CFB Blitz: Week 10 takeaways

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

Oklahoma defense shuts Neyland down

Neyland Stadium at night is one of the toughest places to play in the sport, but when you have the defense Oklahoma has, your game can travel anywhere. The ferocious Sooners' front was as advertised, sacking Joey Aguilar four times and posting eight tackles for loss. Perhaps no play showed how game-changing the defensive line can be than R Mason Thomas' scoop and score in the opening half.

Oklahoma picked off Aguilar three times in the contest with the first-year Tennessee starter clearly spooked by the pass rush. When given time this year, Aguilar has been surgical for the Vols. However, when he's moved off his spot it's been a struggle.

The Sooners get a deserved bye week before a blockbuster matchup at Alabama in Week 12. That defensive front will need to be at its absolute best with Ty Simpson and the Crimson Tide passing attack firing.

That's gotta be it for Freeze at Auburn

Surely a three-point showing at home to Kentucky to drop to 1-5 in SEC play is enough to end the Hugh Freeze tenure at Auburn. The offense was once again nonexistent - a common theme this season despite Freeze's history with that side of the football. There are plenty of issues that need work, but the offensive line is the main culprit. Your house with the gorgeous island in the kitchen and the walk-in steam shower in the bedroom still needs a strong foundation to function, and that's the problem Auburn is facing. All the 5-star receivers in the world aren't going to fix that, and seven more sacks highlight just how bad that unit has been. The quarterback nightmare continued with just 123 yards passing between Ashton Daniels and Jackson Arnold, but you can almost forgive them at this point with the way the line has performed.

Freeze's buyout is modest by today's standards, and Auburn showed with the Gus Malzahn firing years ago it's not afraid to pull the trigger. That's exactly what should be done before the Tigers take the field again this season.

USC leans into Big Ten identity

A common takeaway since USC made its move to the Big Ten was that the Trojans were simply not physical enough to compete in the conference - especially when traveling east in the month of November. Lincoln Riley's team took a significant step toward flipping that narrative Saturday, grinding out a 21-17 road win at Nebraska thanks to a dominant day rushing the ball. If you remove sacks taken by Jayden Maiava, USC averaged over 6 yards per carry en route to a 202-yard showing with two scores.

Riley's passing attack has long been one of the best in the country, but Maiava completed just nine passes against the Cornhuskers. In almost every previous Big Ten game that would have signaled doom for USC, but that wasn't the case Saturday. The victory keeps the Trojans alive in the playoff race with a big November ahead.

The loss drops Matt Rhule - who was given a new contract this week with a $71-million buyout - to 2-24 vs. top-25 ranked teams in his career, 0-8 with Nebraska. However, he certainly gets a pass in this case due to the injury suffered by quarterback Dylan Raiola. The talented passer left in the third quarter after injuring his leg and did not return. The Cornhuskers went stagnant after that, as USC outscored the hosts 15-3 in the second half.

Georgia's underwhelming win in Cocktail Party

Let's step into the trust tree for a moment and share what could be a controversial opinion: we might be overrating Georgia. After the Bulldogs' late comeback win over a 3-5 Florida team that just fired its coach, it's clear this is a very good team, but not the elite outfit we've grown accustomed to under Kirby Smart.

The Bulldogs and Gators looked incredibly even throughout the vast majority of the contest, with Georgia once again needing some magic in the final quarter to turn a loss into a victory and remain in the race for the conference title game. For those keeping track at home, that's now three SEC games that Georgia needed late dramatics to win after previously needing a touchdown in the last three minutes to force overtime at Tennessee and a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter to beat Ole Miss. The Bulldogs should definitely be commended for their resiliency in those contests, but at a certain point we need to talk about their inability to separate.

Much of that comes down to a defensive line that simply isn't doing much to get pressure. The Bulldogs rank 127th nationally in sacks and 133rd of 136 FBS programs in tackles for loss. That seems unfathomable given the history of defensive-line freaks that Smart has sent to the NFL, but that's where we sit today.

Texas A&M and Alabama are certainly the class of the conference at this point, with Georgia and Ole Miss a notch below. All four could make the CFP field if everything breaks right. However, another early exit for the Bulldogs seems likely based on what we have seen as of late.

ACC's final month is gonna be wild

At the end of November there will be two teams headed to play in the ACC title game. Good luck figuring out who the heck that is going to be. While the Big Ten and SEC have a couple of programs that have established themselves above the rest, you'd have an easier time hitting numbers on the roulette table than predicting this conference.

Georgia Tech's loss to NC State on Saturday saw it catch its first conference loss. Virginia now stands alone as the only unbeaten team in league play, despite the fact the Cavaliers have also lost to the Wolfpack. That Week 2 contest was actually a non-conference matchup despite the fact both play in the ACC - contact your local schedule-maker if you would like to complain.

The Yellow Jackets now sit tied for second with one loss, alongside four other teams. Miami, which many would say is the most talented team in the league, is behind that group with two losses.

Virginia has the inside track with a contest against Duke the only remaining game against the top half of the league. However, it's probably wise to expect the unexpected in the Atlantic Chaos Conference.

