{"id":470019,"date":"2026-10-18T22:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T22:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/470019\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T22:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T22:06:17","slug":"forde-yard-dash-the-college-football-season-is-slipping-away-for-texas-alabama-and-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/470019\/","title":{"rendered":"Forde-Yard Dash: The College Football Season Is Slipping Away for Texas, Alabama and Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where sometimes you can make a terrible fake punt decision <\/a>and live to laugh about it. <\/p>\n

First Quarter: Now It\u2019s a Crisis\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since we still have another six weeks in an era where regular-season outcomes carry considerable weight<\/a>, it\u2019s time to put a few programs on crisis watch. We have seen losses snowball on teams that had great expectations, with seasons (and coaching tenures) collapsing. Penn State was that team last year, losing six straight games after a 3\u20130 start. So was LSU, which started 4\u20130 and then lost four out of five.<\/p>\n

Your current crisis watch candidates:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas (1)How it began: Ranked No. 5 preseason in the AP poll.\u00a0High point: Ranked No. 1 for four weeks.\u00a0Current status: Ranked No. 19 and on a two-game losing streak, both against unranked opponents, both after holding double-digit leads.<\/p>\n

This is not another Arch Manning discussion<\/a> (see last week for that<\/a>). This is now a Steve Sarkisian situation<\/a>. He\u2019s the offensive play-caller, and the offense stinks. He\u2019s the head of the program, and the program is teetering. He\u2019s the one in charge of a team with a massive payroll<\/a> that is underperforming.<\/p>\n

The Dash was of the opinion that Sark should not give up play-calling duties when that topic arose last week. Now, though, the head coach\u2019s time seems more urgently needed to keep the train on the tracks than tinker with the offensive game plan for Mississippi on Saturday. While the offensive futility understandably gets the headlines, the Texas defense hasn\u2019t forced a turnover in the last three games.<\/p>\n

This is a macro issue, not a micro one, so there may need to be a decision about the best use of Sarkisian\u2019s time. He needs to rediscover the collective fight of a team that rallied from 20 points down against Ohio State<\/a>, while eradicating the complacency of a team that led Florida by 14 at home before giving up 24 consecutive points.<\/p>\n

Road ahead: Three of the next four games are against ranked teams\u2014Ole Miss, at Missouri, at LSU. Plus a rivalry game at the end against Texas A&M.<\/p>\n

Playoff viability: At 10\u20132, Texas would get in without serious debate. At 10\u20133 (presuming a loss in the SEC championship game), the Longhorns might get the 2025 Alabama benefit of the doubt. It gets dicey at 9\u20133. And 8\u20134? Forget about it (until next year, when the participation trophies arrive<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian needs to get the Longhorns back on track, and fast. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Alabama (2)How it began: Ranked No. 13 preseason in the AP poll.\u00a0High point: Ranked No. 6 two straight weeks.\u00a0Current status: Ranked No. 13 and on a two-game losing streak, being upset at home by Georgia and on the road by Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Kalen DeBoer just can\u2019t seem to stay on the good side of a demanding fan base. For every high point there is a low: beat Georgia in 2024, then lose to Vanderbilt the next week; make the playoff last year and win a game, then get blown out by Indiana to erase that progress; roar to a 5\u20130 start with a rocket offense, then score 27 total points the next two games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Keelon Russell hype train has jumped the tracks after erratic performances the last two games. He had three turnovers against the Volunteers and is now up to eight on the season (four interceptions, four fumbles lost). The first-year starter\u2019s upside remains tremendous, but there might need to be more routine good plays instead of searching for the hero play. Russell\u2019s best friend through the first six games was a reliable rushing attack, then that was stuffed by Tennessee (26 carries for 54 yards, including five sacks of Russell).<\/p>\n

