Several teams will fall out of the polls for Week 4 after one of the first Separation Saturdays of 2017. Here are our projections for tomorrow’s AP Top 25.
The weekend started early, as Boise State rebounded from its loss at Washington State to begin Mountain West play with a 28-14 win over New Mexico on Thursday night. No. 22 South Florida followed that up with a decisive 47-23 rout of Illinois on its home field Friday night. The two Group of Five teams set themselves up to continue their fight for a New Year’s Six berth, and set up a strong set of games on Saturday of Week 3.
No. 25 UCLA played its way out of the AP Top 25, falling 48-45 in a wild shootout at the Liberty Bowl against Memphis. The loss to the Tigers will undoubtedly drop last week’s last team in down into the ranks of those also receiving votes. Josh Rosen probably also fell out of the Heisman race after tossing two costly picks to the Memphis secondary.
The game between No. 23 Tennessee and No. 24 Florida served not only as a high-stakes SEC East battle but a virtual elimination game in the AP Top 25 race. It was one of several games that knocked an SEC team out of the poll this week, but several more teams from the league will likely climb up to take their place.
As everything concludes on another wild weekend of college football, click ahead to see our projections for this week’s AP Top 25 when it is released on Sunday.
In the SEC East opener for both schools, Kentucky went to South Carolina and took down the Gamecocks 23-13. The Wildcats remained unbeaten a quarter of the way through the season thanks to 102 yards and two touchdowns from running back Benny Snell Jr. They also got a solid performance from quarterback Stephen Johnson, who threw for 169 yards and ran for another 74 in the victory.
The Wildcats defense really carried the day for Mark Stoops’ squad, holding South Carolina to 54 rushing yards in the double-digit win. Jake Bentley threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns, but he also tossed two costly picks. It all added up to a convincing win that sets up Kentucky to play spoiler in the SEC race this season.
As a result, the Wildcats should jump into one of the last spots in the AP Top 25 this week. They look like one of the rising squads in the SEC this season that will get a good bump among voters this week.
Utah took a decisive lead against San Jose State by halftime in Saturday night #Pac12AfterDark action. Tyler Huntley rebounded after a rough performance against BYU to put up a big first half against the Spartans. As long as they hold on for victory in the second half in Salt Lake City, they should climb up into the AP Top 25 on Sunday after hovering on the cusp for the past few weeks.
Kyle Whittingham’s team will once again be a contender in the Pac-12 South. They are still a developing team, as new players continue to be integrated into the roster. But in general, the Utes look like a team ready to contend for the conference crown.
Where they will end up in the poll on Sunday is another question. They have steadily gained votes over the past few weeks, and now they should jump from the top team among those also receiving votes into the AP Top 25 proper. Next week the Utes head to Tucson for a tough divisional road matchup at Arizona looking to bolster their position in the poll.
Mississippi State welcomed No. 12 LSU to Starkville on Saturday evening. The Bulldogs were a 7.5-point underdog at home. Instead, they will vault their way into the AP Top 25 after taking down Ed Orgeron’s Tigers in a 37-7 victory that left no question about which team was better on the day.
Nick Fitzgerald completed 15 of his 23 passing attempts for 180 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldog quarterback added another 88 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 14 carries. He helped fuel a strong rushing attack that beat up LSU at the line of scrimmage. Aeris Williams led Bulldogs rushers with 146 yards on 23 carries, outshining Tigers rusher Derrius Guice on the night.
Mississippi State will now be part of the shifts that see new SEC teams flood into the AP Top 25 this weekend. Look for the Bulldogs to slide into one of the bottom three or four spots, either just above or just below the LSU team they knocked off in Week 3 to begin SEC play with a bang.
Vanderbilt is going to join several other SEC teams in the AP Top 25 this weekend after winning their third straight game to start the 2017 campaign. The Commodores followed up wins over Middle Tennessee and FCS Alabama A&M with another dominant defensive display in Week 3 to take down No. 18 Kansas State at home 14-7 on Saturday.
