Looking back at the chaos of the 2007 college football season

Zach Bigalke

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

A decade ago, one upset after another sent college football down a spiral into chaos. Let’s look back at the absurd twists and turns of the 2007 season.

Back in 2007, one high-ranked team after another suffered defeat at the hands of unranked or lower-ranked opponents.Pedigree meant little when it came to action on the field. There were upsets by FCS schools, by mid-majors, and by the minnows of bigger leagues. Right off the bat, fans were witness to one major surprise after another.

It was a season that seemed to turn conventional wisdom on its head. Only one team finished the regular season undefeated, and that team played in one of the mid-major conferences. But there was no reprisal of the 1984 season in which BYU won the national title. It was, instead, the season that turned Les Miles into a national champion head coach.

As the season wore on, no team seemed to actually want the responsibility of holding one of the top two spots in the BCS rankings. Number two was an especially perilous position to hold, as seven different teams lost over the course of the year while holding that spot in the rankings. By the end of the year, it was anybody’s guess as to who would actually play for the BCS championship.

The “Year of the Upset” is now a decade in the rearview mirror, but its impact continues to reverberate throughout college football. As the new year kicks off, let’s look back at how the 2007 college football season unfolded.

Week 1: August 30-September 3, 2007

The opening week of most college football seasons feels like a long warm-up into the real heart of September. With an ever-extending calendar, games are now pushing further and further into August. But this is hardly a new trend. Given that Week 1 of the college season centers on the long Labor Day weekend, it has long been a tradition to ease into the season.

But in 2017, chaos struck in full force as soon as possible. No loss was bigger than the tumble that preseason No. 5 Michigan took against the two-time defending FCS national champion Appalachian State Mountaineers. We’ll get to that game more in a second. But let’s talk first about the craziness of the rest of the week.

The only showcase battle featuring a battle between preseason Top 25 team came when No. 15 Tennessee traveled to Berkeley to face No. 12 California. In Phillip Fulmer’s penultimate season with the Volunteers, the season began with a survivable 45-31 loss. After all, Cal boasted a backfield of Justin Forsett and Jahvid Best, DeSean Jackson at receiver, and were the higher-ranked team playing at home.

To cap the weekend, the nation watched unranked Clemson topple No. 19 Florida State on Labor Day. This was back when “Clemsoning” was still a thing. Drew Weatherford threw for just 4.2 yards per attempt on 50 percent passing, finishing with 142 yards and a touchdown. The Tigers jumped to a 24-3 lead by halftime, then held on in the second half as the Seminoles mounted a futile comeback bid that dropped them out of the AP and Coaches Polls.

Most ranked teams held serve, though. That, perhaps, is what made the first major upset that much more surprising.

The Big Upset of the Week

But those losses by ranked schools were nothing compared to what happened in Ann Arbor. Appalachian State came to the Big House in Ann Arbor and held stride with what was hypothetically a top-five Michigan team. Gamblers hadn’t even set a line on the game, despite Appalachian State’s proven staying power at the FCS level.

But the Mountaineers, led by Armanti Edwards, immediately opened the 2007 season with a bang. Edwards started immediately at quarterback as a true freshman in 2006 and piloted the Mountaineers to their second straight national title. Against the Wolverines, Edwards committed three turnovers, tossing two picks and losing a fumble.

But he also engineered four scoring drives, and Appalachian State was up 31-20 in the third quarter. Michigan came back against their lower-division opponents, taking a 32-31 lead with less than five minutes remaining. Two failed two-point conversion attempts proved fatal, though, as Edwards drove Appalachian State down the Michigan Stadium field in the closing minutes.

Tyler Rauch kicked a 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining, but Michigan still had one final chance to survive. Chad Henne found Mario Manningham on a long ball for 46 yards, setting up Jason Gingell for a 37-yard field goal attempt. But Mountaineers safety Corey Lynch blocked the the kick, and the first FCS win over a top-five team was complete.

Appalachian State went on to win the FCS national championship for a third straight season. Michigan would go on to win nine games, but Lloyd Carr also became a lame-duck coach after this shocker.

Week 2: September 6-8, 2007

After the loss to Appalachian State, things didn’t get any easier for Michigan in Week 2. Oregon came to Ann Arbor and downed the Wolverines in a 39-7 rout. The Ducks racked up 331 rushing yards on their hosts, with Jonathan Stewart leading the way with 111 yards and a score. Dennis Dixon compiled 368 total yards and four touchdowns as Oregon moved to 2-0 and Michigan 0-2.

The showcase of the weekend, though, was a different non-conference contest featuring two of the top 10 teams in the country. The curse against top-two teams had not yet struck. Instead, No. 2 LSU took down No. 9 Virginia Tech in a 48-7 blowout in Death Valley. The Hokies were held to 171 total yards of offense by the Tigers’ dominant defense, while LSU’s offense put up a clean 600 yards and six touchdowns.

The Big Upset of the Week

The most exciting game of the week, however, came down on the Plains as No. 17 Auburn hosted upstarts South Florida. At that point the Bulls were still in their first decade of existence. USF became a I-A team in 2001, quickly growing until joining the Big East in 2005. They promptly upset Louisville and West Virginia in their first two seasons in the league.

But beating conference foes and winning against a non-conference battle on the road are two very different things. South Florida’s defense was up to the test, holding the Tigers under 300 total yards of offense. The Bulls took a 14-3 lead after one quarter, but Auburn was ahead 17-14 by halftime and it seemed like the SEC contenders were out of danger.

The Tigers had the lead after the intermission, but kept stepping on their own toes as they coughed up five turnovers. South Florida, though, had trouble turning Auburn’s mistakes into points from that point. The kickers for both teams got plenty of opportunities as the two teams traded field goals.

Auburn’s Wes Byrum kicked his second field goal of the night from 46 yards to put the Tigers up 20-17 with less than three minutes remaining. USF responded by driving downfield to put Delbert Alvarado in position to tie things back up in the final minute. The game went to overtime, Auburn only mustered a field goal, and the Bulls completed the upset when Matt Grothe hit Jessie Hester for the game-winning score.

The win gave the Bulls their first-ever win over an SEC opponent. It also launched South Florida into the Top 25 rankings for the first time in school history. Auburn, meanwhile, joined TCU and Boise State on their way out of the rankings.

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

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.

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.

Week 4: September 20-22, 2007

Week 4 began on Thursday night with yet another upset, as unranked Miami hosted No. 20 Texas A&M. The Hurricanes doubled up the score on the Aggies, as Miami’s defense held A&M to 252 total yards of offense. Kyle Wright completed 21 of his 26 passing attempts for 275 yards and two scores, and each of the Hurricanes running backs punched in touchdowns in the 34-17 win.

Once Saturday rolled around, No. 2 LSU managed to survive No. 12 South Carolina at home. The Tigers put together a team rushing effort that netted nearly 300 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Matt Flynn completed just eight of 19 attempts for 70 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. But the LSU defense held the Gamecocks to 17 total rushing yards on 27 carries, and pulled away for a 28-16 victory.

