College Football Week 13 Takeaways: Noles figure it out, Day in trouble, Tide Rolls, Coach prime gets humbled again, and much more

Week 13 Takeaways

1) Florida State keeps figuring out ways to win

Florida State has won games this season in many different ways, thanks to quarterback Jordan Travis and his ability to create plays through playmaking or running himself – whether that was hitting Keon Coleman for an explosive play against Boston College, Miami or Clemson or making up ground with his legs himself. Florida State relied on Travis when its offense struggled on third down conversion or manufacturing explosive plays against these teams.

On Saturday in the Swamp, Florida State’s season was imperilled once more in an essential moment without Travis at their side to provide relief. Following three consecutive three-and-outs and an offensive safety to give Florida a 12-0 lead, one could understand if their dream season came tumbling down around them – without their star quarterback running the show and with physical play from Florida making backup QB Tate Rodemaker question his place behind center.

FSU had to lean heavily on running back Trey Benson for three scores and 95 yards on the ground to restore FSU’s offense, and its defense delivered four sacks and an interception on Florida’s final two drives.

No longer should there be debate as to whether the Seminoles should make the playoffs without star quarterback Travis; the Seminoles, with a win over Louisville, will deserve a bid to the playoffs.

2) Ryab Day in jeopardy

Everybody knows an Ohio State fan; they are all over the place. If you know one, you will realize they are all delusional and now think Ryan Day should be fired for three straight losses to the Michigan Wolverines. I want to remind Buckeye fans that Day is a solid coach, and it will be hard to find a better replacement; the truth is four years ago, Michigan fans wanted Harbaugh fired, and I bet today they are glad they didn’t.

Ohio State did not have the passing game to bet Michigan, but this was a game that could have gone either way. The other issue is if you fire Day, who replaces him? This is the same Ohio State program that thought it was a good idea to replace Earle Bruce and replace him with John Cooper. How did that work out?

Ryan Day postgame interview | Ohio State-Michigan

3) The Tide rolls along

Alabama is no longer dominant, but they find ways to win games and are just one win away from the College Football Playoffs. After watching Georgia struggle to beat Georgia Tech, it doesn’t seem that crazy to think the Tide could beat the Bulldogs. Georgia has struggled most of this year, and I know even if Georgia loses, they will be in the playoffs, but a loss should knock them out. The schedule has been light, and they have not been dominant enough to loss and still get in.

4) Nebraska and Iowa are dreadful

Iowa has won ten games this season but is not a good football team. Iowa’s offensive shortcomings are headed to the Big Ten Championship game to be sacrificed to the Michigan Wolverines. The Western division in the Big Ten is a decade-long joke. Hopefully, adding the PAC 12 teams helps because last Friday, I watched a dreadful battle between Iowa and Nebraska that was simply a poorly played and poorly coached football game.

5) Louisville pukes on itself

Due to Texas and Oregon winning on Friday, Louisville seemed unlikely to make the College Football Playoff. Yet its 38-31 loss against rival Kentucky sealed its fate.

Even with their loss, Louisville could still make the Orange Bowl. To do so will require either defeating FSU in the ACC Championship Game–or  If Florida State makes it into the College Football Playoff (CFP), the runner-up in the ACC would advance directly to it.

The Cardinals have had a tremendous season but let it all slip away against Kentucky’s high-powered running game.

6) The SEC has had a down year

After boasting 13 bowl-eligible teams in 2021 and 11 more in 2022, the SEC only has nine six-win squads in 2023. The SEC top teams have seemed to decline. I’m sure Georgia and Alabama will battle to see who goes to the playoffs, but neither has looked dominant this season, and Georgia is ranked number one off the last two years and not from their results this season.

7) The Horned Frogs in a free-fall this season

Speaking of things we should discuss more frequently, what a dismal season it has been for the TCU Horned Frogs. After competing for a national title last season, TCU finished this season with just five wins (5-7 record), failing to reach bowl eligibility following their loss to Oklahoma on Friday night.

Sonny Dykes has earned respect among Fort Worth’s residents and isn’t going anywhere, yet this season is a tremendous disappointment for the Horned Frogs. You knew it was going to be a bad season when you started out losing to Coach Prime!

TCU needs improvements on both sides of the ball and could potentially look for an experienced quarterback through the transfer portal. Dykes utilized this resource extensively last offseason, but many big names didn’t pan out as planned.

TCU must return to work quickly to compete in the new Big 12. Unfortunately, they do not appear as such right now.

8) Coach Prime gets beat by a walk-on Quarterback

Coach Prime finishes the season last in the PAC 12, losing eight of his last nine games, and this one was embarrassing as he lost to a Utah team that was playing a walk-on quarterback. Colorado sat their starter, but the Buffs quarterback who played at least had a scholarship! Coach Prime’s job will be on the line soon as he has proven he cannot coach or recruit at this level. I know the offensive line was bad this year, but they were the guys Prime picked, and nobody told him not to Coach them. Coaching is harder than Prime thought it would be.