What We Learned From Week 10

Everybody took responsibility this week. Almost nobody took the blame.

Week 10 was the week of the accountability speech.

Ryan Day said it all starts with the staff. Will Hall said it starts with him. Matt Rhule said he’s responsible, then fired his offensive coordinator.

And Deion Sanders said he isn’t worried about Deion Sanders.

Here are the 10 things we learned.

1. Ohio State hasn’t been here since 2011.

The Buckeyes hadn’t dropped two straight regular-season games in 5,467 days.

That ended in Columbus, where Ohio State led Oregon 14-0 and then gave up 38 straight points. The Buckeyes had won 140 straight home games when leading by 14 or more, a streak that went back to Wisconsin in 2001. Now they’re 6-3, with three losses in a season for the first time since Day took over.

“Not someplace we thought we’d be,” Day said.

Last week, Ross Bjork’s problem was Lincoln Riley. This week it’s the standings, where Ohio, the one without the State, has a better record than Ohio State.

2. Friday, we diagnosed Matt Rhule. Saturday, he operated.

Nebraska lost 24-13 at Illinois on Friday night, its fourth straight Big Ten loss after a 5-0 start.

On Saturday, Rhule fired offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. The Huskers have averaged 13.5 points a game during the skid, and in Champaign they turned 426 yards into 13 points. Quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas calls the plays now.

“I am angry,” Rhule said, and he isn’t the only one in Lincoln.

Rutgers is next, then Ohio State and Iowa. If the new play caller can’t find the end zone, the next statement out of Nebraska won’t come from Rhule.

3. Coach Prime needed three “reallys.”

Colorado lost 20-10 at Arizona State and fell to 3-6.

That’s six losses in seven games. The Buffaloes trailed 17-0 at halftime with 103 yards of offense, against a true freshman quarterback. Asked if he’s coaching for his job, Sanders said he’s not here for his job and he’s not built like that: “I’m really, really, really not.”

A man who isn’t worried needs one “really.” Two, tops.

4. Kyle Whittingham left Utah for Michigan. Utah’s doing fine.

Morgan Scalley is 10-0 as Utah’s head coach, counting last year’s bowl game.

The Utes beat BYU 28-20 to go 9-0, and their 14-game win streak is the longest in the country. Scalley is the sixth FBS coach in 40 years to start a career 10-0. Whittingham took a big chunk of Utah’s staff with him, and Scalley built a contender out of what was left.

Meanwhile, Michigan lost 15-6 at home to Michigan State.

The Spartans came in 0-5 in the Big Ten, and Pat Fitzgerald hadn’t won a Big Ten game since 2022. It was the third straight home game Michigan didn’t score in the first half, something that last happened three times in one season in 1979.

The Wolverines are 5-4. That isn’t what Michigan was paying for.

5. Lane Kiffin’s fourth-down math came out to zero.

LSU outgained Alabama by 172 yards and lost 31-13 at home.

The Tigers went 0-for-4 on fourth down, the most tries without a conversion in Kiffin’s career. They made four trips to the red zone and came away with 10 points. Alabama scored the last 21.

Asked what’s keeping his team from making winning plays, Kiffin said, “I don’t know.”

LSU was a preseason title favorite. It’s 6-3, and Texas comes to Baton Rouge next.

6. Mario Cristobal found somebody to blame.

No. 1 Miami lost its unbeaten season 31-24 at Notre Dame, and Cristobal said he was “beyond upset” with the officials.

The play in question was a fourth-down grab in the end zone that would have tied it, ruled incomplete with 3:36 left. Maybe it was close. Miami also trailed 24-3 in the third quarter.

The refs didn’t spot Notre Dame 21 points.

7. Brent Venables gave his offense to a guy who coached high school last year.

Oklahoma fired offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle on Monday and gave the play sheet to tight ends coach Jason Witten.

A year ago, Witten was coaching high school football in Argyle, Texas. Saturday, his offense went into the Swamp, ran a 20-play, 89-yard touchdown drive that ate 12:45, and beat No. 25 Florida 23-7. Florida had won 48 straight home games against teams visiting the Swamp for the first time.

