The Couch Power 10, Week 7
Often times, a massively anticipated college football slate doesn't live up to expectations. Months before the season even begins, a weekend gets circled. College football Twitter begins to buzz about how thrilling October 12th will be and pundits encourage everyone to cancel their plans. ESPN spends the week blasting your TVs with promos about the mega showdowns coming on Saturday. And then the day itself rolls around, and many of the games between ranked opponents end up being snoozefests, there aren't any real upsets to speak of, and perhaps most of the teams you don't want to win end up winning.
At least, this was the copium I fed myself leading up to last Saturday, as I wrestled with the fact that I would be away in Spain for a family friend's wedding; born to spent my Fall Saturdays parked in front of the TV with my boys, cursed to join my family in and around sunny Barcelona. Suffice it to say...Week 7 not only lived up to the high expectations of what it had to offer, it exceeded them.
It honestly hurts too much to go in depth on the amazing weekend that I missed while cavorting on the beaches of Tarragona, so here's a quick rundown in case you needed a refresher: more Friday night chaos for the 5th straight week, as unranked Arizona State upset Big 12 favorites Utah on a late TD. Alabama, fresh off a shock loss to Vanderbilt, trailed South Carolina in the 4th quarter, and conceded both a last-minute touchdown and onside kick to the Gamecocks, only to barely escape with an interception in the end zone. Top-ranked Texas ran rivals Oklahoma out of Dallas in the Red River Rivalry, marking the second 30+ margin win over the Sooners in three years. Pitt stopped a game-tying 2-point conversion attempt to remain undefeated at the expense of new ACC darlings Cal. Like Alabama before them, Tennessee nearly suffered a second consecutive loss to an unranked team at home, but rallied to oust rivals Florida in overtime. Ole Miss led almost wire-to-wire at LSU before conceding a game-tying touchdown in overtime and ultimately losing to the Tigers on a walkoff TD bomb. Keeping with the theme of Top 10 SEC teams struggling. Georgia flirted with disaster in their return from the heartbreaker at Alabama, before finally putting away lowly Mississippi State. Two simultaneous overtime Big Ten thrillers saw ranked Illinois hold off heavy underdogs Purdue thanks to a sack on a game-winning 2-point attempt, and #4 Penn State remain unbeaten with a walk-off field goal at USC. In the primetime clash, Top 3 foes Ohio State and Oregon justified their high rankings with a riveting blow-by-blow affair that ended with the Ducks clinging to a 1-point victory off a late TD, and an ensuing crowd rush. And in the Prime Time clash, Kansas State scored a crucial Big 12 road win by holding off Deion Sanders' Colorado in a back-and-forth thriller in Boulder. And, in the indisputable game of the week, North Carolina dug deep in a 4th-quarter rally to tie the game with under a minute to go...only to let Georgia Tech rip off an untouched 70-yard touchdown run with seconds remaining. That kinda sums up both the Tar Heels' season to date, and my emotional state about being absent from the sport for the month of October.
Just a refresher, in case you forgot: this is not a definitive ranking on how good the teams are, or on who I think will be/deserves to be in the playoff at the end of the year. Rather, it's more of a "What if preseason rankings and bigwig bias didn't predetermine the top teams" kind of thing, an ideal ranking of the country's teams based on what they've actually proved on the field to date. Don't be mad cuz I'm doin' me better than you doin' you:
1. Texas
Texas' return from their bye week also brought about the return of starting QB Quinn Ewers, but truthfully, Ewers was hardly needed for the Longhorns, whose defense completely stifled Oklahoma and kept them out of the end zone altogether for the second time since 2022. It was another resumé-building win for the only SEC side to hardly look threatened this season. I think we'll look back at year's end and realize Michigan and Oklahoma just weren't as good as most expected them to be, but there's no denying two wins over Top 15 teams by a combined 50 points speaks to how remarkably impressive this Longhorns side is.
2. Oregon
It's not common that a huge matchup featuring two teams trying to prove their quality ends with both teams, winner and loser, doing just that. If #2 Ohio State entered Eugene with a whole lot of eye test credentials but no test against a good team, #3 Oregon came in with somewhat of an opposite problem- a few noteworthy wins on their resumé, but hardly looking like the great team they were expected to be. The Ducks are no strangers to high-stakes, Top 10 showdowns, having played two of them against eventual national runners-up Washington last year, but they lost both in crucial fashion. Yes, this was in front of a home crowd, and yes, it relied on some bonehead Buckeye mistakes at the worst time, but the fact that Dan Lanning and co. could pull out the victory this time, after falling behind by double digits early on, speaks to the belief that is in this program at the moment.
