The tentacles of Georgia’s loss to Ole Miss are far reaching, from Texas to Indiana.
Even as Carson Beck piles up turnovers, it would go against Kirby Smart’s history for him to trigger a quarterback change with Georgia’s season on the line against Tennessee.
LSU’s season went bust against Alabama, and now Brian Kelly tenure at a crossroads.
The tentacles of Georgia’s loss to Ole Miss reach from Austin, Texas, to Bloomington, Indiana.
The College Football Playoff committee probably would have enjoyed a fairly neat and tidy selection process in a few weeks if Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs had beaten the Rebels.
Ole Miss pummeling Georgia 28-10 in Oxford and entering the playoff mix overcrowds the bubble.
This result enhanced the chance of the ACC and Big 12 being one-bid leagues, and it also raised the possibility of a Big Ten or SEC team worthy of playoff consideration being left out of the field.
Here’s what’s left tingling my brain as we close the book on Week 11:
Will Kirby Smart bench quarterback Carson Beck?
I highly doubt it. As much as I think Smart should consider trying blue-chip backup quarterback Gunner Stockton, few coaches detest a quarterback change like Smart.
Here’s what Smart said Monday about the possibility of quarterback change:
‘Absolutely not,” Smart said. “We’ve got the quarterback we’ve got who is completely competent, capable and understanding of our system that gives us the best chance to win.”
With Georgia’s season on the line against Tennessee, Smart will dance with the one who brought him, even though Carson Beck is responsible for 14 turnovers throughout the past six games.
“He’s the key that turns the ignition for them on offense,” Volunteers coach Josh Heupel said Monday, in an attempt at complimenting Beck.
The key won’t turn, and the Lamborghini won’t start.
Stockton would supply more quarterback run game into Georgia’s offense, but if we assume Smart sticks with Beck (a fair assumption, given Smart’s history handling quarterbacks), Georgia’s banged-up offensive line must better protect Beck than they did against Ole Miss, when the Rebels kept Beck under duress.
Which teams are most affected by Georgia’s loss?
Start with the obvious. Georgia suffering a second loss affects Georgia.
At 7-2, the Bulldogs can’t afford to lose to Tennessee. If Georgia rattles off wins against the Vols, Massachusetts and Georgia Tech, there’s a spot for it in the 12-team field. If Georgia drops a third game, that drives a needle into its bubble.
Georgia losing to Ole Miss also affected:
Tennessee: An Ole Miss loss would have cleared the Rebels from the bubble, kept Georgia near the top of the rankings and given the Vols a low-risk crack at Georgia on Saturday. Now, Tennessee’s own credentials will be called into question if it loses to Georgia a week after the Rebels made Georgia look inept.
Texas: Back when you could convince yourself Georgia was perhaps the nation’s best team, the Longhorns’ 30-15 loss to the Bulldogs in Austin didn’t sting that badly. Now, though, if you re-examine Texas’ résumé, you see the Longhorns have a squishy strength of schedule, no marquee victories and a home loss to a team that lost to Alabama and Ole Miss.
The Longhorns would be safe at 11-1. Lose to Texas A&M, though, and finish 10-2, and it becomes difficult to make a case for Texas. Georgia losing reduced Texas’ margin for error, especially with the head-to-head result meaning the committee likely will have Longhorns behind the Bulldogs if both are at-large candidates with the same record.
Indiana: Consider this real possibility: Georgia beats Tennessee. Texas rolls into the SEC championship game at 11-1. Indiana loses to Ohio State.
You’d have undefeated Oregon, plus Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana with one loss apiece, entering the Big Ten championship. Within the SEC, one-loss Texas would sit pretty, followed this list of 10-2 teams: Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia and Tennessee.
Oh, and don’t forget Notre Dame.
Even without bringing the ACC or Big 12 into the picture, I count eight at-large candidates for seven spots.
Indiana would have the softest strength of schedule. Gulp. You want to bet the basketball school becomes the odd-man out?
Is Brian Kelly a bust at LSU?
LSU’s season went a bust Saturday night.
The Tigers masqueraded as a playoff team in brief spurts, but LSU had too many weaknesses and too few strengths to hold up as a playoff contender. Alabama exposed every wart in a 42-13 destruction of the Tigers.
This result became the low point of a Kelly tenure that had been fairly encouraging throughout two years before momentum stalled. In Year 3, LSU should expect more than this.
I’m not yet ready to declare the Kelly era a bust. He’s assembling his best recruiting class, a group ranked No. 4 nationally and headlined by the nation’s No. 1 quarterback prospect, Bryce Underwood. A new quarterback won’t solve all that ails the Tigers, though.
LSU’s run game would benefit from more imagination, and Kelly needs to acquire and develop better defensive personnel. Taking a page from the Ole Miss playbook and adding a few proven transfers this offseason would help.
LSU’s talent on defense simply isn’t good enough. That showed throughout this season, just as it did last year.
Should Miami be worried about its spot in the CFP bracket?
Absolutely, it should be concerned.
You could overlook Miami’s lack of a signature victory when the Hurricanes were undefeated and piling up points, but a 28-23 loss to Georgia Tech calls for closer examination of Miami’s credentials.
The entire Miami operation is built upon quarterback Cam Ward impersonating Superman each week, and he does a darn-good job of that. But, Miami’s defense leaves it persistently vulnerable, and Georgia Tech exposed Miami’s offensive line.
Miami needed three second-half comebacks to remain undefeated before this Georgia Tech loss.
The Hurricanes will finish November at Syracuse. The Orange are no easy out at home. A loss there could boot Miami from the ACC championship.
To feel scure about the playoff, the Hurricanes need to win the ACC championship, and that’s no layup, with SMU playing as well as any ACC team.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.
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