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NCAAF Dirty Dozen: Status Quo Rules at the Bottom
Another ACC Team Tumbles into Rankings
Louisiana-Monroe was the only team in last week’s Dirty Dozen that picked up a victory in Week 10. There were some bye weeks mixed in, but after a couple of weeks with major changes in ranking the worst teams at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, things were pretty stable in this week’s countdown.
That could change in Week 11 with Arkansas State and UMass set to square off, so one of the two struggling teams will pick up a much-needed win.
A week after Boston College played its way into the Dirty Dozen with a loss to UConn, the Eagles were joined by fellow Atlantic Coast Conference program Virginia Tech.
Colorado is a 34-point underdog against USC and Indiana finds itself as the 40-point underdog in this weekend’s matchup with Ohio State according to the sportsbook. Boston College, South Florida, Northwestern, and UMass face double-digit point spreads.
Keep on reading to check out the teams trying to play their way out of the rankings that no team wants to be a part of.
Let’s check the latest NCAAF picks, stats, injury reports, and NCAAF predictions. We’ve plenty of NCAAF expert picks for you to consider.
12. Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech can’t catch a break.
After losing the last two games by a combined total of seven points, the Hokies appeared on the verge of snapping their five-game losing streak when they led visiting Georgia Tech by 12 points with 10 minutes remaining.
Two turnovers and a missed field goal in the second half resulted in another tough-luck defeat for Virginia Tech.
Four turnovers dropped Virginia Tech into a tie for the worst turnover margin in the ACC.
There was some good news as Tucker Holloway set a program record with 188 yards on seven punt returns in the most recent loss.
Record. Setter. 🫡
Tucker Holloway (@TuckerHolloway1) now holds the school record for punt return yardage in a single game!#ThisIsHome | #GroundUp pic.twitter.com/ZCVAHsPaFV
— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) November 7, 2022
11. Boston College
Boston College showed some fight after falling to UConn as it made Duke work for a 38-31 win despite playing without starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec.
Freshman Emmett Morehead threw for 330 yards and four touchdowns for the Eagles. However, the Boston College offense allowed five sacks while the defense gave up
The Eagles are last in the nation in rushing offense and averaged less than three yards per carry for the fourth game in a row. The defense gave up season-highs of 232 rushing yards and four scoring runs.
Boston College has scored just 13 touchdowns in 25 trips to the red zone. Something of note for those who bet online: Boston College has covered in just two of its last 11 games.
10. Arkansas State
Arkansas State had a bye week to rest up and recover from a humbling 31-3 loss to South Alabama.
The good news is that the Red Wolves not only play at home this weekend but face a struggling UMass team.
Arkansas State has lost four games in a row and three of those defeats have come by at least 20 points. The Red Wolves have allowed 131 points over the last four games.
The Red Wolves are favored according to the college football betting lines for just the second time this season and are a double-digit favorite against a fellow FBS team for the first time since the 2020 regular-season finale against ULM.
9. Indiana
Heading into a showdown with nationally ranked Penn State after coming off a loss to Rutgers had the recipe for disaster. That is pretty much how it played out.
Penn State scored 38 points in a row to break up what was a 7-7 game at the end of the first quarter.
Indiana allowed 304 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Hoosiers were outgained 483-186 in the 45-14 loss.
Two of Penn State’s touchdowns came after Indiana turnovers. The Hoosiers are -7 in turnover margin during their six-game losing streak.
Just two seasons ago, Indiana went 6-2 and almost upset Ohio State. It is a different story in 2022.
Indiana (3-5, 1-4 Big Ten) has allowed more points than any other Big Ten team and now get to face an Ohio State team that was coming off scoring just 21 points last week
8. Northwestern
The good news is that Northwestern covered when listed by the college football betting lines as 38-point underdogs. Unfortunately, even holding mighty Ohio State to 21 points wasn’t enough as the Wildcats lost their eighth game in a row.
With the blustery conditions, neither team got much accomplished through the air. However, a struggling offense was held to 14 points or less for the fifth time in the last six games.
Even after limiting Ohio State to 283 yards, the Wildcats are 12th in the Big Ten in total defense in conference play.