Eyeballs stayed focused on the SEC throughout the day. No. 3 Florida fended off a second-half comeback attempt to beat Ole Miss. Then No. 21 Kentucky moved to 4-0 on the season with a 42-29 takedown of Arkansas. But it was the showdown in Tuscaloosa between No. 22 Georgia and No. 16 Alabama that had the biggest impact.

The visitors jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first half, with Matthew Stafford throwing a touchdown pass and the Georgia defense clamping down on the Tide. Halftime adjustments, though, turned the tables as Alabama came back in the second half to tie things up. The Bulldogs had a chance to win in regulation, but Brandon Coutu’s 47-yard field goal attempt missed. Georgia would have to wait until overtime to walk away winners from Tuscaloosa, after responding to Leigh Tiffin’s field goal with a Stafford touchdown pass on Georgia’s first play.

The Big Upset of the Week

Three weeks earlier, Michigan had been left for dead after falling to the eventual three-peat FCS national champions and Pac-10 contender Oregon. Chad Henne was injured in the second loss, forcing head coach Lloyd Carr to turn to true freshman quarterback Ryan Mallett. It seemed like the Wolverines were doomed to tumble down the Big Ten standings as a result.

That prognosis was premature, however, as the Wolverines came back from their losses to take down rival Notre Dame 38-0 in Week 3. Mallett completed just seven of his 15 attempts for 90 passing yards, though he did throw three touchdowns. The takedown of Notre Dame was a welcome change of fortunes, but Michigan was still a heavy underdog as they welcomed No. 10 Penn State to the Big House.

The turnaround was largely the result of two factors. First, the defense suddenly clicked as it pitched a shutout against the Fighting Irish. Penn State had averaged 45 points per game coming into the showdown against Michigan. But the Wolverines forced three fumbles and held Penn State under 300 total yards of offense. More importantly, they held the Nittany Lions to field goals the entire game.

Second, Carr and the offensive staff continued to lean on senior running back Mike Hart after Henne’s injury. Hart had rushed for 188 yards and three scores in the loss to Appalachian State. He followed that up with 127 yards against the Ducks. Against Notre Dame, Hart racked up 187 yards and two scores. Despite rushing against a stacked Penn State defense, Hart pounded the ball 44 times for 153 yards and a touchdown in the 14-9 win.

The end result was that Penn State dropped from No. 10 to No. 21 in the AP poll, while Michigan set itself up for a return to the polls in mid-October. Joe Paterno’s losing streak extended to nine games against the Wolverines, the longest losing streak Paterno would endure against a single team during his career.

Week 5: September 27-29, 2007

The chaos really began to emerge right before the end of September. As teams neared the halfway point of the season, the first big reshuffling of the polls took place a fortnight before the release of the season’s first BCS standings. In Week 5, five of the top 10 teams in the AP Top 25 lost. Beyond that, seven total Top 25 teams fell to unranked opponents.

Friday night’s Big East opener between No. 5 West Virginia and No. 18 South Florida started off the chaos that ensued before the calendar flipped into October. Mountaineers quarterback Pat White was injured right before halftime, and WVU’s ground game couldn’t get going to full speed. West Virginia lost six turnovers, while South Florida lost the ball four times. Matt Grothe did just enough for the Bulls to stay unbeaten in the 21-13 win. USF climbed a dozen spots in the polls, while the Mountaineers fell from No. 5 to No. 12.

Only one other game in Week 5 featured a battle between two ranked teams. Autzen Stadium played host to the Saturday showdown between No. 6 California and No. 11 Oregon. Both teams were unbeaten heading into the game. The Ducks turned the ball over four times at home, but the Ducks still had a chance to send the game to overtime. Cameron Colvin, reaching for the endzone, fumbled the ball for a touchback in the final minute. The Golden Bears escaped with a 31-24 win.

Two weeks after falling out of the polls, Georgia Tech took down a Clemson team that had climbed to No. 13 in the nation. Illinois likewise dealt No. 21 Penn State its second straight loss, while No. 22 Alabama lost a non-conference battle against Florida State at home. The Nittany Lions and Crimson Tide both fell out of the polls, while Clemson dropped nine spots to No. 22.

In any other week, these games would have been featured highlight material as the biggest upsets of the week. Back in Week 5 of the 2007 season, though, they were secondary storylines compared to what transpired higher up the polls.

The Big Upsets of the Week

September 29, 2007, is memorable not for one upset but rather the confluence of multiple major upsets. Four teams in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 fell against unranked schools on the same day. Three of the four upset victims were playing at home, furthering the surprise factor.

The one defeat suffered on the road by a top-10 school came when No. 3 Oklahoma crumbled 27-24 at 2-2 Colorado after a fourth-quarter Buffaloes surge. The Sooners were held under 300 yards of offense by the Buffaloes, as quarterback Sam Bradford was held to 112 yards on 8-of-19 passing. His counterpart, Cody Hawkins, completed 22 of 36 attempts for 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Sooners defense collapsed in the final quarter, giving up 17 unanswered points, including the game-winning field goal as time expired.

1700 miles away in Gainesville, Auburn dealt No. 4 Florida an upset in SEC play. By the end of the first half, the Gators were already down 14-0 at home. Led by Tim Tebow, they came back to tie the game up in the fourth quarter. But Gators left Auburn too much time, and the Tigers capitalized by setting up Wes Byrum to kick a 43-yard field goal as time expired to secure a 20-17 upset.

Two years removed from winning the BCS national championship at the Rose Bowl, No. 7 Texas had been treated warily by pollsters. Over the opening month of the season, the Longhorns had fallen three spots from their preseason ranking in both polls. That skepticism made sense after unranked Kansas State intercepted four Colt McCoy passes. The Wildcats capitalized on those mistakes and ran away with a 41-21 upset in Austin.

And then there was Maryland, which dealt No. 10 Rutgers its first loss of the season. Playing on the road, the Terrapins leaned on the rushing of Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball to take down the Scarlet Knights. Though Mike Teel threw for over 300 yards in defeat, it wasn’t enough to prevent Maryland from nabbing a 34-24 victory in Piscataway.

Florida dropped only five spots after their defeat. Oklahoma tumbled seven spots. Texas fell 12 positions after falling to Kansas State. And Rutgers fell 11 places down the list. Added up, it led to a major reshuffle of the college football deck.

Week 6: October 2-6, 2007

After the unranked upsets of Week 5 reconfigured the college football rankings, it made for a full slate of showcase games in Week 6. Seven different contests featured a pair of Top 25 teams against one another. It seemed as though the contenders might finally separate themselves from the pretenders. With only one of the lower-ranked teams winning in the contests, chalk held largely to form.

