Polling place | College football turns its attention to new No. 1 Oregon and No. 20 Illinois

Oct. 21—Tennessee. No team climbed more this week in the poll than Josh Heupel’s Volunteers, who moved up four spots after a win against Alabama. Tennessee is definitely in the hunt for the College Football Playoff and a shot at the SEC title. But it put itself in the hole with a shocking loss at Arkansas. Knocking off the Crimson Tide helped the recovery. Even bigger is the Nov. 16 game at Georgia. And don’t sleep on the finale Nov. 30 at Vanderbilt. The Commodores also own a win against Alabama. Tennessee entered the season with all sorts of hype that it hasn’t quite lived up to so far. Too many close games against teams the Volunteers should have throttled. But there is still time. Plan on hearing “Rocky Top” quite a bit more.

First-year coaches at classic programs. Michigan’s Sherrone Moore has already suffered three losses a year after Jim Harbaugh went undefeated. And my guess is the Wolverines are going to drop two or three more. If they lose four more, they miss the postseason. Kalen DeBoer has done better than Moore in his first season as Nick Saban’s replacement at Alabama. But Saturday’s loss to Tennessee followed an earlier stunner against Vanderbilt.; The win against Georgia is the only thing keeping it from being a total disaster. Nobody ever said it was easy following a great coach at blue blood program. Just ask all the guys who failed in Tuscaloosa after Bear Bryant and before Saban.

No. 20 Illinois at No. 1 Oregon (2:30 p.m., Saturday, CBS).It’s a chance for a “we want to be in the playoffs” victory for Bret Bielema’s team. Of course, the Ducks are especially tough at Autzen Stadium, just ask Ohio State which left with a loss last week. Illinois will have to try to figure out how to slow prolific passer Dillon Gabriel. And Luke Altmyer needs to fing a way to move the ball against Oregon’s…

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Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Publish date : 2024-10-21 14:48:00

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