College Football's 6th week saw the AP pollsters kick Wisconsin, Fresno State, Oregon and Connecticut out of its Top 25 list and welcome in North Carolina (4-1) at 22, Michigan State (5-1-) at 23, Pittsburgh (4-1) at 24 and unbeaten Ball State (6-0) at 25.
No. 18 Wisconsin, which had risen to No. 8 in the 3rd week, fell the hardest, losing at home to No. 14 Ohio State 20-17. The Buckeyes true freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor scored on an 11-yard run with 68 seconds left to snap Wisconsin's 16-game home winning streak. When it counted, the Badgers could not stop Pryor to preserve their lead and also could not contain Chris "Beanie" Wells' 168 rushing yards.
No. 22 Fresno State got bushwhacked at home by unranked Hawaii in overtime 32-29. Hawaii capitalized on the Bulldogs' 6 turnovers and 3 missed field goals. The pineapple brigade of Hawaiian Warriors had lost 3 of their first 4 games and apparently were not willing to stop their winning tradition despite being on the road.
No. 23 Oregon had to travel to No. 9 Southern California, fresh off its 27-21 upset loss to the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis. The Trojans were in no mood to entertain another loss to an Oregon team and took it out on the Ducks 44-10.
No. 24 Connecticut was unbeaten at 5-0 before heading to unbeaten and unranked North Carolina. The Tar Heels saw opportunity coming and dispatched the Huskies by taking a 17-3 halftime lead before polishing them off 38-12.
Michigan State led Iowa 16-6 after three quarters and hung on with some great defensive stops in the 4th quarter to outlast the Hawkeyes, 16-13. After losing its opener on the road to California by a touchdown, the Spartans have now reeled off 5 consecutive victories.
Visiting Pittsburgh put some heartache on No. 10 South Florida on its home turf, leading 17-10 at the half and winning 26-21. Dave Wannstedt's Panthers were every bit the match for the South Florida Bulls, which suffered their first loss of the season.
Ball State picked up its 6th straight victory by shutting out Toledo 31-0 in a road game. Toledo's Rockets hung tough in the first half, trailing 3-0, but the Cardinals stopped messing around and scored 4 touchdowns in the second half to put an exclamation point on their win.
No. 19 Vanderbilt continues to impress in the tough Southeastern Conference, picking up its 5th straight victory at home to remain undefeated by upsetting No. 13 Auburn, 14-13. The Commodores are the only undefeated team in the SEC's East Division, ahead of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Vanderbilt is 3-0 in the SEC for the first time in 58 years (1950) and 5-0 overall for the first time in 65 years (1943).
Vanderbilt's Mackenzi Adams came off the bench and threw for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Commodores to victory over Auburn for the first time in their last 14 games against the Tigers. News flash: Vanderbilt is no longer a pushover.
Among the top 16 of 22 teams that won besides Southern Cal, Ohio State and Vanderbilt were:
No. 1 Oklahoma won on the road over Baylor 49-17. The Sooners scored 4 TDs in the opening quarter and then added a TD in each of the succeeding quarters. No. 2 Alabama won at home over unranked Kentucky 17-14. Alabama's Glen Coffee rushed for 218 yards and Leigh Tiffin kicked a 24-yard field goal with 2:12 left as the Crimson Tide hung on to give the Wildcats their first loss.
No. 4 Missouri traveled to unranked Nebraska and gave the Cornhuskers a horse whipping 52-17. The win was Missouri's first at Nebraska in 30 years. The Tigers' Chase Daniel threw for 3 TDs and Derrick Washington rushed for 139 yards and 3 TDs. Don't get too excited yet; Nebraska's 3 wins have come over lame opponents. No. 5 Texas traveled to Colorado and torched the Buffaloes 38-14. No. 6 Penn State beat Purdue on the road 20-6.
No. 7 Texas Tech rolled past unranked Kansas State on the road, 58-28, after leading 38-14 at the half. BYU (Brigham Young) beat unranked, in-state rival Utah State 34-14 on the road. No. 12 Florida ripped apart Arkansas 38-7 on the road. No. 15 Utah just eased past Oregon State 31-28 at home.
No. 16 Kansas was down 20-0 at the half and just got by unranked Iowa State 35-33 on the road. Jayhawk fans must sense that Kansas is not that good after gimmie wins against Florida International, Louisiana Tech and 1-AA Sam Houston State and a narrow 3-point win over a South Florida team on the downslide.
No. 17 Boise State kept winning by stomping Louisiana Tech 38-3 at home. No. 20 Virginia Tech picked up a 20-13 win at home against a losing, 1-AA Western Kentucky team. The Hokies also have a signature win over 1-AA Furman; let's get serious with the scheduling, guys. No. 21 Oklahoma State downed Texas A&M 56-28 at home.
No. 3 LSU (Louisiana State), No. 11 Georgia and No. 25 Wake Forest were idle this week.
Twelve of the AP Top 25 teams from week 5 remain undefeated. They are Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, Missouri, Texas, Penn State, Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, Boise State, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State.
Three other teams among the 119 1-A competitors remain undefeated-Ball State at 6-0 and Northwestern and Tulsa at 5-0. Alabama and Penn State are the only other two unbeaten teams at 6-0.
At least two of these 15 unbeaten teams will lose in college football's week 7 as Oklahoma State (5-0) travels to Missouri (5-0), and Texas (5-0) travels to Oklahoma (5-0).
Three other unbeatens had better strap their helmets on tight because 4-0 LSU travels to 4-1 Florida, 5-0 Northwestern hosts 5-1 Michigan State, and 6-0 Penn State travels to an angry 3-2 Wisconsin team that is not used to losing at home. Two other key games pit 4-1 Notre Dame at 4-1 North Carolina, and 5-1 Minnesota at 3-2 Illinois (any team that can beat Michigan now can beat Minnesota).
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on college football, including:
"So Who Are the Current Worst Players in Division 1-A Football in the Nation?"
"4 AP Top 25 Teams Have Some Proving to Do-Missouri, Texas Tech, South Florida and Kansas"
"College Football - Week 5: 9 AP Top 25 Teams Lose, 6 to Unranked Teams, No. 1 USC, No. 3 Georgia & No. 4 Florida All Lose"
"College Football - Week 4: 14 Teams Suffer Their First Defeat - Auburn, East Carolina, Oregon & Florida State All Lose"
"College Football - Week 3: Let There Be No Doubt: USC Crushes Ohio State 35-3 and Is Clearly No. 1"
"College Football - Week 2: East Carolina Smacks West Virginia, Upsets Its 3rd Straight Ranked Team"
"College Football - Week 1: No. 24 Alabama Stuns No. 9 Clemson, East Carolina Upsets No. 17 Virginia Tech"
"College Football - Preseason - Only 5 Games Highlight First Week, 29 Others Must Win Their Opener"
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http://www.edbagleyblog.com
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