Normally I open these rankings up with a quick recap of the college football weekend, but this week I am going to talk about the Penn State game. This was a tough loss. I truly believed the Nittany Lions could beat Ohio State. I thought we were the better team. Hell, I am still not totally convinced that we are not better. We were not better on Saturday when it mattered, so it is a moot point. So yeah, this loss hurt.
You will never hear me blame the refs. I am not one of those people who think the NCAA wants Ohio State to win every game (my favorite conspiracy theory is that ESPN hates Ohio State because of the Civil War). I am not even sure there were that many bad calls. The defensive touchdown that was called back? Yeah, there was defensive holding. You hate to see a penalty like that, especially when it had zero bearing on the play.
I think the blame lands squarely on Mike Yurcich, the offensive coordinator. The play calling was atrocious. The receivers are not very good, and they were not getting open on the outside, so why not run more crossing routes with the talented tight ends? Get those short passes up the middle to give Allar some confidence, also keep the defense from being able to crowd the box and completely stop the running game.
Okay, I got that out of my system. Time to get to the rankings.
- Georgia (7-0)–#1–BYE
- Michigan (8-0)–#2–W 49-0 Michigan State. I think the only thing that can stop the Wolverines this year is the NCAA.
- Ohio State (7-0)–#4–W 20-12 #5 Penn State. The Buckeyes defense is much better than I originally believed.
- Florida State (7-0)–#3–W 38-20 #16 Duke. How does this game end if Riley Leonard stays in the game?
- Oklahoma (7-0)–#6–W 31-29 UCF. Come off the bye week and almost lose? Yikes.
- Washington (7-0)–#7–W 15-7 Arizona State. Come off a huge win, and follow it up by scoring 15 against ASU??? YIKES.
- Texas (6-1)–#8–W 31-24 Houston. Uh oh, Quinn Ewers is injured. This team could be done.
- Alabama (7-1)–#9–W 34-20 #13 Tennessee. Seems like the Crimson Tide have figured things out.
- Oregon (6-1)–#10–W 38-24 Washington State. The Ducks are not done yet.
- Penn State (6-1)–#5–L 20-12 #4 Ohio State. I think I said enough up above.
- Ole Miss (6-1)–#12–W 28-21 Auburn. A close game against Auburn? Ugh, that should be a negative.
- Utah (6-1)–#14–W 34-32 #20 USC. Last second field goal to win on the road, the Utes are legit. I think they beat either Washington or Oregon.
- Oregon State (6-1)–#15–BYE
- Notre Dame (6-2)–#17–BYE
- LSU (6-2)–#18–W 62-0 Army. I guess the Tigers hate America.
- Louisville (6-1)–#19–BYE
- Missouri (7-1)–#21–W 34-12 South Carolina. Mizzou is making some noise. They have a bye week, then they face Georgia. Could they be the team to knock them off?
- UNC (6-1)–#11–L 31-27 Virginia. How do you lose to Virginia? Seriously, Virginia had never beat an AP Top Ten team on the road. I guess there is always a first.
- Tennessee (5-2)–#13–L 34-20 #9 Alabama. Looked good in the first half, unfortunately games have two halves.
- Duke (5-2)–#16–L 38-20 #3 Florida State. They have never beat Florida State. Wow.
- JMU (7-0)–#22–W 20-9 Marshall. Revenge is sweet!
- Air Force (7-0)–#23–W 17-6 Navy
- Tulane (6-1)–#24–W 35-28 North Texas
- UCLA (5-2)–#25–W 42-7 Stanford
- USC (6-2)–#20–L 34-32 #14 Utah. Ready for insanity? The Trojans final four games: Cal, Washington, Oregon, and UCLA. Losing out is not unfathomable.
Honorable Mention
Liberty (7-0)–HM–W 42-35 Middle Tennessee
Florida (5-2)–HM–BYE
UNLV (6-1)–HM–W 25-23 Colorado State
Toledo (7-1)–HM–W 21-17 Miami OH
Maryland (5-2)–WL–BYE
Watch List
Rutgers (6-2)–WL–W 31-14 Indiana
Kentucky (5-2)–WL–BYE
Miami (5-2)–NR–W 27-20 2OT Clemson. The Hurricanes won this game with their backup QB, might be something to watch.
Oklahoma State (5-2)–NR–W 48-34 WVU. The Cowboys lost to South Alabama and Iowa State, but since then have taken down Kansas State, Kansas, and West Virginia. Keep an eye on them.
Sam Houston State (0-7)–WL–L 33-27 2OT Florida International. Nevada beat SDSU, so Sam Houston State is the only winless team left. They face UTEP next week, who is 2-6. Could this be the one?
Not a great week for games. There are only two games between two ranked teams (#20 Duke at #16 Louisville, and #9 Oregon at #12 Utah). There is an interesting game between Pitt and Notre Dame at South Bend. The Panthers lost a weird one to Wake Forest, but I could totally see them beat the Irish because…why not? That is truly the Pitt way. Another two games I have interest in: Liberty at Western Kentucky (if any team is going to stop the Flames from going undefeated, it could be WKU). Then on Thursday, when I am arriving in Savannah, we have Georgia State at Georgia Southern. Both teams are doing well this year, so this one should be a battle.
UPDATE: I MUST HAVE BEEN SLIGHTLY INEBRIATED WHEN I WROTE THIS…I GO TO GEORGIA NEXT WEEK, HAHA
Finally, the main game to me is #1 Georgia at Florida. If Georgia blows out the Gators at home, I think Florida moves on from Billy Napier, like not after the game, but I could see them firing him after the season. But, if he pulls off the upset? His job is safe.
