In arguably the biggest weekend of college football this season, Saturday featured the first true test for Alabama as they played their first ranked opponent, a top-10 match-up between two unbeaten SEC teams and the always classic Red River Shootout.
All three games lived up to the hype, but all three were instantly forgotten as the news rolled in that the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs had fallen to the unranked South Carolina Gamecocks in double overtime by a final score of 20-17.
Georgia entered the game favored by three touchdowns but failed to put the many on the board by the end of the day as the team collapsed at all three levels of the game. D’Andre Swift was effectively shut down by a surprisingly stout Gamecocks front line. Jake Fromm was inaccurate, at best, throwing three interceptions in the contest, one resulting in a South Carolina touchdown.
Inexplicably, Kirby Smart opted for an end-of-regulation Hail Mary instead of giving Rodrigo Blankenship the opportunity to kick a game-winning 55-yard field goal. But when the game came down to his foot in the second overtime, Blankenship pushed the ball wide to give South Carolina the win.
With the rest of the top-10 taking care of business, No. 1 Alabama ran away from No. 24 Texas A&M, No. 5 LSU’s high-powered offense overwhelmed No. 7 Florida in the second half and No. 6 Oklahoma outlasted No. 11 Texas in a true shootout, the Bulldogs will be lucky to remain in their midst when the new polls are released.
College Scoreboard (Bye Week: No. 4 Ohio St., No. 12 Auburn, No. 21 SMU):
No 1
Alabama
47
No 9
Notre Dame
30
No 18
Arizona St
38
No 24
Texas A&M
28
USC
27
Washington St
34
No 2
Clemson
45
No 10
Penn St
17
No 19
Wake Forest
59
Florida St
14
No 17
Iowa
12
Louisville
62
No 3
Georgia
17
No 13
Oregon
45
No 20
Virginia
9
S Carolina
20 2OT
Colorado
3
Miami
17
No 5
LSU
42
No 14
Boise St
59
No 22
Baylor
33
No 7
Florida
28
Hawai’i
37
Texas Tech
30
No 6
Oklahoma
34
No 15
Utah
52
No 23
Memphis
28
No 11
Texas
27
Oregon St
7
Temple
30
No 8
Wisconsin
38
No 16
Michigan
42
No 25
Cincinnati
38
Michigan St
0
Illinois
25
Houston
23