No. 11 South Carolina was the one lower-ranked team to pull off a victory, as they dealt No. 8 Kentucky its first loss of the season. On the road in Columbia, the Wildcats committed five turnovers to end their perfect campaign. Chris Smelley led the upset for the Gamecocks, completing 17-of-30 attempts for 256 yards and two scores. South Carolina climbed up to No. 7 in the polls, while Kentucky dropped nine spots to No. 17.

Otherwise, every higher-ranked team won. Top-ranked LSU took down No. 9 Florida in their annual SEC rivalry game. In Big Ten play, No. 23 Purdue fell to No. 4 Ohio State in West Lafayette. At the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, No. 10 Oklahoma held on to win the Red River Shootout over No. 19 Texas. Another Big 12 matchup between ranked teams saw No. 17 Missouri knock No. 25 Nebraska out of the polls after a 41-6 Tigers rout.

Over in the ACC, No. 22 Clemson lost for a second straight week as No. 15 Virginia Tech scored passing, rushing, interception return, and punt return touchdowns in a 41-23 win on the road. And No. 20 Cincinnati picked off Mike Teel three times to knock off No. 21 Rutgers on the road. The Bearcats improved to 6-0 and climbed five spots up the polls after the 28-23 victory.

There were other big upsets that crept up on everyone. On the road in Champaign, No. 5 Wisconsin fell to Illinois as Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first loss of the season for the Badgers, which fell 10 spots in the Coaches poll and 14 places in the AP rankings.

Then there was the story of Kansas. Mark Mangino’s team took down No. 24 Kansas State in Manhattan, knocking their state rivals out of the polls and climbing into the Top 25 for the first time since 1996. The Jayhawks moved to 5-0 for the first time in a dozen years, forcing three Josh Freeman interceptions and holding the Wildcats to 53 rushing yards.

The Big Upset of the Week

All of this was crazy enough. But it was on the first weekend of October that the first No. 2 team fell in a year that would come to be defined by the phenomenon. It also gave us the first chapter of the rivalry between coaches Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh had just taken over the Stanford job in 2007, and entering the game against No. 2 USC there was little reason to think the Cardinal could win.

Stanford was 1-3 entering the contest and winless in Pac-10 play in Harbaugh’s first month on the job. The trip to Los Angeles marked the first road game of the season for the Cardinal. Tavita Pritchard earned his first start at quarterback in relief of the injured T.C. Ostrander, and the results were predictable. Pritchard completed just 11 of his 30 attempts for 149 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He gained 27 yards on 14 rushes.

Two years removed from their narrow loss to Texas in the BCS championship at the Rose Bowl, the Trojans were on track for another title game appearance. Stanford seemed like a blip on the schedule, as USC had won five straight over their northern private-school rival. But the Cardinal defense kept the team in the contest against one of the top teams in the nation, intercepting John David Booty four times and forcing a fumble. They came up with a critical goal-line stand that left USC without a touchdown at the end of the first half.

Even then, USC was still up 16-7 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Cardinal offense chipped away at the lead until a Derek Belch field goal pulled Stanford within 23-17. That set the stage for Pritchard to come through in the clutch. Hitting Mark Bradford for a 10-yard touchdown in the final minute, the defense also nabbed its last two interceptions on either side of the score to preserve a 24-23 upset.

The Cardinal went on to win four of the next five meetings between the two schools. But in 2007, the USC upset would prove the high point in a 4-8 season. Knocking off the Trojans presaged future successes for Harbaugh’s Stanford squads.

Week 7: October 10-13, 2007

By the second week of October, the trend of unranked teams taking down ranked programs was well established. That trend continued in the Thursday-night showcase, as Wake Forest took down No. 21 Florida State at home. Down 14-7 at halftime, the Demon Deacons tied the game up in the third quarter and then scored the winning points on a 48-yard Sam Swank field goal in the final two minutes of the game.

Once Saturday rolled around, a slew of upsets struck from coast to coast. In the Big Ten, Illinois climbed to No. 18 after rendering several upsets of their own. Once they reached the polls, though, the tables turned. Iowa, entering the game under .500 at 2-4, knocked off the Illini 10-6 in a defensive spectacle. Earlier in the day, No. 19 Wisconsin was blown out in Happy Valley by Penn State to join Illinois on the way out of the polls.

After starting the season 6-0, No. 15 Cincinnati welcomed Louisville to Nippert Stadium hoping to keep pace in the Big East. Instead, Brian Brohm threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns as the Cardinals took down the Bearcats 28-24. The Louisville defense also forced four turnovers as Cincinnati suffered its first defeat of the season.

In the only battle of the week featuring two ranked teams, No. 6 Oklahoma engineered a fourth-quarter comeback to knock off No. 11 Missouri in Norman. Tigers quarterback Chase Daniel threw for 361 yards, but four turnovers doomed Mizzou in their bid to remain undefeated. It was a prelude to the Big 12 championship game two months later, though the league would go through more twists and turns along the way.

The Big Upsets of the Week

The biggest upsets in Week 7, though, For the first time since 1996, both of the top two teams in the polls lost on the same weekend of the regular season. Back then, No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Tennessee were both toppled on the same September Saturday. During that season, Florida State and Arizona State also lost their respective bowl games while ranked in the top two.

The first frontrunner tumbled in Lexington as No. 1 LSU fell in three overtimes against No. 17 Kentucky. Rich Brooks’ team came back from a 27-21 deficit in the fourth quarter to force extra time. In the overtime period, the teams traded touchdowns and then field goals through the first two tries. Then Andre’ Woodson hit Steve Johnson for a touchdown in the third OT period, and the WIldcats defense held LSU scoreless to preserve the win.

With that win, Kentucky improved to 6-1 in the standings. It was thus far less of a shock to see the Wildcats pull off the victory than the upset on the other side of the country. Mike Riley’s Oregon State team sported a 3-3 record as they traveled to Berkeley on the second weekend on October. Cal had climbed into the top two of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1951 after starting 5-0. But three turnovers proved costly for Cal, and Yvenson Bernard ran for 110 yards and two scores to seal the 31-28 shocker. Jeff Tedford’s team actually got into position to force overtime, but backup quarterback Kevin Riley bungled the final play.

Coming right before the release of the first weekly BCS standings for the 2007 season, the loss proved far more costly for the Golden Bears than it was for LSU. The Tigers were ranked fourth in the first BCS standings of the year, while Cal dropped all the way to No. 12 in the initial release. Two new undefeated teams took over the top spots, with Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State rising to No. 1 and Big East upstart South Florida right behind them.

Week 8: October 18-20, 2007

Week 8 featured three showdowns between Top 25 teams, two in the SEC and another in the Big 12. In Baton Rouge, Demetrius Byrd caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn with one second remaining for the winning touchdown in No. 4 LSU’s 30-24 win over No. 17 Auburn. In other Saturday action, No. 16 Missouri blew out No. 24 Texas Tech 41-10 at home. The one game that went against the numbers was hardly shocking, as No. 15 Florida took down No. 7 Kentucky 45-38 in Lexington.

