This weekend was the first big upset weekend in college football this year. The #2, 3, 4, 6 & 8 ranked teams all went down to defeat. Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and UCLA respectively were beaten, starting on Thursday night.
Arizona went into Oregon on Thursday night, and took down the #2 ranked Ducks 31-24. Heisman Trophy front-runner Marcus Mariota was basically matched by Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon, but the running game was the difference for the Wildcats. They outrushed Oregon 208 yards to 144 yards.
Arizona took the lead for good with 2:54 remaining, on a 1-yard run by Terris Jones-Grigsby, to finish the scoring at 31-24. Not a bad effort for a 24-point underdog, and previously unranked team. Arizona is now ranked #10.
The 3rd ranked Alabama Crimson Tide fell on the road to Mississippi 23-17. Alabama took a 17-10 lead into the 4th quarter, but were outscored 13-0 in the final quarter. Mississippi quarterback Bo Wallace threw 2 touchdown passes in the final 5:29, to lead the Rebels to their biggest win in 52 years.
Oklahoma was the next highly ranked team to go down. The 4th ranked Sooners lost to the TCU Horned Frogs. Tied at 31 after 3 quarters, Paul Dawson intercepted a pass from Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight, and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. Although the ensuing extra point was blocked, and returned for 2 points by Zach Sanchez, Oklahoma could not get any closer than the final score of 37-33.
In what rounded out the greatest day in Mississippi football that I ever remember, Mississippi State upset #6 Texas A&M, and it wasn’t even close. the Bulldogs led this game 48-17 in the 4th quarter, before the Aggies scored 2 late touchdowns to make the score look much closer than it was. Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott stormed into the Heisman conversation with 2 touchdown passes and 3 touchdown runs in the 48-31 home beatdown.
UCLA was the final team ranked in the Top 8 to lose. Utah upset the 8th ranked Bruins 30-28 in Pasadena, CA. The Utes took the early 14-0 lead, and still had a 10-point lead at halftime. As expected, UCLA came back, and eventually took a 28-27 lead with 4:50 remaining in the 4th quarter, on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Brett Hundley to Eldridge Massington.
Utah took the lead with 34 seconds left, on a 29-yard field goal by Andy Phillips, but had to wait to see if a field goal would beat them. UCLA kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a 50-yard attempt as time expired, and Utah had a 30-28 road win. The Utes sacked Hundley 10 times in the game.
The new Associated Press rankings show a much different picture than from the previous week. Defending champion Florida State is still ranked #1, but Auburn, who crushed LSU 41-7 at home, moved up from #5 to #2. Mississippi and Mississippi State are now tied at #3. Baylor is at #5, after beating Texas on the road 28-7. Notre Dame is next, at #6, after a thrilling 17-14 victory over previously #14 Stanford.
This was the first week of the college football season, in which there were several games featuring 2 ranked teams. There were 7 games this weekend with ranked teams, while only having 1 last weekend.
We have a long way to go, but this season has already become very interesting and surprising. The SEC does still have 3 of the top 4 ranked teams, but prohibitive favorites Alabama and LSU have already lost, in fact LSU has already lost twice, and any chance to be in the first ever college football playoff appears to over, in the first week of October.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
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