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ESPN staff
Drama highlighted a Week 10 of assemblage football, and portion Week 11's slate doesn't rather supply the firepower of 2 top-10 matchups and Clemson's travel to Notre Dame, there's inactive plentifulness connected the line.
If Alabama wants to support immoderate anticipation live to marque the SEC rubric game, it volition person to bushed Lane Kiffin and the one-loss Rebels successful Oxford. The Crimson Tide participate the important SEC West matchup with 2 losses, thing typically unthinkable successful mid-November nether Nick Saban.
The adjacent measurement for the upstart No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs is simply a travel to Austin, wherever they've beaten Texas 4 of the past 5 times they've headed south. The Horned Frogs clinched a berth successful the Big 12 rubric crippled already but volition person to support a cleanable grounds rolling if they privation to enactment successful the College Football Playoff mix.
Speaking of the playoff, No. 3 Michigan hosts Nebraska, opening arsenic a 31-point favorite. The Wolverines volition apt usage the crippled arsenic a tune-up earlier hosting a ranked Illinois squad and a travel to Columbus for the biggest crippled of the season.
Out west, Oregon hopes to support its playoff hopes live arsenic rival Washington heads to Eugene looking to play spoiler. And UCF and Tulane conscionable successful 1 of the biggest Group of 5 matchups this season.
These are the biggest storylines up of Week 11's action.
No. 9 Alabama (7-2, 4-2) astatine No. 11 Ole Miss (8-1, 4-1): Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS
This isn't a terribly analyzable crippled to fig out. Ole Miss wants to bash 1 happening successful peculiar connected offense: tally the football. The question is, tin Alabama halt it?
On the look of it, the reply mightiness beryllium yes. The Crimson Tide are giving up the third-fewest rushing yards per crippled successful the SEC this play (104.0). But excavation deeper, and 37.6% of unreserved attempts person resulted successful 5 oregon much yards gained. And, removing sacks, opposing quarterbacks are averaging 5.32 yards per rush.
During Saturday's nonaccomplishment astatine LSU, backmost Jayden Daniels ran for 95 yards and a touchdown. A fewer weeks earlier, during Alabama's different nonaccomplishment to Tennessee, Hendon Hooker ran for 56 yards.
Don't deliberation for a 2nd that Ole Miss manager Lane Kiffin didn't announcement that. His quarterback, Jaxson Dart, is plentifulness susceptible successful the tally game, totaling 473 yards connected the crushed this season.
What's more, Dart has 2 large moving backs to play off. Quinshon Judkins, the bruiser and pb back, has 1,036 yards rushing. Zach Evans, a much explosive change-of-pace back, has 680 yards.
Alabama manager Nick Saban called the Rebs "one of the champion moving teams successful the country." They're 3rd nationally with 267.4 yards per game.
"They bash a truly bully occupation with enactment multiples, motions, trying to get the defence to adjust," Saban said. "They've got truly bully moving plays, but they're moving those aforesaid plays retired of each those antithetic multiples, which is trying to enactment antithetic players successful antithetic positions, truthful you marque a mistake, you person a spread unfastened and they deed a play connected you.
"So this is 1 of those wherever you person to person 11 guys connected the aforesaid leafage doing the close things oregon they're going to find a mode to get to you."
Ole Miss' 83 runs of 10 oregon much yards is the astir successful the FBS -- and 13 much than the second-ranked teams, North Texas and Oregon.
Further complicating matters is the question of information for Alabama, which has 2 losses earlier the Iron Bowl for the archetypal clip since 2010.
Unless LSU implodes and loses some of its remaining SEC games -- unranked matchups connected the roadworthy astatine Arkansas and Texas A&M -- the Tide won't scope the SEC title game.
"I cognize radical person benignant of written america disconnected to immoderate degree," Saban said, "but astatine the aforesaid time, I deliberation we person a batch of pridefulness arsenic an organization. I deliberation we request to get focused connected what it takes to triumph games." -- Alex Scarborough
No. 4 TCU (9-0, 6-0) astatine No. 18 Texas (6-3, 4-2): Saturday, 7:30 ET connected ABC
The Horned Frogs rotation into Austin successful 1 of the biggest games successful schoolhouse history, the aforesaid week they landed astatine No. 4 successful the College Football Playoff rankings.
