Texas-sized shake-up
Not only did former-No. 15 Texas fall out of the rankings altogether, but Texas Tech made an appearance this week at No. 18. Texas had a tough road game with then-No. 13 Oklahoma Saturday, so a loss wasn't exactly unexpected. What was unexpected, was the ease with which Oklahoma won. The Sooners scored a whopping 23 points in the second quarter, giving them a 36-2 halftime lead. The Sooners' wildcat quarterback Blake Bell scored four rushing touchdowns while starting quarterback Landry Jones threw for 321 yards and two scores. Meanwhile, Texas Tech routed then-No. 5 West Virginia 49-14, lead by quarterback Seth Doege's 499 passing yards and six touchdowns. Junior running back SaDale Foster picked up 82 yards on 10 carries to pace the Red Raider running game.
West Virginia Plummets
Two weeks ago West Virginia visited then-No. 11 Texas and defeated the Longhorns 48-45. A match-up against unranked Texas Tech wasn't expected to give them much trouble. Apparently no one told the Red Raiders. Heisman favorite Geno Smith was held under 300 passing yards for just the second time all season and threw for only one touchdown after throwing for at least three each of the first six weeks of the season. The Mountaineers' 14 points scored was less than half of their previous season low, the 31 points they scored against Maryland. Even if West Virginia survives No. 4 Kansas State next week, they'll still have to contend with TCU, Oklahoma, and a road trip to Iowa State.
Ohio Cracks the Top-25
Ohio, which received 23 votes last week in the poll, came in at No. 25 this week with 104 votes. The Bobcats cracked the top 25 for the first time since 1968, a year in which they went undefeated. Last week in this piece we talked about how Louisiana Tech could overtake Ohio as the non-BCS team to earn a bowl invite, but after the Bulldogs' loss to Texas A&M, the Bobcats have slid back into the driver's seat. Ohio has consecutive games against sub-.500 teams after it comes out of its bye this week, facing off against Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Michigan. The two easier games should help the Bobcats stay in the conversation for a BCS bowl.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.