The College Football season is nearing the end of the regular season, as Saturday ended Week 10. While some teams are still fighting for a bid into the College Football Playoff, others are simply fighting for their job. Nonetheless, the losses this time of year hurt even more, especially for the coaches fighting for their jobs.
This weekend had it all as we saw head coaches blow their chance at making the College Football Playoff, teams lose their chance at making the Playoff, and Head Coaches who only made their hot seat hotter.
Ranking the 5 biggest losers of Week 10
After a stellar start to the season where the Miami Hurricanes moved to 5-0, the team has lost 2 of the last 3 games, most likely knocking themselves out of College Football Playoff contention. This team has more talent than any other team in the ACC, yet Cristobal's team has collapsed in the back half of the season once again. Cristobal is now 4-9 in November at Miami, and his team needs to win out and hope for a ton of help if they're going to make the Playoff.
For all that he's done at Clemson, it's almost impossible to fire Dabo Swinney, but it feels like Clemson needs a program overhaul. Saturday saw the Tigers fall to 3-5 on the season and 2-4 in ACC play with a loss to the Duke Blue Devils. The Clemson Defense, which has projected NFL players all over the field, allowed Duke to score 46 points, including the game-winning touchdown with just under a minute remaining.
If Dabo Swinney isn't fired or if the two sides don't split this offseason, there needs to be a serious conversation about how he operates. After the results of this season, Dabo Swinney is going to have to start engaging in the areas of recruiting and the transfer portal that he doesn't like as this team hasn't played well enough for Swinney to go against the trend of the sport.
Last season, Jim Knowles led the Ohio State defense to a National Championship, but he left right after the National Championship to take the same job at Penn State. The breakup became messy, taking a ton of attention away from the fact that the Buckeyes won the National Championship just days prior.
On Saturday, Jim Knowles got to watch Matt Patricia dominate with his former players while the Buckeyes, under his defense, let up just under 500 yards and 38 points. Ohio State looks capable of winning back-to-back National Championships, while Jim Knowles will likely be on the move again when Penn State brings in a new coaching staff.
The Vanderbilt Commodores built themselves into a contender, but after losing to Texas on Saturday, their path to the College Football Playoff is grim. The Commodores will need to win out and win games against Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee to even give themselves a chance. Even if Vanderbilt wins out, they may need even more help, as they likely wouldn't have a ranked win. The Commodores really needed this game from a resume standpoint, as now they have no wiggle room.
Coming into Saturday, it felt like Hugh Freeze needed a win to keep his job, as losing to a terrible Kentucky team would be a disaster. Not only did Hugh Freeze lose at home to Kentucky, but he lost in the worst way possible, as his offense could only score 3 points. The decision-making at quarterback continues to be questionable as Freeze started Ashton Daniels, then pulled him for Jackson Arnold before turning back to Ashton Daniels.
The Tigers are now just 4-5 on the season, and with a 1-5 record in SEC play, the Tigers will likely cut bait before the end of the season. Freeze was brought in to make this team a contender in the SEC, and they're in the same place, if not a worse place than they were to start the Freeze era.