Buckeyes Survive, DeBoer’s in Trouble, Brutal Day in Athens

Dawgbone Jr's Weekend Observations: Born barkin', raised on Kirby's domination of rivals, and fueled by SEC and National championships - Dawgbone Jr recaps the weekend's biggest games all season long.

Buckeyes Survive, DeBoer’s in Trouble, Brutal Day in Athens

#4 Ohio State 19, #5 Indiana 15

It’s not crazy to say the only reason Indiana lost this game was because of Jeremiah Smith. He was quiet all day, then had his Heisman moment with the touchdown on 4th down. Neither team ran the ball well, as the Buckeyes finished with 78 rushing yards and the Hoosiers with 73, so the game came down to the quarterbacks. Hoosier QB Josh Hoover played okay. He did not turn the ball over, but he missed some throws. WR Charlie Becker went off for 165 yards and is probably the second best receiver in the Big Ten behind Smith. Julian Sayin struggled at times for Ohio State, throwing two interceptions, one of which led to an Indiana touchdown. The stats say the Buckeyes struggled on the ground, but they did have some success. Bo Jackson ran for 56 yards, and third string RB Isaiah West added 46 yards on just six carries. The play of the game came on the final 4th down, when Hoosier WR Nick Marsh was wide open and caught the ball with a foot out of bounds. The throw could have been a bit better from Hoover, but Marsh should have made the catch. Both teams will be in the playoff, but the Buckeyes may be stuck without Sayin for the rest of the year.

Florida 27, #7 Texas 24

It has been a terrible couple of weeks for the Longhorns. They were the #1 team in the country, then lost to their arch rival, and the following week they blew a 14 point lead at home against the Gators. Arch Manning should probably be benched, but it may be impossible to bench a Manning. Florida’s pass defense is one of the worst in the Power Four, yet Manning still made bad throws. Texas has great receivers, but Arch just can’t find them. The Gators were without starter Aaron Philo, but backup Tramell Jones Jr. may have stolen his job. Jones is a true freshman, and in his first start against a great Texas defense he played extremely well. He threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns without a turnover, and he added 41 yards on the ground. RB Jadan Baugh looked like himself again, and the entire Florida offense bounced back nicely after a couple of rough weeks. The Gators face the Dawgs next, and they can easily win that game. As for Texas, head coach Steve Sarkisian’s job is in danger.

Auburn 27, #1 Georgia 24

The Tigers have had a rough year, but they wanted it more on Saturday. This game felt a lot like UGA vs. South Carolina in 2019, when Jake Fromm turned the ball over three times, just like Gunner did here. First, the run game was very concerning. Tennessee ran for 237 yards on Auburn a couple of weeks ago, and Florida ran for 243, but the Dawgs managed only 113. On the other side, Georgia could not stop QB Byrum Brown, who ran for 115 yards, more than the entire Georgia team. Still, the main reason the Dawgs lost was turnovers. Georgia has struggled to force turnovers for the last three years, and they were never close to getting one in this game. On the other side of the ball Gunner has been very good at protecting the football, but he played the worst game of his career. His two interceptions were horrendous, and the fumble at the end will haunt Dawg fans for a long time, because without it Georgia wins. This might be the worst loss of Kirby Smart’s career in Athens, if not the worst outright. The Dawgs now head into a bye week before facing a good Florida team. The tough part of the schedule is coming, and this team needs to get much better, because on Saturday they looked like an unranked team.

#6 Alabama 10, #14 Tennessee 26

After a loss at home, most of us expected Bama to go into Knoxville and get a big bounce back win, but the Tide looked terrible. The offense was awful. The run game has looked much improved from last year, but it managed only 54 yards. Young QB Keelon Russell had a rough game too, throwing for just 147 yards with two interceptions. Tennessee has probably the best defense in the SEC, which gives them a great chance to make the playoff again. The Vols offense has struggled all year, but it played better on Saturday. QB George MacIntyre is most certainly the answer at that position. He threw one costly interception, but otherwise he was efficient with the football. RB DeSean Bishop rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He may be the best back in the country and should be in the Heisman race. He has been the life of the Vols offense and continues to give opposing defenses major problems. Heading into this game, Bama looked like a playoff team and Tennessee did not, but that has completely flipped. Tennessee should go ahead and build Josh Heupel a statue after beating Bama at home for the third straight time.

Florida State 35, #3 Miami 43

This rivalry has felt dead for a while, but this game was an instant classic. Both offenses were on fire. FSU QB Ashton Daniels threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns, and WR Duce Robinson added 113 yards and two scores. FSU has way too much talent to be 3-4, and Coach Mike Norvell needs to go. Miami QB Darian Mensah threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, and Malachi Toney had 154 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Neither defense could stop those QB/WR duos. Once again, though, the refs helped Miami win an ACC game. In the second overtime, FSU threw what was basically a Hail Mary that was caught, but a terrible holding call erased it. The Seminoles would still have needed a two point conversion to keep the game alive, but that call was awful. The Hurricanes have been bailed out too many times in ACC play, and it will continue because the ACC knows Miami is its only national title contender. They will not lose an ACC game this year, because they will have a 12th man in every game.

#2 Notre Dame 24, #8 BYU 28

In the biggest home game in program history, the BYU Cougars earned one of the biggest wins in program history. What head coach Kalani Sitake has done in Provo since joining the Big 12 has been incredible. QB Bear Bachmeier is one of the most likable and easy to root for players in college football. He threw a touchdown, caught a touchdown, and ran for two more, which means he was responsible for every Cougar score, and he was inspiring Saturday night. The Notre Dame offense struggled. First, how do you fumble the ball while trying to spike it? That mistake was a disaster, because the Irish had a chance to score a touchdown heading into halftime. Second, the Irish run game struggled. Notre Dame is used to being the more physical team, but BYU was most certainly more physical on this night. We also have to talk about the last play of the game. If I’m being honest, that was pass interference, but the worst part was that there was still one second left on the clock. I can understand not making the call, but how do you mess up the clock? Notre Dame fans deserve to be furious, because the Irish should have had one more shot at winning.

Other Thoughts

The refs have had a terrible year so far.
Ole Miss has been elite since the Florida loss.
Kentucky is a playoff caliber team.
The Big 12 is having an incredible year.
UCLA is a playoff lock.
Kamario Taylor is the entire Miss State team.
Wake Forest is a playoff dark horse.

Week 8 Game Predictions (5-6 last week)

Indiana 24, Michigan 17
LSU 27, Auburn 28
Pitt 17, Miami 34
Texas A&M 13, Alabama 31
Tennessee 23, South Carolina 24
Oklahoma 21, Mississippi State 27
Virginia Tech 20, Clemson 24
Ole Miss 31, Texas 24
USC 20, Wisconsin 23
Houston 31, Utah 28

Dawgbone Jr (aka Bennett Wiggins)