The 2023 college football season has been full of storylines. The Pac-12 is the best it’s been in a decade. Michigan is rolling on the field, but may have some huge problems off of it. Clemson will, for the first time since 2010, fail to win 10 games. But there are some other developments going on that aren’t getting as much attention. And maybe they should.
Plenty of developments have been talked about to death. Others, not so much. And some of the more under-the-radar developments are arguably just as interesting.
Nebraska has a Top-20 Defense? Really?
Yes, really. After six seasons of mostly Cover-Your-Eyes defense, the Huskers have made giant strides in Matt Rhule’s first year. Nebraska is 13th in Total Defense, and 5th in both Rush Yards Allowed and Yards per Carry Allowed. They’re 28th in Tackles for Loss, 21st in Points Allowed, and 15th in Sacks. They’ve allowed points on just 25% of opponents’ drives. It’s among the more surprising developments we’ve seen play out this year. They’re 5-3, and two of those losses resulted directly from the turnover issues that plagued them early in the year. But defensively, they’ve been night and day compared to the last half-decade. They’re fast, aggressive, and they tackle well. Rhule was one of my favorite hires of this past offseason, but I still didn’t see this one coming.
Virginia Tech controls its own destiny for an ACC title game spot
Embed from Getty ImagesI swear I’m not making this up. The Hokies came into the season with a 5.5 Win Total projection from Vegas. And yet, heading into Week 10, not only are they still alive for a trip to Charlotte, but their matchup with Louisville looks to be a de facto ACC semifinal game. VT is 3-1 in conference play, despite being 4-4 overall. They’ve won three of their last four, with three more winnable conference games after their trip to Louisville (BC, NC State, UVA).
Should they make the conference championship game, their schedule will certainly have helped. They miss North Carolina, Clemson, Miami, and Duke. But you play who you play. I don’t expect them to beat the Cardinals, but a 6-2 conference record is still entirely possible. Depending on what happens elsewhere, they could still have a shot. But coming into the season, VT still being alive after 9 weeks would have seemed preposterous.
Arizona just came to wreck seasons and chew bubblegum
And this past week, they ran out of bubble gum against Oregon State. Is Arizona the best three-loss team in the country? They have a case. Their three losses? At Mississippi State (31-24 in OT), vs #7 Washington (also 31-24), and at USC (43-41 in 3OT). They’re a couple of plays away from 8-0 with some pretty impressive wins.
We speculated on The South Endzone Podcast last week that they were a team that wouldn’t make the Pac-12 Championship Game but could definitely knock someone else out. And the Beavers were their first victim. They still have UCLA and Utah on the schedule (both at home), so they may not be done yet. Noah Fifita has been a revelation, and he’s got plenty of options with Tetairoa McMillan and Jacob Cowing having excellent seasons. Jedd Fisch and his Wildcats (4.5 Win Total in the preseason) being such a handful is among the more impressive developments of the year so far.
Jamey Chadwell Just. Keeps. Winning.
You’re probably aware that Liberty is 8-0 and in contention for a New Year’s Six Bowl. What’s gone somewhat unnoticed is how this season fits into the overall picture of Jamey Chadwell’s recent career. Chadwell came over from Coastal Carolina prior to the season, replacing Hugh Freeze. Liberty had gone 26-10 the last three years under Freeze (including a Cure Bowl win over Coastal Carolina in 2020), so winning in Lynchburg is nothing new. But the Flames’ great start has taken Chadwell to 39-6 since the start of the 2020 season.
A 12-0 regular season looks probable (their best remaining opponent is… 4-4 Old Dominion?). Liberty has enough money to match pretty much any offer that gets made by a Power 5 school, should one come calling. And they’re positioned to dominate Conference USA for the foreseeable future. But how many games does Chadwell need to win before a bigger program tries to pry him away?
You know who else just keeps winning? Tulane.
Embed from Getty ImagesIf Liberty doesn’t snag that G5 spot, it might be 7-1 Tulane who gets it. At 7-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of Ole Miss, they’re certainly still in it. Star quarterback Michael Pratt missed the Ole Miss game but has been excellent when he’s been in there. Willie Fritz has the Green Wave in the driver’s seat for a spot in the AAC title game yet again. They’ll be favored in their remaining four games, and look to be headed to a showdown with SMU for the AAC title. After last year’s 12-2 season that culminated with a Cotton Bowl win, Tulane has won 19 of their last 22 games. Given their success last year, it’s not a particularly surprising development, but it does seem to have gone somewhat unappreciated.
Mike Gundy, as unpredictable as he’s ever been
Mike Gundy is a man with hobbies. He enjoys fishing, crossword puzzles, and most of all, taking whatever your expectations are for his team, crumpling them up into a ball, and throwing them in the trash. Oklahoma State got throttled at home by South Alabama 33-7 in Week 3. They followed that up in Week 4 by going to Iowa State and losing 34-27, dropping them to 2-2 on the year. And that’s when a lot of people wrote them off (myself included). Since then, the Cowboys have rolled off four straight conference wins, scoring 39 or more the last three weeks.
OSU always seems to be a team with subplots and developments within the program, and this year is no different. The biggest one this year? The emergence of running back Ollie Gordon II. He’s rushed for 857 yards… in the last four games. He’s gone for 270+ in the last two games. The only other Oklahoma State RB to run for 250 or more in consecutive games was a guy named Barry Sanders.
A win in this week’s Bedlam game would put Gundy and Co. firmly in the driver’s seat for a Big 12 title game berth. With three conference games they should win to close the season (UCF, Houston, BYU), they’ve got as good a chance as anyone. What will they do? I have no idea, which is exactly the point. No outcome would surprise me anymore, it’s all on the table.
Eric Mulhair is the Co-Host of The South Endzone Podcast and a contributing writer for Belly Up Sports covering College Football. You can follow him on Twitter for the most up-to-date info on Podcast/Article releases, or even just to argue about College Football.
Featured Image: Brian Bahr/Getty Images