The upsets to unranked opponents extended up and down the rankings as five different unranked teams took down Top 25 programs in Week 8. Two other SEC schools fell as well on Saturday as part of the upset avalanche. No. 6 South Carolina lost at home to Vanderbilt, upset 17-6 as the Gamecocks coughed up four turnovers on the day. In Tuscaloosa, unranked Alabama took down No. 21 Tennessee 41-17 in the annual showdown on the third Saturday in October.

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At the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Nate Longshore returned from injury to start at quarterback for No. 12 California. Longshore threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw three picks to the other team. Justin Forsett was held to 76 yards on the ground, while UCLA’s Kahlil Bell was able to churn out 142 yards for the Bruins. Down 21-20 at the start of the fourth quarter, UCLA scored the final 10 points of the game to run away with the 30-21 upset.

Over in the Big East, the upsets continued on Saturday as Pittsburgh took down No. 23 Cincinnati at home. LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling both rushed for over 100 yards for the Panthers. The Bearcats took a 17-3 lead into the intermission, but lost three turnovers on their final three drives to fall 24-17 on the road.

The Big Upset of the Week

Of course, the biggest Big East upset of Week 8 came early. For the third straight week, the No. 2 team in the country was toppled. South Florida didn’t last long in the No. 2 spot of the BCS standings. Just four days after rising to a prime position in the polls, the Bulls turned around and lost to Rutgers on Thursday night.

USF’s defense held Scarlet Knights quarterback Mike Teel to 179 yards on 11-of-29 passing, though he did get two touchdowns. Ray Rice led the way for Rutgers, racking up 181 punishing rushing yards. But he also coughed up a fumble late in the fourth quarter that opened the door for a potential comeback bid by the Bulls.

Instead, the Rutgers defense locked down to preserve yet another major upset over a top-ranked school. The Bulls went three and out after the fumble, then threw an interception on their final possession. Teel took a couple of knees, and the clock ran down to zeroes. Despite winning the turnover battle, South Florida’s comeback bid fell short.

South Florida has never come as close to a national championship opportunity in the decade since. losing to Rutgers. USF fell to No. 10 in the second set of BCS standings and continued falling over the rest of the year.

After the collapse of the Big East, the Bulls became a Group of Five school in the reconfigured American Athletic Conference. Rutgers joined the Big Ten after the dissolution of the Big East, moving up in the conference hierarchy. A decade later, the Scarlet Knights are the Power Five school on the downward trajectory while South Florida could belatedly reach their first major bowl game in 2017.

Week 9: October 25-27, 2007

On the last Thursday night of October, it looked like the curse against No. 2 teams might have been lifted. Boston College took down No. 8 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg to move to 8-0 on the season and remain No. 2 for a second straight week. Matt Ryan completed less than half of his passes and threw two picks. But he also tossed for 285 yards and two scores, leading a fourth-quarter comeback to keep the Eagles undefeated.

The ACC showdown was one of six contests pitting Top 25 teams against one another. At Autzen Stadium, No. 5 Oregon took down No. 12 USC 24-17 as Jonathan Stewart rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Top-ranked Ohio State had no trouble on the road against No. 25 Penn State, taking down the Nittany Lions 37-17 in Happy Valley. Meanwhile, No. 4 Arizona State stayed unbeaten as they knocked off No. 21 California 31-20 at Sun Devil Stadium as Dimitri Nance rushed for three scores.

Several of the Top 25 contests did end with the lower-ranked team stealing the win. Playing on the road, No. 10 South Florida lost a second straight game when they fell 22-15 at No. 23 Connecticut despite racking up nearly 100 more yards of offense. Around the same time, No. 18 Georgia outscored No. 11 Florida for a 42-30 win in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville.

There were a couple of other ranked SEC teams that lost to unranked conference opponents on the last Saturday of October. 2-5 Mississippi State went to Lexington and trounced No. 14 Kentucky, forcing three Andre’ Woodson interceptions in the 31-14 upset. Earlier in the day, Daniel Lincoln kicked a tying field goal and then the winning points in overtime as Tennessee toppled No. 16 South Carolina at Neyland Stadium.

The Big Upset of the Week

It is hard to believe now, given the past decade of futility that has ensued for the Cavaliers. But in 2007, Virginia was threatening to conquer the ACC for the first time since sharing the title with Florida State in 1995. Al Groh’s team had lost their season opener at Wyoming, but climbed up to No. 15 in the polls after winning seven straight.

Over the first half of the season, NC State had looked like a team in disarray. Tom O’Brien was in his first season as head coach of the Wolfpack after leaving Boston College for a lateral move in the ACC. NC State started the year 2-5, their only wins coming against FCS Wofford and East Carolina out of C-USA.

Daniel Evans stole the show for the Wolfpack, throwing for 347 yards and three touchdowns against a Cavaliers defense featuring All-American defensive end Chris Long. Meanwhile, Jameel Sewell was picked off twice and the Cavaliers struggled to push the ball downfield on the ground. Even then they still held a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter. Evans threw his last touchdown pass midway through the final frame, and NC State clamped down defensively to preserve the 29-24 win.

Week 10: November 1-3, 2007

Thursday night action featured No. 11 Virginia Tech on the road at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets had started the year ranked after knocking off Notre Dame on the road and taking down FCS Samford to open the season. Georgia Tech had no answer for Sean Glennon, who passed for 296 yards and two touchdowns. The Hokies secondary also had GT’s number, picking off five of their 29 pass attempts. Frank Beamer’s crew ran away with an easy 27-3 victory.

Once the first Saturday of November rolled around, several ranked teams battled one another. The feature matchup of the day took place in Eugene, where No. 5 Oregon dealt No. 4 Arizona State its first loss of the year. Dennis Dixon threw four touchdown passes, Jonathan Stewart rushed for 99 yards and a score, and the Ducks took over the Pac-10 lead with a 35-23 win over the Sun Devils.

Top-ranked Ohio State had little trouble with No. 21 Wisconsin in Columbus. Chris Wells ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns to pace Ohio State to victory. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes defense held Wisconsin’s rushing attack to just 12 total yards on the ground. Three fumbles proved costly for the Badgers as they fell by three touchdowns, 38-17, on the road.

LSU, back up to No. 3 in the nation, faced its former head coach for the first time when No. 17 Alabama hosted the Tigers in Tuscaloosa. Matt Flynn threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns, but he also tossed three interceptions that kept the game closer than anticipated. But the Crimson Tide rushed for just 20 yards, and LSU pulled off a fourth-quarter rally to stay atop the SEC West with a 41-34 victory.

In Charlottesville, No. 23 Virginia improved to 8-2 on the season after Mikell Simpson ran in the winning touchdown with 2:18 remaining against No. 24 Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons held Jameel Sewell under 50 percent passing and forced an interception, but Virginia came back in the fourth quarter to stay in the polls.

