College Football Rankings 2017: Projected Week 3 AP Top 25
By Zach Bigalke
No. 13 Auburn left the Plains and headed northeast to ACC country, where they took on No. 3 Clemson on Saturday. In the battle of Tigers, the visitors took an early lead on Daniel Carlson‘s 24-yard field goal on the opening drive of the game. But Auburn couldn’t find the endzone against the defending national champions, and went into the locker room down 7-6 at halftime.
Auburn’s defense held firm for much of the game, but they got little relief from the offense. Jarrett Stidham went just 13-of-24 for 79 yards. He had neither a touchdown nor an interception as Clemson contained the Baylor transfer all game long. And the running game notched just 38 yards as a team, averaging less than a yard per carry.
The Tigers dropped a spot from their preseason ranking in last week’s AP Top 25 despite a 41-7 win over Georgia Southern in the season opener. They will probably drop five to seven spots, somewhere between No. 18 and No. 20, after falling to what might end up being the No. 2 team in the country after this weekend.