And then there was an even dozen (pending Boise State finishing off Hawaii, of course).
As we made our way into the seventh week of the 2019 college football season, there were 16 teams that had yet to lose a game. In the early-afternoon slot, a pair of teams suffered their first defeat of the season -- No. 3 Georgia, No. 23 Memphis, with both of those losses coming to unranked teams. In the primetime slot, No. 7 Florida dropped its first game to No. 5 LSU.
Which brings us to Wake Forest.
Wake began the 2019 season 5-0, the first time they’d hit that mark since 2006. With a date against Louisville on tap, they were looking to go 6-0 for the first time since 1944.
Alas, there would be no history as Wake fell to Louisville 62-59. But what an epically non-historical game it was.
At the end of the third quarter, the Cardinals led 45-31. While the offenses weren’t exactly invisible through the first three-quarters of the game, they would explode for 45 points in the fourth quarter of the contest.
The U of L struck first in that final stanza to push its lead to a game-high 21 points at 52-31 with 9:14 remaining. Wake would get as close as three points twice the rest of the way, the last coming with just over a minute left in the game. Unlike earlier in the quarter, an onside quick was unsuccessful, sealing the win for the 4-2 Cardinals.
So, with Wake out, below are the unbeaten dozen halfway through the 2019 regular season:
- Alabama
- Appalachian State
- Baylor
- Boise State
- Clemson
- LSU
- Minnesota
- Oklahoma
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- SMU
- Wisconsin