Make it 48 and 1.

On the other sideline, Jon Sumrall’s Gators made the CFP rankings for the first time since 2020 on Tuesday. By Saturday night they were 5-4, with a losing record in the SEC.

8. Tulane’s AD is embarrassed. He should be.

Tulsa beat Tulane 60-10 on homecoming, and led 46-0 before the Green Wave scored.

That night, athletic director David Harris posted a statement saying he was “embarrassed” and calling the loss “alarming.” He also said he’s accountable for Tulane Athletics. On that, we agree.

Last season, we called Will Hall the worst hire of the cycle. Here’s the résumé Harris looked at:

  • 14-30 in four seasons at Southern Miss
  • 10-30 against FBS teams
  • A 1-6 start in three of those four seasons
  • One winning season, a 7-6 year in 2022
  • Fired seven games into 2024, then rehired by Tulane as a position coach

Harris looked at that and called it “a proven track record of success at every level.” Tulane’s own announcement called Southern Miss a “remarkable turnaround.”

Hall inherited a College Football Playoff team. Ten months later, Tulane is 4-5, and the AD is issuing statements on homecoming night about the man he promoted.

Nobody at Tulane should be surprised. The record was right there, and Harris hired it anyway.

Jon Sumrall’s old team and his new team lost by a combined 66 points Saturday.

9. Florida State finally won a road game, six days too late for Mike Norvell.

Interim coach Rick Stockstill won his debut, 31-24 at Boston College.

It was FSU’s first true road win since Nov. 25, 2023, the day the Seminoles finished 13-0. They lost 12 straight road games after that. The Seminoles scored on a fake field goal, and Stockstill, who played quarterback for Bobby Bowden, said he’s got “Coach Bowden blood” in him.

Norvell went 13-0 that year and never won another road game at Florida State.

Nobody flew a banner this time, so nobody had to spell anything.

10. Maryland finally won a Big Ten game, and Purdue fired the same coach twice.

The Terps beat Purdue 34-29 and ended a 13-game Big Ten losing streak.

Interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim got carried off the field. Then the Big Ten Network cut to its studio, where Mike Locksley, fired a little over two weeks earlier, was sitting on the set. Twelve of those 13 losses came on his watch, and he called it his “first guaranteed victory.”

That’s the most awkward live shot of the season, and Locksley knew it.

On the other sideline, Barry Odom fired defensive coordinator Kevin Kane.

Purdue already fired Kane once, with Ryan Walters’ staff after 2024. Odom hired him back last December. The Boilermakers are 3-6, they’re allowing 32.3 points a game, and they gave up 27 second-half points to a team that hadn’t won a Big Ten game all season.

Purdue’s next defensive coordinator will be its third in three seasons. Odom faces the media Monday, with Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana left.

Tulane hired a coach Southern Miss fired. Purdue rehired a coordinator Purdue fired. At least Tulane had the sense to get a new address.

Still waiting, Sean.

Does anyone know Sean Mullen? Please pass along that we’re still looking for him.

The bottom line?

Saying the right things is the easy part.

Day said there needs to be accountability for all of it. Rhule said the offense simply isn’t working. None of that shows up in the standings.

The Week 11 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings drop Tuesday. See where all 138 coaches stand.

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Seven ranked teams lost, two more coaches got fired, and Lincoln Riley’s offense ran the wrong way.

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Aranda out at Baylor. Doeren out at NC State.

Week 8 had one rule: if you were ranked, you were in trouble.

Seven ranked teams lost. Five of them lost to unranked teams, the most of any weekend this season. Then the firings started.

There are three unbeaten teams left: Miami, UCLA, and Utah.

Here are the 7 things we learned.

1. Lincoln Riley’s offense went backward. Literally.

USC ran for minus-17 yards at Wisconsin.

The Trojans scored 7 points in a 24-7 loss, the fewest any Riley team has scored. They lost to a quarterback who threw for 58 yards. Riley calls the plays, so I assume he called those too.

