Source: Yardbarker
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
The final Saturday of the 2018 college football season has come and gone.
It featured five games, and of course the two College Football Playoff semifinals.One thing it did not feature much of, however, was intrigue.
Of the five total games, just one of them was really tightly contested. And it was the one most fans likely didn’t get to see, having been broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
The big, most obvious takeaway from Saturday’s games is that Clemson and Alabama will once again go head-to-head for the title next Tuesday.
Here’s what else we learned.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Wolf Pack were getting dominated for most of Saturday’s Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl against Arkansas State. They were down 7-3 and had struggled to make anything happen on offense before waking up right near the end.
With under four minutes left to play in regulation, Nevada engineered a 10-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run from Devonte Lee. The Wolf Pack defense then got roasted by Justice Hansen and the Red Wolves, who marched downfield and kicked a game-tying field goal as time expired.
In overtime, Nevada once again discovered an offensive attack and shockingly won on an 11-yard touchdown reception by Reagan Roberson.
Nevada was outgained 499-285. Arkansas State had 10 more first downs than the Wolf Pack. It was a lopsided game, but in the end Nevada found a way to get the job done with key plays at critical moments.
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Virginia absolutely dominated the Belk Bowl, despite the fact that South Carolina had one edge no other team could have possibly boasted coming into the game.
Jake Bentley was a miserable wreck. He completed less than half his passes and tossed a couple of bad interceptions. The run game was practically non-existent. The Gamecocks were helpless to stop Bryce Perkins, Jordan Ellis and Olamide Zaccheaus as the Cavaliers racked up 28 first downs, 28 points and 413 total yards of offense.
This game was pretty much over before it hit the second quarter. The end result was an embarrassing 28-0 shutout loss that sends Will Muschamp and Co. back home with a 7-6 final record on the season.
Not only did Michigan lose to Florida on Saturday at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, but Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines got taken behind the woodshed.
The Gators poured it on in the second half, coming up with huge plays on the ground — gashing the typically dominant Michigan defense right up the gut — and on defense en route to a 41-15 victory.
With the blowout loss, Jim Harbaugh fell to 1-9 against top-10 teams since taking over at Michigan, and he now has a 1-3 record in bowl games. He’s never beaten Ohio State, and after this latest meltdown in a big game the notion that he’s vastly overrated is taking hold on a national level.
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The Gators went 4-7 last year. When Dan Mullen took over as the head coach, it was widely assumed he’d need a couple of years to get the program back on track and undo the damage Jim McElwain had done during his tenure at the helm.
Then…
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