No. 1 Georgia, top teams hold places in AP Top 25; FSU takes down Pitt
The Associated Press Top 25 voters and the College Football Playoff committee disagree when it comes to the order of the top three teams in the nation.
In the most recent AP Top 25 poll, released Sunday, Georgia held on to the No. 1 spot, followed by Michigan and Ohio State. That’s the same result as last Sunday’s poll but a variance of the first CFP standings when they were announced Tuesday, which had Ohio State at No. 1, followed by Georgia and Michigan.
All three teams won Saturday to move to 9-0. They are followed by another pair of 9-0 teams — No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Washington.
The top nine were unchanged from last week. No. 6 Oregon is followed by Texas, Alabama and Penn State in a collection of 8-1 teams. No. 10 Ole Miss moved up one spot when previous No. 10 Oklahoma fell to 17 following its loss to Oklahoma State.
Notre Dame (7-3) fell 10 places to No. 22 following its loss to unranked Clemson. Southern California dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time in the Lincoln Riley era as the Trojans now have lost three of their last four games — surrendering an average of 45.8 points per game.
In contrast to the Irish and Trojans was Oklahoma State (7-2), which had yet to be ranked this season but entered the poll at No. 15.
Three other teams moved into the rankings this week — No. 23 Arizona, No. 24 North Carolina and No. 25 Liberty. Arizona has bested three straight ranked opponents following its win Saturday over UCLA. Liberty is 9-0.
The Bruins fell out of the poll, as did previously unbeaten Air Force and Kansas State, which lost in overtime to Texas.
LATE SATURDAY
No. 4 Florida State 24, Pittsburgh 7: Jordan Travis threw for a touchdown and rushed for another as the Seminoles pulled away in the second half to defeat the host Panthers and secure a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Travis completed 22 of 36 passes for 360 yards for Florida State (9-0, 7-0 ACC), which maintained its pristine record despite being without their top two receivers in Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson.
Christian Veilleux threw for 244 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 15-for-35 passing for Pitt (2-7, 1-4). Bub Means finished with seven receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown, and Rodney Hammond Jr. rushed for 60 yards on 13 touches.
Arizona 27, No. 19 UCLA 10: Noah Fifita passed for three touchdowns and 300 yards as the host Wildcats won their third consecutive game against a ranked team, knocking off the Bruins.
The Wildcats (6-3, 4-2 Pac-12), who were coming off victories over then-No. 19 Washington State and then-No. 11 Oregon State, have surged to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2017. Fifita completed 25 of 32 passes and was picked off once.
The Bruins (6-3, 3-3) lost quarterback Ethan Garbers to injury after a sack early in the fourth quarter when trailing by two touchdowns.
No. 2 Georgia 30, No. 12 Missouri 21: Carson
Beck completed 21 of 32 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns as the host Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0 SEC) defeated the Tigers (7-2, 3-2) to stay on track for the College Football Playoff.
No. 3 Michigan 41, Purdue 13: J.J. McCarthy threw for 335 yards to lead the host Wolverines to a win over the Boilermakers. Roman Wilson caught nine passes for 143 yards and Blake Corum rushed for three touchdowns for Michigan (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten). Purdue (2-7, 1-5) lost for the fourth straight time.
No. 5 Washington 52, No. 20 Southern California 42: Dillon Johnson rushed for career highs of 256 yards and four touchdowns, Michael Penix Jr. passed for two scores and the Huskies (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12) remained undefeated with a defeat of the Trojans in Los Angeles.
No. 8 Alabama 42, No. 14 LSU 28: Jalen Milroe had four of Alabama’s six rushing touchdowns as the host Crimson Tide (8-1,
6-0 SEC) defeated the Tigers (6-3, 4-2) remain alone in first place in the SEC West. Malik Nabers caught 10 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown for the Tigers
No. 22 Oklahoma State 27, No. 9 Oklahoma 24: Ollie Gordon rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns to lift the host Cowboys (7-2, 5-1 Big 12) over the Sooners (7-2, 4-2) in the final scheduled meeting between the Bedlam rivals in a series that has been played annually since 1910.
No. 13 Louisville 34, Virginia Tech 3: Isaac Guerendo rushed for a careerhigh 146 yards and three touchdowns to lift the Cardinals (8-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) over the visiting Hokies (4-5, 3-2). Guerendo found the end zone from 39, 12 and 36 yards out.