Alabama falls to No. 15 after its second loss to Tennessee, Georgia shocks Texas in Austin, Oregon rises to No. 1

(WHNT) – Alabama suffered its second loss of the season after the third Saturday in October, Auburn lost another game this season and Georgia stunned Texas in Week 8 of college football.

The two SEC schools in the state of Alabama appear to be collapsing as the regular season progresses. Auburn is now 2-5 on the season and Alabama is now 5-2 on the season after week eight.

The Yankees get closer to the Guardians again, scoring two runs in the 9th, winning 8-6 and taking the ALCS lead 3-1

First-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer traveled to Knoxville for the first time to attend the infamous “Third Saturday in October” game.

The Crimson Tide's defense was able to make key plays throughout the game, but was most impressive in the first half. The Crimson Tide held the Tennessee Volunteers scoreless in the first half again this season.

The first quarter was scoreless as Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe threw an interception in the end zone. Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava also missed several deep throws. The Crimson Tide also forced a fumble in the first quarter, but Bama couldn't make big plays with that turnover.

The Volunteers missed two field goals in the first half, leading to their scoreless half.

The Crimson Tide scored its first touchdown in the second quarter as Ryan Williams struggled in the end zone to complete the catch.

📲Download the WHNT News 19 app to stay up to date on the go.
📧Sign up for the WHNT News 19 newsletter to send messages to your inbox.

In the second quarter, quarterback Iamaleava was taken off the field after an apparent injury following a sack and backup quarterback Gaston Moore came in to play. On his first pass attempt, Malachi Moore intercepted the pass.

This interception was the Volunteers' second turnover of the game.

Shortly after the second, the Volunteers scored their third turnover of the game when Iamaleava was intercepted by Jaylen Mbakwe. But once again the Crimson Tide went for a three-pointer after a big play by the Bama defense.

This game was plagued by penalties for the Tide, as the team incurred 15 penalties for a total of 115 yards in the game.

At the end of the third quarter, the Volunteers led the game 14-10. The Tide responded with a rushing touchdown early in the final quarter, increasing the score to 17-14 with 13:56 remaining.

After that final touchdown, Milroe seemed out of sync with his receivers and the offensive line was unable to stop the Volunteers' defense. Milroe was almost sacked for a safety but was able to deflect a pass that was incomplete.

Tennessee scored again with 5:52 left in regulation to increase the score to 21-17. The Crimson Tide simply wasn't able to complete passes or follow through with the running game.

With one last hope left with 1:30 left, Milroe threw an interception that ended that last glimmer of hope. The game ended 24:17 when fans stormed the field again and tore down the goal posts.

CLICK HERE for News 19's Interactive Radar 🌩️🌦️☔

“I know there are enough people that still believe and still want to do what we want to do,” DeBoer said after the game. “There is still a lot of time ahead of us in the season, not just for us but for everyone. It will go quickly if we don't take advantage of it. There has to be this urgency – no question about it.”

In the postgame interview, DeBoer mentioned that the offensive line and defensive line appear to be playing two different games and that the “killer instinct” is not present on the team at this time.

“We’re just not able to bring attack and defense together at the moment and play great team football,” he said. “There are times when we need to be able to zone out and have that killer instinct, and right now we're not doing that.”

Crimson Tide fans weren't the only ones disappointed with State this week. The Auburn Tigers faced the Missouri Tigers on Saturday.

Auburn appeared to have more control in this game as quarterback Payton Thorne threw no interceptions.

Auburn stayed ahead of Missouri for most of the game until Missouri pulled away with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Missouri's final touchdown came with 0:46 seconds left.

Auburn's offense totaled 286 yards for the entire game. The highlight of the offense came when Thorne threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman. Jarquez Hunter appeared to have a quiet game and was held to 57 yards.

📲Download the WHNT News 19 app to stay up to date on the go.
📧Sign up for the WHNT News 19 newsletter to send messages to your inbox.

Auburn's defense was able to hold off Missouri for most of the game until Missouri quarterback Brady Cook returned to the game after suffering an ankle injury. Cook returned to the game with a minute left in the third quarter.

Cook's third play of the game consisted of a 78-yard throw to Mookie Cooper, who set up Missouri's first touchdown of the game on the following play.

“It was a difficult thing. But we’ll look into it and talk about it in a film study,” Auburn linebacker Eugene Asante said of Cook’s ability to rattle Auburn’s defense.

Head coach Hugh Freeze said in a post-game interview that he was disappointed almost every week with the result and the way the games went. After the loss to Missouri, Freeze said certain moments changed the momentum, including the streak that included a missed touchdown catch and a botched field goal.

“And you know, it would be nice for us to see that they had to drive down the field after our missed field goal. Those explosive plays were devastating for us because I thought our defense was really hard for them to sustain long attacks. But man, if you give them explosive plays like that, they're going to score points. And that was certainly a turning point in the dynamic,” Freeze said.

The Auburn Tigers finished the game 17:21.

Out of state, the game of the day was No. 1 Texas vs. No. 5 Georgia in Austin.

Current headlines

College Gameday traveled to Austin to cover the monumental game. This was the first time this season that the Longhorns faced a top-five opponent.

The game began with the Georgia Bulldogs seemingly dominating the game, scoring 23 points in the first half against the Longhorns. The Longhorns were speechless and scoreless heading into halftime.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers threw two touchdowns, both in the third quarter. The score was 23:15 before the last quarter.

The Bulldogs took the win in that game, scoring one final touchdown to make the final score 30-15.

Looking back at the Longhorns' games so far this season, the team has only allowed three total touchdowns in the first six games: one to Michigan, one to UTSA and one to Mississippi State.

In the game against the Bulldogs, the Longhorns allowed three touchdowns and three field goals.

While these stats are impressive, the game was ugly on both sides. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck completed 23-41 passes for 175 yards and three interceptions. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers completed 25-43 passes for 211 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Texas also fumbled the ball three times, while Georgia committed zero fumbles. However, the roles were reversed as Georgia only had one interception compared to Texas.

Georgia crossed the finish line in Austin and stunned the Longhorns. The Bulldogs handed them their first loss of the season.

LOOKING FOR THE ADVANCED FORECAST? Click here to learn how to download the Live Alert 19 app

Week eight saw a total of two upsets in terms of ranked games: Georgia defeated Texas and Tennessee defeated Alabama.

Some teams have moved for the Week 9 rankings:

You can see the AP Top 25 rankings for Week 9 below.

1. Oregon

2. Georgia

3. Penn State

4. Ohio State

5. Texas

6. Miami

7. Tennessee

8. LSU

9. Clemson

10. Iowa State

11. BYU

12. Notre Dame

13. Indiana

14. Texas A&M

15. Alabama

16. Kansas State

17. Boise State

18. Ole Miss

19. Pittsburgh

20. Illinois

21. Missouri

22. SMU

23. army

24. marine

25. Vanderbilt

The Week 9 rankings mark the first time the Vanderbilt Commodores have appeared in the AP Top 25 rankings since 2013.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming videos, visit WHNT.com.