Jesse Ertz was held to 76 passing yards and two interceptions on 10-of-28 passing. The Kansas State veteran managed to rack up 126 rushing yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, but the Wildcats depended on their quarterback to generate all their offense. As the Commodores made their hosts one-dimensional, it all came down to whether Vanderbilt could generate enough points themselves.
Kyle Shurmur outplayed Ertz, throwing for 205 yards and a score and getting a rushing touchdown as well. As a result, the Commodores are right in the thick of a wide-open SEC East race and could play spoiler down the road. Next week they get their first chance in conference play when No. 1 Alabama comes to Nashville.
It looked like the SEC East showdown between No. 23 Tennessee and No. 24 Florida was about to go to overtime. The Volunteers tied the game on a 27-yard Aaron Medley field goal with just 50 seconds remaining. But with what little time was on the clock, the Gators set themselves up for a miracle finish.
Feleipe Franks scrambled around, avoiding a disheveled Tennessee defense while staying behind the line of scrimmage. Guiding his receivers, he waited until Tyrie Cleveland began to break behind the Volunteers secondary. Hitting the receiver on the run, Cleveland hauled in the 63-yard heave for the winning score at the final whistle. The win gives Florida its first win of the season, and the Gators will stay in the AP Top 25 this week while the Vols fall out of the polls.
Jim McElwain’s team still looks far better on defense than on offense after two pick-sixes kept them in position for the last-gasp win. The Gators will need to become more consistent when they have the ball if they are going to contend for the SEC East. Ahead of next weeks’ showdown with Kentucky next weekend, Florida will climb a spot or two in tomorrow’s poll.
LSU thought that they were coming to Starkville to start their campaign to contend for the SEC West in 2017. Instead, they put themselves in a deficit in a 37-7 defeat against Mississippi State that will leave fans disheartened about where the season is headed. While the Tigers should remain in the AP Top 25 this week, they seem like a team on a downward trajectory entering conference play.
The Bayou Bengals struggled to pass the ball, as Danny Etling finished 13-of-29 for 137 yards. Derrius Guice was held to 76 yards on 15 carries on a day when the Tigers rushed for just 133 yards as a team. Mississippi State’s defense clamped down all around, holding LSU to just 270 total yards of offense on the day.
As a result, LSU is about to plummet down the AP Top 25. They will remain in the poll this week, but the margin of error is evaporating for the Tigers. They return to out-of-conference play over the next two weeks, with Syracuse and Troy visiting Baton Rouge. They should be 4-1 once they return to SEC play, but pollsters will likely show diminished confidence in Orgeron’s team this week.
On Friday night, South Florida made a triumphant return back to the field in a 47-23 blowout of Illinois. Charlie Strong’s team moved to 3-0 on the season in a confidence-boosting win over the Illini. After falling a spot in last week’s AP Top 25, the Bulls will climb back into the top 20 after this statement win over a Power Five opponent.
Three different USF players ran for over 100 yards, led by quarterback Quinton Flowers. The veteran had 106 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and also threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-27 passing. Flowers did throw one interception, and was sacked twice. In the end, though, it was a statement performance by the quarterback with his arm and with his legs.
D’Ernest Johnson added 101 yards on 17 carries, while Darius Tice burst for 105 yards and a score on just 12 runs. As a team, the Bulls ran for 376 yards on a 5.7-yard average. Meanwhile, the USF defense held Illinois to 67 rushing yards and forced three interceptions. The end result will be a rise of at least two spots into the high teens of the AP Top 25 in Week 4.
Following up a triple-overtime scare against Boise State, No. 21 Washington State came out and made short work of Oregon State in their Pac-12 opener. The Cougars defense did give up 118 yards and two touchdowns to Beavers running back Ryan Nall, but otherwise they shut down the visitors in a decisive 52-23 win at home.
