Gut Reactions to College Football Week 7: Pac-12’s playoff hopes take a hit

College Football Week 7 has been billed as one of the biggest weekends of the season and here are the gut reactions as results pour in (will be updated). 

With a bunch of top-25 matchups on schedule for College Football Week 7, it seemed like a good time to find out some of the questions we have been asking.

People have been asking about the legitimacy of Michigan and Penn State. Both teams entered the week ranked in the top 10 but neither had a win over a ranked opponent. That changed on Saturday as the Wolverines dominated.

Illinois came up with another big win and also Texas football found a way to survive and keep winning over a pesky Iowa State squad. Oklahoma even proved it’s not nearly as bad as people said last week.

On the other hand, Tennessee is as good or better as some people think and here are our gut reactions from College Football Week 7 so far:

Pac-12’s best playoff hope goes down

USC led for most of the way and it looked like the Trojans were going to leave a hostile environment with a resume-bolstering win — one that would have been a big step toward reaching the Pac-12 title game.

Now, Utah is right back in the mix. The top two teams in the Pac-12 make the title game. Oregon and UCLA are unbeaten. Utah and USC have one loss. The good news for Utah is that it essentially controls its own destiny again. If the Utes beat the Ducks, they should be in a position to have a chance to repeat.

The biggest takeaway from the dramatic one-point win on a gutsy two-point call, as well as a great job by Cam Rising of getting in on both the TD and the two, is that the Pac-12 is in jeopardy of missing the playoff again. Even if Oregon runs the table that 49-3 loss is going to hurt. UCLA has a long way to go and the Trojans have no room for error.

Teams in the SEC and Big Ten hoping their league can get two teams, Saturday was a good day.

Hendon Hooker, Tennessee football are for real

If anyone was wondering whether or Hendon Hooker was worthy of Heisman Trophy contention, he answered those questions, and Tennessee football also accounted itself as a contender for the College Football Playoff.

Hooker has been as hit best when his best has been needed and he delivered again on Saturday, leading a game-winning drive with 19 seconds left. He did have one interception but he bounced back in a big way and finished with 441 yards and five total touchdowns.

For my money, Hooker is the Heisman leader now. C.J. Stroud is right there too but Hooker is a legit threat to win the award, especially if Tennessee football keeps winning.

Tennessee’s win makes them a threat to Alabama’s playoff hopes

The Vols have a home game against Kentucky in two weeks, as well as a trip to Georgia. Outside of that, every game is very winnable and as long as the Vols do beat everyone but Georgia, this team will have a good argument at making the playoff.

Tennessee football needs TCU and USC to lose. A number of teams such as Michigan, Alabama, and any one-loss team will need the Big 12 or Pac-12 to have a two-loss champion or a champion that’s not all that impressive.

If that happens, Tennessee will have as good a resume at 11-1 as any team in college football. Alabama needs to win the SEC championship now to make the College Football Playoff and that’s all there is to it.

TCU, Max Duggan is in the same boat as Tennessee

If any college football fans wondered about Max Duggan’s ability to deliver in the fourth quarter, he answered it again on Saturday, rallying the Horned Frogs from a 14-point deficit to win in overtime.

Duggan engineered an 8-play, 94-yard drive to tie the game and led TCU to consecutive touchdowns in overtime and after Oklahoma State settled for a field goal in the second frame, Duggan got TCU to 7-0 and still tied with Kansas State atop the Big 12.

TCU has a lot of work to do with Texas and Baylor looming. Iowa State is never easy to beat either. Next week though, Kansas State and TCU will square off. Then it’s Kansas State against Oklahoma State.

You can see how the Big 12 could have it a two-loss champion. Hell, it could be Texas, and don’t forget about the Horns who have just one loss still in conference play.

How many big kicks will Alabama miss?

If Nick Saban had a quality kicker, he would have won another college football national championship or two thinking back to the kick-6 game. This one should have been won too. Bryce Young had Alabama attempting a 50-yarder to win and it was missed.

It’s wild how the legend of Young would have been built up even more if the kick goes through. As it was, Young kept his Heisman hopes alive, if he can lead Alabama to another SEC title.

Michigan has the best O-line/RBs in the country

Iowa was supposed to be able to slow down the Michigan running game. Then, Penn State was supposed to be able to do the same thing but the Wolverines ran all over the Nittany Lions.

No one expected Michigan to rush for 418 yards but that’s what happened in the 41-17 win. Without a long run from Sean Clifford and an interception returned by Penn State for a touchdown, it would have been an even bigger laugher.

The 60-yard touchdowns, basically on consecutive plays in the third quarter, put the win on ice and also put the rest of college football, especially Ohio State and the Big Ten on notice, that if you want to beat the Wolverines, you have to deal with the best running game in college football.

It’s also time to take notice of the Blake Corum for Heisman campaign. It started to gain steam recently but his 61-yard touchdown was the kind of moment you need. He’s got four straight games over 120 yards and two were against supposed elite run defenses in Penn State and Iowa.

You need crazy numbers as a running back to win the Heisman but he has 13 touchdowns and it’s starting to look more and more possible.

 Illinois is a Big Ten West favorite

Just as all the college football experts predicted Bret Bielema has Illinois sitting alone atop the Big Ten West after another huge win. Last week’s 9-6 triumph over Iowa wasn’t pretty. However, Iowa does that to you. The 26-14 win over Minnesota stood out for two reasons: Chase Brown is another elite back and the defense is nasty.

Tanner Morgan went 4-for-12 for 21 yards and an interception. As a team, the Gophers tossed three picks. Mo Ibrahim had a big outing with 15 carries for 127 yards and a 44-yarder but Brown went off for 180 yards. As a team, Illinois went over 200 yards rushing and Tommy Devito was nearly perfect completing 25-of-32 passes for 252 yards and a TD.

Winning football games usually doesn’t require a magic formula. If you run the ball well, force turnovers, and get good play from the quarterback, you’ll win a lot and so far, Illinois is 3-1 in the Big Ten West and tied for first with that exact formula.

Also, Illinois is also already bowl-eligible.

What a difference Dillon Gabriel makes for Oklahoma

One of my biggest overreactions to Week 6 of college football was the idea that Oklahoma was the worst team in the Big 12. The Sooners looked awful against Texas…no doubt, but the Sooners are talented and with Dillon Gabriel back, got a big win over Kansas.

Gabriel threw for 402 yards and an Oklahoma team that scored zero against Texas last week, put up 52 points in a huge win over 19th-ranked Kansas. It only gets the Sooners to 4-3 overall, as well as 1-3 in the conference which is only better than Iowa State.

Yet, it should ease concerns about the Sooners missing a bowl game and will also quiet the Brent Venables hot seat talk for at least a week.

When will people take notice of Ole Miss?

I’ll admit, I’ve been sleeping on the Rebels. The win over Kentucky proved a lot of people wrong and despite a strong effort from Auburn, the Rebels improved to 7-0 after scoring 48 points and winning by 14.

Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans both went over 130 yards on the ground and Jaxson Dart, who threw for 130 yards and three touchdowns, also ran for 113.

The ground game has been stellar and the defense, for the most part, has been pretty solid too. If Alabama does go down to Tennessee, the Rebels could have a realistic hope of reaching Atlanta.

Hell, they already do. It just takes beating Alabama, which is looking more possible by the week.

(More reactions after afternoon games).