College football is unpredictable and enjoyable, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And Week 5 absolutely delivered, from the fireworks at Evanston’s new stadium to the statement Mizzou made at CoMo.
Each Sunday, I’ll post my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track the College Football Playoff contenders, and specifically highlight individual and team performances that are worth highlighting.
1. Miami may be the best team in the country, but we won’t know for sure for another month.
No offense to Wake Forest. A few offense to Clemson. But Miami hasn’t really been challenged yet (unless you count injury luck). And as fun as it is to see Darian Mensah get all the time he needs to throw the ball, it also doesn’t tell us much about the Canes as a whole. Miami’s schedule is weaker than Notre Dame’s — which is cited as an example — meaning the Hurricanes shouldn’t really be challenged by an ACC foe at any point. Maybe Pitt? Maybe Duke? I don’t know. I really don’t think we’ll know how good Miami is until we see this team against Notre Dame in South Bend.
2. Alabama’s offense is scary.
This is what a Kalen DeBoer team is supposed to look like. We all remember what Michael Penix Jr. looked like throwing to all those future NFL draft picks. It was an incredibly fun and creative offense, and there were so many different receivers that could open a game. This year’s Alabama offense reminds me of that, masterfully led by quarterback Keelon Russell.
The Crimson Tide has scored 45 or more points in its first five games. This is the first time Alabama has opened its season with five games of 45 points or more since 2018. That team was pretty good too, huh?
3. Week 5 was a mixed bag for the coaches in the hot seat.
Mike Norvell entered the season at the hottest spot in the country and then saw his athletic director fired in mid-September. Norvell was a big winner Saturday, as Florida State beat Virginia, 38-7. Meanwhile, Luke Fickell’s Badgers crushed Michigan State, 31-3, to improve to 4-1. Fickell’s seat has cooled considerably and this Wisconsin team is definitely better than it was. Baylor is doing better too, now that DJ Lagway is healthy and seemingly wild. I said early in the season that Dave Aranda’s future would be tied to the success or failure of his high-variance transfer quarterback, and Lagway’s monster performance against Arizona State showed why it was worth the gamble.
Meanwhile, Shane Beamer and Mike Locksley saw leads evaporate and their teams suffered painful defeats (South Carolina in overtime, Maryland facing a possible blowout). Deion Sanders’ Colorado program is mired in mediocrity, a far cry from Travis Hunter’s nine-win season and Heisman Trophy. Sonny Dykes spent the offseason hoping to overhaul his offense, but it didn’t work; TCU has been disappointing and fans’ frustration is only growing week by week. Oh, and may I suggest a new name for the hot seat list? I’d like to name Cal’s first-year coach, Tosh Lupoi. I know, I know. It’s just his first season. But after losing to UNLV, Cal is just 2-3 with an offensive coordinator who had never been an OC or play-caller at the college or professional level before.
4. Eli Drinkwitz and Missouri finally got their big win.
All week, everyone wanted to ask whether Missouri deserved to be ranked. Raise your hand, I didn’t rank the Tigers! I didn’t think they were worth ranking. And now I do, because they completely shut down a previously explosive and prolific Florida offense. Austin Simmons also torched a rather suspect Florida defense to the tune of 340 passing yards and two touchdowns. So I ranked Missouri. This is Eli Drinkwitz’s first regular season victory against a top 10 team in 11 tries. “It’s a good win against a very good team today. That’s all it was,” Drinkwitz said, downplaying past struggles against the SEC’s — and college football’s — elite. “No one in our locker room cares. I don’t care. I really don’t care. The SEC is a tough league, and yeah, I’m done with it.”
5. Chip Kelly was the most important coordinator hire of the offseason.
Locate the photo of the safety helmet. Kelly returned to college and went to work on a new — and suddenly versatile, surprisingly explosive — Northwestern offense. And it works well! The Wildcats racked up 413 (!) rushing yards in their win over Penn State on Friday night while limiting the Nittany Lions to just 48 rushing yards. It was as complete a defeat as the final score of 34-13 indicated, an important victory to christen the brand new Ryan Field. They are a good football team that can win games in different ways. This is also a team that faced the defending national champions a few weeks ago and showed it would be tough in Big Ten play.
“I tried to tell everyone that Northwestern was a good football team, but no one believed it,” Curt Cignetti said after the Hoosiers beat the Wildcats by six points. “Two years ago, if people said Indiana was a good football team, they weren’t buying those stocks either.”
That’s quite a compliment. This is also true.
6. Jeremiah Smith is still very, very good at football.
No explanation needed.
Gn sports
