We have been absolutely spoiled over the past few weeks of the 2022 college football season. By comparison, Week 9 felt a bit ho-hum.
The biggest games of the day proved to be a bit disappointing. Two top-five teams in Georgia and Ohio State struggled briefly in division showdowns before pulling away, though we did see two top-10 teams go down as No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Wake Forest were absolutely obliterated in upset losses.
The Bryan Harsin saga at Auburn also finally came to an end as the school pulled the plug on the second-year coach’s tenure just 21 games in.
As we prepare to enter the final month of the regular season, here are the winners and losers from Week 9.
Winner: Can anyone stop Tennessee?
Josh Heupel is simply operating on another plane of existence right now. Tennessee’s offense looked unstoppable once again in a 44-6 demolition of Kentucky, but the real story was its defense, which forced three interceptions from 2023 NFL draft prospect Will Levis.
We know how good the offense is. With receivers like Jaylin Hyatt, Bru McCoy and Cedric Tillman — who is returning to the fold after injuries limited him earlier in the year — you can count on one hand how many teams have athletes in the defensive backfield capable of slowing it down.
One of those teams is Georgia, who the Vols face next week in the de facto SEC East championship game. The Bulldogs’ five-star-loaded secondary will undoubtedly be the Vols’ toughest battle to this point (and possibly all season), but Georgia’s defense has looked vulnerable at points and did once again in a win over Florida that got a bit too close for comfort in the third quarter.
I have a feeling that there will be a new clear national title favorite on Saturday night after the Vols go into Sanford Stadium and knock off the defending national champions.
Loser: Auburn puts Bryan Harsin out of his misery
In a long-expected move, Auburn fired Harsin on Monday following a 41-27 home loss to Arkansas. Though it looked like the Tigers may wait until the end of the season to make the decision, the school finalized a deal to hire Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen to the same position earlier the same day.
It seems the new brass has opted for a change sooner rather than later.
To put it plainly, the Harsin era on the plains was bizarre from the jump. Coming from his alma mater Boise State, Harsin had no SEC experience. His main tie to the region was the one year he spent at Arkansas State before replacing Chris Petersen in Boise.
He finished with a 9-12 overall record (4-9 in the SEC), but the team was in the middle of a rough stretch. It was 1-9 in its previous 10 Power 5 contests, and it was a Missouri goal-line fumble away from 0-10.
Harsin narrowly made it to Year 2, as he survived a booster-led coup in the spring after a disappointing 6-7 finish in Year 1. When Auburn parted ways with Allen Greene, the athletic director who hired and protected Harsin, the writing seemed to be on the wall.
Recruiting has faltered under Harsin, and this program has undoubtedly been set back by his regime, the brevity of which was unmatched by even Chad Morris’ disastrous 22-game run at Arkansas.
Still, it’s a job in the upper half of the SEC with a lot of resources at its disposal, and I assume it will be a desirable opening for a number of coaches — assuming Cohen provides the proper assurances that he can keep the boosters at bay as the program rebuilds.
Winner: Ohio State's J.T. Tuimoloau
It takes a special performance to crack this list as an individual player, especially on the defensive line. But that’s exactly what the sophomore deserves after playing out of his mind in the 44-31 comeback win over Penn State.
Tuimoloau, a former top-five recruit, had a breakout performance and proved indispensable in the Buckeyes’ win. He finished the game with six tackles (three for loss), two sacks, a pass breakup (which led to an interception), a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two interceptions himself, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
My goodness. Have an afternoon, young man.
This Buckeyes team hasn’t been tested much this season, but it looks like it could be the best team Ryan Day has had in Columbus to this point. If Saturday’s game was an announcement of Tuimoloau’s arrival, this team could be truly scary.
Loser: Anyone who watched a minute of Miami-UVA
There’s really nothing I can do to put a positive spin on this one for either team. This was probably the worst game you’ll see played between Power Five opponents this season.
Miami survived against the Cavaliers on the road in four overtimes. No one crossed the goal line in regulation in this game as the fourth quarter ended with the game tied at six. After trading field goals in the first two overtime periods, Miami finally ended the slog of a game during the dueling two-point conversion segment.
Despite winning the game, it feels like Miami comes out of this one looking worse. UVA is in the middle of a heavy rebuild, while the Hurricanes roster is simply too talented to be playing the way it is in what is likely the worst division in college football.
Miami sits at 4-4 with this remaining schedule: home vs. Florida State, at Georgia Tech, at Clemson and home vs. Pittsburgh. You tell me, are there two wins there?
Winner: North Carolina, who is clearly the Least Bad Team in the Coastal
You’d be forgiven for writing off North Carolina entering this season. The Tar Heels lost quarterback Sam Howell after disappointing in what was supposed to be a breakout year for the team in 2021.
UNC sits at 7-1, which, admittedly, loses a bit of its luster as a result of playing in the aforementioned worst division in college football. Still, Drake Maye is a promising freshman quarterback, and after pulling away late in a win over Pittsburgh, UNC is the clear favorite to win the Coastal.
