MORE: Week 12 in review | Five weird things from Week 12
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with Saturday Shine and Saturday Shame from the weekend, as well as a look at Georgia quarterback Justin Fields.
1. SATURDAY SHINE
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should feel good following their performance in Week 12.
Clemson – The Tigers continue to dominate good football teams and Duke is a good football team. Trevor Lawrence continues to impress.
Notre Dame – This was supposed to be a test for Notre Dame, a potential trap game. But the Fighting Irish just rolled over the Orange and Ian Book looked healthy which is good news for the Irish.
Michigan – The Wolverines pulled out a tough win over an Indiana team that they were clearly looking past.
Justin Fields, Georgia – He threw for more than 100 yards and ran for 100 yards against a bad UMass team and he showed that promise we’ve been waiting to see.
Washington State – The Cougars just keep rolling along, hoping to somehow climb into the playoff. It’s unlikely to happen but this is a really good one-loss football team.
Oklahoma State – Try figuring the Pokes out. They eliminated West Virginia from any chance of the playoff with a comeback win. The Oklahoma State offense can sometimes look unstoppable.
Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State – In his homecoming, he accounted for six touchdowns and was the main reason - okay, maybe J.K. Dobbins was - why the Buckeyes pulled out a tough win.
Maryland – The Terps took it to Ohio State and hung in all game long despite the talent gap. They should have won the game but still get recognized for the effort.
Anthony McFarland, Maryland – He rushed for 298 yards and showed great speed and toughness in the game. He was one of the main reasons Maryland scared Ohio State.
UCF – The Knights just keep on winning and don’t seem to have many close games at all. I don’t think they should be in the playoff conversation, but this is a really good team.
Texas – Iowa State is no easy out and Shane Buechele played a big role in this win. The Longhorns continue to take small steps toward what could be a Big 12 title next season.
Washington – Oregon State isn’t a good football team but the Huskies finally put together a full game and destroyed an opponent they should have destroyed.
Utah – Quietly, Utah is putting together a very nice season. The Utes continue to string together wins despite having to overcome many injuries.
Florida State – A win over a top-25 team? Who would have thought it was possible, but Florida State kept on fighting to beat Boston College.
Mississippi State – What is this offense we saw on Saturday? Where has this been all season, or is Arkansas just this bad?
Northwestern – The Big Ten West champs are a tough, physical football team and showed it once again against Minnesota.
Pitt – Congrats to the ACC Coastal champs who showed they can throw the ball as well against Wake Forest. After the start they had to the season, the Panthers showed a lot of heart to come back and have a great season.
Georgia Tech – The Jackets have quietly put together a nice season after a rough start. Paul Johnson is a heckuva coach.
Miami – The ‘Canes needed this win in a big way and dominated Virginia Tech in what was viewed in the preseason to be a battle for the division. N’Kosi Perry looked like the quarterback we have expected.
Nebraska – It wasn’t pretty but look at the Huskers now compared to a month ago. This is a team that is improving quite a bit week to week.
UCLA – Chip Kelly has his team playing better and won a huge rivalry game against USC putting Clay Helton on a very hot seat.
Missouri – It’s a little late but Missouri is peaking now and the offense is clicking. Tennessee was coming off a huge win over Kentucky and got blasted.
2. SATURDAY SHAME
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should be feeling some heat following their performance in Week 12.
Syracuse – I know Eric Dungey got hurt and that killed the Orange's chances, but the rest of the team didn’t step up as Notre Dame simply dominated them.
Oklahoma's defense – Giving up 40 points to Kansas is truly embarrassing. The Sooners' defense is going to keep them out of the playoff discussion even if some things fell their way.
Ohio State's defense – The Buckeyes, especially in the secondary, look abysmal on defense and have all season long. But giving up 51 points to Maryland was perhaps their worst performance on that side of the ball.
West Virginia – This was a must-win game to keep playoff hopes alive and the Mountaineers blew it. The defense, which has been solid all year, fell apart.
Penn State – Beating Rutgers only 20-7 is almost like a loss, right?
Kentucky – I haven’t been impressed since before the Georgia game and it seems like the Wildcats are taking more steps backward than forward. Yes, they won, but an 11-point win over Middle Tennessee isn’t exactly impressive.
Boston College – The Eagles had this game against Florida State won and blew it. They were the more physical team and played better for large parts of the game but still fell short.
Arkansas – The Hawgs did something no one else could do – make the Mississippi State offense look potent.
Virginia Tech – What happened to the Hokies? They were dominated in the second half against Miami and couldn’t do anything.
Texas Tech – Kansas State is not a good football team and yet it handled the Red Raiders and shut down that offense with ease.
USC – What the heck is happening? USC has a losing record and got beaten easily by a pretty bad UCLA team.
3. IMPRESSIVE SHOWING BY JUSTIN FIELDSÂ
Okay, okay it was only against UMass but how about Justin Fields? Overshadowed by Trevor Lawrence from Clemson all year and being used mainly as a runner in spot duty, we finally got to see what he could do as a dual-threat quarterback on Saturday. And the results should scare the rest of the SEC.
Fields, who has apparently been amazing in practice and showing his skills all along, entered the game with 341 passing yards on the season and four touchdowns while rushing for 250 yards and four more scores on the ground. On Saturday, he was 5-for-8 for 121 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 100 yards on seven carries and another score.
This only makes the question on everyone’s mind loom larger: Who will be the starter next season, junior Jake Fromm or the sophomore Fields? Many have speculated that if Fields doesn’t win the job next season he will transfer as many other quarterbacks around the nation have done. Fromm has been very impressive as the starter since he was a freshman and led Georgia to the national title game last season so he’s clearly no slouch.
It’s a great problem for head coach Kirby Smart to have and now that we’ve seen a little more of what Fields can do, this will be an interesting storyline to follow.
