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Articles By Braden Gall
The 2013 college football regular season had distinct and unique character. The No. 2 team in the nation didn't lose every weekend like in 2007. And one player didn't captivate the nation like Cam Newton in 2010 or Johnny Manziel last fall.
Every major conference race — and some of the smaller ones as well — came down to the final weekend, and, in some cases, the final moments of the final game. It was a season to remember for college football fans. Four teams battled until the final whistle in the Big 12 to determine who would be heading to Tempe but there was a long and exciting list of great finishes in the Big 12.
So that is what Athlon Sports is going to do. For some, this will be a stroll down memory lane while others may develop reoccurring nightmares. Here are the Big 12's most entertaining and pivotal games of the 2013 season.
1. Oklahoma 33, Oklahoma State 24 (Dec. 7)
One of the most heated rivalries in all of college football had some extra juice in 2013. The Big 12 title and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl was on the line for the Pokes while the Sooners had a shot at a BCS bowl and 10-win season in their sights (not to mention ruining the Cowboys' season). Bob Stoops had to turn to his backup quarterbacks at halftime, so he leaned on his defense all game. Holding Okie State in check most of the game, the Sooners finally lost the lead when Oklahoma State went up 24-20 with 2:30 to go. Mike Gundy had to give the ball back to the Crimson and Cream with less than two minutes to play. Blake Bell contructed a drive to remember when he moved the Sooners down the field for the game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds to play. Stoops moved to 8-1 all-time against Gundy as he dashed OSU's Big 12 title hopes on the final drive of the season.
2. Oklahoma State 33, Kansas State 29 (Oct. 5)
The Cowboys' offense struggled for much of the game but Oklahoma State carried a three-point lead into halftime at home against KSU. The Wildcats retook the lead early in the third quarter before two OSU field goals gave the Pokes a 23-21 advantage heading into the fourth. With 6:09 left, however, Daniel Sams announced himself to the Big 12 when he scored his third touchdown of the game to give the Wildcats the lead. But when needed, J.W. Walsh delivered by leading two scoring drives in the final five minutes of play, including the game-winning TD pass to Charlie Moore with 4:13 left.
3. Baylor 30, Texas 10 (Dec. 7)
There was no better way for Baylor to end the season. The Bedlam Game upset earlier in the day turned this season finale into an outright Big 12 championship game for both teams. Texas played well for the first 30 minutes, taking a 3-3 tie into the break. But Baylor did what Baylor had done all season long by making halftime adjustments and scoring quickly to start the second half. A 17-point third quarter put the game out of reach and gave Art Briles and the Bears fans a championship to celebrate. Floyd Casey Stadium was closed for the final time with the program's first Big 12 title and first BCS bowl bid secured.
4. Baylor 35, Kansas State 25 (Oct. 12)
The Bears couldn't run the ball like they were accustomed to in Manhattan, but Bryce Petty delivered a critical fourth-quarter performance that eventually helped Baylor win the Big 12. In the closest win of the season, Petty and the Bears entered the final frame trailing by four. As KSU geared up to stop the run, Petty made them pay with two long touchdown passes — 54 and 21 yards — in the final quarter to give Baylor a win in what was one of only three tough games it played all season.
5. West Virginia 30, Oklahoma State 21 (Sept. 28)
Neither team could run the ball, they combined for five turnovers and a variety of miscues highlighted a sloppy early season affair in Morgantown. Hometown hero Clint Trickett got his first career start for WVU, throwing for 309 yards and a touchdown in the huge upset over Big 12 frontrunner Okie State. The Cowboys were within three for most of the third and fourth quarters and had multiple opportunities to tie or take the lead. Yet, the Mountaineers persevered and nailed two field goals in the final period to win by nine.
6. Texas 47, West Virginia 40 in OT (Nov. 9)
This was an epic back-and-forth affair that featured a resilient Texas team and a motivated Mountaineers squad. The Longhorns played from behind for most of the game, and as soon as they took a lead, WVU would come right back down the field to retake the lead. The lead changed hands three times in the fourth quarter and Texas needed a 24-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to send it to overtime. From there, Case McCoy tossed a touchdown pass, and Texas linebacker Steve Edmond snagged a Paul Millard pass on fourth down in the endzone to seal the improbable and thrilling comeback. The win moved Texas to 6-0 in the Big 12 at the time.
7. Oklahoma 38, Texas Tech 30 (Oct. 26)
Oklahoma limped home after getting whipped by Texas and sleep-walking through Kansas while Texas Tech surged into Norman with a 7-0 record. And until the final minute of the third quarter, it looked like Texas Tech was going to leave with an unblemished record. However, the running game and Blake Bell matched the high-powered offense of the Red Raiders in the final frame. Over the last 15:33, Oklahoma would score 17 points to give Kliff Kingsbury his first loss as a head coach. The three Tech turnovers would prove to be costly as the Red Raiders didn't win a game the rest of the season.
8. Texas 36, Oklahoma 20 (Oct. 12)
The biggest game of the season every year featured one of the most unlikely outcomes of the season. Oklahoma entered play a heavy favorite over archrival Texas in the Cotton Bowl. But the Horns rallied around embattled coach Mack Brown to pounce on the Sooners early and often. Texas went up 20-3 late in the second quarter and never looked back. The win propelled Texas to a 6-0 start in the Big 12 and a near Big 12 title. It wasn't as close or dramatic as the rest of the best Big 12 games, but it holds special meaning as the final meeting between Bob Stoops and Mack Brown in Dallas.
9. Oklahoma State 49, Baylor 17 (Nov. 23)
With the Big 12 title hanging in the balance and an unbeaten Baylor team coming to town, Oklahoma State played its best game of the season when it jumped all over the Bears in Stillwater. Clint Chelf was red hot out of the gate and finished with 370 yards and three touchdowns as his offense had no issues carving up the Bears' respected defense. The win was one of the most important in the Big 12 season and gave Oklahoma State control of its own destiny in the conference race with only The Bedlam Game left on the schedule.
10. Texas 31, Iowa State 30 (Oct. 3)
An early season Thursday night trip to Ames gave fans a bizarre and wild shootout. Every time Iowa State scored to take the lead, the Longhorns would answer, be it a final play touchdown pass at the end of the first half or a long touchdown drive at the end of the third quarter. The Cyclones came back once again, turning two Texas fumbles into 10 points to start the final period. But Texas had an answer. With the help of some questionable officiating, the Burnt Orange took the lead with 51 seconds to play to win. Paul Rhoads voiced his displeasure after the game.
Just missed the cut
11. Baylor 41, TCU 38 (Nov. 30)
Coaching animosity, defensive TDs and lots of scoring made this one to remember.
12. Baylor 41, Oklahoma 12 (Nov. 7)
The Bears announced their national title presence with this primetime Thursday night beatdown.
13. Oklahoma 20, TCU 17 (Oct. 5)
Oklahoma was able to run the ball when needed late in this physical battle in Norman.
14. Oklahoma State 38, Texas 13 (Nov. 16)
The Pokes went into Austin and dominated for the third straight time.
15. Oklahoma 35, Notre Dame 21 (Sept. 28)
A signature win for a signature program with 10 wins and a BCS bowl bid.
Best of the rest:
16. Oklahoma 41, Kansas State 31 (Nov. 23)
17. Baylor 63, Texas Tech 34 (Nov. 16)
18. Texas 31, Kansas State 21 (Sept. 21)
19. Iowa State 52, West Virginia 44 (OT, Nov. 30)
20. West Virginia 30, TCU 27 (OT, Nov. 2)
21. Kansas State 33, TCU 31 (Nov. 16)
22. Oklahoma 16, West Virginia 7 (Sept. 7)
23. Oklahoma State 21, Mississippi State 3
24. North Dakota State 24, Kansas State 21 (Aug. 30)
25. Kansas 31, West Virginia 19 (Nov. 16)
The 2013 college football regular season had distinct and unique character. The No. 2 team in the nation didn't lose every weekend like in 2007. And one player didn't captivate the nation like Cam Newton in 2010 or Johnny Manziel last fall.
Every major conference race — and some of the smaller ones as well — came down to the final weekend, and, in some cases, the final moments of the final game. It was a season to remember for college football fans. Especially, for those in Durham or Tallahassee.
So that is what Athlon Sports is going to do. For some, this will be a stroll down memory lane while others may develop reoccurring nightmares. Here are the ACC's most entertaining and pivotal games of the 2013 season.
1. Clemson 38, Georgia 35 (Aug. 31)
It was hyped all summer long and the two top 10 teams delivered in a big way. Tajh Boyd and Aaron Murray teamed with Sammy Watkins and Todd Gurley to give fans in rabid Death Valley big play after big play. This anticipated non-conference season-opener was either tied or within one score for all but six minutes and ended with Tigers fans chanting "A-C-C" deep into the night in South Carolina.
2. Duke 27, North Carolina 25 (Nov. 30)
With an outright Coastal Division championship on the line, Duke battled its arch in-state rival to the bitter end of the regular season. The red-hot Tar Heels had won five straight games and gave Duke all they could handle, going back-and-forth with the Devils and eventually taking a late fourth-quarter lead. But like it had all season, Duke found a way to win when Ross Martin hit a 27-yard field goal with 2:22 left to play. The win gave David Cutcliffe an outright division championship and Duke its first 10-win season in school history.
3. Georgia 41, Georgia Tech 34 (2OT, Nov. 30)
The Dawgs, playing without Aaron Murray for the first time since 2009, trailed 20-0 to begin the game. But slowly new quarterback Hutson Mason settled in and led the offense to 10 unanswered points to send the game into overtime. Vad Lee set a career high in passing yards but it wasn't enough to overcome a late-game performance from Todd Gurley — who scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime to win one of the best-named rivalry games in the nation.
4. Florida State 51, Clemson 14 (Oct. 19)
The most high-profile conference game in the ACC turned out to be quite a dud. But the performance by Jameis Winston in Death Valley won't be soon forgotten. The 2013 Heisman Trophy winner completed 22-of-34 passes for 444 yards and three touchdowns in the impressive statement victory. The win set the Seminoles soaring towards the national championship and put Winston directly into the heart of the Heisman race.
5. Miami 21, Florida 16 (Sept. 7)
At the time it took place, few games meant more to the ACC's bruised reputation than Miami's physical win over then-No. 12 Florida. The Sunshine State conversation had been dominated by the SEC for years until the Canes broke through early in the season with a win in a game that had been talked about all summer. Miami's defense made big plays all game long, indicating development and growth from the year before.
6. Miami 27, North Carolina 23 (Oct. 17)
On a Thursday night on the road, unbeaten Miami won a dramatic and thrilling divisional tilt that vaulted the Canes well into the AP poll's top 10. Trailing 23-13 and without Duke Johnson, Miami turned to Dallas Crawford and the power running game to score two touchdowns in the final 12 minutes, including the game-winner with 16 seconds left. Tar Heels tight end Eric Ebron had a historic night catching eight passes for 199 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't enough, however, as Miami moved to 6-0 for the first time in a decade.
7. Florida State 48, Boston College 34 (Sept. 28)
Boston College did something that Clemson, Duke, Florida State or Maryland didn't even come close to doing. The Eagles kept the game with Noles close for much of the contest. In fact, Florida State needed a Hail Mary at the end of the half to take its first lead. Eventually, the Seminoles wore down BC and took a 48-27 lead midway through the fourth on a P.J. Williams interception return for a touchdown. No other team scored more than 17 on FSU and the 14-point margin was by far the smallest for Jimbo Fisher's bunch.
8. Duke 13, Virginia Tech 10 (Oct. 26)
It was an ugly affair wrought with turnovers and inefficiency. Duke was outgained 387 to 198, didn't convert on any of its 11 third-down chances, didn't complete a pass in the second half and lost the possession battle by 19 minutes (39:27 to 20:33). But the opportunistic defense forced four turnovers, including a late, game-clinching play, and broke through against a ranked team on the road for the first time in 42 years. The win catapulted Duke into the ACC title talk and it happened in typically dramatic fashion.
9. Duke 48, Miami 30 (Nov. 16)
Two teams battling for Coastal Division supremacy went toe-to-toe for the first 50 minutes or so in what was an electric shootout. Miami held the lead with three minutes left in the third quarter when Duke went on a dramatic 20-point run. A 33-yard Shaquille Powell run with 6:50 to go in the game ended the see-saw affair and gave Duke control of its own destiny in the divisional race.
10. Miami 24, Wake Forest 21 (Oct. 26)
The Demon Deacons came into play against the unbeaten Canes a heavy underdog and played arguably the best game of their season in defeat. An evenly played and tough first half gave way to a back-and-forth affair that saw momentum swing three separate times in the final five minutes. Duke Johnson twice scored go-ahead touchdowns in the final few minutes with the last one coming with just 53 seconds left. It sealed the Miami win and kept the Hurricanes unblemished on the season.
Just missed the cut:
11. Georgia Tech 28, North Carolina 20 (Sept. 21)
An early-season tilt featured a big Tech comeback in the rain in Atlanta.
12. Maryland 27, Virginia Tech 24 (OT, Nov. 16)
C.J. Brown led his team to victory with 122 yards rushing and the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
13. Florida State 37, Florida 7 (Nov. 30)
The Noles capped the season with a celebratory whipping of its SEC counterpart.
14. Florida State 45, Duke 7 (Dec. 7)
Hugely important but largely uneventful after a pesky first quarter.
15. Virginia Tech 29, Marshall 21 (3OT, Sept. 21)
A thriller Tech was lucky to win featured three OTs and plenty of big plays.
Best of the Rest:
16. Pitt 58, Duke 55 (Sept. 21)
17. Syracuse 34, Boston College 31 (Nov. 30)
18. Clemson 24, Boston College 14 (Oct. 12)
19. Boston College 34, Virginia Tech 27 (Nov. 2)
20. Duke 28, Wake Forest 21 (Nov. 23)
21. Virginia Tech 17, Georgia Tech 10 (Sept. 26)
22. Boston College 29, Maryland 26 (Nov. 23)
23. Florida State 41, Miami 14 (Nov. 2)
24. Virginia Tech 27, North Carolina 17 (Oct. 5)
25. Clemson 40, Maryland 27 (Oct. 26)
Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. Some like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test, while others fall on the sabermetric side of things. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.
With that in mind, Athlon Sports brings you the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre bowl stats so that fans are fully prepared for the 2013 college football postseason:
34: Fewest touchdowns scored by any bowl team
That dubious honor belongs to the embattled Virginia Tech Hokies. Running backs Trey Edmunds (12), Joel Caleb (1) and Chris Mangus (1) scored 14 times. Wide receivers D.J. Coles (6), Demitri Knowles (3), Willie Byrn (2) and Joshua Stanford (1) combined to score 12 times. Tight end Kalvin Cline scored twice and quarterback Logan Thomas rushed for four touchdowns. And the Hokies scored two defensive touchdowns thanks to Derek DiNardo and Detrick Bonner. The Hokies were 96th nationally in scoring offense at 23.4 points per game.
Jan. 1, 1963: First time No. 1 and No. 2 played on New Year's Day
The first time the No. 1 team in the nation played the No. 2 team in the nation on New Year's Day was back in 1963 (ending the 1962 season). Top-ranked USC beat second-ranked Wisconsin 42-37 in the Rose Bowl, giving the Trojans the '62 national championship. The Badgers finished 8-2 while the Men of Troy finished 11-0.
9: Bowl-eligible teams that didn't get a berth
Western Kentucky (8-4), Toledo (7-5), Florida Atlantic (6-6), Central Michigan (6-6), San Jose State (6-6), South Alabama (6-6), Texas State (6-6), Troy (6-6), and Louisiana-Monroe (6-6) are the nine bowl-eligible teams that did not get a postseason invitation. The Hilltoppers have a particular gripe having the Sun Belt Player of the Year (Antonio Andrews), Offensive POY (Andrews) and Defensive POY (Xavius Boyd). Additionally, Penn State, Old Dominion and UTSA won enough games to be eligible but were not allowed to go to a bowl for various reasons.
4: Teams Tommy Tuberville has taken to a bowl game
Tuberville got his first head coaching job in 1995 with the Ole Miss Rebels. It took him three seasons but he got the Rebels to the postseason in 1997 with a trip to the Motor City Bowl. He's been leading his team to bowls ever since. He led Ole Miss to two bowls in four seasons before leading Auburn to eight bowls in 10 seasons and then Texas Tech to two bowls in three years. And in his first season in Cincinnati, Tuberville led the Bearcats to the Belk Bowl against North Carolina. That's four different "BCS conference" teams that he has led to the postseason.
331.2: Combined rushing yards per game for Ka'Deem Carey and Andre Williams
The AdvoCare 100 Bowl in Shreveport, La., will feature the top two rushers in the nation. Boston College's Andre Williams led the country with 175.2 yards per game while Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey finished with 156.0 yards per game. The duo combined for 3,818 yards rushing and 34 rushing touchdowns — 17 each. The Eagles were 50th nationally with 152.1 rushing yards allowed per game and the Wildcats were 71st at 169.8 yards per game, so there should be plenty of fireworks in the bayou.
0: Times Duke and Texas A&M have ever played
Throw out the records when the Chick-Fil-A, err, Peach Bowl kicks off this winter. That's because Texas A&M and Duke have never faced each other. But Johnny Manziel getting to face the veteran and stingy Blue Devils defense should be fun to watch. The Aggies boast the worst defense (106th) of any of the 70 bowl teams. Nothing harkens back to the history and tradition of a game like the Peach Bowl like a matchup between Duke and Texas A&M.
0-5: USC and Fresno State's combined record in last five bowl games
USC hasn't won a bowl game since the Emerald Bowl following the 2009 season. Fresno State hasn't won a bowl game since the Humanitarian Bowl following the 2007 season. So collectively, the two teams that will match up in the Las Vegas Bowl have combined to lose five straight bowl games (Fresno State 4, USC 1). With quarterback Derek Carr facing USC's defense, there is plenty of star power to watch. And guess what? One of these teams will get to win a bowl game this year.
2000: The last time UNLV was in a bowl game
The longest bowl drought that was broken this season was from the Runnin' Rebs of UNLV. They won the Las Vegas Bowl in 2000 under John Robinson. The other long bowl-less streaks broken this postseason come from Tulane (2002), Washington State (2003) and North Texas (2004). UNLV is playing in a bowl game outside of its home stadium for the first time since the 1984 California Bowl.
32: Florida State's bowl streak, the longest active one in the nation
The Seminoles kept their nation's best bowl streak alive in style by landing in the BCS National Championship Game. It marks 32 consecutive seasons that the Noles have been playing in the postseason. Boise State (12 straight) owns the longest active bowl streak by a team not in an automatic-qualifying (AQ) conference.
1978: Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player in the Gator Bowl
There are a lot of great stats concerning the Ohio State-Clemson Orange Bowl matchup this winter. The game marks the 10th BCS bowl for the Buckeyes, the most by any team in the nation. The trip to the Orange Bowl is the first for Ohio State since 1976. But more importantly, it will be the first meeting between Ohio State and Clemson since Woody Hayes famously punched Clemson's Charlie Bauman at the end of the 1978 Gator Bowl. Clemson won the only meeting between these two that day 17-15 and Hayes was fired the next day.
2,600: Miles between San Diego State and Buffalo
The Aztecs and Bulls will meet in Boise, Idaho, in the 16th annual Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. If one were to drive from one campus to the other, it would be a trek of roughly 2,600 miles across the country. These two will meet on the blue turf of Boise State's Bronco Stadium. This bowl has been named the Humanitarian Bowl, the Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl, the MPC Computers Bowl, the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl and the U Drove Humanitarian Bowl.
45-31: Score of last year's Capital One Bowl
Georgia topped Nebraska 45-31 in last season's Capital One Bowl. These two will rematch this season on New Year's Day in Jacksonville in the Gator Bowl. The meeting this bowl season will be just the third all-time between the two historic programs with the only other battle coming on Dec. 20, 1969 in the Sun Bowl. Nebraska won 45-6 in El Paso.
Bonus Stat - 22: Florida's bowl streak, which comes to an end
Will Muschamp's Gators went 4-8 this fall, meaning Florida won't be playing in a bowl game for the first time since the end of the 1991 season (Sugar Bowl, lost to Notre Dame 39-28). Other notable bowl streaks that came to an end this year include West Virginia (11 in a row), TCU (8), Air Force (6), and Northwestern (5).
The 2013 college football regular season had distinct and unique character. The No. 2 team in the nation didn't lose every weekend like in 2007. And one player didn't captivate the nation like Cam Newton in 2010 or Johnny Manziel last fall.
Every major conference race — and some of the smaller ones as well — came down to the final weekend, and, in some cases, the final moments of the final game. It was a season to remember for college football fans. Especially, for those in the nation's best conference.