Things didn’t work out as well for No. 18 South Florida, which dropped its third straight game after rising to No. 2 in the BCS standings. Down in Tampa, the Bulls spotted Cincinnati a 31-7 lead in the first quarter. Though they chipped away at the deficit, four Matt Grothe interceptions doomed the Bulls to defeat. The loss pushed USF out of the rankings for a fortnight.

The Big Upset of the Week

For the fourth time in five weeks, the No. 2 team in the nation suffered an upset. This time the surprise came in the ACC, where Boston College had sat in a BCS title game position for a second straight week. That was as long as the Eagles would last in the position, though, as they fell 27-17 to Florida State on Saturday.

Matt Ryan threw for 415 yards and two touchdowns. But Ryan also completed less than half of his passing attempts and threw three interceptions to the Seminoles. Ryan also led all Boston College rushers with 30 yards on the ground. The dearth of balance, combined with four total turnovers, proved costly to the Eagles.

Even then, the teams went scoreless in the first quarter before FSU went into the locker room at halftime with a 7-0 lead. Boston College pulled within a field goal late in the third quarter, but Bobby Bowden’s team quickly restored its lead. In the final two minutes, Ryan got the ball back with the chance to drive the Eagles toward a winning touchdown. Then Geno Hayes stepped in front of one of Ryan’s passes, returning the pick 38 yards for an insurance touchdown, and the Seminoles prevailed 27-17 on the road.

The Seminoles became bowl eligible with the win, but remained outside the Top 25. Boston College, on the other hand, fell six spots in the BCS standings after losing its first game of the season. After returning to the polls in 2008, Boston College has yet to return to the Top 25 in the past eight years.

Week 11: November 6-10, 2007

After falling from No. 2, to No. 8, Boston College kept falling in Week 11 of the 2007 season. The Eagles went to College Park to take on Maryland in ACC action, hoping to rebound after their loss the previous week to Florida State. Instead, Matt Ryan threw two more interceptions and the Terrapins held off an Eagles comeback bid to pull off the 42-35 upset.

A week after taking down South Florida, Cincinnati was the author of another upset when they knocked off No. 13 Connecticut at Nippert Stadium. Matt Mauk threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another as the Bearcats blew out their visitors 27-3. Cincinnati held the Huskies to 204 total yards of offense as UConn struggled to gain any momentum all day long.

Out at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin had fallen out of the rankings the previous week after losing to No. 1 Ohio State. The Badgers rebounded to upset No. 12 Michigan 37-21 at home. Zach Brown led Wisconsin on the ground, rushing for 108 yards and two scores. On defense, the Badgers intercepted Ryan Mallett twice and Chad Henne once. Without Mike Hart, the Wolverines were held to just 47 rushing yards for their third loss of the year.

Meanwhile, unranked Mississippi State gave fans in Starkville something to celebrate. The Bulldogs dealt Nick Saban’s No. 22 Alabama team its fourth loss of the season. Despite committing eight penalties and finishing with less than 250 total yards of offense, Mississippi State held the Crimson Tide to four field goals in the 17-12 upset. Alabama fell out of the rankings with the loss, never to return for the rest of 2007.

The only game between Top 25 teams went to form, as No. 10 Georgia routed No. 18 Auburn 45-20 in Athens. Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno led a Bulldogs offense that finished with 426 yards of offense against the Tigers. On the other side of the ball, Georgia held Auburn to 248 yards and forced four Brandon Cox interceptions. Auburn dropped from the poll, while Mark Richt’s team climbed to No. 9 after the win.

The Big Upset of the Week

In a year full of upsets, it seemed inevitable that No. 1 would tumble again before the end of November. Sitting at the top of the rankings in Week 11 was Ohio State, one of just three undefeated teams remaining in the country. The Buckeyes looked like a team of destiny through much of the season, as they held opponents to 17 points or less in each of their first 10 victories.

Against the Buckeyes, though, Illinois played a near-perfect game. Daniel Dufresne and Rashard Mendenhall led a rushing attack that racked up 260 yards on the ground versus Ohio State. That 260 yards was four times what the Buckeyes allowed on average entering the contest in Columbus.

On the other side of the ball, the Illini defense picked off three of Todd Boeckman’s passes. Prevented from getting into any sort of rhythm, the Buckeyes gained 336 yards of offense but were unable to put more points on the board. A Chris Wells touchdown at the end of the third quarter proved to be all the scoring that would take place at the Horseshoe.

The defeat ended Ohio State’s 20-game Big Ten winning streak and 28-game regular season winning streak. Illinois knocked off a No. 1 team on the road for the first time ever, and won against a top-ranked opponent for the first time in 51 years. The Buckeyes dropped to seventh in the next day’s BCS standings, their title dreams on life support.

Week 12: November 13-17, 2007

Mid-November usually brings some clarity to the conference races and national hierarchy. In 2007, however, it only brought more chaos and confusion. No. 16 Hawaii, striving to join Boise State and Utah as BCS Busters, remained one of two unbeaten teams in the country after surviving a Friday-night visit to Nevada 28-26. Backup quarterback Tyler Graunke started for the injured Colt Brennan and threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns. Nevada was in position to win the game, but a 45-yard field goal with 12 seconds left allowed Hawaii to remain perfect.

Once Saturday rolled around, the chaos continued. Unranked Texas Tech knocked No. 4 Oklahoma out of the national title picture in a 34-27 upset. Graham Harrell threw for 420 yards and two scores, with Michael Crabtree hauling in 12 catches for 154 yards and one score. Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game early with a concussion. Despite scoring two late touchdowns to make it close, Oklahoma couldn’t recover in time.

Keeping their hopes alive for a BCS berth were No. 6 West Virginia, No. 7 Ohio State, and No. 9 Georgia. The Mountaineers hung on for a 28-23 road victory at No. 22 Cincinnati to move to 9-1 in the standings. Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes squad took down No. 21 Michigan in their annual rivalry game to win the Big Ten title at 11-1. And Georgia knocked No. 23 Kentucky out of the rankings with a 24-13 win at home.

Kansas, all the way up to No. 3 in the BCS standings, joined Hawaii as the only other unbeaten team in the country. The Jayhawks had a much easier time than the Rainbow Warriors, as Todd Reesing threw four touchdown passes in a 45-7 victory against hapless Iowa State. Coupled with No. 5 Missouri’s win at Kansas State, the Kansas victory set up a winner-take-all Border War showdown for the Big 12 North title.

The Big Upset of the Week

While most of the Saturday contests went to form among the high-ranked teams vying for a BCS berth, the biggest upset of the week had already occurred two days earlier. On a Thursday night in the desert, yet another No. 2 team fell from its perch. Arizona, entering the game at 4-6 in the standings and needing to win out to become bowl eligible, had a history of taking down high-ranked teams at home in November.

