2022 College Football Insider Week 12

Quote of the week

- Mississippi State Head Coach Mike Leach on his reaction to the officiating in the first half of his game against No. 1 Georgia while headed into the locker room.

TEAM TO WATCH: LSU

With a win at Arkansas, Brian Kelly’s Tigers clinched the SEC West and will face reigning national champion Georgia in the SEC Championship. Conference rivals Georgia and Tennessee have been a consistent part of the CFP conversation, but if the Tigers win their two remaining games and take down the Dawgs in the SEC title game, a playoff appearance is certainly possible.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels, an Arizona State transfer, is one of the SEC’s premier dual-threat QBs. The Tigers’ offense is cruising with Daniels under center, and it should continue to do so against UAB. LSU then needs to grab one last regular season win at Texas A&M – and avoid looking ahead to Georgia.

Even with two losses, playoff hopes are still very much alive for LSU – so keep an eye on them with the postseason approaching.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Arizona

U of A played spoiler against a No. 12 UCLA squad with serious playoff hopes. It was the Wildcats’ first time beating a ranked team since 2018 and their first road win over a Top 10 team since 2014. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Arizona and kept their hope of playing postseason football alive.

The Wildcats took the lead with 6:34 to play on a fourth down TD reception by Tetairoa McMillan. With just over a minute left, they then notched a 23-yard field goal to go up 34-28. UCLA’s Jake Bobo couldn’t haul in a TD catch on quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s last pass of the game, solidifying the Wildcats upset and effectively erasing the Bruins’ playoff chances.

The Wildcats have two remaining games, both at home, against Washington State and Arizona State. With wins in both, they would be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2017.

“ I think you ought to comment on it positively or negatively, whatever’s running through your mind.”

11.19 | 1:30 PM | CBS #2 OHIO STATE AT MARYLAND 11.19 | 1:30 PM | ABC #10 UTAH AT #12 OREGON

11.19 | 8:30 PM | ESPN

2022 Bowl PREDICTIONS

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

SEMIFINAL AT THE VRBO FIESTA BOWL:

ESPN Bonagura – Michigan vs. Tennessee

The Athletic – Michigan vs. TCU

College Football News – Ohio State vs. Tennessee

USA Today – Ohio State vs. TCU

CBS – Ohio State vs. TCU Action Network – Ohio State vs. TCU

game of the week

#7 USC AT #16 UCLA

With UCLA and Oregon losses on Saturday, USC is now the only Pac-12 team with just one loss –making it the only team in the conference with College Football Playoff hopes still alive. UCLA could still make it to the Conference Championship for the first time since 2012, but for the entire Pac-12 Conference, the chance to get a team to the CFP rides on the Trojans winning out. The Trojans are favored by a narrow 2.5-point margin. We’ll see which of these SoCal squads will come out on top starting at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday on FOX.

GUARANTEED RATE BOWL:

ESPN Schlabach – Maryland vs. Texas Tech

The Athletic – Wisconsin vs. Baylor College Football News – Maryland vs. Oklahoma

USA Today – Maryland vs. Kansas

CBS – Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma Action Network – Maryland vs. Kansas

Arizona Cardinals starting QB Kyler Murray is nursing an injured hamstring, which left 2009 Fiesta Bowl alum Colt McCoy (Texas) at the helm of the Cards’ offense on Sunday as it took on the Rams in Los Angeles.

The Cardinals have struggled against the Rams – they’re 1-11 in the series since 2017 – but McCoy led Arizona to a decisive 27-17 road win against their big division rival. He got the ball out quickly to mitigate the formidable Rams pass rush and was exceptionally accurate in the process. He completed over 70% of his passes for 238 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. His accuracy on Sunday demonstrated one of his biggest strengths as a quarterback – he still holds the Fiesta Bowl record for most pass completions (41) and highest completion percentage (69.5%).

With Murray’s status questionable, McCoy could start again this Monday against the 49ers in Mexico City.

Big NEWS!

The Guaranteed Rate Bowl features Bowl Season’s only Big Ten vs. Big 12 matchup. As we eagerly await the Dec. 27 kickoff, we’re bringing you weekly game highlights, player reports, and other updates from the two conferences. Here’s the BIG news for week 12:

Big Ten Big 12

• The Big Ten has three teams in the CFP Top 15 heading into week 12: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 11 Penn State

• Two of the four FBS teams that remain undefeated are from the Big Ten: Michigan and Ohio State.

