College football Week 11 takeaways: It’s Joe Burrow’s world and we’re just living in it

Joe Burrow, Ed Orgeron and LSU were among the biggest winners across college football, but Alabama wasn’t the biggest loser you may think they are.

LSU is the best team in the nation

After beating Alabama 46-41 in Tuscaloosa, LSU will be the new No. 1 team in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings. The Tigers owned the top spot in the AP Poll but were behind Ohio State in the first unveiling. Saturday’s win that snapped an eight-game losing streak to Alabama and may have punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff. LSU has a loss in the bank in case they drop the SEC Championship Game, but let’s not even think about that right now. Ed Orgeron is having the last laugh after his hire was roundly criticized despite coming off a successful stint as USC’s interim coach. There may not be a coach who enjoys his job as much as Coach O enjoys being the head coach of the LSU Tigers.

Joe Burrow is the Heisman winner

That’s it. It’s over. It’s all over. Throw in the damn towel. Just give Joe Burrow the Heisman Trophy right now. Don’t even bother with the ceremony in December. Just have UPS ship the Trophy to Baton Rouge because it’s over. Burrow was the front-runner entering the game with Alabama and left no doubt he will be named the Heisman Trophy winner. Burrow threw for 393 yards and three touchdowns with one interception on 31-of-39 passing.

He also made several Heisman moments with his feet, including an 18-yard run on 3rd and 2 with 2:00 left in the game to set up Clyde Edwards-Helaire‘s touchdown on the next play. Burrow displayed the competitiveness, precision passing, running ability and all the intangibles he showed all year. If anyone was doubting if this would be the same old LSU that would fold against mighty Alabama, he proved everyone wrong. Not only did Burrow clinch the Heisman, but the game of his life also will see him rising NFL Draft boards.

Oh, and he also put out this candidate for the Tweet of the year by a famous athlete.

Alabama’s playoff hopes on life support

Alabama needed this win more than LSU because Alabama won’t have the same number of quality wins without this. Now, Alabama will not be in position to win the SEC or even its own division. Yes, we’ve seen this script before where that didn’t matter for Alabama, this year could be different. Penn State losing to Minnesota softens the fall for Alabama in the short-term but in the long-term, the Pac-12 champion could jump Alabama with the benefit of their conference championship game. If Utah and Oregon don’t lose by the time they play each other in the Pac-12 Championship Game, that could be enough to jump Georgia and Alabama to move into the top four with LSU, Ohio State and Clemson. I’m not quite ready to write the obituary for Alabama because crazy things happen and they would be the best one-loss team.

Pac-12 playoff hopes increase

The biggest beneficiary of Alabama losing to LSU besides LSU were Oregon and Utah. Both teams were idle but both picked up ground in the College Football Playoff standings. If LSU won, it’s unlikely either Utah or Oregon would be ranked ahead of LSU, which would have effectively ended their season on a week they didn’t play. Conversely, the Utes and Ducks were cheering for every Burrow throw and Edwards-Helaire run. Utah and Oregon should meet as one-loss teams in the Pac-12 Championship Game and if one team has a double-digit or otherwise dominating win, that could be the extra credit they need to get the fourth spot. The Pac-12 was pretty much written off when Oregon lost to Auburn in Week 1 and when Utah lost to USC in late September. As much talk as there was about the SEC or Big Ten getting two teams in, now the talk is about how the Pac-12 will earn a chair on the final weekend.

Chase Young suspension is really bumming me out

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was suspended after he received a loan from a family friend to pay for his girlfriend’s travel expenses to see him play in last year’s Rose Bowl. The loan was repaid and it’s unfortunate this qualifies as something that is against NCAA rules. Initial reports suggested Young could be suspended for four games, which would be the rest of the regular season, which includes games with Penn State and at Michigan. But Ohio State said there is no expectation for the number of games he will have to miss. It would really stink if he has to miss any more time because of something that shouldn’t be a violation. Rules are rules and he broke one. But it’s a dumb rule. Hopefully, Young will be eligible in time for Penn State and Michigan and fans will get to see arguably the top player in the game.

