Week 7 brought plenty of chaos, but which of the four Top 10 upsets was most surprising?
Week 7 of the 2017 college football regular season looked to provide one of the lighter slates in recent memory with no matchups between ranked teams. Naturally, utter chaos ensued.
Before the weekend even began in earnest, a pair of undefeated national championship contenders suffered upsets that will shape the college football season on Friday night. The defending national champion Clemson Tigers were stunned by the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome, while the No. 8 Washington State Cougars were dominated whistle to whistle by the California Golden Bears.
Saturday’s action provided a welcome encore to Friday’s memorable slate with more upsets and thrilling finishes. After opening up a 20-0 lead, the No. 10 Auburn Tigers collapsed in the second half of a 27-23 loss to the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge to become the third Top 10 squad to go down in Week 7. Pac-12 After Dark claimed its second victim of the weekend in the nightcap, as the No. 5 Washington Huskies were shut down in a 13-7 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe.
A few other College Football Playoff contenders managed to escape chaos weekend with close calls. Mark Richt guided the undefeated No. 11 Miami Hurricanes to another last-second win over Georgia Tech, the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners barely survived a rivalry showdown with Texas and the No. 17 Michigan Wolverines needed overtime to top Indiana on the road.
While there were countless thrilling finishes all around the country, this will be remembered as the week that three Top 10 teams lost absolute stunners. Here’s how those four upsets stack up in terms of shock value.
4. LSU over Auburn
Sure, surging Auburn was nearly a touchdown favorite over an LSU team that was utterly dominated by Mississippi State before losing to Troy, but these two programs have defied expectations for better or worse countless times in recent years.
Auburn entered Saturday’s showdown on a roll with four straight wins, including three consecutive victories by at least 21 points to open up SEC play. While LSU relieved some of the pressure on Ed Orgeron with a solid road win at Florida last Saturday, Auburn was still favored to win at Death Valley over the underachieving Bayou Bengals.
No matter how good or bad LSU is, winning at Tiger Stadium is always going to be a challenge, so a 27-23 final score isn’t a complete shock. What is surprising is how Auburn totally collapsed offensively after opening up a 20-0 lead in the early stages of the second quarter.
Malzahn’s offense, which looked so explosive and creative during Auburn’s surge into the Top 10, reverted to a predictable pattern of run-run-deep bomb in the second half. LSU shut Auburn down after the break and came up with a couple of huge special teams plays in the fourth quarter to key the 27-23 upset.
Auburn faced a far tougher challenge than either Clemson or Washington State, so it’s the least surprising of the top 10 upsets. Still, this is really a game Auburn should have won after thoroughly dominating the first quarter.