Even though the Blue Devils enjoyed a week of rest ahead of a tough road contest against Virginia Tech, there was still plenty of action across the college football landscape this week and some shuffling in the AP Poll:
Duke moves up to No. 23
Thanks to a pair of blowout losses suffered by teams ranked ahead of them, the Blue Devils jumped up two spots in the polls without playing a single snap. No. 20 Northwestern—which handed Duke its only loss of the season Sept. 19—was destroyed by 30 points at home to an undefeated Iowa squad, and received just four votes in the latest poll. No. 21 Boise State lost its second game of the year at the hands of an unranked Utah State team by a 52-26 margin and dropped out of the top 25. The Blue Devils were jumped in the rankings by Temple, which did not crack the top 25 last week but came in at No. 22 this week after a two-touchdown victory against winless Central Florida.
Florida, Texas A&M fall from the ranks of the unbeaten
The marquee games this week were a pair of SEC showdowns, with the Gators traveling to Death Valley to take on Louisiana State and the Aggies playing host to Alabama. Three pick-sixes by quarterback Kyle Allen put Texas A&M in a hole it couldn't climb out of, and the Aggies dropped from No. 9 to No. 15 after a 41-23 thrashing against Nick Saban's Crimson Tide, which moved up two spots to No. 8. In the nightcap, a gutsy fake field goal call in the fourth quarter led to a touchdown by Tiger kicker Trent Domingue, which proved to be the difference in Louisiana State's 35-28 win against Florida. The Tigers moved up one spot to No. 5 after the victory, and the Gators slid five slots to No. 13.
Wild ending in Michigan-Michigan State rivalry game
In the most bizarre finish of the season to date, the Spartans emerged from the Big House with a victory despite not holding the lead for a single second of regulation. With 10 seconds left on the clock, the Wolverines faced a 4th-and-2 from the Michigan State 47 and were set to punt the ball away to protect their 23-21 lead. But Michigan punter Blake O'Neill botched the snap and coughed up the ball while trying to pounce on the ensuing fumble, allowing Spartan cornerback Jalen Watts-Jackson to scoop up the ball and scamper into the end zone for the winning score as time expired. Watts-Jackson suffered a fractured hip on the play—or in the ensuing celebration—that will cost him the remainder of the season, but Michigan State earned a season-defining win and saw its in-state rival fall three spots to No. 15. The Spartans remain No. 7 in the latest poll.
Pittsburgh comes in at No. 25 to give the ACC four ranked schools
After missing a chip shot that would have won the game for the Panthers against Duke last year, Pittsburgh kicker Chris Blewitt is now the reason his team appears in this week's rankings, joining the Blue Devils as the second ACC Coastal team in the poll. Blewitt nailed a 56-yarder—not only his career long, but the longest field goal in the program's 126-year-history—to give the Panthers a 31-28 victory against Georgia Tech. With the win, Pittsburgh moved to 3-0 in conference play and gained sole possession of first place in the Coastal, a half-game ahead of the Blue Devils. Duke hosts the Panthers Nov. 14 in a game that figures to hold lots of ACC championship game implications. On the other end, Georgia Tech—the preseason favorite to win the Coastal—is still winless in league play and faces an uphill battle to become bowl-eligible.
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