Mandel’s Final Thoughts: After backup QBs bail out Penn State, Texas A&M, will they stick?

And now, 20 Final Thoughts from college football Week 9, which was light on suspense but full of storylines — most involving backup QBs.

1. For two weeks in September, six of the top seven teams in the AP poll were from the SEC. None made it to November with a perfect record in conference play.

But Texas A&M did.

2. It was only a few weeks ago that Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman returned after missing three games with a shoulder injury to shred then ninth-ranked Missouri 41-10. But Mike Elko’s decision to pull a struggling Weigman in the third quarter of Saturday night’s first-place SEC showdown with No. 8 LSU may go down as the turning point of an increasingly special season.

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The No. 14 Aggies (7-1, 5-0 SEC) trailed 17-7 when redshirt freshman Marcel Reed came in and led them on four consecutive touchdown drives while attempting only two passes (one went for 54 yards). LSU’s defense looked lost trying to account for Reed’s ability to pull and run (he had nine carries for 62 yards and three TDs). With the Tigers (6-2, 3-1) simultaneously melting down in every area — including three Garrett Nussmeier interceptions and a botched field goal snap — Texas A&M ran away with it, 38-23.

3. Texas A&M last started 7-1 in 2020, a simpler time when Jimbo Fisher was still viewed as an elite coach, the SEC still had divisions and the Playoff only had four teams. That year’s Aggies were never going to reach the SEC title game because their one loss was to fellow West Division member Alabama. This year’s Aggies can write their own ticket to Atlanta, which would be the program’s first berth since joining the league in 2012.

But first, Elko needs to decide his quarterback plan for next week’s game at South Carolina. Weigman earned his job, and Reed was a 56 percent passer in the three starts he made earlier this fall in place of Weigman. But it would be hard to send Reed back to the bench after that explosion.

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko: “This is a real program. It is not fake. It is not a politician running this program, talking fast and BSing everybody.”

Whoa.

— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) October 27, 2024

4. A backup QB also saved the day Saturday for No. 3 Penn State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) at Wisconsin (5-3, 3-2) after Drew Allar left with an apparent knee injury shortly before halftime. The Nittany Lions led 14-13 when his replacement, Beau Pribula, led fourth-quarter touchdown drives of 81 and 76 yards to secure a 28-13 victory. Safety Jaylen Reed changed the game with a 19-yard pick six in the third quarter, and Penn State stuffed Wisconsin’s top running back, Tawee Walker, for a loss on four of his eight second-half carries.

James Franklin’s quarterback decision for next week’s Ohio State showdown may be made for him if Allar isn’t healthy enough to go. But Penn State should now feel confident with either of its quarterbacks.

5. Franklin has not defeated Ohio State since 2016, and he has not had the higher-ranked team when the two met since 2017. But next week No. 3 Penn State will be hosting the fourth-ranked Buckeyes at arguably their most gettable state since that year.

In its first game since losing standout left tackle Josh Simmons for the season, Ohio State (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) managed just 64 rushing yards on 31 attempts in a 21-17 escape against Nebraska (5-3, 2-3). Making matters worse, Simmons’ replacement, Zen Michalski, who allowed two sacks in the first half, went down late in the game with an undisclosed injury of his own. Ohio State’s collectives may have spent $20 million on their roster, but we assume hardly any of it went to securing backup offensive linemen.

Ryan Day and Chip Kelly will need to come up with a Plan C over the next seven days or risk early elimination from the Big Ten championship game race.

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6. Indiana’s offense has gotten the majority of attention during the team’s historic start, but its defense entered Saturday pacing the Big Ten in yards per play allowed (4.35). Defense and special teams led the way in the No. 13 Hoosiers’ latest triumph, a 31-17 win over Washington (4-4, 2-3). D’Angelo Ponds had a 67-yard pick six and another interception deep in Huskies territory that led to a touchdown, and Myles Price’s 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter set up a game-sealing score. All of which helped Indiana (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) win without quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who had thumb surgery earlier in the week.

Eight games in, The Indiana Wrecking Machine has still not trailed for a minute this season, the first team to do so since 1998 Kansas State, per ESPN. Hurry up and put these guys in the top 10, voters.

7. No. 5 Texas (7-1, 3-1 SEC) rebounded from its humbling Georgia loss with a 27-24 win at pesky Vanderbilt (5-3, 2-2) in which the Longhorns led for the entire last three quarters. (Vandy scored its last touchdown with 46 seconds left.) Quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns but still is not moving around like he did prior to the oblique injury that sidelined him for two games. Though it’s hard to fault him for two tipped interceptions, he held the ball for too long on three of Vandy’s four sacks. Nothing alarming enough to light the Arch Manning bat signal, but worth keeping an eye on over the coming weeks.

