NCAA FOOTBALL Was something in the air this weekend? Five top-25 teams lost to unranked programs, along with No. 9 Missouri losing by a large margin to No. 25 Texas A&M. The most chaotic weekend of college football so far left many questions left unanswered as we approach the midseason point of the regular season.

In what might be one of the biggest upsets in SEC history, Vanderbilt took down No. 1 Alabama in Nashville as quarterback Diego Pavia and the Commodores executed a perfect plan to take down their topr anked opponent. Following this surprising loss, are there more questions surrounding Kalen DeBoer’s program, and what he can do, as conference play continues next week?

Boise State remains in the top 25 after a blowout win over Utah State that made it the No. 1 scoring offense among FBS programs. Broncos’ Ashton Jeanty showcased yet again why he remains in Heisman Trophy conversations as he surpassed 1,000 rushing yards in just five games.

After many surprising upsets this past weekend, five new programs join our top-25 list this week. Army takes the No. 25 spot after its best start in 28 years, alongside SMU, Pitt, Texas A&M and Illinois.

ALABAMA (1)

The No. 1 team in the country was not ready for Diego Pavia and the giant killers at Vanderbilt. Alabama suffered one of the biggest upsets in SEC history, a wild 40-35 defeat that ended with a goal post being carried down Broadway. It was a stunning failure for Kalen DeBoer and a team that had just flexed its muscle by beating Georgia.

Vandy executed the perfect plan to take down the Crimson Tide, starting with a massive edge in time of possession (42:08 to 17:52) that kept Jalen Milroe off the field as Pavia kept delivering blows to Bama’s defense with 12 third-down conversions. While it’s cliché to say the honeymoon period is over for DeBoer, the truth is he and his new coaching staff have a lot to clean up. This is a real moment of truth for this team and its trajectory with South Carolina coming up next.

TENNESSEE (4)

For most of the second half Saturday night in Fayetteville, Tennessee just needed one more big play, one more score to put things away. Even with a misfiring offense, it took a 14-3 lead midway through the third quarter, and the Volunteers’ defense was rolling. But the Vols punted on four straight drives, and eventually Arkansas’ offense, leaning on backup quarterback Malachi Singleton after an injury to Taylen Green, started making some plays.

His 11-yard touchdown run with 1:17 left gave the Razorbacks a shocking 19-14 lead, and after driving Tennessee to the Arkansas 20 in the closing seconds, Nico Iamaleava scrambled out of bounds as the clock expired. For the second straight game, Tennessee leaned on defense to carry the team on the road instead of putting too much on Iamaleava’s shoulders. It didn’t work the second time.

Missouri (9)

Eli Drinkwitz said he was embarrassed by the Tigers’ performance in a 41-10 loss to Texas A&M, and there wasn’t much to look back on fondly. Missouri gained only 79 total yards in the first half, going into the break down 24-0, then gave up a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half. Texas A&M’s defense made Brady Cook uncomfortable in the pocket, and even when he threw it, he often went deep and missed throws, going 5-of-17 on throws more than 15 yards.

The defense, which hadn’t allowed more than 325 yards in a game all season, allowed 512, including 236 rushing on 6.6 yards per carry. The Tigers have a road trip to UMass this week before facing Auburn and Alabama and will be looking for answers.

MICHIGAN (10)

Just 271 days removed from its 34-13 loss at the hands of Michigan in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship, Washington enacted its revenge on Saturday in Seattle.

The Huskies outlasted the Wolverines 27-17 in the National Championship rematch, handing Michigan its first Big Ten loss since 2021. The loss puts Michigan’s College Football Playoff aspirations on life support, as the Wolverines fall to 4-2.

Things don’t get much easier for the Wolverines, as they head to Champaign- Urbana to play No. 24 Illinois next week, while Washington travels to Iowa City for a matchup with the Hawkeyes.

USC (11)

A disastrous fourth quarter led to USC’s second loss in the past three weeks as it fell 24-17 to Minnesota on Saturday night.

There are a couple of factors that lead to this. The most prominent one is the Trojans’ offensive line, which hasn’t provided Miller Moss with enough time in the pocket to find players down the field consis tently. Another is that Moss doesn’t force things deep. He takes what the defense gives him. And third is that the Trojans’ receivers simply haven’t played up to the preseason hype. Brenden Rice and Tahj Washington were able to take the top off opposing defenses last season. This group was thought to be better, but there hasn’t been anyone who has been able to do that this season.

USC is just three games into a stretch of seven straight weeks of Big Ten competition, and the Trojans have already lost twice.

The Lincoln Riley era is starting to feel like smoke and mirrors in Year 3.

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