7. South Florida
South Florida’s difficult season might have hit rock bottom when the Bulls allowed 54 points to a Temple team that is last in the American Athletic Conference in scoring offense.
USF allowed running back Edward Baydee to run for 265 yards and three touchdowns to go with 69 yards on four receptions. The Owls scored more points against the Bulls than they had in the first four conference games combined.
South Florida did get 129 yards from running back Brian Battie as he posted his second straight 100-yard rushing game. However, USF still remained winless against FBS teams this season.
Only Charlotte is allowing more points per game against FBS competition than South Florida.
6. Colorado
Colorado was expected to have a tough time with Oregon, the first-place team in the Pac-12 standings, and that proved to be rather accurate.
Oregon scored touchdowns on four of its five first-half possessions and rolled to the 49-10 win over the Buffaloes.
Colorado has allowed more rushing yards per game than any other team from a Power-5 conference and, sure enough, Oregon averaged five yards a carry.
Since beating Cal for their lone win, the Buffaloes have thrown five interceptions and just three TD passes while completing just 44% of their passes.
It won’t get much easier with Colorado wrapping up a forgettable season with games against Southern California, Washington and Utah, who have a combined record of 22-5.
5. Hawaii
Hawaii had dropped three of its last four games heading into a matchup with Fresno State. The three defeats came by two, four and seven points, so the hope was that the Rainbows were close to returning to the win column.
It didn’t quite play out that way on Saturday. Fresno State scored on its first eight offensive possessions and added a defensive score to roll to a 55-13 win as Hawaii fell to 0-5 on the road and dropped its third game overall.
Hawaii didn’t have success stopping either the run or the pass as the Bulldogs averaged 13.6 yards on their 24 completions and 6.3 yards per carry.
Only Colorado and Louisiana Tech allow more rushing yards per game than Hawaii. The Rainbows’ 6.15 yards per attempt allowed are the most in the country.
4. Nevada
Nevada had a week to come to terms with another tough loss.
Nevada led by 14 points early in the third quarter and by seven points midway through the fourth quarter before falling to San Jose State 35-28.
Nevada has lost seven games in a row and is one of two teams yet to post a win this season in Mountain West play. With the next two games against 6-3 Boise State and 5-4 Fresno State, things could get worse before they get better.
3. New Mexico
A strong defensive effort wasn’t enough for New Mexico to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Lobos held defending Mountain West champion Utah State to 280 yards. However, they managed only 258.
With a passing game that managed just 42 yards, falling behind early in the second half proved to be too much to overcome as the Lobos wasted Nathaniel Jones’ first career 100-yard rushing game.
New Mexico is fourth in the Mountain West in total defense, allowing
344.3 yards per game. The offense is last with 247 yards per game. Against FBS foes, the number drops to 226.
Twelve of New Mexico’s last 18 games have finished under the total.
2. Akron
Akron has a bye week coming up after losing another tough one.
Cam Wiley had a pair of touchdowns in the first 91 seconds of the fourth quarter to pull within three points of visiting Eastern Michigan. However, Akron could get no closer as Eastern Michigan held on for a 34-28 win.
Akron has lost four games in a row since opening the season with an overtime win over FCS for St. Francis (Pa). This was Akron’s fourth loss of the season by seven points or less so the Zips deserve a better fate than being one of three teams yet to record a win against an FBS opponent.
Akron is eighth in total offense and 10th in total defense in the MAC so the Zips don’t look like your typical one-win team.
The Zips are 128th among 131 teams in rushing offense even after Wiley ran for 144 yards and three touchdowns last week.
1. UMass
It was yet another tough night at the office for UMass as the Minutemen fell at UConn 27-10.
The last time UMass won a game against an FBS team, it was a 27-13 victory at the expense of the Huskies in 2021. The Minutemen outgained UConn slightly. However, the inability to run the ball and stop the run again doomed the Minutemen.
UConn went over 250 rushing yards while UMass finished with just 85 yards on the ground.
The final three games of the season for UMass come against teams with losing records so perhaps the Minutemen can avoid finishing winless against FBS foes in 2022.
