Razorbacks plummet out of AP Top 25
Ohio State, Michigan both move up 2 spots
9/10/2012
Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer sings "Carmen Ohio" Saturday in Columbus. Ohio State won 31-16. Ohio State and Michigan both jumped two spots in the Associated Press Top 25 this week after wins over Central Florida and Air Force, respectively.
Arkansas took the plunge. The Razorbacks went from eighth to out of the rankings after a 34-31 overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night in Little Rock.
To make matters worse for the Razorbacks, star quarterback Tyler Wilson was knocked out of the game with a possible concussion. And, oh by the way, Arkansas hosts Alabama on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide held firm to the stop spot in the rankings, followed by Southern California, LSU, and Oregon. The top 10 was virtually unchanged, except for Arkansas.
TOLEDO-BOWLING GREEN RIVALRY BY THE NUMBERS
1 — The number of times the two teams have played in September before this year. The only previous September meeting came on Sept. 24, 1988, in a contest the Rockets won 34-5 at the Glass Bowl.
2 — Consecutive victories by the Rockets in this series. UT won at home by a 33-14 score in 2010 and captured last year's contest by a 28-21 margin at Doyt Perry Stadium.
3 — Number of MAC division titles won or shared by Bowling Green (2007 East shared; 2005 East shared, 2003 West).
3 — Number of consecutive three-game winning streaks in this series if Toledo wins this year's contest. Rockets won three straight from 2004-06, but Falcons won three in a row from 2007-09.
8 — Number of MAC West Division titles won or shared by Toledo (2011, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1998, 1997; all shared but 1998 and '97).
9 — Number of Mid-American Conference titles won or shared by Toledo (2004, 1995, 1990 (shared), 1984, 1981, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1967).
10 — Number of Mid-American Conference titles won or shared by Bowling Green (1992, 1991, 1985, 1982, 1965 (shared), 1964, 1962, 1961, 1959, 1956).
12 — Longest win streak in the series. Bowling Green won every meeting of the two teams from 1955-66. The next-longest winning streak is four games, done by BG three times (1928 through 1932, did not play 1931; 1975-78 and 1991-94) and UT once (1995-98).
14 — Number of shutouts in this series. Toledo has six shutouts, BG has five, and there are three scoreless draws. There hasn't been a shutout since the Falcons' 21-0 win in 1985, and the Rockets haven't posted a shutout since 1970's 20-0 victory.
19 — The number of miles separating the two schools. Only 10 potential FBS matchups would involve two teams closer than these rivals, and only four of those pairings involve teams from the same league: Houston and Rice, Akron and Kent State, Duke and North Carolina, and UCLA and USC.
53 — Number of Mid-American Conference wins for former UT coach Gary Pinkel, the fourth-highest total for a coach in league history. Tied for fifth on the list are a pair of former BG coaches in Doyt Perry and Denny Stolz with 49 apiece.
63 — The most points scored by one team in this series. In 1935 the Rockets swamped BG 63-0, and the two teams did not meet again until 1948.
39-33-4 — The all-time series record, with Bowling Green having 39 wins, Toledo 33, and four ties.
Ohio State and Michigan both jumped two spots after wins over Central Florida and Air Force, respectively. The Buckeyes were 12th and the Wolverines were 17.
The Razorbacks' dive was the second-largest of any team to fall out of the Top 25, trailing only Michigan's fall from preseason No. 5 after its loss to Appalachian State to open the 2007 season.
Arkansas might have Wilson back next week. Coach John L. Smith said the prognosis on the senior was good.
MOVING UP: Collin Klein and Kansas State are demanding to be taken seriously again.
The Wildcats were surprising upstarts last season, winning 10 games and getting to the Cotton Bowl after being picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big 12. Kansas State won eight games by seven points or less. Luck or skill?
The Wildcats are making a case for the latter. Klein accounted for four touchdowns in a 52-13 victory over Miami in Manhattan, Kan. The rout moved them up six spots in the AP Top 25 to No. 15.
Klein has a Tebow-esque style. He ran for 27 touchdowns last season, but wasn't a consistent passing threat.
Against, Miami he ran for three scores and 71 yards, but passed for 210 yards.
"He's improved at everything, because he works diligently to get better at everything," coach Bill Snyder said. "He's better in the passing game, he's gotten better in leadership, managing the game. I mean, he's just a guy who works diligently to get better, and he's done that across the board."
MOVING DOWN: All the teams that moved down, also moved out. Joining Arkansas, were Wisconsin, Nebraska and Oklahoma State.
All three lost on the road, though none in a more startling fashion than the Badgers.
Wisconsin fell 10-7 at Oregon State, managing only 207 yards of offense. Montee Ball, last year's Heisman Trophy finalist, had his streak of games with a touchdown snapped at 21 and was held to 61 yards on 15 carries.
"Any loss absolutely disturbs me to no end," Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema told reporters after the game.
This loss should be particularly perplexing. Wisconsin averaged 44 points per game last year, and even though quarterback Russell Wilson is gone and the offensive line has been revamped, nobody saw this coming.
IN AND OUT: No. 22 UCLA and No. 23 Tennessee are back in the rankings for the first time in four years.
No. 24 Arizona returned for the first time since November 2010 and No. 25 BYU is in the Top 25 for the first time since the final 2009 poll.
UCLA and Arizona rounded out a solid Saturday for the Pac-12 by winning big nonconference games with powerful offensive displays for their new coaches.
The Bruins are off to a 2-0 start under Jim Mora and might have a Heisman Trophy contender in running back Johnathan Franklin, who ran for 217 yards in a 36-30 victory against Nebraska.
The Wildcats improved to 2-0 under Rich Rodriguez, whose spread offense has been a perfect fit for quarterback Matt Scott. Arizona beat Oklahoma 59-38, with Scott throwing for 320 yards.
Rodriguez, who was run out of Michigan after three tumultuous seasons, knows the power of beating and being a Top 25 team.
"Nowadays, it seems everybody knows the scores, but it seems like they put that Top 25 on that ticker and it goes on and on and on all week," he said. "So we're going to be on that ticker all week and I told the guys you want to be on the right side of that ticker."
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The four teams that fell out of the poll all had become mainstays in recent years.
Nebraska had a streak of 37 straight AP Top appearances. Wisconsin's streak of 36 straight appearances was snapped. Arkansas was on a 34-poll streak and Oklahoma State had been in the last 29 straight polls.
Respectively, they were the fourth, fifth, sixth and 10th longest current streaks heading into this weekend.
ODDS & ENDS: Louisiana-Monroe's victory, easily the biggest in coach Todd Berry's three seasons at the school, was good enough to get the Warhawks 23 points in the Top 25.
Monroe typically takes on heavyweights and takes a beating. The Warhawks lost at Florida State, TCU and Iowa last year, and many of these same players were beaten 31-7 by Arkansas in 2010. "They kind of got to the point where they quit looking at the (opponents') helmets and went out and played up to their standard of performance," Berry told the AP Sunday.
The Warhawks' upset took the luster off what looked like Week 3's marquee game: No. 1 Alabama at Arkansas. Three other games match ranked teams: No. 20 Notre Dame is at No. 10 Michigan State; No. 2 Southern California is at No. 21 Stanford and No. 18 Florida is at No. 23 Tennessee.