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Week 11 Recap - Penn State Falls to 0-4, Miami and USC Avoid Upsets Again

November 15, 2020 by Staff

Penn State has fallen on tough, tough times. The Nittany Lions dropped to 0-4 on the season with a 30-23 setback at Nebraska (1-2). They haven't been 0-4 since 2001.

Michigan State (1-3) is another head-shaker. The Spartans beat their rival, Michigan, but lost 24-0 at home to Indiana on Saturday to fall to 1-3. Indiana is 4-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1987.

Michigan is 1-3 after being routed 49-11 in the empty "Big House" by Wisconsin which, due to Covid issues, hadn't played since its opening win over Illinois on October 23.

Minnesota is off to a 1-3 start following a 35-7 beatdown at home that was administered by Iowa (2-2).

Northwestern is 4-0 in the conference for the first time since 1996 after a 27-20 win over Purdue.

North Carolina overcame a 45-24 deficit to Wake Forest for a 59-53 win in Winston-Salem and the Tar Heels improved to 6-2. The teams combined for 1,348 yards.

Miami (7-1) rallied past Virginia Tech for a 25-24 win in Blacksburg after trailing 24-13. A week ago, the Hurricanes overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 11 minutes for their 44-41 win at N.C. State. The season started off with much promise for the Hokies who now find themselves mired at 4-4. Justin Fuente's teams have been the embodiment of mediocrity for much of his tenure in Blacksburg and he is now just 18-16 since 2018 with losses to Old Dominion and Liberty.

Like Miami, USC is making a habit of late charges. The Trojans are 2-0 after a 34-30 win at Arizona came on a late 4th quarter score. A week ago, USC scored 14 points with less than 3 minutes to play to avoid the loss to Arizona State. This time, the winning points came with 25 seconds left.

Illinois upset Rutgers 23-20 after trailing 10-0 and 20-10. In the closing minutes, the Illini missed a 46-yard field goal but got another crack at it after an interception and James McCourt connected on the 47-yarder with 3 seconds left.

Speaking of Liberty, the Flames are 8-0 after a 58-14 bashing of FCS member Western Carolina.

Marshall is 7-0 after a 42-14 win over MTSU. The win came on the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed 75, including 37 Marshall football players, the team’s coach, its doctors, the university athletic director and 25 team boosters - not to mention 4 crew member and the charter coordinator. (To learn more,read this article from History.com).

Cincinnati improved to 7-0 on Friday night with a 55-17 romp over East Carolina.

Don't look now, but Tulsa has not-so-quietly moved to 4-0 with the only loss coming to Oklahoma State in the opener. Saturday night, the Golden Hurricane proved their win at UCF was no fluke by rallying from a 24-7 halftime hole to SMU for a 28-24 win at home.

Tulsa is scheduled to host Cincinnati on December 4. Aside from those two, no other school in the American conference has fewer than 2 conference losses.

In the Mountain West, San Jose State is 4-0 for the first time since 1955 after doubling-up UNLV 34-17.

Colorado is 2-0 after edging Stanford 35-32 as a 7.5-point underdog. Meanwhile, Oregon is 2-0 after escaping from a 19-7 deficit to score a 43-29 win at Washington State, and Jimmy Lake successfully debuted as the head coach of Washington by guiding the Huskies to a 27-21 win over visiting Oregon State.

11 teams in the AP Top 25 had the week off - 6 of which were the result of canceled or postponed games due to Covid issues.

Those that had a scheduled week off were (4) Clemson, (14) Oklahoma State, (17) Iowa State, (18) Oklahoma), and (21) Texas.

Thanks to Covid, these ranked teams sat it out - (1) Alabama, (3) Ohio State, (5) Texas A&M, (12) Georgia, (15) Coastal Carolina, and (24) Auburn.

None of the 4 ranked teams from the Big 12 saw action this weekend, and only 1 of the 5 SEC ranked teams played. In that lone game, No. 6 Florida chomped Arkansas 63-35 in "The Swamp".

There were only 3 games in the SEC, period. The other two saw Kentucky edge Vanderbilt 38-35 win after building a 38-21 lead, and Ole Miss downed South Carolina 59-42 in what had been a see-saw battle until the Rebels tallied the last 21 points in the 4th quarter.

There were just 2 games in the Big 12. A 25-yard walk-off field goal lifted Texas Tech to a 24-23 win over Baylor and handed the Bears a fifth straight loss. Meanwhile, West Virginia knocked off TCU 24-6.

The weekend action concluded on Sunday with Cal at UCLA in a contest that was announced on Friday after Cal's game at Arizona State, and Utah's game at UCLA were both canceled due to Covid issues at ASU and Utah. UCLA won the game 34-10 as a 2-1/2-point Vegas underdog and improved to 1-1. It was the season opener for Cal.

Your House Is Our House

"Home, Sweet Home" is the old adage, but it didn't matter for most of the 8 AP-ranked teams that hit the road on Saturday to face un-ranked opposition. Not everyone had it easy but, in the end, those 8 schools went 7-1. The only team to fall was 19th-ranked SMU at Tulsa. The road winners were (2) Notre Dame 45-31 at Boston College, (9) Miami 25-24 at Virginia Tech, (10) Indiana 24-0 at Michigan State, (11) Oregon 43-29 at Washington State, (13) Wisconsin 49-11 at Michigan, (20) USC 34-30 at Arizona, and (23) Northwestern 27-20 at Purdue.

FCS vs. FBS

31 FBS teams are playing a total of 35 games against FCS schools this season.

There was only one such game on the docket this week with Liberty blasting Western Carolina 58-14. Gardner-Webb at Charlotte was canceled altogether.

FBS teams are 29-1 in such matchups this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are 1,464-128 (.920).

Last year, FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) in such games.

Here is the only FCS win vs. the FBS this season:
October 23: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10

These were the FCS wins vs. the FBS in the previous 2 seasons:

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)

2020:
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 - Three streaks ended with 47-40 double-OT loss at Notre Dame. The Tigers had won 35 straight regular season games, 29 straight conference games and 14 straight true road games - all of which topped the FBS. Clemson still has the longest home game winning streak at 27.
Last: Lost 47-40 in 2 OT at Notre Dame on Saturday, November 7.
Next: Visits Florida State on Saturday, November 21.

NOTRE DAME - Won 14 straight over-all (FBS-longest)
Last: Won 45-31 at Boston College on Saturday, Novermber 14.
Next: Visits North Carolina on Friday, November 27.

OHIO STATE - Won 18 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 8 straight road games (FBS longest). Won 19 straight regular season games (FBS longest).
LAST - Game vs. Maryland on Saturday, November 14 was canceled and will not be rescheduled.
Next: Hosts Indiana on Saturday, November 21.

NEW MEXICO - Lost 18 straight conference games (FBS longest). Lost 12 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 27-20 to Nevada in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 14.
Next: Visits Air Force on Friday, November 20.