Week 12 of the college football season proved to be a significant one. With ESPN’s in Pittsburgh for the first time in 20 years, Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love stole the show in a dominant win over Pitt.
Elsewhere in the college football landscape, we learned plenty about Oklahoma's College Football Playoff chances. The Sooners lead off 's Week 12 takeaways:
It's hard to envision a College Football Playoff field without Oklahoma
If Saturday taught us anything, it's that Oklahoma belongs in the College Football Playoff.
The Sooners' 23-21 win over No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa was not only one of the biggest road wins of the season, it also was a statement that Brent Venables's program can compete with anybody when they're healthy.
Oklahoma's salty defense forced three Alabama turnovers, including an 87-yard pick six by Eli Bowen in the first quarter that ended up being one of the biggest plays of the game.
The Sooners remain a longshot to make it to Atlanta for the SEC title with their two league losses, but they have a great case to make the College Football Playoff with an at-large bid. The Sooners now have four ranked wins, with none bigger than the one on Saturday. Oklahoma's two losses include one to Texas that came with John Mateer looking like a shell of himself in his first game back from thumb surgery. The other was to Ole Miss, who improved to 10-1 on the season with a win over Florida on Saturday to continue their CFP quest.
Sooners coach Brent Venables entered the season on the hot seat. With wins against Missouri and LSU in the final two games of the season, he should have his program in the bracket.
What a turnaround that would be.
Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love adds another highlight to what's become a very serious Heisman candidacy
In a year where the Heisman Trophy race remains wide open entering mid-November, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love continues to prove that he's one of the nation's best players.
The junior running back seems to make at least one Heisman-worthy play per week of late. Last Saturday, it was landing on a Navy defender in the backfield, leaping up and racing 48 yards to the house.
This Saturday, it was an unbelievable spin move in heavy traffic that turned him loose for a 48-yard score.
Love finished with 23 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in the 37-15 rout on the road at No. 22 Pittsburgh. He's up to 1,135 yards on the season and 14 touchdowns while averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
The Irish are in the thick of the College Football Playoff race once again, and Love is one of the best running backs in the sport. Not only could he find himself in New York for the Heisman ceremony … he could take it home.
James Madison exits Week 12 with clubhouse lead for Group of Six Playoff bid
The American Athletic Conference continued its quest to eat itself alive on Saturday, with South Florida losing to Navy and Memphis falling to East Carolina on a late touchdown pass in Greenville.
It's hard to draw a line in the sand in the AAC to determine the best team in the conference. And while it'll be a fun race down the stretch to see who captures the league crown, it's looking increasingly more likely that the Group of Six playoff bid may actually come from outside of the conference.
Enter James Madison. Led by head coach Bob Chesney—one of the hottest names on the coaching market—the Dukes are rolling through Sun Belt play and looking like they could make some Playoff noise.
JMU improved to 9-1 on the year and 7-0 in the Sun Belt with a 58-10 home thrashing of Appalachian State on Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va. The Dukes rolled up 627 yards of offense to App. State's 146, and held the Mountaineers to one yard rushing and a 1-for-12 mark on third down.
The Dukes look dominant, and they could steal the Group of Six bid in the season's homestretch after it appeared primed to go to a member of the American.
Michigan and USC keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive
It's going to take a special closing stretch of the season for Michigan or USC to make the College Football Playoff, but both programs survived and advanced on Saturday to at least keep their dreams alive.
Michigan traveled to Northwestern and engaged in a slog of a contest with the Wildcats. The Wolverines dominated the stat sheet in several categories, but were minus-five in the turnover battle. It nearly cost them the contest, but a 31-yard Dominic Zvada field goal as time expired clinched the win for the Wolverines.
USC found itself trailing 21-10 at halftime in a home tilt against Iowa, but played much better defensively in the second half, pitching a shutout in the final two frames to win 26-21 against the 21st-ranked Hawkeyes. Trojans receiver Makai Lemon was phenomenal again, as the Biletnikoff candidate caught 10 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown in the victory.
USC travels to take on Oregon next week, before concluding the regular season with a rivalry game against UCLA. Michigan travels to Maryland before hosting Ohio State in the finale.
If both teams somehow find a way to win out, they'll have a case to make the field as at-large candidates in a loaded Big Ten.
Georgia Tech survives a poor defensive effort at Boston College to remain in prime position for ACC title berth
Georgia Tech did everything it could on Saturday to lose to one-win Boston College on the road in Chestnut Hill.
The Eagles, who do not own an FBS win this season (they beat Fordham in the opener), racked up 537 yards of offense and 34 points on Georgia Tech's defense. It took a 23-yard Aidan Birr field goal with 11 seconds to go to deliver the Yellow Jackets a victory despite being greater than a two-touchdown favorite entering play.
The Yellow Jackets’ offense, led by Heisman hopeful Haynes King, can compete with anybody. But the defense is a sieve, which could prove to be problematic in the matchup against Pitt next week that will decide whether or not the Jackets will play in Charlotte for a conference title.
