Penn State tumbles in USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Kevin McGuire
·4 min read

After dropping a nine-overtime marathon at home to lowly Illinois, Penn State was due to take a major tumble in the latest polls on Sunday. And that’s exactly what happened for the Nittany Lions following Week 8 of college football action.

Penn State fell 10 spots down to No. 17 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, which was updated Sunday afternoon less than 24 hours after a major disappointment in front of a homecoming crowd. But Penn State’s fall in the polls may have been given a slight pillow considering a number of other losses taken by ranked teams around the country.

Coastal Carolina and NC State each losing gave Penn State a slight cushion underneath them, as did the loss by Clemson. Coastal Carolina and NC State each remained in the top 25, although Clemson fell out after their road loss at Pitt. The Panthers moved up four spots in the coaches poll, but only up to No. 19 to remain two spots behind Penn State despite a better record of 6-1.

Penn State took the biggest tumble in this week’s coaches poll by falling nine spots after a loss to Illinois. No. 15 Oklahoma State also took a good fall by dropping six spots after a loss to Iowa State (up to No. 23 after being unranked). Coastal Carolina fell eight spots and NC State fell seven after losses to Appalachian State and Miami, respectively.

Georgia remains the unanimous No. 1 team in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after receiving all 64 first-place votes to stay ahead of No. 2 Cincinnati. But No. 3 Alabama has moved ahead of No. 4 Oklahoma, who fell two spots after having to claw back on the road against Kansas. No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 7 Michigan State remain in their spots from a week ago heading into a massive weekend of Big Ten football. Penn State is now left in the rearview mirror, at least for now, in the Big Ten East race.

No. 10 Iowa moved up one spot in its bye week to give the Big Ten four top 10 teams after Penn State fell out.

NEXT: The full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll After Week 8

Here is how the full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll looks following the results of Week 8 of the 2021 college football season.

Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll:

Rank

Team

Record

Points

Change

1

Georgia

7-0

1,600 (64)

–

2

Cincinnati

7-0

1,469

+1

3

Alabama

7-1

1,439

+1

4

Oklahoma

8-0

1,430

-2

5

Ohio State

6-1

1,338

–

6

Michigan

7-0

1,313

–

7

Michigan State

7-0

1,208

–

8

Oregon

6-1

1,139

+2

9

Ole Miss

6-1

1,019

+3

10

Iowa

6-1

1,008

+1

11

Notre Dame

6-1

950

+2

12

Kentucky

6-1

857

+1

13

Wake Forest

7-0

838

+2

14

Texas A&M

6-2

736

+3

15

Oklahoma State

6-1

684

-6

16

SMU

7-0

535

+3

17

Penn State

5-2

517

-9

18

Baylor

6-1

509

+2

19

Pittsburgh

6-1

487

+4

20

San Diego State

7-0

431

+1

21

Auburn

5-2

418

+1

22

UT-San Antonio

8-0

219

+3

23

Iowa State

5-2

190

+3

24

Coastal Carolina

6-1

134

-8

25

North Carolina State

5-2

73

-7

Dropped from the rankings:

No. 24 Clemson

Others receiving votes:

UL Lafayette 42; Brigham Young 42; Arkansas 41; Houston 27; Arizona State 27; Virginia 23; Oregon State 13; Florida 13; Fresno State 10; Air Force 9; Appalachian State 5; Texas 3; Liberty 3; Utah 1

List

Around the Big Ten in Week 8: Buckeyes continued dominance, B1G rushing games all around

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