You Have To Pay Attention to Oregon Again: Week 13 CFB Recap

SEC Cupcake Week left something to be desired as we hurtle towards the end of the college football regular season, but there was plenty to take note of in Week 13. Teams re-emerged as national title contenders, some blew their chances at the College Football Playoff and others had miracle comebacks to keep theirs alive.

Here's the Week 13 recap:

- Oregon Re-Asserted Its Presence in a Big Way

For a team that had only lost one game all season — to the undefeated No. 2 team in the country — Oregon sure had fallen off the national radar. So much so that the talk coming into this week's game against USC was that the Trojans could go into Eugene and steal the Ducks' Playoff spot and knock them out completely.

Well, Oregon put a definitive end to all that talk with a commanding win over the Trojans. The Ducks' offensive attack looked like one of the best in the country, even while still missing freshman standout receiver Dakorien Moore. If Oregon is able to get him back healthy for the CFP alongside Dante Moore, Kenyon Sadiq and the seemingly endless supply of awesome running backs in Eugene, the Ducks are going to be a problem for every team in that tournament.

- It was a Ramblin' Wreck in Atlanta

Not like this, Haynes King.

Georgia Tech just needed to beat Pittsburgh at home to clinch a spot in the ACC Championship Game, where it would have a chance to earn an automatic berth into the Playoff — as well as a potential free roll next week against Georgia. And somehow with those stakes on the line, the Panthers walked into Bobby Dodd Stadium and grabbed a 28-0 lead three minutes into the second quarter.

But Tech started to mount a nice comeback and was about to cut the Pitt lead to just a touchdown when King threw that pass which ended any hopes the Yellow Jackets had of making their first ever CFP. Pain.

- What the Hell Happened in Salt Lake City?

The most chaotic game of the day was unquestionably the contest between Utah and Kansas State. The Utes' offense was great, but the defense, much like Georgia Tech, seemed to have no idea they were fighting for their Playoff lives in this game.

Kansas State rushed for 472 yards — not a typo, that's the real number — on 42 carries. Joe Jackson had 293 of those yards as well as three touchdowns on 24 touches. The fact these guys attempted a pass is criminal.

But despite going down 47-35 with 7:00 to go, Utah was able to get its act together and find the end zone twice to end the game and get out of there with a win to keep its Playoff hopes alive. It seems like there might be a few too many 10-2 teams looking for at-large spots, but Utah is not a squad I would be excited to be matched up with if I was the 6-seed.

- Oklahoma Did It Again

There probably isn't another team in the country with an identity as clearly defined as Oklahoma. That doesn't mean they're fun to watch, but they are going to try to squeeze the life out of you and force you to play their brand of football, which is how they win games 17-6.

I'm still not entirely sure this team is any good, but it's very likely going to finish 10-2 with road wins against Alabama and Tennessee and will then head to the CFP, so we'll find out then.

- Notre Dame Went for Style Points Like You Read About

With some chatter about Notre Dame potentially not deserving a Playoff spot even when it finishes 10-2 with two losses to great teams by a combined four points, the irish went out there and absolutely laid it on Syracuse. The final score was 70-7 and if ND really wanted to, it could have actually won this game by 100 points.

Notre Dame was up 21-0 before taking its first offensive snap, which is something I'm not sure I've ever seen before. Jeremiyah Love was his usual self, which is to say incredible, and the Irish rolled.

There is no coherent argument that this is not one of the 12 best college football teams in America.