MAJOR PROGRAMS HAPPY
TO SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
From Notre Dame's big win to Penn State's crushing loss to
Ohio State, here's what happened in Week 5
Week 5 of the college football season had major early
playoff implications and it didn't disappoint. Highlighted by No. 4 Ohio
State's trip to No. 9 Penn State and No. 7 Stanford-No. 8 Notre Dame, four
top-10 teams played in marquee games with a lot on the line.
But those weren't the only notable finishes from Saturday.
No. 3 Clemson needed backup quarterback Chase Brice to come off the bench for a
heroic performance against Syracuse. No. 12 West Virginia was tested on the
road against No. 25 Texas Tech. Just about every favorite this week, it seemed,
needed to find some way to survive and advance.
With those games in mind, along with so much more, here's
everything you need to get caught up on a busy Saturday around college
football.
WINNERS
NOTRE DAME: The
move to Ian Book at quarterback looks even better now that Notre Dame beat
Stanford 38-17 with Book accounting for four touchdown passes. The ceiling is
so much higher with him playing. And, sure, a win against a fellow top-10 team
can conjure up potential playoff thoughts. If you want to look ahead, Notre
Dame will likely be heavily favored in every remaining game while facing one or
two ranked teams, max. This was the hardest game on the schedule and it was a
solid win. But sometimes it's nice to simply enjoy things for what they are.
With Book slinging the ball around, the Fighting Irish are a lot of fun to
watch and the defense makes this a dominant team. If they play like they did
Saturday, the playoff stuff will take care of itself.
CLEMSON RUNNING
BACKS: Quarterback Chase Brice gets the lore coming in for the injured
Trevor Lawrence in Clemson's edgy come-from-behind 27-23 win over Syracuse. And
he deserves it after a big-time first-down throw on a fourth-and-6 in the
fourth quarter. The real heroes, though, would be Clemson's running backs
Travis Etienne, Adam Choice and Tavien Feaster. Together, they had 305 yards
rushing and three touchdowns with Etienne getting two bills and all three
scores. The point is when you're down to your Week 1 third-string quarterback
-- even if you have confidence in him -- it helps to be able to run the ball.
FLORIDA: The
Gators got a 13-6 win for first-year coach Dan Mullen in his first trip back to
Starkville to take on his old team, No. 23 Mississippi State. That's big in and
of itself and puts Florida at 4-1 with two huge games coming up in the next
month (vs. LSU on Oct. 6 and vs. Georgia on Oct. 27). However, Florida's
defense also did a great job corralling Mississippi State's offense and
quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. The Bulldogs had just 73 yards of offense in the
second half and zero points. Fitzgerald was limited to 3.8 yards per passing
attempt and 1.6 yards per rush.
OREGON: It's not
easy coming back from a gut-punching loss like the Oregon suffered against
Stanford in Week 4. To go on the road against a ranked divisional opponent like
Cal and win 42-24 mostly without a hiccup is a big deal. This was a hangover
spot for the Ducks, who probably should be undefeated, but they responded.
That's good, because college football is a fickle sport. One week BYU is
upsetting Wisconsin and the next it's getting housed by Washington. Teams play
well then they don't. These are still college players, which means their
reliability is unpredictable to say the least
LOSERS
Penn State coach James Franklin: Oh, boy. Franklin is going
to hear about his fourth-and-5 call in the Nittany Lions' heartbreaking 27-26
loss to Ohio State. With the game on the line -- and after multiple timeouts --
Penn State went with an inside handoff to running back Miles Sanders for
two-yard loss. The feedback on said play has, to put it one way, not been
great. Penn State had two chances up big to put this one away and that stings,
but when it needed to make its best call, it didn't, either. There's an
explanation, sort of, but this was truly as baffling as it was anticlimactic.
STANFORD RUNNING BACK
BRYCE LOVE: This is shaping up to be a tough season for Love, who left
Stanford's loss to Notre Dame with what looks to be yet another ankle injury. Love
had 73 yards rushing and a score before he left the game -- not bad, but he
still has yet to break loose with a monster game. And if he's battling injuries
this season, he may not. Look, it's hard to repeat as a Heisman Trophy finalist
or winner. There are so many aspects that go into a season like that, including
health. Defenses are keying on him and he can't stay on the field. It's
unfortunate, but it happens even to the best of 'em.
BILL SNYDER AND THE
BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT: Technically, Kansas State covered in a 19-14 loss to
No. 18 Texas, so congrats if you took Bill Snyder and the points. History
usually says to do just that. However, K-State needed those two touchdowns
because this was a 19-0 game at the half. That's how bad things are in Manhattan,
where the Longhorns got their first win since 2002. Snyder has earned the
benefit of the doubt after years of overachieving at what was once the worst
Division-I program in college football. You wouldn't be alone in believing
Snyder is going to turn this thing around. But after five weeks, it's getting
to the point where there's little left to believe in. The Wildcats are brutal,
particularly offensively, and it's not a sure thing that even Snyder can fix
this.
