College Football Winners and Losers: Clemson, Michigan Stay in Playoff Race with Big Wins

Clemson and Michigan stayed in the playoff race early Saturday, though it’s more than fair to still have some questions about both teams.

The 21st-ranked Tigers were the more convincing team with a 59-35 win over NC State, while 18th-ranked Michigan needed a late fourth-down touchdown to avoid a second-half collapse in a 27-24 home win over 11th-ranked USC.

Let’s start with Clemson, where the Tigers’ offense looks completely different than it did in Week 1’s 34-3 loss to Georgia. Clemson (2-1) has scored 101 first-half points in its last two games since the rout and opened the scoring less than two minutes into Saturday’s game when quarterback Cade Klubnik ran 55 yards for a TD.

The Tigers led 28-0 after the first quarter and dominated the rest of the game against an NC State team that featured a freshman quarterback in CJ Bailey. He was making his first career start after former Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall was injured in Week 3 against Louisiana Tech. By the time NC State scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, Clemson was simply looking to run down the clock.

There’s no denying the quality of Clemson’s performances in its wins over Appalachian State and the Wolfpack, but there’s also the question of how real they are. Appalachian State fell to 1-3 after a home loss to South Alabama on Thursday and NC State was crushed by Tennessee with a healthy McCall in Week 2.

Meanwhile, Michigan improved to 3-1 thanks to a heroic fourth-quarter effort from Kalel Mullings. After USC took its first lead of the game in the fourth quarter, Mullings broke off a 63-yard drive before scoring the game-winning TD with 37 seconds left. He rushed 17 times for 159 yards and two TDs despite the lack of a forward pass threat from Michigan QB Alex Orji.

Orji completed 7 of 12 passes for 32 yards Saturday as Michigan carried 46 times. The run-and-go offensive scheme was exactly what coach Sherrone Moore wanted.

Michigan has long been a team that favors the run over the pass. But this is a new extreme. Michigan quarterbacks have thrown for 491 yards on 90 attempts through the first four games of the season.

Is it possible to keep winning with that kind of passing game? The Wolverines certainly hope so, but there are plenty of reasons to wonder if it will work. There were probably plenty of Michigan fans pessimistic about the team’s chances of coming back before Mullings took the stage. This is a team that clearly isn’t built to be led in late-game situations.

But it’s also a philosophy that could work well into October. Michigan’s next four games are against Minnesota, Washington, Illinois and Michigan State before No. 9 seed Oregon travels to Ann Arbor to open November. Given the way Michigan’s defense played Saturday, it’s not inconceivable that Michigan’s offense is doing enough without a substantial improvement in its passing to put the Wolverines 7-1 through the first two months of the season.

Clemson should also continue to win. With Florida State struggling, the Tigers appear to be the class of the ACC with Miami and won’t face a ranked team until hosting Louisville on Nov. 2. It’s not too early to start envisioning a Tigers-Hurricanes matchup for the ACC title, though you’ll want to see a little more of Clemson’s offense to erase the memory of that Georgia game.

Here are the rest of this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

James Madison: The Dukes scored 53 first-half points in a stunning 70-50 win at North Carolina. QB Alonza Barnett III had the game of the weekend. He completed 22 of 34 passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns while rushing 13 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns.

JMU racked up 611 yards of total offense against the Tar Heels as UNC turned the ball over five times with three fumbles and two interceptions, including a sixth-down interception. It’s an embarrassing loss for North Carolina after the Heels started the season 3-0, but it’s also a vindication win for James Madison after coach Curt Cignetti left for Indiana in the offseason and QB Jordan McCloud transferred to Texas State.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers staged a dramatic comeback after a long thunderstorm delay in their 32-28 win over Kansas. Thunderstorms delayed the game in the fourth quarter and Kansas took a 28-17 lead with 5:39 left. West Virginia cut the deficit to three points with 3:27 left, then scored the game-winning touchdown with 26 seconds left when Rodney Gallagher III caught a 15-yard pass from Garrett Greene.

The win moves West Virginia to 2-2 and Kansas to 1-3 as QB Jalon Daniels continues to struggle. He fumbled the ball on the Jayhawks’ final possession and also threw an interception. Greene threw two interceptions of his own, but he completed 15 of 30 passes for 295 yards and ran 17 times for 87 yards.

