The biggest slate of games so far this season, college football Week 7 did not disappoint fans as chaos reigned supreme and upsets took place around the nation.
However, plenty of players and teams did fall short of expectations, including the No. 3 team in the nation, which fell at home to South Carolina. We’ll start there as we take a look at the biggest disappointments from college football Week 7.
No. 3 Georgia stunned by South Carolina
A dark-horse Heisman candidate, Jake Fromm had the worst game of his season by far as the No. 3-ranked Georgia Bulldogs were defeated in their own building by South Carolina. Coming into the game, Fromm didn’t have a single interception on record. He threw three of them Saturday, including a ghastly pick-six, to Israel Mukuamu.
The vaunted Bulldogs defense never sunk its teeth into the Gamecocks, who didn’t turn the ball over once. Even when Ryan Hilinski was knocked out of the game on a nasty hit to his knee, the Gamecocks were able to keep the ball moving and do just enough to thwart Georgia.
Will Muschamp inexplicably wilted under pressure in the game’s final minute before overtime, but even then Georgia couldn’t take advantage. The end result was a crippling 20-17 double-overtime loss that should significantly impact this team’s national ranking, and its shot at the playoff.
Rutgers somehow hits a new low
Just when we thought the Rutgers football program could not sink any lower, the Scarlet Knights found a way. It started on the first play of the game Saturday against Indiana. Quarterback Johnny Langan was sacked by Demarcus Elliott for a loss of eight yards. Langan fumbled on the play, and Reakwon Jones scooped and scored from 17 yards out.
The game was already over. After one play.
Indiana went on to score 21 points in the game’s first seven minutes, and went on to win 35-0. In the process, Rutgers gained a grand total of 75 yards, including just one yard passing, gave up 557 yards and went 0-12 on third and fourth downs. It was as humiliating a performance as anyone’s going to see all season.
No. 23 Memphis starts cold, upset by Temple
The Tigers had a chance to make a major statement on the road against a darn good Temple team Saturday. Instead, they were upset, 30-28, thanks in large part to an offensive performance highlighted by a slow start and four turnovers.
Memphis opened the game going punt, interception, fumble, fumble, punt on its first five possessions. The Owls took full advantage of this early lapse and scored nine points off the turnovers to take an early 16-7 lead. The Tigers bounced back and made a game of it but the damage had already been done.
Longhorns forgot how to tackle
Coming into Week 7, the biggest question I had was whether Texas’ defense was up to the task of slowing down the high-powered Sooners offense. The answer to that question was a resounding “no,” as the Longhorns repeatedly fell flat on their face in the open field trying to bring down CeeDee Lamb and the rest of Oklahoma’s playmakers.
Lamb had a banner day, catching 10 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came at the expense of some of the worst attempts at tackling we’ve seen all year.
Credit goes to Sam Ehlinger for his toughness. He was under pressure all game long and took nine sacks, yet he continued to battle until the end and made it a one-score game. His defensive teammates simply played too poorly to beat Oklahoma as the Longhorns fell to 4-2 on the season.
Sparty ground into dust by Wisconsin
We’ll preface the forthcoming Michigan State bashing by saying that No. 8 Wisconsin has proven week in and week out that it is a serious national title contender. With that out of the way, oh my goodness did the Spartans get pulverized in Madison on Saturday.
Senior quarterback Brian Lewerke led an offensive attack that was neutralized by the Badgers from start to finish. The Spartans gained a grand total of 149 yards, seven first downs and scored exactly zero points. Lewerke had an atrocious day, completing 7-of-16 passes for 53 yards with no touchdowns and an awful pick-six to linebacker Zack Baun.
Michigan State’s defense did a great job keeping Heisman candidate Jonathan Taylor from going bonkers but still allowed 402 yards of offense in the 38-0 blowout loss. It was an ugly, ugly game for Mark Dantonio and Co.
Another demoralizing loss for FSU against Clemson
Nobody in their right mind would say they expected Florida State to beat No. 2 Clemson in its own house Saturday. But after the way the Tigers went to Tallahassee last season and humiliated Willie Taggart and Co., we at least had some expectation the Seminoles would put up a fight in Week 7.
That did not happen. Instead, the Tigers once again owned their so-called rival, going up 28-0 by halftime and winning by the blowout score of 45-14.
James Blackmon was a miserable wreck going against Clemson’s vaunted defense. He was eventually replaced by Alex Hornibrook, who fared little better. The two quarterbacks combined to complete 17-of-35 passes for just 150 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Clemson’s offense racked up 552 yards in the lopsided blowout, and Florida State limps home without any momentum at all, along with a record of 3-3.
Refs screw Texas Tech in overtime
Texas Tech went into Waco, Texas and gave the undefeated Baylor Bears all they could handle, and then some.
A miraculous fourth-quarter catch by Denzel Mims set up the game-tying field goal for Baylor late in regulation. Then, on Baylor’s first overtime possession, the center committed an epic butt-fumble that should have resulted in a turnover. Instead of possessing the ball with a chance to win, Texas Tech was robbed by the refs, who seemingly invented a penalty (illegal snap?) that allowed Baylor to retain the ball.
After both teams scored touchowns in the first overtime period, Texas Tech settled for a field goal, and then Baylor won the game with a touchdown run by JaMycal Hasty. It’s pretty awesome that Baylor is 6-0. But the Bears got a gift from the refs, who absolutely robbed the Red Raiders in this one.
No. 19 Wake Forest upset at home by Louisville
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons got the thrill of earning a top-25 ranking ahead of Week 7. The surprisingly undefeated program, coming off a big win over Boston College, had a chance to make a big statement against a Louisville squad that’s been putting up points in bunches recently. Instead, it was the Cardinals making one.
Louisville ran Wake Forest out of its own building until late when the Demon Deacons woke up and started scoring like crazy (28 points in the fourth quarter). The Cardinals built a 21-7 lead in the first quarter and held on for dear life in the end, winning by the nail-biting score of 62-59. A defense that’s been solid all year was completely blown away, and Wake’s offense turned the ball over three times.
Nebraska’s defense exploited by the Golden Gophers
Without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez, who didn’t even suit up, Nebraska’s offense was a train wreck on the road against Minnesota Saturday. The Cornhuskers didn’t score a single point until the fourth quarter, and the game was long over by that time.
Nebraska’s defense was shredded to a million little bits by Minnesota’s run game. The Golden Gophers racked up 322 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, featuring three running backs that gained at least 84 yards each. Rodney Smith (139 yards and a touchdown) led the charge.
Quarterback Tanner Morgan simply had to not mess up to keep the good vibes going as his team crushed the life out of Nebraska.
Florida’s vaunted defense decimated by LSU
The matchup everyone was pining for — LSU’s high-powered RPO-centric offense against Florida’s dominant defense — did not fail to entertain. However, Florida’s defense absolutely did. Star linebacker Jonathan Greenard was unable to play after the first series with a high-ankle sprain, and without his pass-rushing abilities on the field Joe Burrow had time to make big throws all night long.
Burrow completed 21-of-24 passes for 293 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions — practically a flawless performance. He had exceptional balance on offense thanks to a rushing attack — spearheaded by junior Clyde Edwards-Helaire — that piled up 218 yards and three touchdowns.
Florida came into the game ranked 11th in total defense (276 yards allowed per game) and was the No. 6-ranked defense in the nation, allowing just 9.5 points per game. And LSU absolutely shredded this unit en route to a 42-28 victory. Incredible stuff.