Yet, they're a 7-point underdog to the Longhorns, the astir points the Horns person been favored by implicit a top-five squad since the 1978 FBS/FCS split.
"We haven't beaten a top-five squad present astatine [Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium] since 1999, truthful it's a large accidental for america to hopefully hole good and play good for our fans," Texas manager Steve Sarkisian said. "I'm looking guardant to an electrical and a large intimidating environment."
Texas jumped retired to large first-half leads astatine Oklahoma State and Kansas State and ended up losing to the Cowboys and holding connected against the Wildcats. That's been an contented since the opening of past season, arsenic the Longhorns person blown 4 14-point leads implicit that time, astir successful the FBS. Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs are 4-0 this twelvemonth erstwhile trailing successful the 2nd half, tied with 2010 Auburn and 2012 Ohio State arsenic the lone teams to spell 4-0 oregon amended successful that lawsuit successful the past 15 seasons.
The Texas defence (including peculiar adjunct Gary Patterson, the erstwhile TCU coach) volition look a situation with the big-play Frogs. TCU has 13 touchdowns of 40-plus yards this season, the astir successful the FBS and the astir successful a play successful astatine slightest 15 seasons. The Texas D, meanwhile, has allowed conscionable 7 plays of 40 yards each year, tied for 3rd fewest successful the Big 12.
The matchup besides features the apical 2 rushers successful the league, Bijan Robinson (1,129 yards) and Kendre Miller (1,009). Robinson leads the FBS successful missed tackles forced with 68, portion Miller is 4th with 55.
The crippled is simply a monolithic accidental for Texas to enactment successful the Big 12 race. ESPN Analytics gives Texas a 73% accidental to marque the Big 12 rubric crippled with a triumph and conscionable a 39% accidental with a loss. TCU, meanwhile, would clinch a spot with a triumph and autumn to 86% with a loss.
It's besides a immense connection accidental for TCU successful the College Football Playoff race. The Horned Frogs ranked seventh successful the archetypal College Football Playoff ranking, starring to interest that their "brand" wasn't getting the respect of the committee, earlier bumping up to 4th this week aft Clemson and Alabama losses. A triumph astatine Texas would spell a agelong mode toward earning much respect.
"I bash deliberation there's ever other information erstwhile you play against the big-brand team, whether it's Oklahoma, whether it's Texas," TCU manager Sonny Dykes said. "They've got a batch of Twitter followers, TikTok followers, each that." -- Dave Wilson
0:49
Heather Dinich discusses wherefore TCU has to triumph retired if it wants a accidental astatine the playoff.
Nebraska (3-6, 2-4) astatine No. 3 Michigan (9-0, 6-0): Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN App
Michigan's discourtesy this play has gone done moving backmost Blake Corum, who is tied for the astir rushing touchdowns among FBS backs with 16.
Corum is No. 4 successful unreserved yards with 1,187, No. 1 successful rushing archetypal downs and No. 11 successful runs for 10 oregon much yards this season. With 17 full touchdowns this season, Corum has accounted for astir 40% of Michigan's violative touchdowns.
"He's decidedly having an MVP play for america present astatine Michigan. Be hard to ideate that helium wouldn't, the mode he's going, triumph the Heisman Trophy," manager Jim Harbaugh said. "Leading successful touchdowns, starring points scored, consistently truly bully each game, and there's been rather a fewer backs who person won the Heisman Trophy. And I would stake my motortruck that Blake Corum is connected gait oregon up of galore of those moving backs that person won that Heisman Trophy."
Corum has tally his mode into the Heisman conversation, and Nebraska present has the situation of slowing him down. Nebraska is allowing an mean of 182.9 unreserved yards per game, which ranks 108th among each FBS programs.
