Saturday was deemed “Shake-up Saturday” in the NCAA by football fans.
On tap was the biggest showdown game in ACC history and sports writers across the country were gearing up to watch. For most of the day, the narrative seemingly changed when viewers saw nine teams in the Associated Press Top 25 go down. No conference was shaken more than the perennial powerhouse SEC with five ranked teams falling.
The Georgia Bulldogs were ranked 15 going into the day at Nashville to play Vanderbilt. The Commodores entered the game with a 3-3 record, all three losses coming in the SEC. Georgia, coming off its only conference loss to Missouri, was still without many key members of the offense including a running back that started before week seven.
The Dawgs outscored Vanderbilt in each of the first three quarters, but gave up 17-straight points in the final quarter leading to the 31-27 loss.
Two other games in the SEC kicked off just after noon. The 11th ranked South Carolina Gamecocks played Tennessee in Knoxville and Florida traveled to Columbia, Missouri to take on those streaking Tigers.
The Volunteers took a 17-7 lead into halftime, but allowed 14-unanswered points in the third quarter to enter the fourth down 21-17. The Tennessee defense knocked Carolina’s starting quarterback Connor Shaw out of the game and held the Gamecocks scoreless in the last quarter. Tennessee kicked two field goals, one of which added the final points as the last seconds left the clock, to win their first conference game.
Coming off of the win between the hedges in Athens, the 14th ranked Missouri Tigers welcomed the Gators who were ranked 22 into Columbia for the first of two games of ranked SEC teams. The Tigers were looking to stay the only undefeated East team, which, with a 36-17 victory, they would do.
At 3:30, Auburn and Texas A&M teed up to play the second game of ranked SEC teams that would see the 24th ranked Tigers take down Johnny Manziel and the number seven Aggies. Auburn sacked the former Heisman winning quarterback on the last play of the game to solidify the 45-41 victory.
Ole Miss hosted the number six Tigers of Louisiana State University, another SEC power, on Saturday. The Rebels took down LSU with a 27-24 victory at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.
Before the Rebels finished off the Tigers in Oxford, the game of the day had kicked off. Clemson, South Carolina had already hosted a top 10 matchup when UGA played the Tigers in the first game of the season. On Saturday, the city was set to host a game between two top five teams.
The game, hailed as the biggest game ever in the ACC, turned out to be a one-sided demolition. The Florida State Seminoles entered the game as the fifth ranked team and the Clemson Tigers were sitting behind the Oregon Ducks at three. The Tigers didn’t play to their ranking, while FSU looked like it could challenge for the best team in the nation.
Analysts and fans alike were ready to watch the matchup of the two quarterbacks. Florida State’s freshman phenom Jameis Winston and fifth-year senior Tajh Boyd were ready to put on a show and battle out for ACC supremacy, national championship hopes, and Heisman chances.
When the Tigers got the ball first and fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, it looked to be an uphill battle. When the Seminoles scored three plays later, it turned into an even tougher task for Boyd.
Clemson came into the game averaging over 40 points a game, including putting up only 26 and 24 points against North Carolina State and Boston College, respectively.
Florida State’s defense held Clemson’s explosive offense to just seven points. The second team offense also put up seven points late in the fourth quarter.
The story of the day, through all of the shaking and moving of the top 25 teams, turned out to be the performance of the Seminoles. Winston posted a 22/34, 444 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception night. He also ran for a score. FSU scored the most points ever scored by an opponent in Death Valley with the 51-14 dismantling effort.
In the first rankings of the final season of the BCS, Florida State was rewarded for its overwhelming win with a second place ranking. Missouri, too, received a good spot at number five after its win over Florida. Auburn jumped to 11 in the poll with its win. LSU, Texas A&M, and South Carolina all fell to 13, 16, and 21 respectively. Georgia and Florida both fell out of the rankings.
During one of the most upside-down seasons in the SEC, it’s like ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said, “There’s Alabama, Florida State, and Oregon, then there’s everybody else.”
