Ohio State moves to No. 3, tied with Georgia in AP Top 25 college football poll
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH/AP) — Coming off an impressive win against Michigan State on Saturday, Ohio State moved up to No. 3 in the Associated Press college football poll.
Ohio State and Georgia are tied at No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll, and Florida surged to No. 7 after a big victory.
No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson held their spots Sunday after a week off for both, but the Buckeyes caught up to the Bulldogs in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. The Crimson Tide received 32 first-place votes and 1,503 points and the Tigers had 15 first-place votes and 1,433 points. Georgia got three first-place votes and 1,393 points. Ohio State, which was fourth last week, received 10 first-place votes and 1,393 points.
The Spartans, ranked 25th last week, are out of this week’s poll following Saturday’s loss to the Buckeyes.
The last time there was a tie in the top three was Sept. 20, 2015, when TCU and Mississippi shared third.
No. 5 LSU received two first-place votes. Oklahoma stayed No. 6.
Florida moved up three spots after beating Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers slipped five to No. 12.
Baylor, Memphis and Cincinnati all entered the Top 25.
Ohio State sophomore quarterback Justin Fields threw two touchdown passes and plunged in for another score as the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) overcame an inauspicious start to roll to a 34-10 win against the Spartans Saturday night.
The Georgia transfer ran into a stout defense, got chased around, sacked and intercepted for the first time in his college career.
But he stayed cool and engineered enough explosive plays to help Ohio State bury the Spartans.
J.K. Dobbins rushed for 172 yards and a touchdown and is well on his way to the best season of his Ohio State career.
“I think we showed flashes, but we weren’t really consistent the whole game on the offensive side,” Fields said. “If we get better at that and more consistent about that, I think we’ll definitely be one of the best offenses in the country.”
The Buckeyes had to work to figure out Michigan State’s defense at the beginning, after blowing out every opponent through the first five games. They gained just 16 yards on 16 plays — with zero rushing yards — in the first quarter but finally got unstuck. Dobbins, Fields and two other backs then piled up 323 yards on the ground in the next three quarters.
“We were killing ourselves,” Dobbins said of the strange first quarter. “We had to get that fixed, get it going, then the offense started to roll.”
Fields finished 17 for 25 for 206 yards and was sacked three times — twice by Michigan State linebacker Joe Bachie, who finished with 11 tackles.
The Top 25 is listed below with this week’s ranking, team, record, last week’s ranking, and conference:
1 Alabama (5-0) 1 SEC
2 Clemson (5-0) 2 ACC
3 Georgia (5-0) 3 SEC
3 Ohio State (6-0) 4 Big Ten
5 LSU (5-0) 5 SEC
6 Oklahoma (5-0) 6 Big 12
7 Florida (6-0) 10 SEC
8 Wisconsin (5-0) 8 Big Ten
9 Notre Dame (4-1) 9 IA Independents
10 Penn State (5-0) 12 Big Ten
11 Texas (4-1) 11 Big 12
12 Auburn (5-1) 7 SEC
13 Oregon (4-1) 13 Pac-12
14 Boise State (5-0) 16 Mountain West
15 Utah (4-1) 17 Pac-12
16 Michigan (4-1) 19 Big Ten
17 Iowa (4-1) 14 Big Ten
18 Arizona State (4-1) 20 Pac-12
19 Wake Forest (5-0) 22 ACC
20 Virginia (4-1) 23 ACC
21 SMU (6-0) 24 American Athletic
22 Baylor (5-0) — Big 12
23 Memphis (5-0) — American Athletic
24 Texas A&M (3-2) 25 SEC
25 Cincinnati (4-1) — American Athletic