CFB WEEK 10 SB POLL COLUMN

Kenneth Walker remains at the top in the Heisman race despite Michigan State's season-altering loss to Purdue; Several top teams experience some unexpected turbulence in week 10

+Week 10 was very chaotic. So many ranked teams and big favorites struggled. Alabama only beat LSU 20-14 (they had 6 rushing yards). Cincinnati only beat Tulsa 28-20 after they failed on eight straight plays from inside the two. Ohio State escaped Lincoln with a nine-point win over the Huskers. Sparty got exposed by the Boilermakers. Texas A&M beat Auburn 20-3. Wake Forest is no longer undefeated. Oregon struggled at times against a self-destructing Washington team, but ultimately won by 10 after some questionable decisions by Jimmy Lake

The Updated SB Top 25 Poll:

1. Ohio State

2. Georgia

3. Alabama

4. Oklahoma

5. Oregon

6. Michigan

7. Cincinnati

8. Texas A&M

9. Notre Dame

10. Michigan State

11. Ole Miss

12. Oklahoma State

13. Penn State

14. Auburn

15. Wake Forest

16. Wisconsin

17. Purdue

18. Pittsburgh

19. Iowa

20. Houston

21. Kentucky

22. Coastal Carolina

23. BYU

24. UTSA

25. Arkansas

Next Up: Iowa State, Louisiana, Baylor, SMU, Utah, NC State, San Diego State

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TEAM ANALYSIS:

— The Ohio State defense is really coming around, the improvement since Matt Barnes took over is truly remarkable. The defensive line looks dominant once again, they are wreaking havoc now that they are fully healthy. Tyreke Smith has been a monster as of late. Bryson Shaw still getting playing time is my only real concern with the defense. The past two weeks, it has been the offense that has not been performing up to par. CJ Stroud had what was probably his worst game as a Buckeye. Stroud still made enough plays to win and had some good moments, but he was very inconsistent and made some crucial errors. The Buckeyes were lucky to win after that fumble in the final minutes and really with how poorly they played all game. Thank God for Noah Ruggles. For the second straight game, the run game wasn’t established until late. The offensive line has to be better, OSU has to find the right mix of guys. The way the Buckeyes have played the last two weeks is not acceptable and they will not win the national championship if they keep playing like that. The next three games against Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan will show what this team is made of, I think they’ll look a lot better

— Michigan has been hit really hard by the injury bug the last two games. I know Blake Corum was in a walking boot midway through the game, that’s a devastating blow to the potency of their offense if he ends up missing a few games or the season. Hassan Haskins has been really good this year for them so they won’t have too much of a drop-off, but almost their whole RB room is injured now (Edwards missed the Indiana game). The Michigan defense looked good against the Hoosiers, but the offense was held to several field goals in the redzone again. That is something they have to fix if they want to beat Penn State and Ohio State. They should be able to beat the Nittany Lions

— Purdue is forreal, it seems that they give any top 5 opponent trouble. David Bell has been insane this year. Aidan O’Connell is a really good QB, he torched Michigan State for 536 yards and 3 TD’s. Purdue always gives me nightmares as an OSU fan, I am expecting a high-scoring game

— Cincinnati’s goal line defense is insane. There was definitely some offensive ineptitude there, but it was also great defense. It just baffles me how Tulsa ran eight plays from that close and didn’t score, it’s honestly hard not to. But, congrats to the Bearcats. They are one step closer to going undefeated. I still don’t think they will get into the CFP unless at least one of Oregon, Oklahoma, Alabama and Ohio State loses.

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Heisman Watch:

1. Kenneth Walker III

2. Bryce Young

3. C.J. Stroud

HM: Will Anderson, Jordan Davis, TreVeyon Henderson, Matt Corral, Sam Hartman

— Kenneth Walker III remains at No. 1 after nine games. He played well in the loss

— Stroud and Young both were a bit off of their normal standards on Saturday but I’m still confident they’ll be Heisman Finalists

— Will Anderson is on a tear. Jordan Davis has been the best player on the most dominant college defense we have seen in years