Another Saturday filled with Upsets

Once again the top ranked, team goes down, which leaves just two unbeaten teams, the 10-0 Kansas Jayhawks, and the 9-0 Hawaii Warriors. The 10-0 Ohio State Buckeyes faced off with the 7-3 Illinois Fighting Illini, at Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes came into the game thinking they were going to walk away with the easy win, but Juice Williams, and his Fighting Illini were going to go down without a fight. Illinois was up 7 at the half, 21-14, and came out in the third quarter and put up seven more to extend their lead to 28-14. Ohio State made it an exciting game after RB Chris Wells ran 17 yards for his second TD run of the game. But, Illinois' Defense stepped up, and stopped QB Todd Boeckman's Ohio State Buckeyes' offense, as the Fighting Illini knocked off the number 1 team in the Nation. OSU will drop out of the top 5, and possibly the top 10, and it appears as though LSU will be back at the number 1 spot.

The number 8 ranked team in the Nation, Boston College, fell to the 5-5, unranked, Maryland Terrapins. BC's Defense was what lost them the game, they gave up 472 total yards (337 Passing, 135 Rushing). BC didn't establish a running game, as they gained just 45 yards on the ground, and tried to pass just too much. Heisman candidate QB, Matt Ryan, threw the ball 56 times, completing 33 of those 56, and threw for 421 passing yards, and 3 TD's, but had two costly INT's. MD's Sophmore QB, Chris Turner, had a great day completing 21 of 27 for 337 passing yards,a nd 3 TD's with no INT's. RB Lance Ball complemented him with 109 yards on the ground and a TD, as backup RB, Darrius Heyward-Bey, added a 37-yard TD run in MD's 42-35 en route of the now 8-2 BC Eagles.

Four other Top 25 teams lost yesterday, including the number 12 Michigan Wolverines, who fell to the unranked Wisconsin Badgers 37-21. Michigan was down 23-7 in the fourth quarter, until Freshman QB, Ryan Mallet threw a school-record 97-yard bomb to star wideout Mario Manningham to make it a 23-14 game with 13 minutes left in the game. Six minutes later Mallet threw a 26-yard pass to Adrian Arrington for a TD, which brought the Wolverines within 2 points. Wisconsin RB, Zach Brown ran from 6-yards out for a TD, and it was 30-21 with 3 minutes to go. Mallet threw an INT with 2 and a half left in the game deep in their own territory. Once again, Zach Brown ran it in, this time from 2-yards out, for a TD, which sealed the deal. Michigan suffered their 3rd loss of the season, which ended their 8-game win streak.

The other Top 25 teams that went down were the #18 Auburn Tigers (lost 45-20 to the #10 Georgia Bulldogs), the #13 Connecticut Huskies (lost 27-3 to unranked Cincinnati Bearcats), and the #22 Alabama Crimson Tide (lost 17-12 to Mississippi State).

Looks like the AP Top 25 Poll will have a major shift once again.

Preseason Top 10

1. USC (17)

2. LSU (2)

3. WVU (7)

4. Texas (14)

5. Michigan (12)

6. Florida (15)

7. Wisconsin (unranked)

8. Oklahoma (5)

9. VT (11)

10. Louisville (unranked)