Since the first kickoff in Ireland, the college football season has been filled with surprises as 15 ranked teams have been defeated by unranked programs.
Asides from the ranked teams that have taken upsetting losses early in the season, there have been many close games as well. To begin the 2024-2025 campaign, college football traveled to Dublin, Ireland as the tenth ranked Florida State Seminoles faced a conference foe, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Jackets proved to be a gritty opponent throughout the first half. The Yellow Jackets began the third quarter even with the Seminoles as both teams put up 14 points in the first half. Georgia Tech’s defense held strong for the remainder of the game and turned the college football world upside down. The Seminoles went back to Tallahassee, Florida with a 21-24 loss.
To start a hectic week two of college football, the Huskies of Northern Illinois shocked the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana. Cade Haberman of the Huskies defense ended the final drive from the Irish with a blocked field goal. The Huskies left Notre Dame Stadium with a 16-14 victory over the fifth ranked team in the country.
To continue the madness, the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series produced a closely contested game between the Iowa State Cyclones and 21 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. The Cyclones defense traveled into Kinnick Stadium and shut down the Iowa offense. Iowa was held to under 100 passing yards and threw two interceptions. Iowa State kicker, Kyle Konrardy, nailed a 54-yard field goal for the Cyclones in the final minute of the game to beat its ranked rival 20-19.
Ranked teams held strong until week five when the Kentucky Wildcats marched into Oxford, Mississippi and beat the sixth ranked Ole Miss Rebels. The Wildcats battled in the fourth quarter as they held Jaxson Dart and the Rebel offense to zero points and only needed a touchdown to win 20-17.
On the west coast, the Wildcats of Arizona dominated the tenth ranked Utes in Salt Lake City. The Utes had just beaten 14 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys the previous week. Arizona controlled the entire game as they led at the half 10-3 and finished the game with a 23-10 win. The Arizona quarterback led the high powered Wildcats offense with nearly 200 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
The sixth week of the season became hectic as five top-15 teams fell short to their opponents. The biggest surprise of the day was when the top ranked team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. The win for the Commodores was their first victory over a top-five ranked team in program history. It was also the first time since 2008 for an AP number one to lose as a three touchdown favorite, according to College Football Blitz instagram. Vanderbilt put up 40 points on the Tide and held Alabama to 35.
As the day progressed, the fourth ranked Tennessee Volunteers fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks 19-14 away from home. The Missouri Tigers also struggled on the road as they were taken down by the 25 ranked Texas A&M Aggies 41-10. In the Big Ten, the tenth ranked Michigan Wolverines and 11 ranked USC Trojans fell to their unranked opponents. In the National Championship rematch, the Washington Huskies came out on top over the Wolverines 27-17 at home. The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Trojans 24-17 after their narrow defeat to Michigan the previous week.
With much of the college football regular season left, many more upsets are bound to happen. The final week of the regular season ends on November 30th as many rivalry games will occur throughout the week.
