CFB Recap: The best from outside the region

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Matthew Hinton/AP/Shutterstock (13486436af) Quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) smiles as he scores a touchdown against Mississippi during the second half an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La Mississippi LSU Football, Baton Rouge, United States – 22 Oct 2022

CFB Recap: The best from outside the region

#5 Clemson 27, #14 Syracuse 21

Well that turned out to be scarier for Clemson than most thought. This will likely go down as the sloppiest game the Tigers will play all season. Clemson turned the ball over four times throwing two picks and fumbling twice and still found a way to win the game. Syracuse led 21-10 at the half and Clemson was showing zero signs of life on the offensive side of the football. Head Coach Dabo Swinney decided to bench QB DJ Uiagalelei in the second half after completing just 13-21 pass attempts and throwing two picks. However, in regards to the QB position going forward, Swinney has faith in his guy.

“Sometimes Steph Curry goes 2-25,” Swinney said. “He’s our guy.”

Clemson would turn to backup Cade Klubnik and turn the attention almost entirely to the run game. RB Will Shipley was outstanding once again running for 172 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. He continues to be the most consistent producer in that offense. Despite losing the turnover battle, Clemson still managed to put up 450 yards of total offense and control time of possession. It was scary for a while, but Clemson still safely sits atop the ACC as the clear favorite. They head into a bye week to regroup before they play Notre Dame in two weeks.

Syracuse accomplished one thing today. They proved their defense belongs. The schedule for Syracuse has been light and going on the road to face Clemson was easily their toughest test of the season. They forced DJ Uiagalelei out of the game and made the Tigers change the way they call plays. That is a win in and of itself. However, the Orange offense continues to struggle generating useful possessions. Garrett Shrader took over as the offense’s only real contributor. RB Sean Tucker only had five carries for 54 yards. Shrader did most of the running himself accounting for 21 carries and 71 yards with a score. Syracuse only turned the ball over once, but it came at the worst time. After a drive that put them in position to tie and potentially win the game, Shrader threw an interception with 15 seconds left in Clemson territory. Syracuse has yet to go through the gauntlet in the ACC so it will be interesting to see how they matchup against the next tier of teams in the conference.

Up Next (Clemson): @ Notre Dame

Up Next (Syracuse): vs. Notre Dame

LSU 45, #7 Ole Miss 20

What a game for LSU QB Jayden Daniels. He showed every bit of the dynamic player he could be. Death Valley has always been a tough place to play, but for the home squad, it is a dream to play in Baton Rouge. Daniels completed 75% of his throws for 248 yards and two touchdowns. On top of that, he was a killer with his legs. Daniels ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. The LSU offense proved how impressive they could be by controlling time of possession by almost 15 minutes. If it were not for the Week 1 loss to Florida State, it is possible we would be talking about LSU as a real SEC contender. They move into a bye week with a huge win before they come back to Death Valley to play big bad Alabama.

Quinshon Judkins was just about it for Ole Miss in this one. We knew this team relied on the run, but this was all they could rely on this afternoon. Judkins put up 111 yards and two scores on 25 carries, which was most of the Rebels’ offense. Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart did not have it today going 19-34 for 284 yards and an interception. The second half bit Ole Miss badly getting outscored 28-0 after halftime. The Rebels came in a bit unproven with a light schedule, but their schedule gets much harder in the coming weeks. Going into this game undefeated, they will be faced with playing Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi State so we will get to see what this Ole Miss team is actually capable of. As of now, they have taken a bit of a dip in the rankings with this loss.

Up Next (LSU): vs. #6 Alabama

Up Next (Ole Miss): @ Texas A&M

#10 Oregon 45, #9 UCLA 30

Oregon took a much needed win at home against UCLA to keep them in the conversation in the PAC-12. Oregon QB Bo Nix put on a show throwing the football passing for 283 yards and five touchdowns in the win. The biggest beneficiary of Nix’s huge day was WR Troy Franklin who pulled in eight balls for 132 yards and two scores. The Ducks simply held up their reputation as one of the most potent offenses in the nation that can beat you in multiple ways. RB Mar’Kiese Irving opened up the passing game while rushing for 107 yards on 19 carries. Oregon has dominated in the matchup with UCLA since Chip Kelly took over for the Bruins who have not beaten the Ducks since 2017. Oregon will travel to Berkeley next week to take on Cal.

UCLA has not beaten Oregon in Eugene since 2004 and the streak continued today. UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson was less efficient with the football than normal completing 27-39 for two touchdowns and pick. Zach Charbonnet ran for 151 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries continuing his hot play. The Bruins’ tough first half was just too much to overcome. Oregon led 31-13 at halftime and UCLA could not rebound enough to earn the win. This is UCLA’s first loss of the season and will look to bounce back quickly against Stanford next week.

Up Next (Oregon): @ California

Up Next (UCLA): vs. Stanford

#6 Alabama 30, #24 Mississippi State 6

After taking a tough loss to Tennessee last week, Alabama goes back home and shuts down a Mississippi State team that knows how to score points. This was a brilliant performance by the Alabama defense. They had the shutout up until the final play of the game on a rushing touchdown from Jo’Quavious Marks. This was not the cleanest offensive game from Alabama. Bryce Young completed 21-35 pass attempts for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Star RB Jahmyr Gibbs ran for only 37 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. This game was about what the Crimson Tide defense did to make Mississippi State QB Will Rogers uncomfortable. Star edge rusher Will Anderson made his presence felt pressuring the QB all night. Going from giving up 52 points to only six is hard to do, but Alabama sure showed that one loss could not throw them off kilter. Alabama enters the bye week looking forward to a matchup with LSU in Baton Rouge.

Will Rogers had a tough time tonight. He was sacked four times and completed just 50% of his throws. A rare rough game for the star QB. Mississippi State just could not get the ball moving until the final drive of the game. They again struggled to run the football effectively and Alabama seemed to take advantage of that forcing Rogers to throw the ball 60 times. However, the Bulldogs’ defense deserves credit for not allowing the Alabama offense to blow the game open. They outperformed what has been expected of them this season. This is Mississippi State’s second straight loss and will look to rebound in two weeks against Auburn.

Up Next (Alabama): @ LSU

Up Next (Mississippi State): vs. Auburn

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