Since Mike Stoops had taken over the Wildcats program in 2004, they had hosted — and knocked off — a top-15 team in Tucson. In his first year, Stoops’ team beat No. 13 Arizona State for the Territorial Cup. The next year, the Wildcats pummeled No. 7 UCLA 52-14 for their defining moment in an otherwise dismal 3-9 campaign in 2005. Homecoming 2006 saw Arizona take down No. 8 California 24-20, a defeat that lost the Golden Bears the Pac-10 crown.

But the way in which Oregon lost 34-24 at Arizona Stadium was especially gruesome. The Ducks had vaulted up to No. 2 in the rankings thanks largely to the play of their Heisman candidate quarterback Dennis Dixon. After spraining his knee against Arizona State two weeks earlier, Dixon had looked as good as ever on Oregon’s first series. He masterfully operated offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s option attack, guiding the Ducks downfield on the opening drive and busting a 39-yard touchdown run.

On the second series, the Ducks were thwarted when Dixon threw an interception at the goal line. Arizona converted the turnover into a touchdown on the next drive, but Oregon drove right back down the field with an 8-7 lead. At the Arizona 15, Oregon was in striking distance for another touchdown and the beginning of a rout. Then Dixon’s foot planted wrong, his knee crumpled, and he fell untouched to the turf in agony.

It proved to be Dixon’s final play with the Ducks. Brady Leaf came in to replace the injured quarterback, but completed just 22 of his 46 attempts. Jonathan Stewart rushed for 131 yards but couldn’t find the endzone, and Arizona ran away with the win. The Ducks dropped to ninth in the BCS standings, but their fall was just beginning. Arizona would end up losing to Arizona State the next week, missing out on a bowl game for the fourth straight season.

Week 13: November 20-24, 2007

Thanksgiving weekend officially started on Tuesday night with Troy’s 45-7 win over Middle Tennessee. But the real start of the weekend’s bounty came on Thanksgiving night as No. 6 USC visited No. 11 Arizona State. The Trojans recovered from their losses to Stanford and Oregon to climb back up into BCS contention. John David Booty threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-24 win. The loss knocked the Sun Devils out of a chance at the Pac-10 title.

It was a fairly straightforward prelude that delayed for a day the chaos after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday

Friday offered a slate of rivalry games and high-ranked contests. The biggest upset of the week came as Arkansas toppled No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge. LSU had recovered from its earlier triple-overtime loss at Kentucky to return to the top spot in the BCS rankings. All they needed to do was win at home against the Razorbacks and then in the SEC championship game for a clear path to the title game. They were already guaranteed to play in the latter. Winning the former, however, proved more challenging.

Darren McFadden rushed for 206 yards and three scores to power the Razorbacks to a stunning road win. Peyton Hillis chipped in another 89 yards and two touchdowns in the upset at Tiger Stadium. LSU needed a last-minute touchdown in regulation just to force overtime. Then, after matching scores in the first two overtime periods, Arkansas converted its two-point attempt in triple overtime. The Tigers matched the Razorbacks touchdown but could not convert their two-point try. The 50-48 loss dropped to seventh in the BCS standings before the SEC championship game.

With an outside shot of inching into one of the BCS-affiliated bowls, No. 13 Texas instead fell to rival Texas A&M. The Longhorns gave up 362 passing yards and four total touchdowns to Aggies quarterback Stephen McGee. Jamaal Charles rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown, but the Texas comeback attempt ran out of time after they pulled within eight points. As a result, Mack Brown’s team tumbled to No. 20 after the 38-30 defeat.

The WAC offered a national showcase game as No. 15 Hawaii bolstered its BCS Buster claim with a 39-27 win over No. 19 Boise State. Three different Rainbow Warriors players had over 100 receiving yards as Colt Brennan finished with 495 passing yards and five touchdowns. The win pushed Hawaii up into the No. 12 spot and over the threshold to earn an automatic qualifying spot. The win sealed the WAC championship for the Rainbow Warriors, who had one more game on the schedule against 4-8 Washington to close out the regular season.

Thanksgiving Saturday

No Border War game between Missouri and Kansas ever carried quite as high stakes as the 2007 edition between the No. 2 Jayhawks and the No. 4 Tigers. Chase Daniel threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns, Tony Temple rushed for 98 yards, and Missouri prevailed on the road. Two Todd Reesing interceptions proved costly for Kansas, which lost its first game of the season as well as the Big 12 North title.

Losses to both of the top two teams opened the door for No. 3 West Virginia to take over one of the BCS championship positions. The Mountaineers responded with a 66-21 blowout of No. 20 Connecticut to go into the final weekend at 10-1. Pat White and Noel Devine each rushed for over 100 yards in the rout, and UConn was the only team to drop out of the Top 25 in Week 13.

Week 14: November 29-December 1, 2007

Ohio State entered the last weekend of the regular season at No. 3 in the BCS standings. The Buckeyes had already sealed up the Big Ten title after knocking off Michigan the week before Thanksgiving. All Jim Tressel’s team could do is wait and see if either of the teams would fall ahead of them. With only one loss against a top-15 Illinois team on their record, the Buckeyes looked like the surest bet to climb back into a top-two spot if either Missouri or West Virginia lost.

As a result, the Buckeyes had the easiest start to their December of any contender. Another wave of upsets left everything in disarray yet again entering the final month of the year. Week 14 offered a mix of conference championship games and league title races going down to the wire.

For the second straight week in a row, and the third time over the course of the season, the top two teams in the rankings fell on the same weekend. Along with Ohio State, other familiar names reemerged in the battle to nab one of the two coveted spots in the BCS Championship Game.

Big 12 Championship Game

Back in Week 7, No. 1 Missouri suffered its only loss of the season against Oklahoma. The Sooners went on to win the Big 12 South. Up to No. 9 in the BCS standings, Oklahoma faced the top-ranked Tigers in San Antonio in a rematch for the conference title.

Sam Bradford, healthy again after injuries derailed part of his season, threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Allen Patrick and Chris Brown combined to rush for 159 yards and three scores between them. The Sooners defense picked off Chase Daniel twice, and Bob Stoops won his fifth Big 12 title in nine seasons on the job in Norman.

Oklahoma ended the regular season at 11-2. One loss came against Texas Tech in Lubbock, which finished the regular season at 8-4 after taking down the Sooners. The latter came in Boulder against 6-6 Colorado.

Big East Title Race

West Virginia sat at No. 2 heading into the final weekend of the regular season. At least a share of the Big East title had already been sealed up by the Mountaineers. All they needed to do to win the league and a spot in the BCS Championship Game was knock off their rival for the third straight year.

But 4-7 Pittsburgh, already knowing they would not be headed to the postseason, treated the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl like their bowl game. Mountaineers quarterback Pat White exited the game with a dislocated thumb in the second quarter, stalling West Virginia’s prolific offense. LeSean McCoy rushed for 148 tough yards to put Pitt in position for the upset. The Panthers defense did the rest, holding West Virginia to single digits for the first time in 2007.

