College Pigskin, Week 5

There is no consensus this week about the top team. Sagarin says it’s Alabama after they utterly demolished #16 Mississippi State; the AP scribes say Texas; ESPN’s SP+ system says Georgia. Alabama plays Georgia next week. If either of those teams dominates the other, they might end up in the #1 spot on all three systems.

The Florida Gators again provided the most interesting story of the week. In the past two weeks they were the team that jumped the most in the AP rankings, soaring from nowhere to #8 in the nation, thanks mostly to the drubbing they administered to #4 (at the time) Ole Miss. This week it seemed that their ascent had just been the initial climb of a roller coaster, as they became the ranked team with the largest drop, after being shellacked by Missouri 45-17. They showed some critical vulnerability on the defensive side of the ball, as they allowed Missouri to compile 560 yards from scrimmage. Things are not going to be easy for the Gators this year, as they drew a tough schedule. Later this month, they will have to play Texas and Georgia on successive weeks.

The AP ranking that astounds me is BYU. They were rated #10 in the AP poll last week, and did everything possible against TCU to demonstrate that they were NOT a top ten team. Their QB passed for 62 yards on 11-for-24. They accumulated only 216 total yards against a mediocre team (outside of Sagarin’s top 50). So what did the voters do? Promoted them to #8! Well, in two weeks they will play Notre Dame, so we’ll learn whether they are for real.

Shout-out of the week: Braden Atkinson, QB for Oregon State, was 31-for-34 for 427 yards and 5 TDS. He also leads all FBS college QBs in passing yardage for the season.

Scoreboard.