College football notebook: OSU stays at No. 6, Sooners back in poll at No. 24

OSU stays at No. 6, Sooners back in poll at No. 24

Oklahoma State remained at No. 6, and Oklahoma moved back into The Associated Press' college football poll at No. 24 on Sunday.

OSU improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play after its 24-21 victory over Iowa State. Oklahoma is 3-2 and 2-2 after its 33-14 win at TCU. The Sooners are back in the poll after three weeks out. That is the longest run of polls that have not included the Sooners since 2009, when they were left out of the final six Top 25s.

Indiana jumped into the APl poll Sunday after pulling off the weekend’s most dramatic upset, and Ohio State moved up to No. 3 following a dominant season debut.

Clemson remained a rock-solid No. 1 and Alabama was No. 2. The Tigers received 52 first-place votes and the Crimson Tide got the remaining 10.

Ohio State leaped two spots after easily dispatching Nebraska as the Big Ten Conference kicked off its pandemic-delayed and abbreviated season.

No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 Georgia each slipped a spot behind the Buckeyes.

Indiana pulled off a stunner in overtime to jump into the rankings, beating then-No. 8 Penn State to earn the program’s first victory against a team ranked in the AP top 10 since 1987. The Hoosiers snapped a 25-year absence from the poll last season but stayed there only one week.

Penn State slipped 10 spots to No. 18 after losing to the Hoosiers for just the second time in 24 meetings since joining the Big Ten.

The Amway Coaches Poll almost mirrored the AP poll. OSU is No. 6 and OU No. 24 in the Amway poll.

EXTRA POINTS

TEXAS TECH 34, WEST VIRGINIA 27: Cornerback Zech McPhearson returned a fumble 56 yards for a touchdown with 8:44 left to lift Texas Tech to a 34-27 victory over West Virginia late Saturday night. West Virginia's Sam James caught a short pass from Jarret Doege but fumbled on a hit from Jacob Morganstern. McPhearson, a graduate transfer from Penn State, picked up the ball and went the length of the field untouched.

RICE: The Owls lost to Middle Tennessee 40-34 in their season opener on Saturday, yet Rice had at chance to win it in the second overtime. But Collin Riccitelli's 40-yard field goal try was partially blocked and bounced four times off the goal posts, including the crossbar twice, before falling back onto the field. Middle Tennessee won it three plays later.

ARMY: From the 2020 is Weird file — On the day the Big Ten season started, Army accepted a bid to the Independence Bowl.

BRIGHAM YOUNG: BYU’s offense is becoming virtually unstoppable with Zach Wilson at the controls. Wilson threw for 287 yards and four TDs to lead the No. 12 Cougars to a 52-14 victory over Texas State on Saturday night. He had at least 200 yards passing before halftime for the fourth time in six games, and it was his second consecutive game with at least four TD passes.

WISCONSIN: Redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz, who put on a sparkling performance in his starting debut Friday night, has tested positive for COVID-19. Two sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sunday that Mertz, who completed 20 of 21 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns in the Badgers' 45-7 victory over Illinois on Friday, has had one positive test.

According to Big Ten protocols released last month, athletes who test positive through point of contact (POC) daily testing will require a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the first result.

Wire reports