West Virginia shared the Big East title with Connecticut after both finished 5-2 in the league standings. The head-to-head win gave the Mountaineers the advantage for the league’s BCS berth. But, coupled with the team’s loss to 9-3 South Florida, the tumble against sub-.500 Pitt was a knockout blow for Rich Rodriguez’s dreams of coaching in a national title game.

ACC and SEC Championships

Down in the southeastern part of the country, things actually went to form in both the ACC and SEC championship games. In Jacksonville, Matt Ryan threw for 305 yards but tossed two picks as No. 11 Boston College fell to No. 6 Virginia Tech 30-16. The Hokies won the school’s second ACC title despite compiling nearly 100 fewer yards of offense. Losses to LSU and Boston College took place when both teams held the No. 2 position in the polls.

In Atlanta, LSU was hovering at No. 7 in the BCS standings as they took on No. 14 Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game. With Ryan Perrilloux at quarterback, the Tigers racked up 472 yards of offense against the Volunteers. Tennessee running back Arian Foster was held to 55 yards on 21 carries, but the Volunteers still held a 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter. But an Erik Ainge interception was returned for the winning touchdown, and a two-point conversion set the final score at 21-14 LSU. The Tigers’ only two losses had come in triple overtime against Kentucky and Arkansas.

Pac-10 Finales

The spiral continued for No. 17 Oregon at home as they fell 38-31 in double overtime against rival Oregon State. Oregon blocked Alexis Serna’s 35-yard attempt with 1:09 left in regulation, and then Matt Evensen missed from 53 yards out with 26 seconds remaining. Each kicker redeemed himself with a field goal in the first overtime. Then freshman receiver James Rodgers ran the ball 25 yards on the first play of the second overtime period, and the Beavers defense stuffed Stewart on fourth and one to end the game. It was the last time Oregon State won the Civil War until taking down the Ducks in Corvallis last year.

Arizona held the Sun Devils running backs Dimitri Nance and Keegan Herring under 100 combined rushing yards in the annual Territorial Cup game. The Wildcats took the lead in the first quarter after Willie Tuitama hit Rob Gronkowski for a goal-line score. But Tuitama was also picked off twice, and Rudy Carpenter’s solid if unspectacular passing led No. 13 Arizona State to a 20-17 victory in the rivalry game. The Sun Devils reached 10 wins for the first time since 1996, but the Thanksgiving loss to USC had already knocked Arizona State out of the Pac-10 race.

The No. 8 Trojans took the conference title thanks to that tiebreaker after beating UCLA 24-7 at home. Patrick Cowan hit Dominique Johnson for a nine-yard score in the final seconds of the first half, but it wasn’t enough against their loaded rivals. The win was fueled by a committee effort in the backfield. Stafon Johson rushed for 89 yards and a score, Chauncey Washington added 66 yards and another touchdown, and Joe McKnight contributed 73 yards. USC won the Pac-10, their two losses coming against sub-.500 Stanford and Oregon before Dennis Dixon was injured.

The BCS Buster in the Equation

Perhaps the most important game featuring a Pac-10 team was a non-conference tilt off the mainland to cap the last weekend of the regular season. Washington traveled to face No. 12 Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. It was the closest the Huskies would come to a bowl game. Tyrone Willingham’s team arrived in Honolulu with a 4-8 record, and it looked for a moment like Hawaii might finally lose a game.

Washington racked up a 21-0 lead in the first quarter on rushing touchdowns by Jake Locker and Luke Kravitz. Locker, the Huskies freshman quarterback, had a rougher time passing the ball. He finished with 142 yards and an interception in the defeat. Colt Brennan threw for exactly 300 more yards than Locker, and the Rainbow Warriors finished the regular season as the only undefeated team in the country.

But they needed a late touchdown to pull off the 35-28 victory on Brennan’s fifth touchdown pass of the game. It remained to be seen whether they would remain in a top-12 position that ensured an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game for teams from non-AQ conferences.

The Final Setting of the Postseason Calendar

After three months of football, the 11 conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision had determined their respective champions. The six automatic-qualifying schools guaranteed a berth in one of the BCS bowl games were Ohio State (Big Ten), USC (Pac-10), LSU (SEC), Virginia Tech (ACC), Oklahoma (Big 12), and West Virginia (Big East).

In the five non-AQ conferences, Hawaii had run the table as the only team to finish the 2007 regular season undefeated. Kansas joined Ohio State as the only other team with just one loss on its record. Beyond them, a bunch of imperfect two-loss teams were vying to nab one of the lucrative major bowl spots.

A year after winning the national championship as a freshman, Florida’s Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy. Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman after racking up 55 touchdowns and over 4000 total yards. But with three losses on their record, the Gators had no shot at getting back into the title game in 2007. Instead, they would have to settle for a Citrus Bowl berth against Michigan.

Who would play in the BCS Championship Game?

Thus the question became who would join the Buckeyes in New Orleans to play for the crystal pigskin. One of the two spots seemed fairly well settled, after Ohio State took over the No. 1 spot in the BCS standings. Having finished their season two weeks earlier against Michigan, the Buckeyes climbed in the polls by default. They benefitted from their inaction to rise back up to top-dog status. Ohio State was the only major-conference champion to finish the 2007 season with an 11-1 record.

The second position was tougher to determine. Les Miles set up a spirited lobbying campaign to get the SEC champs back into the No. 2 spot. He noted effectively that LSU was the only two-loss team that hadn’t lost in regulation. Had the Tigers played prior to 1996, they would have been an 11-0-2 team with an undefeated record.

Virginia Tech had the disadvantage of losing to LSU in a head-to-head matchup in September. West Virginia had lost to sub-.500 Pittsburgh, while USC had lost to sub-.500 Stanford. Oklahoma fell to 6-6 Colorado.

Thus the Tigers survived two separate losses that knocked them out of contention to climb back up to No. 2 for a third time. Among the other BCS games, the Hokies were paired against No. 8 Kansas in the Orange Bowl. West Virginia and Oklahoma were matched against one another in the Fiesta Bowl. USC was positioned in the Pac-10’s traditional Rose Bowl assignation against No. 13 Illinois. And Hawaii made a BCS bowl, paired up with No. 5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

2007 Bowl Games

A crazy season of upsets couldn’t have concluded without some crazy upsets in the postseason. BYU and Cincinnati became the first ranked teams to win bowl games. The No. 17 Cougars knocked off UCLA 17-16 in the Las Vegas Bowl, while No. 22 Cincinnati won 31-21 over Southern Miss.

The first Top 25 team fell when No. 24 Boise State was toppled 41-38 by East Carolina two days before Christmas. Four days later, No. 19 Texas took down No. 11 Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl. Then, on December 29, Wake Forest defeated No. 24 Connecticut by two touchdowns in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Joe Paterno won his 23rd career bowl game 24-17 over Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. Nick Saban won his first bowl game with Alabama, a 30-24 win over Colorado in the Independence Bowl. One marked the waning moment of an era, the other a team on the rise. And it all took place before New Year’s Eve.