Road ahead: Only one ranked opponent remains\u2014at LSU on Nov. 7, in what could be a playoff elimination game. The Iron Bowl is in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where the Crimson Tide have beaten Auburn seven straight times since Cam Newton exited college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Playoff viability: Like Texas, the difference between two losses and three looms large. Alabama should be big Kentucky fans the rest of the way, so the 28-point win in Lexington, Ky., continues to take on added quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notre Dame (3)How it began: Ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP poll.\u00a0High point: No. 2 last week.\u00a0Current status: Ranked No. 4 again after a close, controversial loss at BYU on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s playoff snub, the motto this season was \u201cleave no doubt.\u201d Well, there\u2019s now doubt. The Fighting Irish continue to be what they were in 2025\u2014a team capable of crushing mediocre-to-bad competition and incapable of beating good competition. They\u2019re 16\u20130 in that span against teams outside the AP top 10 and 0\u20133 against those within the top 10, with a total losing margin in those three games of eight points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notre Dame fans are seething about a pass interference no-call in the end zone on the last play at BYU\u2014and the fact that it was the last play. The Big 12 admitted a clock error<\/a>, ending the game when one second should have remained for the Irish to run another play. They also seethed last year about an uncalled holding penalty on Texas A&M on the deciding play of a one-point loss. But guess what? Part of \u201cleaving no doubt\u201d means winning a big game\u2014any big game\u2014decisively.<\/p>\n

Road ahead: Newly christened No. 1 Miami visits South Bend on Nov. 7 for what is a massive game, and No. 23 SMU arrives two weeks later. There is no USC game at the end of the season<\/a>, thanks to the Trojans.<\/p>\n

Playoff viability: Notre Dame has to win at least one of its two remaining games against ranked opponents, and beating the Hurricanes would do a lot more for the cause than beating the Mustangs. A 10\u20132 Irish team is in danger of being right back where it was last year\u2014first team out.<\/p>\n

\"Notre<\/p>\n

Notre Dame running back Nolan James Jr. scores a touchdown against BYU. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Ohio State (4)How it began: Ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll.High point: Stayed there through Week 1.\u00a0Current status: Ranked No. 3 after a big road win over Indiana, but that\u2019s not the issue here.<\/p>\n

The huge uncertainty in Columbus, Ohio, centers on how the Buckeyes will do without injured quarterback Julian Sayin for \u201cseveral weeks,\u201d as Ryan Day said Saturday. With a fitful running game, the Buckeyes must have someone capable of getting the ball to Jeremiah Smith and the rest of an explosive receiving corps, and it\u2019s unclear whether that someone is currently in uniform.<\/p>\n

Freshman Luke Fahey somewhat surprisingly got the emergency backup reps<\/a> at Indiana and was 0 for 2 passing the ball. Sophomore Tavien St. Clair was the presumed backup, but hasn\u2019t seen game action since Sept. 19. The only good news for the Buckeyes is that this is their open week, which gives them a chance to get someone up to speed for a trip to USC on Oct. 31, and likely beyond.<\/p>\n

Road ahead: It\u2019s not easy. After the game against the Trojans, Ohio State hosts Oregon and No. 24 Northwestern before a trip to Nebraska and the throw-out-the-records rivalry game against Michigan.<\/p>\n

Playoff viability: At 6\u20131 with a one-point road loss to Texas and a road win over Indiana, the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is in fine shape. But if things get sideways, the question could become whether Sayin would be back for the playoff. This could be like an NCAA basketball tournament situation, where the committee is trying to select and seed teams based on who will be available to play.<\/p>\n

Kind of a Crisis\u00a0<\/p>\n

They\u2019re O.K. But it\u2019s fair to be a little nervous after a shaky Saturday:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Georgia (5)<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs\u2019 home loss to Auburn was another example of the big-win hangover effect, which has been plaguing the SEC this season<\/a>. No sooner did the world come around to praising quarterback Gunner Stockton than he played his worst game of the season by far, with three crippling turnovers. But there were other issues elsewhere: Georgia was outrushed by 79 yards and committed an unwise roughing-the-passer penalty to enable Auburn\u2019s winning field goal.<\/p>\n

Kirby Smart\u2019s program looked like it had outgrown its tendency to have one meltdown game a season, but this performance resembled that old trait.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Road ahead: After an off week, Georgia faces three straight ranked opponents: Florida in Atlanta; Mississippi on the road; and Missouri at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Playoff viability: Like other SEC teams, much better to win 10 than nine. Winning at Alabama should continue to resonate on the r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2014unless the Tide tank. Beating Arkansas, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky and Tennessee State carries very little weight.<\/p>\n

