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The upset bug bit Wisconsin and Boise State on Saturday, reducing the number of unscathed teams to 10.
It would be tough to find a more shocking loss for one of the nation's top teams, than the Badgers' 24-23 loss at Illinois. The Badgers were favored by 31 points in Vegas (19.7 by the Congrove Computer Rankings), but lost on a walk-off 39-yard field goal. The Illini were 0-3 in the Big Ten going into that game and had lost 6 straight conference games, while Wisconsin was 6-0 and had been practically impossible to score on. The Badgers have four shutouts on the season and, before Saturday, had allowed a total of 29 points. Illinois was ranked 12th in the conference on offense AND defense. The Illini had lost 10 straight to Wisconsin by an average margin of roughly 20 points.
One of the last games to go final on Saturday was Boise State and BYU. The homestanding Cougars dealt the Broncos a 28-25 loss as a 6.5-point underdog to give the school just its 3rd win over their nemesis from Idaho in 10 tries. BYU entered the game with a 2-4 record and on a 3-game losing streak. The Cougars were coming off a 27-23 loss to a woeful USF team that is now 3-4 after a 35-3 loss at Navy on Saturday. BYU has also lost to a Toledo team that was whipped 52-14 at Ball State on Saturday. And yes, the Cougars also have a win over a USC team that improved to 4-3 this weekend with a 41-14 demolition of Arizona and is tied with Utah for the PAC-12 South lead.
The Boise State loss reverberates throughout the Group Of 5 conferences as it opens the door for Cincinnati, SMU and even Appalachian State to nab the New Year's Six bowl spot in the Cotton Bowl. But the loss also does NOT knock BSU out of the running.
There were other upsets on Saturday.
Missouri was a 21.5-point Vegas favorite at Vanderbilt and lost 21-14. That's the same Vanderbilt team that lost 34-10 at home to UNLV a week ago. The Tigers headed to Nashville as the sole leader of the SEC East with the Commodores in the basement.
Virginia Tech was a 3.5-point Vegas home underdog to North Carolina, but a 5.57-point computer pick. The Hokies' 43-41 win was a 6-overtime thriller in which they played three different QB"s, all of whom threw TD passes. It became the first game to finish under the new NCAA overtime rules that stipulate each team gets just 1 play from the opposing teams' 3-yard line after the 4th overtime. They traded field goals in the first OT, traded touchdowns in the 2nd, missed field goals in the 4th and 5th, and missed 2-point tries in the 5th. UNC had already failed on its 2-point play in the top of the 6th before 3rd-string QB Quincy Patterson kept the ball himself for the winning 3-yard run. Patterson relieved Ryan Willis after Willis had to replace Hendon Hooker after Hooker sustained an ankle injury. Willis was quickly yanked after a sloppy series, though his very first pass went for a touchdown. The Hokies have won 3 straight since Willis was benched after a blowout home loss to Duke.
Georgia Tech was a 19-point underdog at Miami, but won 28-21 in overtime. The Jackets blocked a short field goal to force regulation, and then stopped Miami inches short of a first down at the 4-yard line in the extra period after taking the one touchdown lead. Georgia Tech entered the game 0-3 in conference play and is now tied with the Hurricanes at 1-3.
Oregon State was 11.5-point underdog at California, but won 21-17. Don't look now, but the Beavers' 2-2 conference mark is good enough for solo 2nd place behind Oregon in the PAC-12 North.
Georgia State scored a 28-21 home upset of Army as a 6-1/2-point dog. That's the same team that turned heads with a 38-30 win on opening weekend at Tennessee as a 25-1/2-point underdog. Georgia State also upset Coastal Carolina as a 9-1/2-point underdog 31-21 a week ago, and Arkansas State 52-38 as a 7-1/2-point underdog. If you do the math, that;s a total of 49 points that the Panthers were suppose to lose by in those four games, and they won by a total of 39.
Alabama wasn't its usual dominant self but got past Tennessee 35-13. 2018 Heisman Trophy finalist Tua Tagovailoa suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and Nick Saban said later that he expected the star QB to miss 1-2 weeks. Tagovailoa's time off shouldn't hurt 'Bama's chances of staying undefeated as the Tide hosts an awful Arkansas program next Saturday, then gets a week off before a home showdown with LSU.
Speaking of LSU, the Tigers were 36-13 winners at Mississippi State.
In other SEC games, Auburn cruised past Arkansas 51-10, Florida rallied past South Carolina 38-27 (more on that one below), and Georgia overcame a scoreless first half tie to blank Kentucky 21-0 as the 'Dawgs sought to shake off the disappointment of last week's loss to South Carolina.
In games involving PAC-12 division leaders, Oregon rallied for a 35-31 win at Washington, USC crushed Arizona 41-14 in Los Angeles, and Utah romped 21-3 over Arizona State.
In the Big 12, Texas needed a walk-off 33-yard FG for a 50-48 win after falling behind Kansas, 48-47 with just 1:11 left in the game. Meanwhile, Baylor outlasted Oklahoma State 45-27, and Oklahoma cruised past West Virginia 52-14.
