Clemson tumbled to No. 25 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, snapping its streak of 97 straight weeks in the top 10.
The Tigers (2-2) lost for the second time this season Saturday — falling in double overtime to North Carolina State — and dropped 16 spots from No. 9 in the AP Top 25, which is presented by Regions Bank.
Clemson’s top-10 streak was tied with Alabama for the longest current run in college football and second-longest in the history of the AP poll, behind Miami’s 137 from 1985-93.
The Crimson Tide remained No. 1 with 58 first-place votes out of 62. No. 2 Georgia received the remaining four first-place votes. Oregon stayed No. 3. Penn State moved up two spots to No. 4, Iowa held at No. 5 and Oklahoma slipped two spots to No. 6.
Cincinnati moved up a spot to No. 7 and Arkansas jumped eight spots to No. 8 after beating Texas A&M. The Razorbacks have their best ranking since they were No. 8 early in the 2012 season.
That season, Arkansas lost its second game of the season to Louisiana-Monroe and was never ranked again. The Razorbacks had finished fifth the season before under Bobby Petrino.
No. 9 Notre Dame and Florida rounded out the top 10.
POLL POINTS
Clemson did manage to extend its streak of weeks ranked to 107, the third-longest active streak behind Alabama (218) and Ohio State (150).
The Buckeyes' streak does not include polls in which they were ineligible during the 2020 season because the Big Ten was not planning to play due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Alabama's current streak of poll appearances is second all time to Nebraska's 348 from 1981-2002.
IN
After six ranked teams lost this weekend, four to unranked opponents, four new teams entered the rankings of the first time this season.
— No. 19 Oklahoma State improved to 4-0 by beating Kansas State. The Cowboys finished last season ranked.
— No. 21 Baylor is 4-0 after upsetting Iowa State at home and is ranked for the first time since the final 2019 poll.
— No. 23 North Carolina State (3-1) snapped an eight-game losing streak against Clemson to move into the ranking. The Wolfpack was ranked briefly at No. 23 last season.
— No. 24 Wake Forest is 4-0 for the first time since 2019, when the Demon Deacons were ranked for a total of five weeks with a peak of No. 19. That's the only season Wake has been ranked since 2008.
OUT
Two teams that started the season in the top 10 are now unranked.
— Iowa State started No. 7, its best ranking in school history after finishing ninth in 2020, but now sits at 2-2 and unranked.
— North Carolina was No. 10 to start the season, but fell out after being routed by Georgia Tech to fall to 2-2.
— Wisconsin began the season No. 12 but after losing to Penn State and Notre Dame to fall to 1-2 is unranked.
— Kansas State spent one week in the rankings and dropped out.
CONFERENCE CALL
The Southeastern Conference has four teams in the top 10 and five of 12 in the top 12, including Mississippi at No. 12.
SEC — 7 (Nos. 1, 2, 8, 10, 12, 15, 22).
Big Ten — 5 (Nos. 4, 5, 11, 14, 17).
ACC — 3 (Nos. 23, 24, 25).
Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 6, 19, 21).
Pac-12 — 2 (Nos. 3, 20).
American — 1 (No. 7).
Sun Belt — 1 (No. 16).
Mountain West — 1 (No. 18).
Independents — 2 (Nos. 8, 13).
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 12 Mississippi at No. 1 Alabama. First ranked matchup between the Rebels and Tide since 2017.
No. 8 Arkansas at No. 2 Georgia. Razorbacks' resurgence has been one of the stories of the first month of the season.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — KJ Jefferson got back on the field late, bruised knee and all, bulling over a defender for a first down and then kneeling down on the final snap for No. 16 Arkansas.
Jefferson threw for 202 yards and two long touchdowns before getting hurt against a Texas A&M defense that hadn't allowed a passing score this year, and Arkansas beat the seventh-ranked Aggies 20-10 on Saturday for its first victory in the series in their 10 seasons since becoming Southeastern Conference foes.
“Really happy with the team’s toughness ... our toughness showed tonight,” coach Sam Pittman said.
Jefferson came up limping and favoring his left leg after getting tackled out of bounds to start the second half, and left a few plays later. But he did return after the numbing gel took effect to finish off the SEC opener as Arkansas improved to 4-0 overall for the first time since 2003.
“Waiting for the medicine to kick in," Jefferson said. “I knew I had to go back in and fight for my team.”
Texas A&M (3-1, 0-1 SEC) also had its overall 11-game winning streak snapped while getting outgained 443 yards to 272.
The Aggies hadn’t allowed a passing TD until Jefferson’s 85-yard score to Treylon Burks, who pushed by a defender and made the catch near the 40. Burks appeared to stumble, but stayed upright and sprinted down the right sideline for 10-0 lead late in the first quarter. Burks finished with six catches for 167 yards.
“You never win a game in the first 10, 15 minutes, but you can sure put yourself behind the 8-ball,” Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher said. “That’s what we did. We gave up big plays, big drives.”
Jefferson, who finished 7-of-15 passing for 212 yards overall and ran for 50 more, threw another TD early in the second quarter. AJ Green caught a pass in the left flat, shed one defender, did a stutter step around another one and then got a boost when linebacker Aaron Hansford basically pushed him past yet another defender inside the 25 on way to a 48-yard touchdown.
The Aggies cut the gap to 17-10 midway through the third quarter on Isaiah Spiller's 67-yard TD run, when he took a handoff up the middle through an open gap and outran four defensive backs to the end zone.
“Really they had the one long run” Pittman said. “Basically it was our defense vs. their defense.”
OVERALL LEAD
Arkansas leads 42-33-1 overall in the series that dates back to 1903 and includes their time as longtime Southwest Conference rivals. But Texas A&M had won all nine meetings since joining the SEC in 2012, which was 20 years after the Razorbacks debuted in the league.
NO SECOND-GUESSING
The Razorbacks were up 17-0 with 2 1/2 minutes to go in the first half when Trelon Smith, who had 82 yards rushing, got stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the A&M 22. The Aggies then drove for a field goal.
“Before anybody asks me, I would have went for that fourth-and-1 again," Pittman said. “I thought at that point we could get ahead of them at 24-0 at half, and thought we would deflate them."
THE TAKEAWAY
Texas A&M: The Aggies had allowed 232 yards passing total in their first three games, the only team in the country allowing fewer than 100 a game. Arkansas had 229 yards passing at halftime.
Arkansas: Montaric Brown’s diving interception of a deflected pass early in the fourth quarter was the game’s only turnover, and set up the Razorbacks for a nine-play drive that ended with Cam Little’s 24-yard field goal. Little had a 46-yarder about 6 minutes into the game for the first points against A&M in eight quarters.
No.
7 Cincinnati at No. 9 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish obliged the Bearcats, who need Notre Dame to be as good a possible if they have any shot to sneak into the playoff.
No. 21 Baylor at No 19 Oklahoma State. Might be a short stay in the rankings for one of the Big 12 rivals.