Luke Falk came back from an early exit against the Broncos and looked like his old dominant self at quarterback in Mike Leach’s passing attack. Falk finished with 396 yards and six touchdowns on 37-of-49 passing. It was a great beginning to the Pac-12 season for the Cougars, who have aspirations of challenging their cross-state rivals for the North this year.
Next week, Nevada comes to Pullman before a big interdivisional showdown against top-five USC on the last Friday of the month. By the time October rolls around, Washington State will have played five home games. That will set things up for a difficult road swing through the final two months of the season. Trips to Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, and Washington all loom. For now, though, the Cougars remain in the AP Top 25 after we falsely projected them out last week.
It remains hard to pin down exactly where Florida State belongs in the AP Top 25. They have now been sidelined each of the past two weeks after sitting out Week 3 in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. The rivalry game against Miami was postponed until October 7, leaving another gap in both teams’ schedules.
That means all we can go off of at this point is the fact that the Seminoles have played just once, the 24-7 loss to No. 1 Alabama. The game is taking on added meaning as Florida State continues to have just that one piece of information by which to rate them. That also means that the loss of starting quarterback Deondre Francois is magnified.
As a team without a win, it remains harder each week to justify keeping them in the top 12 of the polls. Yes, their loss came against the best team in the nation, but AP voters will likely drop the Seminoles a few more spots this week after teams around them continue to build a case while Jimbo Fisher’s team sits in wait for their next game against NC State on September 23.
Miami encountered a hurricane bigger than the Hurricanes when Hurricane Irma shut down operations for more than just football across the state of Florida. The game in Tallahassee versus Florida State was moved back to October 7, leaving another break in both teams’ schedules during Week 3.
Unlike their rivals, Miami can at least feel comfortable about the fact that they have a win on their record already, and remain undefeated after beating FCS Bethune-Cookman in the home opener. Mark Richt‘s team missed out on a chance to snag an early road win over Sun Belt contender Arkansas State in Week 2, and now they must wait for a chance against Jimbo Fisher’s squad.
If all goes to plan, Miami returns to the field at home next week against MAC West favorite Toledo. The Rockets faced a shootout against Tulsa in Week 3 and should be a tough challenge for the Hurricanes in Week 4. Miami should remain in the high teens of the AP Top 25 through this weekend on the sidelines. Will they come charging out of the gate in Week 4 and sweep through their ACC schedule to bolster their College Football Playoff campaign?
In the Battle for the Iron Skillet against SMU, the Horned Frogs looked in danger of going on upset alert for a while against their Metroplex rivals from Dallas. But eventually TCU pulled away for a comfortable 56-36 win at home on Saturday, preserving their position among the top 20 in the AP Top 25.
The Horned Frogs paced themselves to victory thanks to 365 yards and four passing touchdowns from Kenny Hill. The Texas A&M transfer completed 24 of his 30 passing attempts, an 80-percent completion rate that helped TCU moved the ball efficiently downfield on the Mustangs. On 49 carries, the Honred Frogs racked up 254 yards on the ground, led by Darius Anderson with 89 yards and Kyle HIcks with 84 yards.
While the Oklahoma schools remain the favorites in the Big 12 race, TCU is quietly climbing up in the conference pecking order. Gary Patterson‘s team should vault up into the teens of this week’s AP Top 25 after another big win in Week 3.
Unlike last year, when the divisional showdown against Clemson went down to the wire, No. 14 Louisville was never really in the game this season against the defending national champions. The Cardinals defense allowed over 600 yards of offense to their visitors, turning a day that started with a visit by College GameDay into a nightmare for Louisville fans.
Lamar Jackson was never able to get things going on the ground. Though he passed for 317 yards and three touchdowns, the Clemson defense held the defending Heisman Trophy winner under 100 rushing yards. This was supposed to be another instant classic that served as a de facto ACC Atlantic decider. The result was a lopsided loss that probably puts Louisville out of the running for the conference crown yet again this season.
