and not at all since 2009.) Ohio St. 24, Michigan 14 No. 8 Nebraska 28, No. 11 Oklahoma 24 No. 8 Penn St 27, No. 2 Nebraska 24 September Pittsburgh, with a 33-3 record in the past three seasons and quarterback Dan Marino heading into his senior year, was No. 1 in the preseason AP Poll despite the departure of head coach Jackie Sherrill to Texas A&M. The Panthers were followed by No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 5 North Carolina. In the first regular-season poll on September 6 (taken before any of the top five teams had begun their schedules), Nebraska and Alabama switched places to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. September 11: No. 1 Pittsburgh defeated No. 5 North Carolina 7-6. Nevertheless, No. 2 Washington moved ahead of Pitt in the next poll with a 55-0 shutout of UTEP. No. 3 Nebraska beat Iowa 42-7, No. 4 Alabama won 45-7 at Georgia Tech, and No. 6 Florida (which had already defeated then-No. 15 Miami a week earlier) beat No. 10 USC 17-9. The next poll featured No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Pittsburgh, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Florida. September 18: No. 1 Washington opened their conference schedule with a 23-13 win at Arizona, while No. 2 Pittsburgh beat Florida State 37-17 in Tallahassee. The Panthers were again leapfrogged by a team that dominated a weak opponent, as No. 3 Nebraska beat New Mexico 68-0. No. 4 Alabama defeated Mississippi 42-14, and No. 5 Florida was idle. The next poll featured No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Pittsburgh, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Florida. September 25: No. 1 Washington defeated Oregon 37-21, while No. 2 Nebraska lost at No. 8 Penn State by a score of 27-24. The outcome of the game was controversial as Penn State tight end Mike McCloskey would later admit catching a key pass out of bounds that kept the winning drive alive. No. 3 Pittsburgh beat No. 19 Illinois 20-3. No. 4 Alabama looked vulnerable in a 24-21 win over Vanderbilt while No. 5 Florida defeated Mississippi State 27-17, and the two teams switched places in the next poll: No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Pittsburgh, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Alabama. October October 2: No. 1 Washington beat San Diego State 46-25, and No. 2 Pittsburgh