New Year’s Eve

Celebrating the conclusion of its first decade of existence, the BCS had certainly reduced the impact of some bowl games that had not made the cut into the exclusive group of BCS sites. But there was still plenty of intrigue on the New Year’s Eve calendar before the BCS games began the next day.

The last day of 2007 began with yet another Top 25 loss. Both Oregon and South Florida had occupied the No. 2 spot in the BCS standings earlier in the season, but had tumbled in November to fall out of contention. The No. 21 Bulls were paired against the unranked Ducks in the Sun Bowl. Jonathan Stewart racked up a career-high 253 rushing yards as Oregon walloped USF 56-21 to end their losing streak.

Before it joined the major bowls in the College Football Playoff era, the Chik-fil-A Bowl still regularly boasted a matchup of ranked teams. Well-matched teams played to overtime in Atlanta, as No. 23 Auburn and No. 15 Clemson needed extra time to settle the score. In the battle of Tigers, Clemson had the ball first in OT and kicked a field goal. Auburn responded with the winning touchdown as Kodi Burns ran the final seven yards to victory.

California, no longer ranked, survived a 42-36 shootout against Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. Kentucky knocked off Florida State 35-28 at the Music City Bowl in Nashville. On the Smurf Turf in Boise, Fresno State took down Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl. And Oklahoma State trounced Indiana 49-33 in the Insight Bowl to conclude New Year’s Eve action.

New Year’s Day

January 1 used to mark the traditional end of the college football postseason. By 2007, bowl games were extending throughout the first week of the new year. But New Year’s Day still held plenty of significance in its own right. The day began with No. 16 Tennessee outlasting No. 18 Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl, and ended with a couple big upsets of ranked teams.

Missouri, having fallen to No. 6 after their loss in the Big 12 title game, missed out on a BCS invitation. Gary Pinkel’s crew settled for the Cotton Bowl, where they demolished Arkansas 38-7. Tony Temple rushed for 281 yards and four touchdowns in the Tigers rout, outplaying more storied running back Darren McFadden in the process.

In Orlando, Heisman winner Tim Tebow accounted for four touchdowns but managed just 211 total yards of offense. In the process, No. 12 Florida was upset by unranked Michigan to end its BCS title defense empty-handed. Mike Hart ran for 129 yards and two scores, while Chad Henne threw three touchdown passes and racked up 373 passing yards. It proved to be Lloyd Carr’s last game, as he was effectively a lame duck ever since falling to Appalachian State in the season opener.

To cap the day of football, Texas Tech faced No. 20 Virginia in the Gator Bowl. The Jacksonville crowd was treated to a tense 31-28 showdown that was decided by Alex Trlica’s 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left on the clock. Trlica’s field goal capped a 14-point comeback in the fourth quarter by the Red Raiders, who won nine games in a season for the third time in five years under Mike Leach.

The BCS Quartet

That wasn’t all the fun that began on New Year’s Day, though. The first of the BCS contests featured No. 5 Georgia and No. 10 Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Six days before another SEC school took the field at the Superdome, the Bulldogs dismantled the Rainbow Warriors in a 41-10 walkover. Colt Brennan threw three interceptions and failed to score a touchdown. For just the second time in his college career, Brennan threw for fewer than 200 yards. It proved a mismatch that rendered plenty of questions for mid-majors to come.

The Rose Bowl ended in similarly lopsided fashion. Illinois had upset Ohio State en route to a No. 13 ranking, but the magic did not strike in Pasadena for the Illini. The Trojans racked up a Rose Bowl-record 633 yards of offense as they took down the Big Ten runner-up 49-17. Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson both rushed for over 100 yards, while John David Booty threw three touchdown passes in the win. In the process, Southern California became the first school to win 11 or more games in six straight seasons.

The Fiesta Bowl took place on January 2 between West Virginia and Oklahoma. Rich Rodriguez had taken the Michigan job ahead of the bowl game, leaving his alma mater to rely on interim coach Bill Stewart. Few gave West Virginia a chance against the Sooners, but Stewart’s team pulled off a 48-28 upset of the No. 4 team in the country. Pat White threw for 176 yards and two scores, and added another 150 yards on the ground. Noel Devine also eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in the win as Stewart sealed a full-time gig with WVU.

In the final BCS bowl game before the championship, No. 8 Kansas played in the Orange Bowl for the first time since 1968. Their opponents, No. 3 Virginia Tech, had hoped for a trip to New Orleans but had to settle for Miami. The Jayhawks appeared more motivated from the outset, building a 17-7 lead by halftime and then doggedly hanging on to win by a field goal over the Hokies. After Tech pulled within three with three minutes remaining, Kansas was able to kill the rest of the clock to seal its first-ever Orange Bowl victory.

Ohio State v. LSU

The first week of January culminated in the showdown between the Buckeyes and Tigers for the ultimate prize in college football. Ohio State and LSU faced one another in the New Orleans Superdome on January 7. For the Buckeyes, it was a chance at redemption after crumbling against Florida the year before. For LSU, it was a chance for Les Miles to emerge from the shadow of Nick Saban and bring the Tigers another national title.

The Buckeyes scored first, as Chris Wells busted off a 65-yard touchdown run less than a minute and a half into the contest. After forcing a three and out on LSU’s first drive of the game, Ohio State extended its lead to 10 points with a 25-yard Ryan Pretorius field goal. The Tigers responded with their own field goal to pull back within a touchdown before the end of the first quarter.

Once the game shifted into the second quarter, so too did the momentum. Three straight LSU touchdowns put the Tigers up for good by halftime, as the defense picked off Todd Boeckman as the Buckeyes were driving to tie things back up midway through the frame. LSU instead went into the locker room up 24-10 at the intermission, and that gap would hold for the rest of the game.

Matt Flynn finished the game with just 174 passing yards but four touchdowns for the Tigers. Jacob Hester rushed for 86 yards and a score in the win. The two teams traded punches evenly in the second half of the game, but LSU had already put things out of reach in their home state.

After a wild season where they had lost twice in triple overtime, the Tigers made the Mad Hatter a national champion coach in the 38-24 win. In the final AP poll of the season, LSU was a near-unanimous choice for the national title. Georgia, USC, Missouri, and the Buckeyes rounded out the top five.

Next: College Football: Top 50 breakout candidates for 2017

There were as many questions as answers. Many wonder what might have happened if USC or Missouri had played the Tigers in the Superdome instead of Ohio State. But four years after winning a split national championship on the same field under Nick Saban, former Oklahoma State head coach Miles had pulled off a similar feat in an even more convoluted season to remember.

Zach Bigalke

Zach is a sport historian in the Department of Kinesiology at Penn State University. He has covered a variety of American and international sports online and in print since 2006 and was formerly the managing editor at Informative Sports and Sports Unbiased.