South Carolina did the unthinkable… then had the unthinkable done to it, the Texas hype train finally ran out of track and never let fireworks go to waste.
Here’s the worst from Week 12 of the college football season with our Flop 10:
Shane Beamer
Does Shane Beamer get any credit for having South Carolina up 30-3 at halftime vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, or does he get the blame for a colossal Gamecocks choke job?
‘This was the third SEC game — Alabama, Missouri and A&M — that we led going into the fourth quarter,’ Beamer said afterward. ‘It makes me want to puke.’
Puke, choke, whatever. It was an epic collapse, which allowed Texas A&M to stay unbeaten after pulling off its largest comeback in program history. Beamer’s seat has been warming with a 3-7 record (1-7 in SEC). That’s a far cry from a preseason ranking and darkhorse CFP vibes.
Texas
Steve Sarkisian called it ‘a disaster.’ Texas defensive lineman Colin Simmons used the same word. A preseason lock for the CFP will now be on the outside looking in after the Longhorns’ 35-10 loss at No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night.
Two Texas teams will likely be in the CFP. But they’re in College Station and Lubbock. Not Austin.
Does anyone want to win the AAC?
A week after Memphis saw its name in the CFP bracket projection and promptly lost its next game, guess what happened to South Florida after the Bulls landed inside the CFP’s Top 25 this week… Yup, they lost. It seems no one in the American wants to take the bull by the horns, per se. It’s long been assumed the winner of the AAC would be the CFP’s Group of Five entrant. But Navy’s win over USF on Saturday opens the door for James Madison of the Sun Belt to perhaps be the highest-ranked G5 champion.
Michigan State
Earlier this week, the Spartans were forced to vacate 14 wins from 2022-24 and were placed on probation for NCAA violations under Mel Tucker’s reign. Saturday didn’t offer much solace. Here’s Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal summing it up:
‘When college football goes bad, it looks like it does right now at Michigan State. Losing week after week, NCAA investigations, changes in leadership, disengaged donors, disenchanted fans, players living in a state of flux.
‘This sucks for everybody involved, even those who deserve a slice of the blame. You could feel that more than ever after MSU’s 28-10 home loss to Penn State on Saturday.
‘There have been some heavy Jonathan Smith press conferences this season. But when you add the conversation about NCAA penalties to an afternoon that saw the Spartans suffer their seventh straight defeat, on a senior day didn’t feel anything like a celebration, with Smith for the first time indirectly addressing the elephant in the room that is his job status, all the while athletic director J Batt watched from the back of the room …
‘Good luck finding anyone around MSU’s program who’s having fun right now.’
Pat Narduzzi vs. Notre Dame
This was Pitt’s big moment. ESPN ‘College GameDay’ in town for the first time in 20 years, and the Panthers were the ACC’s hottest team. Were being the operative word. Notre Dame hammered Pitt, 37-15, as Jeremiyah Love was spinning and sprinting past Panthers defenders like he was playing Madden. Pat Narduzzi has done good work at Pitt, headed for an eighth bowl in 11 seasons, but he’s got an Irish curse. According to John Brice of the Football Scoop, Narduzzi is 0-5 in his career against the Fighting Irish, by a combined 201-69 margin.
UMass football
The Minutemen surrendered 40+ points for the sixth time this season in a 45-3 home loss to Northern Illinois on Wednesday. UMass (0-10) has lost 21 straight games to FBS schools. Heck, it even lost to FCS Bryant this season. Just how bad has it been? Down 45-0, UMass hit a field goal to avoid the shutout, and the stadium fireworks folks let it rip.
Oregon State
Last week was probably rock bottom, losing at home to previously winless Sam Houston. But a 31-14 loss to Tulsa (who was 2-7) isn’t much better. The Golden Hurricane entered the game on a five-game losing streak and led this one 31-0. The dam broke long ago for the Beavers (2-9) this season.
Mike Locksley
Maryland’s skid hit six games in a row after a 24-6 road loss to Illinois. Locksley is 36-42 in his seventh season as full-time Terps coach — including a woeful 2-14 in the Big Ten in his past two seasons.
Maryland athletic director Jim Smith was non-committal earlier this week when asked whether Locksley will be back in 2026.
“He’s gonna coach against Illinois, then he’s gonna coach against Michigan, and then he’s gonna coach against Michigan State,” Smith told The Baltimore Sun. “We got a chance to win three games and go to a bowl game. We can’t make a decision right now. That’d be silly.”
Smith, in his first year as Maryland AD, backtracked on his comments on Sunday, Nov. 16, telling ESPN Locksley will return to Maryland in 2026.
Let Missouri State go to a bowl
Missouri State won its seventh game of the season with a 38-24 win over UTEP. Yet the Bears may be sitting at home come bowl season.
The school appealed to the NCAA to let it be bowl eligible despite being in its second year of a transition from the FCS to the FBS.
‘I think all policies and structure of anything in regards to college football should be around the student athlete,’ Bears coach Ryan Beard told the Springfield News-Leader. ‘In the modern day of college football, I don’t know if it makes sense to build a transition period. There are no rules that give us a competitive advantage. If you want to see a competitive disadvantage, come see some of the things we have going on here at Missouri State.’
As recently as 2023, three programs transitioning to the FBS had their postseason waivers denied by the NCAA, including James Madison, which started the year 10-0. The Dukes and Jacksonville State ultimately were allowed to play in bowl games due to the lack of bowl-eligible teams. The same can happen for Missouri State if fewer than 82 teams are eligible come the end of the regular season.
UNC football good vibes
With two wins in a row vibes were on the up in Chapel Hill. Bill Belichick was shutting down NFL rumors and committing his future to UNC and playing nice with the media, giving 20-minute news conferences. But a 28-12 loss at Wake Forest on Saturday dealt a major blow to the Tar Heels’ fleeting bowl hopes and those longer, more cuddly pressers.
“Disappointing game. Just not good enough in any area,” Belichick said at the start of a news conference that lasted 5 ½-minutes.
On to Duke.