Cupcakes in November. ACC Championship scenarios that would give Pythagoras a headache. And more creative ways to lose.
Here’s the worst from Week 13 of the college football season with our Flop 10:
SEC football scheduling
I get it, the SEC is a gauntlet. But please stop with these November cupcakes. When everyone is racing toward the College Football Playoff, the SEC stops to catch its breath. Not saying don’t schedule cupcakes. Just don’t do it near Thanksgiving when the games should matter the most. Here’s a sampling of Saturday’s SEC results:
Georgia 35, Charlotte 3
Texas A&M 48, Samford 0
Alabama 56, Eastern Illinois 0
Auburn 62, Mercer 17
South Carolina 51, Coastal Carolina 7
Louisville
The Cardinals flew too close to the sun after its upset of Miami, reaching No. 15 in the first CFP rankings. It’s been downhill since. There are three Ls in Louisville and that’s how many losses in a row for Jeff Brohm’s team. The Cards lost at home to Cal and Clemson before no-showing Saturday in a 38-6 loss at SMU.
Syracuse
I’ll admit the Notre Dame-Syracuse game wasn’t among the four games I had on my TV and three iPads. But when I switched to check in on the Irish, I had to double take: Notre Dame 42, Syracuse 0, 11 minutes left… IN THE SECOND QUARTER! Per Notre Dame media relations, it was the first time in Notre Dame’s 138-year history it scored 35 points in the first quarter. The record for any quarter was 47 vs. Rose Poly in a 102-0 win in 1914. This one ended 70-7.
Georgia Tech
It was win and you’re in the ACC Championship game for the Yellow Jackets on Saturday at home against a Pitt team coming off a Notre Dame thrashing. The Ramblin’ Wreck trailed 28-0 in the second quarter before GT gave the home fans hope with a 14-0 close to the first half. There was more hope before Braylan Lovelace intercepted Haynes King at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. Pitt even survived Pat Narduzzi’s brain-fart fake punt in his own half up 14 points with 5 minutes left to give Jackets fans one last buzz. But finally, Pitt freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner popped for a 56-yard dagger TD to seal it. It seems no one wants to grab the ACC title.
East Carolina
Hey, ACC. The American says hold my beer. The Pirates were hoping to steal a CFP spot but shipwrecked in San Antonio. To be fair, UTSA is 25-0 at home under coach Jeff Traylor. Tulane stumbled in The Alamodome, too. ECU was one of the four American teams with one conference loss hoping the computers would pick it to play for the league title. Alas, the Pirates were marooned by the Roadrunners, 58-24.
Florida
I know this season is toast with the main talking point in Gainesville is where do they turn if Lane Kiffin picks LSU? But getting boat-raced in The Swamp by Tennessee, unacceptable. The Gators (3-8) showed some bite since firing Billy Napier in competitive losses to playoff-bound Georgia and Ole Miss. But this was just brutal, trailing 31-0 at halftime. I don’t care what the final score was. Neither should you. Just know it was Florida’s first home loss to Tennessee since 2003, and worst loss to the Vols since Steve Spurrier’s first season at Florida in 1990.
Florida State punt returns
FSU coach Mike Norvell called it ‘catastrophic.’ Back-to-back muffed punts turned into back-breaking turnovers in the Seminoles’ 21-11 loss at NC State on Friday.
With the Seminoles trailing 14-11 and 4:01 left to play a punt bounced off of K.J. Kirkland’s head as he tried to get out of the way, with NC State’s punter recovering it. After another stop, the next punt was muffed by Squirrel White muffed which the Wolfpack recovered a turned into a touchdown to go up 21-11.
If Florida beats FSU next week, it will mark the first time since 1978 the Gators and Seminoles both miss a bowl in the same season.
North Carolina bowl hopes
So much for ‘Beat Duke.’
At least Bill Belichick will have plenty of time to support adult, competitive cheerleading this bowl season. The NFL’s 33rd team — now 4-7 — will be home for the holidays. Trailing 25-24 with 2:25 left, Duke executed a sweet fake field goal, then scored a TD on the next play to retain the Victory Bell, 32-25.
Kansas State
Kansas State led by 10 with 7 minutes to go, ran for nearly 500 yards… and still lost. The Wildcats had a 97.3% win probability before it was called for an illegal substitution penalty that nullified a key fourth-down stop with 4 minutes left. Utah went onto to win 52-47. A lot of people thought the Utes were over-ranked in last week’s CFP rankings. The committee has shown a liking for the Big 12 and maybe Utah won’t be docked for finding a way to win, much like Indiana (at Penn State) and Texas A&M (vs. South Carolina) weren’t for their respective escapes.
Michigan State
The Spartans were on their way to a surprise, first Big Ten win of the season. MSU led Iowa, 17-7 in the fourth quarter in Iowa City. And then it all went wrong. As Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press wrote: ‘In a year when everything seems to go wrong, Michigan State football’s latest loss unraveled in perhaps the worst way.’
MSU, riding an eight-game losing streak, is staring its first winless Big Ten season since 1958 if it doesn’t beat Maryland next week.
Keep up with the latest news and analysis from college football’s top two conferences: Check out our Big Ten Hub and our SEC Hub to get school-by-school coverage from across the USA TODAY Network.
This story was updated to change a video.