College Football Rankings: B/R's Top 25 After Week 9

Georgia has been No. 1 in the AP poll for the past three weeks and we had Ohio State at No. 1 in the B/R Top 25 in each of the previous four weeks.

But we've got a new No. 1 this week—likely the team that will debut at No. 1 when the first batch of College Football Playoff rankings comes out in a few days.

The Tennessee Volunteers improved to 8-0 by absolutely demolishing AP No. 19 Kentucky by a score of 44-6, further enhancing a resume that already included a blowout road win over LSU, a win at Pittsburgh and home wins over Alabama and Florida.

If either Georgia or Ohio State is No. 1 on Tuesday, fine. It'd be wrong, but fine. It doesn't really matter with Tennessee and Georgia squaring off this coming weekend. But the Vols deserve that projected No. 1 seed as things currently stand.

While everyone in the AP Top 8 took care of business in Week 9, it was a rough one for the other two-thirds of the poll. No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Wake Forest, No. 13 Penn State, No. 16 Syracuse, No. 19 Kentucky and No. 20 Cincinnati all bit the dust this week, while No. 10 USC, No. 14 Utah, No. 15 Ole Miss and No. 24 NC State just barely survived upset bids.

But, hey, No. 17 Illinois won comfortably at Nebraska, improving to 8-1 and continuing its ascent up the rankings, in case you forgot how weird this season has been.

Aside from Tennessee (unanimously) moving into our No. 1 spot, the biggest changes from one week ago were Kansas State climbing six spots for demolishing Oklahoma State (the Cowboys tumbled nine spots in turn) and Syracuse dropping eight spots for its home loss to Notre Dame.

Bleacher Report's Post-Week 9 Top 25:

1. Tennessee (Previous Week: 2)
2. Ohio State (1)
3. Georgia (3)
4. Michigan (4)
5. Clemson (5t)
6. Alabama (7)
7. TCU (5t)
8. Oregon (8)
9. USC (10)
10. Ole Miss (12)
11. UCLA (11)
12. Utah (15)
13. Illinois (17)
14. Kansas State (20t)
15. LSU (18)
16. Penn State (13)
17. North Carolina (22)
18. Oklahoma State (9)
19. Tulane (23)
20. Wake Forest (14)
21. Liberty (24)
22. Maryland (NR)
23. Oregon State (NR)
24. Syracuse (16)
25. NC State (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Kentucky, Texas, Purdue, UCF, Arkansas, Boise State, Washington

You would think that in a 44-31 game, an offensive player would have been the biggest star of No. 2 Ohio State's victory over No. 13 Penn State.

And, well, you're partially correct. There was a whole lot of offensive talent on display.

For the Nittany Lions, Parker Washington made some incredible catches en route to a career-high 179 yards. Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. finished slightly ahead of Washington with 185 yards once the Buckeyes realized Penn State was helpless against the slant.

TreVeyon Henderson rushed in two scores. And while he only had one touchdown on the day, C.J. Stroud was a crisp, efficient 26-of-33 for 354 yards.

The undeniable star of the day, though, was Ohio State's edge rusher J.T. Tuimoloau.

On Penn State's first possession of the afternoon, Tuimoloau completely blew up a designed screen pass to Washington, coming in untouched and swatting the ball a good seven or eight yards across the field to an alert Zach Harrison for the interception.

On Penn State's second possession, Tuimoloau got the job done by himself, dropping back into pass coverage on 3rd-and-3 before jumping the check-down route of running back Kaytron Allen for an impressive pick.

After going quiet for a while, he was back with a vengeance in the fourth quarter, setting the tone early with a nine-yard sack of Sean Clifford on the first snap of the final frame.

Shortly after the Buckeyes re-gained a 23-21 lead, Tuimoloau strip-sacked Clifford, recovering it himself to set up another Buckeyes touchdown a play later.

But the biggest dagger of all was his pick-six with less than three minutes remaining. Once again, the Nittany Lions drew up a screen pass for Washington, and, once again, Clifford threw the ball straight into the big paws of Tuimoloau—this one after he swim-moved Penn State's senior right tackle Bryce Effner into oblivion.

All told, he had six total tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup that led to an interception, two interceptions of his own and a touchdown.

Not bad for a road game against a ranked divisional rival with a projected spot in the College Football Playoff hanging in the balance.

Dating back to 2000, the only other instance of a player having two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception in the same game was Appalachian State's Demetrius Taylor in the road win over North Carolina in 2019.

Add Tuimoloau's second interception to the equation, and it was a 1-of-1 type of dominant performance.

It's not a big surprise that No. 22 Kansas State scored pretty much at will against No. 9 Oklahoma State, as defense hasn't exactly been the Pokes' specialty this season.

The Cowboys had allowed 133 points in their first four Big 12 games—this after giving up 44 in the season opener against Central Michigan—and their secondary was even more limited than usual by injuries to Thomas Harper and Jason Taylor II.

But what in the world happened to this offense?

Oklahoma State entered the week ranked third in the nation in scoring at 44.7 points per game.

It left Manhattan with a doughnut on the scoreboard in a 48-0 loss.

