Texas A&M invincible or in trouble? College football Week 12 overreactions
- Texas A&M’s comeback win against South Carolina shows both championship resolve and potential flaws.
- Notre Dame appears to be a playoff lock, but a head-to-head loss to Miami could complicate their chances.
- Several non-quarterbacks, like Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez, are making strong cases for the Heisman Trophy.
The capacity of college football to put fans through just about every emotion imaginable, sometimes in the course of just one single contest, is what makes it so beautiful and yet so maddening at the same time. Don’t believe us? Just ask the followers of a certain program from the Lone Star State.
It is with that team’s almost unfathomable result from Week 12 where we will begin our latest installment of overreactions of the week. Indeed, since it was a complete tale of two halves in the true ‘best of times, worst of times’ sense, we’ll approach it from both extremes.
Texas A&M is in deep trouble/invincible.
Depending on one’s perspective, the Aggies’ disaster of a first half followed by a nearly perfect performance after intermission to stage their epic comeback against South Carolina is open to multiple interpretations. At one end of the spectrum, the team’s unblemished record is merely a product of a favorable schedule, and the bevy of mistakes in the first two quarters showed the flaws that will eventually prove to be the team’s undoing. On the other hand, the comeback demonstrated the kind of resolve championship teams must have to overcome adversity, finding ways to win even when not everything is working.
As is often the case with the subjects we take up here at Overreaction HQ, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Even before Week 12, the Aggies had endured their share of close calls, some of which were against opponents with sub-.500 records. It’s true the Aggies have yet to face another team in the upper quadrant of the SEC standings and won’t until the title game, but it might also be that their experience with delivering in clutch situations will serve them well later. In short, we shouldn’t anoint them as national title favorites, but neither should we count them out.
Notre Dame is a playoff lock
It would appear that the Fighting Irish’s dominant win at Pittsburgh was their last true hurdle en route to a 10-2 finish that, given their position in the first two sets of rankings from the CFP committee, should all but guarantee their inclusion in the field. But if they find themselves in a pool of other at-large candidates with identical records, there might be a complication.
If shifts in the standings over the next couple of weeks move Miami closer to Notre Dame’s position, that small matter of the Hurricanes’ head-to-head win against the Irish way back in Week 1 will be harder to dismiss. This presupposes, of course, that the ‘Canes are able to win out, which is certainly not a guarantee given the team’s sometimes inexplicable lapses. So yes, it looks good for the Irish, but they are not quite at the finish line.
A non-quarterback will win the Heisman
Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire made a point this weekend of spotlighting his standout linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, lining him up in the offensive backfield to get him a rushing touchdown. It was in fact the second score of the season for Rodriguez, who earlier recorded a touchdown on a 69-yard fumble recovery. He has also recorded a team-high 100 total tackles, including 9½ behind the line of scrimmage, and has snagged four interceptions. That’s a pretty strong case as the most impactful player for a top-10 team to earn consideration.
There are convincing arguments for other non-QBs as well, like Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love or Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. To be sure, there are plenty of worthy passers this year, like Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin or Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia. Alabama’s Ty Simpson is still in the mix as well, though his rough outing in the Crimson Tide’s loss to Oklahoma damaged his case.
Recent history favors the signal callers, of course. Since 2000, there have only been five recipients of the sport’s most prestigious individual honor whose primary position was something other than quarterback. Voters do consider other positions. They did last year in fact. There isn’t a two-way player this year with Travis Hunter’s credentials, but sometimes enough electors think outside the QB box for someone else to bring home the statue.
The Big 12 race is over
Mathematically speaking, it’s still possible for the league to end in a six-way tie for first place at 7-2. That would be fun for fans of chaos and mayhem, but realistically the championship game will likely be a rematch between Texas Tech and Brigham Young. The full chaos scenario can only come to pass if the Cougars lose at Cincinnati this week – conceivable – and the Red Raiders drop their regular-season finale in two weeks at West Virginia – not out of the question but unlikely.
James Madison will make the College Football Playoff
JMU is ranked at No. 22 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, the highest position among non-power conference programs. We’re sorry to rain on your parade, Dukes’ fans, but the poll is not the same as the CFP committee rankings.
The American has considerably more depth than the Sun Belt, not to mention some actual positive results against the power leagues. Thus its champ is still going to have a stronger case than even a 12-1 winner of the SBC barring – here comes that word again – chaos. There is still time for that, of course, but we wouldn’t advise anyone to make travel plans just yet.
