Retour
It takes more than a creaky floor, a haunted house or a phone call from Ghostface to scare college football teams.
Here’s what might do the trick: teams that enter November with enough momentum to either push themselves into the College Football Playoff discussion — or could push their opponents out of it.
Here are a few teams that should spook the opponents left on their schedules.
There were fewer seats hotter than the one under Shane Beamer when the Gamecocks were routed by Alabama on Sept. 26.
They enter Saturday’s visit to Oklahoma undefeated in regulation in October, and their last three games have made them believers in Columbia. They followed an overtime loss to Kentucky Oct. 3 with consecutive wins over top-25 opponents, beating then-No. 17 Florida in the Swamp and then-No. 16 Tennessee at home.
They only have one ranked team remaining — No. 3 Georgia — and could wind up making a strong statement in the SEC standings during the final month.
The 14th-ranked Demon Deacons might be the sneakiest team in the top 15. They’re outside most 12-team College Football Playoff projections and the Atlantic Coast Conference is shaping up as a likely one-bid league.
But their favorable schedule — along with nifty QB Gio Lopez under center — gives them a shot at a strong stretch run. The only top-25 opponent left on the schedule is No. 19 SMU in two weeks.
Winning that one would give them the inside track to a rematch with top-ranked Miami in Charlotte in December — and, remember, Wake Forest was competitive in a 33-20 home loss to Miami on Sept. 18.
Has Scott Satterfield figured things out in Cincinnati? Behind a top-10 rushing offense (235 yards per game), the Bearcats threw a scare into the rest of the Big 12 with a 37-24 victory over then-No. 13 Texas Tech that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Over the final month, they will have plenty of chances to shake up the Big 12’s uncertain playoff picture — will the league get three teams in? Two? Just one? – with matchups against No. 18 Houston and No. 8 BYU ahead.
Every defense in the reconfigured Pac-12 ought to be wary of the Beavers’ offense — and everyone else ought to be thankful they don’t yet have to deal with QB Braden Atkinson and WR Jesse Legree.
Oregon State has reeled off five wins in a row after opening the season 0-2 against Big 12 teams. They boast the nation’s best passing offense (385 ypg) and the fourth-highest scoring offense (42.7 ppg).
All eyes will be on their visit to No. 20 Boise State on Nov. 14 — a matchup that could decide who wins the new-look league and, potentially, who has the inside track to the CFP spot reserved for the top Group of Six team.