Week 3 was about just getting through it for most of the highly ranked teams.
No. 1 Georgia, facing its first opponent with even a prayer to challenge the two-time defending champs, needed a half to find a groove against South Carolina.
No. 3 Florida State fought through early lethargy and second-half sloppiness at Boston College to hang on for dear life.
No. 7 Penn State needed five takeaways to win ugly at Illinois.
And then there was No. 10 Alabama, which went through two quarterbacks and needed almost three quarters just to get into the end zone at South Florida. The Tide was unrecognizable, even in victory.
As unsettling as last week’s loss at home to No. 4 Texas might have felt for Alabama fans, this had to feel just as ominous.
Next week has the makings of being a huge one in college football, with as many as six matchups of ranked teams.
The immediate question is: Will Alabama be one of them?
The road trip to Tampa, Florida, seemed weird for the Crimson Tide, but Alabama recruits a lot in Florida and USF plays in an NFL stadium.
The Bulls have been languishing for several years, with just one victory against an FBS team since 2020. USF got its first win under first-year coach Alex Golesh, the former Tennessee offensive coordinator, last week. It was against Florida A&M.
What could go wrong for Nick Saban's team?
Well, first off a midday thunderstorm caused more than a hour delay in a first half that ended 3-3.
Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner got the start for the Tide instead of Jalen Milroe, who made some big plays but also threw two interceptions against Texas.
Buchner wasn't the solution, going 5 for 14 for 34 yards.
Ty Simpson relieved and was a little better, but the combination of a redshirt freshman processing slowly and an offensive line struggling to protect led to USF registering five sacks, the most for the Bulls in a game in four years.
Milroe did not play at all, and Alabama did not ice the game until powering for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
This was a performance without precedent under Saban since his first season in Tuscaloosa. That 2007 season was marred by a home loss against Louisiana-Monroe.
Other good teams have bad days and occasionally let overmatched opponents hang around. Not Alabama.
The Crimson Tide return home next week for what should be a key Southeastern Conference West game against No. 17 Mississippi, which was hosting Georgia Tech on Saturday night.
It's part of a what looks like a monster slate: Ohio State at Notre Dame; Florida State at Clemson; UCLA at Utah; Colorado at Oregon; Oregon State at Washington State and Iowa at Penn State.
All could be games matching ranked teams when the new AP Top 25 comes out Sunday.
Alabama has not been unranked since 2007, a streak of 248 appearances that is second only to Nebraska's 348 straight weeks ranked from 1981-2002. The Tide's run might be in danger.
What will most likely come to an end this week is Alabama's run of 128 polls in the top 10. That, too, is second-longest all-time. Miami went 137 straight polls as a top-10 team from 1985-93.
AROUND THE COUNTRY: Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he told his team when it was down at halftime 14-3 to South Carolina, to win each moment. The Gamecocks did not score again. No need to make definitive statements about Georgia but the post-Stetson Bennett/Todd Monken offense needs some smoothing over. ... No. 6 Ohio State tuned up for its trip to No. 9 Notre Dame by dropping 63 on Western Kentucky, easing some concerns in Columbus about QB Kyle McCord. ... The LSU team some expected to contend for a national title showed up at Mississippi State and routed the Bulldogs, who look lost offensively as they transition away from the late Mike Leach's Air Raid. LSU's Malik Nabers had 191 yards receiving — in the first half alone. ... Missouri beat No. 15 Kansas State in one of the best games of the day, getting a 61-yard walk-off field goal from burly kicker Harrison Mevis. Big win for Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz and breakout game for five-star receiver Luther Burden III, who had seven catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns. ... Without suspended coach Mel Tucker, Michigan State got embarrassed by No. 8 Washington. Who knows how much the players were impacted by what's going on with their coach? Could not have helped, especially against Michael Penix Jr. and what is right now the best passing offense in college football. ... Alabama tried to hire Washington offense coordinator Ryan Grubb during the offseason. Huge win for the Huskies. ... No. 21 Duke has won each of its first three games by at least 20 points for the first time since 1995.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
