Nobody Knows Anything: Bad Bo lives
This week's games that made no sense to anyone.
Wisconsin 52, Maryland 7
Wisconsin had rightfully fallen off the national radar following their loss to Northwestern, but on Saturday they treated Maryland like a MAC team. The passing attack looked efficient if nothing else, and the running game was its normal bullying self.
Maryland has done decently for itself in its first season in the Big Ten, but against Wisconsin and Ohio State, the Terrapins were crushed. Michigan State will probably do the same to them in a few weeks. Maryland is a bowl team, but they have a long way to go before they can think about contending for a conference title.
Wisconsin and LSU (who I will get to shortly) seem to be mirror images of each other. They are recent powers whom have looked downright awful at points this season, but both teams have just two losses. It feels like both should be struggling to make a bowl game. The Big Ten’s easy conference slate explains Wisconsin’s record.
LSU has no such explanation.
LSU 10, Ole Miss 7
Welcome back, Bad Bo Wallace.
It was fascinating to watch the narrative on Wallace change after he had a few stellar performances. He was labeled as inconsistent beforehand, meaning that he was capable of those great days. It also meant that he was capable of what happened on Saturday.
Ole Miss controls its own destiny for the playoffs. Ole Miss also has an inconsistent quarterback, a weak rushing attack and a defense that struggled to stop the run on Saturday. With games remaining against Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi State, that rushing defense has the potential to be what unravels the Rebels’ season.
Meanwhile, this makes back-to-back impressive win for Les Miles’ bunch after they whipped surprising Kentucky the week before. Whether this is a case of a young team growing up or flawed teams struggling in the hostile environment of Death Valley is anyone’s guess.
Georgia Tech 56, Pittsburgh 28
This game is only noteworthy for Pitt’s fumbles. The Panthers fumbled six times—and they lost all of them. I thought that would have been statistically impossible.
Pitt defensive coordinator Matt House has now faced three triple option teams in his two seasons: Georgia Tech and Navy last season and the Yellow Jackets again on Saturday. The Panthers are 0-3 in those games. That’s three games against mediocre opponents that Pitt has dropped, and the head scratching promotion of House can be pointed to as a major reason for those losses.
Hey, look, Georgia Tech might win the Coastal. It probably will not be good for Florida State’s strength of schedule if the Seminoles' ACC Championship Game opponent gets whipped by Georgia the week before.