So that is what Athlon Sports is going to do. For some, this will be a stroll down memory lane while others may develop reoccurring nightmares. The Iron Bowl and The Prayer on the Plains stole the headlines nationally but there were a litany of other great moments to remember in the SEC this season. Here are the SEC's most entertaining and pivotal games of the 2013 season.
1. Auburn 34, Alabama 28 (Nov. 30)
What else can be said about this game that hasn't already been written? The ending is second only to the famed 1982 Stanford-Cal "Band is out on the field" game in terms of being the most bizarre finish in NCAA history. But when it comes to the gravity, importance, passion and history of the "Kick-6," no game may ever compare to the 2013 Iron Bowl. The SEC West title, a spot in the SEC championship game and claim to a spot in the BCS title game, as well as in-state bragging rights, were all hanging in the balance and Auburn returned a missed field goal 109 yards on the final play of the game to beat the two-time undefeated defending national champions? Nothing may ever come close to matching that type of resume.
2. Alabama 49, Texas A&M 42 (Sept. 14)
The most anticipated game of the offseason didn't disappoint. A revenge-minded Nick Saban versus the tawdry, reigning Heisman Trophy winner in one of the best venues in the nation? The Aggies jumped out early 14-0 before Alabama answered with 35 straight points and appeared to have ended the game midway through the third quarter. That was until a big Bama fumble allowed Manziel to get his team back into the game. In the end, the Tide was too much for the Aggies' poor defense as AJ McCarron (334 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) matched Manziel (464 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs) pass for pass and eventually the national champs held on for a narrow victory.
3. Auburn 43, Georgia 38 (Nov. 16)
In the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, Auburn dominates Georgia for three quarters before the Dawgs come storming back in the final period. Aaron Murray leads his team to three touchdowns, including a gusty fourth-down touchdown run to take the lead with less than two minutes to play. On the next possession, Auburn could muster only five yards on six plays in a minute and a half of time. It left the Tigers with a 4th and 18 with 25 seconds left and needing a miracle to survive. Then Nick Marshall heaved a prayer into the Auburn night air that was tipped into infamy by two Georgia defenders. The ball landed gingerly into Ricardo Louis' waiting arms and he strolled into the SEC history books with one of the most dramatic finishes in conference history.
4. Auburn 45, Texas A&M 41 (Oct. 19)
Trailing 41-38 with five minutes to go on the road against the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Auburn turned to tailback Tre Mason to save the day. The Tigers put together a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 3:46 off the clock and culminated in a five-yard, game-winning Mason touchdown run. Auburn ran the ball 10 times, including six Mason carries, on a drive that defines head coach Gus Malzahn's relentless offensive system. On the ensuing possession, Dee Ford sacked Johnny Manziel twice on the final series with No. 7 Texas A&M knocking on the door of the red zone, including a fourth down play that ended the game. The national stage welcomed Auburn to the party following this performance.
5. Auburn 59, Missouri 42 (Dec. 7)
Auburn set 16 SEC Championship Game records by rolling through a highly regarded and equally effective Missouri Tigers defensive line. Tre Mason rushes 46 times for 304 yards and four touchdowns — all SEC title game records — in the win. The performance sent Mason to New York as a Heisman finalist. Malzahn becomes just the third head coach in SEC history to win a conference title in his first season in the league and it won him the Home Depot National Coach of the Year award.
6. Georgia 44, LSU 41 (Sept. 28)
McCarron-Manziel might have been the best SEC QB duel this fall but Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray put on a show in Athens late in September. The duo combined for 670 yards and seven touchdowns in the see-saw affair. No team ever held a lead of more than seven points, no team scored twice in a row after the 8:16 mark of the second quarter and both teams scored at least 10 points in every quarter except LSU in the second. It was probably the best game of Mettenberger's career and his team came up just short between the hedges in dramatic fashion when Murray led the Bulldogs on a long 75-yard scoring drive with less than three minutes to play.
7. South Carolina 27, Missouri 24 (2OT, Oct. 26)
The first three quarters were rather tame as Missouri commanded the score board and the line of scrimmage 17-0 when the fourth quarter began. But then Connor Shaw did his best Willis Reed impersonation, limping around Faurot Field to give South Carolina one of the most historic and improbable wins in SEC history. Shaw led the Cocks to 17 unanswered points, including a game-tying TD with 42 seconds left and a 4th-and-15 game-tying TD pass in overtime. When Missouri missed a short field goal in double-overtime, Carolina stormed the field and Shaw supplanted his legacy in Gamecocks lore.
8. Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38 (Oct. 12)
Johnny Manziel forced some throws and made a bad decision or two, but Johnny Football bailed him out. He threw for 346 yards and rushed for 124 and provided three critical, late drives to keep his Aggies alive in Oxford. These two teams combined for 41 fourth-quarter points and Manziel overcame what appeared to be a bad knee injury to lead Texas A&M to the game-winning field goal with no time remaining on the clock.
9. Georgia 41, South Carolina 30 (Sept. 7)
A week after losing to Clemson (more on that in a second), the Dawgs returned home to open their 2013 home campaign against SEC East rival South Carolina. Aaron Murray was brilliant and running back Todd Gurley was unstoppable for most of the day. Murray made the play of the day in the critical win with an 85-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-long early in the fourth quarter. His defense did the rest and Georgia threw the season's first big SEC punch in a game that saw momentum swing back and forth all afternoon.
10. Clemson 38, Georgia 35 (Aug. 31)
It was hyped all summer long and the two top 10 teams delivered in a big way. Tajh Boyd and Aaron Murray teamed with Sammy Watkins and Todd Gurley to give fans in rabid Death Valley big play after big play. This anticipated non-conference season-opener was either tied or within one score for all but six minutes and ended with Tigers fans chanting "A-C-C" deep into the night in South Carolina.
11. Ole Miss 39, Vanderbilt 35 (Aug. 29)
On the season's opening night, the Rebs and Dores delivered on a national stage in dramatic fashion. Ole Miss won the first quarter 10-0 while Vandy took the second 21-0. The frantic back-and-forth game ended when Jeff Scott rumbled 75 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown with 1:07 to play. The lead changed hands three times over the final nine minutes in one of the best games of the season.
12. Missouri 28, Texas A&M 21 (Nov. 30)
It was a non-descript but critical regular-season finale and Henry Josey rushed into Mizzou history in dramatic fashion. Josey, a fan favorite in Columbia, broke free for a game-winning 57-yard TD run with three minutes to play to send the Tigers to Atlanta as SEC East champs.
13. Ole Miss 27, LSU 24 (Oct. 19)
The first half wasn't pretty for LSU as Ole Miss led 10-0 at the break. But an exciting second half eventually led to a tie game when LSU scored 10 straight points to start the fourth quarter. But Bo Wallace led his team into field-goal range and Andrew Ritter drilled a 41-yarder with two seconds left to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium history.
14. Missouri 41, Georgia 26 (Oct. 12)
The final score isn't nearly as indicative as to how entertaining and important this game was in the SEC. James Franklin got hurt late in the action but backup Maty Mauk and some unique play-calling gave Mizzou one of its biggest wins in program history. The Tigers led big most of the way but UGA stormed back and nearly took the lead in the final period before a critical fumble ended the comeback. This win set Gary Pinkel's bunch up on their magical run to Atlanta.
15. Georgia 34, Tennessee 31 (OT, Sept. 5)
The battered and bruised Bulldogs escaped Knoxville in dramatic overtime fashion when Aaron Murray scored the game-tying TD with five seconds left. Then, in overtime, the Vols' heart-break continued when Pig Howard appeared to score the game-winning TD but instead fumbled the ball out of the end zone just inches before crossing the goal line.
16. Alabama 38, LSU 17 (Nov. 9)
Alabama and LSU is always one of the most anticipated and physical games of the season regardless of conference affiliation. The Tigers fought hard and were tied at 17 late in the third quarter. However, the Crimson Tide proved its mettle by pounding the rock to 21 unanswered points over the final 20 minutes to stake a claim atop the SEC West (well, for the time being).
17. Tennessee 23, South Carolina 21 (Oct. 19)
It wasn't pretty and it wasn't well played but it was dramatic, important and exciting. Michael Palardy kicked a short game-winner with no time remaining to cap a physical and defensive struggle in Neyland Stadium. The win was the Vols' first over a ranked team in five years.
18. Vanderbilt 31, Georgia 27 (Oct. 19)
A historic upset for the Dores — its first over a ranked opponent in six years — was marred by bad officiating. Vanderbilt took advantage of Georgia miscues to score 17 unanswered points in the final quarter to pull off the improbable upset
19. Georgia 41, Georgia Tech 34 (2OT, Nov. 30)
The Dawgs, playing without Aaron Murray for the first time since 2009, trailed 20-0 to begin the game. But Hutson Mason settled in and stormed back to win one of the best-named rivalry games in the nation.
20. LSU 31, Arkansas 27 (Nov. 29)
The Battle for the Golden Boot wasn't very pretty but it sure was dramatic. Without Zach Mettenberger, who got hurt in the fourth quarter, LSU rallied behind Anthony Jennings to top the winless Hogs. The 10-point final period was capped with a game-winning 49-yard TD pass to Travin Dural with 1:15 to play.
21. Mississippi State 17, Ole Miss 10 (OT, Nov. 28)
It was slow and boring but tightly played and MSU won the critical rivalry game in overtime on a Dak Prescott TD run.
22. Auburn 30, Ole Miss 22 (Oct. 5)
Both teams tried to give the game away but Auburn's Nick Marshall made his first big statement of the year.
23. Auburn 24, Mississippi State 20 (Sept. 14)
The other game on Sept. 14 featured a Nick Marshall TD pass with less than 10 seconds to play to give the Tigers the win.
24. Vanderbilt 14, Tennessee 10 (Nov. 23)
The Dores claimed eight wins and beat their in-state rival with a last-second touchdown that also knocked the Vols out of a bowl game.
25. LSU 34, Texas A&M 10 (Nov. 23)
Les Miles proved again that he has Johnny Football figured out by shutting down the reigning Heisman winner for a second straight season.
Best of the Rest:
South Carolina 19, Florida 14 (Nov. 16)
Vanderbilt 34, Florida 17 (Nov. 9)
South Carolina 28, UCF 25 (Sept. 28)
LSU 35, Auburn 21 (Sept. 21)
Georgia 23, Florida 20 (Nov. 2)
Ole Miss 44, Texas 23 (Sept. 14)
South Carolina 31, Clemson 17 (Nov. 30)
Mississippi State 24, Arkansas 17 (OT, Nov. 23)
Alabama 35, Virginia Tech 10 (Aug. 31)
Rutgers 28, Arkansas 24 (Sept. 21)
Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. Any game, for that matter.
Some fall on the sabermetric side of things, while others like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.
With that in mind, Athlon Sports brings the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre stats from Week 15 of the NFL season:
23: Russell Wilson's record wins by a QB in his first two seasons
During the Super Bowl era, no quarterback has ever won more games in his first two seasons as a starter than Seattle's Russell Wilson. Wilson's Seahawks handled the Giants with ease in East Rutherford on Sunday 23-0, moving their NFC-best record to 12-2. After an 11-5 record in 2012, Wilson now boasts a 23-7 record as a starter in just under two full seasons as the starting quarterback in Seattle. The Seahawks are the only team in the NFC to have clinched a playoff spot. Ben Roethlisberger owned the previous NFL record with 22 wins.
9: Miami's league-leading TDs in the final two minutes of a half
In a critical win over division foe New England, Ryan Tannehill did his best Tom Brady impersonation by leading the Dolphins down the field to take the lead 24-20 with just over a minute to play. The Dolphins beat the Patriots for the first time since 2009 when Tannehill connected with Marcus Thigpen with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter. He did the same thing at the end of the first half when he found Mike Wallace for a 39-yard touchdown strike with only 32 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Miami now leads the NFL with nine touchdowns scored in the final two minutes of a half — of six of which are Tannehill touchdown passes. He also has a league-leading 17 scoring drives that began with less than five minutes left to play in a half. The win not only puts Miami in great wild card position but actually keeps it alive in the AFC East race as well.
1: Players who've scored four receiving TDs and a rushing TD in a game
Jamaal Charles and Alex Smith rolled through the Oakland Raiders 56-31 on Sunday to clinch a playoff spot in the AFC. Charles rushed just eight times for 20 yards but accomplished something no player in the NFL has ever done. He is the first player in history to catch four touchdown passes and score a rushing touchdown in the same game. His five touchdowns are tied for fourth-most in NFL history because three players — Ernie Nevers (1929), Dub Jones (1951) and Gale Sayers (1965) — own the NFL record with six touchdowns in a game.
2: Saints takeaways in the last seven games
In the first seven games of the season, the Saints had 15 takeaways and boasted a 6-1 record. After losing to the Rams 27-17 without forcing a turnover or generating a sack, the Saints dropped to 4-3 over their last seven games. New Orleans has forced just two turnovers during that span. In those three losses, the Saints have turned the ball over six times without creating a single turnover on defense. They are now tied with the Panthers at 10-4 for the NFC South lead with two games to play — including a trip to Carolina next weekend.
34-10: Green Bay outscored Dallas in the second half
The Cowboys entered halftime of a pivotal showdown with an Aaron Rodgers-less Packers in complete control up 26-3. The Packers came storming back behind the running of Eddie Lacy (141 yards) and two Tony Romo interceptions in the final five minutes to outscore the Cowboys 34-10 in the second half. Dallas ran the ball six times in the second half, allowing the Packers to make the improbable 23-point comeback. The Pack now sits a half of a game behind in the NFC North race while the Cowboys missed a chance to tie the Eagles for first place in the East.
45,873: Lowest attendance at Heinz Field
The Steelers jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead over the division-leading Bengals at Heinz Field on Sunday. Pittsburgh held on to win 30-20 despite only 290 yards of offense and going 2-of-10 on third down conversions. No one seemed to notice, however, as the 45,873 in attendance was the smallest in the 13-year history of Heinz Field. Ironically, James Harrison's first game back in the building where he built a reputation as a physical force on defense ended when he left in the first quarter with a concussion.
16.5 and 108: Robert Mathis' Colts single-season and career sack records
The Colts got back on track with an impressive 25-3 home win over division foe Houston. Robert Mathis, a front-runner for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, posted 4.0 total tackles, 1.0 sacks and forced a safety in the win. The sack gave him an NFL-best 16.5 sacks on the season, breaking former teammate and friend Dwight Freeney's Colts franchise single-season and career records. Mathis now has 108 career sacks. Freeney's records were 16 and 107.5 respectively.
93: Rushing yards allowed by Chicago
The Bears welcomed back Jay Cutler and won a huge road game over the Browns by scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. More importantly, however, the embattled Bears' rushing defense played much better by holding Cleveland to just 93 yards rushing. It was the lowest total by any Bears opponent since Week 5 (New Orleans, 64) and it snapped an NFL record six-game streak of allowing a 100-yard rusher. This unit had allowed 234 yards rushing per game over the last three and had allowed 204.1 yards on the ground over the last seven contests.
4-0: Arizona's record against the AFC South, Chicago's record against the AFC North
The Cardinals topped the reeling Titans 37-34 in overtime in Nashville, moving their record to a perfect 4-0 against the AFC South. Earlier on Sunday, Chicago overcame a slow start from quarterback Jay Cutler to come from behind and beat Cleveland 38-31 on the road to finish undefeated (4-0) against the AFC North. Arizona is nipping at the wild card heels of teams like Carolina, San Francisco and New Orleans (one game back), while the Bears (8-6) control their own destiny in a crowded NFC North. If either team ends up in the postseason, their fans can thank their crossover AFC schedule. This marks the first sweep by an NFC team of an AFC division since realignment in 2002.
The 2013 college football regular season had distinct and unique character. The No. 2 team in the nation didn't lose every weekend like in 2007. And one player didn't captivate the nation like Cam Newton in 2010 or Johnny Manziel last fall.
Every major conference race — and some of the smaller ones as well — came down to the final weekend, and, in some cases, the final moments of the final game. It was a season to remember for college football fans. There wasn't a defining singular moment in the Pac-12 that stood above the rest, but there is a long list of amazing games the fans out West were given this season.
So that is what Athlon Sports is going to do. For some, this will be a stroll down memory lane while others may develop reoccurring nightmares. Here are the Pac-12's most entertaining and pivotal games of the 2013 season.
1. Oregon 36, Oregon State 35 (Nov. 29)
From a pure enjoyment standpoint, few games in the nation can match the drama of the Beavers-Ducks Civil War rivalry. The 117th edition of the in-state rivalry featured a huge performance from Biletnikoff winner Brandin Cooks for Oregon State and an even better one from Marcus Mariota. The Ducks jumped out to a quick lead, owning the first quarter while Oregon State stormed back to tie it at 17 at halftime. It all set up an incredible fourth quarter that saw four lead-changing touchdowns — and four failed two-point conversions — over the final 11 minutes of play. The game ended when Mariota connected with Josh Huff from 12 yards out and just 29 seconds left on the clock. It will be one of the most memorable Civil War battles of all-time. It had history, tradition, excitement, drama and, unfortunately, two teams with a combined seven losses.
2. Stanford 31, Washington 28 (Oct. 5)
Only three teams managed to top 400 yards of offense against Stanford and Washington was the best of the group, totaling 28 points and 489 yards. But timely stops, a few interesting calls by the refs and an all-time performance by the Cardinal's all-purpose dynamo gave Stanford the narrow three-point win. Ty Montgomery totaled 290 all-purpose yards and two long touchdowns to earn the game's MVP. From the 1:03 mark in the second quarter, these two traded touchdowns seven different times, alternating scores for more than 30 minutes of football. It was physical, dramatic and season-defining for two teams who were unbeaten at the time.
3. Arizona State 38, UCLA 33 (Nov. 23)
Late in the year with the Pac-12 South championship hanging in the balance, the Sun Devils won a wild affair on the road in Los Angeles to clinch the division. Taylor Kelly led the Sun Devils to a huge 35-point first half, taking a 35-13 halftime advantage. But the Bruins defense held ASU to three points in the second half, allowing the Bruins to get back into the contest. With 11:25 minutes to go in the game, Brett Hundley got UCLA back to within five points. From there, it was a defensive struggle for both teams. The Bruins had two long possessions with a chance to win in the final quarter but Todd Graham's defensive line kept the Bruins off the scoreboard.
4. USC 20, Stanford 17 (Nov. 16)
Coming off a huge win over Oregon, Stanford was in a clear letdown alert situation against a surging USC team late in the year. With the leadership of interim head coach Ed Orgeron and a depth chart featuring less than 50 scholarship players, the Trojans kicked a 47-yard field goal with 19 seconds left to win a physical and historic battle. The loss knocked No. 4 Stanford out of the BCS title race and would have cost the Cardinal a Pac-12 title had Oregon not laid an egg the following week in Arizona. USC held Stanford to a season-low 17 points and its second-lowest yardage total of the year (337 yards).
5. Utah 27, Stanford 21 (Oct. 12)
The Utes didn't win many Pac-12 games this year (two), but they played in a lot of close and exciting games. The signature performance of the season for Utah — and possibly the Pac-12 — came when Utah held Stanford out of the end zone on a final minute goal-line stand that likely knocked the Cardinal out of the national championship game. Kevin Hogan drove Stanford to the Utah six-yard line and failed on two plays to score, giving Utah its first win over a top-five team in program history when his fourth-down pass sailed just out of Devon Cajuste's reach with 47 seconds left. Rice-Eccles rejoiced while the loss will likely haunt Cardinal fans for years to come.
6. Stanford 26, Oregon 20 (Nov. 7)
It wasn't the most dramatic or exciting game of the year, despite an intense rally from the Ducks in the final 10 minutes. But it was the game the entire nation point to as the most important and, as it turned out, it decided the Pac-12 title as expected. Stanford's defense stifled the powerful Ducks attack, holding Oregon scoreless for the first 50 minutes of play. Tyler Gaffney became a household name nationally by setting a school record with 45 carries in the impressive and physical win over the rival Ducks. It wasn't the most dramatic performance of the year but it certainly was one of the most important games in the nation this fall.
7. Arizona State 20, Utah 19 (Nov. 9)
Another one of the heart-breaking losses for Utah this fall came at the hands of Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly. An exhausting and physical game came to an end when Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Will Sutton snagged an improbable interception with a minute left in the game. Trailing most of the game and lacking the ability to make plays, Kelly finally got the ball moving and led the Sun Devils on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives to take the lead with 2:37 left. The win kept the Sun Devils alive in the South race and embodied the perseverance of a team that would eventually finish with the league's best record.
