Ranking the three most unique tailgates in college football
From barbecues to trains to boats… college football fans love to get creative with their tailgate plans. Mackenzie Salmon highlights the three most unique experiences from across the country.
The No. 1 team in college football plays like the No. 1 team.
You would say this is obvious, but that is not always the case. However, it’s up to Georgia, which continues to dominate against SEC competition and holds a top spot in the US LBM AFCA Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff rankings.
After rolling to Mississippi 52-17 last weekend, the Bulldogs controlled Tennessee for nearly every second in a 38-10 victory. The Volunteers scored on a 75-yard run on the game’s opening play; From then on it was all Georgia.
They begin to realize that a program has won the last two national championships and has gotten into shape just in time to win a third and make college football history. After some questionably close games early in SEC play and the loss of tight end Brock Bowers to an ankle injury, Georgia appeared vulnerable, but those doubts were put to rest as the Bulldogs shifted into gear near the finish line of the regular season.
Bowers returned from his ankle injury before last week’s game against the Rebels and picked up where he left off: with another touchdown against the Volunteers on 60 yards receiving. One constant is the increasingly productive play of quarterback Carson Beck, who completed 24 of 30 throws for 298 yards and three scores. Beck now has 21 touchdowns and five interceptions and is completing nearly 73% of his throws.
Georgia is coming together. The rest of the FBS better watch out — especially Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama and the other blueblood programs in the mix for the national championship.
The Bulldogs are Saturday’s biggest winners and losers:
winner
Washington
Washington’s 22:20 win against Oregon State secures the Huskies’ place in the Pac-12 championship game and sets an example. The Huskies were dismissed by the playoff selection committee, which ranked them last among undefeated Power Five teams despite earning the nation’s best individual win over Oregon earlier this season. The physical nature of the win and the fact that it came against one of the best teams in the country could be enough to move Washington up to No. 4 in the playoff rankings and explain the playoff math very simply: Win and you The Huskies won also secured the away win, although quarterback Michael Penix Jr. played an unusually poor game, completing only 13 of 28 throws for 162 yards, but scoring two touchdowns without an interception and a crucial third-down conversion to win the win in a bad situation Weather. Before Saturday, Oregon State was 5-0 at Reser Stadium this season and 17-1 since the start of the 2021 season.
Kansas State
Trailing by 11 points in the third quarter, Kansas State came back to beat Kansas 31-27 to stay alive in the Big 12 chase and extend its winning streak in the rivalry to 15 games. Trailing 27-16, the Wildcats capped an 87-yard touchdown drive with the two-point conversion to cut their deficit to 27-24 in the fourth, then went ahead with just over 10 minutes left Will Howard’s 15-yard score in the lead. The Jayhawks did a good job putting a game plan in place for third-string quarterback Cole Ballard, who had 217 yards of total offense and averaged 10.2 yards per pass attempt despite being intercepted twice. Running back Devin Neal added 138 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. But it wasn’t enough to get the Jayhawks past Howard, who also had two touchdown passes. The Wildcats, who have won eight games for the fourth time in five years under Chris Klieman, could reach the conference championship game with a win next Saturday against Iowa State and some help.
Arizona
Jedd Fisch is the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and should be one of the top names for national hardware after Arizona’s upset 42-18 win over Utah gave the Wildcats their first eight-win season since 2014. The Wildcats had a touchdown on a blocked punt and then scored a touchdown pass in garbage time with less than a minute left, adding a little to the final margin of victory. But this was dominance: Arizona had four scoring drives of 60 or more yards, didn’t turn the ball over, held Utah to 3.2 yards per carry and averaged 7.7 yards per play, the highest number the Utes have ever seen allowed in one game this season.
Louisville
Another contender for national coach of the year is Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, whose home debut with the Cardinals will go down as one of the most memorable years in program history. After a 38-31 win at Miami, Florida, the Cardinals enter the rivalry against Kentucky with an incredible 10-1 record and advance to the ACC Championship game against Florida State. Everyone expected immediate improvement under Brohm, a great offensive coach, but no one could have expected it: Louisville has a small but discernible path to the playoffs with wins against the Wildcats and Seminoles.
SMU
SMU has quietly been one of the best teams in the Group of Five since September. This can be attributed in part to a schedule that featured high-profile matchups against Oklahoma and TCU, but missed Tulane and Texas-San Antonio during the American Athletic game. The 38-34 road win over Memphis is easily the most impressive result of the season for the Mustangs, who now finish with an undefeated record in conference play and will play for the AAC crown with a win next week against Navy. What will be interesting Tuesday night is whether the playoff committee ranks the Mustangs – not that it matters, but the ranking before the AAC championship game guarantees that SMU would reach the New Year’s Six with the win.
