CFB Blitz: Early Week 13 takeaways

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

Oregon pounds its way to cusp of CFP

Of course, Oregon beat USC in a game that was essentially decided by physicality in the trenches, right? That wasn't the only reason the Ducks emerged from Week 13's biggest matchup with the win, but it certainly played a major role. Both teams were missing significant pieces on each of their lines, but Oregon's backups stepped up when needed, especially on the offensive side. The Ducks ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries while holding the Trojans to just 52 rushing yards on a laughable 1.9 yards per carry.

With injuries ravaging Oregon's receiving corps, Dan Lanning has in recent weeks leaned heavily on a power rushing attack to great success. The team piled up 261 yards on the ground against Iowa a couple weeks ago and ran through USC's defense at will Saturday. Lanning's program now faces a fairly simple scenario next week at Washington: Win and you'll reach the College Football Playoff for the second straight season.

More road mistakes for USC

Lincoln Riley hailed last week's dramatic victory over Iowa in the rain as a "culture win." It took just seven days for the good vibes to fade, as the Trojans repeatedly made mistakes that cost them at Oregon. USC fans certainly didn't love the backbreaking kick return touchdown that Notre Dame ripped off earlier this season to flip momentum in South Bend, and it's probably safe to say they hated the sequel - this time, a punt return - in Eugene even more. Malik Benson's 85-yard scamper broke a 14-14 tie and put the Ducks up for good.

Two Jayden Maiava interceptions and multiple drive-extending defensive pass interference penalties later, we're still a long way from calling USC a championship-caliber outfit. A potential win over UCLA to close the season at 9-3 would be Riley's best record since 2022, his first year with the program. However, he wasn't brought to Los Angeles to post nine-win seasons. USC hired him to win titles. That doesn't seem likely in the near future.

THAT'S the Arch we expected

If Texas could play Arkansas every week, Peyton and Eli might end up being the inferior Manning quarterbacks. While his overall season has fallen short of the massive expectations heaped on him, Arch Manning on Saturday provided the strongest example of why scouts are so high on his potential. The third-year signal-caller threw for four touchdowns, caught another on a trick play, and found the end zone on the ground as well to total six during the 52-37 blowout victory.

Arch and the Longhorns' offense looked electric throughout, with Manning spreading the ball around and picking apart the Razorbacks' defense at will. He showed great touch and arm strength on numerous occasions and flashed elite athleticism when hauling in the touchdown catch thrown by wide receiver Parker Livingstone. It would be irresponsible not to note that Arkansas' defense entered the day ranked 118th in the nation, but the performance was still one to hold high. The impressive showing also further heightens next week's home game against Texas A&M - a must-win for the Longhorns' faint playoff hopes.

Oklahoma ain't here for beauty contests

Brent Venables might know the identity of his team - or at least have the ability to articulate it - better than any coach in the country. The Oklahoma head coach kept it simple when describing yet another defensive masterclass by his Sooners in a 17-6 win over Missouri.

"It's not pretty, but this is not a beauty contest," Venables said postgame with a smile on the ESPN broadcast.

If you're looking for a sure thing in college football, Oklahoma's defense is about as close as it gets. Despite the defensive line still missing its best player in R Mason Thomas, the team recorded four sacks and eight tackles for loss, making a limited offensive showing enough to capture a win. Saturday's result marks the Sooners' fifth ranked victory of the season, more than any other group in the nation.

It's clear that Oklahoma's defense can keep the team in any game regardless of the opponent. Unfortunately, its offensive struggles make it damn near impossible to pull away. Quarterback John Mateer failed to complete half of his passes and finished with 173 yards through the air, 87 of which came on a catch-and-run touchdown to Isaiah Sategna. The rushing attack put up 3.2 yards per carry, and the offense as a whole managed under 300 total yards for the second straight outing.

Oklahoma is half of an elite team, with its sixth-ranked defense being consistently sensational and its 88th-ranked offense remaining highly suspect. That should lead the Sooners to the CFP this year but might limit them from making a deep run through December and January.

472 rushing yards ... in a loss?

The beauty of college football is that the unbelievable seemingly happens on a regular basis. For example, if you tuned into Saturday's game between Kansas State and Utah, you saw the Wildcats shred the hosting Utes for an absurd 472 rushing yards ... and somehow still lose! That type of figure is usually reserved for a service academy, but Kansas State became just the second power conference team since 2000 to lose with at least 470 rushing yards.

Utah's playoff hopes appeared doomed as K-State ran wild throughout the opening three quarters in Salt Lake City, but a late comeback from a 12-point deficit helped secure the improbable win and keep the Utes in the mix. It also propped up the Big 12's chances to get a second team in the field instead of only the conference champion. BYU's most impressive win of the season thus far came against Utah - a result that would've taken a serious hit had the Utes fallen Saturday.

No offense needed for Notre Dame

Football coaches everywhere preach the need to get off to a fast start. I encourage all of them to feast their eyes on Notre Dame's performance Saturday, as you won't find a more perfect opening stretch. The Fighting Irish exploded out of the blocks and held an astonishing 21-0 lead over Syracuse just 5:10 into the game. That's impressive enough on its own, but the chef's kiss was that the Irish had yet to run an offensive play.

How, you ask? An opportunistic defense that housed not one, but two pick-6s during that time supplied 14 points, and a punt return touchdown added seven more. That meant the home team had a three-touchdown lead before Jeremiyah Love even took the field. Things only got worse for the Orange once he did, as the Heisman hopeful finished with 171 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries in the eye-popping 70-7 victory.

Notre Dame can't erase its back-to-back losses to Miami and Texas A&M to start the season, but the Irish are doing the next best thing: beating the tar out of their remaining opponents. They've made it impossible for the committee to leave them out of the playoff.

Not much cheer for Chapel Bill

A week filled with cheer in North Carolina turned to a weekend of misery for Bill Belichick, as Saturday's loss to Duke ensured the legendary coach won't be going bowling in his first season with the Tar Heels. The team needed to win both of its remaining contests to make the postseason, a feat that looked well in reach for most of the game versus the Blue Devils. However, Duke roared back and landed the knockout punch on a brilliantly designed fake field goal to set up the game-winning touchdown.

Even with low expectations, it's tough to see Belichick's first collegiate coaching season as anything but a major disappointment. The Tar Heels have just two wins over power conference competition and are guaranteed to finish with their worst season since 2018.