8. Arizona State 32, Wisconsin 30 (Sept. 14)
In one of the most bizarre endings to a game in any conference this year, Arizona State walked away winners while Gary Andersen's Badgers stood stunned on the field in Sun Devil Stadium. The refs mishandled a game-ending situation that would have given Wisconsin a short game-winning field goal attempt. Instead the clock inexplicably ran out on the Badgers, giving Arizona State a big non-conference win and the Big Ten one of the most memorable and infamous losses in league history.
9. Notre Dame 37, Arizona State 34 (Oct. 5)
Arizona State couldn't pick up a marquee non-conference win for the Pac-12, but it was still a thrilling, back-and-forth battle in the Cathedral for Football against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Taylor Kelly and Tommy Rees both giveth and both tooketh away, throwing big touchdowns and big interceptions all game long. A low-scoring first half (14-13) gave way to a 34-point fourth quarter that featured three scores in the final three minutes. Rees and the Irish held on for a tight victory in what would be one of only two regular-season losses for the Sun Devils.
10. Stanford 27, Notre Dame 20 (Nov. 30)
Lost in the shuffle of a wild Saturday that featured the Iron Bowl and Ohio State-Michigan, two long-standing archrivals played an excellent game in Palo Alto. With revenge on the mind following last year's infamous goal-line stand. Wayne Lyons' two late interceptions and Tyler Gaffney's 189 yards allowed Stanford to hold off a second-half Notre Dame rally. David Shaw's bunch got revenge and won its tenth game of the season as it got warmed up for what turned out to be their best performance of the season the following week in the Pac-12 title game win over Arizona State.
Just missed the cut:
11. Stanford 38, Arizona State 14 (Dec. 7)
It wasn't a close game but it decided the championship so it lands on the list by default.
12. Oregon State 51, Utah 48 (OT, Sept. 14)
One of the few overtime games in the league featured 60 second-half points and over 1,000 yards of offense.
13. UCLA 41, Nebraska 21 (Sept. 14)
An emotional weekend for the UCLA family featured a 21-point comeback.
14. USC 38, Arizona 31 (Oct. 10)
A furious late rally from B.J. Denker and Ka'Deem Carey came up short and gave Coach O a win in his debut.
15. UCLA 31, Arizona 26 (Nov. 9)
Myles Jack made his offensive debut and carried UCLA to victory in a tight road affair.
Best of the Rest:
16. UCLA 34, Utah 27 (Oct. 3)
17. Washington State 10, USC 7 (Sept. 7)
18. Arizona State 62, USC 41 (Sept. 28)
19. Stanford 42, Arizona State 28 (Sept. 21)
20. Oregon 45, Washington 24 (Oct. 12)
21. Stanford 20, Oregon State 12 (Oct. 26)
22. Notre Dame 14, USC 10 (Oct. 19)
23. Washington State 24, Arizona 17 (Nov. 16
24. Auburn 31, Washington State 24 (Aug. 31)
25. Eastern Washington 49, Oregon State 46 (Aug. 31)
The 2013 college football regular season had distinct and unique character. The No. 2 team in the nation didn't lose every weekend like in 2007. And one player didn't captivate the nation like Cam Newton in 2010 or Johnny Manziel last season.
Every major conference race — and some of the smaller ones as well — came down to the final weekend, and, in some cases, the final moments of the final game. It was a season to remember for college football fans. In the Big Ten, one team dominated the league for all but one quarter — when Michigan State put the pedal down in the Big Ten title game to win the championship.
So that is what Athlon Sports is going to do. For some, this will be a stroll down memory lane while others may develop reoccurring nightmares. Here are the Big Ten's most entertaining and pivotal games of the 2013 season.
1. Ohio State 42, Michigan 41 (Nov. 30)
Most years, The Game is the most important and most anticipated matchup in the Big Ten season. This fall was no exception despite the Michigan Wolverines having very little to play for when these two met in Week 14. The two archrivals went back and forth for 60 minutes delivering body blows with big plays and long drives. From start to finish, this appeared to be an even match — much more so than anticipated. In the fourth quarter, Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde delivered on a long touchdown drive that gave the Buckeyes a touchdown lead with only minutes to play. Not to be outdone, Devin Gardner and the Michigan offense — playing its best game of the season — drove right down the field to score what appeared to be the game-tying touchdown with 32 seconds to play. With nothing really to lose, Brady Hoke went for two in dramatic fashion but was thwarted when Gardner's pass was intercepted at the goal line. The 110th meeting between these college football powerhouses was arguably the most dramatic
2. Michigan State 34, Ohio State 24 (Dec. 7)
With the Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl berth on the line for the Spartans and a BCS National Championship berth hanging in the balance for Ohio State, these two locked horns in Lucas Oil Stadium in the Big Ten title game. The Spartans jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead only to watch the Buckeyes come storming back with 24 unanswered points to take the lead late in the third quarter. But Sparty responded in a big way, scoring the game's final 17 points to snap Ohio State's 24-game winning streak, knock OSU out of the BCS title game and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1987. It was probably the best-played conference championship game of the season.
3. Ohio State 40, Northwestern 30 (Oct. 5)
The peak of the Wildcats' season came when they were 4-0 and ranked No. 16 in the nation — and unbeaten Ohio State was coming to town. Northwestern held a lead for most of the first and second quarters and all of the third quarter. But the Buckeyes never went away and the two traded touchdowns in dramatic fashion in the final period. Carlos Hyde's breakout performance featured 26 carries, 168 yards and three touchdowns in the final 19 minutes of play. The Buckeyes survived what many pointed to in the preseason as the pivotal upset alert of the season. Ohio State would stay unbeaten until the conference championship game while Northwestern wouldn't win another game until its finale.
4. Nebraska 27, Northwestern 24 (Nov. 2)
It may not have been the best or most important game of the Big Ten season but it certainly had the most exciting finish. The Ron Kellogg III to Jordan Westerkamp Hail Mary will go down in Big Ten lore as one of the most famous plays in conference history. The Wildcats jumped out to a 21-7 lead halfway through the third quarter but the Huskers came storming back to tie the game entering the fourth quarter. With 1:20 to go, the Cats took a lead on a field goal and then stopped Nebraska at midfield with one play to go. Bo Pelini's prayers were answered when Westerkamp snatched the tipped heave out of the air to score his first career touchdown — and keep Nebraska's Big Ten title hopes alive for one more week.
5. Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 24 (Sept. 28)
A game between the top two rushing teams in the Big Ten doesn't normally feature quarterback play but that is what happened when these two rivals met early in the season. Braxton Miller returned after missing two games to throw a career-high four touchdown passes while Wisconsin's Joel Stave threw for a career-high 295 yards (since broken) to keep his team in contention. Both running games were held in check as both teams posted season lows in rushing yards. In the end, Ohio State was too much and the Buckeyes outlasted the Badgers in the most critical Leaders Division game of the season.
6. Penn State 43, Michigan 40 (4OT, Oct. 12)
The Legend of Christian Hackenberg, should he continue on his meteoric career path, began with this four-overtime thriller in Happy Valley. He led his team down the field with two long improbable completions in the final 30 seconds to tie the game at 34 at the end of regulation. In four overtime periods, both teams had multiple chances to win but couldn't capitalize on numerous field goal tries. Eventually, Bill Belton scored on a two-yard touchdown run to end the longest game in Penn State history with a win over then-No. 18 Michigan.
7. Michigan 41, Notre Dame 30 (Sept. 7)
It's bizarre to think that the word "Heisman" was tossed around after Devin Gardner's performance against Notre Dame. Wearing No. 98 for the first time, Gardner threw for 294 yards, rushed for 82 and accounted for five total touchdowns (six if you count the one he gifted the Irish in his own end zone) in a win over then-No. 14 Notre Dame. The game was the national spotlight game of Week 2 and set a record for largest crowd in NCAA history with 115,109 attendants.
8. Michigan 27, Northwestern 19 (3 OT, Nov. 16)
Northwestern's heart-breaking season continued in rare fashion when Michigan came to town and walked away with a three-overtime win. The Wolverines' kicking unit sprinted onto the field and got a 44-yard, game-tying field goal attempt off with one second left in regulation to send the game to extra time. The two teams then traded touchdowns in the first overtime and field goals in the second before Devin Gardner scored from five yards out.
9. Arizona State 32, Wisconsin 30 (Sept. 14)
In one of the most bizarre endings to a game in any conference this year, Arizona State walked away winners while Gary Andersen's squad stood stunned on the field in Sun Devil Stadium. The refs mishandled a game-ending situation that would have given Wisconsin a short game-winning field goal attempt. Instead the clock inexplicably ran out on the Badgers, giving Arizona State a big non-conference win and the Big Ten one of the most memorable and infamous losses in league history.
10. Minnesota 42, Indiana 39 (Nov. 2)
In a back and forth shootout for the ages, these two middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams gave fans an epic showdown in Bloomington. For three quarters, the Golden Gophers showed why they were one of the Big Ten's best stories, taking a 35-13 lead early in the second half. But Indiana came storming back to score four unanswered touchdowns over the final two quarters to take a 39-35 lead with just over five minutes to play. On the ensuing drive, Gophers quarterback Philip Nelson completed the best pass of his career when he connected with freshman tight end Maxx Williams for a 50-yard touchdown. However, the drama wasn't over, as Indiana marched inside Minnesota's nine-yard line needing only a field goal to tie. But the Hoosiers pounced on a juggled Indiana pitch to end the game in dramatic fashion. The loss eventually cost Indiana a trip to the postseason.
Just missed the cut:
11. Nebraska 23, Penn State 20 (OT, Nov. 23)
Huskers kicker Pat Smith made three clutch late field goals to top Penn State.
12. Nebraska 17, Michigan 13 (Nov. 9)
An ugly but dramatic game ended on an impressive Nebraska TD drive in the final minutes.
13. Ohio State 34, Iowa 24 (Oct. 19)
Iowa played valiantly in The Shoe before Ohio State pulled away in the final quarter.
14. Notre Dame 17, Michigan State 13 (Sept. 21)
A painful and controversial early-season loss cost MSU a trip to the BCS title game.
15. Penn State 24, Illinois 17 (OT, Nov. 2)
Christian Hackenberg worked his late-game magic in yet another PSU overtime affair.
Best of the rest:
16. Penn State 31, Wisconsin 24 (Nov. 30)
17. Iowa 24, Michigan 21 (Nov. 23)
18. Iowa 17, Northwestern 10 (OT, Nov. 2)
19. UCF 34, Penn State 31 (Sept. 14)
20. Minnesota 34, Nebraska 23 (Oct. 26)
21. Michigan 63, Indiana 47 (Oct. 19)
22. Northwestern 37, Illinois 34 (Nov. 30)
23. Northern Illinois 30, Iowa 27 (Aug. 31)
24. Wisconsin 27, BYU 17 (Nov. 9)
25. Navy 41, Indiana 35 (Sept. 7)
Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. Any game, for that matter.
Some fall on the sabermetric side of things, while others like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.
With that in mind, Athlon Sports brings the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre stats from another stellar season of college football:
42.3: Average margin of victory for Florida State in 2013
After topping Duke 45-7 in the ACC title game, Florida State won all 13 games it played this fall and earned a spot in the BCS National Championship Game against Auburn. But the Noles didn't slip into the title game like the Tigers did. Florida State didn't need any help from Michigan State, Oklahoma State or Utah. The Seminoles crushed the opposition all season. Jimbo Fisher's squad outscored its 13 opponents 689-139 for an average margin of victory of more than six touchdowns per game. Again, that's more than six touchdowns per game. There is a reason they are the clear-cut No. 1 team in the polls — even if they are facing the "Team of Destiny" in Pasadena.
3: SEC coaches to win the league in their first season
Gus Malzahn became the third head coach in SEC history, and the first in the championship game era, to win a conference crown in his first trip through the league with the impressive showing against Mizzou. Malzahn joined Bernie Moore, who led LSU to a 9-2 record in 1935, and John Vaught, who led Ole Miss to a 9-2 record in 1947, as first-year coaches to win SEC titles. Malzahn took a winless SEC team that averaged 305.0 yards per game on offense — 118th in the nation — and turned them into SEC champions in one offseason, and now the Tigers will play for the BCS National Championship in Pasadena against Florida State.
353: Marcus Mariota's Pac-12 record consecutive attempts without an INT
Oregon star quarterback Marcus Mariota set a Pac-12 record by not throwing an interception for over a year. From Nov. 17, 2012 to Nov. 23, 2013, Mariota threw 353 passes without an interception. However, in the season's most critical game with the Pac-12 North crown hanging in the balance, Mariota tossed two interceptions on the road in an ugly 42-16 loss to Arizona. The loss ended the Ducks' shot at a Pac-12 title and snapped the four-year BCS bowl streak.
101: SEC championship game record for total points
The mighty SEC saw little to no defense in Atlanta on Saturday night. Auburn (28) and Mizzou (27) set an SEC Championship Game record with 55 first-half points. The game ended with a record 101 total points scored — 26 more than the previous mark (75) set in 1996 by Florida and Alabama. Auburn also set an SEC title game record with 676 yards of offense, 544 yards rushing and 59 points. Tre Mason carried the load with an SEC title game record 46 carries, an SEC championship record 304 yards and, you guessed it, an SEC title game record four touchdowns in the win. The previous record for yards was set by Auburn with 589 in 2010. Missouri began the weekend ranked No. 2 in the SEC in rushing defense (119.1 ypg) but saw that mark rise to 151.8 after the carnage in the Georgia Dome. All in all, Auburn set 16 SEC title game records on Saturday. Gus Malzahn was relentless in his play calling as he rode his zone-read triple option to an SEC championship in just his first season as a head coach in the nation's toughest league.
38: Jameis Winston's NCAA freshman passing TDs record
He is the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy for a reason. Jameis Winston has led the Seminoles to a perfect 13-0 record, an ACC championship and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game against Auburn. He is the nation's most efficient passer (190.06) and has thrown more touchdown passes than any freshman in NCAA history. With three scoring strikes in the easy win over Duke in the ACC title game, Winston passed Sam Bradford's NCAA freshman record of 36. The Noles' signal-caller finished the year with 3,820 yards, 38 touchdowns, 10 interceptions on 67.9 percent passing to go with 193 yards rushing and four more touchdowns on the ground.
872: Baylor's Big 12 single-game record for total offense
The list of superlatives the Bears' offense piled up in 2013 is astounding. Art Briles' bunch posted 476 yards rushing and 396 yards passing for a Big 12 record 872 yards of total offense in Week 5 alone. That would be a record in every other conference in the nation except the Pac-12. Baylor has scored at least 70 points four times in 2013 and topped 59 points in three others. The Bears led the nation with 623.8 yards per game, including three of the top five single-game yardage totals of the season.
1980: Baylor's last outright conference championship
Technically, the Bears earned a share of the 1994 Southwest Conference championship. However, Texas A&M had the best record in the league (10-0-1) but was ineligible as Baylor tied with Texas, TCU, Texas Tech and Rice at 4-3 for a five-way split championship. But the last time the Bears won an outright conference championship was the 10-2 squad of 1980 coached by Grant Teaff. Only twice prior to 2013 had Baylor won 10 games in a season (1980, 2011) and had never won 11 games in school history. In fact, the last time Baylor finished a season with just one loss was a 5-1-2 Frank Bridges-coached team in 1923. The Bears will play in their first BCS game in program history when it meets UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. The icy cold 30-10 drubbing of Texas was a perfect way to put an end to Floyd Casey Stadium.
127: Tajh Boyd's ACC total TDs record
No player in ACC history has thrown more touchdown passes or accounted for more total touchdowns than Boyd. In just three full seasons as the starter for Clemson, Boyd threw for 11,526 yards and 102 touchdowns through the air while rushing for 25 more on the ground. His 102 passing scores and 127 total touchdowns are both all-time ACC records. Boyd passed NC State's Philip Rivers for both benchmarks.
89: Connor Halliday's NCAA single-game record for pass attempts
Purdue's Drew Brees threw the ball an NCAA-record 83 times against Wisconsin in 1998. Against an Oregon team with a big lead for most of the night, Washington State's Connor Halliday threw the ball 89 times in Week 8. Halliday also tied the NCAA mark for completions with 58 (Andy Schmitt, Eastern Michigan) and set the Pac-12 single-game passing benchmark with 557 yards (Andrew Walter, 536). And much like Brees that night back in '98, Wazzu lost in part because of multiple interceptions. Halliday threw four interceptions to go with his four touchdowns in the 62-38 loss to the Ducks.
2,102: Andre Williams' ACC single-season rushing record
With a late flurry of big games, Boston College's Andre Williams has set himself atop the ACC record book in more than one way. He broke Virginia running back Thomas Jones' single-season ACC rushing record (1,798) by a wide margin by becoming just the 16th player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 yards. He broke Wake Forest back John Leach's single-game rushing record (329) with 339 yards against NC State in Week 12. Williams is just five carries (329) shy of breaking the single-season ACC rushing attempts record (334) set by both Jones in 1999 and Maryland's Charlie Wysocki in 1980. Williams carried BC to an impressive 7-5 bowl season one year after going 2-10.
159: Bob Stoops' school record for wins at Oklahoma
Stoops passed the legendary Barry Switzer as the Sooners' all-time winningest coach with an underrated 10-2 campaign. Before yet another BCS bowl, Stoops sits at 159 wins while at Oklahoma — two ahead of Switzer's long-standing record. Strangely enough, Mack Brown has a nearly identical 157 wins at Texas but most likely won't get the chance to pass Darrell K Royal next season for the most wins by a Longhorns coach. Brown needs just nine wins to tie the legendary Horns coach.
6: Cities in which Duke has defeated Virginia Tech
The 13-10 road win for Duke over the Hokies in Week 9 featured a plethora of interesting stats. It was the first road win over a ranked opponent for Duke in 42 years. The Blue Devils' sixth win made Duke bowl-eligible in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history. The two starting quarterbacks, Anthony Boone and Logan Thomas, combined for eight interceptions and zero passing touchdowns. In fact, Duke didn't complete a pass in the second half and was 0-for-11 on third downs for the game. Lastly, it was Duke's first ever win in Blacksburg, giving the Blue Devils a win over the Hokies in six different cities. Duke has beaten Tech in Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, all in North Carolina, as well as Norfolk, Roanoke and, now, Blacksburg, in Virginia. The win was one of 10 for David Cutcliffe's squad this year — the first such 10-win season in school history.
1-8: Mike Gundy's record against Oklahoma
Over the last four years, Oklahoma State is 41-10 overall with three seasons of at least 10 wins. But Mike Gundy just can't seem to solve the Bedlam riddle. The Sooners, led by starter-turned-backup quarterback Blake Bell, drove 66 yards on eight plays to score the game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds left in the regular-season finale. The loss wasn't just a bitter defeat at the hands of an in-state archival. Oklahoma State was a double-digit favorite at home needing a win to clinch a BCS bowl and win the Big 12 championship. Moreover, Oklahoma State had the lead with less than two minutes to play. The loss knocked Oklahoma State out of the Fiesta Bowl and pushed Gundy's record against Oklahoma and Bob Stoops to 1-8.
0: Completions, passing yards for Georgia Southern in a win over Florida
No lower-division team has ever beaten Florida, and the 26-20 loss to Georgia Southern in Week 13 guaranteed Will Muschamp would suffer the school's first losing season since 1979. What's more painful, the Eagles didn't even complete a pass. Georgia Southern didn't connect on any of their three total passing attempts, but the option team was able to run the ball at will. The 429 yards allowed on the ground were the most by a Florida team since Tommie Frazier and Nebraska rolled up 524 in the national championship showdown of 1995. Florida missed a bowl game for the first time since 1990.
3-11: Aaron Murray's record against Top 15 ranked teams
Big game Aaron Murray was a great player who will go down in history as one of the SEC's best. But he struggled to win big games against big-time competition, winning just three times in 14 chances against Top 15 teams. He lost to Arkansas (No. 12) and Auburn (No. 2) in 2010 as a freshman and Boise State (No. 5), South Carolina (No. 12), LSU (No. 1) and Michigan State (No. 12) as a sophomore in '11. He lost to South Carolina (No. 6) and Alabama (No. 1) a year ago in '12. And this fall, Murray lost to Clemson (No. 8) as well as Auburn (No. 7), both with varying degrees of heart break. His three wins were over Florida (No. 3) as a junior and South Carolina (No. 6) and LSU (No. 6) this fall. Murray had an extraordinary career at Georgia, starting all but his final game due to a torn ACL and becoming just the third QB in school history to beat Florida three years in a row. No one in SEC history has more completions (921), passing yards (13,166), passing touchdowns (121) and total offense (13,554) than Murray. Yet, the championship eluded the Dawgs' great signal-caller.
