Week 7 college football rankings: Missouri, Michigan, Tennessee, USC and Alabama drop

Don’t look now but the Pittsburgh anthers are off to one of their best starts in program history. Pitt took advantage of a North Carolina program that is falling apart, picking up its third double-digit win of the season. There isn’t a ‘quality’ win on the Panthers’ resume right now, but that will change in the next two matchups against Cal and Syracuse.

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On a Saturday afternoon when Dylan Raiola and this ground game couldn’t get a ton going, the Nebraska Cornhuskers defense saved the day. James Williams (2 sacks) was the standout in this matchup, but the entire Cornhuskers defense deserves credit for putting on a clinic against previously undefeated Rutgers. Just a nice rebound win for Nebraska after losing to Illinois. Let’s see what they can do next week against an undefeated Indiana Hoosiers program.

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If the USC Trojans have learned nothing else from their early taste of the Big Ten, it’s that more needs to be invested in the defensive line. Minnesota had one of the worst offensive lines in the Power 5, statistically, entering Saturday and a Trojans’ pass rush that has been invisible all year still couldn’t generate pressure. USC’s defensive line was also bullied on the ground as well, allowing nearly 200 yards. There’s not a single reason to think the Trojans can handle Penn State next week.

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It’s almost like the quarterback position matters. The Michigan Wolverines have now benched two quarterbacks (Davis Warren and Alex Orji) this season and the third doesn’t look any better. The Wolverines survived against USC and Minnesota because of the ground game and defense, but it was only a matter of time before a game would be on the quarterback’s shoulders. That happened Saturday night and Michigan fell flat on its face. This quarterback situation is an awful reflection on the Wolverines coaching staff.

The only blemish on the Illinois Fighting Illini’s resume this season is the road loss to Penn State, who should nationally be ranked as a top-six team after Week 6. Illinois does have victories over previously ranked Kansas and Nebraska, so the resume is there. Quite frankly, given how Michigan has looked, we’d pick the Fighting Illini to win that Oct. 19 duel

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The Kansas State Wildcats have to feel pretty good coming out of the bye. Avery Johnson is coming off his best performance of the season and if it’s a sign of what’s to come from the sophomore quarterback, this Wildcats’ offense is in business. With that said, Johnson does have 4 interceptions this season and he’s just a few weeks removed from an awful showing against BYU (38-9 loss). Which version of Johnson Kansas State gets will be critical in Week 7 against Colorado.

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It’s Ashton Jeanty’s world and we’re just living in it. Entering Week 6, the Boise State Broncos running back led the nation in rushing yards (845) and touchdowns (13) with an absurd 10.3 yards per carry average. Naturally, he added to that in grand fashion on Saturday night. Jeanty exploded for 3 touchdowns and 165 yards in his first 10 touches and that was just on Boise State’s first 7 drives. It’s time to talk about Jeanty as the Heisman Trophy leader.

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The wheels have fallen off for the Missouri Tigers. After winning their first two games of the season by a combined 89-0 score against Murray State and Buffalo, Mizzou narrowly escaped against Boston College and Vanderbilt with one-score wins. Evidently, things weren’t fixed and quarterback Brady Cook isn’t the answer. All of that was apparent in a Week 6 battle against Texas A&M that ended in the first half. Missouri had one of the easiest SEC schedules this season and this program couldn’t take advantage of it.

The Indiana Hoosiers finally received their well-deserved recognition in the college football rankings this past week. With that No. 23 next to their name, the Hoosiers came through on the road. Led by quarterback Kurtis Rourke – 380 passing yards and 3-0 TD-INT – Indiana’s offense outscored Northwestern 24-14 in the second half, with 17 fourth-quarter points, helping the Hoosiers escape out of town with a 6-0 record no one saw coming.

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The LSU Tigers are probably going to be ranked as a top-10 team by the Associated Press and in the Coaches Poll after Week 5. It’s difficult to see any argument for that. LSU’s season-opening loss to the USC Trojans looks worse in hindsight and this team had far more issues than it should’ve against Nicholls (44-21), South Carolina (36-33) and UCLA (34-17). We’ll give them the No. 16 spot for now, but LSU hasn’t looked like a playoff contender all year largely because of its defense.

Fans have been waiting for that dominant performance by Mike Elko’s program. It came in the biggest game of the program’s season to date. In front of a jubilant crowd at Kyle Field, the Texas A&M Aggies jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Aggies running back Le’Veon Moss (173 scrimmage yards and 3 touchdowns) was the hero offensively. Elko’s defense – 33% third-down conversion rate and 254 total yards allowed – also deserves immense credit for one of the most impressive wins in college football Week 6.

At this point, we can’t bet on Cam Rising returning this season and it’s hard to even trust the injury updates coming from the Utah Utes. For the time being, that puts more weight on the shoulders of freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson. He’s made a lot of mistakes this season (7 interceptions) with Utah’s defense and running back Micah Bernard often saving the day. That might work for the Utes against Arizona State (Week 7), TCU (Week 8) and Houston (Week 9), but it’s a formula that could come back to bite them in November.

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Life couldn’t be much better right now for the BYU Cougars. Led by a top-25 defense, allowing just 15.8 points per game, the Utes have two signature wins over Kansas State (38-9) and Bayloe (34-28). Now, coming out of the bye, the Cougars roll into their October slate with an undefeated record and an opportunity to take down a pair of teams (Arizona and Oklahoma State) that entered the season in the top 25 college football rankings.

