Unfiltered Takes after Week 11: Texas Tech, Indiana, Georgia, Fernando Mendoza and much more

A lot happens on college football Saturdays. It’s hard to keep up with everything.

So this season, in an attempt to bring everybody up to speed — while taking a chance to provide you with some takes in the process — I’m going to rattle off over-arching thoughts from the previous weekend. I’ll also do my best to spring thoughts forward, not just tell you what already happened.

Let’s keep it going with the latest edition of Unfiltered Takes.

1. Texas Tech: The Red Raiders played a huge game against a previously undefeated BYU team Saturday. The Cougars didn’t have a chance. Texas Tech’s defense smothered them in a 29-7 win, making it feel like there were two classes of teams on the field in Lubbock. In reality, that’s what it is. Texas Tech is far and away more talented than anyone else in the conference, and it got this way because a booster invested in the roster this offseason as if it were an SEC school. That booster, oil tycoon Cody Campbell, has gotten what he paid for. It’s clear to everyone Texas Tech isn’t just the favorite to win the Big 12, it’s a team situated from a talent perspective to win games in January.

2. The Big 12: If Texas Tech wins the Big 12 — and it seems very likely that’s what’s coming — this will be a one-bid league. But I was thinking about what commissioner Brett Yormark said at conference media days in the summer. He said he wanted a few teams to be consistently good, to separate from the pack and be respected as legit national contenders. It was almost like he was challenging the conference to replace Texas and Oklahoma by promoting from within. That sounded crazy at the time, but maybe it’s happening with Tech? Maybe Tech’s success will prompt other wealthy boosters at rival Big 12 schools to replicate what Campbell is doing? What the Big 12 actually needs is a team to win deep into the CFP and earn some national respect. It has to prove it isn’t a second-class citizen. Texas Tech, truly, has a chance to do that this season.

3. Indiana: Indiana has made blowouts so common the past two years, it felt easy deciding to lay more than 20 points on the road at Penn State. Perhaps it was too easy. The Hoosiers, who have played two close games all season, found themselves on the ropes in State College. Down by four in the game’s final minutes, the Hoosiers marched down the field and scored a thrilling go-ahead touchdown to steal the game. Penn State has been an absolute train wreck this year, so many viewed that game as the Hoosiers proving their mortality. It gave people reason to doubt Curt Cignetti‘s team again. For me, I found it to be quite impressive. Penn State, though a failure this year, has a lot of NFL players on its roster and Indiana found a way to win a game in a tough environment on the road. That should help the Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff. Every game can’t be a blowout, and I find it amusing people are ready to jump off the Indiana bandwagon the second it plays a close game. Everybody plays close games.

4. Fernando Mendoza: Was that quarterback Fernando Mendoza‘s Heisman moment? Funny enough, he was the second-most impressive player on the game-winning touchdown play. Indiana receiver Omar Cooper had the catch of the year on that game-winning grab. But people love resilient quarterbacks, ones who rise up and get wins when things are going poorly. Mendoza has been climbing up the NFL Draft mock boards during the last month, but it felt like that moment at Penn State — with the entire country watching — was when he took a step into college football stardom. He should be the favorite to win the Heisman right now.

5. Penn State: While watching Penn State give Indiana everything it could handle, I couldn’t help but think about James Franklin. How did it get so dire? How did things fall apart so quickly for one of the nation’s most consistent programs? It felt like losing to Oregon at home in overtime completely broke him. That didn’t need to be the case. This is still a team that has the second-most NFL talent of any Big Ten roster. Nick Singleton, who scored three touchdowns against Indiana, is so good. This is the era where losing one or two games in the regular season doesn’t crush your hopes. Even if Penn State would have stayed together, beaten UCLA and Northwestern and even lost to Ohio State, it absolutely could have beaten Indiana and gone to the CFP. This team was always going to be judged by what it did in the postseason, anyway. The roster tapped out a month too early, which is the reason Franklin is currently unemployed. It’s a shame what happened to this team. It had so much promise.