115,109: NCAA attendance record set by Michigan
The Big House in Ann Arbor has long been ahead of its time in terms of seating capacity and it set a new benchmark in Week 2 against Notre Dame. Brian Kelly tried to downplay the rivalry but the fans in Michigan showed the nation how important the game was to them by showing up in force. The 115,109 that showed up saw Devin Gardner play what would turn out to be the best game by the Wolverines all season in a performance that matched the size of the crowd. The old record (114,804) was also held by Michigan when it hosted, shockingly, Notre Dame in 2011.
550: Rushing yards allowed by Texas to BYU
BYU was upset in Week 1 by Virginia but bounced back in big way in its home opener in Week 2 by embarrassing Texas. The Cougars ran the ball 72 times for a school-record 550 yards and four touchdowns, which also established a new record for rushing yards allowed by Texas in the process. BYU quarterback Taysom Hill led the way with 259 yards and three scores on 17 attempts, nearly breaking the five-decade-old single-game BYU rushing record of 272 yards set by Eldon Fortie in 1962. Texas went on to get rolled by Ole Miss in Week 3 and fired defensive coordinator Manny Diaz shortly thereafter. Only Wisconsin's 554 yards rushing against Indiana were better this year than the 550 BYU put up against the Longhorns.
15: Consecutive 100-yard games for Ka'Deem Carey
Carey led the nation in rushing and set all types of records as a sophomore in 2012. All he did as an encore this fall was build upon his incredible Pac-12 resume. He rushed for at least 119 yards in every game he played, finishing No. 2 in the nation in rushing at 156.0 yards per game. In the last two seasons, the Zona star tailback has carried 625 times for 3,645 yards and 40 rushing touchdowns. He was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year this year by the coaches.
321: Jordan Lynch's NCAA single-game rushing record for a quarterback
The best single-game rushing performance by a quarterback in NCAA history belonged to Northern Illinois' Stacey Robinson set in 1990. So it's appropriate that another Huskies quarterback set a new rushing record when Jordan Lynch totaled 316 yards on the ground in NIU's win over Central Michigan back in Week 8. However, Lynch broke his own record a couple of weeks later, rushing for 321 yards against Western Michigan on Nov. 26. The senior finished second in the nation with 1,881 yards rushing and scored 22 times on the ground, earning himself a trip to New York as a Heisman finalist. This after finishing fourth nationally in rushing a year ago with 1,815 yards.
369: Jeremy Gallon's Big Ten single-game receiving record
The Michigan Wolverines topped the Indiana Hoosiers 63-47 in Ann Arbor in week 8 in remarkable fashion. Jeremy Gallon caught 14 passes for a school- and Big Ten-record 369 yards and two touchdowns. The 369 receiving yards is No. 2 all time in NCAA history behind only Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards' 405 yards in 1998. Quarterback Devin Gardner set a Michigan record with 504 yards passing and 584 yards of total offense and five total touchdowns. Gardner was two yards shy of tying the Big Ten's all-time single-game total offense record set by Illinois' David Wilson (586) in 1980. Michigan set a school record with 751 yards of offense.
257 and 3,616: Jordan Matthews' SEC record receptions and yards
Vanderbilt's Jordan Matthews is the most productive wide receiver in SEC history and it's not really close. He caught an SEC single-season record 107 passes this season for 1,334 yards. No SEC player in history has caught more passes or more yards than Matthews' 257 career receptions and 3,616 career yards. He finished with 22 career receiving touchdowns — nine behind Chris Doering's SEC record of 31. More importantly, the list of what this Commodores team accomplished is long and distinguished. The Dores beat Florida in the Swamp for the first time since 1945, beat Florida and Georgia in the same season for the first time in program history and won eight games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1927-28.
3: SEC receiver tandems to top 1,000 yards in the same year
Only three times in SEC history has a team had two 1,000-yard pass-catchers on the same team. LSU's Odell Beckham Jr. (1,117 yards) and Jarvis Landry (1,172 yards) became just the third set of wideouts to reach the milestone this fall. In fact, the Tigers became just the second SEC team to boast such a duo as only Florida had accomplished the feat prior to 2013. Steve Spurrier did it with Chris Doering and Ike Hilliard in 1995 and again in 2001 with Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell. What's more impressive is how much of the load these two Bayou Bengals have carried this fall. These two have accounted for 132 of LSU's 198 completions, 2,289 of the 3,181 yards and 18 of the Tigers' 23 receiving touchdowns.
465: Cartel Brooks' NCAA single-game rushing record
A few weeks after Western Connecticut's Octavias McKoy set the NCAA single-game rushing record with 455 yards, Heidelberg University's Cartel Brooks put himself atop the all-division rushing record book. The junior tailback carried for 465 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Baldwin Wallace this weekend, setting the all-time NCAA single-game rushing record. The Heidelberg Student Princes — yes, that's right — are a Division III school located in Tiffin, Ohio.
9: Consecutive losses by Arkansas
Bret Bielema took over in Fayetteville and likely didn't realize exactly how dire the situation he was stepping into actually was. In Week 10, Arkansas lost six straight games for the first time since 1990 and then proceeded to finish the season on a program-record nine-game losing streak. The 0-8 SEC record was the first winless SEC record since joining the league in 1992 and the Hogs finished with nine losses for the first time in program history. Only five times have the Razorbacks lost eight or more games and two of them have come in the last two seasons.
2.08: Houston's NCAA-leading turnover margin
The Cougars had a surprisingly solid season in their American Athletic Conference debut in 2013. A big reason why was Houston's nation's best 2.08 turnover margin. It led the country with 40 takeaways — six more than No. 2 Florida State (34). In fact, the plus-25 turnover margin was leaps and bounds ahead of No. 2 in the nation, Buffalo and Louisville (1.33). Only 10 teams in the nation posted a turnover margin of plus-1.0 or better and Tony Levine's squad was more than doubling the rate. This is the first team since Miami (plus-2.36) in 2001 to finish the regular season with a turnover margin higher than plus-2.0.
The Heisman Trophy ceremony Saturday night is more of a formality than an unveiling.
Florida State is going to win its third Heisman Trophy when redshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston accepts his award over the weekend. He will join Chris Weinke (2000) and Charlie Ward (1993) in an elite Seminole fraternity — both of which won national titles as well.
Winston will be the second redshirt freshman to win the award and just the fifth underclassman. True sophomore Tim Tebow broke the stiff-armed mold in 2007, paving the way for Sam Bradford (So.), Mark Ingram (So.) and Johnny Manziel (rFr.) to claim the most coveted trophy in sports in either their first or second season on the field.
Winston is deserving. There is no doubt about that. He led the nation in passing efficiency and set an NCAA all-time freshman record with 38 touchdown passes. He led his team to wins in all 13 games by an average margin of six touchdowns and clinched a berth in the BCS National Championship Game.
The only question surrounding Winston's Heisman is will this be the biggest landslide in voting history?
So before the award is officially given out this weekend, here are the most important and interesting Heisman stats to consider.
2,853: O.J. Simpson's record voting points total
Ohio State's Howard Cassady was the first Heisman winner to register 2,000 points in the balloting in 1955. Thirteen total players have accumulated at least 2,000 points in the history of the award and Simpson's 1,750-point margin is still the largest in Heisman history. Simpson set the world on fire with a record-setting campaign in 1968. He rushed for 1,880 yards and 23 touchdowns, setting a new standard for running back success that would be carried on over the next few decades by the likes of Tony Dorsett (2,150 yards), Charles White (2,050), Marcus Allen (2,427) and Mike Rozier (2,148).
86: Record percent of first-place votes for Troy Smith
While Simpson posted the largest margin for a winner in Heisman history, Ohio State's 2006 winner posted the highest percentage of first-place votes. During Simpson's year, there were 1,200 voters, so his 855 first-place votes remain the record. But there were only 924 ballots in 2006. Smith landed a record 86 percent (801) of the first-place vote to win the stiff-armed trophy with the second-largest differential (1,662) in voting history. He topped Arkansas' Darren McFadden, Notre Dame's Brady Quinn and West Virginia's Steve Slaton. For the record, there are 928 voters in 2013.
28: Most interceptions by a Heisman Trophy winner
BYU's Ty Detmer had some huge numbers in his trophy-winning 1990 campaign. He threw for 5,188 yards, 41 touchdowns and 361 completions at a time when only Andre Ware had ever reached those types of benchmarks. In fact, Detmer remains the only Heisman winner with 5,000 yards passing in a season. Strangely enough, he also has the most interceptions by a wide margin of any Heisman winner. He threw an astounding 28 interceptions in '90, breaking Jim Plunkett's Heisman INT record of 19 set back in 1970. There is no chance anyone with more than 20 interceptions will ever win the Heisman again. Danny Wuerffel's 13 picks are the most by any winner since Detmer.
2: High schools to produce more than one Heisman winner
Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas, is the first and only public high school to produce two Heisman winners. Davey O'Brien won the award in 1938 for the TCU Horned Frogs and Tim Brown claimed the trophy for Notre Dame in '87. Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., is the only other high school to have multiple winners. The private school gave college football John Huarte, who won the award in '64 for Notre Dame, and Matt Leinart, who earned the honor in 2004 for USC. Fork Union Military also has produced multiple Heisman winners — Vinny Testaverde in 1986 for Miami and Eddie George in '95 for Ohio State. As a prep academy, Fork Union doesn't technically count as a high school.
8: Heisman winners in the NFL Hall of Fame
There are eight former Heisman Trophy winners currently in the NFL Hall of Fame. Marcus Allen (1981), Earl Campbell (1977), Tony Dorsett (1976), Paul Hornung (1956), Barry Sanders (1988), O.J. Simpson (1968), Roger Staubach (1963), and Doak Walker (1948). Interestingly enough, only one Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback has ever made it to the NFL Hall of Fame and that is Staubach. Additionally, only four Heisman winners have gone on to win Super Bowl MVP honors: Staubach, Allen, Jim Plunkett and Desmond Howard.
2-8: Notre Dame's record when Paul Hornung won the Heisman
The only player to ever win the Heisman off of a losing team was Paul Hornung in 1956. He threw for 917 yards, three touchdowns and 13 interceptions while rushing 94 times for 420 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. The Irish went 2-8 that year, beating only Indiana and North Carolina. Hornung beat out Tennessee's Johnny Majors and Oklahoma's dynamic duo of Tommy McDonald and Jerry Tubbs.
7: Ohio State, USC and Notre Dame winners
The Buckeyes, Trojans and Irish are tied for the most Heismans with seven total trophies each. Ohio State's awards have been spread out over time, winning at least one in five different decades while USC's come in bunches. Under Pete Carroll, the Trojans won three Heisman Trophies in four seasons from 2002-05 (Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush — yes, I officially count the '05 trophy even if the Trust does not). The Irish held the Heisman lead for many years, winning six trophies between 1943 and 1964. Tim Brown's 1987 season is the only Irish Heisman since John Huarte won it in '64.
0: Games Jay Berwanger played in the NFL
The first Heisman trophy winner in history was a senior running back from the University of Chicago by the name of Jay Berwanger. He was the first pick in the first-ever NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1936. Yet, they traded his rights to the Chicago Bears because they didn't think they could meet his salary demands (allegedly $1,000 per game). After Olympic tryouts and unsuccessful contract negotiations with George Halas, Berwanger took a job with a Chicago rubber company and never played a down of professional football.
1961: Ernie Davis became the first African-American Heisman winner
It took 27 long years but the voters finally gave the award to an African-American in 1961 when Syracuse's Ernie Davis topped Ohio State's Bob Ferguson and Texas' Jimmy Saxton for the prestigious award. Davis was deserving but his stat line indicates how far the sport has come since the early '60s. He rushed 150 times for 823 yards and 12 touchdowns.
1: Players to have won the Heisman twice
Johnny Manziel has a chance, albeit an extremely outside one, to become just the second player in NCAA history to win a second Heisman Trophy this weekend. Ohio State's Archie Griffin won back-to-back stiff-armed trophies in 1974 and '75. Many have tried lately — Matt Leinart, Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Mark Ingram — but all but Griffin have failed to claim a second Heisman award. It may be an unbreakable record — unless, of course, Jameis Winston has two more huge seasons in Tallahassee. One also is the number of times a purely defensive player has won the Heisman, that coming in 1998 from Michigan's Charles Woodson.
Has anyone had a crazier calendar year than the Auburn Tigers? Ever?
Who else is in the mix? From college football, Ohio State's 2002 squad would qualify. So, too, would Auburn's '10 team and the LSU Tigers of '07. The '69 New York Mets? The '97 Florida Marlins? The Joe Namath Jets? Eli to Tyree? How about the eighth-seeded 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings? Villanova in '85? (Okay, maybe that last one is in the ballpark)
In a year and two weeks, the Auburn Tigers have gone from winless in conference play to hiring a new regime to afterthought in the SEC West to sudden contender for the conference crown to Pasadena-bound for a shot at the BCS national title.
It's one of the most improbable stories in all of sports much less college football. Who would be a more unlikely national champ? A two-loss LSU team that backed into the title game on the final day in '07 is a surprising and unlikely story but pales in comparison to this team should Gus Malzahn lead War Eagle to a national title over Florida State.
Here is a timeline of the roller coaster Auburn fans have been on over the last 12 months:
Nov. 24, 2012: Auburn loses the Iron Bowl 49-0
Alabama routed the Tigers in the regular-season finale last November in epic and historic fashion. The 49-point win was the most lopsided Iron Bowl final in 64 years (1948) as Auburn set season lows in yards (163) and yards per play (3.8). The game capped the worst season of football in school history and the worst by a team two years removed from a national championship.
Nov. 25, 2012: Gene Chizik fired as Auburn's head coach
One day after the worst Iron Bowl defeat in six decades and its first winless SEC season in school history, athletic director Jay Jacobs made the move to remove head coach Gene Chizik. Auburn finished 118nd nationally in total offense with a pathetic 305.0 yards per game. The Tigers finished ahead of only a historically bad Tennessee unit in the SEC in total defense at 420.5 yards per game.
Dec. 4, 2012: Gus Malzahn is hired as Auburn's new head coach
The patron saint of Auburn football returned home after one season as the head coach at Arkansas State. After three years and a BCS national title on The Plains, Malzahn left town for only one season. In his one season as a head coach in college football, he led the Red Wolves to a 9-3 (7-1) mark and a Sun Belt championship. So 10 days after firing a coach who won a national title, Auburn hires Malzahn to be its new head coach.
Jan. 14, 2013: Nick Marshall commits to Auburn
A big part of the problem on The Plains in 2012 was quarterback play. The Tigers finished 13th in the SEC at 156.6 yards per game passing and was ahead of only South Florida (7) and Army (4) nationally in touchdown passes (8) — the same number as option teams Air Force and Navy. Unbeknownst to many, the answer to the Tigers' passing problems came in the form of a middle-of-the-pack three-star junior college quarterback from Garden City (Kan.) Community College. A month before National Signing Day the No. 43-ranked JUCO prospect in the nation picked Auburn over Indiana, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Arkansas State.
Feb. 6, 2013: Auburn signs No. 10-rated recruiting class
Despite the worst season in school history, Malzahn somehow lures a top-10 recruiting class to Auburn. It was a strong finish for the Tigers' new head coach, as he inked instant impact names like Carl Lawson, Montravius Adams and Elijah Daniel near the end of process. This at the end of a winter in which the top linebacker in the nation, Reuben Foster committed to both Auburn and Alabama — and tattooing himself with an Auburn logo — multiple times before eventually signing with the Crimson Tide. In this class of 24 signees, the aforementioned Marshall was ranked as the 17th-best player of the group (247Sports).
April 20, 2013: Auburn spring game sets records
Spring football practice at Auburn culminates with a record-setting game late in April. The Tigers had the most popular, most-attended spring game in the nation, hosting a record 83,401 people at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Among the headlines, Jonathan Mincy gets ejected from the game for targeting teammate Dimitri Reese. It's not easy to get kicked out of a spring game.
Aug. 17, 2013: Nick Marshall named starting QB
Enrolling with the rest of the freshmen in the summer, Marshall entered a heated quarterback battle with Jonathan Wallace, Kiehl Frazier and incoming true freshman Jeremy Johnson. Midway through fall camp, Malzahn had found his guy in Marshall and the JUCO passer's story comes full circle. Marshall signed with Georgia as an elite four-star "athlete" in 2011 out of Rochelle (Ga.) Wilcox Country before getting kicked out of school for reportedly stealing money from teammates — one of the lowest things you can do in a locker room.
Aug. 17, 2013: Preseason AP Poll released
On the same day Marshall is named the starter, the preseason AP Poll was released. There were 43 teams that received votes in the AP Poll and Auburn wasn't one of them. For the record, Athlon Sports picked Auburn No. 42 in its preseason magazine. Only Notre Dame in 2012 had ever made it to the BCS title game as a preseason unranked team, so odds for Auburn to make the title game were slim-to-none.
Sept. 14, 2013: Auburn tops Mississippi State in the final 10 seconds
After a lackluster win over Washington State in Week 1 and a drubbing of Malzahn's former charges (Arkansas State) in Week 2, a glimpse of Auburn's storybook season begins with a 24-20 win over Mississippi State. Marshall connected with tight end C.J. Uzomah with 10 seconds left in the game to win the Tigers' first SEC game since topping Ole Miss in October 2011 (10 games). The 120 yards rushing will eventually finish as the worst rushing performance of the season for Malzahn's zone-read attack.
Sept. 21, 2013: Auburn loses in Baton Rouge to LSU
An unimpressive first month of the season comes to an end when LSU physically pushes around the Tigers in a 35-21 easy victory. LSU was in complete control for most of the game but Auburn fought hard in the second half and finished with 437 yards of offense and 5.1 yards per play against the normally very stingy Bayou Bengals defense. With a loss just two games into the SEC season, Auburn becomes an afterthought in the West Division race.
Sept. 21, 2013: Michigan State loses to Notre Dame
In controversial fashion with more than a few questionable calls, Notre Dame wins a non-descript game over Michigan State that at the time no one thought would matter in the grand scheme of things. The 17-13 victory by the Fighting Irish would eventually be the only loss for the Spartans and likely kept Michigan State out of the BCS title game. Most believe a perfect Big Ten champ would have been ranked ahead of a one-loss SEC champ.
Oct. 5, 2013: Auburn survives a scare from Ole Miss
After a week off to lick their wounds provided by LSU, Auburn bounces back with a dramatic win over Ole Miss. The 30-22 win over No. 24 Mississippi was the first win for Auburn over a ranked team in two years and gives the Tigers more wins in 2013 (4) than it had in all of 2013 (3). Marshall carried 14 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns in the key divisional showdown.
Oct. 12, 2013: Utah upsets No. 5 Stanford
The Cardinal would go on to lose to USC in Los Angeles later in the year but many believe a one-loss Stanford team would have gotten the nod over a one-loss Auburn team. Stanford played arguably the toughest schedule in the nation (among contenders) and if not for a last-second, goal-line stand by Utah in Salt Lake City, Auburn might not have landed in the BCS title game. Stanford finished the year as Pac-12 champs and ranked No. 5 in the nation and the loss to a 5-7 Utes team eliminated them from BCS contention.
Oct. 18, 2013: Louisville loses to UCF 38-35
A preseason top 10 team, Louisville would go on to finish 11-1 with its only loss coming to UCF 38-35 in mid-October. Had the Cardinals finished unblemished, many would have voted Louisville into the title game over Auburn despite UL's mediocre schedule (although, I would not have been one of them).
Oct. 19, 2013: Tre Mason and Dee Ford save the day in College Station
Trailing 41-38 with five minutes to go on the road against the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Auburn turned to tailback Tre Mason to save the day. The Tigers put together a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 3:46 off the clock and culminated in a five-yard, game-winning Mason touchdown run. Auburn ran the ball 10 times, including six Mason carries, on a drive that defines Malzahn's relentless offensive system. On the ensuing possession, Dee Ford sacked Johnny Manziel twice on the final series with No. 7 Texas A&M knocking on the door of the red zone, including a fourth down play that ended the game. The national stage welcomed Auburn to the party following this performance.
Nov. 16, 2013: The Prayer on the Plains is answered
In the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, Auburn dominates Georgia for three quarters before the Dawgs come storming back in the final period. Aaron Murray leads his team to three touchdowns, including a gusty fourth down touchdown run to take the lead with less than two minutes to play. On the next possession, Auburn could muster only five yards on six plays in a minute and a half of time. It left the Tigers with a 4th and 18 with 25 seconds left and needing a miracle to survive. Then Nick Marshall heaved a prayer into the Auburn night air that was tipped into infamy by two Georgia defenders. The ball landed gingerly into Ricardo Louis' waiting arms and he strolled into the SEC history books with one of the most dramatic finishes in conference history.
