OHIO — Cincinnati remains No. 2 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 college football poll released on Sunday but Ohio State slipped a spot to No. 6 despite holding off Penn State.

What You Need To Know

  • Cincinnati remains No. 2 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 college football poll 

  • Ohio State slipped from No. 5 to No. 6

  • The Buckeyes defeated Penn State  33-24 Saturday night

  • Cincinnati beat Tulane 31-12

TreVeyon Henderson ran for 152 yards on a season-high 28 carries and Ohio State made just enough long plays and short field goals to hold off Penn State 33-24 on Saturday night.

The Buckeyes (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten) finally finished off the Nittany Lions (5-3, 2-3) on Noah Ruggles’ fourth field goal, a 26-yarder with 2:41 left to make it a nine-point lead.

 

The big win over Penn State on Saturday came days before the first College Football Playoff rankings. The first CFP selection committee rankings of the season will be released Tuesday night.

Ohio State had hardly been tested since losing to Oregon in Week 2. Against Penn State, the Buckeyes played a lot like they did against the Ducks: struggling to finish drives and get off the field on third down.

The Buckeyes are tied for first in the East Division with unbeaten Michigan State, which defeated Michigan in a thriller earlier Saturday.

Michigan State moved up three spots to No. 5 in the Top 25 poll by beating Michigan in the weekend’s biggest game. The last time Michigan State broke into the top five was 2015 when the Spartans made the College Football Playoff.

Ohio State finishes the season with consecutive games against the Spartans and Wolverines.

Cincinnati Bearcats

No. 2 Cincinnati pulled away late for a 31-12 victory Saturday over a struggling Tulane squad that didn’t trail by more than nine points until the latter half of the fourth quarter.

Jerome Ford rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown — his 14th this season — for Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference), which briefly trailed in the second quarter and led by just two at halftime before outscoring Tulane 17-0 the rest of the way.

It was another underwhelming victory for the second-ranked Bearcats.

 

The two underwhelming victories in a row has Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell answering questions about whether the Bearcats are living up to their billing.

“We know we’ve got to do a better job,” Fickell said. “We know what brings the energy to our program. We’ve got to find better ways to get that going earlier in games.”

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the fourth straight week, with Cincinnati at No. 2, Alabama at No. 3 and Oklahoma at No. 4.

Up Next:

Ohio State: The Buckeyes go to Nebraska next week.

Cincinnati: Hosts Tulsa next Saturday.

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