By: William Smythe

After a fire-filled (see BYU-Cincinnati) Friday night of college football, we all took our places on the couch the following day to settle in for a couple of noteworthy matchups: Colorado v. No. 8 USC, No. 17 Duke v. Notre Dame, and No. 1 Georgia v. Auburn, among others. While not as juicy of a slate as last week, I’d be remiss to overlook an uber-competitive spread of games that have once again created major changes in the polls. What is there to take away from Friday and Saturday?

Utah’s CFP hopes dwindling after sputtering against Oregon State

P5P’s very own, George Ahearn, may have seen this one coming – yes, I’m referring you to George’s betting article published last Wednesday. Oregon State’s road defeat to a hot Wazzu may have primed the now-15th ranked Beavs for a thunderous, Friday home win against a previously undefeated Utah, who held on by the skin of their teeth against UCLA and Baylor.

Now, it is becoming abundantly clear that Kyle Whittingham’s team will suffer every game that senior quarterback Cam Rising misses. Rising’s replacement – freshman Nate Johnson – has only tossed for 499 yards and 3 touchdowns through three starts after replacing the Utes’ Bryson Barnes. Against what has largely been a fierce Beaver defense, Johnson mustered a mere 101 yards through the air and completed only eight of 23 attempts – a completion rate of 34%. A potent Ute defense – which held Florida, Baylor and UCLA under 14 points – could not compensate for an offensive unit accumulating 198 total yards.

The Utes’ 21-7 defeat to Oregon State does not bode well for their playoff chances, even if Rising returns to the lineup as early as this week. Dates against No. 8 USC, No. 9 Oregon and No. 7 Washington loom on the schedule, with matchups against the Trojans and Huskies both on the road. Despite boasting a top-10 caliber front four on defense, the Utes will need Rising’s return to retain hope of finishing the season with two losses.

Notre Dame sabotages Duke’s first Gameday in Durham

Even with Pat McAfee there, the Blue Devils couldn’t pull off another program-altering win in Wallace Wade Stadium. Actually, they ended up falling in the worst way possible; down 14-13 with less than a minute remaining and facing 4th and 16, Irish quarterback Sam Hartman rolled to his right, scanned to no avail, and dashed 17 yards for a first down to keep the Notre Dame’s hopes alive.

Two plays later and junior running back Audric Estime scampered 30 yards to seal a 21-14 victory for the Irish, giving them a bounce-back win after last week’s heartbreaker against Ohio State. While Duke still had 30 seconds to march down the field and hope to break one open, quarterback Riley Leonard fell while sacked and suffered a high-ankle sprain in the loss – a major but not deafening blow for an ascending program.

Leonard will certainly miss several weeks of play but will appear later this season, hopefully in time to steer the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship berth. Notre Dame, meanwhile, can still finagle their way into the playoff if they can take down No. 8 USC at home next Saturday and wrest one away from Clemson on the road in early November. Their schedule is certainly a gauntlet, yet the win in Durham has saved the Irish from a catastrophic start to the year.

Despite the recent offensive lulls, this may be Notre Dame’s most complete unit since the Brady Quinn days.

SEC may be deeper and more competitive than expected

Much like the Pac-12, the Southeastern Conference may eat itself alive this year. With a vulnerable Alabama currently tied with A&M on the top of the pecking order in the SEC East – and LSU and Ole Miss close behind – the nation’s biggest and baddest conference will perhaps see unprecedented parity as the season progresses. In the West, Georgia, Mizzou and Kentucky are all 5-0, with the ‘Dawgs and ‘Cats having won two conference games already. Florida and Tennessee are dark horse candidates in the West, as it’s likely Mizzou doesn’t stay at the top for long.

Nonetheless, Kentucky just throttled a previously-ranked Florida team, while a 3-2 Auburn brought No. 1 Georgia to the brink at Jordan-Hare. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt do look to be the only real chumps of the SEC. It would be unwise to overlook a bottom-dwelling Arkansas once running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders fully returns from injury, and South Carolina has already proven to be pesky despite holding a 2-3 overall record.

Now, there are seven SEC teams ranked in the top-25 – the most out of any conference. Order has been restored. A&M could leap-frog into the top 20 following a win against Alabama, yet Mizzou, LSU and Kentucky are all at risk of dropping out if losses befall them Saturday (the ‘Cats will stay in if they keep things competitive with Georgia).