Snap judgments from Week 9 of college football
College football's biggest story lines can build up — or get knocked down — in one snap. After a Saturday full of action and overreaction, we're here to help you figure out what's hot, what's not and what's true as the season starts to reach crunch time.
Here are four story lines to know (and, in some cases, debunk):
This week's Snap Judgments:
1. The season of amazing endings continues.
Two weeks ago, we had Michigan State stunning Michigan in the final seconds after its fumbled punt attempt. Last week, we had the Block Six, in which Georgia Tech blocked Florida State's winning field goal attempt and ran it back for a touchdown to snap the Seminoles' 22-game ACC streak. Now, we have Miami-Duke, which ended when the Hurricanes used eight (EIGHT!) laterals to score as time expired to beat the Blue Devils in Durham six days after coach Al Golden was fired. It was glorious — although there will be plenty of chatter about what appeared to be illegal blocks and a knee being down — and one of the sport's craziest endings to a game in history. The only thing missing? The band.
2. Let's hear it for interim coaches.
Speaking of Miami, the 30-27 win against Duke was interim coach Larry Scott's first victory. Over at USC, interim coach Clay Helton — given the tag when Steve Sarkisian was fired — is 2-1 this season since taking over. Minnesota's Tracy Claeys nearly beat Michigan in his first game this year after Jerry Kill's retirement (if it weren't for two very questionable play calls at the goal line, he'd have gotten the win.) We know players talk about playing "for" their coach, in the unlikely event the school's athletic director decides to simply promote instead of hire a splashy outside name. But still, this is pretty remarkable. Miami is still the same team that lost 58-0 to Clemson just a week ago; USC is the same team that lost at home to Washington.
3. Georgia's struggles are getting harder and harder to ignore.
Look, we knew there could be some issues this season, after the Bulldogs lost longtime offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and entered fall camp with uncertainty at the quarterback position. But considering the start, the division (and a healthy Nick Chubb), it seemed realistic to think Georgia would win the SEC East easily, and perhaps sneak into the College Football Playoff conversation. Alas. The Bulldogs were beat soundly Saturday by a resurgent Florida team that's all but locked up the East. It was Georgia's third loss in four games, and yet another to one of the strongest teams in the league. As the Bulldogs continue to struggle — and essentially no-show — in their biggest games, questions arise about Mark Richt's job security, which sounds ridiculous at surface level. But then again, when was the last time Georgia was a legitimate national title contender? Isn't that what this program should be?
4. 8-0 Memphis should be highly ranked in the first Playoff release.
The Tigers have the best résumé of any Group of Five team — and that win against Mississippi continues to look good as the Rebels remain in position to win out and get to the SEC title game — and this means Memphis will pose a very intriguing question to the College Football Playoff selection committee: Where does a good, undefeated Group of Five team stack up next to the Power Five one- and two-loss Playoff contenders? We have no way of knowing this answer, because last year some rankings didn't include any Group of Five teams at all. Memphis will be a fascinating measuring stick, and we believe it should be in the top 15 in the initial rankings, which would give it a realistic (though incredibly outside) shot at being in the discussion for a spot in the four-team Playoff. That is, if it keeps doing what it's doing.
HOW THE TOP 25 FARED IN WEEK 9