USC is paying for an offensive genius, and Saturday the genius couldn’t find the line of scrimmage.

Ohio State comes to the Coliseum next. I’d bring a helmet.

2. The carousel is open, and it’s spinning fast.

Three coaches have been fired in a week.

Maryland fired Mike Locksley last week. NC State fired Dave Doeren on Saturday, after 14 seasons, a 98-74 record, and a Friday night loss at Stanford that dropped the Wolfpack to 3-4. Baylor fired Dave Aranda this morning, less than a day after losing to Kansas for the first time since 2007.

Locksley, Doeren, and Aranda all made it to October.

None of them made it to November.

3. The Big 12 had the worst Saturday in its history.

For the first time in AP Top 25 history, three top-15 Big 12 teams lost on the same day.

  • BYU beat Notre Dame, celebrated for a week, then lost 39-31 in double overtime at UCF.
  • Texas Tech lost 37-24 at Cincinnati with three turnovers, 12 penalties, and a 3-of-15 day on third down. A defense that came in allowing 82 rushing yards a game gave up 255.
  • Houston lost 21-13 at Utah, which won its 13th straight.

The conference wanted two playoff teams. Right now it would settle for one that can survive a road trip.

Texas Tech can still reach Dallas, mostly because the schedule makers left BYU and Utah off its slate. Somebody in Lubbock should send them a fruit basket.

4. The hot seats got hotter.

Aranda isn’t on the board anymore, but plenty of names are, and Saturday didn’t help them.

  • Sonny Dykes (No. 6): TCU outgained West Virginia 484-265 and lost 24-20. You have to work at that.
  • Deion Sanders (No. 9): Colorado gave up 57 points to Oklahoma State and lost by 33.
  • Greg Schiano (No. 2): Rutgers lost 42-14 at Northwestern. Northwestern.
  • Pat Narduzzi (No. 24): Pitt lost 52-23 at Miami. The backup quarterbacks explain some of it. Not 52 points of it.
  • Tosh Lupoi (No. 18): SMU hung 59 points on Cal. Lupoi is a first-year head coach, and No. 18 is a high number for a rookie. Most of that number belongs to Ron Rivera, the general manager in Berkeley, whose job is to mentor the kid. Rivera should be sitting on 75% of this seat, because leaving a first-time coach on an island this long is inexcusable.

Three athletic directors have already made their call.

The rest are watching film, and some of them are watching it with a lawyer.

5. Two seats cooled off.

Not every coach on the list had a bad weekend.

Luke Fickell (No. 8) came into this season 17-21 with one win over a ranked team. Now Wisconsin is 5-2, both losses came against top-10 teams, and the defense just made USC look like a high school scout team. The touchdown that got it going came from Bryan Jackson, a USC transfer.

USC lost to Wisconsin, and it supplied the running back.

Shane Beamer (No. 7) beat Tennessee 27-24 on a field goal as time ran out, his second straight ranked win after knocking off Florida. Tennessee had bullied Alabama the week before. LaNorris Sellers accounted for three touchdowns.

Two weeks ago, Beamer’s ship was sinking. Now he’s bailing water and grinning.

6. The big brands aren’t safe either.

The names on the helmets didn’t help much this weekend.

  • Oregon lost 21-10 at Illinois. That’s close to a playoff elimination for a team picked to contend.
  • Michigan is 4-3. Kyle Whittingham’s offense ran 42 times for 57 yards, and Indiana won 13-6 in overtime.
  • Indiana won that game with 212 total yards, its lowest since 2024. The Hoosiers have scored 28 points in two weeks. They’ll take the wins, but they’d probably like a few touchdowns to go with them.
  • Clemson lost 20-16 at home to James Franklin’s Virginia Tech.
  • Texas led Ole Miss 24-3 at halftime and spent the second half trying to give it back. The Longhorns held on 34-27 and avoided a third straight loss.

Texas A&M, Oregon, and Michigan all look headed toward somewhere around 6-6. At those three schools, 6-6 gets you a meeting with the president.

7. Will Stein has Kentucky alone atop the SEC.

Kentucky beat Vanderbilt 34-17.

