A Wild Night of Finishes Upends the Landscape in Week 7

Will Howard seen here not knowing how time works.

    There were 25 games decided by one score including four that saw ranked teams need overtime to survive, with three of those coming against unranked teams. Three ranked teams lost to other ranked teams as Oregon slid (see what I did there) past Ohio State, LSU stunned Ole Miss in OT, and Texas throttled Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. Penn State, Tennessee, Liberty, and Illinois all dodged a bullet from unranked opponents, with Illinois coming the closest to losing had Purdue converted their two-point conversion in OT.

Penn State did their best Kurt Russell impersonation by escaping L.A. with a win.

    Overall, seven teams were dumped out of the Pool Poll to make way for the winners of Week 7. Ohio State was the lone undefeated team to lose in Week 7, as the other 11 were marked safe going into a huge week in college football. Week 8 has been circled for months as a make-or-break weekend. Here in the damp three seasons room that I operate out of after I dumped water all over my usual couch, there are nine marquee matchups that have the eye of the Pool household. Some are as intriguing to others such as Tennessee-Alabama, Georgia-Texas, or Illinois-Michigan, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the AAC showdown between 5-1 Memphis and North Texas, or the surprise Big Ten battle between Indiana (6-0) and Nebraska (5-1). Of course, I am likely to miss most of this as I'll be in Ypsilanti for the lesser of the two directional Michigan rivalries when Central Michigan comes to town.

           Here's this week's Pool Poll.

Baker Mayfield caught strays in this year's Red River Rivalry.

1. Texas (6-0, 62 WA, 0 LA)

Last Week Rank: 1

Last Week: A 34-3 beatdown of Oklahoma, capped by planting a flag into a Baker Mayfield jersey at midfield. No time to gloat in the SEC though.

Up Next: Georgia (5-1, 27)

2. Oregon (6-0, 64.5, 0)

LWR: 3

LW: They did everything they could to lose this game, but ultimately, it was a rare absent-minded play by Will Howard that sealed the victory.

Up Next: Purdue (1-5, 122)

3. Penn State (6-0, 66.5, 0)

LWR: 2

LW: The Nittany Lions had to rally later and then needed just a field goal to win in overtime against USC. It was only the second win by a Big Ten team shifting from the Eastern time zone to the Pacific since Indiana won at UCLA in Week 1.

Up Next: Wisconsin (10/26)

4. BYU (6-0, 75.2, 0)

LWR: 5

LW: They put up points a plenty on Arizona in a 41-19 win to remain undefeated and stay atop the Big 12.

Up Next: Oklahoma State (3-3, 82)

The Hurricanes took a week off to recover from their furious comeback at Cal last week.

5. Miami (6-0, 76, 0)

LWR: 4

LW: The Hurricanes hunkered down from an actual Hurricane during their bye week.

Up Next: Louisville (4-2, 43)

6. Indiana (6-0, 84.2, 0)

LWR: 6

LW: The Hoosiers took a break from winning to prepare for their big showdown with Nebraska.

Up Next: Nebraska (5-1, 26)

7. Iowa State (6-0, 87.3, 0)

LWR: 8

LW: The Cyclones continue to take care of business with a  28-16 win over West Virginia.

Up Next: UCF (3-3, 78)

8. Pitt (6-0, 97.8, 0)

LWR: 9

LW: The Panthers escaped several late-game threats by Cal to hold on to a 17-15 victory.

Up Next: Syracuse (10/24)

9. Navy (5-0, 105.2, 0)

LWR: 10

LW: The Midshipmen stayed docked for the weekend and unfortunately for Charlotte are well-rested.

Up Next: Charlotte (3-3, 85)

The Flames brought the excitement to Tuesday Night Football.

10. Liberty (5-0, 106.2, 0)

LWR: 11

LW: It's that time of the year as Liberty struggled to get past FIU in overtime during a thriller on Tuesday night. Yes, for the first time this year, you could find football on TV every night of the week.

Up Next: Kennesaw State (10/23)

11. Army (6-0, 117.5, 0)

LWR: 12

LW: OK, so Army doesn't play anybody, but that hasn't stopped them from scoring 40 points in every game this season, a trend that continued when they built a 34-3 lead going into halftime and then won 44-3 over UAB.

Up Next: ECU (3-3, 86)

12. Alabama (5-1, 46.2, 82)

LWR: 20

LW: They were almost toppled again by an unranked opponent, but a late score and an interception helped them survive South Carolina, 27-25. They were probably looking ahead to this week.

