PSU enters poll; OSU falls to 6th
Ohio State dropped four spots to No. 6 in The Associated Press college football poll after its first loss of the season, and Penn State moved into the rankings for the first time since 2011 after upsetting the Buckeyes.
Alabama is No. 1 again, receiving all but one of the 61 first-place votes from the media panel yesterday. Michigan moved up to No. 2, Clemson is No. 3 and Washington No. 4.
Louisville moved up to No. 5 ahead of the Buckeyes, who blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and lost 24-21 against Penn State on Saturday night. The Nittany Lions entered the rankings at No. 24.
Nebraska is No. 7 and Baylor is eighth. Texas A&M slipped three spots to No. 9 after losing for the first time this season.
’Bama break
Nick Saban wants his Alabama players to take a little break after a rugged stretch of games, so long as they don’t get too comfortable.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide polished off a third straight ranked opponent Saturday with a 33-14 victory over No. 9 Texas A&M in the defending national champions’ second Top 10 matchup in a row.
The Tide (8-0, 5-0 SEC) still have some tests ahead, but that was the stretch that seemed most likely to induce a stumble.
“I want the players to get some rest, relax and get healthy, but we can’t be relieved,” Saban said after the game. “We can’t be relieved that we won this game. It’s a big difference in resting, relaxing and working to improve, and being relieved.
“We’ve got lots of games against a lot of good teams coming up when we start back playing again that can have a tremendous impact on what kind of season that we have.”
Now the team gets an extra week to recuperate before visiting No. 19 LSU on Nov. 5. The regular-season finale against No. 15 Auburn also represents a potential challenge.
Alabama’s most pressing task now is to figure out how to replace injured safety Eddie Jackson. Saban said Jackson is out for the season with a fractured leg suffered on a fourth-quarter punt return against the Aggies, who came in as the only other SEC team without a loss.
Jackson was a playmaker who already had returned a pair of punts and an interception for touchdowns. The senior’s backup is Hootie Jones, who has 16 tackles and three pass breakups.
Fresno St. coach out
Fresno State fired coach Tim DeRuyter after the Bulldogs dropped to 1-7 in his fifth season.
Offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau was named the head coach on an interim basis.