Three-Point Stance: Saturday Shine and Shame, Michigan's revenge
MORE: Week 10 in review | Biggest rankings questions | Weird things from Week 10
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with Saturday Shine and Saturday Shame from the weekend, as well as the Michigan revenge tour.
1. SATURDAY SHINE
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should feel good following their performance in Week 10.
Alabama – Who’s going to beat the Crimson Tide if they made such a joke of a game at No. 3 LSU? I’m not really sure. The Tide faced some adversity in this game and it didn’t faze them at all.
Alabama's defense – All the focus is on the offense at Alabama for a change but the defense is amazing as well and held LSU to 12 yards rushing.
Georgia – Kentucky and its fans were amped to pull the upset but Georgia was just more physical and more talented.
Georgia's running game – The offensive line had some injuries and still dominated as the running game racked up 331 yards against a good Kentucky defense.
West Virginia – The Mountaineers had the guts to go for the win in the end and came away with a huge Big 12 victory that gives them a share of the lead in the conference.
Oklahoma – The Sooners struggled but still pulled out a tough victory to stay atop the Big 12 standings.
Texas Tech – You have to hand it to Texas Tech as the Red Raiders hung in there punch for punch with an explosive Oklahoma team in a tough loss.
Michigan – Is anyone aside from Alabama playing better than Michigan right now? Penn State dominated the Wolverines last year and they paid them back twofold this season. They put on a show.
Notre Dame – Northwestern is a tough opponent and this was a key road win for the Irish.
Ian Book, Notre Dame – He’s the difference-maker for Notre Dame’s offense. Even when the run game is slowed down, Book finds a way to get things done.
Clemson – Okay, maybe Clemson is playing as well as Alabama and Michigan these days as the Tigers made a joke of Louisville in this game. They seem to have as much fun winning as any team in the country.
Missouri – Winless in the SEC coming in, the Tigers handled No. 11 Florida with ease at The Swamp. This was the team I expected to see all season long.
Arizona State – Herm Edwards keeps winning some key games and Utah is a great example. The Sun Devils are one win away from being bowl eligible.
N’Keal Harry, Arizona State – Nine catches for 161 yards and three scores is just another day at the office for Harry. He’s arguably the best wide receiver in the country.
Purdue – Purdue bounced back with a huge win against Iowa to keep its hopes alive in the Big Ten West. The Boilers have been a tough out this year and have shown a lot of toughness.
Nebraska – Losing by less than a touchdown to Ohio State is a victory for Nebraska as it was in this game the whole time.
Boston College – A huge road win at Virginia Tech gets Gameday to The Heights next weekend as the Eagles are the last chance in the ACC for anyone to beat Clemson.
Syracuse – A 7-2 season and a top-25 ranking, few would have seen this coming for the Orange this season. This will be their first winning season since 2013.
Pitt – The Panthers are on top of the ACC Coastal after a big win over Virginia, something very few would have predicted at the beginning of the season.
Auburn – It didn’t look pretty but Auburn roared back after showing no signs of life to beat Texas A&M in a thriller.
NC State – The Pack is back on the winning side of things with a blowout victory over Florida State. Ricky Person looks like a future star.
Michigan State – Things looked bleak for a bit for Michigan State this season but the Spartans are playing well and running the ball effectively now. That showed in the win over Maryland.
Washington State – It wasn’t pretty but it was a key win over Cal as Gardner Minshew continues to rack up 300-yard games.
Baylor – Baylor, yes Baylor, is one game away from being bowl eligible and they handled Oklahoma State a week after being embarrassed by West Virginia.
2. SATURDAY SHAME
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should be feeling some heat following their performance in Week 10.
LSU – Is it shameful to lose to Alabama? I guess not, but I expected a better game, especially from the offense.
Kentucky – The Wildcats had their chance in a big game for the SEC East and were throttled. The vaunted Kentucky defense got ripped apart.
Texas' defense – The Longhorns just can’t stop anyone, which has been a problem for years now. When is that part of their game going to be fixed?
Penn State – Penn State was embarrassed by Michigan in every aspect of the game. The Nittany Lions are having a very average season overall.
Louisville – Bobby Petrino needs to be gone as this team has little talent and no fight in them.
Florida – The Georgia loss clearly still affected them in a bad loss to Mizzou.
Iowa – I expected Iowa to have a surprise 11-1 season and now the Hawkeyes have lost two-straight and all of their weaknesses are showing.
Ohio State – Something is wrong with this team. The defense looks very average, the offense can’t run the ball consistently and they don’t look like a team that can beat Michigan.
Virginia Tech – What happened to the Hokies at home? This used to be a team that was feared and now they are a very average .500 team.
Virginia – This was the biggest game the Cavaliers have played in years and they looked downright average. Pitt is not a world beater and the Cavs had a chance to win, but fell short.
Texas A&M – Jimbo Fisher was outcoached by Gus Malzahn in an ugly game between two of the highest-paid and perhaps overrated coaches in football.
Florida State – This is an awful football team that has no chance at making a bowl game for the first time in 36 years.
Maryland – The loss to Michigan State wasn’t that shameful, but the way the Terrapins handled the D.J. Durkin situation certainly was.
Oklahoma State – The Cowboys beat Texas and follow up with a loss to Baylor? Really?
3. MICHIGAN'S REVENGE TOUR ROLLS ON
The Michigan Revenge Tour is pretty cool. That is unless you’re one of the teams the Wolverines have targeted. It started with Wisconsin, a team they lost to 24-10 last season then moved to Michigan State (14-10 loss last year) and now Penn State (42-13 loss last year). And, as we know, there is one team left on the tour and that’s Ohio State on Nov. 24.
Suddenly people aren’t questioning Jim Harbaugh and his ability to beat rivals and top-25 teams. I have waffled on Harbaugh more than any other coach I’ve covered in 20 years and am now fully on the bandwagon. This is a really good Michigan football team, balanced in every way, and one of a couple of teams that could give Alabama a football game.
Rutgers and Indiana get destroyed next and then Ohio State has to try to handle Michigan at home in a game that I think the Wolverines win big. Of all the things going on in college football this season, give me the Revenge Tour as one of the most interesting to follow.