The squad is allowing 4.51 yards per rush, which ranks 99th, and has allowed 18 rushing touchdowns this season, ranked 106th among each teams.
Interim manager Mickey Joseph knows the squad volition person its hands afloat with Corum this play and volition request to absorption connected stopping the run.
"He is astir apt 1 of the apical backs successful the country. I deliberation helium is getting Heisman votes close now," Joseph said. "If you ticker the film, helium runs debased to the ground, helium runs with unit and helium has a truly bully burst. When helium sees it, helium sees it and helium bursts done the hole. He is simply a truly bully shot player."
Joseph has had the unenviable task of keeping focused a squad whose caput manager was fired conscionable 3 games into the season. He not lone has to hole the squad for its play hostile but besides has to marque definite it continues to combat done the extremity of the season.
"We speech to them astir having a batch of pride, astir not being broken, and to proceed to fight, and that we started thing and we are going to decorativeness it against adversity, but we person to bow our cervix and we person to play football," Joseph said. "That is the lone mode you tin attack it, but similar I said, it is simply a bully group. It is simply a bully radical of kids, and they are not going to quit." -- Tom VanHaaren
No. 25 Washington astatine No. 6 Oregon (8-1, 6-0): Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, Fox
The arc of the Ducks' play has taken connected a storybook approach. After getting welcomed into the twelvemonth with a blowout astatine the hands of Georgia, that vale has rapidly turned into an eight-week-long peak: 8 wins, zero losses and astatine slightest 40 points scored successful each game. And, speech from that disappointing season-opening performance, the Ducks person handled the 2 different top-25 opponents they've faced successful UCLA and BYU with comparative ease. Washington sneaked into the apical 25 this past week, making it the 3rd ranked hostile the Ducks person welcomed to Eugene and giving this week's matchup a spot much foodstuff than expected, particularly fixed the games Oregon is facing successful the adjacent future.
"This is 1 of those weeks that you don't person to springiness immoderate other substance for our players to beryllium excited and acceptable to roll," Oregon caput manager Dan Lanning said earlier this week. "They each recognize the value of this game, however important it is, and they're decidedly acceptable to attack."
Any interest with Oregon looking up to large games against Utah and rival Oregon State won't faze his team, according to Lanning. If anything, it appears that each the waking up the Ducks needed happened successful Week 1, and they person not taken immoderate hostile lightly since. It helps that backmost Bo Nix has looked the portion of a Heisman contender, not lone throwing for astir 2,500 yards and 22 touchdowns but besides being much businesslike and little turnover-prone. The Huskies' defence volition necessitate different stellar show aft 2 casual weeks against Cal and Colorado.
Of course, a stumble against the Huskies -- who person looked overmuch amended of precocious and are inactive led by 1 of the amended quarterbacks this play successful Michael Penix Jr. -- could jeopardize not conscionable a league title for Oregon but a playoff tally too. To perceive Lanning speech astir it, though, the Ducks are hitting their stride astatine the cleanable time.
"Obviously coming connected from Game 1 wasn't the effect we wanted," Lanning said of however the docket has shaken out. "But since then, our players person done a truly bully occupation of having large resoluteness and attacking what we tin get amended astatine each week, and that truly hasn't changed."
Should the Ducks support winning, the Georgia nonaccomplishment volition proceed to look little and little similar a blemish and much similar the spark they needed. -- Paolo Uggetti
No. 22 UCF (7-2, 4-1) astatine No. 17 Tulane (8-1, 5-0): 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
A twelvemonth aft stumbling to a 2-10 season, Tulane has enactment unneurotic 1 of the astir singular turnarounds successful assemblage shot this play -- not lone ranked successful the CFP for the archetypal clip but besides 5-0 and unsocial successful archetypal spot successful the AAC for the archetypal clip arsenic well.
Its location crippled Saturday against UCF volition astir surely person an interaction not lone connected who plays for a league title but besides who gets the coveted Group of 5 spot successful the New Year's Six. UCF and Tulane are the lone 2 Group of 5 teams successful the latest CFP rankings.
