Florida beating Texas was undoubtedly one of the upsets of this past weekend, but it was 0-4 Penn State and interim head coach Tim Skipper and first-time play caller Jerry Neuheisel who ended up stealing the headlines with their surprise upset over the Nittany Lions.
Upsets are one of the many things that make college football so great, but it's hard to put a finger on exactly why, or how, they happen.
Urban Meyer, in his Urban Analysis piece with Gerry DiNardo this week, took on the topic of The Anatomy of an Upset, taking a deep dive into how the Bruins managed their upset of James Franklin's loaded squad that entered the season with national title hopes.
In Meyer's experience as a Hall of Fame coach who has been on both sides of upsets during his time leading Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State teams, upsets typically happen for one of three reasons.
"Number one, there's a schematic change. One famous one happened at Ohio State several years ago when Virginia Tech and defensive coordinator Bud Foster came into Columbus, Ohio and played Bear [cover] Zero. We had a freshman quarterback in JT Barrett, and we couldn't make the necessary changes during the heat of the game, and we lose. "
"Those are very rare, but schematic changes are number 1."
"Number two is the opponent is flat. Something is going on with that team, and maybe Penn State, they had a heartbreaking loss to Oregon, and then they have to travel three time zones to go play UCLA. It's not a huge crowd, but maybe the environment might have affected them. I'm not sure that's what happened."
"But the third one, I can guarantee that's what happened here. I call it the human spirit."
"Something happened to that team, because I went back and watched the New Mexico game, and they were dead. It wasn't like they were running new plays. So I know for a fact, when you watch the film, it was the human spirit."
Urban shares when a team is struggling, the fans, media and sometimes coaches want to blame the players. But turn on the film of that upset over Penn State, and you'll see really good players, he insists.
He would go on to share his game one experience as a head coach, leading Bowling Green down to Missouri for their season opener.
Instead of a big, elaborate game plan, Meyer told his new Falcons team on offense to focus on gaining four yards, and on defense, just tackle and get them on the ground and play the next play. If they could focus on those two simple things consistently for four quarters, Meyer promised them they'd be in a one possession game late in the fourth quarter and just need someone to make a big play to escape with a win.
That's almost exactly how the game ended up playing out too, as Urban's Bowling Green squad found a way to win 17-14 during his debut season, and they would go on to collect 9-wins that magical year.
Hear more from Meyer on upsets, and his experience on both sides of them, in the clip.