8. No. 15 Alabama (6-2, 3-2 SEC) cleansed itself — eventually — with a 34-0 shutout of No. 21 Missouri (6-2, 2-2). Its offense looked disjointed again early in the game, but after Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook left in the second quarter, the Crimson Tide defense repeatedly set up the offense with short fields, intercepting Drew Pyne (of Notre Dame and Arizona State fame) three times in four possessions. Alabama wound up running for 277 yards and four touchdowns, an encouraging sign for Kalen DeBoer’s offense, which needed to give more help to quarterback Jalen Milroe. He passed for a modest 215 yards but played free of turnovers for the first time in five games.

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9. No. 24 Navy arrived at MetLife Stadium having committed just two turnovers during its 6-0 start. But facing No. 12 Notre Dame, the Midshipmen (6-1) lost five fumbles and threw an interception in a humbling 51-14 loss. It was their most in a game since 2002. Notre Dame (7-1) also outrushed Navy, which came in with the No. 4 rushing offense: 265 yards on 40 attempts vs. 222 yards on 43 carries. Coordinator Al Golden’s Notre Dame defense is allowing just 12.1 points per game, and quarterback Riley Leonard (13 of 21 for 178 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions), has had his two most efficient passing performances in his last three games.

The Irish have an off week before a prime-time home game against one-win Florida State.

10. The score bug said Oregon–Illinois was a top-20 matchup, but it was evident from the first series that the top-ranked Ducks (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) — which led 35-3 at halftime and won 38-9 — were on a different plane athletically than the No. 20 Illini (6-2, 3-2). Quarterback Dillon Gabriel (18 of 26 for 291 yards, three touchdowns, one interception) spread the ball around nicely and threw two 30-plus-yard TDs. Anyone who wondered how Oregon would “adjust” to the Big Ten should note it not only beat Ohio State but also has defeated its other four conference foes by a combined score of 138-32.

11. Friday night’s Boise State-UNLV game was the first of its kind: A Group of 5 game with Playoff stakes for both teams.

The largest home crowd in UNLV history (42,228) saw the 17th-ranked Broncos (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) fall behind late in the third quarter but win 29-24. The Rebels’ defense keyed on Boise State star Ashton Jeanty all night and held him to a season-low 3.9 yards per carry (though he still reached 128 yards on 33 carries). But the Broncos showed they’re more than just Jeanty. Quarterback Maddux Madsen made plays with his arm and his feet, and the defense notched six sacks.

Boise, which took No. 1 Oregon to the wire in Week 2, is the clear frontrunner for the berth bound for the Group of 5’s highest ranked conference champion, but it will still likely need to win the Mountain West. That may mean a rematch with UNLV (6-2, 2-1).

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12. Miami and Florida State once held near-annual clashes where both teams were national title contenders. This year, they could not be on more opposite ends of the spectrum. The sixth-ranked Hurricanes (8-0, 4-0 ACC) waltzed to a 36-14 win over the hapless Seminoles (1-7, 1-6 ACC). Miami got a season-high 148 yards and two touchdowns from running back Damien Martinez.

With that, Florida State is guaranteed its fifth losing season in the past seven, an astounding feat considering the Noles went 10-3 and 13-1 in the other two seasons. An ESPN graphic during the game said FSU was the first team since 1956 Maryland to go from an undefeated regular season one year to a 1-6 record the next. But even those Terps stopped the bleeding in their eighth game with a 6-6 tie.

13. With last week’s starting quarterback Jack Tuttle injured, Michigan coach Sherrone Moore turned back to Week 1 starter Davis Warren for the Wolverines’ rivalry game against Michigan State — and it actually worked. Warren (13 of 19 for 123 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions) was no Tom Brady, but he did turn in the most efficient passing performance of Michigan’s season in a 24-17 win over the hated Spartans (4-4, 2-3).

Michigan State won 10 of 14 meetings with the Wolverines from 2008 to ’21, but Michigan (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) has now won three straight and five of the past seven.

14. The first-ever Big 12 Holy War on Nov. 9 will pit two rivals going in opposite directions. No. 11 BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) looks better by the week. The Cougars traveled to UCF (3-5, 1-4) on Saturday and ran for 252 yards in an easy 37-24 win. Conversely, preseason Big 12 favorite Utah (4-4, 1-4) has imploded over the last month. In their first game following offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig’s in-season departure, the Utes suffered their fourth defeat, this one the most humbling yet. Quarterback Brandon Rose threw an interception with 1:55 left that allowed Houston (3-5, 1-3) to drive for a walk-off 43-yard field goal to win 17-14.