A UCF triumph would springiness the Knights the borderline to play for the American championship, arsenic they would person beaten some Tulane and Cincinnati head-to-head. Plus they decorativeness retired the play with Navy and USF, 2 teams with losing records.
A Tulane triumph would support it undefeated and atop the standings, but it has a overmuch harder decorativeness to its play -- with games near against 2 winning teams, SMU and Cincinnati. With a fistful of teams each successful the premix to play successful the league title game, determination are nary clinching scenarios connected the array for this week.
For his part, Tulane manager Willie Fritz has tried not to hype up what the crippled against UCF means with his team. Nor has helium tried to overplay the humanities value of wherever Tulane is headed down the stretch. But marque nary mistake, this is simply a immense accidental that awaits.
This matchup against UCF marks the archetypal clip a ranked Tulane squad hosts different ranked squad since Nov. 26, 1949, erstwhile No. 10 Tulane hosted No. 13 LSU ... successful an SEC matchup. Tulane has mislaid 60 consecutive games against AP-ranked teams, the longest streak successful the canvass epoch (since 1936).
"I conscionable deliberation it's my occupation to effort to person our guys arsenic prepared arsenic they tin perchance beryllium and talking astir what-ifs, and this, that and the different happening -- I permission that to different radical to do," Fritz said during his quality league this week. "We conscionable privation to spell 1-0."
Tulane has had occurrence this play acknowledgment to its defense, which ranks No. 11 successful the federation successful scoring defence (16.9 points per game) and No. 16 successful full defence (307.3 rushing yards per game). Against UCF, the Green Wave, successful each likelihood, are preparing for 2 quarterbacks.
UCF manager Gus Malzahn has not said whether Mikey Keene oregon John Rhys Plumlee volition commencement Saturday. Plumlee sustained a concussion against Cincinnati 2 weeks ago, and Keene came into the crippled and led the Knights to the upset win. Keene got the commencement past week, starring them to different win, 35-28 astatine Memphis. -- Andrea Adelson
Clinching scenarios for Week 11
Power 5
ACC
• Clemson has clinched the Atlantic Division.
• North Carolina clinches the Coastal with a triumph astatine Wake Forest OR losses by Duke (vs. Virginia Tech) and Georgia Tech (vs. Miami). According to ESPN Analytics, there's a 51% accidental the Tar Heels clinch the part this week.
Big 12
• TCU clinches a spot successful the Big 12 title crippled with a triumph astatine Texas. According to ESPN Analytics, there's a 27% accidental the Horned Frogs clinch a spot successful the title crippled this week.
SEC
• Georgia clinches the East with a triumph astatine Mississippi State OR a Tennessee nonaccomplishment to Missouri. According to ESPN Analytics, there's an 85% accidental the Bulldogs clinch the part this week.
• LSU clinches the West with a triumph astatine Arkansas AND an Ole Miss nonaccomplishment to Alabama. According to ESPN Analytics, there's a 54% accidental the Tigers clinch the part this week.
Group of 5
Conference USA
• UTSA clinches a spot successful the Conference USA title crippled with a triumph against Louisiana Tech. According to ESPN Analytics, there's an 84% accidental the Roadrunners clinch a spot successful the title crippled this week.
• North Texas clinches a spot successful the Conference USA title crippled with a triumph astatine UAB AND a Rice nonaccomplishment astatine Western Kentucky. According to ESPN Analytics, there's a 30% accidental the Mean Green clinch a spot successful the title crippled this week.
MAC
• Toledo clinches the West with a triumph Tuesday against Ball State AND a Western Michigan nonaccomplishment Wednesday against Northern Illinois. According to ESPN Analytics, there's a 40% accidental the Rockets clinch the part this week.
Sun Belt
• Coastal Carolina clinches the East with a triumph against Southern Miss OR losses by Georgia State (vs. UL Monroe) and Old Dominion (vs. James Madison). According to ESPN Analytics, there's a 75% accidental the Chanticleers clinch the part this week.
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