ATHENS, Ga. — Unranked Auburn beat top-ranked Georgia 27-24 on Saturday when Alex McPherson drilled a 34-yard field goal as time ran out, the opening act of a day that tore up the top of the college football rankings.
Georgia jumped out 14-0 before Auburn reeled off 24 straight points to lead by 10 heading to the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs fought back to tie it with 2:58 left, but quarterback Gunner Stockton fumbled on a designed run in the final minutes, his third giveaway of the afternoon after two interceptions. Auburn took over at its own 44, Byrum Brown ran for key yards on the last drive, and a roughing-the-passer flag pushed the Tigers closer before McPherson’s kick.
It was Auburn’s first win in Athens in 31 years and its sixth victory ever over a No. 1 team. For the second week in a row, the country’s top-ranked team lost, something that had not happened since October 1990.
Georgia had plenty of company. In Austin, Florida erased a deficit and took down No. 7 Texas 27-24, while No. 14 Tennessee rolled past No. 6 Alabama in their annual October rivalry. In the early window, No. 4 Ohio State edged No. 5 Indiana 19-15, snapping a 22-game win run for the Hoosiers, and No. 3 Miami needed two overtimes to survive unranked Florida State. That night, No. 8 BYU knocked off No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in Provo.
Never before had five of the top eight teams in the national rankings fallen on one regular-season day. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams also both went down on the same date for the first time in a regular season since November 2012.
The results reshuffle the College Football Playoff picture with about half of the regular season left.
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