Summary
Week 6 of the college football season is in the books and The Athletic had you covered from coast to coast. Texas A&M pulled off the big upset of Alabama, while Michigan and Notre Dame survived big scares. Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma and Ole Miss all won in ranked-versus-ranked matchups.
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(Photo: Ken Murray / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The AP Top 25 impact of Alabama losing to an unranked team as No. 1
Maybe Texas A&M is no ordinary unranked team, given that it opened the season ranked in the top 10, but the Aggies were coming off back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State before snapping Alabama’s record-shattering streak of wins against unranked opponents, which dated back to a loss to Louisiana Monroe in Nick Saban’s first season.
The Crimson Tide’s stunningly rare loss caused a significant shakeup in this week’s AP Top 25: Georgia is No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time since the 2008 preseason. Iowa is No. 2, its highest ranking since 1985. And Cincinnati is No. 3, its highest ranking ever. My ballot’s top five matched the poll, with Oklahoma and Alabama rounding out the top five.
(Photo: Bob Levey / Getty Images)
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By The Athletic Staff
College GameDay going back to Athens for Kentucky-Georgia
ESPN’s College GameDay will be back between the hedges next Saturday when top-ranked Georgia plays host to No. 11 Kentucky, the show announced Sunday.
It will be the third time this season GameDay has broadcast its weekly show from the site of a Georgia game. It was at the Bulldogs’ 37-0 home win over Arkansas on Oct. 2. It also aired from Georgia's 10-3 victory against Clemson in Charlotte on Sept. 4.
Wisconsin RB Jalen Berger dismissed
Redshirt freshman Jalen Berger, who ended last season as the team’s No. 1 running back, has been dismissed from the program, the school announced Sunday.
Berger traveled with the team and was in uniform during Wisconsin’s 24-0 victory against Illinois on Saturday but did not play. His second season in the program was marked by a puzzling playing time situation given how he performed a year ago, when he appeared in four games and led Wisconsin in rushing with 301 yards while averaging 5.0 yards per carry, the top mark among the team’s running backs.
Read more from Jesse Temple here.
Bring it, Week 7
More fun awaits.
Georgia is No. 1 in this week's AP Top 25
The Week 7 AP Top 25 is here. Georgia is the new No. 1. Alabama stumbles to No.5; Texas A&M re-enters at No. 21. Five Big Ten teams are in the top 10: Iowa (No. 2), Ohio State (No. 6), Penn State (No. 7), Michigan (No. 8) and Michigan State (No. 10).
- Georgia (62)
- Iowa
- Cincinnati
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Michigan
- Oregon
- Michigan State
- Kentucky
- Oklahoma State
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Coastal Carolina
- Wake Forest
- Arkansas
- Arizona State
- BYU
20. Florida
21. Texas A&M
22. NC State
23. SMU
24. San Diego State
25. Texas
Irish exit Blacksburg with QB questions but leave with a Playoff pulse
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly's body language said it all as he discussed his quarterback decisions.
He folded his hands over his face while talking through what it felt like to turn the offense over to freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner, a literal facepalm. When it came time to make sense of Jack Coan, Notre Dame’s starter until he was benched until he needed to return as their savior, Kelly made two fists, leaned forward and ground them into his forehead.
“We’re trying to figure this thing out, too, as we go and piece it together,” Kelly said. “That’s why I’m so proud of the guys that hung in there. I wish it wasn’t this hard. But it is right now. We’re battling through it.”
No. 13 Notre Dame (5-1) decamped from Virginia Tech (3-2) around midnight as a 32-29 winner of one of the most bizarre games of Kelly’s tenure. The Fighting Irish were happy to leave with a College Football Playoff pulse.
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Alabama stumbles to No. 5 in the Coaches Poll
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Oklahoma
- Cincinnati
- Alabama
Full list here.
The Athletic College Football Staff
It's about the team
Despite being benched, Spencer Rattler had nothing but praise for Oklahoma's win over Texas.
One Oklahoma Sooner finally gets his due
Kennedy Brooks, take a bow.
What will the AP Top 25 look like for Week 7?
We do agree that the Georgia Bulldogs will be the top team in college football.
Ed Orgeron, Manny Diaz and the glowing hot seat
It was a bad loss for Ed Orgeron on Saturday. Manny Diaz's Canes were off, at least. Revisit the college football coaches' hot seats with Bruce Feldman here.
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Only heartbreak for Virginia Tech
In the big picture, the Hokies’ second heartbreaker of a nonconference loss might not mean that much. ACC play begins in earnest next week against Pitt, the only other team in the Coastal Division still unbeaten in league play. In that sense, Virginia Tech’s 2021 season will be defined by how the next seven weeks play out.
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The full Nebraska experience
They had the ninth-ranked Wolverines on the ropes. Michigan trailed for the first time this year. The Huskers sacked and intercepted quarterback Cade McNamara, also firsts in 2021.
It was all happening.
“I thought tonight was the night,” Nebraska coach Scott Frost said.
Still, it ended in bitterly familiar disappointment.
Michigan bent but didn't break
“The combination of the environment, us trailing, both teams delivering blows in the second half — this is a huge win,” quarterback Cade McNamara said. “This is something we’re going to take and we’re going to run with.”
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Kenneth Walker III for Heisman
Amidst a run that probably should’ve been accompanied by the song “Yakety Sax” blasting on the stadium speakers, Walker III entered the record books, in addition to the end zone. Eluding defenders in space, en route to the longest run in program history, Walker III waved goodbye to Rutgers defenders near the 50-yard line.
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College football final thoughts
Stew Mandel's 21 thoughts from the chaos and carnage of Oct. 9, including:
- The 117th Red River Showdown had everything, but will be remembered primarily for one thing: Oklahoma five-star freshman QB Caleb Williams replacing one-time Heisman favorite Spencer Rattler and rescuing the sixth-ranked Sooners’ season.
- Dare I suggest the Big Ten now has a better chance than the SEC of putting two teams in the Playoff?
- You know it’s been a weird season at Notre Dame when the Irish pull off a dramatic comeback win at Virginia Tech to improve to 5-1, and it’s still unclear who their quarterback is.
- But you should probably know: QB Grayson McCall is having a ridiculous season. After an 18-of-23, 365-yard, four-TD night against Arkansas State, the sophom*ore has a 234.3 passer rating, well above anyone else.
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The most interesting stats from college football Saturday
- The 40 ranked teams to lose through six weeks are the most through six weeks in the poll era (since 1936).
- Michigan State became the fifth team in FBS history with a 300-yard passer, 200-yard receiver and 200-yard rusher in the same game.
- Before this season, there were only 13 documented games with a 32-29 final score in major-college football history. There have been three in the past five weeks, and two on Saturday.
Dive into all 19 wild stats from Week 6 here.
College football Top 10 after Saturday
Nicole Auerbach's rankings are Big Ten heavy, and why not? The conference won the weekend. But it's the Georgia Bulldogs that own (at last) the top spot.
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Where does Saturday, Oct. 9 rank among college football's best days?
The Athletic compiled data to rank the top 25 best single days in college football. Oct. 9, 2021 cracks the top 10.
"It was the most monumental part of the kind of day college football fans had been waiting for. With a lack of parity in the sport in recent seasons and an unfulfilling pandemic-stricken 2020, 2021 had already shown numerous signs of unpredictability and chaos. It all built toward Oct. 9."