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The Ole Miss Rebels needed that bounce-back performance and it felt even better because of the unlikely hero. Hitting the scales at 325 pounds, defensive tackle JJ Pegues turned into a goal-line back in Week 6 and punched in both of his opportunities for touchdowns. It led the way in a smooth 27-3 win over South Carolina. Now, things get tough for the Rebels again with a road trip to LSU.

Cade Klubnik came to play on Saturday night, which the Clemson Tigers needed against a Florida State Seminoles team that looked better after benching DJ Uiagalelei. The third-year breakout is here for Klubnik, with the junior signal-caller already closing in fast on his touchdown total (19) from last season, doing so on nearly a quarter of the pass attempts. After a brutal showing in the opener against Georgia, Clemson is back on track and putting itself in a good position to compete for a playoff spot.

It’s rare for a bye week to improve a team’s playoff odds, but that’s precisely what happened for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Week 6. With Missouri getting blown out and Alabama inexplicably losing to Vanderbilt, hope remains for the Fighting Irish. It also helps that this team is coming off a nice win over Louisville and the upcoming Notre Dame schedule has a lot of winnable games. Then again, that’s what everyone said before the Northern Illinois game.

For all the physical talent Nico Iamaleava has, he seems to lack any situational awareness. The Tennessee Volunteers at least had a chance to win the game with 6 seconds left, trailing 19-14 at the Razorbacks’ 20-yard line. However, Iamaleava ran the clock out and then ran out of bounds without even attempting a pass. Maybe getting hit so much by a turnstile Volunteers offensive line rattled him, but there’s no real excuse for not even giving your team a chance to win the game. We’d drop Tennessee even further down the college football rankings, but it’s hard to put anyone above them when Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Utah and Alabama have all lost to ranked teams while losses by LSU and Clemson look even worse weeks later.

Needless to say, we didn’t expect the Iowa State Cyclones to crack the top 10 in our Week 7 college football rankings. On a chaotic Saturday that saw multiple top-10 programs go down, though, the spot opened up for Iowa State. Rocco Becht played well again on Saturday, but it was the running-back tandem of Jayln Jackson and Carson Hansen that really won this thing for Iowa State.

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At some point, the Georgia Bulldogs have to wake up and start playing like a team that looks like a national championship contender. Facing an Auburn Tigers team that has lost to Cal, Arkansas and Oklahoma this season, Georgia led just 14-10 until late in the fourth quarter. There’s plenty of talent on this Bulldogs roster, but offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has engineered some lifeless first-half offenses. If it’s not fixed soon, Georgia will lose at Texas next week and a third regular-season loss (Tennessee on Nov. 16) is very possible.

There’s the difference between Nick Saban and Kalen Deboer. It’s great to beat the Georgia Bulldogs, but it means nothing when your program looks completely unprepared and uninterested to face its next opponent. The only effort the Alabama Crimson Tide defense showed in Week 6 came in the closing seconds, with cheap shots and unsportsmanlike conduct when the game was over. Meanwhile, Heisman front-runner Jalen Milroe had a pick-six and a fumble that led to another Vanderbilt touchdown. DeBoer got his honeymoon and now comes the brutal reality of being Saban’s replacement following one of the most embarrassing losses in Alabama history.

On a night when so many of the top teams in college football couldn’t avoid upsets, the Miami Hurricanes rallied. Cal didn’t just lead 35-10 midway through the third quarter, it had a raucous home crowd on its side and alter a 99.3% win probability with 12L16 remaining in the game. Cam Ward rose to the occasion, delivering 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points including the game-tying touchdown with 26 seconds last. Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri couldn’t overcome adversity, Miami did.

While it was a 31-10 final, the Oregon Ducks didn’t let Michigan State do anything until the fourth quarter when it was a 31-point game. Gabriel – 2 interceptions and a 62.5% completion rate – had some issues against the Spartans’ defense. Fortunately, it didn’t matter on a night when the Ducks’ offense rushed for 213 yards and posted a 50% third-down conversion rate. Meanwhile, Oregon’s defense held the Spartans to an 18% third-down conversion rate. The Ducks will have to clean up those turnovers, however, with the Ohio State Buckeyes looming.

The Penn State Nittany Lions will find a few things from this performance worth correcting. In a 16-point win, the Nittany Lions only outgained UCLA by 62 yards and it was a one-score game with 4 minutes left in the first half. Still, Liam Clifford (107 yards on 3 receptions) and Kaytron Allen (79 scrimmage yards and 1 touchdown) did enough in combination with this Nittany Lions defense to improve to 5-0.

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It wasn’t a great first half for this Ohio State Buckeyes offense, with a turnover and some missed opportunities making it just a 7-0 game at halftime. Then, one of the best college football teams in 2024 showed why it’s a powerhouse, coming out of the third quarter with 21 unanswered points on the Iowa Hawkeyes defense. Everyone expected the Buckeyes to win this one, but the margin of victory and responding to the first-half struggles is a great sign for Ohio State.

While Arch Manning played well as a fill-in starter, there’s no question that Quinn Ewers should be the Texas Longhorns starting quarterback coming out of the bye. The Longhorns offense looks more in rhythm when Ewers is commanding this offense and you wanted an experienced signal-caller out there with this upcoming Longhorns schedule. Texas does draw a home matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners in Week 7 and while anything can happen in the Red River Rivalry, the Longhorns look like a significantly better football team right now.