◆ No. 3 Georgia’s loss is first big upset of season.
A college football season truly starts with the first big upset. Game on.
No. 3 Georgia became the highest-ranked team to lose to an unranked team this season. The Bulldogs were popped 20-17 in double overtime by 24-point underdog South Carolina, which had to play its backup quarterback after halftime — on the road.
This season had felt especially stagnant for the first six weeks, with the same six teams — Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, LSU and Oklahoma — sitting at the top of the AP college football poll since preseason. Only one top-10 team had lost to an unranked team until this weekend and that was thenNo. 10 Utah falling at USC. Not exactly a season-changer.
Clemson’s one-point escape against North Carolina a couple weeks ago was the closest thing to a real stunner, but an ugly win is still a win. All it cost the Tigers was the No. 1 ranking. If anything it might have been a needed wake-up call for Clemson. The defending champions certainly responded that way Saturday against Florida State.
The Bulldogs were not so lucky. Georgia has had problems opening up its passing game this season and that turned into a major issue against the Gamecocks. South Carolina’s run defense has been stingy, anchored by star tackle Javon Kinlaw, but the Gamecocks had been susceptible to the pass. No. 1 Alabama couldn’t run it against South Carolina, either, but it didn’t matter because Tua Tagovailoa dominated.
This needed to be a Jake Fromm game. Instead, the Georgia junior and three-year starter threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, and averaged 5.8 yards per attempt on 51 passes. First-year offensive coordinator James Coley, promoted after Jim Chaney left for Tennessee after last season, will most certainly be a topic of conversation around Georgia this week.
This was also another close game that got away from coach Kirby Smart, who made at least one odd decision late in the game, passing on a 57-yard field goal try by kicker Rodrigo Blankenship at the end of regulation. Then again, it was Blankenship’s miss from 42 yards that ended it in overtime. Even All-Americans have bad days.
Red River defense
The Texas game got the Oklahoma defensive coordinator fired last year. This year, under first-year coordinator Alex Grinch, the No. 6 Sooners tied a school record with nine sacks among its 15 tackles for loss in a victory against the 11th-ranked Longhorns.
For the first time in forever, the Sooners might have enough defense to win a playoff game — or two.
Linebacker Kenneth Murray was everywhere and Texas managed just 310 yards and 4.24 yard per play. In two games against Texas last season, Oklahoma allowed 938 yards and 6.51 yards per play.
Texas won the first meeting in 2018 at State Fair, and the day after coach Lincoln Riley fired Mike Stoops.
Dumping Stoops did not make much of a difference, but Oklahoma’s offense was good enough to win another Big 12 championship and get the Sooners into the playoff, where they got rolled by Alabama to fall to 0-3 in the CFP.
Riley hired Grinch away from Ohio State in the offseason to try to come up with a solution. Even a passable defense to combine with Riley’s almost unstoppable offenses could make Oklahoma a real threat to Alabama and Clemson.
Around the country
Who had Oklahoma-Texas with more defense than Florida-LSU? … At the halfway mark, who is your Heisman Trophy front-runner? Tagovailoa threw his first interception of the season — and four more touchdown passes against Texas A&M to give him a 27-to-1 ratio. Joe Burrow threw three TD passes against the Gators and is at 25-to-3 TDs to INTs. LSU is at Alabama Nov. 9. … USC is 3-3 after a difficult opening six games. The Trojans still do not have an athletic director so there is no reason to expect a move soon on embattled coach Clay Helton, but nothing has happened to stop the march toward the inevitable. … Do not pencil in another Big 12 championship game rematch between Oklahoma and Texas. No. 22 Baylor, which improved to 6-0, and Iowa State, which has won two straight since losing on a last-second field goal to Baylor, look like legitimate contenders. At least for the second spot opposite Oklahoma … No team in the country is a better bet to play a close game than No. 17 Arizona State. The Sun Devils’ latest fantastic finish came against Washington State, with freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels leading a late game-winning touchdown drive. In two seasons under coach Herm Edwards, Arizona State is 6-2 in games decided by four points or fewer. The Sun Devils have played 14 games against Power Five teams the last two seasons and all but two of them have been decided by seven points or less.