CFB Blitz: Early Week 14 takeaways

College Football Blitz recaps the most important developments from the weekend's top games and examines their significance moving forward.

Ohio State flexes full power in emphatic win

Admit it: For a brief moment Saturday, we were all thinking, "Is Michigan going to do this again?" After a field goal on the opening drive put the Wolverines up 3-0, Julian Sayin's second pass of the game was picked and set the hosts up in great position to take an immediate 10-0 lead in The Game. However, this is 2025 - not even the ghost of rivalry games past can scare the Ohio State juggernaut.

First, it was the dominant defense's time to shine, with Matt Patricia's standout group immediately standing tall to hold Michigan to another field goal from the 7-yard line. That's as close as the Wolverines would get to the end zone the rest of the way. The final numbers: nine points, 163 total yards allowed, and just nine first downs. Ohio State completes the regular season with zero opponents scoring more than 16 points. It's tough to pick a better offseason hire than Ryan Day naming Patricia the defensive coordinator following Jim Knowles' exit.

Interceptions have been a major issue for the Buckeyes versus Michigan the last three years, with three different quarterbacks throwing two each. Despite the early pick, Sayin kept himself off the list with a brilliant performance. The first-year starter went 19-for-24 after the interception for 233 yards and three touchdowns. Yes, it helps to have future NFL first-rounders Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate embarrassing defenders, but Sayin was outstanding throughout.

The main criticism of Day versus Michigan over the last four years has been the Buckeyes' inability to match the Wolverines' physicality. Given that history, you could almost feel Day's sense of relief on the second-last drive of the game through the television screen. Ohio State launched an outrageous 20-play, 81-yard drive that took 11:56 off the clock and extended the lead to its final 18-point margin. In total, the Buckeyes outgained Michigan 198 to 39 in the second half and held the ball for 23:40 of a possible 30 minutes. That's how a physical team closes out a road win.

Miami solves its Notre Dame CFP problem

Miami's 38-7 pantsing of Pitt on Saturday makes the CFP committee's decision easy: If Notre Dame is going to be in the playoff, the Hurricanes also need to be in the field of 12.

Provided the Fighting Irish win late Saturday night at Stanford, Miami and Notre Dame will finish with identical 10-2 records. Sure, Marcus Freeman's outfit has boatraced everyone since Week 2's one-point loss to Texas A&M, but the Hurricanes haven't exactly been squeezing past opponents. Since the committee cited Miami's struggles to put away opponents earlier this year, the team has won four straight games by at least 17 points.

Toss in any metric you like, but if only one of these programs is making the CFP, the determining factor should be Miami defeating Notre Dame in Week 1. The importance of the head-to-head matchup must be upheld in this scenario to justify playing games in the first place.

Miami did everything it needed to do this week and got some help from Louisville and Texas. The Cardinals' blowout win over Kentucky took some of the stink off the Hurricanes' loss at home to Louisville earlier this year. The Longhorns handling Texas A&M, meanwhile, makes Notre Dame's home loss to the Aggies look worse.

Our solution to this is simple: Put both teams in the field and take out the fifth- or sixth-best SEC team.

Texas Tech: King of the blowout

Pop quiz: What's your favorite Texas Tech win by less than 22 points this year?

If you're struggling with the answer, it's because there isn't one - all 11 wins this season have been by at least that margin. We might need to start putting parental advisory warnings on Red Raiders games. Saturday's 49-0 win at West Virginia didn't just emphatically clinch Texas Tech's spot in the Big 12 title game, it also handed the Mountaineers their first shutout since 2001.

The only loss for Texas Tech this season came on the road at Arizona State without starting quarterback Behren Morton. He was an efficient 25-for-32 for 310 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, but the story was once again the defense. The Red Raiders added nine more tackles for loss Saturday, which is outrageous considering the Mountaineers only ran 54 plays in the contest.