Louisville still has a chance to have a solid season, and Jackson will have more opportunities to build another Heisman resume. Given everything else that happened, they might even stay right at No. 14 in the AP Top 25 this week despite looking nowhere near a formidable challenger to Clemson in the ACC race.
It was a solid if unspectacular victory for No. 15 Auburn against FCS Mercer on Saturday. The Tigers took down the Bears 24-10 at Jordan-Hare Stadium thanks to 128 yards and three rushing touchdowns by running back Kamryn Pettway. Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidhan had a big game at quarterback, completing 32 of 37 for 364 yards. Though he threw an interception, it was still a solid day for the starter.
Beating an FCS school won’t tip the scales much in favor of Gus Malzahn’s squad, though. Auburn might climb a space or two, but it will be due more to what happened above them in the AP Top 25 than anything the Tigers did themselves. Despite five turnovers, the Tigers prevailed in the end with relative ease.
Ultimately, though, it was an unassuming win on the Plains. Nevertheless, Auburn moves to 2-1 on the season. And it must be kept in mind that their only loss came against defending College Football Playoff national champion Clemson. Next week’s showdown at Missouri opens SEC play for the SEC West dark horse.
Playing on the road at East Carolina, No. 16 Virginia Tech fell behind 17-7 in the first quarter. It looked like 0-2 ECU might have an upset bid brewing. But then the Hokies rattled off 57 unanswered points in the final three quarters, and Justin Fuente‘s team moved to 3-0 with a comfortable 64-17 victory in Greenville.
Josh Jackson lit up the Pirates secondary, going 24-of-31 for 372 yards and five touchdowns through the air. Three different running backs went over 50 yards on the ground, fueling a 267-yard rushing effort by the Hokies. The Virginia Tech defense held East Carolina under 300 total yards of offense and forced three turnovers on the day.
The Hokies now turn their attention to a visit from Old Dominion before their ACC opener against Clemson. Virginia Tech looks like a possibility to climb up a spot or two into the top 15 of the AP Top 25 this week after taking down ECU decisively in hostile territory.
Squaring off against FCS Samford between the hedges, No. 13 Georgia handily won the battle of Bulldogs 42-14 on Saturday afternoon. Kirby Smart‘s team focused on running the ball, racking up 284 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Nick Chubb paced the effort with 131 yards and two scores on 16 carries.
Jake Fromm, getting his second start at quarterback for Georgia, threw just 13 passes all day. He completed eight of them for 165 yards and three scores, an efficient performance that should position the Bulldogs as the favorite in an SEC East race that is still anybody’s to win. Georgia’s defense held their FCS opponent under 250 total yards of offense.
Now Georgia will begin to shift its focus back to SEC play. Mississippi State comes to Athens next week for another showdown between Bulldogs, and the SEC West visitors will probably also be ranked after taking down LSU this weekend. Georgia has a chance to continue making statements and could climb into the top 10 of the AP Top 25 next week.
Rebounding from last week’s home loss in the top-five showdown against Oklahoma, No. 8 Ohio State took down Army with ease on Saturday. The Buckeyes gave up less than 300 yards of total offense to the Black Knights, including only 19 yards on 2-of-8 passing. And the Ohio State offense looked far better than it has in recent weeks.
J.K. Dobbins fueled the win on the ground, rushing 13 times for 172 yards and two scores. J.T. Barrett looked better at quarterback for the Buckeyes, completing 25 of 33 for 270 yards. Terry McLaurin and Austin Mack hauled in Barrett’s two touchdown passes on the day, and after facing a lot of scrutiny Barrett reminded everyone why he was a Heisman contender a few years ago.
Ohio State will remain the highest ranked one-loss team in the country after this win over Army. Urban Meyer’s team is not likely to climb or fall at all when the next AP Top 25 comes out on Sunday, but they did enough to remain in striking distance for the Big Ten East and College Football Playoff races.