6. Oregon: Since Oregon lost by 10 at home to Indiana a month ago, the Ducks have fallen out of the national conversation. Maybe part of that was because it took overtime to beat Penn State, a team most don’t view as capable. However, Dante Moore led the Ducks on a game-winning drive after being dragged into Iowa hell. Moore had a 24-yard strike to receiver Malik Benson down the sideline in pourous conditions to set up a game-winning field goal. That Moore throw may have been as impressive of a “Heisman moment” as the one Mendoza had hours earlier. Oregon is walking in the shadows because it hasn’t really beaten up teams this year, but this Ducks team is every bit of a national title contender as a Georgia or Ole Miss.

7. Georgia: Georgia came into the weekend having won three games in a row it could have lost. It has made it easy to doubt this Bulldogs team, one that seems susceptible to losing again. That’s why Mississippi State was a trendy pick this week to keep things close in Starkville. Nope. Georgia absolutely demolished a much-improved Bulldogs team, showing the world that even if this team isn’t as dominant as some of the past Kirby Smart teams, it’s still very much a legit national title contender. There is so much football still left to be played, but it was a reminder that it’s hard to get rich doubting Georgia. Is the defense good enough to win it all?

8. Texas: I moved Texas back into my top 10 this week after the Longhorns won four in a row, two of which over teams ranked in the top 10 at the time. What is Texas? Is it a team with a bad offensive line that has masked that overt deficiency during the last month? Or is this a loaded roster finding itself at the right time and is very much alive in the SEC and national title races? Quarterback Arch Manning, who some were labeling a bust four weeks ago, has thrown for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns in consecutive games. Is he arriving right before our eyes? Thankfully, Texas is going to Georgia on Saturday for what should be the SEC showdown we were all anticipating this offseason. That’s going to be a game that provides a ton of context as the postseason picture continues to crystalize.

9. The ACC: Saturday didn’t feel like a dramatic day, but the ACC caught on fire. No. 14 Virginia lost to Wake Forest after quarterback Chandler Morris left the game in the second quarter. Around the same time, Cal finished a thrilling overtime win over No. 15 Louisville. Down by three in OT, Cal went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3. Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele hit receiver Jacob De Jesus on a little rub route for the score, closing a 29-26 win. Now the ACC standings feature five random teams with only one loss in conference play. None of those five teams are Miami, Florida State or Clemson. What a bizarre year. 

10. Mike Norvell: There was a moment during Florida State‘s 24-10 loss to Clemson when the broadcast zoomed in on Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell. The man had a blank stare on his face, almost as if he were reflecting on how things got so bad so quickly. There are obviously going to be rumors every week from now until the end of the season about him being fired. Rightfully so. How much worse can it get? This feels like rock bottom. And while moving on from him is going to be expensive, we’re getting to the point where the Seminoles just don’t have a choice. This isn’t a competitive football team.

11. Miami: Miami beat Syracuse 38-10 on Saturday and Hurricanes fans were sitting on the edges of their seats watching ACC leaders lose to underdogs. Though you’d need a mathematician to try to figure out ACC tiebreakers, Miami is dreaming of situations where it can backdoor its way to Charlotte. Here’s the thing: I actually think 10-2 Miami is an at-large team in the CFP, regardless of whether it wins or even plays for the ACC title. Last year, 10-2 Miami was left out. But this year’s team has something valuable last year’s team didn’t posses: a top-10 win. Miami still has to win out, which may feel like a tough proposition, but I believe the Hurricanes are in a good spot for CFP contention still.

12. Duke: Duke is 5-4, but is one of the five teams who only have one loss in ACC play. That’s what happens when you lose three nonconference games. What if Duke wins the ACC? What if a four-loss team is the ACC champ? The Blue Devils still have to beat Virginia, North Carolina and Wake Forest and whoever it faces in a hypothetical matchup in Charlotte. But if Duke does it, will the CFP Committee automatically take Duke or does that open the door for two Group of 5 conference champions instead? Could we see a CFP without the ACC champion but Miami as an at large? Wild times.

