Once again, we had a college football Saturday that did not disappoint. The weekend was highlighted by four teams in the top-10 going down, plus a few more in the top-25. Let’s catch up on everything you need to know and anything you might have missed from the past weekend.
Upset City
We’ll start with those four top-10 teams that lost this weekend:
- No. 2 Georgia had all kinds of problems in Death Valley, losing 36-16 to LSU. The good news for the Bulldogs is they can still win the SEC East and reach the College Football Playoff if they win out. They’ll take next week off before their showdown with Florida the following Saturday.
- No. 6 West Virginia is undefeated no more after they were knocked off by Iowa State 30-14. Ames has been where undefeated seasons go to die the past couple of seasons. This result really opens things up in the Big 12 in terms of earning one of the top-2 spots for the conference title game.
- No. 7 Washington went down for the second time this season. The Huskies missed a field goal at the buzzer, forcing them to settle for overtime with Oregon where the Ducks triumphed. Washington’s CFP hopes are officially gone while the Pac-12 North has become a four-team race. Oregon, meanwhile, may have slim playoff hopes.
- Speaking of playoff hopes, Penn State’s are all but gone after the no. 8 Nittany Lions lost to Michigan State on Saturday night. With back-to-back losses, Penn State is out of the national picture and all but out of the running in the Big Ten.
Shake Up At the Polls
As expected, those upsets and more have shaken up this week’s polls. Georgia dropped to no. 8, three spots behind LSU, who once again rounds out the top-5. Meanwhile, Ohio State, Clemson, and Notre Dame trail Alabama for the no. 1 spot. Michigan and Texas both move up to no. 6 and 7, respectively. Oregon moved up to no. 12 while West Virginia dropped to no. 13, Washington to no. 15, Penn State down to no. 18, and Wisconsin to no. 23.
Quick Hook
Bowling Green’s Mike Jinks is the first head coach casualty of the 2018 season. The school fired Jinks following Saturday’s 42-35 loss to Western Michigan that dropped the Falcons to 1-6 on the season. In two and a half seasons at Bowling Green, Jinks went 7-24. Considering he took over a program that won the MAC championship in 2015, it’s safe to say that Jinks’ tenure was a disaster. Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini has been named the interim head coach.
Should We Be Worried?
Alabama head coach Nick Saban is doing his best to downplay the seriousness of the injury that forced Tua Tagovailoa to leave Saturday’s win against Missouri. Tagovailoa was dealing with the knee issue heading into the game and then appeared to tweak it, forcing him out of the game. Saban said after the game that he doesn’t believe “there’s any issues or problems with it.” The Crimson Tide still has Jalen Hurts as their backup if Tagovailoa is held out for this week’s game against Tennessee.
Something Minor
Texas is another team dealing with a minor injury to their quarterback. Sam Ehlinger suffered a first-degree sprain of his throwing shoulder during the team’s win over Baylor over the weekend. Backup Shane Buechele, who split duties with Ehlinger in 2017, did a fine job of finishing the game. The Longhorns are off this week, which makes head coach Tom Herman hopeful that Ehlinger will be ready for the team’s next game against Oklahoma State on October 27.
Shop Til You Drop
Remember former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant? Well, while the Tigers remain undefeated without him, he’s been quick to set up visits to multiple schools as he tries to find a new home for next season, which will be his final year of eligibility. Bryant reportedly has a visit to North Carolina lined up for next weekend and a trip to Arkansas the following weekend. He is also trying to set up visits with both Missouri and Louisville. Of course, those are just four of the more than a dozen programs (all power-five programs) to have expressed some kind of interest in Bryant joining them for the 2019 season.
Can’t Get Worse
We’ll close with an exercise in futility, as demonstrated by the Rutgers football team this past week. During their 34-7 loss to Maryland on Saturday, Rutgers quarterback were a combined 2 for 17 passing the ball for a total of eight yards. They also threw five interceptions in those 17 attempts. If you’re scoring at home, that’s a pass efficiency rating of negative 43.1. On the season, the 1-3 Scarlet Knights have three passing touchdowns and 17 interceptions. If you think it can’t get worse, keep in mind that Rutgers still has to play Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State in consecutive weeks in November.