Michigan was on upset alert at halftime of their home game against Air Force on Saturday. Up just 9-6 at the half, the Wolverines found themselves in a defensive struggle over those first two quarters against the Falcons. But Jim Harbaugh‘s team pulled things together in the second half to secure a 29-13 victory over their Mountain West visitors.
Donovan Peoples-Jones returned a punt 79 yards to put the Wolverines up by 10 after Air Force stalled on the opening drive of the third quarter. Karan Higdon added a 36-yard touchdown run in the final minutes of the game to ice the win.
Michigan’s survival against Air Force, though, was largely thanks to a defense that held the Falcons to 232 yards of total offense and a school record-tying five field goals from Quinn Nordin. Michigan could drop a spot or two, though, in the newest AP Top 25 when it is released on Sunday. They open Big Ten play next weekend at Purdue.
Heading on the road for the first time this season, No. 10 Wisconsin had an easy time in Provo against BYU on Saturday. The Badgers took down their independent hosts in a 40-6 blowout. Alex Hornibrook completed 18 of his 19 passes, breaking Darrell Bevell‘s Badgers single-game completion percentage record. The quarterback finished with 256 yards and four touchdowns.
The offense was also fueled by freshman running back Jonathan Taylor, who had 128 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Paul Chryst‘s defense held the Cougars under 200 yards of offense, while A.J. Taylor had a couple long kick returns. Dominating all three phases of the game, the Badgers demonstrated decisively why they are among the dozen best teams in the country.
Wisconsin is firmly locked in the top 10 of the AP Top 25. On Sunday, they could jump up a spot or two into the single digits again after falling one place in last week’s poll. As long as they keep winning, the Badgers are the clear favorite in the Big Ten West.
No. 9 Oklahoma State blew out Pittsburgh on the road this weekend to move to 3-0. The Cowboys took down the Panthers 59-21 at Heinz Field, with Mason Rudolph leading the way. The quarterback finished 23-of-32 for 497 yards and five touchdowns before leaving the field once the game was out of reach. It was another Heisman-worthy performance from the Oklahoma State quarterback.
The Cowboys also got two touchdowns and 91 rushing yards on 11 carries by Justice Hill. Though Oklahoma State is very much a pass-first offense, Hill offers a dynamic change-of-pace on offense for the Pokes.
At the very least, Oklahoma State solidified its position in the top 10 once this week’s AP Top 25 is released tomorrow. The Cowboys could move up a spot or two, depending on how pollsters perceive this Pitt win against other results around the country. With their Big 12 schedule looming, Oklahoma State is in a great position entering league play.
The defending Pac-12 champions took on an easy opponent for a third straight week, and came away with another lopsided victory. This time Washington’s victim was Fresno State, a Mountain West team that would have been a tough test a few years ago but that is nowhere near the level they enjoyed when Derek Carr was quarterbacking the Bulldogs.
By halftime, the No. 6 Huskies were already up 41-7 on Fresno State. It was a performance that boosted the stats for everyone on Washington’s roster. Jake Browning led the way with another strong passing performance. Unfortunately for the Huskies, though, it will probably do little to sway AP voters to bump them up the list this week.
Washington will remain at No. 6, after neither Big Ten school behind them did enough to vault ahead of the Huskies. Next week an interdivisional battle against Colorado provides a rematch of last year’s Pac-12 title and will allow pollsters to get a better read on where Washington should really sit in the AP Top 25.
After struggling to take down Texas in their first meeting with the Longhorns since the 2006 Rose Bowl, No. 4 USC could drop a spot or two down the AP Top 25 this week thanks to stronger statements from teams below them in the poll. Clay Helton‘s team managed to remain unbeaten, but they still have some work to do after their Week 3 showing.
