TCU's gamble pays off; Michigan avoids disaster

Saturday's aboriginal slate was fundamentally each movie wherever a fearless leader has to defuse a bomb, shuts his eyes and clips the bluish wire, not wholly definite if it's the close one.

It was each hose catastrophe movie wherever a rider is called to capable successful for the unconscious aviator and onshore the plane.

It was Nic Cage, garment unbuttoned and fluttering successful the wind, screaming incoherently arsenic explosions wreak havoc astir him.

Saturday walked the assemblage shot play close to the borderline of the cliff and jumped -- lone to drawback a subdivision connected the mode down and ascent backmost to safety.

In Waco, Texas, TCU's occurrence play went from absurd to sublime arsenic the Horned Frogs botched a two-point conversion, astir ran retired the timepiece with a funny tally call, past perfectly executed a peculiar teams scramble drill for a game-winning tract goal.

At the Big House, Illinois had Michigan connected the ropes, but the Wolverines inched their mode down the tract connected a last drive, watched J.J. McCarthy propulsion 2 passes that could've ended successful disaster, past booted a tract extremity to win.

The Nos. 3 and 4 teams successful the state stay undefeated. Barely.

Baylor led the Horned Frogs 28-20 with little than 7 minutes to play, but arsenic it has seemingly done each week, TCU had an answer. Max Duggan drove the discourtesy 90 yards connected 11 plays for the score, past had Emari Demercado wide unfastened for a game-tying two-point try, but led his moving backmost conscionable a interaction excessively far.

Baylor had a accidental to tally retired the clock, but Blake Shapen decided to tally connected 3rd down contempt a wide unfastened receiver beyond the sticks, giving the shot backmost to TCU 1 past time. The Horned Frogs managed 9 plays and 45 yards successful the last 1:34, but due to the fact that Sonny Dykes is the benignant of idiosyncratic who likes to deed connected 18 conscionable to spot what volition happen, the last scrimmage play of the crippled was a run. Demercado went up the mediate for 2 yards with the timepiece ticking down. The field-goal portion sprinted onto the tract and snapped the shot conscionable earlier the timepiece deed zeroes, and Griffin Kell drilled the 40-yarder for the win.

After the game, Dykes said determination was ne'er a doubt. The occurrence drill is thing his squad practices routinely. Whether Dykes is alert that practicing occurrence drills doesn't necessitate you to airy your location connected occurrence to marque them worthwhile is irrelevant. The gamble worked.

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TCU scrambles to footwear a game-winning tract extremity successful the last seconds against Baylor.

At Michigan, the Wolverines were without receiver Donovan Edwards and Heisman Tropy campaigner Blake Corum went down aboriginal successful the 2nd fractional with a genu injury, each of which made uncovering the extremity portion thing akin to a Where's Waldo puzzle for Jim Harbaugh's offense. (Like Dykes' special-teams scramble, we besides presume Harbaugh practices Where's Waldo puzzled daily.) Michigan had six second-half possessions. One resulted successful a punt, 1 a 10-play thrust thwarted by a failed fourth-down effort astatine the Illinois 37 and 4 others with a tract goal.

Lucky for Michigan, it has arguably the champion kicker successful the country.

Trailing by a touchdown astatine the commencement of the 4th quarter, Michigan got tract goals of 41, 33 and a 35-yard crippled victor from Jake Moody. The last bid progressive 2 unsafe throws from McCarthy -- 1 into the extremity portion that conscionable missed the outstretched arms of Illinois DB Devon Witherspoon and the different batted into the aerial astatine the enactment of scrimmage, and Michigan survived.

That whooshing dependable you might've heard aft those last-second tract goals? That was the playoff committee breathing an tremendous suspiration of relief. Oh, however adjacent we came to chaos but Dykes chopped the close wire, and Harbaugh landed the plane.

There were truthful galore ways this could've gone wrong. Probably should person gone wrong. And yet, present we are, the playoff representation tattered and worn, but inactive successful 1 piece.

No New Year's Six for UCF

UCF's hopes for an American Conference title are inactive alive, but 1 week aft taking bid successful the quest for the Group of 5's New Year's Six bid with a triumph implicit Tulane, the Knights ran into a Navy defence that played its champion crippled of the season.

UCF was without starting QB John Rhys Plumlee successful the 2nd half, turned the shot implicit doubly and was conscionable 3-of-12 connected third-down tries, and its defence couldn't get disconnected the tract arsenic Navy chewed up the last 5:54 of the crippled connected an 11 play thrust to unafraid the 17-14 win.

The Knights' nonaccomplishment further scrambles some the AAC title crippled representation and the New Year's Six bid. Tulane and Cincinnati were some ranked successful the committee's astir caller apical 25, but they'll look disconnected against each different successful Week 13. UCF wraps its play against hapless USF, and would inactive marque the league rubric crippled with a win. Whether a three-loss UCF could marque a New Year's Six vessel adjacent with a league title, however, is simply a large question, leaving the doorway unfastened possibly for Coastal Carolina oregon UTSA to marque a precocious push, too.

Under-the-radar play of the day

When we statement who made the year's champion drawback successful assemblage football, beryllium definite to see this 1 from Duke's Jordan Moore.

On a second-and-6, QB Riley Leonard threw a back-shoulder walk toward the sideline. Moore was good covered, and the shot was thrown high. Meh. No problem.

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Pitt's Jordan Moore makes an astounding one-handed catch.

Moore finished the crippled with 14 grabs for 199 yards and a touchdown, but the Blue Devils came up conscionable abbreviated successful a 28-26 nonaccomplishment to Pitt.