Nov. 23, 2013: Baylor loses 49-17 to Oklahoma State in Stillwater
An undefeated No. 4-ranked Bears teams went into frigid Stillwater and was totally dominated by Oklahoma State. The 49-17 loss would go on to be Baylor's only loss of the year and knocked Art Briles' bunch out of the BCS title game. An undefeated Baylor team would likely have gotten the berth over a one-loss Auburn team.
Nov. 30, 2013: Auburn shocks the world in the Iron Bowl
What else can be said about this game that hasn't already been written? The ending is second only to the famed 1982 Stanford-Cal "Band is out on the field" game in terms of being the most bizarre finishes in NCAA history. But when it comes to the gravity, importance, passion and history of the "Kick-6," no game may ever compare to the 2013 Iron Bowl. The SEC West title, a spot in the SEC championship game and claim to a spot in the BCS title game, as well as in-state bragging rights, were all hanging in the balance and Auburn returned a missed field goal 109 yards on the final play of the game to beat the two-time undefeated defending national champions? Nothing may ever come close to matching that type of resume.
Dec. 7, 2013: Auburn sets records against Missouri in Atlanta
Auburn set 16 SEC championship game records by rolling through a highly regarded and equally effective Missouri Tigers defensive line. Tre Mason rushes 46 times for 304 yards and four touchdowns — all SEC title game records — in the win. The performance sent Mason to New York as a Heisman finalist. Malzahn becomes just the third head coach in SEC history to win a conference title in his first season in the league and it won him the Home Depot National Coach of the Year award. Now, the Tigers and the rest of the nation sat back to watch what would happen in Indianapolis…
Dec. 7, 2013: No. 2 Ohio State loses to Michigan State
War Eagle prayers were answered in Lucas Oil Field late on Saturday night when Michigan State totally outplays the No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Common logic would assume that a 13-0 Ohio State team that had won 25 straight games overall would have played in the BCS national title game against Florida State. But the Spartans ended that discussion in short order by hanging on to defeat the Bucknuts 34-24 in the Big Ten Championship Game, opening the BCS door wide for the Auburn Tigers.
The win by MSU capped a remarkable calendar year for Auburn fans. From complete and utter depression and disappointment to extreme jubilation in just 12 months, no doubt, it's been a wild ride on The Plains. The phrases "Team of Destiny" and "Football Gods" get tossed around liberally with this War Eagle squad and for good reason. What this team has been through and accomplished over the last year is as extraordinary a story as any in the history of sports.
And the final chapter has yet to be written. Tune in January 6 in Pasadena for what Tiger fans are hoping will be an epic finish to a once-in-a-generation tale... for the second time in four years.
Each week of the college football season, Athlon Sports will poll some of the nation's best college football people from every region of the country. Each voter offers up a top five and each first-place vote is worth five points. A second-place vote is worth four points, so on and so forth. With 13 voters, a perfect ballot — i.e., 13 first-place votes — would give a player 65 total points.
One of the more exciting Heisman Trophy seasons has come to an end with a boring finish. Saturday night's announcement for Florida State's Jameis Winston is merely a formality. But with six invitees and other quality names not in New York, the race for No. 2 is one of the more exciting fans have seen in recent memory. Here is what Athlon's panel thinks:
Final 2013 Heisman Voting Results:
|Jameis Winston
|Florida St
|Tre Mason
|Johnny Manziel
|Texas A&M
|AJ McCarron
|Jordan Lynch
|N. Illinois
|Bryce Petty
|Andre Williams
|Boston College
|Marcus Mariota
|Ka'Deem Carey
|Derek Carr
|Fresno St
|Teddy Bridgewater
|Aaron Donald
|Jadeveon Clowney
|S. Carolina
|Braxton Miller
|Ohio St
Heisman Headlines:
Crown Winston. There is little intrigue surrounding Saturday night's Heisman presentation. The 2013 Heisman winner will be Jameis Winston. He has no holes in his football resume — huge numbers, a perfect record, a chance at a championship, elite NFL talent and a persona people gravitate to. He led the nation in passing efficiency (190.06) and yards per attempt (10.9) while setting an NCAA freshman touchdown record with 38 scoring strikes (the old record belonged to Sam Bradford, 36). His offense crushed 13 opponents by an average of 42.3 points per game en route to a second-straight ACC crown and berth in the BCS title game. It could be one of the biggest Heisman blowouts in history.
Who is No. 2? Tre Mason finished No. 2 in our ballots after a huge final two months. Only two backs scored more rushing touchdowns than Mason's 22, and no one came up bigger in marquee games. He rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown and carried Auburn to victory at Texas A&M. He carried 27 times for 115 yards and touchdown against Georgia and 29 times for 164 yards and a touchdown against Alabama. Mason saved his best for last, and it's why he might finish second to Winston. He set SEC title games for carries (46), yards (304) and touchdowns (four) in the SEC championship game to clinch a BCS titele game bid.
Carr vs. Lynch. Jordan Lynch benefited greatly from increased TV exposure and name recognition entering the season. Carr may be a more worthy candidate, though Lynch ranked higher in our voting. Carr led the nation in total offense at 415.3 yards per game — nearly 65 more yards per game than Lynch (350.5). Carr accounted for 50 TD (48 pass, 2 rush) versus Lynch's 45 (23 pass, 22 rush) in one less game than Lynch. The biggest argument, however, for Carr was his performance in the MWC title game. He threw for 404 yards and three scores as he led his team to a conference championship while Lynch struggled in a stunning loss to Bowling Green in the MAC title game.
Bryce Petty Snub. The biggest snub from being invited to New York is Baylor's Bryce Petty. He has huge numbers — 3,844 yards, 30 touchdowns, two interceptions, 192 yards rushing, 11 touchdowns — and did something that has never happened for Baylor. He won the school's first Big 12 championship, clinching the school's first BCS bowl bid and won 11 games for the first time in program history. Other players had more than one bad game and still got invited to NYC (Williams, Manziel) while Petty's 359 yards and two touchdowns against Oklahoma State was enough for him to be omitted.
The Voting Panel:
|No. 1
|Tom Dienhart
|Big Ten Network
|Jameis Winston
|Bryan Fischer
|Pac-12 Network
|Jameis Winston
|David Fox
|Athlon Sports
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The 2013 regular season is in the books and the Michigan State Spartans are the champs.
The improbable run to the Rose Bowl for Mark Dantonio is the main headline for what turned out to be a very memorable campaign in the Big Ten, but it's not the only one.
The league welcomed two new coaches to the fray with Wisconsin's Gary Andersen and Purdue's Darrell Hazell achieving wildly different outcomes. Kirk Ferentz saved his job and returned Iowa to relative prominence with wins over rivals Nebraska and Michigan. Minnesota inspired the nation by winning eight games despite Jerry Kill's health issues. Bill O'Brien posted his second consecutive winning season in the face of crippling NCAA sanctions with a true freshman quarterback.
Then there were the Buckeyes. Urban Meyer began his Big Ten career a perfect 24-0, including a win in one of the greatest Michigan-Ohio State games ever played. But, much to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany's chagrin, Meyer's Buckeyes couldn't finish the season as Big Ten champs and therefore cost the league a berth in the BCS National Championship Game.
And next year, the league will have a totally new look as both Maryland and Rutgers join and new divisional lineups take shape.
More Postseason Awards and All-Conference Teams: ACC | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
Big Ten 2013 Season Awards
Coach of the Year: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Michigan State did the unexpected by running the Big Ten table for the first time since 1966, capping their magical season by stunning the Buckeyes 33-24 in the third annual Big Ten Championship Game. Dantonio has returned the Spartans to the promised land — i.e., the Rose Bowl — for the first since 1987 when Lorenzo White and Nick Saban roamed the sidelines. He is fifth all-time in Michigan State history with 51 wins and could be as high as third all-time by next season. He has the highest winning percentage of any coach in East Lansing since Biggie Munn's remarkable 84.6 percent benchmark set back in 1953. Michigan State had three 10-win seasons prior to his arrival and Dantonio has had three in the last four seasons. After being picked fourth in the Legends Division by most, Dantonio is clearly the Coach of the Year in the Big Ten.
Offensive Player of the Year: Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State
A (very good) case can be made for either Connor Cook or Jeremy Langford from Michigan State. Or even Penn State's Allen Robinson. But the most dynamic player in the league this fall was Ohio State's Miller. He finished seventh in the league with 1,033 yards rushing — fourth nationally among quarterbacks — and scored 10 rushing touchdowns. He led the league in passing efficiency (157.94) with 1,860 yards, 22 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Miller had been unbeaten as a starter until the conference championship game loss to the Spartans.
Defensive Player of the Year: Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State
Wisconsin's Chris Borland is a truly great player who epitomizes all that Badgers football represents. And while he is a deserving challenger to Shazier, only one player in the Big Ten led the league in tackles (135), tackles for a loss (23.5) and forced fumbles (4) while leading his team to 24 straight wins. Shazier also finished fifth in the league in sacks (7.0). He was fifth nationally in tackles and second nationally in tackles for a loss on a team that won its division and didn't lose a regular season game. Few players make as many big plays or big hits as Ohio State's talented linebacker.
Newcomer of the Year: Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State
It cannot be understated how good Hackenberg was in just his first season in college football. He finished third nationally among freshman quarterbacks to only Jameis Winston (38) and John O'Korn (26) in passing touchdowns (20). Hackenberg also was third nationally among freshmen in yards (2,955) and was fourth nationally in passing efficiency (133.99). He finished five yards out of second in the Big Ten in passing (Devin Gardner, 2,960) after setting every major Penn State freshman passing record. He led his team to furious comeback wins against Michigan and Illinois and performed like a seasoned vet (339 yards, 4 TDs) in the regular-season finale road upset of Wisconsin. This was a total slam dunk.
Biggest Disappointment of 2013: Michigan
Picked by most to win the Legends Division and possibly press Ohio State for Big Ten supremacy, Michigan finished eighth in the Big Ten power rankings. The offense looked downright atrocious for most of the season as Michigan won two games against teams with winning records (Notre Dame, Minnesota). Otherwise, the Wolverines fell flat on their faces against good teams, losing in ugly fashion to Michigan State, Nebraska, Iowa and Penn State. Brady Hoke's bunch did save its best showing for last in what turned out to be a historic meeting with rival Ohio State, but that didn't salvage what has to be considered the most disappointing season in the Big Ten this fall.
Biggest Surprise of 2013: Iowa
Ohio State did exactly what it was supposed to by going 12-0. Gary Andersen had a fabulous first season in Madison. Indiana showed improvement. Michigan State overachieved and is in the Rose Bowl for the first time since '87. And Minnesota was a heart-warming story. But Iowa and Kirk Ferentz — with the help of an extraordinary trio of linebackers — did the most with the least of any team in the league. Picked by most to finish last in the Legends Division (4-8 by Athlon Sports), the Hawkeyes eventually finished fourth in the overall final B1G power rankings. Wins over rivals Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern gives Ferentz new life in Iowa City after a 4-8 showing last season.
Athlon's 2013 All-Big Ten Team
|First-Team Offense
|Second-Team Offense
|QB Braxton Miller, Ohio St
|QB Connor Cook, Michigan St
|RB Jeremy Langford, Michigan St
|RB Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
|RB Carlos Hyde, Ohio St
|RB Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
|WR Allen Robinson, Penn St
|WR Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin
|WR Jeremy Gallon, Michigan
|WR Cody Latimer, Indiana
|TE C.J. Fiedorowicz, Iowa
|TE Devin Funchess, Michigan
|C Corey Linsley, Ohio St
|C Cole Pensick, Nebraska
|G John Urschel, Penn St
|G Andrew Norwell, Ohio St
|G Ryan Groy, Wisconsin
|G Blake Treadwell, Michigan St
|T Jack Mewhort, Ohio St
|T Brandon Scherff, Iowa
|T Taylor Lewan, Michigan
|T Rob Havenstein, Wisconsin
|AP James White, Wisconsin
|AP Josh Ferguson, Illinois
|First-Team Defense
|Second-Team Defense
|DE Shilique Calhoun, Michigan St
|DE Frank Clark, Michigan
|DE Randy Gregory, Nebraska
|DE Noah Spence, Ohio St
|DT Ra'Shede Hageman, Minnesota
|DT Carl Davis, Iowa
|DT DaQuan Jones, Penn St
|DT Michael Bennett, Ohio St
|LB Ryan Shazier, Ohio St
|LB James Morris, Iowa
|LB Chris Borland, Wisconsin
|LB Denicos Allen, Michigan St
|LB Max Bullough, Michigan St
|LB Anthony Hitchens, Iowa
|CB Darqueze Dennard, Michigan St
|CB Blake Countess, Michigan
|CB Bradley Roby, Ohio St
|CB Ciante Evans, Nebraska
|S Isaiah Lewis, Michigan St
|S Brock Vereen, Minnesota
|S Kurtis Drummond, Michigan St
|S C.J. Barnett, Ohio St
|First-Team Specialists
|Second-Team Specialists
|K Jeff Budzien, Northwestern
|K Mitch Ewald, Indiana
|P Mike Sadler, Michigan St
|P Cody Webster, Purdue
|KR Akeem Hunt, Purdue
|KR Kenny Bell, Nebraska
|PR Kevonte Martin-Manley, Iowa
|PR V'Angelo Bentley, Illinois
The 2013 season will be an extremely memorable one for Pac-12 fans. New coaches Sonny Dykes and Mark Helfrich had very different debuts out West. The Pac-12 North turned out to be one of, if not the, best divisions in college football and first place was handled like a hot potato for the better part of a month. A group of second-year coaches lit up the night sky in the Pac-12 South each weekend. And the coach of the most powerful football program west of Austin, Texas, was fired after just one month of action.
The ousting of Lane Kiffin stole the headlines early in the season but fans in Los Angeles were given new life when the affable Ed Orgeron rallied the troops and circled the wagons in Heritage Hall. Then gaudy numbers took center stage in October as names like Sean Mannion, Marcus Mariota, Brandin Cooks, Marion Grice and Ka'Deem Carey all seemed to be leading the nation in something important.
Finally, the month of November rolled around and the division championships took center stage. Stanford and Oregon ran the zone read to perfection, handing off first place in the Pac-12 North three times in three weeks. Eventually, Oregon's loss to Arizona in the desert awarded the crown to David Shaw and the Cardinal for the second consecutive season.
Speaking of the desert, while USC and UCLA got the national attention for most of the year, Arizona State quietly went about its business and posted the best record in the conference. But even getting to host the Pac-12 Championship Game couldn't help Todd Graham break the Sun Devils' two decades-long Rose Bowl drought in Tempe.
But he did win Athlon Sports' Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors.
Pac-12 2013 Season Awards
More Postseason Awards and All-Conference Teams: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | SEC
Coach of the Year: Todd Graham, Arizona State
Arizona State winning the Pac-12 South didn't come as a big surprise to Athlon Sports — we picked ASU to win the division back in the summer. But to post the best record in the league at 8-1? To host the conference championship game? And to win 10 games? No, all of that came as a bit of a surprise. Arizona State was one win away from its first Rose Bowl since 1996 and won 10 games in a season for just the third time since 1986. Arizona State led the league in turnover margin, sacks and fewest penalties while finishing second in scoring to only Oregon at 41.0 points per game. Todd Graham is one of 10 finalists for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year nationally.
Offensive Player of the Year: Tyler Gaffney, RB, Stanford
This is a remarkably talented offensive conference so there are a number of deserving candidates for Offensive Player of the Year but none played bigger and more consistently in brighter moments than Stanford's Gaffney. No one in the Pac-12 scored more rushing touchdowns than the Cardinal ball-carrier (20), as Gaffney scored at least once in 12 of 13 games. He scored five times in two wins over the "best" team in the league, Arizona State, and set the single-game attempts record with 45 carries against Oregon in the biggest game of the year. His 307 carries were third nationally, his 1,626 yards are sixth nationally and he helped carry his team to a second consecutive Rose Bowl berth by rushing for 133 yards and three touchdowns on the road in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Defensive Player of the Year: Shayne Skov, LB, Stanford
The Cardinal defense has more than one MVP with outside linebacker Trent Murphy and safety Ed Reynolds also certainly worthy of consideration. But Skov is the heart and soul of a unit that might be the most physical in the nation. The Stanford middle linebacker is the quarterback of the defense and leading tackler on the Pac-12's top defense. He collected 100 total tackles, 10.0 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks but, like Gaffney, played his best in the biggest moments. Skov had 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks in a three-point win over Washington. He forced two fumbles and posted nine tackles in a fabulous showing against Oregon. He leapt over the ASU line of scrimmage in true LaVarr Arrington fashion on a critical Pac-12 title-clinching goal-line stand in the title game. When it comes to toughness, leadership and production, few nationally can match the two-time conference champion's resume.
Newcomer of the Year: Myles Jack, LB/RB, UCLA
While Player of the Year honors were difficult to narrow down, the Newcomer of the Year award is a pretty simple debate. Myles Jack is the only correct answer. In a bizarre maneuver by the Pac-12, Jack was awarded both the Offensive and Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. He posted 70 tackles (third among all Pac-12 freshmen), 5.0 for a loss, a forced fumble and an interception as a starting linebacker on defense. The two-way star, however, also added 267 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on an impressive 7.2 yards per carry on offense as a running back. He only played offense for four games but played a huge role in wins over Arizona, Washington and USC late in the year. The Paul Hornung Award finalist is the clear-cut newcomer of the year out West.
Biggest Disappointment of 2013 (team): Oregon
Normally, a 10-win season and No. 10-postseason ranking in the AP Poll would be things programs would call successful. Especially, a team with a first-year head coach. But the Ducks were preseason No. 3 in the nation and picked by almost all to win the Pac-12 championship this summer. Instead, Oregon will be playing in the Alamo Bowl. Oregon was in control of its own Pac-12 North destiny not once but twice and lost both times in ugly fashion to Stanford and subsequently Arizona. It handed the division crown to Stanford after laying an egg in the desert late in November and needed a touchdown with less than 30 seconds to play against Oregon State to salvage the 10-win season. It was a solid year for Oregon but not the one most anticipated and in a league in which almost every team overachieved, the Ducks get the nod as biggest disappointment.
Biggest Disappointment (individual): Lane Kiffin, USC
While Oregon gets the nod as the most disappointing team, the most disappointing aspect of the '13 Pac-12 season has to be Lane Kiffin. The Trojans were loaded with talent but clearly had no desire to play for the embattled head coach. So after a wildly disappointing first month, Pat Haden didn't even give Kiffin a chance to return to his office, firing the young head coach at Los Angeles International Airport before the team buses could even depart for campus following a lackluster showing in a 62-41 loss at Arizona State. What makes Kiffin even more disappointing is that his old team fought valiantly under interim head coach Ed Orgeron and has a chance to finish the season with 10 wins.
Biggest Surprise of 2013: Washington State
The Pac-12 preseason predictions were pretty accurate across the board in 2013. Did Oregon State and Cal lose a few extra games this fall? Sure. Did Arizona State surprise by winning a few extra this season? Certainly. But the job Mike Leach did at Washington State to take a 3-9 squad to a bowl game this fall after being picked to finish last in the conference has to be considered a minor upset. This team hasn't had a winning record or been to a bowl game since 2003 and both of those could be checked off the list this month in just Leach's second season. The Cougars improved on offense from 359.5 to 423.2 yards per game and pulled multiple road upsets over quality opponents like USC and Arizona. Leach won as many league games (4) in 2013 as Wazzu had won in the previous four seasons combined (4).
Athlon's 2013 All-Pac-12 Team
|First-Team Offense
|Second-Team Offense
|QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
|QB Taylor Kelly, Arizona St
|RB Tyler Gaffney, Stanford
|RB Bishop Sankey, Washington
|RB Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona
|RB Marion Grice, Arizona St
|WR Brandin Cooks, Oregon St
|WR Ty Montgomery, Stanford
|WR Paul Richardson, Colorado
|WR Jaelen Strong, Arizona St
|TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Wash.
|TE Chris Coyle, Arizona St
|C Hroniss Grasu, Oregon
|C Isaac Seumalo, Oregon St
|G David Yankey, Stanford
|G Jamil Douglas, Arizona St
|G Xavier Su'a-Filo, UCLA
|G Marcus Martin, USC
|T Evan Finkenberg, Arizona St
|T Cameron Fleming, Stanford
|T Andrus Peat, Stanford
|T Tyler Johnstone, Oregon
|AP Myles Jack, UCLA
|AP De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon
|First-Team Defense
|Second-Team Defense
|DE Leonard Williams, USC
|DE Scott Crichton, Oregon St
|DE Trevor Reilly, Utah
|DE Hau'oli Kikaha, Washington
|DT Will Sutton, Arizona St
|DT Taylor Hart, Oregon
|DT Tenny Palepoi, Utah
|DT Devon Coleman, Arizona St
|LB Anthony Barr, UCLA
|LB Devon Kennard, USC
|LB Shayne Skov, Stanford
|LB Chris Young, Arizona St
|LB Trent Murphy, Stanford
|LB Carl Bradford, Arizona St
|CB Robert Nelson, Arizona St
|CB Rashaad Reynolds, Oregon St
|CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon
|CB Marcus Peters, Washington
|S Ed Reynolds, Stanford
|S Alden Darby, Arizona St
|S Deone Bucannon, Washington St
|S Dion Bailey, USC
|First-Team Specialists
|Second-Team Specialists
|K Zane Gonzalez, Arizona St
|K Vincenzo D'Amato, Cal
|P Tom Hackett, Utah
|P Travis Coons, Washington
|KR Ty Montgomery, Stanford
|KR Victor Bolden, Oregon St
|PR Nelson Agholor, USC
|PR Bralon Addison, Oregon
Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. Any game, for that matter.
