Looking back at the chaos of the 2007 college football season

Week 3: September 13-15, 2007

Thursday’s games started off as might have been expected. A battle of unbeaten teams transpired in College Park as No. 4 West Virginia visited unranked Maryland in a Big East-ACC battle. Steve Slaton rushed for three touchdowns. Both Slaton and Noel Devine ran for over 135 yards apiece. And the Mountaineers defense held Maryland to 269 total yards of offense in a 31-14 road win.

Saturday featured several games between Top 25 teams. The annual showdown between No. 5 Florida and No. 22 Tennessee ended in a 59-20 Gators rout. As a result, the Volunteers dropped out of the polls and the Gators moved into the top three in both polls. In similar fashion, top-ranked USC downed No. 14 Nebraska 49-31 in Lincoln. The Trojans racked up over 300 rushing yards on the Cornhuskers and scored five of their seven touchdowns on the ground.

No. 24 Hawaii held on to its position in the AP and Coaches polls after taking down UNLV to move to 3-0 on the season. But the big story from the mid-major conferences was not the Rainbow Warriors win in Las Vegas. Instead, the buzz surrounded Utah’s demolition of No. 11 UCLA. The Utes had been the original BCS Buster three years earlier, but started 2007 with losses to Oregon State and Air Force.

Against the Bruins, though, Utah intercepted their future Pac-12 South rival 44-6 thanks to three interceptions and big games from quarterback Tommy Grady and running back Darrell Mack. It wouldn’t be enough to save the Utes from finishing in a tie for third place in the Mountain West, but it was the win that defined Utah’s season before their undefeated Sugar Bowl campaign in 2008.

The Big Upset of the Week

Utah’s opponent in the following year’s Sugar Bowl, Alabama, was just entering the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa in 2007. In Week 3 against No. 16 Arkansas, the Crimson Tide were still an underdog team coming off the fadeout of the Mike Shula era. Though this upset would eventually be vacated from the record due to NCAA penalties against Alabama, it was the stunner of the week a decade ago.

The year before, the Tide were leading in Fayetteville by a touchdown at halftime. In the second half Arkansas came charging out of the gate, but Alabama scored late to force overtime. Arkansas ended up surviving at home only after Leigh Tiffin missed his extra point in double overtime and Razorbacks kicker Jeremy Davis connected on his attempt on the subsequent drive.

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It looked like Arkansas was going to repeat the win over Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Week 3 of the 2007 season. Alabama raced to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, and the Razorbacks chipped away to make it 21-10 by halftime. The Tide opened up the second half strong, extending their lead back to 31-10.

Then Darren McFadden went off. The running back ran for 195 yards against Saban’s defense, scoring two of Arkansas’ four straight touchdowns. With a 38-31 lead midway through the fourth quarter, it looked as though Arkansas had grabbed all the momentum. Then Alabama started chipping away, setting up Tiffin for a 42-yard field goal inside the final five minutes. Arkansas was forced off the field by the Tide defense, and then John Parker Wilson and Alabama took advantage of the final opportunity.

The win positioned the Crimson Tide for a run at the SEC title the following year, and a national championship two years down the road. They would finish 7-6 in 2007

, with the official record reading 2-6 thanks to having five wins vacated by the NCAA. Arkansas fell out of the polls and finished their season 8-5.