Minnesota is so fun

I love P.J. Fleck and am not surprised to see him having this type of success at Minnesota so soon. He’s a program-builder and he’s doing that with the Gophers who are now 9-0 after beating No. 4 Penn State.

The Gophers jumped on the vaunted Nittany Lions defense on the opening possession with a touchdown in the first three minutes. That gave the team all the confidence needed to know they could win this game. Fleck already knew it. He told his team they could win. But this was a team that hasn’t experienced this type of game environment before against this type of opponent. They responded in a big way, especially quarterback Tanner Morgan who was dialed in from the jump. Morgan completed 18-of-20 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns. Receivers Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson combined for 14 receptions for 307 yards and two touchdowns. Fleck outcoached James Franklin and celebrated by crowdsurfing afterward, as one does.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1193273481384878080

Fleck and Minnesota still have Iowa and Wisconsin remaining on the schedule, but I’m no longer taking this team lightly. They’re going to win the West and compete for four quarters in the Big Ten Championship Game, presumably against Ohio State.

Baylor is too

Much like Fleck and Minnesota, I am a big fan of the job Matt Rhule is doing at Baylor. The Bears improved to 9-0 after a triple-overtime win against TCU. Everyone questioned what Ruhle was thinking when he left Temple to take the job that was a toxic waste dump in the wake of the Art Briles scandal. If it weren’t for Orgeron and Fleck, it would be Rhule who is a slam dunk to win Coach of the Year. He still may be. Baylor has Oklahoma at Waco with College GameDay coming to town next Saturday. A win would guarantee a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game. It might also guarantee Rhule is not the Baylor coach much longer. Rhule has interviewed with two NFL teams in the last two offseasons and was reportedly a finalist for the New York Jets. He ended up signing an extension with Baylor and citing how happy he and his family are to be at Baylor. Rhule might still be happy in Waco but the interest from NFL teams will only be stronger this offseason.

https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay/status/1193341207331651585

Clemson is peaking at the right time

Clemson had a championship hangover to start the year and that’s perfectly fine because it really doesn’t hurt them en route to their fifth straight division title. Yes, it would be nice to be the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25. And yes, it would have been really nice to be in the top four of the first College Football Playoff rankings. Obviously. Clemson was punished for their less-than-perfect start to the season and near-loss to North Carolina. Since then, Clemson is 5-0 and averaging 52.6 points and allowing an average of 11 points. Trevor Lawrence is coming out of his early-season sophomore slump and back to dropping dimes.

Travis Etienne is running by everyone and the defense is historically good. Clemson is peaking at the right time and could be a dangerous out for the No. 2 team if Clemson moves up to the No. 3 spot in the playoff rankings.

Illinois is going bowling

Michigan State led Illinois 28-3 in the second quarter and 31-10 in the fourth quarter but the Illini had their biggest comeback in program history to win 37-34. The win was not only significant for the 27 points in the fourth quarter but because it’s the sixth of the season for Lovie Smith‘s team who is now eligible for a bowl.

The win was the fourth in a row for Smith’s team who is bowl-eligible for the first time since 2014, and the first time in his four-year tenure. Smith needed to have a good season to inspire the apathetic fanbase that has grown used to losing and he’s done just that. Illinois’ last-second win at home vs. Wisconsin and the comeback win vs. Michigan State represents two of the biggest wins for Illinois since Juice Williams, Rashard Mendenhall and Arrelious Benn were in Champaign. They’ll get at least one more win too with Northwestern in the season finale. The Wildcats, also known as Chicago’s Big Ten team, have just one win and are coming off a two-point loss to Purdue.

Heisman/College Football Playoff/Power Rankings

• Heisman: Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields
• Playoff: LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia
• Top 10: LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota, Baylor, Oklahoma

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