Weekend Recap: And Then There Were 3 (Undefeated Teams)

November 17, 2019 by Dave Congrove

Membership in the undefeated club continued to contract over the weekend, losing 2 of its 5 members as Baylor and Minnesota bit the dust.

Baylor built a 28-3 second quarter advantage, then got outscored 31-3 over the remainder of the game to fall 34-31 to Oklahoma in Waco. Both schools need just one more win to set up a rematch in Arlington.

Earlier in the day, Iowa scored touchdowns on its first three possessions to build a 20-3 first quarter lead that it never relinquished in a 23-19 victory at home over Minnesota. The Gophers' loss, coupled with Wisconsin's 37-21 win at Nebraska, sets up a potential de facto playoff game for the Big Ten west division title between Minnesota and the Badgers in Minneapolis on November 30.

Both Baylor and Minnesota had their last-chance drives end in an interception.

The other three undefeated teams had no trouble in dispatching their opponents as Ohio State, LSU and Clemson won by double digits.

Ohio State dumped Rutgers 56-21. The Buckeyes pulled QB Josh Fields and the bulk of its starters after accumulating a 49-7 halfway through the third quarter.

LSU jumped out to a 28-0 lead over Ole Miss and then kept the Rebels at arms length for a 58-37 win at Oxford.

Clemson scored a 52-3 walkover victory at home against Wake Forest.

One of the most newsworthy events of the day was another injury to Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa in a 38-7 win at Mississippi State. Tagovailoa dislocated his right hip in the second quarter with the Tide already ahead 35-7. The injury will keep the star QB from playing the rest of the season, including the playoffs if the Tide make it to the final four.

Georgia methodically built a 21-0 lead at Auburn and held on for a 21-14 win to clinch the eastern half of the Southeastern Conference.

Cincinnati had to rally from a 14-0 hole to sew up the American Conference's east division with a 20-17 win at USF.

Oregon clinched the PAC-12 North with a 34-6 win at home over Arizona.

Virginia Tech clinched a 27th consecutive bowl appearance with a 45-0 rout at Georgia Tech. The Jackets hadn't been shutout since 1997 when Florida State did the honors, 38-0.

Speaking of Florida State, interim head coach Odell Haggins improved his all-time record in that capacity to 4-0 with a 49-12 win over FCS member Alabama State. The Seminoles became bowl eligible after missing the postseason last year for the first time since 1981.

Indiana was looking to secure its first 8-win season since 1993, but the Hoosiers lost a hard fought battle in Happy Valley, 34-27, to Penn State.

Notre Dame was only a 9.5-point betting favorite, but got a whopping 32.30-point edge from the Congrove Computer Rankings which basically nailed the final 52-20 separation.

Utah was hosting a suddenly dangerous UCLA team that was riding a 3-game winning streak, but had no trouble in a 49-3 rollover.

There were 24 idle teams this week, but every team in the committee's top 25 saw action.

FBS vs. FCS

114 games this year pit FBS teams against FCS schools. That's two more than a season ago when FBS teams won 105 of 112 games.

Four FBS teams faced a FCS school this week - Army, BYU, Florida State and New Mexico State - and all 4 emerged victorious.

Six such games will take place next week to finish out the FBS-FCS matchups for 2019.

FBS teams are 105-3 (.972) for the season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS schools are 1,429-127 (.918).

FCS victories over FBS teams in 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)

FCS victories over FBS teams in 2018
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

Streaks

CLEMSON - Won 26 straight over-all (FBS longest). Won 28 straight regular season games (FBS longest) games. Won 21 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 22 straight home games (FBS longest). Won 11 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 52-3 at home over Wake Forest on November 16.
Next: Visits South Carolina on November 30.

RUTGERS - Lost 19 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 56-21 at home to Ohio State on November 16.
Next: Hosts Michigan State on November 23.

AKRON - Lost 15 straight overall (FBS longest). Lost 7 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 42-14 at home to Eastern Michigan on November 12.
Next: Visits Miami (O.) on November 20.

NEW MEXICO STATE - Lost 15 straight vs FBS teams (FBS longest).
Last: Defeated FCS member Incarnate Word 41-28.
Next: Hosts UTEP on November 23.

RICE - Snapped a 15-game road losing streak which had been the FBS longest.
Last: Won 31-28 at MTSU on November 16.
Next: The Owls will look to halt a 6-game home losing streak when they host North Texas on November 23.

SOUTH ALABAMA- Lost 14 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 37-27 at home to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Next: Visits Georgia State on November 23.