Looking back, there was something flimsy about how Texas strolled to six wins in a row and the top spot in the US LBM Coaches Poll.
The best win during its unbeaten start was probably in the opener against No. 22 Michigan. The Wolverines have added two losses since then, including on Saturday against No. 21 Illinois. Next might be Oklahoma, which also has three losses.
No. 4 Georgia showed the difference between climbing to No. 1 and staying there. The Bulldogs took a 23-0 halftime lead and held on for a 30-15 win that will shake up the Coaches Poll and leave the SEC without at least one unbeaten team heading into November for the first time since 2007.
The win shows that Georgia may very well be the best team in the Bowl Subdivision despite last month’s loss at Alabama. For Texas, the loss is a cruel reminder of how difficult life will be in the SEC.
That the Longhorns played better in the second half is a minor victory considering the hype around one of the marquee matchups of the regular season. For most of the final two quarters, Texas was able to establish a tempo and energy that temporarily wobbled Georgia.
The Bulldogs’ response speaks volumes. After Texas scored to make it 23-15, Georgia went on a 89-yard drive capped by a short touchdown run to put the Longhorns back into a two-possession hole.
While neither team was perfect — Georgia quarterback Carson Beck threw three more interceptions, giving him eight in his past four games — the Longhorns’ inability to capitalize on early opportunities set the stage for the Bulldogs’ eventually insurmountable lead.
Maybe it would help Texas to look at this loss as a learning experience. The broadened College Football Playoff makes this a survivable loss, for starters. The two teams could easily meet again to decide the SEC championship.
But this might end up being a very useful measuring stick for a team clearly talented enough to win the program’s first national championship since 2005. Georgia set the bar. Now the Longhorns know how far they still have to go before truly being seen as the No. 1 team in college football.
Georgia, Texas and Alabama lead Saturday’s winners and losers:
Winners
Indiana
The question of whether No. 18 Indiana’s offense would struggle against one of the top-ranked defenses in the Power Four was answered during a 21-point barrage in the second quarter of the Hoosiers’ eventual 56-7 thrashing of No. 25 Nebraska. This qualifies as an eye-opener: While challenged offensively, the Cornhuskers entered the weekend ranked first in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in yards allowed per play. Indiana racked up 280 passing yards, 215 rushing yards and averaged 7.9 yards per play while forcing five turnovers and holding Nebraska to 2.4 yards per carry. There are better teams in the way of an utterly unexpected playoff berth, but this win firmly establishes the Hoosiers as legitimate Big Ten contender.
Kansas State
In the three games since a stunning loss at No. 13 Brigham Young, the No. 17 Wildcats have reasserted themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12. After rolling over Oklahoma State and escaping at Colorado, Kansas State rolled over West Virginia in a 45-18 win that featured a career-best 298 passing yards from Avery Johnson. With the ground game held under wraps — DJ Giddens had 57 yards on 19 carries after going for 369 yards the previous two games — Johnson showed an ability to carry this offense in a hostile environment. That’s big news for the Wildcats.
Iowa State
This might end up being a special season for the No. 12 Cyclones. Case in point: Iowa State handed Central Florida a pair of touchdowns off interceptions, was down 35-30 with under two minutes and 80 yards to go but somehow managed to pull out a 38-35 win thanks to some game-saving heroics from quarterback Rocco Becht. The second-year starter overcame a spotty night throwing the football with 97 rushing yards and two scores on the ground, including the game winner from a yard out with 30 seconds left. The win moves ISU to 7-0 for the first time since 1938. See, this seems like a special year.
Notre Dame
No. 11 Notre Dame passed a sneaky test on a neutral site against Georgia Tech with flying colors, scoring a 31-7 win behind physical ownership on both sides of the line and a solid all-around game from quarterback Riley Leonard. This makes five wins in a row for the Fighting Irish, four coming against Power Four competition, and keeps the Irish on track to move past an earlier loss to Northern Illinois and earn an at-large playoff bid. But tougher games are coming, including matchups with Navy, No. 24 Army and Southern California.
Cincinnati
After a hideous three-win debut under coach Scott Satterfield, the Bearcats made another nice statement with a 24-14 win against Arizona State. The game was won in the first half: Cincinnati fell behind 7-0 after the Sun Devils’ opening possession but went on a 24-0 run heading into the break, with the big play a 55-yard touchdown run by Evan Pryor to make ir 17-7 early the second quarter. Playing with backup quarterback Jeff Sims in place of an injured Sam Leavitt, Arizona State was held to 346 yards of offense.
