The wheel route is one of the most popular football plays among the sport’s many fans. It’s probably because the play is quite easy to understand and it’s quite beautiful to watch executed well, similarly to the triple option or a well-blocked running back screen.
On Saturday, the Florida Gators orchestrated one of the most incredible single-game wheel route clinics in college football history. Dan Mullen’s team executed at least six wheel routes that gained some 170-plus yards in a win over Georgia that may alter the SEC championship and College Football Playoff race.
The Gators, their only loss at Texas A&M in a game in which they fumbled in the final minutes, should be favored by at least 10 points in their remaining games, seemingly destined for a meeting with Alabama in an SEC championship game that could eclipse all offensive records.
On Saturday, QB Kyle Trask carved through what was the 15th-ranked defense in the nation, hitting the 300-yard mark… by halftime. Florida rolled up 571 yards of offense—one-third of it basically on one route (the wheel route!), which UGA coach Kirby Smart will surely be seeing in his nightmares.
Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun-Imagn Content Services, LLC
There was plenty more to discuss about Saturday’s goings-on in college football, such as major media outlets calling the presidential election about 30 minutes before football kicked off. The news actually delayed a game or two, and it also triggered a rolling of Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner, despite Auburn not even playing a game.
Out West, we got our first dose of Pac-12 football, and what an opening game it was. USC rallied to beat Arizona State in Los Angeles in the rain. Yes, rain. The Trojans scored two touchdowns in 92 seconds in the final minutes, both on fourth downs and one off a tipped pass in the end zone after recovering an onside kick. Meanwhile, Oregon, the only other top-25 Pac-12 team, pulled away late against Stanford.
The Big Ten continued its wacky beginning to a bizarre year. Maryland won at Penn State, Indiana hosed Michigan and Northwestern beat Nebraska. Through three Big Ten weeks, teams named Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern are 8–0 and those named Nebraska, Penn State and Michigan are 1–7.
Hugh Freeze and Liberty won at Virginia Tech to move to 7–0 on the season and 2–0 in the ACC standings (they beat Syracuse earlier this year), and some coaching news emerged, too, at the start of the day, when USA Today reported that Utah State was firing Gary Andersen.
Oh and how can we forget the big one: Notre Dame, facing a somewhat depleted Clemson team, survived in double overtime in a barn burner of an affair.
1. Alabama (6–0)
Last game: beat Mississippi State 41–0
Next game: Saturday at LSU
The Crimson Tide rested up this week before the annual, critical clash with LSU. In what is a yearly big-time showdown in college football, this one feels much different. The Tigers are 2–3, have one of the nation’s worst defenses and are missing their starting quarterback. They won’t have the crowd in Baton Rouge to help them either.
2. Ohio State (3–0)
Last game: beat Rutgers 49–27
Next game: Saturday at Maryland
Justin Fields had his normal, accurate and prolific day and the Buckeyes bashed Rutgers. Need you more information? No, it was Rutgers. Move on.
3. Notre Dame (7–0)
Last game: beat Clemson 47–40
Next game: Saturday at Boston College
Oh sure, Clemson was without some of its top players, but beating Clemson is beating Clemson. And the Irish beat Clemson, even if it took two overtimes. We’re thinking these two teams will meet again in the ACC title game, and this time, Lawrence will be slinging it for CU (oh dear).
4. Clemson (7–1)
Last game: lost to Notre Dame 47–40
Next game: Nov. 21 at Florida State
No starting quarterback? No starting linebacker? No starting defensive lineman? Didn’t matter to the Tigers—until overtime. Clemson stormed back from a 10-point halftime deficit, took the lead in the final minutes and then relinquished it in the final seconds. The Irish outlasted the Tigers in double overtime.
5. Florida (4–1)
Last game: beat Georgia 44–28
Next game: Saturday vs. Arkansas
TE Kyle Pitts’s injury is concerning and, sure, the Gators tend to allow 70-yard touchdown plays on defense, but pick an offensive unit you’d least rather your team face than Florida? There isn’t one. The Gators have scored at least 38 points in every game, morphing into the offensive juggernaut we saw under Steve Spurrier in the 1990s and Urban Meyer in the 2000s.
6. Cincinnati (6–0)
Last game: beat Houston 38–10
Next game: Friday vs. East Carolina
Is there a better defense in the nation than what Luke Fickell has built in Cincy? The Dana Holgorsen-led Cougars became the latest victim on Saturday, being held to 282 yards. No opponent this year has scored more than 20 and four of the six have been helped to 10 or fewer points. Impressive. But impressive enough to make the playoff? Their best win might end up being 4–2 Memphis.
7. BYU (7–0)
Last game: beat Boise State 51–17
Next game: Nov. 21 vs. North Alabama
In what was billed as one of their toughest tests, the Cougars further justified their rankings in our Top 10 and kept alive the faint hope of advancing into the College Football Playoff. QB Zach Wilson shredded the Broncos on the blue turf, piling up 359 yards on just 21 completions.
8. Texas A&M (5–1)
Last game: beat South Carolina 48–3
Next game: Saturday at Tennessee
What if I told you that the Aggies have a fairly clear path to the College Football Playoff? The trouncing of the Gamecocks kept alive the possibility of a 9–1 finish for Jimbo Fisher and Co. That would mean winning at Tennessee and Auburn and beating LSU and Ole Miss at home. It’s doable.
9. Wisconsin (1–0)
Last game: beat Illinois 45–7
Next game: Saturday at Michigan
The Badgers missed a second straight week because of a COVID outbreak. With only one game played to judge, they’re barely hanging in our top 10. In the latest update from the school, cases continue to decrease, a good sign that the game at Michigan will go on as scheduled. For Wisconsin, it better. Having already lost two games in an eight-game schedule, UW must play its remaining schedule to have a shot at the Big Ten title. According to the conference’s COVID protocols, league teams are required to play at least six games to be eligible.
10. Indiana (3–0)
Last game: beat Michigan 38–21
Next game: Saturday at Michigan State
The Top 10 welcomes the Hoosiers—the Hoosiers!—into the rankings after whipping Michigan, beating Rutgers and upsetting Penn State to begin the season. Michael Penix is the real deal at quarterback, tossing dimes against the Wolverines. All of the sudden, Indiana–Ohio State on Nov. 21 is must-see TV.