The Trojans had a tough time running the ball against the Texas defense on Saturday at home. Ronald Jones II was stymied all day long, and the Trojans finished under 100 rushing yards as a team. Sam Darnold had another big passing day, but the offense lacked any semblance of balance as they relied heavily on their aerial attack.
They did take down a brand-name program, though, and that should be enough to keep the Trojans in the top five for another week. They will probably drop a spot behind Penn State after they were forced to overtime, but USC should remain in the top five for another week after holding on for the victory.
For the second time in three weeks, the Nittany Lions defense pitched a shutout. No. 5 Penn State welcomed Georgia State to Happy Valley and took down their visitors 56-0 in a dominant display. Trace McSorley threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns against the Panthers, and didn’t even need to finish the whole game to reach those figures.
They were just mediocre on the ground. Saquon Barkley led the team with 47 rushing yards on 10 carries. The running back, though, added 142 yards and a touchdown on four receptions to pace Penn State to victory. James Franklin‘s defense held Georgia State to 320 total yards of offense and forced three Conner Manning interceptions.
It was an all-around solid performance from a team hoping to get back to the Big Ten championship. After the Trojans were forced to overtime by Texas, the Nittany Lions will probably leapfrog USC into the No. 4 spot. Either way, they will remain right in position to make the College Football Playoff this year if their defense keeps shutting down opponents so thoroughly week after week.
Clemson made a major statement to solidify its position among the top four teams in the country. On a road trip to No. 14 Louisville, the Tigers took down Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals in a 47-21 mismatch on Saturday in prime time. Dabo Swinney‘s team remains the class of the ACC after their big win on the road this weekend.
Kelly Bryant outplayed defending Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in the duel of quarterbacks. Bryant, the new starter after Deshaun Watson moved on to the NFL, threw for over 300 yards and racked up three total touchdowns in the conference win. Tavien Feaster looked great at running back for the Tigers as well, racking up nearly 100 yards on just 10 carries.
Could Clemson climb over No. 2 Oklahoma or even No. 1 Alabama? It probably won’t happen this week after both the Sooners and the Crimson Tide remained undefeated against Group of Five opponents. But the Tigers made their own convincing case in Week 3 for why they, as defending national champions, remain the strongest team in the country in 2017.
After their takedown of then-No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus last week, Oklahoma was comfortably locked into place right behind Alabama in the AP Top 25. The Sooners ensured that they would remain at No. 2 after a 56-14 blowout of Tulane on Saturday afternoon in Norman. New Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley remained undefeated as Oklahoma moved to 3-0 before Big 12 play begins.
Baker Mayfield led the charge, throwing for 337 yards and four touchdowns against an overmatched Green Wave defense. Kyler Murray replaced Mayfield late in the game and went 3-of-3 for 103 yards and another passing score. Oklahoma rushed for 198 yards and two touchdowns as a team, and Parnell Motley added a 77-yard interception return score.
It was a comprehensive rout of the American Athletic Conference visitors by the Big 12 favorites. Oklahoma should remain right where they entered the weekend in the AP Top 25, with only Alabama ahead of them in the rankings. They get to ease into conference play with a trip to Baylor in Week 4, then have a bye week before taking on Iowa State at home in Week 6.
Another week yielded yet another victory for Alabama. There were ups and downs, as the Crimson Tide sweated out a 41-23 victory over Mountain West challenger Colorado State. Nick Saban’s team wasn’t perfect against the Rams, but they did enough to remain atop the AP Top 25 for another week.
Jalen Hurts completed 12 of his 17 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns, and added another 103 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Bo Scarborough and Damien Harris also had rushing touchdowns, as the Crimson Tide racked up nearly 500 yards of total offense on Colorado State. But they also conceded almost 400 yards of offense to the Rams, an uncharacteristically generous day by a normally stingy Tide defense.
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Now 3-0 on the season, Alabama heads into SEC play next weekend when they head to Vanderbilt. A College Football Playoff participant each of the past three seasons, Alabama remains a favorite to return to the semifinals this season.