One thing I love about week five is that we usually get some good conference matchups. One thing I hate? The start of bye weeks. I feel like week five is when we truly start to know who teams are. They go out and crush weak G5 or FCS schools, and it is hard to know if they are good. This year it was no different.
- Georgia (5-0)–#1–W 27-20 Auburn. We were on upset for a bit there, but the Dawgs managed to get back on track and take it to Auburn.
- Michigan (5-0)–#2–W 45-7 Nebraska. The Wolverines are not messing around this year. Just methodically destroying opponents.
- Florida State (4-0)–#4–BYE
- Texas (5-0)–#6–W 40-14 #23 Kansas. The Longhorns beat another ranked opponent and proved that it was not just adrenaline that won against Alabama.
- Penn State (5-0)–#5–W 41-13 Northwestern. Why does is feel like beating Northwestern is such a slog for Penn State? The offense was shaky, but the defense looked good yet again.
- USC (5-0)–#3–W 48-41 Colorado. Defense? The Trojans do not believe in it.
- Ohio State (4-0)–#7–BYE
- Washington (5-0)–#8–W 31-24 Arizona. The Huskies did not put up their normal numbers, not sure if Arizona is decent, or if they wanted to focus on the run game? Penix threw zero touchdowns, that was not expected.
- Oregon (5-0)–#9–W 42-6 Stanford. Bo Nix winning the Heisman? If Oregon wins the Pac-12, I think it could happen.
- Oklahoma (5-0)–#10–W 50-20 Iowa State
- Alabama (4-1)–#11–W 40-17 Mississippi State
- Notre Dame (5-1)–#14–W 21-14 #13 Duke. The Irish are a team we learned about these past two weeks. I also do not see them ending the year with just one loss.
- Washington State (4-0)–#15–BYE
- UNC (4-0)–#16–BYE
- Miami (4-0)–#18–BYE
- Ole Miss (4-1)–#20–W 55-49 #17 LSU. Speaking of defense…this game avoided it like the plague.
- Oregon State (4-1)–#21–W 21-7 #12 Utah. The Beavers beat Utah, who are again without their QB. Would this have been different if Cam Rising were playing? Possibly.
- Maryland (5-0)–#19–W 44-17 Indiana
- Missouri (5-0)–##22–W 38-21 Vanderbilt
- Duke (4-1)–#13–L 21-14 #14 Notre Dame. How will they bounce back after that loss? Will Riley Leonard be healthy? So many questions.
- Tennessee (4-1)–#24–W 41-20 South Carolina
- Utah (4-1)–#12–L 21-7 #21 Oregon State
- Kentucky (5-0)–HM–W 33-14 Florida.
- Fresno State (5-0)–#25–W 27-9 Nevada
- Louisville (5-0)–HM–W 13-10 NC State
Honorable Mention
JMU (5-0)–HM–W 31-23 South Alabama. The Dukes just keep winning.
Kansas (4-1)–#23–L 40-14 #6 Texas
UCLA (3-1)–HM–BYE
Air Force (5-0)–WL–W 49-10 San Diego State
Kansas State (3-1)–WL–BYE
Watch List
Marshall (4-0)–WL–W 41-35 Old Dominion
WVU (4-1)–NR–W 24-21 TCU. Wait, I thought West Virginia was supposed to be bad this year?
Tulane (4-1)–NR–W 35-23 UAB. They at least held Ole Miss to under 400 total yards.
BYU (4-1)–NR–W 35-27 Cincinnati
Texas A&M (4-1)–NR–W 34-22 Arkansas. Might be time the Aggies to sneak back into the rankings.
Before I mention the three games I am looking forward to watching, I want to talk about four games that are interesting.
Rutgers at Wisconsin: Hmm, I feel like Rutgers is an okay team. I think they can beat the Badgers.
Colorado at Arizona State: Coach Prime vs. Coach Kenny Dillingham!
LSU at #19 Missouri: If Mizzou is ready to be taken seriously, they need to win this game and put the Tigers at three losses.
#12 Notre Dame at #25 Louisville. The Cardinals could end Notre Dame’s hopes for a playoff spot.
But the three big games this week are #23 Kentucky at #1 Georgia. We all want to believe that Georgia is vulnerable, but this will probably be that game where they absolutely destroy the Wildcats. Then there is #18 Maryland at #7 Ohio State. My guess is that the Buckeyes win big, but there is always that chance. The Terps want to be taken seriously. Here is their chance. And finally we have #10 Oklahoma at #4 Texas. The final meeting between these two teams as members of the Big XII. A win for Texas and it cements them in the top four (depending on the margin of victory, they could even jump up). Oklahoma wants to be back in the conversation. This should be a good one.
