Sooners, Mayfield believe they can recover from loss to Iowa State
Penn State up to No. 3 in AP poll
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma is in uncomfortable, yet familiar territory after its shocking loss to Iowa State on Saturday.
The Sooners were in ideal position to make a run at a spot in the College Football Playoff after winning at then-No. 2 Ohio State last month. Things seemingly crumbled when Iowa State pulled out an improbable 38-31 win in Norman on Saturday that sent the Sooners from No. 3 to No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 .
There is reason to believe the Sooners could bounce back. An upset loss to Texas two years ago dropped Oklahoma all the way from No. 10 to No. 19, and the Sooners came back to run the table and reach the CFP. Texas entered that game with a 1-4 record, yet that loss didn’t stop Oklahoma from being one of the last four teams standing.
“Look at the big picture,” Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “We’re still in it. We have 2015 to show for that. For us, it’s not even about that right now. We’ve got to take care of business and win the Big 12.”
The Sooners have Texas next. The Longhorns are tied with TCU for the conference lead, and though the Longhorns are unranked, history shows that the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry doesn’t always go according to script.
“I feel like this will be the most important game of the year as far as how we respond to it,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “We’ll look back at the end of the year, regardless of what we do, we’ll be able to look back and say this was the moment we turned it around.”
AP POLL: Penn State moved up to No. 3 in The Associated Press poll, and No. 8 Washington State and No. 10 Auburn jumped into the top 10 for the first time this season after six ranked teams lost this past weekend.
Alabama and Clemson still hold the top spots. The top-ranked Crimson Tide
received 43 first-place votes and the second-ranked Tigers had 18. The Nittany Lions have their best ranking since 2008.
WASHINGTON: College football in the state of Washington has not been this strong in 20 years. With Washington State and No. 5 Washington both undefeated, the Cougars and Huskies are in the top 10 together for the first time since Oct. 26, 1997.
Back then, Washington was No. 7 and Wazzu was No. 10, but they were headed in different directions. The Huskies stumbled down the stretch and ended up finishing the season 8-4 and ranked 18th. The Cougars, behind quarterback Ryan Leaf and coach Mike Price, won the then-Pac-10 title and played in the Rose Bowl. Washington State finished that season No. 9.
This year, the Huskies, coming off a College Football Playoff appearance under coach Chris Petersen, have been ranked in the top 10 since preseason. Coach Mike Leach’s Cougars started this season ranked 24th and have steadily climbed since.
NOTRE DAME: Notre Dame jumped five spots to No. 16, thanks as much to the movement around the Irish as to what they did Saturday. Notre Dame won at North Carolina to improve to 5-1, but their victory at Michigan State looks a lot more impressive now. Plus, the Irish have been the only team to stay within single-digits of Georgia. The Bulldogs beat Notre Dame 20-19 in South Bend, Ind., in week two.
MIAMI: Running back Mark Walton’s season is over, with the 11th-ranked Hurricanes saying that their leading rusher will need surgery on his right ankle later this week.