A&M upset sends season into full tilt
Win over Alabama brings more chaos to hunt for CFP bids
The last time the No. 1 team in the country lost to an unranked team was 2008.
The last time Alabama lost to an unranked team was 2007.
Texas A&M snapped both those streaks and brought chaos to the college football season.
The Aggies dragged a twogame losing streak into Kyle Field on Saturday night, looking like one of the most disappointing teams in the country.
Then Texas A&M beat the Crimson Tide, scoring almost as many points in a walk-off victory (41) as the Aggies had in three previous games (42) against Power Five opponents.
“We knew the last two weeks that we didn’t play to the best of our ability,” A&M defensive back Antonio Johnson said. “We knew this week was an opportunity.”
Alabama fell to No. 5 when the updated AP Top 25 poll came out Sunday, while A&M returned to the poll at No. 21.
The Aggies’ upset, the biggest victory of Jimbo Fisher’s tenure in College Station and the first over Nick Saban by one of his former assistants in 25 tries, capped another thrilling Saturday in a season that is trying hard to make up for the pandemic-plagued mess of 2020.
Saturday afternoon featured back-and-forth offensive outbursts between ranked teams in the Big 12 (Oklahoma-texas) and Southeastern Conference (Arkansas-mississippi) and a top-five slugest (Penn State-iowa) in the Big Ten.
At night, Notre Dame and Michigan needed late field goals to win from behind before Texas A&M topped them all with a stunning upset.
A 2021 season that so many fans feared would be a long march to the same old, same old, with super teams turning the College Football Playoff race into a foregone conclusion, has gone full tilt.
Defending national champion Alabama succumbed to a shaky defense and an offense that misfired at the most inopportune times. And the Tide were taken down by a backup quarterback.
A&M’S Zach Calzada came into the game with five touchdown passes and four interceptions since taking over for the injured Haynes King in Week 2, and then threw three TDS with one pick against the nation’s top-ranked team.
Toss the Tide on the pile of title contenders whose championship hopes have taken a hit. A playoff without Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson is a possibility.
QB2
At a time when quarterback depth never has been harder to accumulate in college football, several of the biggest games of Week 6 were decided by backups signal-callers.
Oklahoma remained unbeaten behind freshman Caleb Williams, who rallied the Sooners from three scores down in the second half against Texas.
The highest-scoring game ever between the Red River rivals might have birthed a new star and relegated preseason Heisman Trophy hopeful Spencer Rattler to second string.
In Iowa City, Penn State controlled the first half against the Hawkeyes but lost quarterback Sean Clifford to an undisclosed injury for the entire second half and didn’t hold on without him. The Nittany Lions fell from fifth to seventh; Iowa moved from third to second.
Notre Dame started QB Jack Coan, switched to Tyler Buchner, and then went back to Coan after Buchner was hurt to rally for a win at Virginia Tech.
And, of course, Calzada, who led two late scoring drives against Alabama.
Oklahoma’s saga seems like something we have never seen before in college football.
Rattler came into the season as the presumptive Heisman favorite, a prospective first-round NFL draft pick and one of the most marketable players in the country in this first season that college athletes can be paid endorsers.
Last month, the third-year sophomore was given two cars by a local dealership as part of a deal for use of his name, image and likeness.
Rattler has cashed in off the field but has been only solid on it. Coming into the Saturday, he was completing 76 percent of his passes, with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Rattler looked rattled against the Longhorns as Texas raced to a 21-point first-quarter lead.
More of a dual threat, Williams has been used to supplement OU’S offense, which has lacked explosive plays with Rattler.
Williams broke a 66yard touchdown run the first half, and then coach Lincoln Riley turned over the offense to him in the second half.