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Penn State improves to 11th in AP college football rankings

The Nittany Lions (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) shut down Maryland on Saturday. Next up is Rutgers.

Penn State defensive tackle Zane Durant sacks Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa during the first half Saturday.
Penn State defensive tackle Zane Durant sacks Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa during the first half Saturday.Read moreBarry Reeger / AP
    by Staff and Wire Reports
    Published 

Fresh off a 30-0 dismantling of Maryland, Penn State moved up three spots to No. 11 on Sunday in the Associated Press college football poll.

The Nittany Lions hounded Terrapins star Taulia Tagovailoa with seven quarterback hurries, forcing nine punts and three turnovers on downs. Linebacker Abdul Carter, a freshman out of La Salle College High School, had a team-best seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble for Penn State on Saturday.

» READ MORE: Temple was unable to close out Houston despite a halftime lead and a late comeback

Penn State (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) visits Rutgers (4-6, 1-6) on Saturday.

No. 1 Georgia led an unchanged top five in the AP poll Sunday, while the rest of the top 25 was shuffled after eight ranked teams lost — including two big upsets in the Pac-12.

For the second straight week, the Bulldogs received all but one of the 63 first-place votes in the AP Top 25. No. 2 Ohio State received the other first-place vote.

No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Texas Christian and No. 5 Tennessee held their spots after victories Saturday, with only TCU facing a real challenge.

Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, and Tennessee won by a combined 203-60 against conference opponents.

Home losses by Oregon (to Washington) and UCLA (to Arizona) shook up the rest of the top 10. No. 6 LSU and No. 7 Southern California each moved up a spot.

The last time two top-10 Pac-12 teams lost at home during the same weekend was Oct. 2-4, 2014, when No. 2 Oregon fell, 31-24, to Arizona and No. 8 UCLA was defeated, 30-28, by Utah.

Alabama jumped two spots to No. 8 after it fell to a season-low No. 10 last week. Clemson moved up four spots to reenter the top 10 at No. 8 and Utah climbed to No .10.

Georgia is closing in on a school record. The Bulldogs are No. 1 for the ninth time this season, matching the total from last season when they won the national title for the first time in 41 years.

Georgia has been at No. 1 a total of 33 times in school history, one behind Michigan for the 12th-best total in the history of the AP poll.

» READ MORE: Penn State defense shines in 30-0 rout of Maryland

The Bulldogs are at Kentucky this Saturday and close the season against Georgia Tech. Barring a major upset, they’ll go into the Southeastern Conference championship against LSU with 11 weeks as the country’s top-ranked team.