NCAA Football 2019 Week 7 results

Four teams fell from the ranks of unbeaten this week, leaving us with 12 teams.  A full third of them, four teams, come from the Big Ten.  SEC and Big XII contribute two teams each, and Clemson is the only other unbeaten from a Power 5 conference.  Given schedules, we know at least five of these teams will lose at some point, as they play other unbeaten teams.  It gets interesting.

Before I reveal my Top 25, I want to say something about Florida.  I am sure I am going to get comments on dropping Florida all the way down to #22.  After all, until late in the fourth quarter, weren't they playing LSU close?  That is true, but until the two games before LSU, Florida looked lethargic.  Furthermore, most of LSU's drives that did not result in touchdowns were due to LSU, not the vaulted Florida defense.  That defense did not really show up.  The Gators scored 28 points, but they aren't the first team to score that much against LSU this season.  It shows that the Tigers defense has gotten a little lax as the team has focused on their new offense.

Top 25 [Last week's position]
1. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0) [1]
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-0) [2]
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-0) [3]
4. Wisconsin Badgers (6-0) [4]
5. Clemson Tigers (6-0) [5]
6. LSU Tigers (6-0) [6]
7. Oklahoma Sooners (6-0) [8]
8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-1) [9]
9. Oregon Ducks (5-1) [10]
10. Baylor Bears (6-0) [12]
11. Georgia Bulldogs (5-1) [7]
12. Auburn Tigers (5-1) [14]
13. Missouri Tigers (5-1) [17]
14. Michigan Wolverines (5-1) [15]
15. Utah Utes (5-1) [18]
16. SMU Mustangs (6-0) [16]
17. Washington Huskies (5-2) [20]
18. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-0) [25]
19. Iowa Hawkeyes (4-2) [19]
20. Texas Longhorns (4-2) [13]
21. Boise State Broncos (6-0) [23]
22. Florida Gators (5-1) [11]
23. UAB Blazers (5-1) [NR]
24. UCF Golden Knights (4-2) [24]
25. Tulane Green Wave (5-1) [NR]

Dropped off: Wake Forest Demon Deacons [#21], Michigan State Spartans [#22]

On the Edge: Arizona State Sun Devils (5-1), Navy Midshipmen (4-1), Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-1), San Diego State Aztecs (5-1), Appalachian State Mountaineers (5-0), Cincinnati Bearcats (5-1), Wyoming Cowboys (4-2)

Big Ten Report
Things went pretty much as expected, including the fact that Penn State v Iowa would be a defensive battle.  Purdue surprised Maryland (and me) by not only beating them, but slaughtering them.  The Boilermakers found an offense.  If they can keep it around, they might make some waves in the conference.  Michigan maintained an offense, but they are still making mistakes, ones that Illinois exploited into points.

Wisconsin is establishing themselves as a defensive juggernaut.  They notched their fourth shut-out of the season, this time against a ranked team.  That defense, combined with their opposing-defense-exhausting pound-it-out ground game, certainly makes Wisconsin the favorite to win their division, and perhaps even frustrate conference favorite Ohio State.

Of course, Wisconsin's greatest challenge to the division title is the surprising Minnesota Golden Gophers.  Granted, they have benefited from a great schedule where their early conference games were against relatively weak teams.  In fact, the Gophers are likely to go 8-0 before they host Penn State.  Still, you cannot doubt that Minnesota has power, and they know how to use it.

Upset Watch
The upsets began on Friday, as ACC Coastal division leading Virginia fell to Miami.  The turnover chains came back out as the Hurricanes had a ferocious defensive stand.  Defense was the mainstay of Tennessee's upset over Mississippi State.  Defense was a factor in Georgia's surprising loss, but the Bulldogs were hurt more by some poor decisions on the part of QB Jake Fromm.

Defense was somewhat the issue in Wake Forest's first loss of the season, but it was the LACK of one.  Wake couldn't stop Louisville at all, and fell short in a 121-point showcase when the Demon Deacons were engineering a great fourth quarter comeback.

Texas Tech nearly had an upset over Baylor, which would have given the Bears their first loss of the season.  Tech failed to prevent Baylor from getting into position for a game-winning last-minute field goal that sent the game to overtime, and then failed to score in the second overtime to hold back Baylor.