We head into the fifth and final weekend of September, as the regular season will be one-third over. This past weekend featured eight meetings between undefeated teams and six top 25 versus top 25 showdowns. It was a tremendous weekend of football, highlighted by Ohio State’s victory at Notre Dame and the Florida State comeback at Clemson. There are a lot of conference tilts on tap this Saturday, and the smell of upsets may be in the late summer/early autumn air.
1. Georgia – The Bulldogs improved to 4-0 with a win over UAB this past weekend Between the Hedges. Georgia has won 37 of its last 38 games. Now the Dogs hit the road for the first time this season, taking on 3-1 Auburn Saturday afternoon at Jordan-Hare.
2. Florida State – The Seminoles have two of the most impressive wins of the season, and a couple of narrow escapes. Florida State didn’t lead until overtime in the 31-24 victory at Clemson. Florida State is off this week, then welcomes in Virginia Tech.
3. Texas – The Longhorns were clicking against Baylor, cruising to a 38-6 win over the Bears. Baylor has been a thorn in the Horns’ side. The Kansas Jayhawks head to Austin Saturday, Texas is 4-0 and dreaming big.
4. Michigan – The Wolverines took care of Rutgers 31-7 in the Big Ten opener. Jim Harbaugh is back on the sidelines for Michigan. Next up is once powerful Nebraska in Lincoln, as Michigan tries to make it 5-0 and 2-0.
5. Ohio State – The Buckeyes pulled out an incredible victory over Notre Dame. They will be off this week, and then host Maryland. It’s all Big Ten games the rest of the way. Ohio State already has a conference win over Indiana in Week One in Bloomington.
6. Notre Dame – It was a devastating loss for the Irish, who fell to Ohio State 17-14 in the closing seconds. Now comes another big test. Maybe not as big as the Buckeyes, but Duke is good. Just ask Clemson. It will be a hot ticket in Durham.
7. Utah – The Utes have put together a very nice hit list this season, and they have done it without their starting quarterback. Utah beat UCLA 14-7 this past weekend to make it 4-0, 1-0 in the PAC soon to be 2. Friday night, Utah goes to Oregon State in a big one.
8. Washington – The Huskies overpowered Cal 59-32 to improve to 4-0 on the season. Their offense is dynamic, going over 50 twice, and hitting over 40 in the other two games. Washington heads to Arizona this Saturday.
9. Southern Cal – The Trojans beat Arizona State 42-28. Southern Cal hits the road against the week, taking on Colorado, which was trampled by Oregon last week, in Boulder. The USC offense is explosive. There is work to be done on defense.
10. Alabama – The Crimson Tide bounced back with authority, beating Ole Miss 24-10. A lot of rat poison was sprinkled and the reports of the demise of the stampeding pachyderm was greatly exaggerated, at least for a week. Bama is at Mississippi State Saturday.
11. LSU – The Tigers edged Arkansas 34-31 at Tiger Stadium this past Saturday. LSU hits the road Saturday, playing Ole Miss in Oxford. The Rebels just lost at Alabama. They can score, and there is old history between these two.
12. Oregon – The Ducks, in the national spotlight, absolutely pummeled Colorado 42-6. The PAC-12 is loaded and Oregon is one of the conference’s best teams. The Quack Attack hits the road this week, heading to struggling Stanford.