College football rankings 2023, Projected Week 11 CFP Top 25: Ohio State falls from 1
- Alabama, Georgia passed their biggest SEC tests yet
- Oklahoma, Notre Dame were upset in dramatic fashion
- Texas, Ole Miss, and Ohio State survived upset scares
Projected College Football Playoff rankings Top 25 after Week 10: No. 6-5
6. Oregon Ducks
There were a couple of moments in the first half when it looked as if Oregon might be on the wrong side of a truly shocking upset in Week 10. A botched play after jumping out to a 14-0 lead allowed a struggling Cal Golden Bears team to climb back into the game and make it 14-13 early in the second quarter. From that point on, though, it was all Ducks as they went on a 49-6 run for the remainder of the action.
Bo Nix put a great item on his Heisman resumé with a six-touchdown outing against Cal (two rushing, four passing), though he did throw an interception. Even still, the Ducks continue to impress as perhaps the best-looking team in the Pac-12 and perhaps destined for a rematch with Washington in the conference championship tilt. To get there, though, the next task will be holding Caleb Williams and USC, though a severely flawed team, at bay next week in Eugene.
5. Washington Huskies
As we all expected, it was fireworks upon fireworks in Los Angeles late on Saturday night with Washington going on the road to visit the USC Trojans. There were 63 points combined scored in the first half alone and it looked like whoever had the ball last might win, which would put a damper on the Huskies’ hopes of making the College Football Playoff.
In the end, though, Washington’s defense came up big in the fourth quarter with a few stops that allowed Dillon Johnson to add to a monster night (250+ yards, four touchdowns) while Michael Penix Jr. wasn’t necessarily in top form. Shockingly, it was the defensive stops that proved to be the difference between these two offensive powerhouses.
The Huskies had been messing around in their two games prior to this matchup. Even with USC’s struggles recently too, for Washington to outlast a conference rival on the road in this type of game shows they are a legitimate contender, or at least more so that than a pretender.