Clemson falls during upset wave
For about 45 minutes Saturday afternoon, college football was on overload. North Carolina State went from agony to ecstasy against No. 9 Clemson. Baylor stopped a 2-point conversion to upset No. 14 Iowa State. No. 16 Arkansas finished off No. 7 Texas A&M to claim a Lone Star state title.
No. 19 Michigan held off Rutgers; UTSA remained unbeaten with a last-second field goal against Memphis; an LSU transfer rallied Auburn from behind against Georgia State; and UConn ALMOST won.
It was a time for multiple screens and social media reactions, and a fun reminder that any random Saturday in the college football season can feel like the first couple of days of the NCAA basketball tournament.
There was just so much stuff going on.
The most significant development was in Raleigh, N.C., where N.C. State missed a potential game-winning field goal in the closing seconds, but still managed to beat Clemson in double overtime.
The six-time defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Tigers have lost two games in September for the first time since 2014, the last time they failed to win the league and go to the College Football Playoff.
Clemson’s offense is a mess. The Tigers have scored five offensive touchdown in three games against FBS opponents, and needed overtime against the Wolfpack to get No. 5.
D.J. Uiagalelei has still not thrown for more than 200 yards in a game this season. The running game has been no better. Dabo Swinney was asked the last time Clemson was so disjointed offensively and he said maybe 2010.
That was back before Clemson had become the program that challenged Alabama for supremacy of college football. That was before two generational talents at quarterback — Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence — led Swinney’s teams to a couple of national titles and two more championship game appearances.
Uiagalelei was supposed to be next in line, but after he passed for more than 800 yards in two starts last season, filling in for Lawrence, he seems lost behind an offensive line that isn’t giving him enough protection.
Clemson fans are turning on offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. “You know what? That comes with the territory because the expectation and the standard at Clemson and who we are, we’re not meeting it. It’s just that simple,” Swinney said.
More than a month before Halloween and Clemson’s CFP streak is in grave danger.
“The curse is broken, N.C. State fans, finally,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren chuckled after the Wolfpack snapped an eight-game losing streak against Clemson.
The ACC is a mess. North Carolina State’s signature victory, its first against a top-10 opponent in nine years under Doeren, came two weeks after the Wolfpack took a beating at Mississippi State.
The only unbeaten teams left in the conference are Wake Forest and Boston College, two other members of an Atlantic Division that Clemson has run roughshod over in recent years.
Clemson has been ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll for 97 consecutive weeks. That is tied with Alabama for the longest current top-10 streak and the second-longest such streak in the history of the poll behind Miami’s 137 from 1985-1993.
Not only will that streak end Sunday when the new rankings are revealed, but the Tigers’ streak of 106 straight weeks being ranked should probably come to an end, too.
Calling the hogs
When Arkansas hired Sam Pittman, the former offensive line coach who had never led a program of his own, it seemed as if the Razorbacks had settled.
Coming after the awful twoyear tenure of Chad Morris, Arkansas was stuck at the bottom of the toughest division in college football in what seemed like a huge hole.
Even Arkansas native Eli Drinkwitz passed on the Razorbacks’ head coaching job to go to Missouri. That opened the door for Pittman.
Pittman’s team showed promise last season, but still only won three games. At least Arkansas looked competent again. The Hogs are way more than that now. Arkansas beat up Texas A&M and might just be the SEC West’s second-best team. The Razorbacks are 4-0 for the first time since 2003 and have beaten Texas and Texas A&M in the same season for the first time since 1989.
As for the Aggies, this was supposed to be the season that Jimbo Fisher’s team closed the gap on Alabama. Instead, they have been passed by Arkansas and Pittman.
Don’t worry, Aggies fans. After the latest contract extension, Fisher has nine more seasons to figure it out.
AROUND THE COUNTRY
Drinkwitz said last week he would rather play a regional rivalry than make a trip to Boston College. He was right. BC 41, Missouri 34 in overtime . ... After replacing Bo Nix, quarterback T.J. Finley seems like a good bet to start next week for Auburn at LSU, his former team ... No. 18 Wisconsin’s offense looks broken. Graham Mertz threw four interceptions and had five turnovers against No. 12 Notre Dame, but it’s not just him. The Badgers’ signature running game hasn’t shown much either.