A&M returns to No. 21 in AP poll; UT 25th
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M hopped back into the Associated Press Top 25 at No. 21 following the Aggies’ 41-38 upset of then-no. 1 Alabama on Saturday night at Kyle Field.
A&M (4-2, 1-2 SEC) had dropped from seventh to 15th to unranked following losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State in the two previous weeks to open league play.
A&M led most of Saturday’s game but then trailed the Crimson Tide 38-31 before mounting a fourth quarter comeback, capped by Seth Small’s 28-yard field goal as time expired.
Texas dropped to 25th from 21st following its 55-48 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday in Dallas, while SMU moved up a spot to 23rd from 24th following its 3124 victory at Navy.
Alabama, the reigning national champion that had been in the top spot all season, dropped to fifth, while new No. 1 Georgia and Iowa, Cincinnati and Oklahoma round out the new top four. Georgia takes the top spot during the regular season for the first time since November 1982.
The Aggies play at Missouri on Saturday in trying to snap a two-game losing
streak to the Tigers dating to 2014, while the Longhorns host Oklahoma State on Saturday. Both games are at 11 a.m.
Wisconsin RB Berger off team
Wisconsin has dismissed running back Jalen Berger from its football program one year after he led the
team in rushing.
Badgers coach Paul Chryst announced the move in a statement Sunday without specifying a reason for the dismissal. Berger didn’t play Saturday in Wisconsin’s 24-0 victory at Illinois.
Berger, who is from Newark, N.J., rushed for a teamhigh 301 yards as a freshman last season despite missing three of Wisconsin’s
seven games due to injury. But his playing time had been sporadic this year as he slipped down the depth chart.
He didn’t play in a season-opening 16-10 loss to Penn State while Clemson transfer Chez Mellusi and Isaac Guerendo got the bulk of the carries.
Chryst said two days later that Berger had a “good approach,” adding, “just because he didn’t play doesn’t mean he’s doing something wrong.”
Berger followed up the Penn State game by rushing 15 times for 62 yards and a touchdown in a 34-7 victory over Eastern Michigan, but he totaled nine carries in Wisconsin’s three games since.
He had one carry for 8 yards in a 41-13 loss to No. 14 Notre Dame and had eight rushing attempts for 18 yards in a 38-17 loss to No. 8 Michigan.
Wisconsin ran 61 times for 391 yards without Berger
in the backfield Saturday, as Mellusi gained 145 yards on 21 carries and freshman Braelon Allen rushed for 131 yards on 18 attempts.
Berger ends his Wisconsin career with 84 carries for 389 yards and three touchdowns, plus four catches for 30 yards. He had 24 carries for 84 yards and one score plus two receptions for 17 yards this season.
He’s the third Wisconsin running back to depart since the preseason.