College football’s Week 7 chaos didn’t just shake up the AP Top 25 - it blew a 90-year hole in the record book.
On Oct. 17, five of the poll’s top seven teams went down, something that had never happened in a regular season since the AP poll began in 1936. No.
1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No.
5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No.
7 Texas all lost in the same Saturday, turning the race for the top spot into a mess.
Miami was the only team in that upper tier to survive, and the Hurricanes did it the hard way, outlasting Florida State 43-35 in double overtime. At 6-0, Miami is in position to move to No. 1 for the first time since 2002.
Georgia’s night in Athens ended in a stunner. Unranked Auburn stormed back from a 14-0 hole, scored 24 straight points and left Sanford Stadium with a 27-24 win on Alex McPherson’s 34-yard field goal as time expired. Gunner Stockton’s late fumble set up the winning kick, and the top-ranked team in the country had its 93-game home winning streak against unranked opponents snapped.
“We like to say the Dawgs don’t beat the Dawgs, but they found a way to beat themselves today,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.
Notre Dame’s loss came in Provo, where BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier threw the go-ahead touchdown pass with 1:47 remaining and the Cougars then stopped the Irish at the goal line for a 28-24 victory. The defeat ended Notre Dame’s 16-game winning streak, and later the Big 12 acknowledged officials had made a costly mistake in the final seconds.
Indiana, meanwhile, saw its 22-game winning streak go away at Ohio State, which won 19-15 in Bloomington. The Hoosiers had a chance late when receiver Nick Marsh caught what looked like a go-ahead touchdown on fourth down, but his left foot was out of bounds. Curt Cignetti also took his first loss at Memorial Stadium after starting 19-0 there.
“It was there for the taking,” Cignetti said. “You’ve got to be able to take that thing.”
Alabama and Texas each dropped a second straight game, and their defeats came in very different ways. Tennessee forced four turnovers and held the Crimson Tide to 201 total yards in a 26-10 win at Neyland Stadium.
Florida, with backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr., erased a 17-3 deficit by scoring 24 unanswered points and beat Texas 27-24 in Austin. A strip-sack of Arch Manning with under two minutes left shut down the Longhorns’ comeback push and dropped them to 4-2.
“We’re going to have our backs against the wall here,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said.
“We’re going to evaluate everything from an offensive perspective,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Part of that is play calling.”
The fallout could stretch beyond Miami. Ohio State (6-1), BYU (6-0), Ole Miss (5-1), Texas Tech (6-0) and Utah (6-0) are all lined up to move up as well.
Ole Miss rolled past No. 13 Missouri 31-3, Texas Tech beat Arizona State 53-25 and Utah survived Colorado 27-24.
Ohio State’s win over the defending national champion gives the Buckeyes the strongest résumé among the teams chasing the top spot, while Miami and BYU remain the only unbeaten teams in that group. Whoever lands at No. 1 on Sunday, it will be the third different team to hold the top ranking in three weeks.
In Other News...
Indiana Showed Enough Against Ohio State To Fuel A Bigger Debate
Indianas unbeaten run ended in Bloomington, but the way the Hoosiers handled Ohio State left plenty more to chew on than the final score. In a 19-15 loss, Indiana stayed in the fight from start to finish and gave the Buckeyes enough problems to make the game feel far closer than the records suggested, even if the margin never quite turned in its favor.
The late failure to convert on fourth down loomed over everything after the final whistle, the kind of moment that turns a strong showing into a what-if discussion. Charlie Beckers 9 catches for 165 yards kept Indiana moving, while Jeremiah Smith finished with 4 receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown, and the Hoosiers now head into the aftermath with one loss and a much bigger conversation about how close they are to the sports elite. [Read more 🡒]
Cignetti Reveals What Cost Indiana In Painful Ohio State Loss
Curt Cignetti left the postgame podium sounding equal parts frustrated and encouraged after Indianas 19-15 loss to Ohio State, a game in which the Hoosiers had enough defensive resistance to stay in it but could not cash in on the offensive chances that came their way. He pointed to missed opportunities as the difference, with third-quarter turnovers helping swing the flow of the night, even as the defense kept finding ways to make life difficult for the Buckeyes.
Ferrells interceptions were among the standout moments Cignetti mentioned, part of a defensive effort that gave Indiana a chance deep into the game. The next step, he said, is turning a painful finish into a lesson and moving on quickly to Michigan, where the Hoosiers will need a cleaner performance if they want the result to go the other way. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Fans Have One Big AP Poll Debate After Costly Loss
Indianas setback on Oct. 18 came in a wild day around the AP Top 25, one that saw five teams inside the top seven go down, including Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. For Hoosier fans, the immediate concern is less about the national chaos and more about where Indiana lands when the next poll comes out, especially with the rankings likely to get a major shakeup after a Saturday that turned the top of the bracket upside down.
The ripple effects could reach well beyond Bloomington, with other movers such as BYU, Oregon and Oklahoma State also in the mix depending on how the voters sort out the weekends results. Indianas own drop is the obvious subplot, but the broader debate is whether the committee-style scramble around the AP voters leaves the Hoosiers punished more for one costly loss than for what happened everywhere else around them. [Read more 🡒]