Key takeaways from Week 12's biggest games

theScore breaks down the top storylines from Saturday's college football games and what they might mean moving forward.

Tale of two halves for Oklahoma

Oklahoma played its 1,284th game in program history on Saturday.

For the first time, the Sooners came back from a four-score deficit to win.

Trailing 28-3 in the second quarter and 31-10 at the half, the Sooners' playoff hopes looked grim. But OU completely dominated Baylor in the second half, scoring 24 unanswered to pull out a 34-31 win in Waco, Texas.

The Sooners ran 58 second-half plays to Baylor's 16 and outgained the Bears 368-69. Oklahoma scored on its final three drives, including a touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to Brayden Willis to tie the game, and a 31-yard field goal by Gabe Brkic to give OU the lead with 1:45 remaining.

Baylor drove to Oklahoma's 38-yard line in the final minute, but Nik Bonitto intercepted Charlie Brewer to seal the win.

The comeback even elicited rare emotion out of Hurts, who bounced back from three early turnovers to throw for 297 yards and four touchdowns.

What does it mean? For Oklahoma, it means the playoff dream remains alive. The Sooners cannot afford another loss, and though they still need some help, a win over a top-15 Baylor squad could move OU up a spot or two in this week's College Football Playoff ranking.

For Baylor, which couldn't crack the top 10 despite a 9-0 record, the Big 12 Championship game is still within reach. Aside from OU and Baylor, no team in the conference has fewer than three losses. If BU can win even one of its final two games against Texas or Kansas, it will play in Arlington on Dec. 7.

Burrow, Plumlee put on a show

LSU's offense had a historic night in a 58-37 win over Ole Miss. Joe Burrow threw for 489 yards and five touchdowns; the Tigers gained 714 yards - second-most in school history, and 32 shy of the record set against Rice in 1977.

Receiver Ja'Marr Chase set a school record with his 13th touchdown catch. Three years ago, LSU threw 12 touchdown passes for the season as a team.

On the other side, Ole Miss racked up 614 yards on LSU's defense. And the world met John Rhys Plumlee.

Plumlee is Ole Miss' true freshman quarterback. For much of Saturday's game, he was hard to bring down, rushing for 212 yards and four touchdowns as a result.

Ole Miss is 4-7 with the Egg Bowl remaining, but Plumlee offers some reason for optimism in 2020.

Utah dominates UCLA

UCLA entered Saturday evening with a chance to control its future. Had the Bruins won out, they would have won the Pac-12 South.

Instead, they ran into the buzzsaw that is Utah. The Utes rolled to a 49-3 victory in Salt Lake City, improving to 9-1 with arguably their most complete performance of the season.

What wasn't to like? Quarterback Tyler Huntley threw for 335 yards on 18 attempts; Zack Moss rushed for 127 yards and two scores; UCLA turned the ball over five times.

The 46-point margin was the largest for Utah over any Pac-12 team since joining the conference in 2011. It was the largest margin of victory over an FBS team since Utah beat Colorado State 59-6 in 2010.

If Utah wins its final two regular-season games, it will reach 11 victories for the first time since its undefeated 13-0 season in 2008.

If this is it for Tagovailoa, what a college career

There will be plenty of Alabama-related topics to discuss over the next week. We'll debate Nick Saban's decision to leave his already hobbled starting quarterback in the game up 28 points. We'll debate what Tua Tagovailoa's injury means for his team's hopes of reaching a sixth consecutive College Football Playoff. We'll even begin debating his legacy.

But let's save all that for another day. For now, let's consider the misfortune a 21-year-old college junior just endured in front of a national audience, and how much of a shame it is for him above anyone else.

After being questionable to play Saturday at Mississippi State because of his nagging ankle injury, Tagovailoa came out and threw a pair of touchdown passes. Late in the first half, with his team ahead 35-7, he led the offense onto the field for what Saban later said was meant to be the QB's last drive of the game.

On a third-and-4, Tagovailoa rolled to his left. As two defenders closed in, he threw the football away. But he didn't get up unscathed.

Tagovailoa hurt his right hip. He was eventually carted to the locker room and was reportedly flown by helicopter to a medical center in Birmingham.

Aaron Suttles of The Athletic reported Tagovailoa is out for the season with a dislocated hip with a posterior wall fracture.

ESPN's Molly McGrath reported that Tagovailoa was "screaming in pain." The phrase itself is jarring. And when you realize it's referring to a 21-year-old who's five months away from cashing in on a sparkling three years in Tuscaloosa by going early in the 2020 NFL Draft, it's gutting.

Tagovailoa came to Alabama as a highly decorated recruit from Hawaii. As a true freshman, he came off the bench at halftime to deliver a national championship against Georgia. As a sophomore, he finished second in the Heisman Trophy race.

This year, despite the injuries, he tossed 33 touchdown passes with only three interceptions. Those are Heisman-level numbers. He even threw for 418 yards and four touchdowns on a surgically repaired ankle against LSU last week.

Alabama went on to beat Mississippi State 38-7, but no one will remember the final score. Fans will remember the injury to one of college football's all-time great players, and how it ended his career in a way he didn't deserve.

Georgia will remain a top-four team in spite of its offense

It wasn't pretty.

Georgia averaged 3.9 yards per pass attempt and 3.9 yards per carry. Jake Fromm completed less than 50% of his passes. On Georgia's final three drives, it gained 1 yard on nine plays.