LOUISVILLE:
Neither Louisville nor Florida State is good, but the Cardinals dropped one
against the Seminoles 28-24. Up 24-21 with a fresh set of downs and under two
minutes remaining, Louisville opted to pass instead of trying to run some clock
-- and it was immediately picked off. Five plays later, Florida State hit the
go-ahead score. The Cardinals are at the bottom of the ACC Atlantic at 0-2 and
they're likely not going to be favored in more than a couple of games for the
remainder of the season. It's stunning to think this program has fallen off so
quickly post-Lamar Jackson, but Coach Bobby Petrino's stock is tumbling fast.
BEST OF THE REST
OKLAHOMA QUARTERBACK
KYLER MURRAY: Murray didn't start against Baylor due to a minor
disciplinary issue, so technically we can say the Sooners' backup quarterback
accounted for seven touchdowns and 477 yards in a 66-33 win. That ties Baker
Mayfield for a single-game record at OU. Pretty good day for the
second-stringer.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE:
The Blue Raiders came back from a 21-3 deficit to beat FAU 25-24. Why the 25,
you ask? That would be courtesy of this insane two-point conversion to get the
win in regulation.
ALABAMA AND THE
SPREAD: The Crimson Tide were a comical 49-point favorite against Louisiana
and the line even went up to 50 on Saturday morning. The top-ranked Tide
covered the spread by halftime, but lost it in a 56-14 rout. No joke, Alabama
has been at least a three-touchdown favorite in every game and would be a
double-digit favorite against literally every team in the country. But since
every game is basically over after the first quarter or two, who even wants to
bet on Alabama anymore?
WASHINGTON
QUARTERBACK JAKE BROWNING: There wasn't much excitement in Washington's
35-7 win over BYU, but it was a big game all the same. Browning became the school's
all-time leading passer during the first half of the game, breaking Cody
Pickett's school record of 10,220 yards. Browning came into the game needing
150 yards to catch Pickett and finished with 277 yards.
VIRGINIA TECH
QUARTERBACK RYAN WILLIS: The junior tossed for three touchdowns in his
first start since the ankle injury to Hokies' first-stringer Josh Jackson.
Virginia Tech beat Duke in Durham 31-14.
ARIZONA STATE: HOW'S
THIS FOR A GROUND ATTACK: The Sun Devils had 396 yards rushing and four
touchdowns in a 52-24 win over Oregon State. For you math people at home that's
8.3 yards per carry.
BEING PERFECT EVEN IN
IMPERFECTION: Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship kicked -- and made --
arguably the oddest extra-point you'll see this season in a 38-12 win vs.
Tennessee. As "imperfect" as it was, it kept Blankenship perfect in
extra points for his career. Per Seth Emerson of The Athletic, this was
Blankenship's 114th straight made extra point. He is now within five of tying
the school record.
THE DICHOTOMY OF
SCOTT FROST: There are almost no words to describe how vastly different
Frost's time at Nebraska is compared to his time at UCF. Frost took over a
winless Knights program a couple of years ago, but turned them into an instant
winner. The task will take a little longer in Lincoln.
LUBBOCK LORE LACKING:
That No. 25 Texas Tech came back from a 35-10 halftime deficit to give No. 12
West Virginia a scare shows Lubbock weirdness is still a thing. However, the
Red Raiders fell short 42-34, meaning they haven't won a Big 12 home game in --
wait for it -- two years. Thankfully for Tech, Kansas comes back to Lubbock in
mid-October.
WAKE FOREST RECEIVER
GREG DORTCH: The Demon Deacons didn't have much trouble with Rice, winning
easily 56-24. Dortch was an absolute monster with 11 grabs for 163 yards and
four touchdowns.
HAWAII: Week 5
had a bit of a survive-and-advance theme to it and Hawaii knows that as well as
any team. The Rainbow Warriors needed five -- count 'em, five -- overtimes to
outlast winless San Jose State 44-41. Conference road games are tough for
everyone, folks.
USC-ARIZONA: If
you stayed up late enough to witness this game, you'd know it was it a
beautiful disaster -- a burning match in a box of fireworks type of thing. USC
had a 24-0 lead in the third quarter and, through a series of maddening
penalties and generally poor decision-making, squandered that lead by allowing
three straight Arizona touchdowns. But then, to add some Vegas drama, Arizona
missed the extra point that would have made it 24-21 with 1:40 to play. The
line closed at USC -3.5. God have mercy.
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