13. The American: Friday night was a pivotal game in the America race. Tulane played at Memphis and the Tigers, who faced a 21-point deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter, had the ball down six multiple times late in the game. Memphis ultimately couldn’t complete the comeback — like the one it pulled off against USF — and Tulane escaped with the win. The American is situated like the ACC at the top of the standings, with five teams having one loss. Those five teams are Navy, South Florida, Tulane, North Texas and East Carolina. The winner of that conference will make the CFP.

14. Jim Mora: Want to hear a wild stat that was floating around social media Saturday? UConn has more wins over ACC teams (3) than Florida State (2) the last two seasons. That isn’t just piling on Norvell more. It’s a way to compliment UConn coach Jim Mora, who led the Huskies to a win over Duke on Saturday. UConn was 10-50 the previous five seasons before Mora took over in 2022, a laughingstock of a program. Now the Huskies, 7-3, are 25-23 under Mora’s leadership. Does that turnaround get the former UCLA head coach some looks during the coaching carousel? What he has done there is tremendous and it’s time we start showing appreciation of a job well done.

15. USC: Guess who is still alive in the CFP race? Lincoln Riley‘s USC. After beating Northwestern 38-17 on Friday night, the Trojans improved to 7-2. They have three games left in its regular season — Iowa, Oregon and UCLA. If USC wins all three of those games — which certainly doesn’t feel impossible with Jayden Maiava, Ja’Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon hitting on all cylinders — it could be a legit CFP at-large selection. If USC beats Iowa next weekend (which isn’t easy), we’re going to get a vintage Pac-12 brawl between the Trojans and Oregon. Who doesn’t love West Coast nostalgia?

16. USC’s fake punt: Early in the second quarter of USC’s win Friday, the Trojans faced a fourth-and-6 from their own 46-yard line. The punter, wearing No. 80, threw a dart to receiver Tanook Hines for a 10-yard completion and first down. Guess what? The player wearing No. 80 was backup quarterback Sam Huard, who swapped his jersey with the punter and went into the game. USC doesn’t have name plates on the back of its jerseys. The Big Ten ruled Sunday that there should have been a penalty when the real punter came into the game later. The whole thing felt sleazy to me.

17. Notre Dame: USC winning games is good for Notre Dame, as the Trojans are still the Irish’s best win. Notre Dame blew out Navy on Saturday to improve to 7-2. After dropping its first two games of the season, it has won seven in a row and now has matchups with Pitt, Syracuse and Stanford on deck. Though playing Pitt on the road may be tricky, it seems likely the Irish will finish 10-2. Though I was confused by their No. 10 ranking Tuesday evening, it seems like all but a certainty the Irish will get into the field as long as they dont lose another one. USC winning is helping, too. 

18. Wisconsin: Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh announced Thursday Badgers coach Luke Fickell will return in 2026, which is kind of surprising given how much of a dumpster fire the program has been under his leadership. But if Fickell wasn’t given the proper resources to compete, which McIntosh acknowledged, maybe the program’s regression isn’t Fickell’s fault? Funny enough, two days later, Wisconsin beat Washington at home, 13-10, despite being down to its fourth quarterback of the season. That was an emotional win for a Badgers team and staff that haven’t gotten to enjoy much the last few years.

19. Luke Fickell: The most confusing thing about Fickell’s leadership of the Wisconsin program is how few good players he has brought in. He hasn’t done a good enough job recruiting the legacy Wisconsin offensive linemen and he certainly hasn’t done a good enough job signing elite-level skill positon players to improve this team’s explosiveness. Regardless of whether you’re for or against Fickell’s retention, I think we’ll know whether it was his fault or not after the portal season. Will Wisconsin actually have good players — or, gulp, a quarterback — next season? Will it find its identity?

20. Texas A&M: Texas A&M beat Missouri handily on Saturday, improving to 9-0. Guess what? That means it’s mathematically impossible for the Aggies to finish the season 8-4. Mike Elko has done a tremendous job with this team, but how dangerous are the Aggies at the highest level? Texas A&M got a pretty advantageous draw in the SEC, with no matchups against Alabama or Georgia on the schedule. Maybe we’ll find out more about Texas A&M when it travels to Austin in the regular-season finale, but I just want to see this team line up with another top-five team. Are the Aggies good enough to make a deep run into January?