Some fall on the sabermetric side of things, while others like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.
With that in mind, Athlon Sports brings the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre stats from Week 14 of the NFL season:
90: NFL record for total TDs scored on a single day
The previous single-day NFL record for total touchdowns scored was 87 from Week 17 last year on Dec. 30, 2012. With five total touchdowns, Carolina and New Orleans pushed Sunday's total to a new NFL-record 90 touchdowns. It was the single-highest scoring day in NFL history and it came when snowy, inclement weather played a huge role in multiple games. All told, Week 14 produced 104 touchdowns, making it the first week in NFL history to feature 100 trips to the end zone. Not surprisingly, Week 14 also broke the record for most points scored in a single week with 859.
6: Most fourth-quarter lead changes in NFL history
The defending Super Bowl champs played one of the most entertaining fourth quarters in NFL history against the Vikings on Sunday. There were six lead changes in the final period, setting a new NFL record for most lead changes in the fourth quarter. What's more impressive is that the two teams combined for five total touchdowns over the final 2:05 of the game. Joe Flacco got the last laugh by leading his Ravens on a five-play, 80-yard drive in just 41 seconds, which culminated with him connecting with Marlon Brown for the game winner with four seconds left. The win pushes Baltimore to 7-6 on the season and in a tie with Miami for the final AFC Wild Card spot.
217: LeSean McCoy's Eagles single-game rushing record
In nasty (but entertaining) weather in Philadelphia, LeSean McCoy set a franchise record with 217 yards rushing. The Eagles scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns, including two long McCoy scoring runs of 40 and 57 yards, to pull away from Detroit in a critical NFC showdown between division leaders. McCoy became just the third Eagles player to rush for 200 yards in a game, breaking Steve Van Buren's 64-year-old single-game rushing record (205) set back in 1949. Duce Staley is the only other Eagle to top 200 yards (201 in 2000). Phily (8-5) has won five straight and is leading the NFC East after a 4-12 record a year ago.
7: Total fumbles by the Lions
The Eagles clearly handled the heaping piles of snow at The Link on Sunday. The Lions mustered just 288 yards of offense and 11 first downs in the key loss to the Eagles. They also fumbled seven times, losing three of them. Matthew Stafford fumbled five times (one lost) and Joique Bell lost both of his fumbles. The Eagles allowed zero sacks, didn't lose a fumble and threw just one interception — Nick Foles' first pick of the 2013 season. Additionally, Calvin Johnson passed Herman Moore as the Lions' all-time leading receiver with 9,184 yards. Megatron already owns the Detroit franchise record for receiving touchdowns (66) and is 57 receptions away from passing Moore (670) for that mark. Johnson has played 41 fewer career games than Moore.
1: NFL teams to have four players with at least 10 TDs
Peyton Manning had no issues with the cold weather as the Broncos topped the Titans 51-28. He continued his record-setting season by throwing for 397 yards and four touchdowns in the playoff-clinching win for Denver. The Broncos became the first team in NFL history to boast four players with at least 10 touchdowns on the same team. Knowshon Moreno (12), Demaryius Thomas (11), Julius Thomas (11) and Wes Welker (10) all scored a touchdown on Sunday and all have double-digit scores in 2013. Eric Decker needs two more touchdowns to become the fifth player on the Broncos to reach at least 10 this season. Denver was one of two AFC teams to clinch a postseason berth on Sunday as the Colts, despite losing, clinched the AFC South because of Tennessee's loss to the Broncos.
64: Matt Prater's NFL-record longest field goal
In the same game, Matt Prater kicked the longest field goal in NFL history when he connected from 64 yards out. It broke the previous NFL record of 63 — a number many could match but none had surpassed until Prater. Tom Dempsey (1970), Sebastian Janikowski (2011), David Akers (2012) and Jason Elam (1998) were all tied with a 63-yard make. Elam's, Janikowski's and Prater's record-setter came at altitude in the city of Denver.
3: Straight wins for the Patriots after trailing by at least 10 points in the second half
The Pats trailed the Browns 19-3 with less than minute to go in the third quarter. The offense lost Rob Gronkowski and the defense allowed 391 yards passing to Jason Campbell. But New England still has Tom Brady. The Pats quarterback engineered four scoring drives in the final 16 minutes of action to outscore the Browns 24-7 over that span, including two touchdown passes in the final 1:01 of play. It marks the first time since the 1993 Eagles that a team has overcome a double-digit deficit in the second half to win three straight games in a row. New England trailed by 10 to Houston, 24 to Denver and 16 to Cleveland in the second half but somehow won all three.
1990: The last time Miami won in Pittsburgh
Two teams with a combined 12 Super Bowl appearances did battle on Sunday in snowy Pittsburgh. Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill played in the snow for the first time in his entire life but he looked like a seasoned vet, throwing three touchdowns in the win. He overcame the elements — and this wild final play — to secure the victory by leading five second-half scoring drives, including the eventual game-winning touchdown with less than three minutes to play. The victory was only the third by the Fish over the Steelers since 1990 and the first in the Steel City in 23 years (Sept. 30, 1990). More importantly, the Phins are tied with Baltimore for the final Wild Card spot in the AFC. Mike Wallace, in his return to Pittsburgh, caught just two passes for 19 yards against his former team.
61-64: Gary Kubiak's record as the Texans' head coach
Dom Capers was the Texans' head coach in the first four seasons of the franchise's existence. He never had a winning record, finishing with an 18-46 overall record. After working as an assistant for a decade with the Denver Broncos, Gary Kubiak accepted the head coaching position in Houston in 2006. In just his second year, he posted the team's first non-losing season and by Year 6, Kubiak had won the franchise's first division crown and delivered the team's first postseason berth. Kubiak was 22-10 in 2011-12 before starting this season 2-11. He was fired on Friday as the head coach of the "worst" team in the NFL and finished his eight-year tenure with a sub-.500 (61-64) overall record. He had three losing seasons, three winning seasons and two 8-8 campaigns.
Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. Any game, for that matter.
Some fall on the sabermetric side of things, while others like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.
With that in mind, Athlon Sports brings the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre stats from around the weekend of college football action:
101: SEC championship game record for total points
The mighty SEC saw little to no defense in Atlanta on Saturday night. Auburn (28) and Mizzou (27) set an SEC championship game record with 55 first half points. The game ended with a SEC championship game-record 101 total points scored — 26 more than the previous record (75) set in 1996 by Florida and Alabama. Auburn also set an SEC title game record with 676 yards of offense, 544 yards rushing and 59 points. Tre Mason carried the load with an SEC title game record 46 carries, an SEC championship record 304 yards and, you guessed it, an SEC title game record four touchdowns in the win. The previous record for yards was set by Auburn with 589 in 2010. Missouri began the weekend ranked No. 2 in the SEC in rushing defense (119.1 ypg) but will finish eighth (151.8 ypg) after the carnage in the Georgia Dome. All in all, Auburn set 16 SEC title game records on Saturday. Gus Malzahn was relentless in his play calling as he rode his zone-read triple option to an SEC championship in just his first season as a head coach in the nation's toughest league.
3: SEC coaches to win the league in their first season
Gus Malzahn became the third head coach in SEC history, and the first in the championship game era, to win a conference crown in his first trip through the league with the impressive showing against Mizzou. Malzahn joined Bernie Moore, who led LSU to a 9-2 record in 1935, and John Vaught, who led Ole Miss to a 9-2 record in 1947, as first-year coaches to win SEC titles. Malzahn took a winless SEC team that averaged 305.0 yards per game on offense — 118th in the nation — and turned them into SEC champions in one offseason, and now the Tigers will play for the BCS National Championship in Pasadena against the Florida State.
17 and 46: Ohio State plays and total yards in the final 20 minutes
There are a lot of stats to like about the Big Ten championship game. Michigan State snapped Ohio State's 24-game winning streak to go to its first Rose Bowl since 1987. Connor Cook, the game's MVP, threw for a career high 304 yards and three touchdowns in the signature performance of his young career. But over the final 20 minutes, the Spartans defense was the story. Ohio State scored with 5:36 left in the third quarter to take its first lead of the game, but Mark Dantonio's defense completely shut down Ohio State the rest of the way. The Buckeyes had four possession in which they ran 17 plays for 46 total yards during the final 20:36 of play. Those four drives ended in two punts and two turnovers on downs. Meanwhile, the Spartans scored 17 unanswered to win the Big Ten championship.
57-14: Stanford's combined first-half score over Arizona State in two games
Back in September, Stanford jumped out to a 29-0 halftime lead over the Sun Devils in Palo Alto. The Cardinal eventually pushed the lead to 39-7 before letting off the pedal and winning 42-28. Two months later, nothing has changed as Stanford blitzed ASU in the first half of the Pac-12 championship game. Kevin Hogan and Tyler Gaffney posted a 28-7 second-quarter lead and a 28-14 halftime margin. David Shaw's bunch never looked back, crushing the Sun Devils 38-14 for its second consecutive Pac-12 championship — the first time the school has done that since 1970-71. The Michigan State-Stanford Rose Bowl will be as physical as a football game can get in the modern era of spread offenses and touchy officiating.
1-8: Mike Gundy's record against Oklahoma
Over the last four years, Oklahoma State is 41-10 overall with three seasons of at least 10 wins. But Mike Gundy just can't seem to solve the Bedlam riddle. The Sooners, led by starter-turned-backup Blake Bell, drove 66 yards on eight plays to score the game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds left. The loss wasn't just a bitter defeat at the hands of an in-state archival. Oklahoma State was a double-digit favorite at home needing a win to clinch a BCS bowl and win the Big 12 championship. Moreover, Oklahoma State had the lead with less than two minutes to play. The loss knocks Oklahoma State out of the Fiesta Bowl and pushes Gundy's record against Oklahoma and Bob Stoops to 1-8.
1980: Baylor's last outright conference championship
Technically, the Bears earned a share of the 1994 Southwest Conference championship. However, Texas A&M had the best record in the league (10-0-1) but was ineligible as Baylor tied with Texas, TCU, Texas Tech and Rice at 4-3 for a five-way split championship. But the last time the Bears won an outright conference championship was the 10-2 squad of 1980 coached by Grant Teaff. Only twice prior to 2013 had Baylor won 10 games in a season (1980, 2011) and had never won 11 games in school history. In fact, the last time Baylor finished a season with just one loss was a 5-1-2 Frank Bridges-coached team in 1923. The Bears will play in their first BCS game in program history when it meets UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. The icy cold 30-10 drubbing of Texas was a perfect way to put an end to Floyd Casey Stadium.
38: Jameis Winston's NCAA freshman passing TD record
He is the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy for a reason. Jameis Winston has led the Seminoles to a perfect 13-0 record, an ACC championship and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game against . He is the nation's most efficient passer (190.06) and has thrown more touchdown passes than any freshman in NCAA history. With three scoring strikes in the easy win over Duke in the ACC title game, Winston passed Sam Bradford's NCAA freshman passing TD record of 36. The Noles signal caller finished the year with 3,820 yards, 38 touchdowns, 10 interceptions on 67.9-percent passing to go with 193 yards rushing and four more touchdowns on the ground.
42.3: Average margin of victory for Florida State in 2013
After topping Duke 45-7 in the ACC title game, Florida State won all 13 games it played this fall and earned a spot in the BCS National Championship Game against Auburn. But the Noles didn't slip into the title game like the Tigers did. Florida State didn't need any help from Michigan State, Oklahoma State or Utah. The Seminoles crushed the opposition all season. Jimbo Fisher's squad outscored its 13 opponents 689-139 for an average margin of victory of more than six touchdowns per game. Again, that's more than six touchdowns per game. There is a reason they are the clearcut No. 1 team in the polls — even if they are facing the "Team of Destiny" in Pasadena.
7: Games UCF won by one score or less
Its first bowl appearance in school history came in 2005 and its first bowl win in school history came in 2010. And now, UCF will play in its first BCS bowl less than two decades since making its FBS debut. The Knights proved that in one season it could step up in competition and find success, moving from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. With a 17-13 win over SMU, the AAC champions finished 8-0 in league play and 11-1 overall. It's the best record in school history, and it didn't come easy. Seven of those 11 wins were by one touchdown or less. UCF beat Penn State, Memphis, Louisville, Houston, Temple, USF and SMU by a combined 28 points.
1957: Rice's last outright conference championship
The Owls (10-3) rolled through Marshall 41-24 in the Conference USA championship game. The Thundering Herd had been averaging more 50 points per game during its five-game winning streak entering the weekend but David Bailiff's defense held Marshall to just 24 points, 371 yards and only 4.8 yards per play. It is Rice's first outright conference championship since winning the Southwest Conference in 1957.
The intrigue surrounding the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis is more intense than ever before. Michigan State and Wisconsin in the inaugural bout was one of the better, more exciting conference title games in any league of recent memory. But there wasn't a trip to the BCS National Championship game on the line in that tilt like there is at Lucas Oil Stadium this Saturday.
The dust has settled on the Big Ten regular season, and the two teams that survived unscathed will appropriately battle for the league crown and a guaranteed trip to the Rose Bowl. Michigan State boasts the nation's best statistical defense after giving up a paltry 237.7 yards per game this season. This physical, experienced unit has seven seniors starting dotting the depth chart and it allowed a nation's low 11.0 points per game in conference play. In fact, the Spartans have held its opponent out of the endzone in five of the last six games (Nebraska).
This is the challenge that faces Ohio State's dynamic backfield duo of Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde. Urban Meyer deploys a power zone-read with his 235-pound tailback and versatile and explosive quarterback to the tune of 321.3 yards rushing per game — good for second nationally to only Army. Hyde has been huge in the second half of important games against Northwestern, Iowa and Michigan. Miller, however, has been downright brilliant in conference play, leading the Big Ten in total offense (295.0 ypg) and passing efficiency (164.51) in conference play.
When the Buckeyes offense is on the field it will be a match of strengths. But the other half of the game could end up being more critical and entertaining. Ohio State's defense has given up plenty of yards and points this season, culminating in a 603-yard performance by a Michigan offense ranked 96th in the nation in total offense. Michigan State's offense, also considered the weaker Spartan unit, is vastly underrated. Tailback Jeremy Langford has seven consecutive 100-yard games and led the Big Ten with 16 rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Connor Cook takes care of the ball (only four interceptions) and the receivers have made big plays all season.
Be it a shootout or a defensive struggle, fans in Indy should expect a close game. Despite Ohio State winning eight of the last nine meetings, these two have split the last two games by a grand total of four points. Ohio State owns a 28-12 all-time record in the series.
Michigan State vs. Ohio State
Kickoff: 8:17 p.m. ET
TV Channel: FOX
Spread: Ohio State -5.5
Three Things to Watch
Can Connor Cook make plays?
Michigan State's gameplan on offense is pretty clear: Run, run and run some more. Jeremy Langford has been a star for this team with seven straight 100-yard games. But Connor Cook will be called upon to be the difference maker when OSU stacks the box. Cook passed for just 176.6 yards per game this year but was much better over the final month, averaging 217.8 per game with a couple of elite performances. He completed 93.8-percent of his passes and three touchdowns against Illinois, he threw for 252 yards and scored twice over Michigan and posted a career-high 293 yards and two TDs in the division clinching road win over Northwestern. Ohio State is ninth in the Big Ten in pass efficiency defense and the banged-up secondary will provide chances for Cook to make plays with his arm.
Protecting the quarterback
Michigan State leads the nation in pass efficiency defense (91.79), leads the Big Ten in passing defense (172.9) yards per game and is third in the Big Ten in both interceptions (16) and sacks (29.0). This will give Braxton Miller a huge challenge in the passing game. On the flip side, Cook could be running for his life as the Buckeyes boast the nation's No. 1 pass-rush (39.0 sacks). Obviously, both teams want to run the ball and the defenses know it. So with two defenses geared up to stop the ground game, the outcome may hinge on whichever quarterback has the time to complete critical third-and-longs late in the game. Additionally, both defenses will look to punish the quarterback so survival might be the name of the game.
Special teams battle
The all-important third phase of the game will be huge this weekend for both teams, especially if it becomes a low-scoring, tightly played affair. Ohio State leads the Big Ten in punting (43.5 ypp) and has blocked three kicks or punts this season. And while Ohio State has made 8-of-9 field goals, the Buckeyes haven't asked Drew Basil to make key kicks as OSU has attempted the fewest number of field goals in the Big Ten. Conversely, the Spartans Michael Geiger has made 12-of-13 kicks and MSU is 16-of-19 overall. The Buckeyes should have a big advantage in the return game as well. Michigan State is dead last in the league in kickoff returns while Ohio State is No. 2 in the league. Both coaches love to use the fake punt at unexpected times, so don't take any bathroom breaks on special teams as they are sure to be critical this weekend.
Key Player: Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State
Star quarterbacks are always the most important players but even more so for Ohio State. Miller will be the most dynamic and important player on the field for either team on Saturday. Michigan State has the talent and experience to stop the Buckeyes' offense in its tracks but no amount of discipline or physicality can overcome the improve skills of a player like Miller. The Spartans will look to hit the Ohio State quarterback as hard and as often as possible as Miller has demonstrated an issue with injuries. So if No. 5 can survive the entire game, he will likely do something that drops jaws and pops eyes. This is what keeps great coordinators like Pat Narduzzi up late at night.
Final Analysis
This should be a great chess match battle between two hard-nosed coaches and two hard-nosed teams. Both teams are undefeated in Big Ten play, which sets up a perfect winner-take-all situation in Indianapolis. Michigan State is playing for its first Rose Bowl bid since 1987 and Ohio State is playing for a trip to the BCS National Championship game. It is a battle of strength on strength when Ohio State has the ball and weakness on weakness when Michigan State has the ball. Look for a trick play or fake of some kind to play a huge role in the second half, but No. 5 in Scarlet and Gray is the difference. Braxton Miller will make one or two miraculous plays that no defense can stop, which translates to a victory for the Buckeyes.
Big Ten Championship Predictions:
|Athlon Editor
|Championship Prediction
|B1G Season Record
|Braden Gall
|Ohio State, 31-30
|David Fox
|Ohio State, 27-21
|Steven Lassan
|Ohio State, 27-24
|Mitch Light
|Ohio State, 24-20
Like it or not, Las Vegas rarely gets it wrong, so tracking betting lines should always be a big part of each football weekend — even if there are no bets on the line. Last week was not a happy holiday for my picks. I let you all down in a big way by taking more than a few rivalries to be blowouts. As it turns out, only the Florida Gators were bad enough to give me a cover. Normally, I would stay away from all picks this weekend due to lack of options. But since I know some of you are looking for any and all advice on what should be some great championship games, below are the spread picks for Week 15.
