Saturday was yet another shocker a la 2007, and I'm not talking about the always surprising chaos of rush and deliberations. I'm referring to college football, of course, and the upset special we were treated to across the country.
In college football's week seven of last year, then-no. 1 LSU was upset by Kentucky, then-no. 2 Cal was upset at home by Oregon State, and then-no. 19 Wisconsin was routed at Penn State. In total, seven of 2007's top 25 teams lost in week seven. This year, five ranked teams fell, including no. 1 Oklahoma to no. 5 Texas, no. 3 Missouri to no. 17 Oklahoma State and no. 4 LSU to no. 11 Florida. Given the impending massive turnover in the polls atop the nation's top-25 with three of the nations four best teams losing, Mr. Schmidley and I hereby explain our picks for most shocking victory for this past Saturday.
As surprising as it is to see the nation's no. 1, no. 3, and no. 4 teams lose in the same week, let's take a moment to look at the teams they lost to. In 2008's Red River Shootout, Oklahoma ran into a highly talented, most likely under-rated team in Texas University and lost, 45-35. Oklahoma's quarterback Sam Bradford threw for 387 yards and five touchdown passes, giving his team every chance to win. But Oklahoma's defense proved to be too leaky, allowing 277 passing yards and 161 rushing yards (compared to just 48 yards rushing for Oklahoma). This game was won on the line of scrimmage, and the Texas O-line dictated play on offense. Still, the final result was in doubt until the final minutes, and Oklahoma shouldn't drop too far in the polls. As much as I'd like to choose this game as the most shocking because just two weeks ago I picked Oklahoma to win the national championship, losing to an under-rated no. 5 team in the country isn't all that shocking.
Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel's Heisman hopes took a big hit Saturday when his Tigers kicked off against Oklahoma State at home in Columbia, Missouri. Daniels threw three interceptions and just one touchdown in Missouri's 28-23 loss -- scandalous for a guy who had thrown just one interception and 15 touchdown passes the rest of the season. But while Daniel's individual performance is truly startling, the result wasn't so much. Yes, Missouri was playing at home, but they were playing against an undefeated Oklahoma State squad riding high on confidence. And you somehow knew somebody was going to eventually stop Missouri's high-powered offense long enough to pull out a victory.
Louisiana State University strolled into Gainesville for its game against Florida and got ran all over. Literally. Florida's rushing unit amassed an incredible 265 yards on the ground, compared to just 80 yards rushing for LSU. This game wasn't even close, with Florida winning 51-21. I voiced concerns about LSU in my column two weeks ago, and it turns out it simply was not the team people thought it was, definitely not worthy of its no. 4 ranking. Of the three top teams that lost this weekend, my guess is that LSU will fall in the polls the furthest and that Florida will surely be back near where it was before its loss to Mississippi two weeks ago, making this a logical choice for the most shocking victory.
I was blown away, however, by the result of a different game, a result that was a message of sorts to any doubters remaining in the rest of the country: Wisconsin 7, no. 6 Pennsylvania State University 48. Wisconsin, a team that started the season ranked no. 13 and peaked in week three at no. 8 in the country, got completely blown away at home to the Nittany Lions. The last two times Penn State went to Wisconsin, the team scored only three points combined. This time, Penn State didn't even let the Badgers compete, handing Wisconsin its worst home loss since a 51-3 meltdown to Miami in 1989. The Nittany Lions are now 7-0 for the first time since 1999 and are poised to take over the nation's no. 3 ranking in next week's polls, putting them in prime contention for a trip to the national championship game. If Penn State wins out, which is possible given the evident weakness of the Big Ten this year, it will almost certainly have a shot at the title with Alabama and Texas (likely to be the new top two teams) unlikely to both escape the SEC and Big 12 respectively unscathed. Barring an upset at the hands of Michigan at home, Iowa on the road, or Indiana at home, the only two true challenges PSU faces the rest of the season are Ohio State in Columbus in two weeks and a home game against Michigan State to conclude the regular season.
Given Ohio State's troubles in winning games this season and Penn State's 317-77 scoring margin thus far, things look pleasant in Happy Valley.
