playESPNMultiple AuthorsOct 19, 2026, 07:35 AM ETOpen Extended ReactionsCall it Shakeup Saturday or a pithy phrase of your choosing, but Week 7 reordered the college football world. Five of the seven teams in the AP Top 25 poll went down — the most among that cohort in AP poll history (1936).Where to begin? Tommy Carr, who began the day as Michigan’s backup quarterback, helped the Wolverines to a season-saving win against Penn State, and his older brother, CJ Carr, couldn’t get it done for Notre Dame at BYU. Georgia lost on a walk-off field goal to Auburn just like Texas had the week before, as the No. 1 teams fell on the final play in consecutive weekends for the first time in the history of the poll.Ohio State lost starting quarterback Julian Sayin to injury but handed Indiana its first loss since the 2024 playoff, as Hoosiers wide receiver Nick Marsh stepped out of bounds on a potential winning touchdown catch.Texas dropped consecutive games and must “evaluate everything,” coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Alabama lost back-to-back contests for the first time since 2007, which was former coach Nick Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa.First-year coaches Bob Chesney (UCLA) and Will Stein (Kentucky) continued their spectacular debuts, and Florida’s Jon Sumrall, whose team was blown out in consecutive weeks, walked out of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium wearing a black cowboy hat.Week 7 was great for the Big 12, despite its timing error on what looked like the final play of Notre Dame-BYU, as the league is well-positioned for multiple playoff entries for the first time. The day ended appropriately with Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola coming off the bench to rally his current team past his old one (Nebraska), keeping the Ducks faint CFP hopes alight.Got all that? Now it’s time to digest a very different looking version of our Power Rankings. — Adam Rittenberg1. Miami HurricanesPrevious ranking: 2The Hurricanes had to dig deep to beat rival Florida State in double overtime 43-35.
While the Hurricanes showed resilience in doing so, the Seminoles further exposed some cracks in Miami’s secondary. Florida State completed one Hail Mary at the end of the game that was called back because of a penalty and then had what it thought was a completed Hail Mary that officials ruled an interception. Bryce Fitzgerald came up big in the moment, but he was in and out of the game because of a shoulder injury and his loss certainly was felt. So was the ejection of safety Zechariah Poyser early in the game for targeting.
Miami struggled at times with its young players in coverage, giving up a 75-yard touchdown pass to Duce Robinson late that allowed Florida State to tie the score. — Andrea Adelson 2. BYU CougarsPrevious ranking: 7Despite a 28-4 record since the start of the 2024 season, BYU came in as a double-digit home underdog against Notre Dame. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier and the Cougars certainly have the nation’s attention after outplaying the Irish for most of the night and delivering a 10-play, 55-yard touchdown drive to take the lead with 1:47 to play. Bachmeier accounted for four touchdowns, BYU’s offensive line did not give up a sack and the defense received big performances from linebackers Cade Uluave and Isaiah Glasker.
The Cougars recorded their second win against an AP top-two opponent, joining the 1990 team that took down No. 1 Miami. They now return to a highly competitive Big 12 and are three weeks away from the Holy War matchup at rival Utah. — Rittenberg 3. Ohio State BuckeyesPrevious ranking: 4The Buckeyes will have a new starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. Coach Ryan Day said that Julian Sayin will be out “several weeks” after sustaining an injury to his throwing shoulder in the fourth quarter of Ohio State’s 19-15 win at Indiana.
Sayin, a Heisman finalist last season, came out of the locker room with his arm in a sling. That means the Buckeyes will be leaning on true freshman quarterback Luke Fahey, who beat out sophomore Tavien St. Clair for the backup job during the preseason. Fahey is a 5-foot-11, former three-star recruit from Mission Viejo, California.
Day said the Buckeyes will use the upcoming bye week to retailor the offense for him. Fahey passed for more than 7,000 yards during his high school career. But the pressure will be on him to keep the fourth-ranked Buckeyes on track for the Big Ten championship and a CFP berth. — Jake Trotter 4. Georgia BulldogsPrevious ranking: 1Not even the Bulldogs, who have played as consistently as any FBS team during the Kirby Smart era, are immune to the trappings of increased parity in the NIL era.
A week after Georgia moved to No. 1 with a road win at Alabama, it was uncharacteristically sloppy and undisciplined in a 27-24 loss to unranked Auburn at home. Quarterback Gunner Stockton had two interceptions and lost a critical fumble in the final minute — the first time he had more than one turnover in a game in his career. Georgia committed three personal fouls, which kept Auburn drives alive. Two Georgia defenders collided on Auburn’s touchdown on a halfback pass, and Stockton ran into center Drew Bobo on his fumble, which helped set up the Tigers’ winning field goal.
Georgia gets a much-needed bye week before playing rival Florida in Atlanta and then traveling to Ole Miss the following week. — Mark Schlabach 5. Notre Dame Fighting IrishPrevious ranking: 3The Irish ultimately faltered in their first major test of the season because of the red zone, where they failed to score at the end of each half and saw BYU to score touchdowns on all four of its possessions. Notre Dame had only four plays of 20 yards or longer, and generated no sacks and two tackles for loss after losing top pass rusher Boubacar Traore to a targeting penalty on the game’s first series. CJ Carr made several NFL-level throws but also critical mistakes, including a fumble while attempting to spike the ball at the end of the first half.
Notre Dame played better defensively as the game went along but saw BYU convert eight of 12 third-down chances. The Irish might need to win out to ensure a playoff spot. — Rittenberg6. UCLA BruinsPrevious ranking: 8The Bruins are now the last lone undefeated team in the Big Ten and the SEC. On Saturday against Wisconsin, with Nico Iamaleava out because of a lower-body injury, Bob Chesney and his team did not blink and barely missed a beat with Ty Dieffenbach at quarterback.
The former Cal Poly quarterback was a relative unknown until Chesney brought him to Westwood in the offseason. Against the Badgers, Dieffenbach looked comfortable and threw for 264 yards, completing 22 of 33 passes on the way to a 17-7 win. It is clear that the defense is the Bruins’ strength — this is now the fourth game in which they have given up 15 points or fewer — and their run game is their heartbeat. But UCLA has been able to win in various ways already this season (blowouts, high-scoring affairs and defensive battles).
So far, it doesn’t appear that anyone or anything can stop it. — Paolo Uggetti7. Indiana HoosiersPrevious ranking: 6As talented as Indiana was in 2025, the key to its success was how relentlessly consistent the Hoosiers were at playing sound, fundamental football. They simply didn’t make mistakes. This season, it has been a little different, and Saturday’s loss to Ohio State was a glaring example.
The fumbles, the bad flags, the missed throws, and Nick Marsh’s wayward left foot … it all added up to the Hoosiers’ first loss in 22 games. As Curt Cignetti said afterward, the win was there — Indiana just didn’t take it. It has been a long time since that was true, but perhaps it was a hard lesson learned. Indiana went toe-to-toe, again, with arguably the best team in the country.
It’s a reminder of how good Indiana is, but how small the margin for error can be. — David Hale8. Ole Miss RebelsPrevious ranking: 9Don’t look now but the Rebels are playing pretty stingy defense to go with their
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