Buffalo: The Bulls earned their first win over a ranked team since beating No. 12 Ball State in the 2008 MAC title game with a 23-20 overtime victory over No. 23 Northern Illinois. Buffalo trailed 14-3 at halftime before tying the game in the fourth quarter to take a 20-17 lead with 3:28 left. NIU kicked a field goal to force overtime, but Kanon Woodill’s 42-yard field goal attempt in overtime was blocked. That set up Upton Bellenfant’s 37-yard field goal for the win and demoralized the Huskies in their first game since beating Notre Dame in South Bend.

Indiana: The Hoosiers are 4-0 after an easy 52-14 home win over Charlotte. Former Ohio State quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed 16 of 20 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns while eight players combined for 41 carries for 222 yards and six touchdowns. Indiana’s opening schedule hasn’t been incredibly difficult; its best win came at UCLA in Week 3. But with Maryland and Northwestern on the schedule over the next two weeks, Indiana has a very good chance of being bowl eligible by the end of Week 6 and could even sneak into the AP Top 25 on Sunday.

Kaleb Johnson, Iowa RB: Johnson took over in the third quarter of Iowa’s 31-14 win over Minnesota. He scored on runs of 15 and 40 yards in the third period to turn a 14-7 Minnesota lead into a 21-14 Hawkeyes lead that they never relinquished. Johnson finished the game with a career-high 206 yards and three TDs on just 21 carries as Iowa improved to 3-1.

The Losers

Auburn: The Tigers still have a quarterback problem. Quarterback Hank Brown started for the second time this season but threw three interceptions in the Tigers’ 24-14 home loss to Arkansas. Brown was replaced in the second half by Payton Thorne, the man who started Auburn’s first two games. Thorne found KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a 67-yard TD run in the fourth quarter that pulled the Tigers within three, but Arkansas went on a 12-play drive that took 6:12 to put the game away on a Ja’Quinden Jackson TD. We’ll see who coach Hugh Freeze starts before next week’s game against Oklahoma. The game is the first of three straight games against ranked opponents for the Tigers.

Memphis: Much like Northern Illinois, Memphis’ high spirits after a big win over a powerful conference foe didn’t last long. The Tigers lost 56-44 at Navy in a game that could be a major blow to Memphis’ playoff hopes later this season. After stifling Florida State’s running game in Week 3, Memphis was gashed by Navy’s option attack for 361 yards and five TDs on just 39 attempts. The Midshipmen were also effective through the air, with Blake Horvath completing 9 of 12 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns to go along with his 90-yard run for a TD and three more rushing touchdowns.

University of Virginia: The Hokies have now lost 12 straight non-conference games against conference opponents after Rutgers earned a 26-23 road victory. The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never trailed, though Virginia Tech fought back in the fourth quarter with back-to-back touchdowns to tie the game at 23-23.

Jai Patel, however, made a 24-yard field goal with 1:56 left, and Kyron Drones threw an interception on third down with 1:24 left to seal the game. After losing to Vanderbilt in Week 1 and Rutgers on Saturday, Virginia Tech’s last unconventional win against a strong opponent came against West Virginia in the 2017 season opener.

Florida International: The Panthers lost 45-42 at home to FCS-ranked Monmouth after a fumble near the end zone. Monmouth kicked a field goal to take a three-point lead with less than two minutes left and FIU advanced to the Monmouth 21-yard line with 41 seconds left. Keyone Jenkins completed a pass to Eric Rivers and as Rivers fought to score after crossing the field… he fumbled the ball. Monmouth recovered and ended the game.

Houston: It’s going to be a long first season for coach Willie Fritz. The Cougars were crushed 34-0 in Cincinnati and fell to 1-3. QBs Donovan Smith and Zeon Chriss combined for 92 yards and an interception on 21 attempts and Houston also fumbled the ball twice, becoming the first conference team to be shut out in 2024. The Cougars played tough against Oklahoma in Week 2, but it’s hard to see more than two Big 12 wins on their schedule for the rest of the season with three of their four home games coming against ranked opponents.