Cam Ward
No. 6 Miami keeps winning close ones — beating Louisville 52-45 was the Hurricanes’ third ACC win in a row by one possession — and Ward keeps on putting Heisman Trophy-worthy numbers. After tossing three interceptions in wins against Virginia Tech and California, the senior stayed clean against the Cardinals, hitting on 21 of 32 throws for 319 yards and four touchdowns while adding 29 yards on the ground. The former Incarnate Word and Washington State transfer continues to lead the Power Four with 27 combined scores.
Losers
Alabama
October can’t end soon enough for Kalen DeBoer and No. 7 Alabama. There’s been a loss to Vanderbilt. Last week’s narrow win against South Carolina. And on Saturday, a 24-17 loss to No. 10 Tennessee that could doom the Crimson Tide’s hopes of playing for the SEC championship and reaching the playoff. This isn’t the offensive juggernaut that showed up in September. The Tide managed just 64 rushing yards against Tennessee’s talented defensive front while quarterback Jalen Milroe tossed a pair of interceptions, including one in the final minutes that sealed the Volunteers’ win. It’s worth thinking about how much worse things could be. Alabama almost gave away a surefire win against Georgia in late September and was borderline lucky to escape the Gamecocks. Two losses could easily be four.
Michigan
The No. 22 Wolverines’ already slim playoff hopes won’t survive a 21-7 loss to No. 21 Illinois that sums up the fatal flaw for the defending national champions — an inept offense that has shuffled through three quarterbacks with empty results. The third, Jack Tuttle, went 20 of 32 for 208 yards and an interception in dropping his second start in a row. That wasted a strong performance from a defense that rebounded from a letdown against Washington the last time out to limit the Illini to 267 yards. There has been such enormous turnover since last season that the comparison is a little unfair, but still: Michigan’s three losses through seven games under new coach Sherrone Moore matches the program’s combined total across the previous three seasons. In the end, you can link this year’s decline to the refusal to bring in a starting-caliber quarterback, which is inexcusable.
Southern California
USC can’t do anything right. Leading Maryland 28-14 after a Miller Moss touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, the Trojans allowed the Terrapins to close on a 15-0 run, including the game-winning score with under a minute left, and lost 29-28. After taking No. 3 Penn State to overtime in last week’s 33-30 setback, this loss represents an enormous setback that reinforces how inconsistent and unreliable the program has been under Lincoln Riley. Here’s one way to measure the failure of this season: USC ranks second from the bottom in the Big Ten standings at 1-4 in conference play, tied with UCLA and ahead of only Purdue.
Oklahoma
The results continue to show the wide gap separating Oklahoma from the top half of the SEC while raising some meaningful concerns about the state of Brent Venables’ program. After barely sniffing Texas in last week’s rivalry loss, the Sooners were never competitive in a 35-9 loss at home to South Carolina. Now 4-3, OU will need to pull off at least one upset to merely secure a bowl game. While a fifth win will come against Maine on Nov. 2, the Sooners’ remaining four games are against No. 15 Mississippi, No. 16 Missouri, No. 7 Alabama and No. 8 LSU, with only the Crimson Tide coming to Norman.
Auburn
Like Bryan Harsin before him, Hugh Freeze went 6-7 and reached a lower-tier bowl game in his first year. Like Harsin, Freeze’s second team will enter the home stretch of the regular season as a long shot to reach a bowl game. One difference: Harsin was fired before the end of his sophomore year with the Tigers at 3-5. Another difference: Harsin’s second team actually beat Missouri. Once in control with a 17-3 lead about midway through the third quarter, Auburn allowed Missouri to march 95 yards on 17 plays in the final minutes and lost 21-17 to drop to 2-5 and remain winless in the SEC. There are no positives, no silver lining, no moral victories and no reason to have any faith in the current state of the program.
Air Force
This season is turning into an unparalleled disaster for what has historically been one of the most consistent programs in the Group of Five. For one, Air Force is now 1-6 after losing 21-13 to Colorado State, with the one win coming against Merrimack in the season opener. Only once since coach Troy Calhoun took over in 2007 have the Falcons won fewer than five games in an unabbreviated season. This decline comes amid torrid starts from fellow service academies Army and Navy, which are a combined 13-0 after wins on Saturday against East Carolina and Charlotte, respectively.