3. BYU
BYU's minor slide in the polls is due only to regional neighbors Oregon surpassing their strength of record to date; but don't worry, Cougs, you are still the darlings of the Couch Power 10. And with a commanding win over a talented Arizona team, still the side to beat in the Big 12, by our measure.
4. Penn State
I share the college football masses' skepticism over just how good this Penn State team is. Their offense and defense have both, at times, left things to be desired at crucial times this season. But there's no denying the Nittany Lions' 2nd-ranked strength of record, and though they had already owned two wins over then-ranked opponents, I actually think last Saturday's overtime escape in Los Angeles was their most impressive feat yet. USC had fallen out of the rankings due to a surprise 2nd loss, but make no mistake; the Trojans are a very good team, and when they held a two touchdown lead at halftime, I think most everyone expect Penn State themselves expected the unbeaten season was over. Yet James Franklin got his guys to rally in a hostile crowd all the way across the country, and this time offense (clutch game-tying late drive), defense (late interception to send the game to overtime, multiple sacks in OT), and special teams (forced FG miss in OT, walk-off FG made) all stepped up to make big plays when needed most.
5. Iowa State
Much of what was said above about Penn State applies to the Cyclones as well: Iowa State may not be passing the eye test with flying colors, but they remain undefeated with an impressive body of work. And, in another similarity, they flew across the country to beat a conference opponent on the road in surprisingly impressive fashion. West Virginia is no USC, but the Mountaineers were preseason Big 12 contenders for a reason: they're a talented squad on both sides of the ball with a lot of experience. And yet, Matt Campbell got his guys to remain undefeated in a very competitive league with a two-touchdown victory in Morgantown.
6. Miami
Miami got a rest last week, and it couldn't have been better timing. After flirting with losses the last two weeks to the point of only winning in the closing seconds, they would have been ripe for the plucking in a chaotic Week 7. However, as it stands, they still have the best pedigree of ACC teams, and have the chance to add to that this weekend with a visit from a good Louisville squad.
7. Pittsburgh
With a tough win over plucky Cal, Pitt remained in lockstep with the 'Canes in the ACC race, a sentence perhaps nobody a few months ago could have expected I would write after Week 7 of college football. A bye week awaits the Panthers this weekend, which is also good timing, as they gear up for a considerably tougher back half of the schedule, which includes 4 different opponents that have been and/or are still ranked in the Top 25.
8. Indiana
The Hoosiers also had a well-placed bye week on Saturday, which helped preserve their unbeaten season ahead of a 4-week stretch that includes visits from 1-loss Nebraska and last year's two national championship teams. Indiana's sub-100 strength of schedule absolutely leaves something to be desired, but their 6-0 record is not fool's gold. First-year coach Curt Cignetti and star QB Kurt Rourke have had the Hoosiers on the front foot all season, rendering them one of just two teams (along with Texas) that have not trailed all season.
9. Georgia
It was a good run, but at long last, the Unbeaten Teams' stranglehold on the Power 10 comes to an end. I think we have enough of a sample size at this point to assess which teams may have proven more than others even with losses on their record. I wasn't sure which 1-loss team would hold the distinction of being the Couch's first ranked 'blemished' team of the season, but one's body of work stands out far above others. Yes, between surprisingly difficult wins at Kentucky and vs. Mississippi State and the loss at Alabama, it has been a full month since Georgia looked like the elite team they were expected to be when they were picked #1; their flaws are real and evident. But at the end of the day, they are 5-1 despite playing a 7th-ranked strength of schedule nationally, their sole loss came in the game of the season on the road at Alabama, and they have a 30-point Week 1 win over Clemson that continues to age like a fine wine as the Tigers have blown the doors off each of their ensuing opponents.
10. Ohio State
Most college football coaches will tell you they "don't believe in moral victories," and "there's no such thing as a good loss." And it's true that for the Buckeyes, it would have been far better that they pull out what would have been an incredible road win at Oregon rather than lose in frustrating fashion in the closing seconds. However, for a team that had to spend the first half of the season hearing questions about how good they truly are, I think it's safe to say they proved their elite mettle in this monster clash, and the good news is, the era of the playoff is here. This is far from a death blow to Ohio State's title hopes; in fact, it may not even be a death blow to their Big Ten championship hopes.
Just missed: LSU, Notre Dame, Alabama, Kansas State, Tennessee, Tylee Craft
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