Miami (6)<\/p>\n

A shocking, chaos-ridden overtime survival against Florida State instilled the first doubt in these Hurricanes. Yeah, it\u2019s a rivalry game, but the Seminoles hadn\u2019t won a road game since 2023 and they came much closer to winning than seemed possible. The Miami defense has some work to do after giving up season highs in points (35), yards (443) and yards per play (6.92).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Road ahead: Consecutive road games loom large Oct. 31 and Nov. 7: at respectable North Carolina and at Notre Dame. Closing with three in a row at home should keep the undefeated Canes on course for the ACC championship game.<\/p>\n

Playoff viability: Lose one of those two road games and they\u2019re O.K. Lose both and it\u2019s a problem. Win both and Miami remains strongly in the running for the overall No. 1 playoff seed.<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami running back Mark Fletcher Jr. runs with the ball against Florida State. | Erick W. Rasco\/Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

Ongoing Crisis<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been bad. It does not appear to be getting better.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma (7)<\/p>\n

The Sooners had a one-game season in Dallas, rising up to shock Texas in the Red River Rivalry<\/a>. Everything else has been misery, with a 3\u20133 record and a total of 36 points scored in those losses. John Mateer threw three more interceptions against Kentucky on Saturday, and the offense remains broken. Good thing for Brent Venables\u2019s sake that he got another (largely undeserved) contract extension during the offseason.<\/p>\n

Penn State (8)<\/p>\n

The losing streak is now four and the victory count against power-conference competition remains at zero. Year 1 under Matt Campbell has been a slog, with quarterback Rocco Becht looking overmatched against Big Ten competition. The Iowa State skin graft hasn\u2019t taken.<\/p>\n

\"Penn<\/p>\n

Penn State coach Matt Campbell\u2019s first season in charge has been a slog. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Oregon (9)<\/p>\n

The Ducks won a horror-show home game against Nebraska, which is nice. They\u2019re 4\u20132. But starting former walk-on Brock Thomas over Dylan Raiola nearly got Oregon beaten, and it took another Raiola relief performance to pull out a victory over the anti-clutch Cornhuskers. Sure, Raiola was horrible against UCLA, but starting Thomas was a strange decision by Dan Lanning and offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer. Bottom line: If Dante Moore doesn\u2019t return, Oregon\u2019s offense is probably doomed.<\/p>\n

Dash Playoff Bracket<\/p>\n

Each week, The Dash selects and seeds the 12 teams who belong in the College Football Playoff as if today were Selection Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Field\u00a0BYU (6\u20130)Miami (6\u20130)Ohio State (6\u20131)\u00a0UCLA (6\u20130)Georgia (6\u20131)\u00a0Notre Dame (6\u20131)Indiana (6\u20131)\u00a0Mississippi (5\u20131)\u00a0Kentucky (6\u20131)\u00a0Tennessee (6\u20131)Texas Tech (6\u20130)Boise State (5\u20131)<\/p>\n

Also considered: Wake Forest, Utah, Iowa, Northwestern, Houston, SMU, LSU, USC, Alabama, Texas, Florida, James Madison, Oregon State.<\/p>\n

First Round\u00a0No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 GeorgiaNo. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Notre DameNo. 10 Tennessee at No. 7 IndianaNo. 9 Kentucky at No. 8 Mississippi\u00a0Quarterfinals\u00a0Cotton Bowl: No. 4 UCLA vs. winner of No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 GeorgiaRose Bowl: No. 3 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Notre DamePeach Bowl: No. 2 Miami vs. winner of No. 10 Tennessee at No. 7 IndianaFiesta Bowl: No. 1 BYU vs. winner of No. 9 Kentucky at No. 8 Mississippi<\/p>\n

Four teams have been ranked No. 1: Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, Miami<\/p>\n

Teams ranked No. 2: Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State<\/p>\n

PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated\u2019s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple<\/a> and Spotify<\/a>. Watch the show on SI\u2019s college YouTube channel<\/a> or on SI TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where sometimes you can make a terrible…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-470019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}