The Tar Heels’ only slip-up came against Notre Dame, which doesn’t look quite as bad as it did at the time. The Irish remain inconsistent, but they’ve looked better in recent weeks.
I’m not saying this team is poised to knock off Clemson or anything, but it’s been a much better year in Chapel Hill than anyone expected.
Loser: A shell-shocked Oklahoma State
You almost never see top-10 teams take a beating against lower-ranked opponents the way the Cowboys did in Saturday’s embarrassing 48-0 loss to Kansas State. Even without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez, the Wildcats rolled against an OSU team that had absolutely no answer.
I’m struggling to even comprehend this game, in all honesty. Not because KSU isn’t good — after all, it could be heading toward a rematch with TCU in the Big 12 title game — but simply because no team as talented as the Cowboys should lose the way they did.
Mike Gundy has achieved a lot of consistency with this program but given TCU’s emergence and the overall parity in the league, Oklahoma State doesn’t look as well poised to enter the new Big 12 as the top dog — certainly not as much as it did before the season.
Quick Hitters - Winners
- East Carolina: The Pirates were once among the top Group of Five programs, but things have fallen off quite a bit over the last decade. ECU seems to be on its way back up with coach Mike Houston and is 6-3 after a road win against BYU.
- Notre Dame: Considering the way the season began for Notre Dame, 5-3 doesn’t feel too bad for this team in Marcus Freeman’s first season. Saturday’s win at Syracuse was confidence-building, and the Fighting Irish have a big opportunity when it hosts Clemson on Saturday.
- Oklahoma: The Sooners won again coming off a bye on the road against Iowa State. It also executed one of the slickest fake field goals you’ll see.
- Baylor: The Bears haven’t had a great follow-up to last year’s Big 12 title season, but a blowout win over Texas Tech gives them a second-straight win before they hit the road to play the Sooners.
- UConn: A win against a Power Five team? For OUR UConn Huskies? Boston College is horrendous, but the Huskies beat an ACC team by double digits. Jim Mora Jr. is 4-5 in Year 1 with a chance to bring this team to a bowl game.
- Kansas State: The Wildcats look absolutely for real after the demolition of Oklahoma State, and this team may get another shot at TCU, this time at full strength.
- Illinois: It’s wild how quickly Bret Bielema has made this the team to beat in the Big Ten West. Illinois won big against Nebraska on Saturday and looks to be heading for a date with the Ohio State-Michigan victor in Indianapolis.
- Iowa: Iowa scored 33 points! In a football game! Congrats, Hawkeyes. Northwestern is terrible, but it’s something.
- UCLA: The Bruins playoff hopes were likely shattered last week, but they had a nice bounce-back with a convincing 38-13 win over Stanford at the Rose Bowl.
- Tulane: The Green Wave had the week off, but with UCF snapping Cincinnati’s 19-game winning streak in American play, Tulane is in sole possession of first place in the conference and controls its destiny in the New Year’s Six race.
Quick Hitters - Losers
- Wake Forest: In a disastrous loss for the Demon Deacons, quarterback Sam Hartman had six turnovers in one quarter, giving up 35 points off giveaways to Louisville. This game may have saved Scott Satterfield’s job, as the Cardinals have now won four in a row.
- Georgia Tech: After last week’s loss to Virginia and a blowout loss to Florida State on Saturday, interim coach Brent Key has likely lost whatever chance he had of keeping this job full-time. It’s time to hit the reset button in Atlanta.
- Boston College: You should never lose to UConn as an ACC team. Things have not worked out for BC this season, but this is a new low.
- Florida: The Gators brought it within one score in the third quarter against Georgia, but they were ultimately unable to contain superstar tight end Brock Bowers. Billy Napier is 1-4 in SEC play in his initial campaign, the program’s worst start since a winless 1979 season.
- UMass: This is decidedly the worst program in the FBS right now. UMass only has so many games on the schedule that look winnable, and it dropped one of them on Saturday against New Mexico State. The Minutemen are still looking for their first FBS win of the year.
- South Carolina: Well, the Gamecocks lasted one week in the top 25, at least. Their brief stay ended after a struggling Missouri team beat them by two scores at Williams-Brice Stadium.
- Kentucky: The Wildcats aren’t bad, by any means, but the blowout loss to Tennessee showed this team is clearly a tier behind the best two teams in the division.
- Pac-12 Officials: Officiating on the West Coast have been a common punching bag, but there was a pretty egregious mistake at the end of the first half of USC-Arizona. The Trojans missed an opportunity to score because the officials didn’t stop the clock to set the ball after a first down. USC won by eight, but if the Wildcats pulled the upset, I’m sure you would’ve heard a lot more about this gaffe.
#USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley was Rightfully Heated at the End of the 1st Half 🤬
Clock started running after 1st down before ball was set by refs
🎥 @On3USC pic.twitter.com/DbsMFbazIM
— Scott Schrader (@Scott_Schrader) October 30, 2022
