Carnage is strewn across the college football landscape with four AP top-11 teams falling to unranked opponents (and, as I type this, unranked Cal leads No. 8 Miami), but the epicenter of the action was in the SEC.
Vanderbilt 40 stunned No. 1 Alabama 35 on Saturday evening, and Arkansas outlasted No. 4 Tennessee 19-14 at night.
The two wins, both monumental, were achieved entirely differently.
Vanderbilt posted a 75-yard touchdown drive on game's opening possession and never looked back. The Commodores never trailed, building a 23-7 second quarter lead and then surviving the inevitable surge of the Crimson Tide. When Alabama pulled within 23-21, Vanderbilt stretched the lead to 30-21. When Alabama answered, Vanderbilt scored 10 straight, forcing a strip sack of Jalen Milroe and then pushing its lead to 40-28 with just over five minutes remaining. Alabama scored with 2:46 to play, but Vanderbilt never gave the Tide the ball back. That was the story of the game, really: Vanderbilt went 12-of-18 on third down, ran 75 plays to Alabama's 55, and possessed the ball for 42:08.
In Fayetteville, Arkansas watched a 3-0 halftime lead wilt into a 14-3 third quarter deficit, but the Hogs mustered just enough offense to complete the comeback. An 8-play, 75-yard drive pulled Arkansas to within 14-10, and another 75-yard drive cut the deficit to 14-13.
With starting quarterback Taylen Green hobbled with a leg injury, Arkansas touched the ball two more times with a chance to take the lead and went three-and-out both times, but the Hogs defense held serve by forcing punts of their own. The third time was the charm for Arkansas, finally taking a 19-14 lead when Tennessee took a calculated risk of conceding a touchdown once the Razorbacks reached the 11 with 1:17 remaining.
Tennessee reached the Arkansas 20 in the game's final plays, but the Vols were unable to toss a throw into the end zone, and for the second time in a matter of hours, an SEC field was rushed.
The two victories made Oct. 5, 2024 the first time in SEC history AP top-5 SEC teams fell to unranked opponents on the same day.
And don't forget: the day began with Texas A&M, tied with UNLV for No. 25 in the AP, hammering No. 9 Missouri, 41-10.
The Aggies now sit alone in first place in the SEC at 3-0.
In a 16-team conference where most teams have played only two games, only three SEC teams remain undefeated in league play. A&M is 3-0, and No. 2 Texas and No. 13 LSU are 1-0. Nine teams have one SEC loss, while South Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi State have lost twice, and Auburn is alone in last at 0-3.
Next week's schedule brings No. 2 Texas vs. No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 12 Ole Miss at No. 13 LSU, but perhaps we should keep closer eyes on South Carolina at (current) No. 1 Alabama and Florida at No. 4 Tennessee.