Leaders Emerge from Pack on “Separation Saturday”

Yesterday, by far, was the best Saturday of college football so far. You ask why?

By Brett Samuels

On what College Gameday’s Chris Fowler dubbed “Separation Saturday,” a plethora of undefeated teams fell by the wayside, making it a bit more clear who the real contenders for the national championship are.

It began early in the day when Northwestern, the Big Ten’s only bowl eligible team without a loss, blew a late lead at Penn State and suffered their first defeat of the year.

That was just a teaser for later in the day when Iowa State defeated TCU on the road. The Horned Frogs had been ranked No. 15 in the polls, and held the nation’s longest win streak before falling to the Cyclones.

Around the same time that TCU lost its undefeated record, the LSU Tigers, ranked No. 4 in the country, went into Gainesville and were stifled by the Florida Gators’ defense in a 14-6 slugfest.

(AP Photo/John Raoux)

“That No. 10 Florida upset Les Miles' No. 4 Tigers wasn't a huge surprise,” said ESPN.com’s David Helman. “What was shocking was the way the Gators did it: They beat the Tigers at their own game.”

LSU is an annual favorite to make a run at the national title, and after reaching the championship game last year and returning most of their starters, the Tigers seemed ready to go all the way again this year. However Florida had other plans, and the Gators remain undefeated after six weeks.

Saturday night was chocked full of high profile matchups. The fifth ranked Georgia Bulldogs traveled to South Carolina to take on the sixth ranked Gamecocks. West Virginia, led by quarterback Geno Smith, took his No. 8 Mountaineers to Texas to face the No. 11 Longhorns. Ohio State, despite being ineligible for the postseason this year, hosted Nebraska in a pivotal Big Ten clash, while No. 2 Oregon faced off with No. 23 ranked Washington.

One surprise among the night games was Georgia, a team some thought was even better than its No. 5 ranking, getting demolished by South Carolina 35-7.

When asked in a postgame interview what he thought the win over Georgia meant, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier had a simple response.

“We got a pretty good team, that’s what it showed,” Spurrier told USA Today.

Ohio State and Nebraska played a game that was nearly as lopsided, with the Buckeyes cruising to a 63-38 victory. Oregon also won their game with relative ease, beating up on Washington 52-21.

Apart from the LSU vs. Florida game, the only other top 25 matchup that lived up to the hype was West Virginia against Texas in a Big 12 contest. The two teams traded scores back and forth the entire game until finally West Virginia was able to get some breathing room late in the 4^th quarter, eventually holding on for the 48-45. West Virginia’s Smith threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns to lead the way for the Mountaineers.

But the biggest shocker of the evening was one that flew under the radar. No. 3 Florida State lost to unranked NC State in dramatic fashion, giving up a touchdown with 16 seconds to play and ultimately losing 17-16. FSU has had a reputation of failing to live up to its potential in recent years, and this year proved to be the same old story for the Seminoles.

“I thought they were different this year,” ESPN analyst Brock Huard said after the game. “But I guess this is just the same old thing.”

With a total of seven teams from the top 25 suffering their first loss of the season, including the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 ranked teams, the national title race has been shaken up. While there’s still plenty of football left, only a handful of undefeated teams remain, including three from the SEC. Those teams with perfect records will be tested once again next weekend as conference play continues, and we approach the halfway point in the season.