Week 12 Takeaways: Sooners Strike Back, Georgia Tops Texas, Scouting Notes, and My Updated Power Rankings

It’s the morning after in college football, and I’ve got you covered with my biggest takeaways from Week 12.

If you missed my flash mock draft from earlier in the week, you can find it here, and for my full instant-reaction Saturday recap, check out the latest episode of The McShay Show.

Oklahoma’s defense has it primed for a playoff push: The Sooners have taken on the identity of their head coach

Georgia’s peaking at the right time: The Dawgs’ offense is rolling and the defense is rounding into form

Prospect Watch: Quick scouting notes on six players that popped on Saturday

Updated College Football Power Rankings: Who’s in the CFP title bubble? Who’s on the outside looking in? I share my tiers heading into Week 13

A quick Brent Venables story. Years ago when I was at ESPN, I worked something like four Clemson games in one season. In one of those games—I think against NC State—Clemson won in a walk-off. I’m on the sideline and the players and coaches are going wild. Then out of nowhere, Venables comes rushing over and clocks me with a forearm to the chest. This wasn’t a combative thing—it was out of affection and pure excitement. And it was the moment I knew he was a mad man. That’s Venables in a nutshell: out of control yet still in control, aggressive and energized yet laser-focused and demanding. 

On Saturday against Alabama, his Oklahoma team embodied the personality of its head coach, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Oklahoma forced three turnovers—including a Ty Simpson pick-six, just his second interception of the year—and slowed a rolling Crimson Tide offense that looked like it was on the fast track toward making a deep playoff run. Venables threw wrinkles on top of wrinkles at Alabama’s offense and for the first time since the Florida State game made Simpson look like a first-year starter.  

The Sooners played complementary football and laid it all on the line to keep their playoff hopes alive, despite an off game for QB John Mateer and the Sooners’ best defender R Mason Thomas sitting out with a quad injury. Alabama was at home and had every advantage in this game, but OU just wasn’t having it. 

With the win Saturday night, Oklahoma should control its own destiny moving forward. If they win their final two regular-season games against Missouri and LSU, they’re a legit threat to make a run. It could all be coming together in Norman.

I came into the year with questions about this Georgia offense, but Gunner Stockton and Co. have silenced the critics over the past few weeks. 

It just looked easy at times against Texas on Saturday, especially in the first half. At one point during the broadcast, they showed Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo kind of jumping around the booth and losing his mind, which to me looked like a guy who’d written a perfect script to start the game and was getting exactly what he expected to see from the Texas defense. Once the 10-15 scripted plays were up, Bobo seemed to have the packages and beaters for everything Texas was throwing at him. That’s good coaching, but also good execution by Stockton, who finished with 229 yards on 24-of-29 passing (83 percent) with four touchdowns and one pick. He’s gotten better each game, and is displaying the accuracy, control at the line of scrimmage, and post-snap processing of a top-shelf college QB. And he’s getting a lot of help from guys such as tight end Oscar Delp and receivers Zachariah Branch, London Humphreys, and Noah Thomas. 

Texas’s defense did a good job making adjustments in the second half, with better tackling and gap discipline, but Georgia’s defense was dominant all night, holding UT to just two scoring drives and 274 total yards. This group doesn’t have the high-end NFL talent of some of Georgia’s past few defenses, but I really like what I’ve seen out guys such as LB Chris Cole—a big hitter who’s coming into his own and led the team with seven tackles on Saturday—KJ Bolden, Ellis Robinson IV, Demello Jones, and of course CJ Allen, who might be the best pure off-ball linebacker in the 2026 draft. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also shout out the cunning and confidence of Kirby Smart, who elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from Georgia’s 36 in a one-score game late in the third, converted it, then went for it again on fourth-and-5 from midfield, when Stockton was able to draw Texas offside. A couple plays later, Stockton threw a 30-yard touchdown to make the score 21-10, and on the ensuing kickoff, Smart tripled down with a surprise onside that Georgia recovered.  

That’s not just blind faith—it’s a belief and confidence in the execution of your offense, defense, and special teams. Georgia’s winning in all three phases right now and heating up at exactly the right time.

Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy may have saved Ole Miss’s season last night. I said two weeks ago when he went for 146 yards against South Carolina that he was an emerging prospect and someone to keep an eye on. He was the catalyst of Lane Kiffin’s offense on Saturday, finishing with 31 carries for 224 yards (7.2 per attempt) and three touchdowns. I love his run style!

USC WR Makai Lemon went for 10 receptions, 153 yards, and a touchdown yesterday, and is making a case for being WR1 in this class. Jordyn Tyson and Carnell Tate are right there with him, but I don’t know that any receiver has improved his stock this season more than this guy. One scout I’ve spoken to has Lemon atop his receiver rankings. 

South Carolina WR Nyck Harbor lacks polish as a route runner and isn’t a natural pass catcher, but his raw talent (6-foot-5, 245 pounds, and an estimated a sub-4.4 40) will be hard for NFL scouts to ignore. Watch him just run away from the defense on this 79-yard YAC TD from yesterday:

Harbor’s made strides this year and he draws a lot of comparisons to DK Metcalf. At some point on Day 2, a team is going to gamble on his rare combination of traits. 

Notre Dame WR Malachi Fields is RISING! At 6-foot-4 and 224 pounds, he profiles as a physical X WR at the next level. He had a couple highlight catches yesterday en route to a 7-99-2 line, and has become a factor for ND after a really productive career at UVA. Fields looked like a mid-round prospect coming into the year, but I think he could end up in the top-100 consideration, depending on how he works out during the pre-draft process. 

Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love is the best back in the country. I knew that before the season, and that he was a likely first-rounder, but I didn’t know he was this special. I mentioned in my flash mock that scouts I’ve spoken to have him as one of the four or five most talented guys in the draft, and I tend to agree with that assessment. Check out the spin move on this 56-yard touchdown run in the first quarter against Pitt:

Yes, he’s a running back, but if Love keeps playing like he did Saturday (23 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown) he might land in the top 10 come draft day.

Oklahoma LB Kip Lewis is instinctive, can cover, and rush the passer. He’s also a highly productive and rangy player whose stock is on the rise, whether he enters the draft this spring or in 2027. Lewis’s 11-yard sack of Ty Simpson late against Alabama felt like it saved OU’s season, and he finished the game with a team-high seven tackles (all solo).

Tier 1: Title Bubble

1. Ohio State (10-0, vs. Rutgers)
2. Indiana (11-0, Idle)
3. Texas A&M (10-0, vs. Samford)
4. Georgia (9-1, vs. Charlotte)

Tier 2: Next in Line

5. Texas Tech (10-1, Idle)
6. Ole Miss (9-1, Idle)
7. Oregon (9-1, vs. USC)

Tier 3: In the Hunt

8. Notre Dame (8-2, vs. Syracuse)
9. Oklahoma (8-2, vs. Missouri)
10. Alabama (8-2, vs. Eastern Illinois)
11. USC (8-2, at Oregon)
12. Miami  (8-2, at Virginia Tech)