Oh how the mighty fall fast in college football

Looking for perspective on how much the college football landscape has changed this year, I thought back to 2013, my first year covering this beat at the Star Tribune.

Florida State won the national championship that season. Last week, Jimbo Fisher's team needed a blocked extra point against Miami to avoid falling to 3-3.

Auburn finished runner up to Florida State that year, and the most common words associated with Gus Malzahn were guru or genius. This year, Tigers fans had other choice words for Malzahn, as the team started 1-2. He's quieted critics with wins over LSU and Mississippi State.

Michigan State was No. 3 in the final AP poll three years ago. Now, Mark Dantonio's team has lost three straight against Indiana, Wisconsin and BYU.

At No. 4 three years ago? South Carolina. That was Steve Spurrier's last great team. The Gamecocks are 2-4 under new coach Will Muschamp.

No. 5? Missouri. Gary Pinkel has been replaced by Barry Odom, and the Tigers are 2-3.

No. 6? Oklahoma. After reaching the College Football Playoff last year, the Sooners had two losses by Week 3. The Sooners are 3-2 after beating TCU and Texas. But who would have believed a Bob Stoops-coached team would sit 109th nationally in scoring defense?

At No. 7 and No. 8 — Alabama and Clemson, two teams cruising toward the playoff again this year.

At No. 9 — Oregon. Not so much. The Ducks are 2-4, including a 70-21 loss to Washington. Mark Helfrich hired Brady Hoke as defensive coordinator, and Oregon currently ranks 125th in scoring defense.

No. 10? Central Florida. George O'Leary's team beat Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl that year but plunged to 0-12 last season. The Knights are 3-2 under new coach Scott Frost.

(If you're keeping score, that's 80 percent turnover of the top 10 in less than three years.)

No. 11 — Stanford. The Cardinal just lost back-to-back games for the first time in David Shaw's six-year tenure. That tells you how consistent he's been, overall, but the losses were by a combined 86-22 to Washington and Washington State.

No. 12 — Ohio State. Urban Meyer is 31-2 since that Fiesta Bowl loss to Clemson.

No. 13 — Baylor. This program became a national disgrace for its handling of sexual assault cases. Art Briles got fired. The team no one outside Waco, Texas, is rooting for is 5-0 under new coach Jim Grobe.

No. 14 — LSU. Losses to Wisconsin and Auburn got Les Miles fired after Week 4. Tom Herman is the hot name to watch, but his Houston squad stumbled last week — at Navy.

No. 15 — Louisville. And that year, Lamar Jackson was still a junior at Boynton Beach High School.

No. 16 — UCLA. The first of back-to-back 10-3 seasons for Jim Mora. This year's squad already sits 3-3.

No. 17 — Oklahoma State. The unranked Cowboys lost to Central Michigan this year.

No. 18 — Texas A&M. Kevin Sumlin entered this season on the hot seat. Now his Aggies are 6-0.

No. 19 — USC. Lane Kiffin got fired that year. Steve Sarkisian flamed out, and the Trojans started 1-3 this year under Clay Helton before knocking off Arizona State and Colorado.

No. 20 — Notre Dame. Fighting Irish fans thought this was a disappointment after the 2012 trip to the BCS title game under Brian Kelly. Now, the Irish are 2-4, and Kelly is getting skewered.

And no look at how the mighty have fallen would be complete without Texas. The Longhorns lost three straight to Cal, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, putting Charlie Strong's future in doubt.

In 2013, Strong was the can't-miss coach on the rise, finishing a 23-3 stretch at Louisville. It's just a reminder that everything we know about college football is subject to change — quickly.

Short takes

• Wisconsin's defense will be the best Ohio State has seen. But to upset the Buckeyes on Saturday, the host Badgers need a lights-out performance from redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook. He delivered one in the win at Michigan State but was 9-for-25 with three interceptions in the 14-7 loss at Michigan. Ohio State ranks second nationally in pass efficiency defense and has 10 interceptions in five games.

• With Michigan's do-everything defender Jabrill Peppers emerging as a Heisman candidate, here's a look back at the voting when Michigan DB/WR Charles Woodson won it in 1997: 1. Woodson, 2. Peyton Manning (QB-Tennessee), 3. Ryan Leaf (QB-Washington State), 4. Randy Moss (WR-Marshall), 5. (Tie) Curtis Enis (RB-Penn State), Ricky Williams (RB-Texas).

• Rutgers, next week's homecoming opponent for the Gophers, faces Illinois on Saturday, after losing to Ohio State and Michigan by a combined 136-0. Rutgers' four defeats have come against teams (including Washington and Iowa) with a combined record of 21-2. "I feel like we're probably a lot closer in terms of overall talent with the next six teams than we were in three of the four games we lost for sure," coach Chris Ash said. "And that's just being honest."

BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS

1. Michigan (6-0, 3-0): That 78-0 win at Rutgers last week stirred memories of Nebraska 83, Gophers 14 (1983).

2. Ohio State (5-0, 2-0): J.T. Barrett gets 26 carries? Urban Meyer: "We've got to be more balanced. That's awful."

3. Wisconsin (4-1, 1-1): T.J. Watt leads the Big Ten in sacks (5.5) — and in comparisons to his brother, J.J. Watt.

4. Nebraska (5-0, 2-0): Huskers have 457 fourth-quarter rushing yards, 10 fewer than all of 2015, per the World Herald.

5. Penn State (4-2, 2-1): Trace McSorley backed up his Minnesota performance with more of the same vs. Maryland.

6. Iowa (4-2, 2-1): Maybe the Northwestern loss was an aberration. The Hawkeyes defense looked far better last week.

7. Indiana (3-2, 1-1): An improved pass defense makes the Hoosiers an even tougher test for Nebraska this week.

8. Maryland (4-1, 1-1): Purdue rushed for just 10 yards vs. the Terps, but Penn State rushed for 372. Which is it?

9. Northwestern (2-3, 1-1): Had a bye week to build on 38-31 win at Iowa, getting ready for this trip to Michigan State.

10. Michigan State (2-3, 0-2): Spartans managed just 206 total yards in 17-point loss to BYU. Tyler O'Connor got benched.

11. Gophers (3-2, 0-2): Injured QB Mitch Leidner ranks sixth in the Big Ten in passing yardage (201.2 per game).

12. Purdue (3-2, 1-1): Not a big fan of Darrell Hazell icing the Illinois kicker with THREE timeouts. But it worked.

13. Illinois (1-4, 0-2): Wes Lunt was knocked from the Purdue game by an egregious hit from Danny Ezechukwu.

14. Rutgers (2-4, 0-3): Against Ohio State and Michigan, Scarlet Knights had 38 passing yards – combined.

Joe Christensen covers Gophers football for the Star Tribune. • Twitter: @JoeCStrib jchristensen@startribune.com