A rematch with BYU awaits in the Big 12 title game - the second time Texas Tech will meet the Cougars in the last month. The first was a dominant 29-7 victory where the score somehow still flattered BYU. Regardless of who hoists the trophy next Saturday, Texas Tech's body of work is more than deserving of a playoff spot.

Arch has his moment

How you feel about Arch Manning's stat line versus Texas A&M shows whether you watched the game or just checked the box score and fired off a take.

Manning completed 14-of-29 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown on the Aggies. That doesn't scream superstar, but if you watched closely, you saw the Houdini act he had to pull off on almost every dropback.

Although the Aggies posted five quarterback hurries and sacked Manning twice, he was largely able to extend plays and avoid the pressure. His elite athleticism wasn't only on display when he got himself out of trouble - his 35-yard touchdown run in the second half was a backbreaker for Texas A&M.

We'll tackle the Texas playoff question later this week, but if Arch is going to play at this level, the Longhorns could be a nightmare in the 12-team field.

We probably overrated Texas A&M

Somebody out there is going to drop the take that Texas A&M is a fraud after its loss at Texas on Friday. It won't be us. However, it's probably fair to say the Aggies were among the more overrated teams in the top 25 this season.

Texas A&M's best win came at Notre Dame in Week 2, when a missed extra point by the Irish accounted for the difference in a 41-40 thriller. That's about the only quality win on the Aggies' schedule. The rest of it fell apart through no fault of their own.

In Texas A&M's eight conference games, the team played seven of the bottom eight teams in the SEC standings. Four of the Aggies' opponents had either fired their coach or would fire their coach shortly after their meeting. Missouri was down to a third-string true freshman quarterback for their matchup, and the Aggies needed the biggest comeback in program history to beat South Carolina. The one SEC opponent that Texas A&M played from the top half of the league standings was Texas - the only team that beat the Aggies.

Ole Miss unfazed by Lane circus

Egg Bowl Friday started with Lane Kiffin telling the SEC Network that someone broke into the Ole Miss locker room at 3:00 a.m. to steal Trinidad Chambliss' jersey. It ended with Kiffin going after a reporter for comments he'd made earlier in the week. In between, there was essentially a three-hour discussion about where Kiffin would coach next season and multiple on-field interviews with college football's most popular man.

Oh, and there was also a football game - one that the Rebels dominated to essentially clinch a CFP spot for the first time in school history. Somehow, despite living with a circus in the middle of the program, Ole Miss continues to perform on the field, leaving little doubt it's deserving of an at-large playoff bid.

Yes, Kiffin's job nonsense has been a sideshow, but the team once again showed why every athletic director is swiping right on the Rebels coach. Ole Miss dominated its local rival, putting up over 540 total yards of offense led by Chambliss and Kewan Lacy once again.

Now we wait to see who will coach the Rebels next time they take the field, whether it's in the SEC title game or the playoff. Regardless of who leads them out of the tunnel, expect them to be ready and deliver a quality performance.

Nebraska probably regrets Rhule extension

News broke Oct. 30 that Nebraska had signed Matt Rhule to an extension through the 2032 season. A month later, the Cornhuskers have cratered and will finish the campaign 7-5 after getting blown out at home by Iowa.

Friday's embarrassing setback sinks Rhule's record to 0-3 versus Iowa and makes Nebraska 1-3 since he signed his extension. While that timeline runs parallel to the loss of Dylan Raiola, the starting quarterback's absence shouldn't cause the defense to essentially quit. Nebraska allowed 77 points in its last two games and let the opposition score at least 27 in five Big Ten games this season.

Two things can be true of Rhule in Lincoln: He's been a vast improvement for a program that won five games or less for six straight years before he took over, and he's woefully underperformed for a coach making the 15th-highest salary in the sport, according to USA Today.

On the surface, a 7-5 record may not be a huge cause for concern, but the Cornhuskers avoided the Big Ten's top three teams and got to host both Michigan and USC.