5 teams that could play spoiler role in road to College Football Playoff

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (defensive SOS emanating from Arkansas, where the 1-6 Razorbacks have forced one punt in the last two games):

[More Dash: Playoff picture | 6 bust teams | Coaching awards]

FOURTH QUARTER

SPOILER ALERT

As noted in the First Quarter, the herd of teams harboring College Football Playoff hopes has been thinned considerably. For the select few still in the hunt, pitfalls await. Five teams are particularly positioned to derail contenders between now and the end of the regular season — if they’re good enough. The list:

Michigan State (31). Spoiler opportunities: Michigan on Saturday and Ohio State on Nov. 10, both in East Lansing. Can either happen: Sure, it’s possible. The Spartans are always dangerous under Mark Dantonio, as Penn State and a lot of campus furniture found out in acutely painful fashion Saturday. That was Spoiler Skin No. 1 this season for Sparty. Every Michigan fan knows Dantonio’s record in that series (8-3, the best winning percentage of any MSU coach in the rivalry). And he’s also been a pain in the Buckeyes’ backside, going 3-6 with three close losses. Neither playoff contender will walk into Spartan Stadium overconfident.

South Carolina (32). Spoiler opportunities: at Florida on Nov. 10; at Clemson on Nov. 24. Can either happen: Not likely, but not impossible. The Gamecocks haven’t been a good road team under Will Muschamp (4-7), and this team has shown a proclivity for self-destruction (last in the SEC in turnover margin, 11th in penalties, not great in the red zone). Florida may already be out of the playoff chase by the time South Carolina comes to Gainesville, but Clemson seems like a strong bet to be 11-0 for that rivalry game.

Oklahoma State (33). Spoiler opportunities: Oct. 27 against Texas in Stillwater; at Oklahoma on Nov. 10; West Virginia in Stillwater on Nov. 17. Can any of the three happen: Favorites, beware. This looked like a rebuilding year for the Cowboys coming in, and it’s lived down to the billing for the most part with a 4-3 record and consecutive losses to Iowa State and Kansas State. But Mike Gundy has had only two seasons really get away from him, losing five straight in his first year, 2005, and again in 2014. And in both of those seasons, Oklahoma State scored late upsets that helped change the tenor of the season — beating No. 13 Texas Tech in ’05 and No. 20 Oklahoma in ’14. The Cowboys also own three-game winning streaks over both Texas and West Virginia.

Northwestern (34). Spoiler opportunities: Nov. 3 against Notre Dame in Evanston; at Iowa on Nov. 10. Can either happen: A firm maybe, since nothing seems certain about this mercurial Northwestern team — week to week, half to half, even quarter to quarter. The Wildcats (3-3) have played a lot of close games under Pat Fitzgerald, and this year is more of the same: four out of six have been decided by five points or fewer. The major problem is the complete absence of a running game, which shifts a large burden onto quarterback Clayton Thorson against Notre Dame and Iowa teams that pick off a lot of passes and also pressure the quarterback.

Boston College (35). Spoiler opportunity: Nov. 10 against Clemson in Chestnut Hill. Can it happen: Seems unlikely, unless injured running back AJ Dillon is full speed and Northeast weather plays a role. BC has lost seven straight to the Tigers and only one of those was close (2014 at BC, the last season before Clemson morphed into a monster). Beyond Dillon and a blizzard, the Eagles may have another equalizing factor in their favor — they’ve blocked four kicks the past two games.

RUINOUS DRINKING GAME OF THE WEEK

In a dogged quest to buzz the readership on football Saturdays, The Dash is suggesting weekly drinking games. This week: Every time a star player or head coach is shown walking off a bus (36) and into a stadium on TV, drink. Make it a double if said player/coach is wearing headphones. Somewhere along the line, this became must-have sports video. No idea why.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Connecticut (37) has a chance to make itself immortal Saturday at South Florida. The Huskies have tied the all-time college record for most consecutive games surrendering 49 or more points at six — which is to say, all of them this season. If the Bulls follow the well-worn path through the UConn defense paved by Central Florida, Boise State, Rhode Island (!), Syracuse, Cincinnati and Memphis, Randy Edsall’s team will have its own ignominious slice of history. But, hey, rehiring Edsall last year has gone great.

COACH WHO EARNED HIS COMP CAR THIS WEEK

Kliff Kingsbury (38), Texas Tech. For the first time in six years, the Red Raiders have held two Big 12 opponents to less than 20 points — and both on the road. Tech limited Oklahoma State to 17 in a rout Sept. 22 and TCU to 14 last Thursday, with games remaining against the bottom three scoring teams in the league (Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State). Perpetually on the hot seat, Kingsbury has never had a winning Big 12 record in his previous five years on the job, but he has a good shot at it this season.

COACH WHO SHOULD RIDE THE BUS TO WORK

Philip Montgomery (39), Tulsa. His first two years were quite promising: 6-7 followed by 10-3. Since then it’s been a fiasco. The Golden Hurricane is 3-15 over the past year and a half, and the past two weeks have been marked by complete fourth-quarter collapses. Tulsa was outscored 24-3 in the fourth at Houston as a close game became a rout, and 15-0 by South Florida as a near-certain upset slipped away. Montgomery was an Art Briles protégé who had a flashy offensive reputation, but that has crashed in the past 18 games. Tulsa was No. 111 last year in pass efficiency and is No. 118 thus far this year — despite having quarterbacks with the authoritative surnames President, Skipper and Boomer. Freshman QB Seth Boomer’s line against USF: 6 of 21 for 79 yards.

POINT AFTER

When hungry and thirsty in the greater Stanford area of Menlo Park, adjacent to Palo Alto, The Dash strongly recommends a visit to The Refuge (40). It’s on a quiet side street but a lot is happening inside, where the house specialties of pastrami and Belgian beer coexist better than you might imagine. Get one of the pastrami sandwiches and accompany it with a North Coast PranQster, brewed up the Pacific coast in Fort Bragg, and thank The Dash later.

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