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CFB Madness: Alabama, Tennessee, USC, Michigan fall victim to chaos on Saturday
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CFB Madness: Alabama, Tennessee, USC, Michigan fall victim to chaos on Saturday

I know some of you all thought Saturday would be a dud due to the lack of Top-25 matchups in college football. But my goodness, we were treated to a crazy day of football, thanks to losses to Alabama, Tennessee, USC, Michigan and Missouri.

It’s usually the games you least expect. Such was the case on a wild day ending on the West Coast as Miami and California faced off in the ACC Challenge in which the Hurricanes erased a 25-point deficit to defeat the Bears.

The chaos started in College Station, made a pit stop in Nashville, moved on to Washington state and ended in Minnesota.

For the first time in SEC history, we saw two Top-5 teams lose to unranked opponents on the same day.

You didn’t think we’d get through the weekend without any chaos, did you?

Vanderbilt shocks No. 1 Alabama, while Nashville erupts into chaos

In what may be the wildest upset of the season, and I remember Northern Illinois beating Notre Dame, but what Vanderbilt did Saturday afternoon in Nashville will be remembered for a long time.

For the first time in four decades, Vanderbilt defeated Alabama, and did so in front of what looked like a Crimson crowd. This play belonged to Diego Pavia, who ran the entire Alabama defense and also made them pay through the air. The Vanderbilt QB has now defeated the Tide and Auburn in the span of two years, on two different teams, after winning on the Plains last season with New Mexico State.

This night belonged to the Commodores, who forced Jalen Milroe into numerous mistakes and frustrated the Alabama defense into some mind-numbing plays. As the clock ticked down to zero, Vandy fans stormed the field in jubilation, tearing down the goalposts and taking them all the way to the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville.

Up next: Alabama will host South Carolina, while Vanderbilt will play at Kentucky.

Arkansas stuns No. 4 Tennessee in another huge upset

Oh, so you thought Vanderbilt would be the only team to wreak havoc in the Top 5 this weekend? No, Arkansas decided to join the party, upsetting No. 4 Tennessee 19-14 in what was a dramatic defensive game.

There was nothing about Tennessee’s play calling that made them look like a team prepared for a trip to Fayetteville. I don’t know what happened to Josh Heupel’s explosive offense, but the offensive line hasn’t done them any favors in recent weeks. Credit goes to Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks for capitalizing on the Vols mistakes, as things could have gone sideways when QB Taylen Green took a big hit to the knee in the fourth quarter.

The longer Arkansas lasted, the more it felt like Tennessee was in trouble. And now the Vols find themselves in a very interesting spot, almost the same as Ole Miss was last weekend after the loss to Kentucky. The next two weeks could define Tennessee’s season as Florida and Alabama will travel to Knoxville. I’m not saying the Vols should win both, but if they were to lose, it better not fall into the hands of the Gators with the playoffs only two months away.

Big win for the Hogs, while it was a bad night to hear “Rocky Top” in Fayettville.

Next up, Tennessee hosts Florida in a game where I now have no idea what to expect. Arkansas gets a week off before hosting LSU.

How are you, Missouri? Texas A&M pounces on No. 9 Tigers

This was actually the game that started the college football craziness on Saturday. But this wasn’t just any loss, this was a 41-10 rout at the hands of Texas A&M. While the Tigers came into this game high, with an offense that looked like it was in trouble, they left College Station with more questions than answers.

Credit goes to Aggies QB Conner Weigman, who has cut up Missouri’s secondary and made Texas A&M look like a team that will fight for a college football playoff spot. Just as we all expected, right?

Eli Drinkwitz said during the week that Mike Elko was playing games with the potential of Conner Weigman getting the start from Marcel Reed. But the only ones laughing after the game were the Aggies, who embarrassed and panicked the Tigers.

Next, Missouri plays UMass, while Texas A&M gets a week off before playing Mississippi State.

What happened in the Big Ten? USC and Michigan lose thrillers

No, the SEC wasn’t the only conference that ate itself on Saturday. I know Washington was favored to beat Michigan, but it’s still a disappointment when the No. 10 Wolverines were defeated by the Huskies. Talk about a tough game for Michigan, leading 429 to 287 in total yards.

This was a brutal loss for Michigan as they had already been defeated by Texas. After two losses at the end of the first weekend of October, their chances of making the college football playoffs should all but disappear. Of course anything can happen, but the loss for Washington will cost them a lot of money.

But it was USC that suffered the most heartbreaking loss, just in terms of how it played out. The trip to Minnesota was always strangely scheduled, and the outcome lived up to the madness of the day.

Yes, that was the Gophers going for the touchdown, instead of kicking the field goal to take the lead. I give PJ Fleck a lot of credit as he makes these games worth watching, especially with his choice of ways to take the lead. It could easily have backfired, but Miller Moss ran into trouble on the final drive.

For USC, the second defeat of the season will sting for a while. Considering they look like a team struggling to find an identity on offense, there are still a number of games left that look like potential losses. Next week’s game against Penn State lost some of its luster, but nothing would surprise me anymore this season.

Other important games, future questions

What about those SMU Mustangs? Going out and beating Louisville as Rhet Lashlee has his team going 5-1 this season and looking good in the ACC right now.

As for news outside the realm of good teams in college football, it’s time for UAB to move on from Trent Dilfer. What was once a proud G-5 team that rose from the ashes after the football program was shut down, the Blazers are now an embarrassment to what Bill Clark rebuilt and Bryan Vincent helped stay the course. It’s time for the team in my home state to step up and pay for the buyout. They shouldn’t have hired Dilfer in the first place because his high school resume was crap.

Just a wild weekend of college football that started Friday night with UNLV and Syracuse giving us a close match. That’s what this beautiful sport is going to give us, when you least expect it.

Take a deep breath, regroup if your team has lost and prepare for another week of trash talk ahead of a crucial football weekend.

Man, that was a fun Saturday.