Duke drops the ball
The Blue Devils were crushed on national television this past Thursday, losing 45-20 to rival North Carolina. As a result, Duke tumbled out of the No. 25 spot it held last week. In addition to falling out of the rankings, the Blue Devils also lost their hold on the ACC Coastal Division and a chance to make it to the ACC title game in Charlotte.
North Carolina went up 38-7 before Duke scored two garbage time touchdowns, a 18-yard catch by Jamison Crowder and 1-yard run from Thomas Sirk. The score was a lot closer then how the actual game played out. Anthony Boone was 22-of-40 for 262 yards, two touchdowns and a costly interception on the opening drive of the second half.
Duke will look to recoup and get ready for Wake Forest Saturday at 7 p.m. If they beat Wake Forest, the Blue Devils will have their first ever back-to-back nine win seasons.
Status quo at the top
The top four teams in the rankings are unchanged for the first time since late September. No. 1 Florida State avoided an upset with a 20-17 win against Boston College. Roberto Aguayo won the game as time expired on a 26-yard field goal. Aguayo kept the nation's longest winning streak of 27 games intact with his boot.
After struggling to pull away early from FCS foe Western Carolina, No. 2 Alabama cruised to a 48-14 win. Derrick Henry ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns. No. 3 Oregon steamrolled Colorado 44-10. Marcus Mariota added to his Heisman resume, going 24-of-32 for 323 yards, three touchdowns and posted a near-perfect quarterback rating of 98.2. No. 4 Mississippi State blanked Vanderbilt 51-0 and No. 5 Baylor pulled away from Oklahoma State 49-28.
No. 6 TCU switched places with No. 5 Baylor after having a bye week. No. 7 Ohio State kept gaining ground on the top teams after beating Indiana 42-27. Although J.T. Barrett struggled at times, he still threw for four touchdowns, three of which went to redshirt freshman Jalin Marshall. Marshall sparked the Buckeye win when he took a punt back 54 yards in the third quarter to take the lead away from the Hoosiers. Marshall is the first Buckeye freshman to take a punt back for six since Ted Ginn, Jr. in 2004.
Ole Miss falls
No. 18 Ole Miss fell ten spots from No. 8 after failing to show up against Arkansas. The Razorbacks blanked the Rebels 30-0. Ole Miss failed to get anything going on offense, with quarterback Bo Wallace throwing two interceptions. It has been quite a fall for an Ole Miss team that was once ranked third in the country. The Rebels will be very lucky to get to nine wins with the Egg Bowl against No. 4 Mississippi State ahead.
UCLA hitting its stride
After losing Oct. 5th on a last-second field goal to Utah and then a high-stakes loss to Oregon the next week, No. 9 UCLA tumbled out of the rankings. Since then, UCLA has arguably played some of the best football in the country. UCLA rose two spots from No. 11 this weekend with a 38-20 win against crosstown rival USC. Brett Hundley led the way for the Bruins, going 22-for-31 with 326 yards and three touchdowns. Next week's matchup with Stanford is the only thing standing in the way of a Pac-12 South title for the Bruins.
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