NATION – When the college world turned on their collective televisions Saturday morning, the college football playoffs were pretty much set with most top teams playing games that looked very winnable on paper. But then they turned they turned them off, for the first time since 1895, the no. 2, no. 3 and no. 4 teams had all lost in the same weekend and we were left wondering what would happen next.
WINNERS
The only team in the top four to win Saturday was the no. 1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Bama took care of business and made it look easy when they dominated the down-and-out Mississippi State Bulldogs by a final score of 51-3. Alabama heads into this week’s match-up against Chattanooga with a record of 10-0. The Crimson Tide has already secured their spot in the SEC Championship game, winning the SEC West thanks to Auburn’s loss to Georgia.
LOSERS
In a shocking upset, the Iowa Hawkeyes stunned the no. 2 team in the country, the Michigan Wolverines, with a last second field goal that knocked the Wolverines from the ranks of the unbeaten. The Wolverines looked as if they had the game in the bag after a Channing Stribling interception with less than two minutes to play, but Michigan failed to pick up a first down and gave Iowa the opening they needed to steal a win at home. The Wolverines still control their own destiny and only fell two spots, to no. 4, in the latest Associated Press poll.
Another top four team, another last second field goal, another unbeaten goes down. That was the scene at Memorial Stadium in Clemson Saturday afternoon as the Tigers fell 43-42 to the Pittsburg Panthers. It was Pitt’s first win over a top five team since 2007 and it was a bit of redemption for kicker Chris Blewitt. After missing an extra point earlier in the game, Blewitt nailed a 48-yarder to give Pitt the win despite a 580 passing performance by Clemson QB Deshaun Watson, an ACC single-game record. Although Clemson fell to no. 5 in the AP poll, they are on the brink of the top four, but are looking for a little help.
Falling the furthest were the Washington Huskies after falling to the no. 15 USC Trojans. The Trojans were solid all game long, with USC QB Sam Darnold throwing for 287 yards and two TDs. Down, but not out, Washington needs to run the table in the last two weeks of the regular season plus take down the PAC-12 Championship to have a shot at clawing their way back into National Championship contention.
There you have it, a crazy week in college football. Did the AP get it right? We will know Tuesday as the latest College Football Playoff rankings will show just were everyone stands.
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