College Football Awards, Week 10 (2026) November 8, 2026

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona, B1G, Baylor, Big XII, Bill Belichick, Boston College, Brent Brennan, Bruins, Buckeyes, BYU, Ducks, Duke, FIghting Irish, Florida, Florida International, Georgia, Iowa, Jacksonville State, Jeff Brohm, Jon Sumrall, Josh Heupel, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Lane Kiffin, LSU, Manny Diaz, Marcus Freeman, Mario Cristobal, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Missouri State, Morgan Scalley, Mountaineers, NCAA football, Neal Brown, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Penn State, Purdue, Red Raiders, Ryan Day, Sam Houston State, SEC, SMU, Sonny Dykes, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, Tulane, Tulsa, UCLA, USC, Utah, UTSA, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Western Michigan
trackback

COACHES
Wish I were him:  Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame

Glad I’m not him: Lane Kiffin, LSU

Lucky guy: Brent Brennan, Arizona

Poor guy: Sonny Dykes, TCU

Desperately seeking a wake-up call clue: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Neal Brown, North Texas

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jon Sumrall, Florida

Desperately seeking … anything: Ryan Day, Ohio State

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Wake Forest (defeated Merrimack 77-0)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Arizona (defeated TCU 29-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Sam Houston State (lost to Jacksonville State 47-14)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: TCU (lost to No. 22 Arizona 29-28)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Tulsa (defeated Tulane 60-10)

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Sam Houston State

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Miami

Did the season start?  Ohio State
Can the season end? Purdue

Can the season never end? Utah

GAMES
Play this again: No. 11 Notre Dame 31, No. 1 Miami 31

Play this again, too: No. 15 Texas Tech 53, West Virginia 48

Never play this again: No. 16 Wake Forest 77, Merrimack 0

What? Oklahoma 23, No. 24 Florida 7

Huh? No. 23 Oregon 41, No. 12 Ohio State 28

Are you kidding me?? No. 13 Tennessee 34, No. 6 Kentucky 6

Oh – my – God:  No. 11 Notre Dame 31, No. 1 Miami 24

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current Playoff Rankings (week 10)
Ticket to die for:  No. 7 Texas @ No. 14 LSU

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: None

Best non-Power Four matchup: North Texas @ UTSA

Upset alert: Illinois @ No. 8 UCLA (Friday)

Must win: No. 20 USC @ No. 4 Indiana

Offensive explosion: No. 15 Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State

Defensive struggle: Minnesota @ Penn State

Great game no one is talking about: No. 14 Wake Forest @ SMU

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Manny Diaz of Duke vs Mario Cristobal of Miami

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Western Michigan @ Akron

Who’s bringing the body bags, BIG edition? Purdue @ No. 19 Iowa

Why are they playing?  Boston College @ No. X Notre Dame

Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ Missouri State

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Florida International @ Delaware

Week 10 Thoughts:

A number of “statement games” played out on Saturday.  Not the least of which was Oregon venturing into Columbus to take on Ohio State, who was still favored despite the injury to QB-1.  The Ducks’ decisive victory over the Buckeyes reminds us all that they are not going anywhere and are still very much playoff contenders after all.  Also, in hindsight, despite Ohio State’s admirable playing at USC last week despite that loss as well, the Buckeyes are clearly missing Julian Sayin more than we initially fathomed.

Another statement game took place in Knoxville with a 130-plus-year border rivalry between Kentucky and Tennessee.  The Wildcats were ranked No. 6 in the playoff standings compared to the Volunteers currently ranked at No. 13.  But Tennessee remained in control the game, triumphing in most convincing fashion, 34-6.  Josh Heupel and Co. have started to fire on all cylinders, and should control their own destiny to a playoff spot.

Lest we ignore the biggest gorilla in the room, Notre Dame had everything riding on winning Saturday’s game.  Many teams have cracked under such pressure, but not this bunch.  In a memorable continuation of the “convicts vs catholics” high-profile matchups of the 1980s, the Fighting Irish defeated visiting No. 1 Miami 31-24, thus demonstrating their playoff worthiness after all, something hitherto very much in doubt, but no longer.

Other minor statement games took place as well, such as UCLA venturing up to play P.J. Fleck’s scrappy Minnesota bunch, and walking away with a 34-20 win.  In so doing, the Bruins remain undefeated and still in the driver’s seat of the B1G.

Other Thoughts:

No. 3 Utah did triumph over in-state rival No. 9 BYU, 28-20, in the biggest, grandest edition of the storied “Holy War” to date.  The Utes are clearly in good hands with head coach Morgan Scalley, not even missing the steady hand of Kyle Whittingham.

The latter has become an ironically tragic figure at the moment, leaving the blessed Mountains of Ephraim for what appeared to be even greener pastures in the storied program of Michigan, only for him to struggle this season.  The Wolverines currently sit at 5-4 after losing a very winnable game to rival Michigan State (only 3-6).  The frank fact of the matter is that Whittingham’s struggles are self-inflicted on account of his own inflexibility. 

His many years in the Mountain West / Pac-12 / Big XII ingrained in him that the spread offense was the only way to go.  He clearly took that mindset with him eastward, only to fall flat on his face when it turns out that his current personnel in Ann Arbor is far-better suited to a power-running offensive attack.  Yet despite this painfully obvious fact, Whittingham has stubbornly stuck to his spread offensive formulas, thus forcing his team to suffer in his self-inflicted struggles.  Time to get a clue, to be a bit flexible, and to adjust.

Offensive Explosion Review:

For once again, inexplicably for the second week in a row, the predicted offensive explosion actually came true.  The scoring between Texas Tech and visiting West Virginia took off like a rocket from the start, with the first quarter already ending at 17-14 in the Mountaineers’ favor.  From there the scoring became a see-saw battle, with the Red Raiders scoring 27 points in the second quarter, only for the Mountaineers to answer with 21 in the third.  But Texas Tech scoring 12 more unanswered points in the fourth quarter sealed the deal for them, 53-48.  If that is not an offensive explosion, what is?

In the interest of intellectual honesty, another offensive explosion took place, albeit a minor one, given its low-level, non-Power Four status.  All that said, Kennesaw State did defeat Delaware 42-40.

Looking Ahead

LSU just got pounded at home to Alabama.  Now they face Texas at home, which passed a key test, even a potential trap game, at Missouri.

Speaking of Mizzou, after having the insufficient personnel to keep up with Texas, now they must face an even more daunting task as they venture to play juggernaut Georgia.  Such is the brutality of the SEC, wherein the rumor of said brutality’s diminishment has been greatly exaggerated going into this season.

On the B1G side of the ledger, USC, fresh off a bye after their big win over Ohio State, now travels to Bloomington to face No. X Indiana.  Can the Hoosier’s magic and prowess prevail one more game, or shall USC continue their giant-killing trend?  Tune into CBS Saturday at 3:30 ET to find out.

After Utah’s massive win, they must now face Arizona in Tucson.  The Wildcats currently sit at No. 22 in the playoff standings, which should be a fairly simple dispatching for the No. 3 team, despite the former’s quiet strength.  But Utah ought to beware of the let-down game, a type of game that has already trapped favored teams more than once this year.

As BYU was on the losing end of Utah’s huge win, they have little time to lick their wounds as they must play 6-3 Baylor, who might be smelling blood in the water.

In another intriguing coaching matchup, keep an eye on Bill Belichick of North Carolina against Jeff Brohm of Louisville, which could become a hard-fought game in its own right.