Northwest
Think back to August, when Pat Fitzgerald was fired amid allegations of hazing within the program, and consider the extremely low expectations surrounding Northwestern and first-year defensive coordinator David Braun, Fitzgerald’s interim replacement. Who saw a bowl game coming? Well, here we are: Northwestern will reach the postseason after Cam Porter scored 95 rushing yards and two touchdowns and beat Purdue 23-15. In addition to the turmoil of the summer and the coaching change that followed, don’t forget that Northwestern has won four games in the previous two seasons and has lost at least nine games in three of the last four. So what the Wildcats have done is incredible and explains why Braun was named the team’s permanent coach this week.
State of Arkansas
Butch Jones was fired by Tennessee in 2017, spent a few years learning new tricks as an off-field assistant at Alabama and then got the job at Arkansas State in 2021 to revive his coaching career. His first two teams were terrible, posting just five wins between them, and things seemed to be the same this year after the Red Wolves gave up 70 points in a humiliating non-conference loss to Oklahoma. About two months later, Arkansas State ends up in the bowl game after posting four takeaways for a 77-31 win over Texas State. Notably, none of the Red Wolves’ nine touchdowns came through the air, seven came on the ground – three by Ja’Quez Cross and two each by Zak Wallace and Cedric Hawkins – and the remaining two came on interception returns in the fourth quarter.
loser
State of Florida
Florida State lost to North Alabama 13-0, but got back on track and secured a 58-20 win. But here’s the bad news: Star quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a serious lower-body injury late in the first quarter, likely ending the Heisman Trophy contender’s season and putting the Seminoles’ championship hopes in serious trouble. Tate Rodemaker filled in for Travis and looked good, throwing for 217 yards and two scores, and the former three-star recruit was able to give FSU enough to earn wins over Florida and Louisville and secure a perfect regular season. But it’s about getting to the playoffs and winning once or twice, and losing Travis drastically impacts the Seminoles’ chances on college football’s biggest stage.
Misery index: Florida State’s season is in doubt after Travis’ injury
Southern California
The only good thing that can be said about the Trojans’ regular season is that it’s over. Thank God. The ending was predictable: UCLA capitalized on mistakes, controlled the line of scrimmage and was simply the better team with a 38-20 win, period, that extended the Chip Kelly era for at least another week. As they have done all season, the Bruins maximized some minimal returns on offense and let the defense take the lead; The defense responded with three takeaways and continued pressure on Caleb Williams. After reaching the Cotton Bowl last year and starting the year as one of the hottest picks for the playoffs, USC enters the postseason at 7-5 and is one of the biggest disappointments in the country. And they’ll have to regroup quickly because Williams probably goes to the NFL.
Florida
Brutally. Brutally. This has already been an ugly year for Florida, which finished 6-7 in Billy Napier’s first season and was 5-5 heading into games against Missouri and Florida State at the end of the regular season and needed at least one win to make a bowl to achieve, and two wins in three possible games, to avoid Napier having two losing seasons early in his term – something that would be very, very difficult to overcome. Although quarterback Graham Mertz was sidelined with an injury in the second half, the Gators led Missouri 31-30 with 1:34 to go and were able to secure bowl eligibility with a defensive stand. Instead, Missouri gained 62 yards in 12 plays, including a ridiculous fourth-and-17 conversion to star receiver Luther Burden, and then kicked a 30-yard field goal with five seconds left to win 33-31 . This is brutal.
Auburn
To be clear: This is not your father’s New Mexico State or even your older brother’s New Mexico State. The Aggies are a very different bunch under the great Jerry Kill, who led the program to a bowl game in his debut last season and made his second team in the Conference USA championship game. But maybe you should sit down for this: New Mexico State 31, Auburn 10. A week after beating Hugh Freeze-led Arkansas to achieve bowl eligibility, the Tigers were dominated by a ball-control offense that kept the ball for nearly 39 minutes held completely under control and helped the Aggies outgain Auburn by 414 yards to 213. This was the first win against the SEC after 27 straight losses for New Mexico State, which was paid $1.85 million to come to Auburn and beat the Tigers like a drum. Nice return on investment guys!
Nebraska
At 5-3, the Cornhuskers head into the finale against Iowa and are in danger of missing the postseason in coach Matt Rhule’s first season after losing 24-17 to Wisconsin in overtime. More broadly, falling one win short of bowl eligibility doesn’t mean Rhule’s debut would be unsuccessful, especially given the situation Rhule inherited from former coach Scott Frost. But Nebraska has spent the better part of a month knocking on the door for the program’s first bowl bid since 2016. Not only would it be difficult to endure, but it would also be quite detrimental considering how important the additional bowl practices would be to Rhule, the staff and the roster.