That puts the Wildcats at 5-1 in league play, alone in first. Georgia and Alabama are looking up at Kentucky. Stein is on the shortlist for every national coach of the year award.

In a season where three coaches have been fired in a week, Stein is getting votes.

The bottom line?

Week 8 settled nothing on the field.

Three athletic directors settled things anyway.

See where every coach landed in this week’s Coaches Hot Seat Rankings.

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Trent Dilfer Has A 7-17 Record At UAB. Here’s Why His $3.6 Million Buyout Won’t Save His Job In 2025

Here’s what nobody wants to say out loud.

Trent Dilfer is coaching for his job at UAB. And based on two years of evidence, he’s going to lose it. The numbers don’t lie. A 7-17 record. A .292 winning percentage. Zero road wins in 24 months. And a hot seat rating of 0.715 that has him ranked as the fifth most endangered coach in college football.

This isn’t speculation.

This is math.

The Problem With Hiring Names Instead Of Coaches

Athletic Director Mark Ingram made a classic mistake in 2022.

He got starstruck. Instead of promoting interim coach Bryant Vincent—who had just led UAB to a 7-6 record—Ingram chased the shiny object. He wanted the former NFL quarterback. The Super Bowl winner. The ESPN analyst with name recognition.

“I’m not hiring a high school football coach,” Ingram said at the time. “I’m hiring the number six overall pick in the NFL draft.”

Wrong.

You were hiring a high school football coach who happened to be a former NFL player. And there’s a massive difference between those two things. The irony? Bryant Vincent—the guy Ingram passed over—is now coaching Louisiana Monroe to potential bowl eligibility. Meanwhile, Dilfer’s UAB team got obliterated 32-6 by Vincent’s Warhawks to open the 2024 season.

That’s not just bad luck.

That’s institutional malpractice.

When The Numbers Tell The Whole Story

Here’s how badly things have collapsed under Dilfer.

2023 to 2024 regression:

  • Passing accuracy: 71.7% → 63.7% (catastrophic)
  • Total offense: 450 yards/game → 392.5 yards/game
  • Rushing: 161.1 yards/game → 130.9 yards/game
  • Turnovers per game: 1.7 → 2.1

You don’t accidentally get worse at this many things. This is a systematic failure. The defense was even more brutal. UAB allowed 212.9 rushing yards per game in 2024—among the worst in the country. They gave up 34.2 points per game and finished 120th in scoring defense.

Six different opponents ran for more than 190 yards against them.

That’s not a personnel problem. That’s a coaching problem.

The Hail Mary

Dilfer knows he’s drowning.

So he’s throwing everything at the wall. New defensive coordinator Steve Russ brings legitimate credibility—two Super Bowl rings and six years of NFL coaching experience. The entire defensive staff was rebuilt with over 40 years of combined NFL experience.

Through the transfer portal, 19 players left, but 13+ new faces arrived:

  • Quarterback Ryder Burton from West Virginia
  • Running back Jevon Jackson from UTEP
  • Wide receiver Kaleb Brown from Iowa

When you flip half your roster in one offseason, you’re not building a program.

You’re admitting the previous two years were a complete waste of time.

The Tone-Deaf Moments That Define Him

But here’s what shows you who Trent Dilfer is as a coach.

After a September loss, he dismissed criticism by saying, “It’s not like this is freakin’ Alabama.” Think about that for a second. Your job is to build excitement around your program. Your job is to sell hope to your fanbase. And instead, you’re publicly lowering expectations and making excuses.

Even worse? On a UAB-produced podcast, Dilfer promoted Louisville’s volleyball program—where his daughter played—over UAB’s volleyball team. At the same time, his own Athletic Director tried to defend UAB’s program on the same podcast.

That’s not just tone-deaf.

That’s sabotage.

The Math On His Future

Oddsmakers set UAB’s win total at 4.5 games for 2025.

The under is favored. Most national previews have UAB finishing 13th out of 14 teams in the AAC. The schedule includes Tennessee, Memphis, Army, and Navy—teams that will expose every weakness.