But the Bulldogs survived in Auburn, 21-14, and will remain a top-four team in the College Football Playoff committee's eyes for another week.

At 9-1, Georgia hosts Texas A&M and visits Georgia Tech to end the regular season. Win those, and the Bulldogs will play for a playoff spot in the SEC Championship game.

Georgia's resume is certainly strong enough to merit top-four inclusion. It's how the Bulldogs are doing it that stands out.

While LSU, Ohio State, and Clemson continue to bury teams on the scoreboard, Georgia is winning in spite of its offense. The Bulldogs' point totals in their last five games are 17, 21, 24, 27, and 21. Fromm's numbers have dipped this season as well. In his last two games, he has completed 45.6% (26 of 57) of his throws.

But a win's a win - and Georgia became the latest top-10 team to spoil Auburn's season. The Tigers are the best three-loss team in the country, falling to Florida, LSU, and Georgia while having a win over Oregon.

Minnesota falls from undefeated, but not playoff race

For the first time all season, Minnesota found itself down by more than one score. The Golden Gophers spotted Iowa 13 points in the first quarter on Saturday, and it proved to be too big of a hole.

But Minnesota, ranked eighth entering Week 12's games, shouldn't fall too far for losing 23-19 at Kinnick Stadium. A four-point loss in the No. 20 team's home stadium is a minor blemish. If Minnesota defeats Northwestern and Wisconsin to end the regular season, it could still enter the Big Ten Championship game with a playoff position on the line.

Still, missed chances on Saturday will haunt P.J. Fleck's team. The Golden Gophers missed an early field goal (albeit a 50-yard one); twice in the first half, they drove inside the Iowa 10-yard line and had to settle for three points; trailing by seven in the third quarter, Minnesota entered the red zone and turned the ball over on downs.

Tanner Morgan threw for 368 yards, but the lack of any run threat - and the fact Minnesota played from behind all game - allowed Iowa's pass rush to impact the game. The Hawkeyes recorded six sacks, including 2.5 by star pass-rusher A.J. Epenesa.

Clemson looks playoff ready

News flash: Clemson looks good enough to win the national championship (again).

There was a brief time this season in which the Tigers looked vulnerable - they nearly lost to North Carolina before pulling out a 21-20 win. But for the last month, no team in the ACC has come close to challenging Dabo Swinney's group.

Clemson pummeled Wake Forest 55-3 on Saturday, getting four touchdowns from Trevor Lawrence and a dominant performance from its defense. Against arguably the second-best team in the ACC (and arguably the second-best quarterback in the conference, Jamie Newman), Clemson held the Demon Deacons to 105 total yards on 51 plays. Newman finished 6 of 14 for 41 yards, throwing two interceptions. Against a team that is 7-3, and could still represent the ACC in the Orange Bowl, Clemson put forth one of the most dominant performances of the season by any team.

After that narrow victory over UNC, Clemson had an open week. Since then, the Tigers have won six games by an average score of 53-10.

No team should want to face the Tigers right now.

Michigan at its best against MSU

Where have you been all season, Shea Patterson?

The former five-star recruit has not lived up to lofty expectations in 2019, sputtering along with his Michigan team that has suffered two losses. The thought that Michigan's offense would be different this season had not come to fruition.

Until Saturday, that is. Against Michigan State, Patterson was locked in, completing 24 of 33 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns. After a slow start, the Wolverines blew out their instate rival 44-10 and improved to 8-2. Most important, Michigan looked like a different team than the one that nearly lost to Army and looked hapless at Wisconsin during September.

Saturday marked Patterson's first 300-yard performance since Oct. 14, 2017. On that day, he was the starting quarterback for Ole Miss. He threw for 300-plus yards in seven of 10 career games with the Rebels, but he was 0-for-22 in that department at Michigan until this week.

The Wolverines are facing a slightly tricky matchup at Indiana next week. Win that, though, and they'll be red-hot when Ohio State comes to Ann Arbor on Nov. 30.

Penn State sets up showdown with Buckeyes

With an 18-play, 75-yard drive, Penn State kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive.

The Nittany Lions struggled to put Indiana away for most of the contest, but a methodical march down the field in the fourth quarter culminated with a game-clinching touchdown in a 34-27 victory. Leading 27-24, Penn State ate up nine minutes with the drive, converting twice on third down and twice on fourth.

On the final play, a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line, quarterback Sean Clifford snuck in for his second rushing touchdown of the day.

Give credit to Indiana, which was 7-2 and unproven entering Saturday's game. The Hoosiers gave themselves a chance to win despite losing star receiver Whop Philyor due to a head injury. (Penn State's top receiver, KJ Hamler, also left with an injury).

Moving forward, Penn State is among the 10 or so teams that still have a chance to reach the College Football Playoff. The Nittany Lions will play their biggest game of the season next week at Ohio State. With a win, Penn State could punch its ticket to the conference championship game.

Taylor keeps setting records

Wisconsin fell out of the national conversation with losses to Illinois and Ohio State, but Jonathan Taylor provided a reminder on Saturday that his historic career is still worth following.

The junior back rushed for 204 yards and two scores in a 37-21 win at Nebraska. In doing so, he broke Herschel Walker's record for the most rushing yards by a player through his junior season.

Walker racked up 5,596 yards; Taylor is at 5,634 and counting.