10 Takeaways From Week 13: Ohio State Sitting Pretty, Oregon Making CFP Push

This is the week where rankings don’t matter and chaos rules. Welcome to rivalry week.

We’ve reached the penultimate week of the college football season, and nothing captures the drama quite like these matchups.

This means it’s time to root extra hard for upsets, because even the most talented teams can lose to their archnemesis — just ask Ohio State and Alabama.

While we expect chalk this coming weekend and for the College Football Playoff picture to become clearer, anything can happen. Before we get there, let’s take a look at what happened over the weekend and what it all means moving forward.

Here are 10 takeaways from Week 13:

1. Ohio State still sitting pretty at No. 1

The top-ranked Buckeyes unsurprisingly overpowered Rutgers, 42-9. Quarterback Julian Sayin, whose Heisman Trophy hopes are growing by the minute, was 13-for-19 for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman running back Bo Jackson rushed for 110 yards and two scores, and the defense limited the Scarlet Knights to 147 total yards. Ohio State notably didn’t have its top two wide receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, who were both sitting out with injuries, and head coach Ryan Day has said they are both considered day-to-day going into this week.

The reigning national champions have quietly been dominating all season, but now comes their biggest test yet: Michigan. It will be the first time since 1973 that the Buckeyes go to Ann Arbor ranked No. 1 and undefeated. However, beating the Wolverines has become somewhat of an enigma for Day and Co. Michigan is on a four-game winning streak in the rivalry, and that includes last year when OSU went on to win the national title despite losing “The Game.”

Can Ohio State finally top Michigan?

2. Oregon making CFP push

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 5 Oregon flexed its CFP muscle. The Ducks ended No. 16 USC’s postseason hopes and strengthened their own with a 42-27 victory on Saturday. Quarterback Dante Moore threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Noah Whittington rushed for 104 yards and a score. Tight end Kenyon Sadiq had a team-high six catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns. 

Barring a loss to Washington next week, Oregon will finish third in the Big Ten and earn a spot in the CFP.

3. What’s going on with Lane Kiffin?

Kiffin has a tough decision to make. He can either remain the head coach at Ole Miss, where he would almost certainly take the No. 6 Rebels to their first CFP and maybe even win a national championship. Or, he could leave and become the next head coach at LSU or Florida.

There was a rumor that Keith Carter, Ole Miss’ athletic director, gave Kiffin an ultimatum to make his decision before this coming weekend’s Egg Bowl against Mississippi State, but Kiffin has said publicly that’s not true. On Friday, Kiffin met with Carter and university chancellor Glenn Boyce about his future. There was no resolution, but Carter released a statement afterward saying a decision would be made next Saturday after the game.

Meanwhile, LSU is reportedly putting together a lucrative offer that could make Kiffin one of the highest paid coaches in college football. Nobody knows what Kiffin will do. Perhaps Kiffin doesn’t either. If he does decide to leave, will Carter allow him to coach the Rebels through the CFP? We don’t know the answer to that one yet, either.

Only time will tell in the most dramatic story of the season.

Does Lane Kiffin need to leave Ole Miss to win a national championship? 🤔

4. Speaking of LSU … 

Staying on the topic of LSU, the Tigers celebrated senior night on Saturday and Brian Kelly’s son, linebacker Kenzel Kelly, was honored as part of the class. While Kenzel’s mom was there for the occasion, his dad was not. 

Kenzel Kelly ran over to the TV cameras after coming out of the tunnel and said, “Long live BK!” and “Free my boy! Free my boy BK!”

Kelly, who was dismissed as the Tigers’ head coach last month, is fighting with the school for his full $54 million buyout that was part of his contract. It has been a bit of a saga. Kelly is suing LSU, alleging it, in part, tried to fire him with cause to avoid paying the buyout and has asked a Louisiana state judge to rule that he was terminated without cause in order to receive his full buyout. On Friday, new university president Wade Rousse sent Kelly a formal notice of termination.

Stay tuned to see what happens next.

5. Arch Manning makes history

Texas’ quarterback became the first Longhorn to throw, catch and run for a touchdown. This was all part of the Longhorns’ 52-37 win over Arkansas, in which Manning passed for 389 yards and accounted for six touchdowns. The most dazzling score was when Manning caught a pass from wide receiver Parker Livingstone, who is also his roommate, on a trick play in the first quarter.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the game that legendary quarterback Vince Young high-fived him afterward and said he wished he could have had that play during his days at Texas.

6. Florida State retaining Mike Norvell

FSU announced that it will retain its head coach despite another mediocre season. After starting the year off 3-0, which included an impressive opening 31-17 win over then-No. 8 Alabama, Florida State has skidded to 5-6. The Seminoles have to beat Florida if they want to finish at .500 and become bowl eligible.

Norvell is 38-33 in six seasons at FSU, which only includes two winning seasons. In 2023, the program went 13-0 and won the ACC championship before being left out of the then-four-team playoff. The following season, the Seminoles went 2-10, and things didn’t get much better this year. 

Questions regarding his job security have made headlines, but FSU released a statement in support for Norvell on Sunday, ending any speculation that he would be fired. This could likely be due to there being a surplus of job openings and FSU not wanting to pay millions in buyout money. Whatever the reason, Norvell has another chance to make things right.

7. Notre Dame scores 70 points 

The Fighting Irish totally overwhelmed Syracuse on Saturday, 70-7. It was the most points the program had scored since they had 73 against Haskell in 1932. The wildest part might have been that Notre Dame went up 21-0 before its offense even got on the field. The defense and special teams returned two interceptions and a blocked punt for touchdowns. Once the offense got its chance, star running back Jeremiyah Love continued making his Heisman Trophy case by rushing for 171 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries. The score was 49-0 at halftime.

The blowout was impressive, and you could imagine if head coach Marcus Freeman had told his team to leave no doubt in the CFP selection committee’s mind as they get closer and closer to naming a 12-team field in just a few weeks. Style points matter!

Since losing its first two games of the season to then-No. 10 Miami (Fla.) and then-No. 16 Texas A&M, the Fighting Irish have won nine straight. They play Stanford this weekend to close out the season.

8. Speaking of Stanford, did you see this?

This was hilarious. Former Stanford quarterback and current general manager Andrew Luck was on the sideline during the Cardinal’s 31-10 win over Cal this weekend. While he was doing an interview on the broadcast, he kept one eye on the field and saw safety Jay Green scoop up a fumble and score a touchdown. Mid-interview answer, Luck started cheering for Green, who ran right past him.

Stanford hosts Notre Dame on Saturday night in what could be the season’s ultimate spoiler if it can pull off a win.

9. Let’s push it forward. It’s rivalry week!

It’s been a wild college football season, and we’ve finally made it to the final week of the regular season. There are plenty of games that could impact the CFP picture and even some conference championship matchups. All have implications in some form or fashion that could alter their respective conference championships and/or the CFP.

Here are a few games we’ll be watching closely:

• No. 1 Ohio State at No. 18 Michigan
• No. 3 Texas at No. 17 Texas A&M
• No. 6 Ole Miss at Mississippi State
• No. 4 Georgia at No. 16 Georgia Tech
• No. 13 Miami (Fla.) at Pitt

10. CFP starting to take shape

There were no upsets in Week 13. If we have chalk again this Thanksgiving weekend, then the 12-team field could look something like this: five SEC teams, three Big Ten, one ACC champion, one Big 12 champion, one Group of 5 team (most likely the winner of the American Conference) and Notre Dame.

Nothing is guaranteed. But that’s why they play the games!

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.