Monday, September 30, 2019
The new AP College Football Top 25 rankings are out and there is a new #1 team at the top. Alabama pummeled Ole Miss 59-31 to move past Clemson, the first time this year the Tigers have not led the poll.
Clemson narrowly escaped Chapel Hill and Kenan Memorial Stadium as the Tarheels of North Carolina scored a late touchdown to pull within a point at 21-20. NC Coach Mack Brown opted to attempt a two-point conversion, passing up a kick for the tie and overtime. Clemson stuffed the try and held on in a game they could have easily lost.
The Georgia Bulldogs remain in 3rd, while Ohio State jumped past LSU after the Buckeyes thrashed Nebraska 48-7.
Michigan Wolverines
After last week’s loss to Wisconsin, Rutgers proved to be the right medicine for Michigan to recover on both sides of the ball. A dominate 52-0 win put the Wolverines back on the winning track.
The big win moved Michigan up one spot in this week’s rankings to 19th.
Next Saturday’s Homecoming game against Iowa at Noon in the Big House will tell if Coach Harbaugh has the kinks worked out. Iowa is 4-0 so far this year, coming off a 48-3 win over Middle Tennessee State. The same squad Michigan defeated in their season-opener 40-21.
Michigan State Spartans
The Spartans slugged out a hard-fought 40-31 win in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. Indiana scored on an 11-yard pass from quarterback Michael Penix to Whop Philyor to tie the score 31-31 with two minutes left in the game.
Michigan State took the kickoff and quickly moved downfield with quarterback Brian Lewerke getting tackled just short of the goal line with just over a minute to play. Poor clock management by the Spartans had them kicking a field goal for a 34-31 lead with five seconds left in the game, instead of time running out.
MSU kicker Matt Coughlin followed his 21-yard tie-breaking field goal with a boot through the end zone, leaving Indiana one play from scrimmage. A completed forward pass followed by multiple laterals ended with Michael Dowell recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and the nin point difference in the final score.
The Spartans remain at 25 in the rankings with an important road test coming up. Next week Michigan State travels to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes of Ohio State in a game that may tell us a lot about both football teams.
These Week’s Rankings
AP Top 25
Updated Sep 29, 2019
| RANK | TEAM | TREND | POINTS | NEXT GAME | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Alabama (29) 5-0 |
1 | 1478 | @
 |
||
| 2 |
 Clemson (18) 5-0 |
1 | 1426 | vs
 |
||
| 3 |
 Georgia (4) 4-0 |
— | 1375 | @
 |
||
| 4 |
 Ohio St. (7) 5-0 |
1 | 1324 | vs
 |
||
| 5 |
 LSU 4-0 |
1 | 1322 | vs
 |
||
| 6 |
 Oklahoma 4-0 |
— | 1264 | @
 |
||
| 7 |
 Auburn 5-0 |
— | 1186 | @
 |
||
| 8 |
 Wisconsin 4-0 |
— | 1046 | vs
 |
||
| 9 |
 Notre Dame 3-1 |
1 | 996 | vs
 |
||
| 10 |
Florida 5-0 |
1 | 986 | vs
|
||
| 11 |
 Texas 3-1 |
— | 919 | @
 |
||
| 12 |
 Penn St. 4-0 |
— | 878 | vs
 |
||
| 13 |
 Oregon 3-1 |
— | 817 | vs
 |
||
| 14 |
 Iowa 4-0 |
— | 731 | @
 |
||
| 15 |
 Washington 4-1 |
2 | 603 | @
 |
||
| 16 |
 Boise St. 4-0 |
— | 559 | @
 |
||
| 17 |
 Utah 4-1 |
2 | 534 | @
 |
||
| 18 |
 UCF 4-1 |
4 | 352 | @
 |
||
| 19 |
Michigan 3-1 |
1 | 350 | vs
|
||
| 20 |
 Arizona St. 4-1 |
17 | 249 | vs
 |
||
| 21 |
 Oklahoma St. 4-1 |
6 | 215 | @
 |
||
| 22 |
 Wake Forest 5-0 |
4 | 190 | vs
 |
||
| 23 |
 Virginia 4-1 |
5 | 186 | @
 |
||
| 24 |
 SMU 5-0 |
4 | 151 | vs
 |
||
| 25 |
Michigan St. 4-1 |
— | 147 | @
|
||
| 25 |
Texas A&M 3-2 |
2 | 147 | vs
|
Courtesy of CBS Sports
