Some teams got a harsh dose of reality after they stopped kicking the asses of jobbers.
- Cal surrendered 45 points to #8 Washington … and then it was halftime. Ouch.
- Only a meaningless fourth-quarter TD kept alleged #19 Colorado from being shut out by #10 Oregon. Final: 42-6.
- Alleged #24 and formerly undefeated Iowa couldn’t even muster one of those meaningless scores once their schedule included a real team. They lost 31-0 to Penn State, managing only 76 yards from scrimmage. So complete was the domination that they were able to run only 33 plays from scrimmage, compared to 97 for Penn State.
Some teams didn’t get the memo that it was time to stop playing jobbers.
- #23 Tennessee rolled up the score against UTSA
- #20 Miami destroyed Temple
- #18 Duke slaughtered winless UConn
- #1 Georgia pummeled UAB
- #25 Florida should have crushed Charlotte, but did not. They moved the ball, but not across the end zone, scoring only one TD, none after the first quarter, ultimately winning with defense and a shitload of field goals. On the bright side, one of their receivers came up with possibly the greatest catch ever – one handed, backhand, on a full run, both feet off the ground, with three or four guys covering him. I have no idea how he caught it, and even less idea how he hung on after two defenders immediately crushed him.
#3 Texas and #2 Michigan also romped over weak teams, but that was not a factor of Machiavellian scheduling. They just happened to play weak conference opponents.
And there were finally some good games between strong teams.
- #9 Notre Dame lost a heartbreaker to #6 THE Ohio State University on basically a walk-off TD.
- #4 Florida State needed OT to defeat the always tough Clemson Tigers, who were in the top 25 on the coaches poll and a near-miss #26 on the AP poll.
- #11 Utah defeated #22 UCLA 14-7 by completely squashing their running game. UCLA finished the game with 9 rushing yards.
- #13 Alabama beat formerly undefeated #15 Ole Miss 24-10 after Miss was up at the half.
- #12 LSU had to go down to the wire to hold off Arkansas 34-31.
- #21 Washington State built up a big lead against #14 Oregon State, but had to stave off a furious fourth quarter rally to eke out a 38-35 victory.
Some (vaguely) interesting developments outside the top 25:
- Maryland stayed undefeated with a big 31-9 road win over Michigan State.
- Syracuse stayed undefeated by grinding it out against Army.
- Kentucky stayed undefeated, but they have yet to face a strong opponent.
- Texas A&M handed Auburn their first loss.
- Louisville stayed undefeated and atop the ACC with a 56-28 thumping of Boston College.
Don’t expect any of those teams to make the top 25 in the new poll, but they will pick up a smattering of votes.