The last week of the regular season provided us with many takeaways and facts, along with plenty of excitement and intrigue. From the seven overtime thriller between Texas A&M and LSU to high scoring affairs to streaks being continued and ended, this weekend had everything. Here are the biggest takeaways and facts from college football week 13.
Takeaways and facts from week 13
Seven OT Thriller
Texas A&M outlasted LSU 74-72 in an epic seven overtime affair in College Station. This game had big play after big play along with answer after answer. The 146 combined points are the most of any FBS game in history while ranking second all-time in college football history. That would be behind the 161 points Abilene Christian and West Texas A&M combined for in 2008. The seven overtimes tied the NCAA record for most overtimes, however, this is the longest that ranked teams were involved in a game. Additionally, the 74 points scored for A&M are more than what the basketball team has scored in four of six games this season. With the win, Texas A&M finishes their season 8-4 while LSU drops to 9-3 on the year.
Streak over
Paul Bunyan’s Axe will no longer reside in Madison for the first time since 2003, thanks to Minnesota’s 37-15 victory over Wisconsin. With the win, the Golden Gophers attained bowl eligibility while the Badgers fell to 7-5. That is the most losses for Wisconsin since 2012. Additionally, this was Minnesota’s first win in Madison since 1994.
Dominance continues
Apple Cup
Chris Peterson moved to 5-0 against Mike Leach as Washington defeated Washington State 28-15 in a snowy game matchup in Pullman. In fact, Mike Leach fell to 1-6 against Washington. The Huskies are now 9-1 in the last 10 games of the series. Gardner Minshew looked like a quarterback from the heart of Mississippi as he struggled to play in the snow. Washington’s defense held WASU to just 237 total yards while forcing three turnovers.
Virginia might never beat Va Tech again
Virginia overcame deficits of 14 and 10 to force overtime, but still fell short against Virginia Tech 34-31. This is the 15th consecutive victory for the Hokies in this series. Additionally, Virginia has failed to win in Blacksburg every year since 1998. Clearly, this was the season the streak should have ended as Virginia Tech entered with a record of 4-6 while the Cavaliers came in at 7-4. Virginia Tech now has to beat Marshall next week to extend their bowl eligible streak to 26 seasons.
The Game
Ohio State shockingly destroyed Michigan and their number one defense 62-39. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins tossed five touchdowns while completing 19 of 30 passes for 318 yards. In fact, Haskins set the Big Ten single-season touchdown record, passing Drew Brees of Purdue. The Buckeyes also ran for 249 yards.
The 62 points Ohio State put up are the most against Michigan in the 114 game series. In fact, the 62 points were the second most allowed by Michigan in program history. Additionally, this is the 14th win out of the last 15 matchups for Ohio State in the series. Also, this is the seventh consecutive win the for the Buckeyes.
Kyler Murray for Heisman?
During Oklahoma’s crazy 59-56 shootout win over West Virginia, Kyler Murray passed for 364 yards with three touchdowns while rushing for 114 yards with another score. Murray is the first quarterback in history to average over 300 yards passing along with 60 yards rushing per game in a season. Meanwhile, OU benefitted from two defensive touchdowns to earn their way to a rematch with Texas in the Big 12 title game. By the way, Will Grier still threw for 539 yards with four touchdowns in the loss.
Random Ruminations
As we continue our takeaways and facts from week 13, let’s have a look around the country.
Florida ended a five-game losing streak to Florida State with a resounding 41-14 victory in Tallahassee. The loss snaps a 36-year bowl streak for FSU, which was the longest current streak.
Alabama crushed Auburn 52-21 to finish the season 12-0. In the process, Alabama became just the third team since the creation of the AP poll in 1936 to win 12 games in a season by 20 plus points. The previous two teams, 2013 Florida State and 1971 Nebraska, each won the national championship.
USC fell to Notre Dame 24-17, which dropped their record to 5-7 on the season. That marks the first losing season for the Trojans since 2000 when they also went 5-7. Prior to that, the last losing season was in 1991. In fact, this is just the fourth losing season for USC since 1962.
Indiana lost to Purdue 28-21, falling to 5-7 on the season. They have not lost less than seven games in a season since 2007 when they lost six. In fact, that 2007 season is the only winning season the Hoosiers have experienced since 1994.
By beating Boston College 42-21, Syracuse clinched their first nine-win season since 2001. Additionally, quarterback Eric Dungey became the seventh player in ACC history to reach 90 career touchdowns responsible for.
Tennessee was dropkicked by Vanderbilt by a score of 38-13. Vandy has now beaten the Vols five of the last seven years, which is the most successful stretch for Vandy in the series since the 1920s. Vandy has won four of those five games by double figures.
Kentucky whipped Louisville 56-10 to move to 9-3 on the season. This is the first nine-win campaign for the Wildcats since 1984. Meanwhile, this is the first time Louisville has dropped ten games since 1997 as they fell to 2-10 on the season.
Arizona State rallied from 19 points down to defeat their bitter rivals Arizona 41-40. The win kept Arizona from reaching bowl-eligible status. The Sun Devils have played in nine games decided by a touchdown or less this season, going 4-5 in those contests. This was the largest come from behind victory in the last 15 years for Arizona State.
Hawaii took down San Diego State 31-30, moving them to 8-5 on the season. That is their first eight-win season since 2010.
UConn set an FBS record for most total points allowed in a season with 605, which breaks East Carolina’s record from 2010. Additionally, their 50.4 points allowed per game broke Louisiana’s record from 1997. They also shattered the yards allowed per game record by allowing nearly 630 per game.
Thanks for Florida International’s loss to Marshall, MTSU reached the Conference USA title game after defeating UAB. They will face UAB once again this week.
Darrell Henderson led Memphis to the AAC title game by rushing for 178 yards with two scores. His 1,699 yards on the ground this year broke a conference single-season record. Henderson’s 22 touchdowns on the season leave him one score short of DeAngelo Williams’ single-season school record.
Tulane beat Navy 29-28 to move to 6-6 on the season. That means they are bowl eligible for just the sixth time since 1980 and for the first time since 2013.
Clemson’s 56-35 win over South Carolina was the highest scoring Palmetto Bowl ever. Clemson has now won five straight in the series for the first time since winning seven in a row from 1934-1940.
With a 44-14 victory over Bowling Green, Buffalo moved to 10 wins on the season. This is the first time in school history that Buffalo has ever won 10 games. Their football history dates all the way back to 1894. They also secured a trip to the MAC title game in the process where they will face Northern Illinois.
Conference Title Games Set
Check back with the site for conference championship game previews as we continue the biggest takeaways and facts from week 13.
Friday, November 30th
MAC – Northern Illinois (7-5) vs Buffalo (10-2)
Pac 12 – Utah (9-3) vs Washington (9-3)
Saturday, December 1st
AAC – Central Florida (11-0) vs Memphis (8-4)
ACC – Clemson (12-0) vs Pittsburgh (7-5)
Big Ten – Northwestern (8-4) vs Ohio State (11-1)
Big 12 – Texas (9-3) vs Oklahoma (11-1)
Conference USA – Middle Tennessee State (8-4) vs UAB (9-3)
Mountain West – Fresno State (10-2) vs Boise State (10-2)
SEC – Alabama (12-0) vs Georgia (11-1)
Sun Belt – Appalachian State (9-2) vs Louisiana (7-5)
If you have any additional takeaways and facts from this weekend, let us know on Twitter or in the comments section.
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– David Creekmur covers College Football/Basketball, WNBA and College Women’s Sports for Full Press Coverage. Like and follow on Twitter Follow @dmcreek Follow @FPC_College