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The date was Oct. 19, 1985.
No. 2 Michigan — quarterbacked by Jim Harbaugh, no less — lost 12-10 to top-ranked Iowa. No. 3 Oklahoma fell to Miami 27-14. And No. 4 Arkansas was edged by Texas 15-13.
That was the last time the second, third, and fourth-ranked teams in the country all lost on the same day in the regular season.
Sitting at No. 6 on that day? Penn State. The Nittany Lions survived a 24-20 scare on the road at Syracuse.
It was a week that ultimately allowed Penn State to reach the national championship game.
Thirty-one years later, that same door has, unbelievably, opened up for the Lions once again.
No. 2 Clemson lost 43-42 on a last-second field goal to Pitt. No. 3 Michigan also watched an unranked opponent make a kick at the end to win as Iowa stunned the Wolverines 14-13. And the third unbeaten, No. 4 Washington, couldn’t handle resurgent USC in Seattle, falling 26-13.
Back at No. 10 was Penn State, pulling out a 45-31 win at Indiana to improve to 8-2, creating a three-way tie atop the Big Ten East with Michigan and Ohio State.
The Wolverines’ loss to a team the Lions had thrashed just a week earlier opened up a legitimate route for Penn State to reach the Big Ten title game on Dec. 3 in Indianapolis. Win that, and a berth in the College Football Playoff becomes possible.
New CFP rankings will be released Tuesday evening. On Sunday, Penn State moved up four spots to No. 10 in the coaches poll and three spots to No. 9 in the AP poll.
First thing’s first. The Lions — battered up front with mounting injuries on the offensive line — must beat Rutgers (2-8, 0-7) on the road next week and Michigan State (3-7, 1-6) at home on Thanksgiving weekend.
Then, to earn the tiebreaker and win the East Division, the Lions must have Michigan lose one more game, either to Indiana (5-5, 3-4) or to Ohio State (9-1, 6-1) in Columbus.
“We’re looking at a situation where Penn State — who went into this week top 10 but the fourth-ranked of the Big Ten teams — may be in as good of shape as anybody to get to Indianapolis,” FOX Sports analyst Stewart Mandel said on Saturday night’s wrap-up show.
“Penn State,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said on his network’s late show, “is in the driver’s seat.”
Indeed, ESPN’s Football Power Index — “a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward” — now has the Lions as the favorite to win the Big Ten East at 46 percent, ahead of Michigan (43) and Ohio State (11).
And if the Lions can get to the conference title game, anything would be possible. Even a shot at a national title.
Wisconsin, which is ranked ahead of Penn State in all polls, is the heavy favorite to win the West Division. An 11-2 Penn State or an 11-2 Wisconsin as Big Ten champion would have one more top-10 win to boost their resume to the selection committee.
Thanks to Saturday’s chaos, the likelihood of a two-loss team qualifying for the first time in the Playoff’s brief existence shot way up.
Not that James Franklin is letting his players think about it.
“Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers, Rutgers,” the Penn State coach wrote on Twitter minutes after Michigan’s stunning loss. “Complete focus on Rutgers, nothing else!”