In the Big Ten, Ohio State destroyed Northwestern 52-3 on Friday (more on that one below), Penn State took care of business with visiting Michigan 28-21, and Iowa put away a pesky Purdue crew 26-20.
In the ACC, Clemson clubbed Louisville 45-10.
In the American, Memphis was a surprising romper over Tulane 47-17, and SMU was also an easier-than-expected winner in a 45-21 rout of Temple.
Florida came back for the 38-27 win at South Carolina with the aid of some very questionable officiating - all of which benefited the Gators. I counted at least 4 uncalled offensive pass interference penalties (and they weren't ticky-tacky), but the most egregious misses were the 45-yards of holding on a long touchdown run by Dameon Pierce, and a pick play on a touchdown pass that put Florida ahead in the 4th quarter. See for yourself in the highlights below (holding at 2:35, pick play at 3:34).
Wake Forest defeated Florida State 22-20 with a Vegas line favoring the Deacs by 2.5 and the computer picking under the spread at 1.5. The 2-point victory by Wake was right in the middle and gave the computer a win outright and against the spread.
Duke went all Santa Claus on Virginia, turning the ball over 5 times in aiding a 48-14 romp for the Cavaliers. That game is just one in a puzzling chain of events that exemplifies how crazy this football season has been, especially in the ACC Coastal:
The 62-game slate kicked off on Wednesday with a Sun Belt clash as Troy clobbered South Alabama 37-13 in the "Battle for the Belt". Another Sun Belt game on Thursday saw Louisiana thump Arkansas State 37-20 at Jonesboro.
There was also Thursday night action in the PAC-12 as UCLA came out with a 34-16 win at Stanford for just its second victory of the season. However, both wins by the Bruins came in conference games and heir PAC-12 record rose to 2-2. The Cardinal dropped to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
A four-pack of contests on Friday was highlighted by Ohio State's utter destruction of Northwestern, 52-3, in Evanston. The Buckeyes entered the week ranked No. 1 in the Congrove Computer Rankings and it's doubtful that will change after raising their records to 7-0 over-all and 4-0 in the Big Ten. Northwestern is just 1-5 over-all and 0-4 in the conference.
In the ACC on Friday, Pitt (5-2, 2-1) grabbed a 27-20 win at Syracuse (3-4, 0-3).
Marshall and Fresno State were also winners on Friday night. The Herd (4-3, 2-1) scored a 36-31 minor upset at FAU, while the Bulldogs (3-3, 1-1) converted 5 UNLV turnovers into 35 points en route to a 56-27 romp over the Rebels 2-5, 0-3).
Wisconsin and Boise State fell from the ranks of the unbeatens.
These are the 10 teams that remain perfect:
American:
SMU - won 45-21 over visiting Temple
ACC:
Clemson - won 45-10 at Louisville
Big 12:
Baylor - won 45-27 at Oklahoma State
Oklahoma - won 52-14 over visiting West Virginia
Big 10:
Minnesota - won 42-7 at Rutgers
Ohio State - won 52-3 at Northwestern
Penn State - won 28-21 over visiting Michigan
SEC:
Alabama - won 35-13 over visiting Tennessee
LSU - won 36-13 at Mississippi State
Sun Belt:
Appalachian State - won 52-7 over visiting Louisiana-Monroe
3 teams have still yet to win a game - Akron, New Mexico State and Rice. The Zips got zipped 21-0 by Buffalo, and Rice was fried 31-27 at UTSA. New Mexico State was idle
114 games this year pit FBS teams against FCS schools. That's two more than a season ago when FBS teams won 105 of 112 games.
There was just one FBS-FCS game this week as Liberty downed Maine 59-44.
FBS teams are 100-3 (.971) for the season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS schools are 1,424-127 (.918).
FCS victories over FBS teams in 2019:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)
FCS victories over FBS teams in 2018
August 29: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19
CLEMSON - Won 22 straight over-all (FBS longest). Won 24 straight regular season games (FBS longest) games. Won 18 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 19 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: 45-10 win at Louisville on October 19.
Next: Hosts Boston College on October 26.
ALABAMA - Won 29 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: 35-13 win at Tennessee on October 19.
Next: Hosts Arkansas on October 26.
OKLAHOMA - Won 22 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last:: 52-14 home win over West Virginia on October 19.
Next: Visits Kansas State on October 26.
RUTGERS - Lost 17 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: 42-7 home loss to Minnesota on October 19.
Next: Hosts Liberty on October 26.
AKRON - Lost 12 straight overall (FBS longest).
Last: 21-0 home loss to Buffalo October 19.
Next: Visits Northern Illinois on October 26.
CONNECTICUT - Lost 21 straight vs. FBS teams (FBS longest).
Last: 24-17 home loss to Houston on October 19.
Next: Visits UMass on October 26.
RICE - Lost 15 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: 31-27 loss at UTSA on October 19.
Next: Hosts Southern Miss on October 19.