Starting running back Dominic Richardson missed this game with a concussion. The same goes for starting right guard Hunter Woodard. Wide receiver Braydon Johnson was also out with a hamstring injury.

So, yes, Oklahoma State was operating with less than a full deck on offense.

But it still had veteran QB Spencer Sanders. It still had wide receivers Brennan Presley, Bryson Green and John Paul Richardson, who had combined for 86 receptions, 1,144 yards and 10 touchdowns through the first seven games. And it's not like Dom Richardson was carrying this offense from the backfield, averaging just 3.0 yards per carry and 85.0 yards of total offense over his last five games.

The Cowboys should have at least been able to do something on offense against a KSU defense that allowed 27.3 points on average through its first four league games.

Instead, they were down 48-0 and had committed two turnovers by the time they finally took their first snap from inside the Kansas State 35 with two minutes remaining.

Fittingly, that snap resulted in an interception, sealing the deal on the shutout.

This was Oklahoma State's first loss by 44 or more points since a 58-0 shellacking at the hands of Texas Tech in 2000. But that 2000 team was going nowhere fast long before that blowout.

For the Cowboys to lose like this as a Top 10 team was downright staggering.

No. 10 Wake Forest entered Week 9 as one of the most turnover-averse offenses in the country. The Demon Deacons weren't quite on the same level as USC's one giveaway through seven games, but they were tied for sixth in the nation with just five turnovers (three interceptions and two fumbles).

And then the third quarter started in Louisville.

The Demon Deacons led 14-13 at halftime, but they gave that lead away in just about the most emphatic fashion possible.

On the third official snap of the third quarter, Sam Hartman connected with Kei'Trel Clark for a 46-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, Clark plays corner for the Cardinals, giving Louisville a 20-14 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Hartman was strip-sacked for a second turnover.

After Louisville gave the ball back, Wake Forest at least gained some yards before its next giveaway. The Deacs marched 54 yards down the field prior to Hartman getting strip-sacked once more.

The Cardinals scored a few plays later, and then Hartman threw another interception a few plays after that. This one was deflected and caught by Monty Montgomery, who lateraled to Josh Minkins. He got it down inside the Wake Forest 10. Louisville made it 34-14 one play later.

Two plays after that, yet another strip-sack of Hartman for Wake Forest's fifth turnover of the third quarter. Louisville quickly scored another touchdown to make it 41-14.

And then on the final play of the third quarter, Hartman threw it directly into the hands of Quincy Riley, who took it 90 yards for the pick six, putting the finishing touches on a 35-0 third quarter in favor of Louisville.

Count 'em up and that's six turnovers. In one bleeping quarter. And all six fall on the shoulders of Hartman, who entered the day as a fringe candidate for the Heisman.

Is it the first time a team has committed six turnovers in a single quarter?

I don't know.

Maybe.

Sure feels like a record in futility.

But I do know it is just the second time in the past 14 years that Wake Forest committed at least six turnovers in a game, with the other being the 59-3 loss to Florida State in 2013 which, oddly enough, was also referenced in last week's Fun Fact.

It's also the first time Louisville has forced six turnovers in a game since a November 2000 victory over Houston.

Needless to say, Wake Forest lost the game, and may well go straight from No. 10 to unranked for how embarrassing things got.

Before the action on the field resumes for Week 10, the first College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings of the season will be revealed this Tuesday evening.

Will it be Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee and Michigan in the Top Four?

Does it really matter with Tennessee at Georgia and Michigan at Ohio State still on tap in November?

There will be big, angry narratives no matter what the committee decides, but then it's back to the field to shake up those rankings, starting with that gigantic, humongous, massive matchup between the Volunteers and the Bulldogs.

Surely, Georgia will be favored at home, and it has mercilessly owned this SEC East rivalry in recent years with five consecutive wins by at least 23 points. But the Dawgs were pretty sloppy in the third quarter against Florida, and previously had that close call against Missouri and a less-than-stellar showing against Kent State. If the reigning champs give anything less than a top-notch effort in this one, Hendon Hooker and Co. can pull off the upset.

Week 10's other big game also comes from the SEC with AP No. 6 Alabama playing at No. 18 LSU. The Crimson Tide have won 10 of the last 11 games in this series, but this will be the first one with Brian Kelly coaching the Bayou Bengals. Both teams had the week off to prepare for this clash. Can LSU get it done?

Beyond that, not much in terms of marquee showdowns, but a whole bunch of potential upsets with 12 currently ranked teams going on the road to face unranked foes.

No, we're not worried about No. 2 Ohio State surviving at Northwestern. But No. 5 Clemson at Notre Dame could knock the Tigers out of the CFP mix. Things might also get dicey with No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 12 UCLA and No. 13 Penn State playing at Kansas, Arizona State and Indiana, respectively.

Last but not least, No. 7 TCU looks to improve to 9-0 at home against a potent Texas Tech offense. The Horned Frogs have been the dark horse in this CFP race, but an undefeated season grows more believable by the week. Could the team that got hosed in the first College Football Playoff back in 2014 finally crash the party in 2022?