To reach bowl eligibility, UAB needs to double its 2024 win total. Based on two years of evidence, that’s not happening. The financial reality makes it worse. UAB owes Dilfer $3.6 million if they fire him after 2025, dropping to $2.4 million after the season.

But keeping a failing coach to save money is how programs die.

Why This Matters Beyond UAB

This is a cautionary tale about the modern college football hiring process.

UAB had a program with momentum. Bill Clark had built something special before health issues forced his resignation. Bowl games. Competitive teams. Hope. Dilfer inherited a functional program and systematically destroyed it through inexperience and poor judgment.

The lesson?

  • Past playing success doesn’t translate to coaching success
  • Name recognition doesn’t win games
  • When you hire someone for the wrong reasons, you get predictable results

The Verdict

Trent Dilfer will coach the 2025 season at UAB.

But he won’t coach the 2026 season. The comprehensive staff changes and roster overhaul might buy him a few extra wins. But fundamentally, nothing has changed. He’s still the same coach who has never won a road game in college football.

Athletic Director Mark Ingram will eventually have to admit his mistake.

The question isn’t if—it’s when. UAB fans deserve better than watching their program become a cautionary tale. They deserve better than a coach who publicly diminishes their school while collecting a $1.3 million salary.

The 2025 season will be Trent Dilfer’s last at UAB.

Everyone knows it, including him.

The clock isn’t just ticking. It’s about to expire.

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NAVY FOOTBALL IS ABOUT TO DOMINATE THE 2025 SEASON (AND HERE’S WHY)

Navy football just delivered its first 10-win season since 2019, and it’s only getting started.

After half a decade of mediocrity, the Midshipmen roared back to life in 2024 with a statement season: 10-3 record, Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, and a bowl victory that stunned Oklahoma. Navy’s triple-option offense became appointment viewing again, and heading into 2025, this team has all the ingredients to make another run at the American Athletic Conference title.

Here’s why Navy is positioned to become one of college football’s best stories in 2025:

Navy’s 2024 resurrection wasn’t a fluke—it was a foundation

The Midshipmen shocked college football by transforming from perennial losers to conference contenders overnight.

What happened in 2024 wasn’t just a good season but a complete program resurrection. Navy opened with six straight wins, including a 56-44 offensive explosion against Memphis. They reclaimed the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy by dismantling Air Force 34-7 and handling Army 31-13. The season’s exclamation point came with quarterback Blake Horvath’s jaw-dropping 95-yard touchdown run to secure a 21-20 bowl victory over Oklahoma.

“That run against Oklahoma showed exactly what makes our offense dangerous,” noted Navy Athletics Director Chet Gladchuk in a January interview with the Naval Academy’s alumni magazine. “When you combine discipline with explosive athleticism, special things happen.”

This wasn’t just a good season. It was a warning shot to the rest of the conference.

The offense returns 73% of its production (which is absurd in the transfer portal era)

Returning nearly three-quarters of your offensive production in today’s college football landscape is practically unheard of.

Navy’s triple-option attack ranked 12th nationally in returning production, creating a level of continuity that option offenses particularly benefit from. The system’s effectiveness comes from precision, timing, and split-second decision-making—all qualities that improve dramatically with experience.

The offense brings back these critical pieces:

  • Senior QB Blake Horvath (1,154 passing yards, 11 TDs, 870 rushing yards, 13 TDs)
  • Established fullback Alex Tecza (576 yards, 8 TDs)
  • A cohesive offensive line with multiple returning starters
  • Backup QB Braxton Woodson, who gained valuable experience in 2024
  • A rushing attack that already averaged 247.5 yards per game at 5.4 yards per carry

“Our triple-option is the great equalizer,” Horvath told the Capital Gazette following the Armed Forces Bowl victory. “Teams can prepare for it, but until you’ve seen our speed and execution in person, it’s tough to simulate.”

The scary part? This offense still has room to grow.

The defense quietly dominated in 2024 (and returns plenty of production)

While the offense gets the headlines, Navy’s defense was the unsung hero of last season’s success.

