As pro wrestling great and noted philosopher Ric Flair famously said, to be the man, you gotta beat the man.
Defending national champion Ohio State is still the man in college football.
The purveyors of preseason rankings had anointed Texas largely because of what in retrospect was an overabundance of hype surrounding Arch Manning. Reality hit at the Horseshoe on Saturday, and now the Buckeyes are in position to jump Penn State and return to No. 1 when The Associated Press’ first Top 25 of the regular season drops Tuesday.
Look for No. 9 LSU to garner support for No. 1, as well, after its 17-10 victory over No. 4 Clemson. An eight-rung promotion to the top spot would be the second-biggest jump of all time. In 1984, Miami went from No. 10 to No. 1 in the first regular-season poll.
Given the Week 1 results, Penn State might even drop a spot or two. A 46-11 win over lowly Nevada doesn’t necessarily move the needle upward with voters.
Texas fans surely are let down but can take solace in the fact that Manning has a high ceiling and won’t be playing Ohio State every week.
Alabama fans, on the other hand, are gutted and rightly worried. Kalen DeBoer has lost to four unranked opponents in his first 14 games following a 31-17 defeat at Florida State. His predecessor, Nick Saban, lost to four unranked teams in his 235 games over 17 years leading the Crimson Tide.
Look for them to move up
— No. 3 Ohio State beat No. 1 Texas 14-7 not because new quarterback Julian Sayin outplayed Manning — he did — but because of a dominant defense that made stops on four of five fourth downs. New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia made all the right calls and flummoxed Manning with a mix of pre-snap looks.
— No. 9 LSU won its first opener in six seasons, leaning on an upgraded defense in what was expected to be a battle of quarterbacks. LSU never let Cade Klubnik get comfortable and held Clemson to a paltry 4.5 yards per play. Garrett Nussmeier was solid and probably is the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy by default.
— No. 10 Miami’s 27-24 win over No. 6 Notre Dame, after some anxious moments, turned out to be a great launch for the Hurricanes’ new and improved defense under first-year coordinator Corey Hetherman.
Look for them to drop
— Texas became the first preseason No. 1 to lose its opener since BYU knocked off Miami in 1990. Manning will continue to be in the spotlight — he plays for Texas and he’s a Manning, after all — but it won’t be as intense with San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston the next three opponents.
— The good news for Clemson is the Klubnik-led offense won’t see a defense as good as LSU’s again.
— It wasn’t long after No. 8 Alabama’s loss that DeBoer’s contract buyout price of $70 million was bandied on social media.
They are who we thought they were
— No. 2 Penn State got points on its first nine possessions against Nevada.
— No. 5 Georgia had a drama-free 45-7 win over Marshall, with Gunnar Stockton throwing for two TDs and running for two TDs and the defense forcing seven three-and-outs and one four-and-out.
Some good, some bad
— Bryce Underwood gave himself a grade of C-plus, but he was better than any of the three other true freshman quarterbacks who previously started for No. 14 Michigan. He was 21 of 31 for 251 yards and a touchdown in a 34-17 win over New Mexico.
— No. 17 Kansas State was less than a minute away from being the highest-ranked team since 2016 to lose to an FCS opponent. The Wildcats’ touchdown with 42 seconds left let them escape with a 38-35 win over North Dakota.
— No. 24 Tennessee’s 45-26 win over Syracuse showed that the Volunteers might have gotten the better end of the Nico Iamaleava-Joey Aguilar switcheroo with UCLA. Aguilar threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns. Iamaleava struggled and was sacked four times in a 43-10 home loss to Utah.
— No. 25 Boise State obviously was going to miss Ashton Jeanty. The Broncos’ 34-7 loss at ascending South Florida suggests they miss him terribly.
Knocking on the door
— BYU received the most points of unranked teams in the preseason poll. A 69-0 win over FCS Portland State is no big deal — the Vikings have been outscored 111-0 in two games — but there’s a spot available after Boise State’s loss.
— Utah was 14 of 17 on third downs and scored on all six trips into the red zone against UCLA. Utes QB Devon Dampier, who led the Mountain West Conference in total offense at New Mexico last year, is the real deal.
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