Look out, here come the Georgia Bulldogs.
With Georgia’s 35-10 win against Texas on Saturday night, the Dawgs have moved up to No. 4 in this week’s edition of The Athletic 136. But they just might be playing like the second-best team in the country.
Georgia was plenty shaky early in the season, barely escaping Tennessee, losing to Alabama and struggling at Auburn and against Florida. But in their most recent wins against Mississippi State and Texas, the Bulldogs have looked like a team that is growing up and getting better as the season goes on. Quarterback Gunner Stockton completed 24 of 29 passes with five total touchdowns and running back Nate Frazier averaged 4.5 yards per carry against a good Texas defense.
It was a reminder that, although this season has featured plenty of chaos, Georgia (and Ohio State) still probably have the most future NFL players, and that usually wins out in the end.
“You have to recruit physical players, and they have to buy into that process,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said after beating Texas. “I don’t know that a lot of these kids nowadays, they want a check. They don’t want physicality, and if you have the check and no physicality, you end up with nothing. So we’re not just getting checks at our place. We’re hitting people.”
Indeed they are. The Dawgs might be getting loose at just the right time. Here is the latest Athletic 136.
The top three remain the same, followed by Georgia. Texas Tech jumps Ole Miss because the Rebels have too many close-ish calls this year, including needing a late touchdown to put away Florida this weekend. Ole Miss has a better loss (to Georgia) than Texas Tech (to Arizona State), but the Rebels also beat Washington State by just three points.
Oklahoma moves up for its win against Alabama. The Sooners now have three top-25 wins, along with losses to Ole Miss and Texas. The Crimson Tide fall to No. 10. Although Alabama arguably has the best set of wins of anyone, with four top-25 victories, it also has the worst loss among this group, to Florida State by 14 points. If I’m going to credit Miami’s Week 1 win against Notre Dame, I should also take into account Florida State’s win over Alabama and the fact that the Hurricanes beat the Seminoles. You can say these are different teams now, but in football, we only get so many data points.
Miami remains one spot ahead of Notre Dame. Weekly reminder: I see the two teams as on the same tier, and head-to-head results take over when they’re close. The Hurricanes have turned it on in the last two weeks against Syracuse and NC State, allowing just three points outside of garbage-time final drives. NC State didn’t cross midfield until its final drive in a 41-7 loss. Notre Dame has a similar 36-7 win against NC State, another point in favor of keeping the Irish and Canes close.
Oregon comes in at No. 11 this week despite a 42-13 stomping of Minnesota. It’s not about the Ducks “dropping.” It’s just that Oklahoma and Notre Dame got better wins and leaped over the Ducks, and Miami goes along with the Irish. With Iowa’s loss to USC over the weekend, Oregon does not have a top-25 win, and its loss to Indiana was by 10 points at home. The advanced metrics still really like the Ducks, but when comparing big wins and losses, their resume is not much different than BYU’s right now. However, if Oregon beats USC this week, the Ducks will move back up. If Oregon wins its last two games, there will be nothing to worry about.
BYU sits one spot ahead of Utah, which pounded Baylor on the road. Texas drops after losing to Georgia, but the Longhorns stay ahead of Vanderbilt because of head-to-head and because Vandy has only one top-25 win. Georgia Tech falls to No. 17 after needing a last-second field goal to beat 1-10 Boston College.
Houston, Missouri, North Texas, Tulane and SMU all climb into the top 25. Ranking the top Group of 5 teams is tough, but of the top four teams in the American Conference, only North Texas and Tulane have beaten others in the group. North Texas also has a 55-17 win against UTSA, which beat Tulane 46-28, so the Mean Green get the edge, despite having played a schedule that ranks 121st out of 136 teams so far, per Austin Mock’s model, while Tulane’s is No. 64.
Navy climbs after beating USF but stays behind North Texas because of a head-to-head loss. James Madison is up to No. 28 but also remains behind Louisville because of the Dukes’ loss to the Cardinals in September. JMU’s schedule so far ranks 107th per Mock’s model; its only win over a winning team came against Old Dominion. Arizona slides up after knocking off Cincinnati. Iowa has three one-score losses to ranked teams but no great wins, plus a loss to Iowa State that moves the Cyclones back ahead.
East Carolina jumps up for beating Memphis, and the Pirates remain tied atop the American Conference in the loss column with Tulane, UNT and Navy. UConn is up to No. 45 and ahead of Clemson because the Huskies beat Duke, which Clemson didn’t, and UConn had a closer loss to (healthy) Syracuse than Clemson did.
Kentucky and Florida State inch into the top 50 after comfortable wins against Tennessee Tech and Virginia Tech, respectively.
Baylor drops after a 55-28 loss to Utah. Penn State gets up to No. 59 for beating Michigan State, and the Nittany Lions have a path to a bowl if they can beat Nebraska and Rutgers. Boise State drops to No. 60. The Broncos have allowed 52 total passing yards over their last two games against Fresno State and San Diego State but have lost both games. Old Dominion climbs for beating Troy 33-0.
Arkansas is 2-8 on the season but has a positive scoring margin. Interim head coach Bobby Petrino is 0-5 with four losses by three points or less, so the Razorbacks remain at No. 75 after a one-point loss at LSU.
Southern Miss had a lopsided 41-14 loss to Texas State, but the Golden Eagles only drop to No. 77 because of other teams that lost, plus the head-to-head win over Jacksonville State, which jumps up after beating Kennesaw State to move to 6-0 in CUSA play.
Bill Belichick’s North Carolina drops back down after a loss to Wake Forest because the Tar Heels still have the 34-9 loss to UCF on their record, which comes back into play as the Knights remain at No. 85 after a blowout loss to Texas Tech.
Western Michigan moves up for beating Ohio to take first place in the MAC, but the Broncos stay behind Michigan State due to the head-to-head loss. The Bobcats stay ahead of West Virginia thanks to their head-to-head. Georgia Southern moves up for beating Coastal Carolina, while Toledo moves up to No. 97 for beating Miami (Ohio).
A good amount of shakeup here. Delaware drops to No. 103 after losing to Sam Houston, which has now won two in a row and moves up. Nevada also beat San Jose State by a shocking 55-10 final score to move the Wolf Pack up and drop SJSU. Kent State won one game over the last two seasons, but the Golden Flashes are 4-6 and up to No. 122 after beating Akron.
UMass lost 45-3 to Northern Illinois to drop to 0-10. The Minutemen finish out with Ohio and Bowling Green, attempting to avoid a winless season.