2013 Record Against the Spread: 39-32-1 (1-3 last week)
Week 15 Picks of the Week:
Texas (+14.5) at Baylor
These two teams appear to be heading in opposite directions. Baylor struggled to survive against TCU and needed two defensive touchdowns to beat a team that was supposed to have a tough time scoring points. Texas crushed Texas Tech in extremely impressive fashion. This could be Mack Brown's final game as the head coach, and the Horns can still win the conference championship. Look for a motivated Texas team to keep it close, if not win outright. Prediction: Texas +14.5
Utah State (+3) at Fresno State
The Aggies enter Saturday's matchup with a five-game winning streak. Fresno State is at home and coming off a loss. To me, this explains why the line seems to be too small this weekend. With the championship on the line in the Mountain West title game, fans can expect both teams to play up to their potential. Fresno State's Derek Carr is on a tear right now, throwing for 1,041 yards and 12 touchdowns with just one interception in his last two games. Prediction: Fresno State -3
Title Game Picks (if I have to):
Stanford (+3) at Arizona State
Defense wins championships and despite being on the road, I like the Cardinal to smother an ASU offense missing its top playmaker in Marion Grice. Stanford was up 29-0 at halftime and 39-7 after three quarters against ASU back in September. Prediction: Stanford +3
Ohio State (-5.5) vs. Michigan State
This should be a very close game between two excellent coaches and physical football teams. Trick plays will abound, and I like the Spartans' defense to keep them in the game. Braxton Miller makes a big play at the end to win it - but MSU covers. Prediction: Michigan State +5.5
Auburn (-2.5) vs. Missouri
The entire world (and maybe the Almighty above) is picking the Tigers of Auburn. But Mizzou is the more complete team. The Tigers of Missouri have a dramatically better defense and healthy James Franklin. When the entire herd is taking one team, I like to go the other way (especially with the line growing by the day). Missouri has the best record in the nation against the spread this year: 10-1-1. Prediction: Mizzou +2.5
Duke (+29) vs. Florida State
We are all rooting for David Cutcliffe and Duke in general. It's virtually impossible not to love the Blue Devils story this year. But Florida State is operating in a different stratosphere. With Jameis Winston now cleared of any wrong-doing, all eyes are focused on a championship (or two). The Noles are one of four teams with 10 wins against the numbers this year (10-2) Prediction: Florida State -29
Championship Game Previews: ACC | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC
Top 25 Picks Against the Spread:
Note: games with FCS opponents won't be included each week
|Top 25 Games
|Mitch Light
|Braden Gall
|Steven Lassan
|David Fox
|No. 20 Duke (+29) vs. No. 1 Florida State
|No. 2 Ohio St (-5.5) vs. No. 10 Michigan St
No. 5 Missouri (+2.5) vs. No. 3 Auburn
|No. 17 Oklahoma (+10) at No. 6 Oklahoma St
|No. 7 Stanford (+3) at No. 11 Arizona State
|No. 25 Texas (+14.5) at No. 9 Baylor
|Bowling Green (+4.5) at No. 14 N. Illinois
|No. 16 UCF (-7) at SMU
|Utah St (+3.5) at No. 23 Fresno St
|Last Week:
The Pac-12 North was supposed to be one of, if not the, best division in college football this fall. Certainly, it was supposed to be better than the Pac-12 South. If a team from this league was supposed to earn a berth in the BCS National Championship game it was supposed to be from the North.
As it turns out, Arizona State boasted the best record in the Pac-12 (8-1) and earned the right to host tonight's Pac-12 Championship Game. And because the Sun Devils are at home in Sun Devils Stadium, Arizona State is favored over a Stanford team that abused the Sun Devils back on Sept. 21 in Palo Alto.
In the first meeting, the defending Pac-12 champs posted a 29-0 halftime lead and a 39-7 margin after three quarters. Arizona State made a late charge with three fourth-quarter touchdowns but the 42-28 final score made the lopsided game look a lot closer than reality. Fans of both teams should expect a much closer affair this time around.
Arizona State went on to win its last eight Pac-12 games since the loss to Stanford and has been virtually unstoppable at home all season. The Sun Devils averaged 49.1 points at home in Tempe this season and scored at least 53 points in six of eight home contests. The last time Stanford allowed more than 30 points in a game — much less 50 — was the 48 it allowed to Arizona in early October of last year.
While ASU has surged on offense over the final two months, it's the Sun Devils' defense that may be the deciding factor this weekend. Since losing to Notre Dame on Oct. 5, Arizona State has allowed more than 24 points just once (33, UCLA) and has given up just 85.6 yards rushing per game — which includes 249 in the blowout finale against Arizona. Will Sutton, Carl Bradford and Chris Young have developed into one of the league's top defensive fronts (more on that soon).
On the flip side, the Cardinal are a different team since boat-racing Arizona State back in September as well. Stanford lost two of its last seven overall — both of which came on the road against teams Arizona State defeated (Utah, USC) — and the offense has topped 400 yards just three times since September (8 games). The 387.6 yards per game during that span would be ranked 82nd nationally.
Stanford has won the last three meetings in fairly convincing fashion, but, needless to say, these are two very different teams today than in any of those Cardinal victories.
Arizona State leads the all-time series 16-11.
Stanford at Arizona State
Kickoff: 7:45 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN
Spread: Arizona State -3
Three Things to Watch
Arizona State's backfield without Marion Grice
Not having injured starting running back Marion Grice will hurt Todd Graham's offense in a big way. Grice had 1,434 yards from scrimmage and wasn't just a running threat as his 50 receptions will attest. But can Graham replace the points? Grice led the Pac-12 and is fifth nationally with 20 total touchdowns despite missing the regular-season finale. Do-everything dynamo D.J. Foster, who spent most of the season playing wide receiver, stepped in last week in a big way. He rushed 23 times for 124 yards and two scores against Arizona and has played running back for most of his career until 2013. Foster is an excellent player but losing Grice is a big blow to Graham's offense. Can the diminutive Foster carry a full workload against a physical and punishing defense?
Which pass rush is more effective?
Stanford's experience, versatility, physicality and suffocating front seven is no secret. It posted three sacks, 10.0 tackles for a loss and blocked a punt against Arizona State in the first meeting. The Cardinal finished as the Pac-12's No. 1 scoring defense at just 19.0 points per game allowed. But Arizona States's front seven is no joke either. The Sun Devils have averaged more than four sacks per game (4.1 pg) in Pac-12 play since losing to Stanford and used nine sacks against UCLA two weeks ago to clinch the South Division. Both quarterbacks are athletic but these are two of the top 10 teams in the nation in creating pressure on the quarterback, so offensive line play will be paramount this weekend.
Stanford's balance on offense
The best way for David Shaw to keep his quarterback upright is to create balance on offense. His offense struggled at times over the final two months — namely against Washington, Utah, Oregon Sate and USC. It couldn't complete passes against USC or Washington and struggled to run the ball against Utah and Oregon State. Both Tyler Gaffney and Anthony Wilkerson split carries against Arizona State in September but Gaffney has established himself as the lead back with 29.3 carries per game over his last six. Quarterback Kevin Hogan has shown flashes of being able to create balance but has been below 158 yards passing in four of the last five games. He and big-play wide receiver Ty Montgomery — who scored twice against Arizona State in the first meeting — must be able to create balance to slow down the ASU pass rush.
Key Player: Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford
Hogan has had his moments of brilliance this season but has been inconsistent at times this fall. He can go from an 82.67 passer rating one week (USC) to 235.14 the next (Cal). Stanford is unbeaten this year when he completes more than 56 percent of his passes and he will likely have to be much better than that to outscore Arizona State. Hogan needs to get wide receiver Ty Montgomery involved in the game plan right away as one or two big passes down the field to the speedster could really open things up for Tyler Gaffney and the power running attack. Stanford will go as far as Hogan takes them — which could be the Granddaddy of Them All… or the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30.
Final Analysis
Stanford was the significantly better team when these two met this year as the Cardinal totally baffled Graham with bizarre formations on offense and disguised blitzes on defense. However, Arizona State is a much better team today than back in September and are also playing in a stadium they haven't lost in this year (7-0). This should gives fans a back-and-forth chess match in the desert. That said, the Cardinal have played in championship games before and are loaded on defense with senior superstars at every level. How does the old adage go: Offense wins games and defense wins championships? The physicality at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball for Stanford is the difference in what should be an extremely entertaining and well-played Pac-12 title tilt.
Pac-12 Championship Predictions:
|Athlon Editor
|Championship Prediction
|Pac-12 Season Record
|Braden Gall
|Stanford, 34-31
|David Fox
|Arizona St, 35-28
|Steven Lassan
|Stanford, 31-27
|Mitch Light
|Stanford, 28-24
Each week of the college football season, Athlon Sports will poll some of the nation's best college football people from every region of the country. Each voter offers up a top five and each first-place vote is worth five points. A second-place vote is worth four points, so on and so forth. With 13 voters, a perfect ballot — i.e., 13 first-place votes — would give a player 65 total points.
And for the first time all season, one player clearly stands above the rest with 11 of the 13 first-place votes. As long as nothing changes... off the field.
Post-Week 14 Voting Results:
|Jameis Winston
|Florida St
|Jordan Lynch
|N. Illinois
|Braxton Miller
|Ohio St
|AJ McCarron
|Johnny Manziel
|Texas A&M
|Andre Williams
|Boston College
|Ka'Deem Carey
|Bryce Petty
|Nick Marshall
|Marcus Mariota
|Aaron Donald
|Brandin Cooks
|Oregon St
|Connor Shaw
|South Carolina
|Teddy Bridgewater
|Derek Carr
|Fresno St
|Jadeveon Clowney
|South Carolina
Heisman Headlines:
What to do with Jordan Lynch? His numbers are ridiculous and his team could be an undefeated conference champion but voters still don't know what to do with the Northern Illinois quarterback. He is fourth in the nation in rushing at 146.3 yards per game, third nationally with 20 rushing touchdowns and his 248 carries are 12th nationally. And all of this ground production comes with 204.8 yards passing per game, a 64.4 percent completion rate and a 22:5 TD:INT ratio as a passer. And his team has handled Iowa, Purdue, Toledo and Ball State with relative ease. However, evidence suggests that his level of competition is entirely too weak to win the Heisman. Will fans hold his lackluster performance against Florida State last season against him this year? He completed just 36.6 percent of his passes, averaged 1.9 yards per carry (23 att., 44 yards) and scored once in the 31-10 Orange Bowl drubbing.
Jameis Winston. There is no other candidate that has the resume that Winston presents on the field. His numbers are sick — he is leading the nation in passing efficiency, is third nationally with 35 TD passes and is second in the country at 11.0 yards per pass attempt. His team is perfect, ranked No. 1 and poised to crush yet another opponent for a conference title and berth in the BCS title game. The only thing that will keep Winston from winning the coveted stiff-armed trophy will be if charges are levied in the sexual assault investigation. Voters have a brutally difficult decision to make with the Seminoles quarterback.
Buckeye Rising. The name moving up boards the most is Ohio State's quarterback Braxton Miller. The preseason frontrunner missed some time due to injury against Cal and Florida A&M but has been the Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten. He is 10th nationally in passing efficiency (164.31) and is fourth nationally among quarterbacks in rushing (89.1 ypg). His 295.0 yards per game of total offense in Big Ten play leads the league and he has come up huge in November (rushing for 488 yards and six scores on 10.6 yards per carry in the month). Should he post another huge game against Michigan State, finishing 25-0 over the last two seasons, and lands in the BCS title game, he will get a lot of votes.
Deepest Vote Yet. The 13-person Athlon Sports Heisman panel has been voting all season and this is easily the deepest field of vote-getters. Brandin Cooks is the top wide receiver in the nation, Connor Shaw might be the most underrated QB in SEC history, Bryce Petty could still win the Big 12 outright, Andre Williams is over 2,100 yards rushing and Nick Marshall could lead his team to a BCS title game after an 0-8 SEC record in 2012. After Winston, it's completely wide open.
The Voting Panel:
|No. 1
|Tom Dienhart
|Big Ten Network
|Jameis Winston
|Bryan Fischer
|Pac-12 Network
|Jameis Winston
|David Fox
|Athlon Sports
|AJ McCarron
|Braden Gall
|Athlon Sports
|Jameis Winston
|Steven Godfrey
|SB Nation
|Jameis Winston
|Chris Huston
|Heisman Pundit
|Jordan Lynch
|Steven Lassan
|Athlon Sports
|Jameis Winston
|Chris Level
|Red Raider Sports
|Jameis Winston
|Mitch Light
|Athlon Sports
|Jameis Winston
|Billy Liucci
|Jameis Winston
|Dan Rubenstein
|SB Nation/Solid Verbal
|Jameis Winston
|Josh Ward
|Mr. SEC/WNML
|Jameis Winston
|Jim Young
|ACC Sports Journal
|Jameis Winston
The beauty of sports, in particular college football, lies in their complete unpredictability and reality TV-like drama. Here's what might happen on Championship Saturday.
Note: The point of this column is to have some fun and make some outlandish predictions. Please react accordingly.
David Cutcliffe will win National Coach of the Year
There have been a lot of firsts this year for Duke. This year marks the first time Duke has won 10 games in a season. It is the first time in school history that the Blue Devils have earned back-to-back bowl bids. It won a game over a ranked opponent for the first time in four decades. And it won its first Coastal Division championship — outright, I might add. So while there are plenty of excellent candidates for Coach of the Year (Gus Malzahn, Gary Pinkel, Todd Graham, Mark Dantonio, Art Briles), Cutcliffe is the most deserving candidate. His team may not have a chance against Florida State this weekend but simply being in Bank of America Stadium on Saturday makes this the most historic football season in Duke's history. Cutcliffe should be honored for it.
Three underdogs will win conference title games
Florida State will crush Duke in the ACC Championship Game but Stanford (+3.5), Michigan State (+5.5) and Missouri (+1.5) could all pull off upsets. And here's why. What do all three teams have in common? They each boast their respective league's most athletic and most dominant defense. All three have elite defensive lines and will be facing elite rushing attacks. Offense wins games and defense wins championships. Take all three underdogs to cover and at least three (of the six) to win outright in the power-league championship games. For good measure, I am including Bowling Green and Utah State as four-point underdogs in their conference championship games to mid-major darlings Northern Illinois and Fresno State respectively.
Texas will win the Big 12 outright
Oklahoma State controls its own destiny in the Big 12 and hosts archrival Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series this weekend. But both Texas and Baylor still have a chance to win the league outright and the two will meet in Waco on Saturday. The Bears have come quickly down to earth after a big first two months and were lucky to escape a trip to TCU with a win last weekend. Texas, meanwhile, has been impressive since losing to Oklahoma State. The Sooners have had two weeks to prepare for Okie State and is coming off of their best offensive showing of the season against Kansas State. Oklahoma and Texas both win and the Longhorns clinch the Big 12 title outright and head to the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.
Mizzou will hold Auburn to under 150 yards rushing
Gus Malzahn's zone-read offense has been virtually unstoppable all season long, averaging over 300 yards per game on the ground and using 296 rushing yards to topple mighty Alabama last week. However, Missouri leads the SEC in sacks, tackles for a loss and turnover margin and brings arguably the most athletic defensive line in the conference into the Georgia Dome for Saturday's championship game. Look for Gary Pinkel to study the Mississippi State-Auburn game tape closely this week. The Bulldogs are the only team to hold Auburn to less than 213 yards rushing this year — 120 yards and no touchdowns on 3.3 yards per carry.
Jim Mora won't be coaching at UCLA
His alma mater Washington has been thrust into a critical coaching search and Mora has long eyed Seattle as his potential dream destination. Mora has announced that he won't be taking the Washington job, however, what if Texas comes calling after the Baylor game? New Texas AD Steve Patterson has long coveted Mora as the potential successor to Mack Brown. The NFL also will make overtures towards the Bruins' head coach as well. Mora has stated he is staying put but what if the Longhorns or NFL makes an offer?
Braxton Miller will win the Heisman Trophy
Should my second prediction not come true and Ohio State happens to defeat Michigan State as expected, it means Braxton Miller likely will have had a fantastic game. He has led the Big Ten in total offense (295.0 ypg) and passing efficiency (164.31) in Big Ten games and is fourth nationally in rushing yards per game among quarterbacks (89.1 ypg). The Spartans' defense will be geared up to stop Carlos Hyde but will have no answer for No. 5 under center. More than 300 yards of offense and four total touchdowns on a team that is 25-0 over the last two seasons might be enough to upset the Jameis Winston Heisman apple cart.
Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. Any game, for that matter.
Some fall on the sabermetric side of things, while others like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.
With that in mind, Athlon Sports brings the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre stats from Week 13 of the NFL season:
13: Peyton Manning's NFL-record 4,000-yard seasons
Many believe that Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback of all-time. He is setting all types of Denver records and is on pace to top both the NFL single-season yards mark (Drew Brees, 5,476) and passing TDs (Tom Brady, 50). But after 403 yards and five touchdowns in the road win over Kansas City, Manning posted his NFL-record 13th 4,000-yard season. It was also his NFL-record eighth career game with at least five touchdown passes (tied with Drew Brees). What makes the 4,000-yard record so impressive is Drew Brees is a distant second with just seven such seasons. Barring injury, Brees will easily get his eighth such season this year but Manning is head and shoulders above the rest of the NFL world with 13 4,000-yard seasons.
1: Players in NFL history with back-to-back 200-yard receiving games
In the long and storied history of the NFL, a Cleveland Brown has done something no player in NFL history has ever done. On a team that can't seem to find a quarterback, Josh Gordon recorded at least 200 yards receiving in back-to-back games — the first time the feat has ever happened in NFL history. Gordon caught 14 passes for 237 yards and a TD last week against Pittsburgh and caught 10 passes for 261 yards and two scores this week against Jacksonville. But in true Cleveland fashion, the Browns lost both games.
3: NFL games with a 200-yard rusher and 200-yard receiver
Adrian Peterson rushed 35 times for 211 yards in the upset win over the Bears on Sunday. On the other side of the field, Alshon Jeffery caught 12 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns in the crushing loss for Chicago. It marked only the third time in NFL history that a game boasted both a 200-yard rusher and 200-yard receiver. Cleveland's Jamal Lewis (216) and Cincinnati's Chad Johnson (209) did it on Sept. 16, 2007 while Kansas City's Jamaal Charles (259) and Denver's Jabar Gaffney (213) did it on Jan. 3, 2010. Jeffery's 249 yards were a Bears single-game franchise record, breaking his own record set early this season against the Saints (218). It was Peterson's fifth career 200-yard rushing effort, tying him with Tiki Barber for second all-time. Only O.J. Simpson (6) has more 200-yard rushing games than All-Day. The Vikings are 4-1 in such games and 6-1 when Peterson tops 190 yards.
20: Career games Cam Newton has thrown and run for a TD
Cam Newton was at his finest in a blowout win over the lowly Tampa Bay Bucs this Sunday. He threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns in the air while rushing for 68 yards and scoring another time on the ground. It was the 20th time in his career in which he has thrown and run for a touchdown in the same game. Since entering the NFL in 2011, Newton is leading the NFL by a wide margin as Tom Brady (6) is second and Matthew Stafford, Andy Dalton and Mark Sanchez (5) are tied for third. More importantly, the Panthers won a franchise-record eighth consecutive game. In those eight games, Newton has done the pass-run touchdown combo five times.
39.2: Geno Smith's completion percentage over the last four games
The Jets have lost three straight after falling in ugly fashion to the Dolphins 23-3 in Week 13. And Geno Smith might be playing himself out of a starting job. He completed just 4 of 10 passes for 29 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, continuing a very disturbing accuracy trend for the rookie passer. Smith hasn't topped 42.1 percent in any of the Jets' last four games and has completed just 39.2 percent of his passes over the last four games (29-of-74). He has a total of 374 yards, six interceptions and not one touchdown pass during this span. The Jets are 1-3 during the last month and have played themselves out of the playoff picture.
28-15-1: Dallas' record on Thanksgiving
Some would say it is an unfair advantage that the Cowboys get a home game on a short week every single season during the Thanksgiving holiday. And some would be right. Dallas topped Oakland 31-24 in comeback fashion thanks to three DeMarco Murray rushing touchdowns for the 'Boys 28th Turkey Day win. Dallas trails only the Lions (34) for the most wins on Thanksgiving — Detroit also has the most Thanksgiving losses as well (37). Only the Ravens (2-0), Texans (1-0), Saints (1-0) and Colts (2-0-1) have played but never lost on Thanksgiving and only the Panthers and Jaguars have yet to play a single game on the November holiday. Of the teams that have played at least five times on Thanksgiving, only the Vikings (5-1), Eagles (4-1), 49ers (3-1-1), Dolphins and Titans (both 5-2) have a better winning percentage than Dallas' .636 on Thanksgiving.
19:0: Nick Foles' 2013 TD:INT ratio
Nick Foles has started six games this year. After going 21-of-34 for 237 yards and three touchdowns passes without an interception in a 24-21 win over Arizona, Foles moved to 5-1 as the starter and has led Phily to four straight wins. More impressively is how he is doing it. Foles has 19 touchdown passes and hasn't thrown an interception yet in 196 pass attempts this year. The only player in NFL history to start a season with more TD passes without an interception is Peyton Manning… this year… with 20. Chip Kelly's squad is No. 4 in the NFL in scoring offense and is tied with the Cowboys atop the NFC East.
