Week 13 was full of exciting college football that featured upsets and what could be some massive shifting at the top of the college rankings. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories of the week.
Major College Football Implications From Week 13
When it comes to the College Football Playoffs, there were some major upsets in Week 13 that will inevitably lead to some shakeup amongst the four teams fighting for the National Championship.
The biggest surprise saw No. 5 Michigan beat No. 2 Ohio State 42-7. In the victory, the Buckeyes had no answer for Michigan’s running back Hassan Haskins. He rushed for 169 yards and five touchdowns.
This was Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s first win over Ohio State and the program’s first over the Buckeyes in a decade. In the loss, C.J. Stroud threw for 394 yards and two touchdowns for the Buckeyes.
With two losses, this will likely push Ohio State out of the playoffs. Michigan gained a huge bump from this as they now have the third-best odds of winning the National Championship at +1000.
Despite Stroud’s day, this also has pushed him to the second-best odds of winning the Heisman (+450) behind Alabama’s Bryce Young (-220).
This is in part due to a solid day by the Crimson Tide quarterback as they beat Auburn in four overtimes, 24-22, in the Iron Bowl. In the win, Young threw for 317 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
The victory keeps No. 2 Alabama’s National Championship hopes alive, although they will still have to beat No. 1 Georgia next week in the SEC title game. Alabama is currently +750 to win it all, while Georgia is -220 to win the National Championship.
If the season ended today, the most interesting decision in terms of who would make the College Football Playoffs might come down to No. 4 Cincinnati (12-0) and No. 7 Oklahoma State (11-1). Both of these teams are currently +1200 to win the National Championship.
In Week 13, Cincinnati kept its unbeaten record intact as they beat East Carolina 35-13. Oklahoma State won a thriller over No. 10 Oklahoma 37-33.
Coaching Carousel In Full Swing
Like every year, there is just as much focus on what coaches will be potentially hired and fired as there is on the play on the football field. Here is some of the most recent news on the coaching carousel front.
Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports has indicated that Louisiana’s Billy Napier will be named the next coach of the Florida Gators. Napier will be replacing Dan Mullen at Florida, who had another lackluster season as he was 5-6 at the time he was fired. For Napier, he is 39-12 in four seasons with Louisiana and has led them to one Sun Belt championship in that time.
Thamel also reported that New Mexico State will be hiring Jerry Kill to take over the program as head coach. Kill most recently served as the interim coach at TCU after the university split with coach Gary Patterson.
Kill also spent time as the head coach at Minnesota earlier in his career. Speaking of TCU, they are set to hire Sonny Dykes away from SMU, where he had been coach since 2017 with a 30-17 overall record.
Washington State also announced their head coaching position as they decided to remove the interim tag from head coach Jake Dickert. He initially started the year as the defensive coordinator, but he took over the role after Nick Rolovich was fired for not following vaccine mandates. Washington State went 3-2 under Dickert after starting the season 1-2.
Orgeron Wins Final Game With LSU
Since their perfect season that culminated with a National Championship in 2019, it has been a long fall from grace for LSU head coach Ed Orgeron. The university announced back in October that this would be the last season for Orgeron, and he ends his tenure at LSU with a 51-20 record.
This season, the Tigers are currently 6-6. That record is good enough for LSU to be bowl eligible, but Orgeron announced after the game that it would be offensive line coach Brad Davis coaching them from here on out this season.
