Week 7 Stock Report: Surging 'State' schools, broken Vols offense, is Ohio State's defense elite?

Let the good times roll. 

Week 6? Awesome. Week 7? Just as fantastic. 

So what did we learn from Week 7?

I have some thoughts. 

The 2024 Week 7 Stock Report:

📈STOCK UP — The ‘State’ schools 

Three of the biggest ‘winners’ in Week 7 were Penn State, Iowa State and Arizona State. 

The Nittany Lions won a game that they typically do not do under James Franklin: Beat a similarly talented team on the road. Drew Allar threw three picks, but he was otherwise fantastic — spamming the tight end Tyler Warren button over and over (17 catches for 224 yards) until USC finally adjusted. Allar then completed two fourth downs to Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming (including showcasing his athleticism by escaping immediate pressure) to lead the game-tying drive. Andy Kotelnicki is dialing up creative, explosive plays, and Penn State was not only able to weather USC’s early storm but win a game relying on their quarterback despite a grounded run game. 

PSU’s defense was a little bendy, but it refused to break after Allar’s picks and Tom Allen made some shrewd second-half adjustments. The folks in Happy Valley should be pretty giddy right now. This feels like a different Penn State team. 

Iowa State is off to its best start in 86 years, and while the Big 12 is full of mayhem to come, the Cyclones are at least the current rabbit. Matt Campbell’s team is always going to play feisty defense, but Rocco Becht is one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12 and this offense just methodically grinds teams (three TD drives last at least five minutes).  In a cool moment Saturday, Becht watched his dad, Anthony Becht, a former NFL tight end, get inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, and then beat his father’s alma mater in Morgantown.  

The scene in Tempe on Friday night was awesome, as Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham dove into a mosh pit of students after delivering his alma mater an upset win over Utah to move to 5-1. Arizona State — ARIZONA STATE — pushed around Utah.

Kenny Dillingham is the youngest head coach at a Power 4 school… can you tell?

The youngster is FIRED UP

pic.twitter.com/NdI494mVRs

— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 12, 2024

The Sun Devils had a preseason win-total of 4.5. They were picked to finish last in the Big 12. Dillingham, who is the youngest head coach at a P4 school, inherited a smoking crater but with the likes of tailback Cam Skattebo (50-yard, 47-yard TD runs) and an opportunistic defense, he has ASU rising from the ashes and suddenly in contention for the conference. 

📉STOCK DOWN — Tennessee’s offense

BREAKING: The Vols’ offense. 

Last week I wasn’t sure. Now it’s official. It’s broken. 

Josh Heupel’s unit is really struggling right now. The Oklahoma game was an eye-brow raiser. The Arkansas game was concerning. Saturday was alarming. 

Florida does not have a good defense, especially against the run, and yet Tennessee struggled to move the ball consistently at home with a raucous crowd behind it. The Vols had five 3-and-outs, Nico Iamaleava once again looked overwhelmed, and if don’t for more tough yards from Dylan Sampson (plus some inexplicable in-game coaching from Billy Napier) then the Vols probably lose a second-straight game. 

Tennessee’s offensive line is not playing as well as expected, but it’s not like Iamaleava was under massive duress against the Gators. The Vols ‘ OL allowed just six pressures and was responsible for just one sack, per PFF. The running back whiffed on another pressure. And yet, Tennessee’s redshirt freshman quarterback continues to misfire downfield (just 6 of 14 on throws over 10 yards including multiple air-mails on potential deep shots). He’s completing 60% of his throws the last three games, and his yards per attempt have hovered around 6.5. He’s not being helped by his receivers (Chas Nimrod had two bad drops, Squirrel White doesn’t look right, etc.). 

Josh Heupel’s offenses are known for fireworks and fun, yet right now this group just feels gummy, impatient and lacking any and all juice. For the first time in the Heupel era, Tennessee has gone three consecutive games with under 350 total yards. Have defenses figured out Heupel’s scheme? Or is a young quarterback simply struggling to process a lot of drop-eight coverage?

Maybe — and this is a wild thing to say — the Alabama defense will be just what the doctor ordered this weekend?

STOCK HOLDING — Are we sure Ohio State’s defense is elite?

The Buckeyes entered Saturday’s game against Oregon with the No. 1 defense in the country both in yards per play allowed and scoring. They hadn’t allowed more than two touchdowns in a game all year. 

But against the first offense they faced with a real pulse all season, OSU’s defense — which saw JT Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer, Denzel Burke, Tyleik Williams and others all turn down the NFL Draft and added 5-star safety Caleb Downs — puckered. 

They allowed six passing plays over 26 yards, and both Jordan James and Dillon Gabriel had runs over 25 yards. They had just a single tackle for loss. Tuimoloau, Sawyer and Kenyatta Jackson did combine for 11 hurries, per PFF, but that even felt a tad generous as they never got to Gabriel with zero sacks. 

This continues an alarming trend for Jim Knowles’ defense. He’s been an excellent hire by Ryan Day, but in Ohio State’s biggest games against like opponents (so not pre 2024 Penn State), his unit allows too many explosive plays and misses too many tackles (11 whiffs vs. Oregon). 

Kerry Combs was fired after his Ohio State defense allowed 42 points to No. 3 Michigan in 2021. 

Well, in games against Top 5 opponents the last three seasons (during Knowles’ tenure), the Buckeyes have allowed:

10 points to No. 5 Notre Dame (21-10 win)

45 points to No. 3 Michigan (45-23 loss) 

42 points to No. 1 Georgia (42-41 loss)

30 points to No. 3 Michigan (30-24 loss)

32 points to No. 3 Oregon (32-31 loss)

A win over a punchless Notre Dame offense in 2022 is the outlier here. That ain’t going to cut it this season. 

The Buckeyes are a bonafide playoff team. They easily could’ve won Saturday if a few bounces had gone differently. But come December or January, they’re going to face some really high-powered offenses. 

Will Denzel Burke (who allowed eight receptions on eight targets for 179 yards), Davison Igbinosun and the rest of Jim Knowles’ defense be better prepared next time? TBD.

📉STOCK DOWN — Lincoln Riley

For the second straight year, the Trojans are outside the playoff conversation before Halloween. Lincoln Riley is just 5-8 in his last 13 games — the same record as Billy Napier, who looks destined to get axed this later. 

That’s not what USC signed up for when it poached Riley away from Oklahoma and handed the former offensive wunderkind $100 million. 

USC could (should?) be 6-0, but it lost three games (Michigan, Minnesota and Penn State) by a combined 13 points. The Trojans led in the fourth quarter every time. Right now, they simply lack the depth, especially on the offensive line, to close out games. 

That’s Riley’s fault, and the roster writ large has too many holes for a program of USC’s stature. 

We can have the ‘Is Lincoln Riley the right guy for USC’ conversation at a later date, but it’s clear the overly-tense Texan is a fish out of water in LA. 

He hasn’t recruited as well as he did at OU. His in-game management has become problematic (failing to use any timeouts on USC’s final drive in regulation against Penn State was inexplicable), and he’s constantly flubbing his program’s PR by picking fights with the media. 

Five years ago, Lincoln Riley looked destined to win a national championship. No one is taking that bet anymore, though.