• Michigan, Ohio State, Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State, Iowa, Purdue and Illinois are all bowl eligible. Wisconsin and Michigan State are one win away from bowl eligibility.

• Illini running back Chase Brown leads the nation with 1,442 rushing yards this season, with 803 of those yards coming after contact. He also leads the nation in all-purpose yards (1,615) without having return duties.

• Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud threw for 297 yards and five touchdowns in Ohio State’s 56-14 win over Indiana. He recorded his ninth career game, and fourth this season, with at least five touchdown passes to become the first player in Big Ten history to have consecutive seasons with 30 touchdown passes.

• The Big 12 has three teams in the CFP Top 25 this week: No. 4 TCU, No.15 Kansas State and No. 22 Oklahoma State.

• TCU is one of the four FBS teams that remain undefeated. TCU, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Baylor and Texas are bowl eligible. The Big 12’s 60% of teams being bowl eligible leads the nation, and it is the only conference in which every team can still reach bowl eligibility. Oklahoma and Texas Tech are one win away.

• In its first win over Oklahoma since the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 2008, West Virginia tallied a season-high four pass breakups to mark its third consecutive game with at least three PBUs.

• The Big 12 leads all conferences in scoring (33.0 ppg), total yards (432.2) and rushing yards (178.7) while it is third in passing yards (253.5).

• Baylor running back Richard Reese only needs 29 more yards to tie the Baylor freshman rushing record, held by Shock Linwood (2013).

MORE THAN JUST A GAME

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: Dawn Rogers

Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors member Dawn Rogers has dedicated her career in collegiate athletics to cultivating a meaningful student athlete experience. She discovered this passion after deciding to pursue sports administration instead of becoming a veterinarian – the course of study she originally followed –which has led to milestone moments in her career.

Rogers was drawn to the Fiesta Bowl in 2017, when she noticed that athletes who played in the game were regarded with respect and given the best treatment by those in the Fiesta Bowl Organization.

“To be part of an organization that provides the very best opportunity for student-athletes to come and compete and provide hospitality for them, is something that I am really proud to be involved in,” Rogers said. “It’s a privilege and an honor to be involved in the Fiesta Bowl.”

Rogers graduated from Ithaca College, and then from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a master’s in sports management. She’s since played a role in significant organizations like the NCAA Final Four and the Fiesta Bowl.

In 2015, while working for Arizona State University, Rogers helped craft a bid for the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four to be held in Phoenix for the first time. The bid was successful, and Rogers became the CEO and Executive Director of the Phoenix Final Four Local Organizing Committee. A few years after planning and executing the Phoenix Final Four, Rogers then oversaw a program that won the tournament in 2021 when Baylor captured its first-ever national championship.

In her current position as Deputy Athletics Director at Baylor University, Rogers meets with student-athletes and encourages them to be honest about their mental health. She has seen school resources like mental health counseling change the lives of student-athletes and emphasizes her opportunity to help them grow as athletes and as people.

NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

On Tuesday, the Fiesta Bowl announced sports and entertainment industry leader Erik Moses as its new Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer.

Moses has more than 20 years of experience building successful ventures for sports and entertainment properties through the creation of innovative events, development of community-centric programming, and as a leader in elevating teams and organizations.

Moses comes to Scottsdale with a proven track record as an attorney, entrepreneur, economic development professional and chief executive. His professional experiences reflect the goals of the Fiesta Bowl Organization, delivering innovative and new experiences for college football fans and sports fans in general.

Moses played an integral part in creating, executing, and hosting the Military Bowl and AT&T Nations Football Classic.

While working in the Nation’s Capital, Moses delivered unprecedented corporate partnerships initiatives, helped establish a professional football team into one of the league’s top organizations in ticket sales, enabled unique gameday experiences and access, and created extensive social media engagement. During his most recent stint in Nashville, he revived and repositioned a dormant racetrack into a world-class venue to host NASCAR’s top series for the first time in nearly 40 years.

To read more about the Fiesta Bowl Organization’s new chief executive, click here