Ohio State Continues Domination Over Nittany Lions

The Buckeye defense was just too much for Penn State to overcome. Ohio State controlled the ball in the 4th quarter giving Penn State little opportunity and the game ended Ohio State 20 Penn State 13, the 8th consecutive win in a row over Penn State for the Buckeyes. But make no mistake, the Nittany Lions are far from out of contention for a National Championship. They will most certainly be among the elite 12 listed when the first CFP rankings are announced  Tuesday night.  Don't do a double take here, but it appears SMU and Miami (Fla.) may be headed for a showdown in the ACC. SMU demolished previously unbeaten Pittsburgh 48-25 while Miami was taking care of Duke 53-31. The Big 12 was turned upside down when Texas Tech sneaked by previously unbeaten Iowa State with a late field goal with 20 seconds left on the clock to win 23-22, and after a 4 hour weather delay Kansas State fell to Houston 24-19. Tennessee came to life in the second half to down Kentucky 28-18, but Texas A&M was not so lucky. The Aggies traveled to South Carolina and met up with an angry bunch of Gamecocks who tore A&M apart 44-20. Projections will post Tuesday. 

Indiana Crushes Washington 31-17

The surprising Hoosiers moved to 8-0 on the season after cruising past the Huskies. Indiana is 8-0 for the first time since they won the Big 10 and played in the Rose Bowl in 1967. The Big 10 also dominates the top of this weeks Billingsley Report with Oregon at #1, Penn State at #2 and Ohio State at #5. A showdown looms this Saturday as the Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley in a much anticipated conference clash.  Things are tight in the conference races. The ACC has Miami (Fla.) and Pittsburgh still undefeated with Clemson and SMU nipping on their heels with one loss, both to non conference opponents. Clemson lost to Georgia and SMU lost to BYU. In the Big 12 the Cougars remain unbeaten with a convincing 37-24 road win over Central Florida. Iowa State remains undefeated after being idle this week and Kansas State kicked a late field goal to nip arch rival Kansas 29-27. Colorado continues to look better each passing week, downing Cincinnati 34-23. Boise State took control of the MWC with a 29-24 win at UNLV. Vanderbilt is for real folks. They took Texas to the wire. The Longhorns escaped Nashville with a hard fought 27-24 win. But it's the Aggies from Texas A&M who top the mighty SEC right now after a strong 2nd half performance propelled them to a 38-23 win over LSU. November will certainly be a month to remember in 2024. Lots of huge games yet to play and with the new 12 playoff, two or maybe 3 losses may still be good enough to get in.   

Dawg Defense Derails Longhorns

The biggest game of the weekend almost turned into a rout with Georgia jumping out to what seemed an almost insurmountable 23-0 lead, but Texas fought back in the 3rd quarter to close the gap to 23-15. But it was too late and the Georgia defense shut down Texas in the final quarter, ending the game with a 30-15 win over the #1 Longhorns. Oregon, 35-0 winners over Purdue, moved into the top spot in this week's Billingsley Report, followed by idle Penn State. Georgia jumped to #3 followed by #4 Texas. Miami (Fla.) takes the #5 position.  Indiana shocked the Husker nation with an unbelievable 56-7 beat down of Nebraska. The Hoosiers moved to 7-0 on the season. Illinois beat Michigan 21-7 to move to 6-1. The Trojans are finding life very difficult in the Big 10. USC fell to 3-4 after losing at Maryland 29-28. BYU and Iowa State remained unbeaten by identical scores of 38-35, and both in similar dramatic fashion with wins coming over Oklahoma State and UCF in the final moments of the game. Tennessee beat arch rival Alabama 24-17. All the cigar smoke gave new meaning to “Smoky Mountains”. Oklahoma was humiliated at home by South Carolina 35-9. It was the worst home loss for the Sooners since the John Blake era of 1997, a 69-7 loss to Nebraska. Projections will post Tuesday.     

Oregon nips Ohio State 32-31

In a battle of Big 10 Titans (I still can't wrap my head around that statement), the Ducks prevailed in a back and forth tussle with the Buckeyes. Ohio State appeared positioned to kick a game winning field goal but the last second ticked off the clock as the Buckeye QB slid trying to gain a few precious more yards before the attempt. Something tells me we will see these two powerhouses play again, and maybe twice, before a National Champion is crowned.  Pittsburgh remained unbeaten after squeaking by California 17-15 in an ACC conference game. Can I just say this? I miss the Pac 12! Cal and Stanford in the ACC? Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA in the Big 10? It's more than this old timer can handle. Hell, I still miss the Big 8 and the SWC. Those were the days, the 1950's thru the 1970's were college footballs greatest years.  Penn State had the comeback of the day, scoring 14 late points to move the game with USC into overtime, then beating the Trojans 33-30. Iowa finally showed some offensive muscle, pounding Washington 40-16. The Hawkeyes are now 4-2. The Big 12 is all up for grabs, although BYU and Iowa State lead the pack at 6-0. Kansas State, Texas Tech and Arizona State are all 5-1.  Oklahoma scored the first points in the Red River Rivalry to lead 3-0….. and never saw the light of day again. The Longhorns smothered the Sooners with 34 straight points. I just took a look at Oklahoma's upcoming schedule, Yikes. South Carolina, Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama and LSU. I don't believe Oklahoma will be going bowling this year. LSU won a thriller over Ole Miss 29-26. Hard to beat the Tigers in Death Valley at night. And Vandy did it again, pulling off another upset, this time on the road over Kentucky 20-13. The Commodores now stand at 4-2. Nashville may never stop celebrating.  Texas remains #1 in this week's Billingsley Report, followed closely by Oregon. As the season unfolds I doubt anyone will go undefeated and we could be looking at several two loss teams in the CFP. Anyone want to bet a 3 loss SEC or Big 10 team might sneak in at #12? Wouldn't surprise me in the least. Projections will be posted Tuesday.