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Hess: Week 7 of college football was wild (column)

Will Hess
On College Football
Colorado linebacker Drew Lewis (20) celebrates after intercepting a Southern California pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
AP | AP

Saturday, Oct. 13, was the most eventful weekend in college football this season with four top 10 teams losing. Georgia, West Virginia and Colorado all saw their unbeaten seasons come to an end.

Georgia had the worst weekend on Saturday against LSU. Not only did the Bulldogs lose, but they never made it a competitive game. With as much spotlight as the Alabama quarterback situation has gotten so far this season, it is surprising no one is talking about the Georgia signal callers.

Jake Fromm looked extremely pedestrian, but coach Kirby Smart would not turn to freshman phenom Justin Fields other than in a wildcat package.



Fields may not be the guy, but when Fromm is clearly struggling like he was on Saturday, Smart has to pull the trigger and see what Fields can do. Because if Georgia gets to the SEC Championship, Alabama will not leave the door open like LSU did on Saturday. LSU made five field goals, Alabama turns those into touchdowns.

Speaking of Georgia’s path to the playoff, not much has changed except the Bulldogs used up their only mulligan on the season. The path is going to be much harder since they will have to win out to make it to Atlanta, but Georgia is still the best team in the SEC East even with rising Kentucky and Florida.

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More concerning than the loss was the ineptness of the offense against LSU’s defense. If the Bulldog offensive line struggles to move the line against LSU, then they have no shot against Alabama. Georgia will have Saturday off, but then they travel to Jacksonville, Florida, to face the No. 11 Gators, then to the Bluegrass state to face No. 14 Kentucky. After those two tough games, the Bulldogs have to host formerly ranked Auburn.

If the Bulldogs have one more misstep they will be out of the title picture.

Rough day for the Buffs, eh?

Colorado couldn’t come back from a big deficit against USC and suffered its first loss of the year. The Buffs season is far from over, in fact it is just getting started. Colorado will play the role of the underdog again on Saturday when they travel to Washington. The Huskies are coming off an overtime loss to Oregon and it begs the question: Who is the best team in the Pac 12?

Regardless of who ends up being the champion in the Pac 12, that team is going to have a nearly impossible bid into the College Football Playoff. Oregon, the conference’s best shot at making the playoff, has only one ranked opponent remaining on its schedule and with Notre Dame in the mix for the playoff, two Power 5 conferences are going to be on the outside looking in. Although the Pac 12 is a better conference than the ACC, none of the West Coast teams are elite.

Looking ahead

It is hard to predict anything in college football, but one thing is guaranteed on Saturday: Another unbeaten will fall. Both Clemson and N.C. State will enter Saturday undefeated, and it would be shocking if Clemson is the one to come out of that game with a loss.

It’s the third Saturday in October this weekend, which means Alabama will dominate Tennessee regardless of who is the Crimson Tide’s quarterback.

The Vols did just win their first SEC game in 11 games and former Alabama assistant, now current Tennessee coach, Jeremy Pruitt is taking control of the program, so maybe the Vols do have a chance? Think again.

Some other exciting games this weekend are Michigan vs. Michigan State, Oklahoma vs. TCU, Mississippi St. vs. LSU and Oregon vs. Washington State. Despite all the upsets last weekend, look for the Wolverines, Sooners, Tigers and Ducks to hold form and all win.


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