The college football upset bug is absolutely for real this season, and no team is immune. Georgia already caught the sickness earlier this month, stumbling to Auburn with a walk-off loss right there in Sanford Stadium. That one squandered their brief stay at No. 1, and now, with Week 9 rolling in, we’ve got five more teams inside the Top 25 on serious upset alert. This is huge, especially with the first College Football Playoff rankings reveal dropping Tuesday night. That’s when we’ll really start to see how the committee values conferences, record strength, and those quality wins.
The Buckeyes’ Fresh Face Under Center
No. 2 Ohio State is heading into a brutal road game at USC, and head coach Ryan Day is playing it *extremely* coy about his starting quarterback. He absolutely declined to name his guy for Saturday’s battle with the Trojans. The word on the street, though, is that true freshman Luke Fahey is getting the nod. This kid relieved Julian Sayin two weeks ago against Indiana, so he’s not totally cold, but this is a whole different beast.
Think about it: how much does this Buckeyes offense change with a true newcomer taking snaps against a *quality* opponent like USC on the road? Is the game plan going to get neutered a bit? These are the unanswered questions that make this a prime upset spot for the Big Ten’s current co-leader with UCLA. Day himself sounded the alarm bells on Monday. “We all got to be tighter here,” he said. “We got to help a young quarterback get his first win as a Buckeye. And it’s going to take our best. And that means everyone that’s part of the program has got to be really good in everything that we do. So extra focus this week. Not that we need to be focused any more, I mean, obviously, we know how good of a team USC is, and we know the talent, we know the coaches, we know everything about it. And we know what we’re up against this week. But having a new starting quarterback is just another reason to stay even more focused.” That’s high stakes, people.
Georgia’s Rivalry Test in Atlanta
Meanwhile, No. 3 Georgia is facing Florida in a rivalry showdown, this one at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Both teams actually had an extra week to prep, which means they’ve had more time to scheme, but Florida’s Jon Sumrall is also playing things close to the vest when it comes to his quarterback plan. Tramell Jones Jr. had a breakout performance last time out against Texas, stepping in for injured starter Aaron Philo and looking terrific.
That performance has given Buster Faulkner and Florida’s offensive staff a massive dilemma ahead of their biggest game of the year. Georgia’s got film on both QBs, sure, but how Florida’s offense tweaks really changes depending on who trots out there with the first team. The good news for Georgia? Independent of Florida’s offensive changes, the Bulldogs simply need to focus on not beating themselves in Week 9. They rank fourth-best in the SEC at plus-3 this season, which is solid, but against a rival, you can’t give them anything easy.
Week 9 is going to be wild. With these top teams on upset alert and Utah traveling to Cincinnati after the Bearcats took down Texas Tech, the first College Football Playoff rankings are going to hit different this year. Get ready, because these games are going to tell us a lot about who’s for real in late October.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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