beIN SPORTS

Scholars

Mississippi State 3-51 Alabama

Following last week’s low-scoring war of attrition versus LSU, Bama was back to its devastating best on Saturday.

Even with a supposedly inexperienced freshman QB, Jalen Hurts, pulling the offensive strings, the Tide looked indomitable yet again as they cruised to a 48-point margin win at the Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The Bulldogs became just the latest victims to find themselves thrown onto the Crimson Tide scrapheap. The Tuscaloosa team haven’t experienced the ignominy of losing since September 2015 and on current form only a brave man would bet on them having to cope with a defeat anytime soon.

Dropouts

Auburn 7-13 Georgia

So long playoff hopes!

The eighth-ranked Tigers fell to their first defeat in seven games, a result that crowned Alabama SEC West division champions.

The Dawgs put on stunning defensive display to keep Auburn at bay in Sanford Stadium but the ponderous manner in which Guz Malzahn’s program huffed and puffed on the Athens turf was remarkably insipid nonetheless.

The upcoming Iron Bowl against the Tide, which had been billed as a winner-takes-all showdown between the Deep South’s bitterest rivals, will now amount to nothing more than a regular-season game.

Class Clown

Pittsburgh 43-42 Clemson

A death knell rang out over Death Valley on Saturday as Clemson’s run of 46 straight victories over unranked opposition came to an end.

Stunned disbelief consumed Memorial Stadium when, with six seconds remaining on the clock, Chris Blewitt thumped a 48-yard winning field goal between the posts to subject the country’s No. 2 team to its first home defeat in 22 games.

The Tigers had an opportunity to put the game to bed six minutes beforehand, with the score reading 34-42, however, when Deshaun Watson decided against taking the easy field goal route to victory in favor of throwing an audacious touchdown, the Pitt made him pay with a stinging interception (his third of the game) that set the wheels in motion for the Panthers’ stunning comeback.

While it might seem harsh to single out a quarterback who racked up 580 yards (setting a new ACC record in the process) and three touchdowns, ultimately it was his misplaced pass that cost Clemson their perfect season.