Michigan State’s defense held the prolific Duck offense in check most of the game and then withstood a late Oregon rally to post a 31-28 win in Saturday’s top college football game. The win vaulted the Spartans from # 4 all the way to #1 in the latest Billingsley Report. Ohio State remains #1 in the Margin of Victory rankings followed by Alabama and TCU.
But it was the Sooners who the stole the show Saturday by virtue of the greatest comeback ever witnessed in Neyland Stadium as Oklahoma overcame a 17 point deficit and beat Tennessee 31-24 in double overtime. Bottled up inside their own 20 yard line for three quarters by a stingy Vol defense and multiple Sooner miscues, Oklahoma’s offense caught fire early in the fourth quarter and seemed unstoppable for the remainder of the game. The Sooner defense played well the entire game and their ability to limit Tennessee to 17 first half points then completely shut Tennessee down in the second half proved to be the difference in the game. The raucous overflowing sellout Tennessee crowd was an obvious hindrance to the Sooners in the first half as Oklahoma was plagued with false start penalties which thwarted what few opportunities the Crimson and Cream had, but when the field position changed and Oklahoma started moving the ball, the crowd noise softened and Oklahoma was off to the races. The Sooners moved from #25 to #14 in this week’s report and Tennessee only fell slightly from #24 to #26. The week two rankings are now posted to your right under their respective headlines.