185.2: Packers' rushing yards allowed per game over the last five
At the end of the season, Packers fans will point to a broken collarbone if Green Bay doesn't make the playoffs. However, the defense needs to join not having Aaron Rodgers as a primary culprit behind the Packers' 2013 demise. Entering the Week 8 Monday night game against the Bears, Green Bay was 5-2 and was allowing just 83.6 yards per game rushing on defense. Since (and counting) the Bears game, the Packers' defense has been gashed on the ground for 185.2 yards per game and is 0-4-1 during that span. The Green and Gold gave up a season-worst 241 yards rushing in the holiday blowout loss to the Lions — this just four days after allowing 232 yards to the Vikings. Rodgers may be back soon and he certainly helps all that ails Green Bay, but No. 12 doesn't play linebacker. If the Packers want to win the division, the front seven will have to play better football.
0: Times Andrew Luck has lost back-to-back games
The Colts bounced back after an ugly 40-11 loss in Arizona to sweep the division series with the Titans 22-14 in Indianapolis on Sunday. According to Elias, he has started the second-most games by an NFL quarterback since 1970 without losing back-to-back games to start a career (28), behind only Dan Marino (33). He is currently tied with Kordell Stewart but will obviously pass him in his next start. With the win, the Colts have all but locked up the AFC South title as Indy has a three-game lead and the tiebreaker over Tennessee. The Colts' magic number is one.
True college football fans like to examine and dissect statistics, whether it's a quarterback's completion percentage or a team's winning record on the road. We, however, love stats. With that in mind, we scoured the Big Ten to put together some of the strangest, most amazing, and just plain cool numbers from around the conference in Week 14:
226: Carlos Hyde's rivalry-high rushing yards against Michigan
No Ohio State running back has ever rushed for more yards in "The Game" than Hyde did against the Wolverines on Saturday. He rushed 27 times for 226 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown in what might have been the best game between "Ohio" and "That Team Up North" in the long and storied history of the rivalry. Quarterback Braxton Miller accounted for five total touchdowns, rushed for 150 yards and played electric football all game long as well. Urban Meyer has won 24 straight games to start his OSU coaching career, tying Larry Coker for fourth all-time in NCAA history (Pop Warner, 30; Fielding Yost 29; Walter Camp, 28). Michigan and Ohio State have played 110 times and 2013 might have been the best version to date.
603: Yards allowed by Ohio State to Michigan
The Game featured 1,129 yards of offense, three fighting ejections and the biggest two-point conversion attempt since Tom Osborne went for it in the 1984 Orange Bowl. But the most startling number is the 603 yards of offense from Michigan. The Wolverines were ranked 96th nationally in total offense but went up and down the field on the Buckeyes defense. The Wolverines had one scoring drive of at least 70 yards in its previous five games but had five such drives against Ohio State. The 603 yards, 451 passing yards and 41 points were the most allowed by the Buckeyes defense this season.
1966: The last time Michigan State was unbeaten in Big Ten play
With an ugly but convincing win over Minnesota at home, Mark Dantonio and the Spartans finished the year unblemished in Big Ten play. The 8-0 record is just the third such perfect Big Ten record for Michigan State and the first since 1966. The Spartans have allowed six points or less in five of their last six games and are leading the nation in total defense. Dantonio now has his sights set on the Rose Bowl, as his Spartans take on an Ohio State team that has won 24 straight games in the Big Ten Championship Game. Michigan State hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since 1987 — when Nick Saban was the defensive coordinator. The 1965 season is the only other perfect Big Ten record in MSU history.
208.92: Christian Hackenberg's QB rating against Wisconsin
The true freshman phenom saved his best for last against the ranked Badgers on the road in the regular-season finale. He went 21-of-30 for 339 yards — one shy of his career high — and a career-high four touchdowns with nary a turnover in the 31-24 win over Wisconsin. His 208.92 passer rating was by far by the best of his brief career, topping his 165.38 against UCF. What's more impressive is the defense he was facing was ranked in the top six nationally in total yards and points allowed per game. Hackenberg is a special talent with elite NFL upside. With a full offseason to continue his development and maturation following a successful freshman campaign, the sky could be the limit for the Nittany Lions in 2014. With two winning seasons in the face of heavy-handed NCAA sanctions, few coaches in the nation have done a better job over the last two years than Bill O'Brien.
297: Total tackles by Iowa's starting linebackers
James Morris, Anthony Hitchens and Christian Kirksey are a big reason why Iowa went from 4-8 to 8-4 in 2013. The trio is fifth (Hitchens, 102), eighth (Morris, 98) and ninth (Kirksey, 97) in the Big Ten in tackles and has combined for 297 total stops. All three were preseason Butkus Award candidates and all three delivered in a big way. In 2013, the group combined for 297 tackles, 31.5 tackles for a loss, 8.5 sacks, six interceptions and six forced fumbles. And they might have saved Kirk Ferentz' job.
10: Quarters Minnesota's offense hasn't scored a TD
You have to go all the way back to Nov. 9 to find an offensive touchdown for the Golden Gophers. Yes, Minnesota's eight-win season is one of the better stories nationally considering all that the Gophers' community has had to deal with,. However, the storybook ending simply didn't happen. Minnesota lost its final two games of the regular season to Wisconsin and Michigan State without scoring an offensive touchdown. And since it was held scoreless in the second half of the Penn State victory, that makes 10 straight quarters without an offensive touchdown for Goldie. The bowl game can't get here fast enough.
6: Straight seasons with four losses for Bo Pelini
Nebraska and its head coach finally melted down in the 38-17 drubbing to Iowa to end the already bizarre 2013 season. Pelini didn't handle himself well during or after the game and there is a reason he should be concerned. Pelini does have three trips to the conference championship game in six season but has now lost four games in all six of his seasons in Lincoln. There is still a bowl game left but even a win won't change the strange run of solid but mediocre four-loss teams for the embattled Pelini.
2: Combined Big Ten wins for Northwestern, Illinois and Purdue
Illinois defeated Purdue for its only conference win of the season and that was an ugly 20-16 affair in which the Illini broke a 20-game Big Ten losing streak. Not much was expected of Purdue either. So a combined 1-15 record for those two isn't all that surprising. But Northwestern was picked by many as a dark horse candidate to win the Big Ten Legends Division and was a top-25 team as late as Week 5. Certainly, injuries were a problem, but Pat Fitzgerald has to be concerned with his team's 1-7 performance in Big Ten play this fall. His team played well against Ohio State but wasn't that competitive in blowout losses to Wisconsin and Michigan State. For the Wildcats, 2013 was a major reality check.
Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. Any game, for that matter.
Some fall on the sabermetric side of things, while others like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.
With that in mind, Athlon Sports brings the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre stats from around the weekend of college football action:
1: Second it takes to win the SEC West
The officials put one second back on the clock — much to Auburn's chagrin — giving Alabama a 57-yard field goal attempt to win the SEC West. Except, the kick was short and Chris Davis returned it 109 unofficial yards for the win and the SEC West title in arguably the most dramatic finish to a college football game ... ever. One is also the number of times Nick Saban and Alabama have lost when rushing for at least 140 yards since the start of the 2008 season, a span of 61 games. Alabama gained 218 yards rushing while Auburn rushed for 296 yards — or 131 more yards than Alabama had allowed all season (165, Arkansas). It was just the fourth time in 77 games that Alabama has lost under Nick Saban while leading at halftime. Auburn now has wins over nine bowl teams and is 5-1 against teams ranked in the Sagarin Top 35.
42: Active record consecutive games with a turnover forced
Missouri forced a turnover against Texas A&M but that one forced fumble kept alive the nation's longest active streak of consecutive games with at least one turnover forced. For the 42nd straight game, the Tigers have taken the ball away from the opponent, and its a big reason why they finished 11-1. With an SEC East, SEC and BCS title hanging in the balance, Mizzou held Johnny Manziel and the Aggies to 379 yards and 5.4 yards per play — both of which would be season lows if not for LSU's performance against the reigning Heisman winner last weekend. In 2013, Gary Pinkel's team led the SEC in sacks (37), interceptions (18), takeaways (27), turnover margin (1.25) and tackles for loss (95).
2-14: Auburn, Missouri SEC record last year
According to @LVSuperBook back in August, Auburn was a 50-1 longshot to win the SEC while Missouri was 60-1. That's because these two programs went a combined 2-14 in SEC play last season. For all intents and purposes, these two Tigers were the 12th and 13th worst teams in the conference. Now, they will meet in Atlanta for an SEC crown and potential BCS national championship berth, depending on the Big Ten and ACC title games. Missouri wasn't supposed to be able to compete in the big, bad SEC and the 2-6 season last fall only strengthened the durability doubts of the Tigers. However, not only has Missouri bounced back to win the SEC East, but it did it in true SEC style — with a nasty, playmaking defense. Auburn, a team with a first-year head coach following a 0-8 campaign in the league, is rushing for more yards per game (318.3 ypg) than the entire offense averaged a year ago (305 ypg). On Saturday, a traditional SEC power that employs a zone-read spread option will face a former Big 12 team boasting the SEC's most physical and athletic defensive line.
49.1: Home scoring average for Arizona State
In crushing in-state rival Arizona 58-21 in the Territorial Cup on Saturday night, the Sun Devils clinched the best record in the Pac-12 (8-1) and earned the right to host the Pac-12 Championship Game. Not only does Arizona State avoid having to visit Palo Alto for the second time this year — a place where Stanford hasn't lost in 16 games — but it gets to play in Sun Devil Stadium — a place where ASU has been virtually unstoppable. The Sun Devils are sixth in the nation in home scoring average at 49.1 points per game. In six home games this year, Todd Graham's squad has scored at least 53 points five times.
226: Carlos Hyde rivalry-high rushing yards against Michigan
No Ohio State running back has ever rushed for more yards in "The Game" than Carlos Hyde did against the Wolverines on Saturday. He rushed 27 times for 226 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown in what might have been the best game between "Ohio" and "That Team Up North" in the long and storied history of the rivalry. Quarterback Braxton Miller accounted for five total touchdowns, rushed for 150 yards and played electric football all game long as well. Urban Meyer has won 24 straight games to start his OSU coaching career, tying Larry Coker for fourth all-time in NCAA history (Pop Warner, 30; Fielding Yost 29; Walter Camp, 28). Michigan and Ohio State have played 110 times and 2013 might have been the best version to date. The Game featured 1,129 yards of offense — 603 from Michigan's 96th ranked offense — three fighting ejections and the biggest two-point conversion attempt since Tom Osborne went for it in the 1984 Orange Bowl.
1966: The last time Michigan State was unbeaten in Big Ten play
With an ugly but convincing win over Minnesota at home, Mark Dantonio and the Spartans finished the year unblemished in Big Ten play. The 8-0 record is just the third such perfect Big Ten record for Michigan State and the first since 1966. The Spartans have allowed six points or less in five of the last six games and are leading the nation in total defense. Dantonio now sets his sights on the Rose Bowl as his Spartans take on Ohio State that has won 24 straight games in the Big Ten Championship Game. Michigan State hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since 1987 — when Nick Saban was the defensive coordinator. The 1965 season is the only other perfect Big Ten record in MSU history.
26-5: Connor Shaw's record as a starter
No South Carolina Gamecock has won more games than Connor Shaw. The gritty quarterback has set himself apart as the greatest signal caller to ever play at Williams-Brice Stadium. He began the season as the sixth-most efficient passer in SEC history (151.5) and all he has done is add to his underrated resume (156.2 in 2013). His 26 wins are the most in South Carolina history, and he set a Gamecocks record with 18 consecutive home wins (18-0). He went 3-0 against rival Clemson and helped his team defeat the hated Tigers five times in a row for the first time in rivalry history. He has rushed for 1,636 yards, 16 touchdowns and countless first downs on third down. He is seventh all-time in SEC history with a 64.7 career completion percentage and second only to Tee Martin (24) with 20 consecutive completions last year against Missouri. In terms of win percentage, Shaw is just behind names like Tim Tebow (86.6 percent) and Peyton Manning (86.7 percent) as one of the top 10 winningest SEC quarterbacks (83.8 percent). Shaw has 52 passing touchdowns and only 14 interceptions in his three seasons as the starter with just one interception and 23 scoring strikes in his last 13 games. He has to be considered as one of the league's all-time great leaders under center.
12-1: Mark Richt's record against Georgia Tech
Since taking over in Athens, Mark Richt has dominated the in-state rivalry with Georgia Tech titled "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate." Without starting quarterback Aaron Murray and after falling behind 20-0, Richt watched his team fight back over the final 30 minutes to force overtime. Richt has now won five straight and 12 out of 13 against the Yellow Jackets since taking over as the Georgia coach in 2001. Signal caller Hutson Mason, who got his first career start in place of Murray and will likely be the starter next fall, led the Bulldogs to a 41-14 run over the final 31 minutes and overtime. Todd Gurley scored three late touchdowns, and the defense forced one critical turnover.
1,068: Combined passing yards for Derek Carr and David Fales
Fresno State lost for the first time this year when San Jose State and David Fales topped the Bulldogs 62-52 on Friday. Fales was 37-of-45 for 547 yards and six touchdowns and didn't throw an interception. Derek Carr was 38-of-50 for 519 yards and had six touchdowns of his own for Fresno State. The 114 points is the second highest scoring game in college football this season behind Baylor's 73-42 win over West Virginia (115). The loss is costly for Tim DeRuyter as the Bulldogs are out of BCS bowl contention with just one loss.
1927-28: The last time Vanderbilt won eight games in back-to-back seasons
With yet another late turnover and another late comeback, Vanderbilt topped Wake Forest 23-21 to finish the regular season with an impressive 8-4 mark. It is the Commodores second straight season with at least eight wins for the first time in 85 years, dating back to 1927-28 (the last time Vandy posted back-to-back winning seasons was 1974-75). Coach James Franklin's teams have proven themselves in the most critical of times, winning their last nine November games and 10 of 12 all-time under Franklin during the season's final month. With three consecutive bowl berths, this is without question the most successful three-year run in program history.
The Big Ten regular season is in the books. Two teams went undefeated in the league, and those two teams will square off in the 2013 Big Ten Championship Game. Michigan State topped Minnesota with a suffocating defense to finish unbeaten in the league for the first time since 1966. Ohio State rode the star backfield tandem of Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde to defeat Michigan on the road in dramatic and historic fashion. But that wasn't the only excitment in the Big Ten — Penn State's seniors went out as winners, Northwestern finally got a win, Indiana officially improved two years in a row and Bo Pelini had a press conference for the ages.
Here are the Big Ten's Week 14 Superlatives:
Offensive Player of the Week: Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State
Running back Carlos Hyde gets honorable mention for his rivalry-high 226 yards and game-winning touchdown on the ground. But he also nearly gave the game away with a costly fumble while Braxton Miller accounted for five total touchdowns and 286 total yards. Miller rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns, consistently moving his team up and down the field against a solid Michigan rushing defense. Miller's third game with at least 144 yards rushing in a row and his ability to make big plays with both his legs and arm, make him the most dangerous weapon in the league and a potential late-season Heisman contender. If he does something special against Michigan State to push the Buckeyes the national title game on a 25-game winning streak, he would belong in New York despite missing two games and most of a third early in the season.
Defensive Player of the Week: James Morris, LB, Iowa
Ohio State's Ryan Shazier continued his campaign for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors with 14 tackles, 1.5 for loss and half of a sack against Michigan. But his unit gave up 603 yards and 41 points to the 96th-rated offense in the nation. Iowa's linebackers have been excellent all season and in a huge road win over Nebraska, Morris posted one of the best stat lines of the year. He had 10 tackles, his fourth interception of the year, four tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble. Cornhuskers workhorse back Ameer Abdullah didn't get to 100 yards for the first time in nine games.
It took a goal line stop on a two-point conversion with 30 seconds left in a one-point game, but Ohio State beat "That Team Up North" in wild and dramatic fashion. In one of the most exciting games ever played between the Midwestern rivals, Ohio State's dynamic duo on offense outlasted a gusty performance from Devin Gardner and the Michigan offense. The two heavyweights traded blows all game, but Urban Meyer got clutch drives when he needed them from his offense and a huge stop on a the winner-take-all two-point gamble by Brady Hoke. Meyer has won 24 straight games to start his Buckeyes career, tying him with Larry Coker for fourth all-time in NCAA history (Pop Warner, 30; Fielding Yost, 29; Walter Camp, 28). Michigan State and the nation's top defense awaits in Indianapolis with a trip to the Rose Bowl — and maybe more for OSU — on the line for both teams.
Freshman of the Week: Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State
|This Week
|Next Week
|12-0, 8-0
|W, Michigan, 42-41
|Michigan St
|11-1, 8-0
|W, Minnesota, 14-3
|Ohio St
|9-3, 6-2
|L, Penn St, 31-24
|8-4, 5-3
|W, Nebraska, 38-17
|8-4, 4-4
|L, Michigan St, 14-3
|8-4, 5-3
|L, Iowa, 38-17
7-5, 4-4
|W, Wisconsin, 31-24
|7-5, 3-5
|L, Ohio St, 42-41
|5-7, 3-5
|W, Purdue, 56-36
|5-7, 1-7
|W, Illinois, 37-34
|4-8, 1-7
|L, Northwestern, 37-34
|1-11, 0-8
|L, Indiana, 56-36
The Civil War, Apple Cup, Battle for the Victory Bell, Territorial Cup and Rumble in the Rockies always make the final weekend of Pac-12 action exciting. The in-state and crosstown battles make the Pac-12's rivalries underrated nationally. However, the most that was on the line in all but one game was simply bragging rights — even in the historic Stanford-Notre Dame bout. The Duel in the Desert was the only game that carried any weight as Arizona State was attempting to clinch home-field advantage in the Pac-12 title game.
And they did just that in impressive fashion.
Offensive Player of the Week: Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA
On the road against the league's No. 1 total defense and No. 2 scoring defense, Hundley was efficient and productive against his crosstown rival. He finished 18-of-27 passing for 208 yards with 80 more yards on the ground, two total touchdowns and no interceptions. The Bruins scored more points against the Trojans defense than USC had allowed since Lane Kiffin was the head coach. Both Tyler Gaffney (33 carries, 189 yards, TD) and Bishop Sankey (34 carries, 240 yards from scrimmage, TD) were impressive in rivalry games as well.
Defensive Player of the Wek: Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB, Oregon
In one of the more underrated rivalries in the nation, the All-America cornerback was charged with guarding Oregon State's Brandin Cooks, a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. Ekpre-Olomu had 12 solo tackles, three passes broken up and one critical interception in the one-point Civil War classic. He did allow 10 completions to Cooks (exactly his per game average) but he held him to 30 yards below his average and kept him out of the end zone for just the third time this fall.
Team of the Week: Arizona State
On a weekend where very little was settled other than in-state bragging rights, the Sun Devils proved that it may be the team of the year in the Pac-12. Arizona State scored 58 points in a thorough destruction of archival Arizona in the Territorial Cup. The win means the Sun Devils have the best record in the Pac-12 and will be the host for the Pac-12 Championship Game this weekend. It also means Stanford won't have a chance to extend its 16-game home winning streak, and ASU has a chance to extend its eight-game home streak. Todd Graham in just his second season in Tempe could return Arizona State to the Rose Bowl for the first time 1996, a game it hasn't won since 1986.
Coordinator of the Week: Noel Mazzone, UCLA
UCLA walked into the Coliseum and scored 35 points and gained 396 yards with relative ease against the top total defense in the Pac-12. Brett Hundley played flawlessly while leading Mazzone's offense up and down the field without turning the ball over. Only Arizona State, Stanford and Cal have rushed for more yards on the Trojans than UCLA's 188 and only the Sun Devils (62) scored more points on USC than the Bruins' 35.
Freshman of the Week: Myles Jack, LB, UCLA
Back right where he belongs making tackles on defense, Jack got back into the two-way swing of things in a huge road win over USC. After not playing at all on defense in a critical loss to Arizona State, Jim L. Mora put his electric freshman linebacker back on defense — for the most part. He posted three tackles and got just a pair of offensive touches, the fewest since becoming a two-way player. That said, he still made a big impact on both sides of the ball, scoring the first quarter's only points for either team on a three-yard plunge. Colorado's Addison Gilliam was also excellent in defeat. He posted 14 tackles and an interception in the loss to Utah.
Pac-12 Post-Week 14 Power Rankings:
|This Week
|Next Week
|10-2, 7-2
|W, Notre Dame, 27-20
|Arizona St
|10-2, 7-2
|W, Oregon St, 36-35
|10-2, 8-1
|W, Arizona, 58-21
|9-3, 6-3
|9-4, 6-3
|8-4, 5-4
|W, Washington St, 27-17
|6-6, 4-5
|L, Oregon, 36-35
|6-6, 4-5
|L, Washingon, 27-17
|7-5, 4-5
|L, Arizona St, 58-21
|5-7, 2-7
|W, Colorado, 24-17
|4-8, 1-8
|L, Utah, 24-17
|1-11, 0-9