College football Week 15 takeaways: College Football Playoff scenarios, Tom Herman’s future, Army-Navy game, Sarah Fuller scores

College football Week 15 takeaways include Sarah Fuller making history, Army-Navy making history of their own. Urban Meyer’s future and all the College Football Playoff scenarios.

College Football Playoff scenarios

Unlike most years, there isn’t a whole lot of College Football Playoff drama entering the final week of the season. Alabama and Notre Dame have already locked themselves in so half of the field is set. Even if Alabama or Notre Dame should lose to Florida or Clemson in their conference championship games, they won’t be bumped from the field.

For Clemson, if they win, they’re in. If Clemson loses, they’re out.

For Ohio State, if they beat Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game, they should be in even with a 6-0 record. Sure, social media will be upset, but unless things get weird in the SEC and ACC, the Buckeyes will be in.

Okay, so what if things get weird?

If Clemson loses to Notre Dame in the ACC Championship Game, then there is an opening for an outsider to come in the back door.

Okay, in this scenario Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State are in. The fourth team will likely be decided from Texas A&M, which has been No. 5 in all the rankings thus far and their lone loss coming to No. 1 Alabama. Would the committee really want to see a rematch between Alabama and Texas A&M after the Tide beat them 52-24 in the second game of the year?

On top of not being a conference champion, that could be a tough sell for Texas A&M, which opens the possibility for the Big 12 champion to sneak in the back door.

Both Iowa State and Oklahoma have two losses, but if Oklahoma avenges their loss to the Cyclones from earlier in the year in a convincing fashion, they could move all the way from No. 11 to No. 4. That would be the biggest leap on the final weekend and, on paper, it looks unrealistic, but they have a pulse.

That’s something I can’t say for Cincinnati who could finish undefeated if they beat Tulsa in the AAC Championship Game, but as we all know, the committee won’t put a Group of Five team in, especially ahead of a conference champion like Oklahoma. And if it’s Iowa State that wins the Big 12 in this scenario, they may not have the same cache or name-brand recognition as Oklahoma, but by virtue of being a conference champion, it could trump both Texas A&M and Cincinnati.

The playoff field will be determined on Sunday, Dec. 20, but if Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State win out, we’ll know the four teams before going to bed on Saturday night.

Army-Navy game

The annual Army-Navy game had a much different feel this year. For the first time since 1943, the rivalry game was played at West Point, moved from Michie Stadium in Philadelphia due to COVID-19 restrictions in the state of Pennsylvania that would have prevented the Army Corps of Cadets and Navy’s Brigade of Midshipmen to attend the game.

Typically, Army-Navy is the lone game played on the day with the Heisman ceremony later that night. Army-Navy was competing with a plethora of other games as the college football schedule was extended into December because of COVID giving teams a late start and the Heisman is still a month away from being awarded.

More history was made in Army’s 15-0 win over Navy as the shutout marked the first in the rivalry since Army won 27-0 in 1969. Under the direction of Jeff Monken, Army has dominated the recent series, winning four of the last five games. Navy previously won 14 straight from 2002-2015.

the first meeting between the teams at West Point since 1943. The game was moved to Michie Stadium from its customary site in Philadelphia because COVID-19 regulations in Pennsylvania would not have allowed the Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen to attend. Navy still leads the series 61-53-7 but Army has closed the gap between the two.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1337873752214753280

Sarah Fuller continues to make history

After making history as the first woman to play in a Power 5 game when she executed a perfect squib kick for Vanderbilt, Sarah Fuller is now the first woman to score in a Power 5 game.

The Vanderbilt soccer-player-turned-football-kicker drilled an extra point for the Commodores and was mobbed by her teammates afterward in one of the best scenes of the crazy 2020 season.

She got the ball from the officials afterward too so she’ll always have that keepsake from the game she immortalized herself in college football history. If I had my way, her cleats should be headed to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Fuller added a second extra point later in the game to finish a perfect 2-for-2 on PAT’s for the day.

Texas retains Tom Herman after Urban Meyer flirtation goes nowhere

You knew this was coming after Urban Meyer rebuffed the interest from Texas and elected to stay retired and work for FOX. If Meyer would have taken the Texas football job, Tom Herman would be out of work. With Meyer passing and Herman carrying a hefty buyout, there was no other option for Texas other than keeping Herman and hoping for better results. Herman has gone 0-6 against Oklahoma, TCU and Iowa State in the last two years. He’s lost twice to Maryland and has an unforgivable loss to Kansas on his resume. Expecting it to suddenly get better when we have a track record suggesting it won’t all but ensures Texas should expect a 7-5 season or so in 2021.

As for what’s next for Meyer, I expect him to let teams flirt with him and tell him how special he is and how great he is and how they’ll give him so much money he won’t know how to spend it. And after that flirtation is over, I expect Meyer to say thank you and return to FOX where he could work for as long as he wants without the stress of coaching a program. I’m looking at USC football fans who covet Meyer as the coach who will come in when Clay Helton is finally shown the door.

North Carolina dynamic RB duo breaks rushing record vs. Miami

North Carolina ran for 554 yards against Miami for a whopping 10.1 yards per carry in the Tar Heels’ 62-26 win over the Hurricanes. It was a whooping that saw Michael Carter and Javonte Williams set a new FBS record for combined rushing yards by a pair of teammates in a single game. The duo combined for 544 yards with 308 coming from Carter and 236 for Williams as the Canes defense had no answer for the duo. The Miami defense was so bad that even North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell caught a touchdown as the Canes likely lost any shot of an Orange Bowl berth with this embarrassing loss that head coach Manny Diaz called a humiliating performance.

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