College football rankings 2021: Projected Week 7 AP Top 25 after Alabama, Penn State fall & Oklahoma, Michigan survive

Bryce Young, Alabama Crimson Tide, Michael Clemons, Texas A&M Aggies. (Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports)
Bryce Young, Alabama Crimson Tide, Michael Clemons, Texas A&M Aggies. (Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Oregon Ducks. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports /

Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 6: No. 8-7

8. Oregon Ducks

Oregon was off in Week 6 and it’s time for the Ducks to lick their wounds after a tough, tough loss to Stanford. Since knocking off Ohio State and climbing into the top five, Mario Cristobal’s team had looked exceptionally mortal against teams that, frankly, they shouldn’t have. That got them in their own loss, though not having Joe Moorhead with the headset for the offense didn’t help either.

The Ducks will be back in action next week as they welcome a 1-4 Cal Golden Bears team to town. We know that Oregon has the defensive talent and the play in the trenches to win. But to reach their ceiling and ultimately secure the Pac-12, Anthony Brown at quarterback and the rest of the offense simply has to be more consistent.

7. Penn State Nittany Lions

Considering that Penn State looked well in control of the matchup against No. 3-ranked Iowa until quarterback Sean Clifford was forced out of the game due to injury, it’s hard to be too critical of the Nittany Lions. They simply didn’t have enough offensive firepower once Clifford went out to allow their defense to keep controlling the game.

The long-term outlook for Clifford is definitely something to watch with this team moving forward as he is, more or less, the linchpin for making this offense tick. This team still has the meat of their Big Ten schedule left ahead even after having played Iowa, so we’re about to see a crucial stretch for James Franklin and his squad.