We Speak College Football
Appalachian State Stuns Previously Unbeaten James Madison 34-31 in Overtime on London’s Walk-Off Field Goal
James London kicked a walk-off 40-yard field goal in overtime, Malachi Singleton threw two touchdown passes, and Appalachian State beat previously unbeaten James Madison 34-31 on Thursday night at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
London also made field goals of 48, 27 and 36 yards for Appalachian State (5-2, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference). Singleton finished 26-of-40 passing for 271 yards.
James Madison (7-1, 4-1) got the ball first in overtime, but Morgan Suarez’s 47-yard attempt bounced off the left upright. Suarez had tied his career long with a 47-yard field goal that gave the Dukes a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers trailed most of the night and did not lead until late in the fourth quarter, when Colton Phares intercepted a pass and returned it 21 yards to the James Madison 14 with 6:03 to play. Two plays later, Henry Hasselbeck’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Luke Douglas gave Appalachian State its first lead at 31-24.
James Madison refused to fold. On fourth-and-3, Camden Coleman hit Jeremiah Harrison for a 3-yard gain to the 6 with 12 seconds left, and Coleman scored on a quarterback draw on the next play to tie the game at 31 with 3 seconds left in regulation and force overtime.
Coleman was 22-of-39 passing for 232 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Dukes. George Pettaway finished with 57 yards rushing and a touchdown on 15 carries before leaving late in the fourth quarter with an apparent left hamstring injury and not returning, snapping his string of four consecutive games with at least 100 yards rushing.
The loss is a major blow to James Madison’s College Football Playoff hopes and leaves just five unbeaten teams in the FBS. Mountaineers fans rushed the field after London’s winner.
Up next: James Madison hosts Troy next Thursday. Appalachian State visits Georgia Southern on Halloween.
We Speak College Football
Saturday of Chaos: Five of the AP Top Seven Fall for the First Time Since 1936
College football has been playing with an AP poll since 1936. It had never seen a Saturday like this one: five of the top seven teams in the country — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas — all lost on the same regular-season day, and the top two teams lost on the same day for the first time since Nov. 17, 2012. For the second straight week, the nation’s No. 1 team fell to an unranked opponent, something that hadn’t happened since 1990.
The carnage: Auburn beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in Athens on a field goal as time expired, the Tigers’ first win there in 31 years. BYU toppled No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in Provo behind four total touchdowns from Bear Bachmeier, ending the Irish’s 16-game winning streak. Ohio State survived Indiana 19-15 in Bloomington, snapping the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak — but lost quarterback Julian Sayin to a shoulder injury. Tennessee’s defense strangled No. 6 Alabama 26-10 in Knoxville, holding the Crimson Tide to 201 yards. And Florida went into Austin and beat No. 7 Texas 27-24 behind first-time starter Tramell Jones Jr.
The survivors: No. 3 Miami needed two overtimes to escape Florida State 43-35 in a rivalry classic. No. 9 Ole Miss routed No. 13 Missouri 31-3, LSU blanked No. 16 Mississippi State 31-0, No. 10 Texas Tech hung 53 on Arizona State, and No. 15 Kentucky rallied to win 21-13 at Oklahoma. Michigan benched Bryce Underwood and still beat Penn State 21-18. Elsewhere, Utah edged Colorado 27-24, UCLA beat Wisconsin 17-7, Houston outlasted Oklahoma State 35-32, SMU topped Virginia 23-13, Wake Forest routed Cal 41-7, Oregon held off Nebraska 17-14, and Washington beat Purdue 38-26 on Friday night.
The new AP Top 25 tells the story of the shakeup: Miami is No. 1 with 40 first-place votes, BYU is No. 2 (20 first-place votes) and Ohio State No. 3 (9). Notre Dame sits fourth, Georgia fifth, Indiana sixth, followed by Ole Miss, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah. Tennessee climbs to No. 11 and Kentucky to No. 12, while Alabama tumbles to No. 13, LSU rises to No. 18, Texas falls to No. 19 and Florida cracks the poll at No. 20. Missouri (No. 22), SMU (No. 23), Northwestern (No. 24) and Arizona (No. 25) round out the rankings.
Week 8 has a lot to live up to.
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