Florida, Clemson Come Away With Big Wins

Two of the most impressive wins on Saturday came from teams donned in orange apparel.

Some questioned whether the Florida Gators should even be ranked, as they came in at No. 25, and they simply pounded the Ole Miss Rebels, 38-10, in a game that wasn’t as close as that score would indicate.

“You don’t downplay it,” Gators head coach Jim McElwain said. “That was a good football team we beat. That was really a good football team, and our guys took it to them.”

It was Florida’s most impressive win in three years, and they now look like the team to beat in the SEC East.

Meanwhile in Death Valley, Clemson did just enough….barely, to hold on and beat sixth-ranked Notre Dame, 24-22 in a virtual monsoon.

“This is what it’s all about,” Swinney said. “It ain’t always perfect. I told them, `Listen, we give you scholarships, we give you stipends and meals, we give you nice uniforms and a place to live. I can’t give you guts. I can’t give you heart.’ … Tonight it was BYOG, bring your own guts. They brought some guts and some heart and they never quit until the last play.”

The game was sloppy and Clemson was far from dominant, but they are dong their part to changing the reputation of “Clemson’ing,” an honor which should now go to a team that wears a different shade of orange, the Tennessee Volunteers, who are finding ways to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory on a weekly basis.

What Does It All Mean?

As we’ve mentioned before, there’s no dominant team in college football.  Any team in the Top 10 can lose to just about anyone else on a given day, and it’s going to be a near-impossible task for the College Football Playoff Committee to pick the best four teams at the end of the season.

With that said, it will be difficult for anyone to stage a legitimate argument against who they select.

Our Rankings

Our rankings are based upon what actually happened on the field and much less about perception of how good teams should be or past history of the conferences they play in.

1. Utah Utes- They were idle this week and they still have two of the best wins in college football this season.
2. Baylor Bears- The Bears are simply mauling people, and we may not know how good they actually are until the playoffs.
3. Florida Gators- If you completely dominate our No. 1 team, you move up considerably.
4. LSU Tigers- LSU has the Heisman favorite, and they are riding him to wins.
5. Clemson Tigers- We’ll find out more about Clemson when they play Florida State, but right now they look like a legitimate contender.
6. Northwestern Wildcats- They are taking care of business and have a huge game coming up against Michigan.
7. TCU Horned Frogs- TCU dominated Texas, but who hasn’t this season?
8. Michigan Wolverines- Jim Harbaugh’s team is playing great defense, and a close loss at Utah looks pretty good.
9. Ole Miss Rebels- They shot an air ball in Gainesville, but the win in Tuscaloosa is still impressive.
10. Alabama Crimson Tide- Impressive road win versus Georgia has them back in the SEC title race.

Heisman Rankings

1. Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU- He became the first SEC running back to gain over 200 yards three straight games.  He’s a man among boys right now.
2. Ezekiel Elliot, RB, Ohio State- The Ohio State running back is dominant when he gets the football and he should be fed the ball more often.
3. Trevone Boykin, QB, TCU- Boykin is putting up huge numbers and his best moment this year was actually an errant pass that won the Texas Tech game.  He’s going to have to go undefeated to win it.
4. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia- 13 consecutive 100-yard rushing games while playing an SEC schedule.  Any other year he’d be a Heisman favorite.
5. Cody Kessler, QB, USC- He’s putting up big numbers in an explosive, pro-style offense.  Enough big games on the schedule to propel him one way or the other.