Saturday in Review: Week 11

South Florida is now bowl-eligible for the first time since
2010. Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Another week, another exhilarating, chaotic weekend of college football. Many highly ranked teams either met defeat or escaped with a narrow victory. On Friday, USC avoided the upset with a three-point win over Colorado.

Takeaways kept them in the game, but Syracuse couldn't score in the final quarter to defeat Clemson. Florida State toppled NC State, shutting out the Wolfpack in the second half. North Carolina is one win away from clinching their division after stomping Miami in Chapel Hill.

Houston completed an incredible 20-point fourth-quarter-comeback over Memphis to remain undefeated on the season. The Memphis kicker pushed a potential game-winner wide right as time ran out. Explosive plays lifted South Florida over Temple. Bulls halfback Marlon Mack ran for 230 yards and two touchdowns in USF's first victory over a ranked opponent since 2011.

Oklahoma eliminated Baylor from the list of unbeatens. The Sooners dominated the Bears in nearly all statistical categories. Oklahoma State scraped by Iowa State in Ames, leaving them the last undefeated Big 12 team. In a similar game, TCU barely survived their game against Kansas. The Horned Frogs lost star quarterback Trevone Boykin to injury early in the game.

The Iowa Hawkeyes held off Minnesota to keep their perfect record. Michigan needed double-overtime to escape Bloomington and the Indiana Hoosiers. Hoosier running back Jordan Howard ran for 238 yards in the losing effort. Northwestern kept their unlikely conference championship hopes alive beating Purdue with a late touchdown.

The New Mexico Lobos were not expected to be good this year. In fact, the media picked them to finish last in their division of the Mountain West (one of the weaker conferences). They hadn't had a winning season since 2007. Boise State started this season ranked. Boise State had lost three home games in the last 15 years. New Mexico had never beaten Boise State before. Last Saturday, the Lobos were 31-point underdogs. All of that changed when the Lobos became bowl-eligible with their shocking 31-24 win over the Broncos. The Broncos almost tied the game with time running out, but their wacky hook-and-ladder play fell four yards short of the goal line.

Stanford may be eliminated from playoff contention after the Cardinal's 38-36 loss to Oregon. The Cardinal possessed the ball for over 42 minutes of game-time, but it didn't matter, as the Ducks scored repeatedly on big plays. Three giveaways did no favors for the home team, either. Stanford had a chance to tie the game late, but couldn't complete the two-point conversion. Utah became the second Top 10 team from the Pac-12 to be upset by an unranked team with the Utes' 37-30 overtime loss to Arizona. The Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak to reach bowl-eligibility. Arizona has now upset a Top 10 team one time in each of the last four seasons.

But that wasn't the last unranked Pac-12 team to upset a their conference brethren. Washington State knocked off UCLA with a spectacular late touchdown pass. After this Saturday, all teams from the Pac-12 now have at least two losses, and all others besides Stanford and Utah now have at least three.

Although the game was close late in the fourth quarter,
Florida actually outgained South Carolina 404-201 in total
offensive yards and nearly doubled the Gamecocks in time-of-
possession. RAINIER EHRHARDT — AP Photo

First half mishaps led to a lopsided score in Mississippi State's 31-6 loss to Alabama. The Bulldog offense actually outgained the Tide's in total yards, first downs, and time-of-possession. Yet, they couldn't execute in key situations while their special teams and defense surrendered big plays. Another surprisingly lopsided SEC bout was Arkansas's domination of LSU. The Razorbacks' stable of running back ran wild over the LSU defense while LSU's once-feared ground attack was limited to 59 total yards.

Florida dominated South Carolina for about 50 minutes, but needed a couple big plays near the end to put away the Gamecocks. The Gators went up 14-0 midway through the second after Jordan Cronkrite stole the ball away from a Carolina defender, turned, and ran into the endzone to complete the 41-yard pass play. The Gators bungled an opportunity to go up three scores at the half, throwing an interception going into the goal line. However, the Gators held a 17-0 lead going into the final quarter, having almost entirely shut down the Gamecock offense to that point. But Carolina struck back, first scoring off a double-pass and later on a seam over a broken coverage. Late in the fourth quarter, Kelvin Taylor and the Gators responded. The Gator running back broke loose for a 53-yard run on third-and-long, setting Florida up for a first-and-goal from the one (Taylor and the offensive line punched it in on the subsequent play). The Gators intercepted the ball six plays later, sealing the victory.

Turnovers helped Georgia finish a comeback on the road against Auburn. It was not a great day for either offense, as they both combined for only 518 yards (and just 159 passing yards). Surprisingly, more offensive production was found in Nashville, where Vanderbilt defeated Kentucky, 21-17. Turnovers also aided the Commodores set up short scoring drives. Vandy scored off a four-yard drive, a pick-six, and a 51-yard drive. Despite dominating the game statistically, Missouri had to hold off BYU to win an emotional game in Kansas City.

State of Florida:

• 11 Florida (9-1) over South Carolina (3-7), 17-10 24-14
• Middle Tennessee (5-5) over Florida Atlantic (2-8), 31-20 24-17
• 16 Florida State (8-2) over North Carolina State (6-4), 31-24 34-17
• 23 North Carolina (9-1) over Miami (6-4), 45-24 59-21
• Marshall (9-2) over FIU (5-6), 42-27 52-0
• South Florida (6-4) over 22 Temple (8-2), 21-17 44-23
• UCF (0-10), BYE

Southeastern Conference:

• Auburn (5-5) over Georgia (7-3), 31-27 20-13
• Tennessee (6-4) over North Texas (1-9), 56-7 24-0
• 2 Alabama (9-1) over 17 Mississippi State (7-3), 24-20 31-6
• Vanderbilt (4-6) over Kentucky (4-6), 10-6 21-17
• Texas A&M (7-3) over Western Carolina (6-4), 56-21 41-17
• 9 LSU (7-2) over Arkansas (6-4), 31-24 31-14
• Missouri (5-5) over BYU (7-3), 14-13 20-16
• Mississippi (7-3), BYE

Top 25:

• 1 Clemson (10-0) over Syracuse (3-7), 49-21 37-27
• 3 Ohio State (10-0) over Illinois (5-5), 38-20 28-3
• 4 Notre Dame (9-1) over Wake Forest (3-7), 42-17 28-7
• 5 Iowa (10-0) over Minnesota (4-6), 31-21 40-35
• 12 Oklahoma (9-1) over 6 Baylor (8-1), 49-45 44-34
• 7 Stanford (8-2) over Oregon (7-3), 38-35 38-36
• 8 Oklahoma State (10-0) over Iowa State (3-7), 42-21 35-31
• 10 Utah (8-2) over Arizona (6-5), 28-21 37-30 (OT)
• 13 Michigan State (9-1) over Maryland (2-8), 31-20 24-7
• 14 Michigan (8-2) over Indiana (4-6), 38-17 48-41 (OT)
• 15 TCU (9-1) over Kansas (0-10), 70-14 23-17
• 18 Northwestern (8-2) over Purdue (2-8), 30-17 21-14
• 19 UCLA (7-3) over Washington State (7-3), 34-31 31-27
• 20 Navy (8-1) over SMU (1-9), 45-21 55-14
• 21 Memphis (8-2) over 24 Houston (10-0), 35-31 35-34
• 25 Wisconsin (8-2), BYE

Week 11 Record: 22-6 (79%)

Season Record: 237-60 (80%)