU in a development phase. in conference game. After climbing to the 10th rank of Amway's coaching poll following a win over a poor Florida State team, Virginia Tech will collapse Sunday.
SHOCKER: Old Dominion stuns Virginia Tech number 10 for first win of the season
Nebraska
The 39-0 score after two quarters against Michigan was the biggest deficit in Nebraska history, which deserves a place on this list. The only place to go for the Cornhuskers is to take a 0-3 start under Scott Frost. Frost's background and his long-term plan for his alma mater suggest that the swoon will not last forever.
Boston College
Boston College lasted a week as a new college football contender. Losing 17 points on the Purdue road, previously without a win, changes this story. The Eagles are still good enough to win eight or nine games in the regular season, but that could say more about the lack of depth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Louisville
Everyone thought that the Louisville offensive would have a hard time getting out of Lamar Jackson at quarterback. Everyone except Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, who said in the summer that he expected to "be better" and "more balanced" on the offensive side. Well, the Cardinals scored 80 points in four games, the worst in Petrino's history as a university coach, and they could not touch a touchdown in Saturday's loss to Virginia (27). -3).
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