Both teams are off next week before their first meeting in three years and first with both as power-conference members.

15. Virginia Tech (5-3, 3-1 ACC) was an early-season disappointment, starting 2-3, but has quietly rolled off three consecutive lopsided conference wins. The Hokies’ latest victory, 21-6 over visiting Georgia Tech (5-4, 3-3), was not their finest performance offensively, but their defense flummoxed Yellow Jackets quarterback Zach Pyron to the point where coach Brent Key pulled him for redshirt freshman Aaron Philo. Virginia Tech will need more out of star running back Bhayshul Tuten (17 carries, 79 yards) down the stretch if it hopes to make a late push toward the ACC championship.

16. Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord was having a perfectly fine season until he ran into undefeated Pitt’s “Sharks” on Thursday. Three Panthers linebackers (who gave themselves that nickname in training camp) notched pick sixes in the first half of No. 19 Pitt’s 41-13 blowout of the Orange (5-2, 2-2). McCord threw five picks on the night, allowing the Panthers (7-0, 3-0 ACC) to run away with it despite themselves doing very little on offense.

Pitt, off to its best start since 1982, next faces No. 22 SMU (7-1, 4-0 ACC), which managed to keep its conference record unblemished despite committing six turnovers Saturday night at Duke (6-2, 2-2). The Mustangs prevailed 28-27 in overtime when Manny Diaz opted to go for two and the Blue Devils did not get it.

Of the four remaining ACC teams with undefeated league records — Miami, Clemson, Pitt and SMU — only the Hurricanes face none of the other three in the regular season.

17. Oklahoma’s offensive line has long been a strength under position coach Bill Bedenbaugh, but it is a disaster right now. A week after allowing a school-record nine sacks against South Carolina, the Sooners (4-4, 1-4 SEC) one-upped themselves and allowed 10 in a 26-14 loss at No. 18 Ole Miss (6-2, 2-2). The Sooners, which were still ranked as recently as two weeks ago, get Maine this week but will have to upset Missouri, Alabama or LSU to get bowl-eligible.

18. Washington State reached the 7-1 mark for the first time since the Mike Leach/Gardner Minshew 2018 season with its 29-26 win at San Diego State (3-4). John Mateer, the most exciting quarterback most of the public has never watched, threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, ran 21 times for 42 yards and caught a two-point conversion on the Cougs’ version of the Philly Special. Wazzu has not faced as strong a schedule as it did in the old Pac-12, but its only loss was at Boise State.

Life post-Pac-12 has not been as kind for Oregon State (4-4), which got drubbed 44-7 at former conference peer Cal (4-4), which is winless in the ACC. It was the third straight defeat for the Beavers, including to 3-5 Nevada. First-year coach Trent Bray has his work cut out rebuilding that roster this offseason.

19. While Boise State-UNLV was the G5 focal point this weekend, watch out for Tulane, which has been largely forgotten since losing to Kansas State and Oklahoma in September. The Green Wave (6-2, 4-0 AAC), which built a 45-24 lead against North Texas (5-3, 2-2) and won 45-37, look like the team to beat in the AAC. They’ve scored 40-plus in four of their past five games. Sophomore running back Makhi Hughes ran for a career-high 195 yards Saturday, his third straight 100-yard game and fifth of the season.

Tulane, one of three undefeated teams in conference play along with Army and Navy, must now turn around and visit 3-5 Charlotte on Halloween night, after the 49ers nearly knocked off 7-1 Memphis on Saturday.

20. Finally, for all the sound bites, controversies and KFC commercials, Deion Sanders’ Colorado tenure is officially a success. The Buffs (6-2, 4-1) have reached six wins for the first time since 2016 following a 34-23 win over Cincinnati in which the sensational Travis Hunter caught nine passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns and broke up four passes.

Colorado will make a bowl for just the third time since 2008, which is exactly what the school hired Deion to do. But at this point, it should aim higher. The Buffs do not face any of the Big 12’s three ranked teams — BYU, Iowa State or Kansas State — down the stretch. They do, however, face Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State, a combined 2-13 in Big 12 play.

Colorado playing in the Big 12 title game with a CFP berth on the line is no longer an unrealistic scenario. Prepare accordingly.

(Photo of Beau Pribula: John Fisher / Getty Images)