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Might as well call it Separation Saturday. Pretenders dropped, surprises abounded, and most of all, we have some definition to the season.
With the conclusion of Week 7 serving as the halfway point, there are more or less 13 teams that have a realistic shot at the College Football Playoff. Not surprisingly, four of them are from the SEC (Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss). Surprisingly, two of them — at least for now — are from the Pac-12 (USC, UCLA). Shockingly, two of them are from the Big 12 (Oklahoma State, TCU). (Of course, the rest are from the Big Ten and ACC.)
At this point, the two best states for college football just might be Kansas (KU and Kansas State, 10-2 combined) and Mississippi (Ole Miss and Mississippi State, 11-1 combined). The best city for football might be Los Angeles. And Dorian Thompson-Robinson just might be the best quarterback in LA … sorry, Caleb Williams.
The top seven teams in this week’s Power Rankings remain the same, though Ohio State did jump Alabama for the No. 2 spot. Shooting up to No. 8 are the Bruins, who are proving the old adage: Good things come to those who wait … and wait … and wait. Chip Kelly is in his fifth season. Thompson-Robinson has been with him the whole time. On Saturday, Kelly had his biggest win with UCLA as DTR had the biggest game of his career breaking Brett Hundley’s school record with his 76th career touchdown pass.
How far can UCLA take this 6-0 start? Not counting a long trip east to the Big Ten in a couple of years, as far as they want. Kelly has reinvented himself as a quarterback maker. He was always willing to pound the ball. UCLA is second in the Pac-12 in rushing. Michigan transfer Zach Charbonnet leads the Pac-12 after running for a career-high 198 yards against Utah. UCLA looks like it can get as far as Nov. 19 undefeated when the Bruins get the Trojans at home.
Let’s take a look at this week’s updated Power Rankings.
Biggest Movers
|
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
The Dawgs did their part to star in The Bryan Harsin Watch by pounding Auburn. The debate over who is No. 1 will continue. Meanwhile, Georgia doesn’t play its next true road game for more than a month. | — | 6-0 |
2 |
|
A compelling case can be made for the Buckeyes being No. 1. They’ve beaten every opponent by double digits and the last four by a combined 150 points. C.J. Stroud tied his own school record with six TD passes against Michigan State. | 1 | 6-0 |
3 |
|
Lost in the haze of an extreme challenge from Texas A&M was the continued emergence of Jahmyr Gibbs. He has posted the two biggest games of his career over his last two contests totaling 372 yards against Arkansas and TAMU. | 1 | 6-0 |
4 |
|
Thoughts are with assistant Mike Hart, who collapsed on the sideline during a win over Indiana. The last time Michigan started 6-0 in consecutive seasons was 1976-77. | — | 6-0 |
5 |
|
The Trojans are a legitimate playoff contender after holding Washington State scoreless for the final 43 minutes. They play defense, too! USC is 6-0 for the first time since the golden era of Pete Carroll in 2006. | — | 6-0 |
6 |
|
In a parallel universe, Boston College used to play the Tigers tough in Chestnut Hill. Not lately. The 28-point win at BC was the third straight by at least 20 points for the Tigers at Alumni Stadium. | — | 6-0 |
7 |
|
There won’t be a cigar left in Knoxville this week. The Vols and Tide meet both undefeated for the first time since 1989. Neyland Stadium will be a living, breathing monster. | — | 5-0 |
8 |
|
Make all your jokes about Rose Bowl attendance. Folks in SoCal are missing a heck of a show. DTR has matured. Kelly has turned around the Bruins. They were tougher than Utah, which is saying something. | 6 | 6-0 |
9 |
|
Once again, the Pokes are steaming into October undefeated. Once again, we’re looking for when they will trip up. The schedule is backloaded starting with a trip to TCU this week. | 1 | 5-0 |
10 |
|
His name is Quentin Johnston, and he just caught 14 passes for 206 yards, including the game-winner against Kansas with 1:36 left to preserve an unbeaten season. Johnston had caught 12 passes all season prior to Saturday. | 9 | 5-0 |
11 |
|
This is looking a lot like 2015 when Hugh Freeze and Dan Mullen were chasing champions as ambassadors for the state. Now it’s Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach. The Rebels stretched out after halftime to hang half a hundred on Vanderbilt. | 2 | 6-0 |
12 |
|
The Air Raid lives! Leach has his best team since 2018 when Washington State finished in the top 10. Will Rogers (22 TD passes) never met a throw he didn’t like. | 9 | 5-1 |
13 |
|
Five in a row for the Ducks, who remain undefeated in the Pac-12 and get UCLA at home on Oct. 22. | — | 5-1 |
14 |
|
Adrian Martinez for comeback player of the year. Comeback from what? Comeback from playing at Nebraska. Coach Chris Klieman has done wonders squeezing greatness out of a previously inconsistent QB. | 2 | 5-1 |
15 |
|
Bye. Showdown at Michigan this week. It would help if backup five-star QB Drew Allar would have gotten more experience. Penn State has won three of the last five meetings. | 3 | 5-0 |
16 |
|
The defense had to rally the Wolfpack from a 17-3 halftime deficit to beat Florida State. Great bounce back from the Clemson loss, but the season hangs in the balance. Devin Leary was knocked out in the third quarter and came back to the sideline with his arm in a sling. | 4 | 5-1 |
17 |
|
Highest-ranked two-loss team, but the Utes are still in the running with only one Pac-12 loss. This one hurt, though. It’s hard to say this but UCLA was the more physical team. | 7 | 4-2 |
18 |
|
Backup QB Jason Bean did all he could in relief of Jalon Daniels. Bean’s four TD passes in the second half were the most by a Jayhawk since Todd Reesing in 2008. But what hurt was Bean missing wide open receivers on the final drive of a 38-31 loss to TCU. | — | 5-1 |
19 |
|
The only blemish on Wake’s record is a double-overtime loss to Clemson. Army gave the Demon Deacons the run, and they took it. Wake ran 42 times in squashing the Black Knights. | 3 | 5-1 |
20 |
|
A bye week did nothing to keep Dave Aranda’s name from floating around the coaching carousel. | 3 | 3-2 |
21 |
|
Nice recovery from an 0-2 start for Marcus Freeman. Two religious flagships met in Sin City (Las Vegas). Previous sins were forgiven as the Fighting Irish won their third in a row. | NR | 3-2 |
22 |
|
Drake Maye is Mack Brown’s best quarterback since Colt McCoy. But Maye was overshadowed at Miami as Tyler Van Dyke threw for the second-most yards in program history in a 27-24 loss. | NR | 5-1 |
23 |
|
This Illini thing is serious. A week after blasting Wisconsin, the Illini beat Bret Bielema’s alma mater with a hat trick of field goals from back-up kicker Fabrizio Pinton, 9-6. Calf tattoos for everyone! | NR | 5-1 |
24 |
|
Bye. Not a bad existence for the Orange. They sneak into the Power Rankings while relaxing on the couch. | NR | 5-0 |
25 |
|
What in the name of Gomer Jones has happened to Oklahoma? On Saturday, it was Texas that applied its biggest beatdown of OU in the history of the Red River Showdown, 49-0. Jones lasted two years as Oklahoma coach in 1964-65. Should Brent Venables be worried? | NR | 4-2 |
Out: Maryland, Washington State, Washington, BYU, Kentucky
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