The Midshipmen defense returns 53% of its production from a unit that surrendered just 22.2 points per game. Against the run—where games are often won or lost in college football—they were particularly stingy, allowing only 156.1 yards per game and 4.2 yards per carry.

What made this defense special in 2024:

  • Disciplined play (just 5.1 penalties for 45 yards per game)
  • Strong fundamentals (particularly in tackling)
  • Creating turnovers in key moments
  • Flexibility against varied offensive schemes in the AAC

The secondary remains the area for potential improvement, allowing 212.8 passing yards per game at a 59.3% completion rate. With the high-powered passing attacks in the American Athletic Conference, developing depth at cornerback and safety positions will be crucial during spring practice.

But the defensive foundation is rock solid.

The 2025 schedule is set up perfectly for another championship run

If you were designing an ideal schedule for sustained momentum, Navy’s 2025 slate comes pretty close.

The schedule breaks down as follows:

  • Early confidence-builders: VMI (Aug. 30) and UAB (Sept. 6) at home to start the season
  • Traditional rivalry games: Air Force (Oct. 4 in Annapolis) and Army (Dec. 13 in Baltimore)
  • Major spotlight game: at Notre Dame (Nov. 8)
  • Late-season statement opportunity: at Memphis (Nov. 27)
  • Balanced distribution: 5 home games, 7 road games

“The 2025 schedule gives us a good balance,” said head coach Brian Newberry in a press release announcing the schedule. “Starting with two home games helps us establish our identity, and having Air Force at home is significant for our Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy defense.”

The schedule provides the perfect mix of winnable games, high-profile showcases, and conference challenges.

While everyone else rebuilds through the transfer portal, Navy builds through development

Navy’s approach is refreshingly old-school in college football’s transfer portal era.

While the portal has revolutionized roster construction elsewhere, Navy’s unique service academy structure means it operates differently by necessity. Yes, they lost a few players through the portal—defensive end Jacob Busic (to UCLA) and quarterback Trey Dunn (to Marshall)—but the program’s mission and requirements naturally limit both departures and arrivals.

This creates three massive competitive advantages:

  • Unrivaled continuity in an era of constant roster turnover
  • Players fully bought into Navy’s unique system over multiple years
  • A culture that develops players rather than replacing them

What initially seems like a disadvantage reinforces the team’s identity and approach.

Navy is built differently than 99% of college football programs (and that’s their superpower)

The Midshipmen are positioned to build on their 2024 revival and potentially take it even further in 2025.

Navy stands apart in a world where college football programs increasingly resemble each other with similar offensive systems, transfer portal strategies, and NIL approaches. Their identity is crystal clear: physical, disciplined football executing a unique system with precision and purpose.

If the passing game develops as a more consistent threat and the defense maintains its stinginess, Navy could find itself in the AAC championship game come December. For a program built on tradition, 2025 presents an opportunity to establish a new winning tradition for the current generation of Midshipmen.

The ingredients are all there. Navy isn’t just hoping to win—they’re built to win.

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The Unlikely Revolution: When Indiana Crashed Notre Dame’s Party

Marcus Freeman never saw them coming. Nobody did.

In the strange mathematics of college football, where tradition equals power and history writes the future, Notre Dame’s head coach should be preparing his Fighting Irish for another predictable playoff matchup against Alabama, Georgia, or Michigan. Instead, he finds himself staring across the field at college football’s most improbable revolution: an Indiana Hoosiers team that has turned the sport’s hierarchy on its head.

The Miracle Worker of Bloomington

The man responsible for this upheaval doesn’t look like a revolutionary. Curt Cignetti, with his measured tone and methodical approach, seems more likely to teach advanced calculus than engineer one of the most remarkable turnarounds in college football history. But numbers tell a different story:

  • An offense that scores 43.33 points per game (3rd nationally)
  • A defense allowing just 70.8 rushing yards per game (1st nationally)
  • An 11-1 record that nobody outside Bloomington thought possible

The House That Freeman Built

While Cignetti was busy breaking physics in Indiana, Marcus Freeman was silently rebuilding Notre Dame’s foundation. The results speak volumes:

  • 12.0 points allowed per game
  • A strength of schedule rating of 3.95 (32nd of 134)
  • An SRS rating that puts them second in the nation

But what the numbers don’t show is what makes Freeman’s achievement remarkable. He’s transformed Notre Dame from a museum piece of college football history into a modern warfare machine, keeping the gold helmets gleaming.