It's never easy, but Texas is live for playoff

Reach out and check on any Texas fans you may have in your life, the past month has likely aged them at least 10 years. The Longhorns once again supplied one of the more dramatic finishes of the week, surviving a furious 21-0 rally in the fourth quarter by Vanderbilt to keep their playoff hopes alive with a three-point victory. That comes on the heels of back-to-back overtime victories on the road against Kentucky and Mississippi State.

First, the good: Arch Manning looked solid throughout the contest with 328 yards passing and three touchdowns. The first-year starter had only eight incompletions on the day and the offense looked the best it has all season versus power conference competition. For perhaps the first time this season, Manning received excellent protection up front, with Vanderbilt failing to register a sack. The production at this point doesn't yet scream "No. 1 overall pick," but it's a long way from "He only gets attention because of his last name."

Okay, now the bad: What the heck was that fourth quarter? The Commodores outgained Texas 238-40 in yards over the final 15 minutes, popping off an outrageous 11.3 yards per play. We can attribute some of that production to a prevent defense with a big lead, but it's still alarming things got close enough for a stressful onside kick in the final minute.

"The games in November are the ones they remember," Sarkisian said afterwards, according to the Associated Press. "I wish we would have finished a little better, but that's OK. It gives me something to rip their (butts) about Monday."

A bye week awaits Texas before a three-game stretch - at Georgia, vs. Arkansas, and vs. Texas A&M - that will decide whether the Longhorns return to the CFP.

Annual Miami crashout is here

The fall brings about a number of annual traditions to celebrate across the country: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Mario Cristobal's Miami losing ACC games as a large favorite down the stretch to inevitably miss the playoffs. The latter is usually reserved for late November, but the Hurricanes moved things up this year with a loss at SMU - the first Mustangs home win over a top-10 team in 51 years. That's now the second setback of the season for Miami and it severely dents its playoff chances once again.

The Hurricanes are now an eye-popping 4-12 once the calendar hits November during Cristobal's tenure. Miami's early-season results the past few seasons have shown a playoff-caliber team that should be able to compete with anybody in the nation. The post-October swoon has shown the opposite, as the uber-talented Hurricanes consistently underperform as crunch time beckons. Last year it was a leaky defense letting down Cam Ward and the nation's top offense. This time out, it's Carson Beck's interceptions weighing down the Canes, with the Georgia transfer now throwing six in the two losses this season.

Ohio State Air Force owns the skies

Look, almost any quarterback in the country could likely put up numbers with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate as the wide receivers. That might be a fun fourth-quarter game for Ohio State blowouts: Let a non-QB play the position just to see what happens. However, even with the alien squad out wide, what Julian Sayin is doing in his first season as the starting quarterback is remarkable. Sayin absolutely torched Penn State on Saturday, throwing for 316 yards and four touchdowns on a sizzling 20-for-23 performance. You don't need an MIT degree to understand that is more touchdowns than incomplete passes.

We knew Smith and Tate would be the top receiver duo in the nation, but Sayin was a bit of a question mark as a first-time starter for the defending national champions. Surely there would be some growing pains for a man whose last serious game action was in high school, right? Um, no.

Not only is Sayin starring for a first-year starter, but he's arguably playing the best of any quarterback in college football already.

Fernando's an elite big brother

Winner, Heisman contender, possible first overall pick. You can call Fernando Mendoza many things this year, but don't forget to add elite big brother to the description. One of the unique things about the Indiana quarterback room is that Fernando is joined by his brother Alberto, who is a freshman backup with the Hoosiers. One of the benefits of Indiana blowing the doors off every single opponent on the schedule is that younger brother has gotten plenty of action in the fourth quarters. He once again got some action Saturday with Indiana racing out to a massive 48-10 lead on Maryland. That allowed the younger Mendoza to throw his fourth touchdown of the season and rip off a 53-yard run, much to the delight of his older brother. Another dominant win makes it 111-16 the last two weeks for Indiana on the scoreboard - performances that have the Hoosiers firmly alongside Ohio State as the clear choices for most impressive teams so far this season.

Questionable call adds to Clemson misery

Roughly 99% of the time, it's a cop-out when fans, coaches, and players blame the officiating for a loss. We'll give Clemson fans a pass if they want to file what happened Saturday in the other 1%. Look, we aren't going to absolve the Tigers for their performance the entire game, but they should have had the game won in the final minute after a stop on fourth-and-11 while holding a seven-point edge. However, the back judge deemed pass interference had occurred despite the fact it was the Clemson defender who went flying on the play.

That call gave Duke a first down inside the 5-yard line, which it would promptly cash for a touchdown. While we can pin some of this on the pass interference call, props must be given to the Blue Devils' Manny Diaz for opting to try a 2-point conversion and win instead of heading to overtime. That paid off with a slick play to secure Duke's first win at Clemson since 1980.

It's the latest in a season of horrors for Dabo Swinney's Tigers, who are now 3-6 on the campaign and have turned Death Valley into the happiest place on earth for opponents. The defending ACC champs are now 2-3 since Swinney's now infamous "if Clemson's tired of winning, they can send me on my way," quote from mid-September.