Preseason No. 1 Texas And No. 2 Penn State Drop Out Of AP Poll

No one should have had a significant issue when Texas and Penn State were first and second in the Associated Press preseason poll. Yes, other teams had cases for being atop the rankings, but the Longhorns and Nittany Lions had legitimate credentials. They each returned several starters and were coming off appearances in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Now, they need to have major turnarounds to even make the CFP. Both teams are out of the top 25 after disappointing performances on Saturday against unranked opponents. Texas, ranked No. 9 at the time, lost to Florida, 29-21, while then-No. 7 Penn State fell at UCLA, 42-37, one of the most surprising results in recent years. Florida was 1-3 and UCLA 0-4 before pulling off the upsets.

Penn State became the first team since 1985 to lose to an opponent that lost its first four games. The Nittany Lions were favored by 24.5 points over UCLA, which was led on Saturday by an interim coach, Tim Skipper, who took over after the Bruins fired DeShaun Foster last month, and an offensive coordinator, Jerry Neuheisel, who replaced Tino Sunseri after Sunseri and UCLA mutually parted ways last week.

In their first four games, the Bruins were outscored by an average of 17 points per game and scored more than 14 points just once when they lost, 30-23, at UNLV. But on Saturday, UCLA had its way against a Penn State defense that had been impressive all season. The Nittany Lions held their first three opponents (Nevada, Florida International and Villanova) to a combined 17 points and then allowed 17 points in regulation in their 30-24 loss to Oregon in double overtime on Sept. 27.

That defeat was heartbreaking considering Penn State played in front of its annual White Out home crowd of more than 111,000 fans and coach James Franklin fell to 4-21 in matchups with top 10 opponents since he arrived in 2014. Still, it is no shame losing in extra time to Oregon. The Ducks have a perfect league record since joining the Big Ten last season (11-0 plus the conference championship game victory over Penn State last December) and have gone 27-3 over the past three seasons.

The UCLA loss is a different story. After falling behind 27-7 at halftime, Penn State got to within seven points with 4:11 remaining and got the ball back late, but quarterback Drew Allar couldn’t convert on fourth and 2 with 37 seconds left. Allar, who threw the game-deciding interception a week earlier against Oregon, completed 19 of 26 passes for 200 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for a team-high 78 yards on 11 carries. Still, he was outplayed by UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava, a transfer from Tennessee who completed 17 of 24 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a game-high 128 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns.

It was by far the worst defensive performance of the year for Penn State, which hired Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles in the offseason for a reported $3.1 million annual salary. The Nittany Lions allowed season-highs in points, total yards (435), yards per play (5.6), rushing yards (269), rushing yards per attempt (5.1) and passing yards per attempt (6.9).

Before Sunday, Penn State had been ranked in the AP poll each week since early September 2022 and in the top 10 every week since last year’s preseason poll. This season, the Nittany Lions were No. 2 in the preseason poll, their highest ranking since they entered the 1997 season ranked first. Now, they are 0-2 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2020 entering next Saturday’s home game against Northwestern, which is 3-2 and beat UCLA by three points last month. Penn State then plays at Iowa, which is usually difficult to beat at home, before facing No. 1 Ohio State and No. 8 Indiana in the first two Saturdays of November.

Texas is facing a similar treacherous path and coming off a difficult loss against Florida, which entered Saturday having lost three consecutive games. But the Gators scored the first 10 games against the Longhorns and went up 19-7 at halftime and 22-7 midway through the third quarter. On the next possession, Texas quarterback Arch Manning threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo, cutting the Longhorns’ deficit to 22-14. But Manning threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter and completed just 16 of his 29 passes for 263 yards and ran 15 times for 37 yards.

Texas managed just 52 yards on 26 rushing attempts, while Florida sacked Manning six times and had seven tackles for loss as the Longhorns’ offensive line again struggled. Manning, one of the preseason Heisman Trophy favorites, has had an inconsistent season starting with the season-opening loss at Ohio State, the reigning national champion. Manning has completed 60% of his passes for 1,151 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions this season.

Texas is unranked for the first time since November 2022 and outside the top 10 for the first time since September 2023. Still, the Longhorns could return to the rankings if they defeat No. 5 Oklahoma next Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. In fact, Texas is favored over Oklahoma, which will play without star quarterback John Mateer, who underwent surgery on his right hand last month. The Longhorns also plays No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 12 Georgia and No. 6 Texas A&M later this season, so all hope isn’t lost for a CFP berth. Still, they have to figure out their offense if they’re going to return to the playoff.