Up Next: Tennessee (5-1, 22)

13. Texas Tech (5-1, 56.2, 77)

LWR: 13

LW: The Red Raiders were off so they could plan for Baylor.

Up Next: Baylor (2-4, 109)

14. Kansas State (5-1, 58.2, 20)

LWR: 24

LW: The Wildcats ripped the hearts out of all the bandwagon Colorado fans when they stunned the Boulder crowd with a touchdown in the final minutes to avoid the upset, 31-28.

Up Next: West Virginia (3-3, 81)

Riley Leonard's big day catapulted the Irish to victory.

15. Notre Dame (5-1, 65, 76)

LWR: 21

LW: After a lengthy rain delay, the Fighting Irish finished off Stanford with ease, 49-7.

Up Next: Georgia Tech (5-2, 38)

16. Arizona State (5-1, 65.8, 53)

LWR: 27

LW: The Sun Devils pulled off a late-night upset of Utah, 27-19, on Friday night to make their way into the rankings.

Up Next: Cincinnati (4-2, 60)

17. LSU (5-1, 66.6, 30)

LWR: 31

LW: The Tigers got a must-score touchdown to force overtime and then traded a field goal for a touchdown to stun Ole Miss and give the Rebels a 29-26 loss.

Up Next: Arkansas (4-2, 47)

18. Washington State (5-1, 68, 68)

LWR: 22

LW: The Cougars earned a hard-fought win over Fresno State, 25-17, to remain in conversation for an at-large playoff bid.

Up Next: Hawaii (2-4, 115)

19. Syracuse (5-1, 68.6, 93)

LWR: 23

LW: The Orange kicked NCST while they were down and held on to a 24-17 victory.

Up Next: Pitt (10/24)

The Tigers have won five straight after their opening loss to Georgia.

20. Clemson (5-1, 75, 1)

LWR: 26

LW: The Tigers exorcised the Demon Deacons 49-14.

Up Next: Virginia (4-2, 44)

21. Texas A&M (5-1, 75.8, 10)

LWR: 14

LW: The Aggies took a break so they could not be surprised by the Bulldogs like Georgia was.

Up Next: Mississippi State (1-5, 123)

22. Tennessee (5-1, 75.8, 72)

LWR: 30

LW: The Volunteers allowed a late score by Florida to send the game into overtime, but a missed field goal by the Gators led to a game-winning touchdown for the Vols in their 23-17 win.

Up Next: Alabama (5-1, 12)

23. Illinois (5-1, 84, 8)

LWR: 28

LW: The Fighting Illini should have coasted to an easy win, but squandered a 40-28 lead with 5:05 left to play. Purdue scored twice in 49 seconds to take a 43-40 lead forcing Illinois to scramble to get a 38-yard field goal as time expired. In OT, they scored with ease, but so did the Boilermakers, who elected to go for two and the win, but fell short 50-49.

Up Next: Michigan (4-2, 40)

24. Ohio State (5-1, 84.8, 3)

LWR: 7

LW: The Buckeyes were challenged for once this season and when push came to shove, they couldn't answer. The Ducks squandered so many opportunities, the defense was stout in the second half, and Will Howard looked great for 99 percent of this game. Unfortunately, for TOSU, an offensive pass interference call kept the clock running without Ryan Day noticing, and then Howard slid instead of falling down so they could call timeout. Ultimately, the Buckeyes were in prime position to win, but Day now falls to 2-6 against teams in the Top 5.

Up Next: Nebraska (10/26)

The Dukes are one of many teams vying for the 12th spot in the CFP.

25. James Madison (5-1, 86, 55)

LWR: 39

LW: The Dukes were so mad about losing to Louisiana Monroe that they took it out on poor Coastal Carolina on Thursday. JMU plucked the Chanticleers 39-7.

Up Next: Georgia Southern (4-2, 57)

Dropped Out: Nebraska, Duke, SMU, Ole Miss, Sam Houston State, Virginia

Watchlist: Nebraska, Georgia, Boise State, Missouri, Duke, SMU, UNLV, ULM, SHST, North Texas, Memphis, Louisiana, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, and Michigan

The Golden Flashes were two points away from escaping their winless ways.

Bottom 10

126. Southern Miss (1-5, 136, 70)

127. Troy (1-5, 136, 76.8)

128. New Mexico State (1-5, 136, 84)

129. Air Force (1-5, 136, 88.8)

130. Akron (1-6, 136, 69.7)

131. UMass (1-6, 136, 79.7)

132. Kent State (0-6, 0, 69.2)

133. UTEP (0-6, 0, 70.7)

134. Kennesaw State (0-6, 0, 83.2)