The Transfer Portal’s Shadow

In the new college football landscape, stability is as fleeting as a teenager’s social media post. Indiana’s revolutionary season has already started showing cracks:

  • Running back Elijah Green: Gone
  • Wide receiver Donaven McCulley: Gone
  • The offensive depth chart: Suddenly looking like a sheet of Swiss cheese

Notre Dame lost cornerback Jaden Mickey, but they’re winning this battle before the first snap in the arithmetic of attrition.

When Systems Collide

What happens when college football’s most unlikely force meets its most immovable object? Indiana’s explosive offense, averaging 438.8 yards per game, crashes into Notre Dame’s defensive wall. The Irish’s battering ram ground attack (224.8 yards per game) meets the nation’s best run defense.

But the real battle isn’t in the statistics. It’s in the collision of two coaching philosophies that shouldn’t work as well as they do:

  • Cignetti’s offensive innovation that turns conventional wisdom inside out
  • Freeman’s defensive mastery that makes the modern game look suddenly old-fashioned

The Smart Money Says

The Vegas sharks and the statistical models all point to Notre Dame, giving them a slight edge in a game that promises to be closer than anyone expected. They see Notre Dame’s superior schedule strength (3.95 vs. Indiana’s -0.39) and their battle-tested roster.

But they said Indiana wouldn’t win three games this season.

They said Curt Cignetti was the wrong hire.

They said Marcus Freeman wasn’t ready for Notre Dame.

In a playoff game that defies conventional wisdom, uncertainty is perhaps the only certainty. Notre Dame 31, Indiana 27. Unless, of course, the revolution isn’t quite finished.

The real question isn’t who will win. It’s whether college football will ever be the same after what these two coaches have done to it.

We’ll Break This Down on the Targeting Winners Podcast

If you think this story is wild on paper, wait until you hear what’s happening behind the scenes. Join me and the Targeting Winners crew as we peel back the curtain on this first-round playoff matchup – and uncover the stories the box score doesn’t tell you. We’re talking transfer portal drama, midnight film sessions, and the real reason Indiana’s defense suddenly became impenetrable. Find us late Thursday on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust me, this one’s worth your commute.

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Smart, Swinney, Riley: As NFL Evolves, College Football’s Elite Coaches Draw Pro Interest

With the NFL’s demand for innovative coaching and the league’s increasing interest in college coaches, there’s real buzz about top college football names like Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly, and even Lane Kiffin making the jump to the pros. But how realistic is it that we could see these coaches in the NFL anytime soon?

Kirby Smart seems like a natural candidate-he’s dominated the SEC and built a powerhouse at Georgia. But would he leave the legacy he’s building for the NFL? For Dabo Swinney, the question is whether he can translate his Clemson success to the pros, where managing big personalities and navigating a different recruiting system could pose challenges. Lincoln Riley has already shown interest in the NFL, and his offensive mind might be exactly what NFL teams are looking for. His name has come up more than once as a potential fit for a pro team.

Brian Kelly might be another option, considering his experience and adaptability across different programs. But he’s just getting started at LSU and may want to solidify his impact there first. Lane Kiffin is probably the wild card in this mix. He’s had NFL experience and continues to innovate offensively. With his “bad boy” persona, Kiffin would bring a lot of excitement, though some NFL franchises might be cautious about his sometimes polarizing approach. 

Ultimately, the NFL could be a major draw for any of these coaches, but it depends on timing, the right fit, and their willingness to leave strong college programs for a new challenge. I’d say Riley and maybe Kiffin are the most likely to make the jump, but if any one of these guys ends up in the NFL, it’s going to shake up both the college and pro landscapes.

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