College Football on Sling: #3 Michigan Needs to Bounce Back, Top 7 All in Action
So things got a little nuts last weekend in the world of college football: #2 Clemson fell to unranked Pitt 43-42, #3 Michigan fell 14-13 to unranked Iowa, #4 Washington lost 26-13 to #20 USC, and #8 Texas A&M was defeated 29-28 by unranked Ole Miss. All the mayhem allowed Ohio State to vault back into the playoff picture with a 62-3 pounding of Maryland. It seems like the only thing you can count on in this life is the Crimson Tide, which rolled over Mississippi State 51-3. So your new top 4 in the College Football Playoff Rankings are Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and Clemson – we’ll see how things work out this weekend.
Indiana (5-5) vs #3 Michigan (9-1)
3:30pm ET Saturday on ESPN
The Indiana Hoosiers put up a heck of a fight last week against Penn State, taking a 24-14 lead late in the 3rd quarter, before the Nittany Lions scored 17 in the final 4 minutes to secure the win. QB Richard Lagow throws too many interceptions, his 13 picks are the second-most n the Big Ten, but he’s also thrown for 2,868 yards and 17 TD, and along with Devine Redding (190 carries for 901 yards and 5 TDs), have led the team to a respectable 27.5 ppg.
Despite losing 14-13 on a last second field goal by the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Michigan Wolverines held on to the #3 spot in the rankings. The Wolverines offense never really got going, totaling just 201 yards, with twice as many turnovers (2) as touchdowns (1). Running back De’Veon Smith, Michigan’s leading rusher, managed just 28 yards on 12 carries and got taken down in the end zone for a safety that would prove to be the difference in the game. But the real culprit was QB Wilton Speight, who had his worst start of the season, completing just 11 of 26 for 103 yards and an INT, though it was later learned that Speight had suffered a broken collar bone when he got popped by Iowa’s Jaleel Johnson, who probably should’ve been called for targeting. Initial reports were that he was out for the season, with a return for the playoff a remote possibility, but head coach Jim Harbaugh refuses to rule him out for Saturday, saying he’s “questionable.”
Here’s the complete listing of top 25 NCAA action available on Sling this weekend:
Thursday
#5 Louisville (9-1) vs Houston (8-2)
8pm ET on ESPN
Friday
UNLV (4-6) vs #20 Boise State (9-1)
9pm ET on ESPN2
Saturday
#11 Oklahoma (8-2) vs TCU (5-4)
Noon ET on FS1
#2 Ohio State (9-1) vs Michigan State (3-7)
Noon ET on ESPN
Texas San Antonio (5-5) vs #25 Texas A&M (7-3)
Noon ET on ESPNU
Maryland (5-5) vs #18 Nebraska (8-2)
Noon ET on ESPNews
#7 Wisconsin (8-2) vs Purdue (3-7)
Noon ET on ABC
#23 Florida (7-2) vs LSU (6-3)
1pm ET on SEC Network
Indiana (5-5) vs #3 Michigan (9-1)
3:30pm ET on ESPN
Buffalo (2-8) vs #21 Western Michigan (10-0)
3:30pm ET on ESPNU
#17 Florida State (7-3) vs Syracuse (4-6)
3:30pm ET on ABC/ESPN2
#24 Stanford (7-3) vs Cal (4-6)
5:30pm ET on Pac-12 Network
Chattanooga (8-2) vs #1 Alabama (10-0)
7pm ET on ESPN2
#4 Clemson (9-1) vs Wake Forest (6-4)
7pm ET on ESPN
Alabama A&M (4-6) vs #15 Auburn (7-3)
7:30pm ET on SEC Network
Arizona State (5-5) vs #6 Washington (9-1)
7:30pm ET on FOX
#9 Oklahoma (8-2) vs #14 West Virginia (8-1)
8pm ET on ABC
#13 USC (7-3) vs UCLA (4-6)
10:30pm ET on ESPN
*Watch college football on ESPN and ESPN2 subscribing to Sling Orange, on FOX and FS1 by subscribing to Sling Blue, on ESPNU, ESPNEWS, and SEC Network with Sling Orange’s Sports Extra, on ABC with Sling Orange’s Broadcast Extra, and on Pac-12 Network with Sling’s Sports Extra
All stats courtesy ESPN and Sports Reference CFB.