No less than 5 unbeaten AP Top 25 teams lost their very first game over the weekend, and three of them suffered key upsets as well. Seventh-ranked Florida, 9th-ranked Stanford, 11th-ranked Wisconsin, 18th-ranked Southern California (USC) and 23rd-ranked North Carolina State all lost.
No. In the battle of arguably the two greatest present coaches in college football – Alabama’s Nick Saban and Florida’s Urban Meyer – Saban wins this time hands down.
(Editor’s Note: All rankings applied in this post are from the AP Top 25 Poll and all team ratings utilised are from Sagarin, the gold common amongst rating services.)
With an Alabama defense like a swarm of thirsty hornets — Courtney Upshaw had 4 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and C. J. Mosley returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown – the Gators committed four turnovers, and could not even smell the Alabama finish zone.
Nine of AP’s Top 25 teams and three of the top five had been given a reality check over the weekend.
Was I surprised at this annual occurrence? Hardly. Reality has a way of revealing all the wrinkles and weaknesses.
And do you keep in mind Florida’s 15-minute hero last week? You know, freshman Trey Burton who scored 6 touchdowns against Kentucky to break Tim Tebow’s record, he gained all of 5 yards on four carries. That’s Crimson Tide defense with style points.
For openers, you will discover the No.3 Oklahoma Sooners who lost a Big 12 Conference game 27-24 by a last second field aim in Colorado towards the Buffalos. Oklahoma dropped to No. 10 within the Top 25.
The Sooners got to their lofty No. 3 ranking by beating No. 145th rated Utah State, No. 44th rated Miami (FL). Their offense ran up large scores on everybody, but their strength of schedule was only the 100th finest in the country.
The Tide may not have a excellent deal going on offensively, but the sheer running authority of Mark Ingram (who scored twice on brief runs) and Trent Richardson is adequate to scare the bejesus out of any team.
Urban Meyer and his defending national champion Florida Gators fared no better. Florida was behind 17-3 going into the 4th quarter.
Alabama’s victory was the second-most lopsided loss of Urban Meyer’s 6 years of coaching at Florida, and it came just before a red sea of 101,000+ fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium. What a night for the Crimson Tide faithful, who treat SEC games like Civil War battles against the Northern intruders.
The 4th-ranked Oregon Ducks, a team that appears to come alive after they look like a cooked goose, rose from the dead following the 7th-ranked Stanford Cardinal flew into their stadium and took a really impressive, very fast 21-3 lead within the 1st quarter of this first-time match-up of these two schools as nationally-ranked teams.
After spotting Oregon an opening field goal, the Ducks could only watch as Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck threw an 18-yard TD pass, ran for a 10-yard TD, and then passed for yet another 44-yard TD.
But it was a couple of Oregon sophomores who would win the day. QB Darron Thomas would go 20-for-29 (69%) for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns, and LaMichael James would achieve 257 yards on 31 carries (7.65 ypc) and score three times on runs of 5 and 3 yards before finishing Stanford off having a 76-yard burst within the last minutes.
Meyer’s team had won 18 in-a-row at home, 17 because Meyer took over in 2005.
The Gators got to their No. 110 Western Kentucky, No. 77 Troy and No. 32 Tennessee, an SEC opponent. Beating Tennessee is what vaulted Florida up inside the rankings. Florida dropped to No.
No. five West Virginia ran smack into No. 18 South Florida in a Big East face-off in South Florida and lost 21-13. Coach Jim Leavitt and his South Florida Bulls are swiftly becoming the team nobody desires to face, and THE story of the college football season.
It would appear that neither team, unlike Alabama, has a defense worth speaking about.
The Ducks helped their trigger immensely by forcing two crucial turnovers, and holding The Cardinal pointless in the second half whilst scoring 4 touchdowns.
Stanford has not won a game when ranked within the Top 10 because 1970.
West Virginia dropped from No. 18 to No. 6.
West Virginia got to its No. 5 ranking by taking down No. 129 Marshall, No. 94 Western Michigan, No. 51 Maryland.
Head coach Mark Dantonio, who suffered a mild heart attack following his team’s last-second overtime win over Notre Dame, observed himself back within the hospital for this game because of a blood clot in his leg. He had meant to be back inside the coaching box.
On Michigan State’s critical drive late within the game, Treadwell known as for a profitable attempt on a 4th-and-1 circumstance that ultimately led towards the 34-24 upset win.
No. 7 Texas got really observed out and embarrassed at dwelling against Kansas State in an additional Big 12 game because the Wildcats dumped on the Longhorns, 41-21. I’ve been questioning Texas’ stature since the beginning of the year, and now my suspicions have been validated.
The Spartans would convert three 3rd-downs on the drive prior to needing all four downs to score close to the aim line on a 1-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to B. J. Cunningham to seal the victory.
162 Rice, No. 100 Arkansas State, No. 54 TCU. Particularly telling was Central Florida, which Texas beat by a field goal although giving up 32 points. 25 by Sagarin, dropped to No. 19, a a lot additional realistic location for the Longhorns to lounge.
Last year at Husky Stadium, Erik Folk nailed a 22-yard field objective with three seconds left to upset then 3rd-ranked Southern Cal in what became a signature victory for first-year coach Steve Sarkisian and his Huskies.
No. 10 Rutgers, the darlings of the Big East, have been upset at house by Maryland 34-24, and dropped to No. 21. 20 Cincinnati and unranked Connecticut–are being overlooked.
Rutgers rose to No. 208 AA Norfolk State, No. 142 Buffalo and No. 68 Navy. Good grief, speak about a lame schedule. They deserve what they get.
Sagarin rates Rutgers at No.
No. 11 Oregon played host to No. 6 California in a Pac 10 matchup and led 14-10 going into the 4th quarter but the Bears scored 3 touchdowns in the final 15 minutes to place them away, 31-24.
It was de javu all over once again Saturday as Folk was forced to wait through three timeouts before nailing his winning kick with, once again, 3 seconds showing on the clock.
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