College football fans were treated to a heck of a week of action. Week 6 may have just been the best week of the season as things got kicked on Thursday night with a blowout win by Coastal Carolina.
Friday also featured two ranked teams as Arizona State hosted a suddenly confident Stanford team and Cincinnati also played host to Temple. The Sun Devils took care of business, winning by 18 points and then the Bearcats made a statement with a 49-point win over the Owls. Maybe we should start really considering Cincinnati a playoff team.
The real fun started on Saturday afternoon in the noon slate with two instant classics as Arkansas went to Ole Miss and nearly escaped with a ranked road win, but a failed two-point conversion was the difference and the Red River Rivalry was a fun one. Oklahoma came back from three scores down to beat Texas thanks to a Kennedy Brooks touchdown run with three seconds left.
Iowa and Penn State was technically the game of the week as a top-five matchup and everyone expected a defensive battle but there were actually points scored — Big Ten offense, ladies and gentlemen.
The night games were just as exciting as Alabama and Texas A&M went down to the wire and the Aggies pulled off the unthinkable upset against the No. 1 Crimson Tide which will shake up the rankings quite a bit.
There’s going to be a new No. 1 this week and the top 10 received another massive shakeup. What will the Week 7 AP Top 25 look like on Sunday afternoon?
San Diego State hosted New Mexico on Saturday night and had no problem with the Lobos so the Aztecs will remain in the Top 25 after claiming that No. 25 spot last weekend. The Aztecs are trying to make some noise as the top Group of Five team, but they have some work to do.
SMU hit the road on Saturday night to pick up a big win over a Navy team that was hungry to get back on track after a 1-3 start. The Mustangs escaped with a 31-24 win and should move up a little bit in this week’s rankings despite that not being the most impressive of victories. Tanner Mordecai continues to be a problem for opposing defenses.
What a surprise NC State has been this season. Despite a Week 2 loss to Mississippi State, the Wolfpack bounced back to thump Furman and then upset Clemson before sneaking by Louisiana Tech. The Wolfpack had a bye in Week 6, but a 4-1 record is nothing to scoff at, especially when one of those was Clemson.
It didn’t take long for Baylor to find its way back into the AP Top 25 after thumping West Virginia 45-20 on Saturday afternoon. Gerry Bohanon had four more touchdown passes and threw for over 330 yards as Dave Aranda has this team rolling. The Bears may just be a threat for the Big 12 title after all.
I’m not going to lie, I wrote Texas A&M’s battle with Alabama in Week 6 off as a sure loss for the Aggies, but I should know better than to doubt an underdog Jimbo Fisher team. The Aggies lost to Alabama and Mississippi State in the weeks leading up to this game, but they should climb back into the Top 25 after downing the No. 1 team in college football.
After racing out to a 10-0 lead, it looked like BYU was going to cruise to an easy victory over Boise State, but Hank Bachmeier and the Broncos had other ideas. The Cougars lost their first game of the season and this might just eliminate them from New Year’s Six consideration. We should see BYU drop down in the low teens.
Arizona State put Stanford right back in its place on Friday night, making sure David Shaw and the Cardinal didn’t sneak up and bite another contender. Jayden Daniels proved to be one of the nation’s top dual-threats as the Sun Devils ran all over Stanford for a 28-10 win. Arizona State will be moving on up.
I’m not thinking AP voters will penalize Arkansas too much after losing by a single point on the road against the No. 17 team in the country, especially since the Razorbacks had a chance to win with no time left. Sam Pittman has this team playing well even in losses and the offense kept up with Matt Corral and Lane Kiffin thanks to six touchdowns from KJ Jefferson. Not too shabby.
Wake Forest escaped a tough upset on the road against Syracuse in Week 6 and Sam Hartman’s 330 yards and three touchdowns helped. He wasn’t as accurate as usual, but the Demon Deacons escaped an upset and improved to 6-0 on the year. Maybe they are legit ACC contenders. Watch out, Clemson.
Shocker, Florida handled Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon. No one should be surprised that the Gators smacked the Commodores around for 60 minutes, leading to a 42-0 shutout win. Emory Jones looked really good with four touchdown passes and Dan Mullen has to feel good about this response after a Kentucky loss.
I’m starting to really believe that Coastal Carolina is going to run the table. After handling Arkansas State on the road, scoring at least 10 points in every quarter, it feels like the Chanticleers are a team of destiny. Grayson McCall had yet another elite performance, passing for 365 yards and four touchdowns and Isaiah Likely caught eight passes for 232 yards and four scores. This offense is scary good and CCU may be closing in on the top 10.
I was a little hesitant to give Kentucky a ton o credit for its 5-0 start, but Saturday night’s 21-point win over LSU was impressive enough to win me over. The Wildcats dominated from start to finish to really put the Tigers away and Will Levis and Mark Stoops deserve a ton of credit. Maybe Kentucky is actually a legit threat to win the SEC.
Ole Miss might just flirt with the top 10 after beating a quality Arkansas team in Week 6, but I think the Rebels will be just outside. Lane Kiffin has to feel fortunate to escape Saturday’s ranked battle against the Razorbacks with a win as they nearly coughed up the victory late. Matt Corral is still in that Heisman race, but man, that defense is rough.
Tyler Buchner and Jack Coan split snaps on Saturday evening, but it was the latter who looked better with a touchdown and no picks on 9-of-12 completions. The Fighting Irish got back on track after a Cincinnati loss with a big road win over Virginia Tech. The Irish won’t climb back into the top 10, but this is a huge step in the right direction.
Is Oklahoma State guilty of playing down to opponents this season? You tell me. The Cowboys beat Missouri State by just seven, then held on to beat Tulsa by five, and then snuck by Boise State 21-20 in Week 3. They followed that up with two straight ranked wins to jump to No. 12 in the AP Top 25 and they’ll remain close to the top 10 after a Week 6 bye.
Penn State is going to remain a top-10 team despite losing to Iowa and it’s because the Nittany Lions had a decent chance of winning on Saturday night.
Sean Clifford had a forgettable game and his backup also threw two interceptions, but the Nittany Lions were just the latest victim in Kinnick Stadium — this is a common theme for visiting teams in Iowa City.
James Franklin has a Big Ten title-contending team and this loss to Iowa should do nothing but provide film that will fix some critical mistakes.
Penn State is probably going to drop to the No. 9 or No. 10 range, but the Nittany Lions still have to feel good about their chances to make the playoff because they went into Iowa City and gave themselves a chance to win.
Franklin has to hope that his team figures things out offensively because I don’t think the defense is much of an issue.
Oregon got a much-needed bye week after losing to Stanford in Week 5. The Ducks had a rough seven-day stretch, losing Bennett Williams and CJ Verdell for the season along with dropping their first game of the season and falling to No. 8 in the AP Top 25.
This bye comes at a perfect time because they’ll have to break in a new starting running back and they may actually have some question marks at quarterback.
Mario Cristobal says he’s sticking with Anthony Brown, but Ty Thompson may just raise the ceiling of this offense. Either way, the Ducks have a lot to figure out in the bye week before facing Cal next Friday.
Oregon will remain in the top 10 this week and there’s a chance the Ducks could even move up, but there’s still plenty of doubt surrounding this team after that Stanford loss.
I’ll admit, as a Michigan State alum, I didn’t think the Spartans would be this good in year two of Mel Tucker, but here we are. The Spartans didn’t look great and still beat a solid Rutgers team on the road by 18 points and put up about 600 yards of total offense.
How many teams can say they didn’t play well and still put up 600 yards? That’s how far this team has come under Tucker. Payton Thorne, Jayden Reed, Jalen Nailor, and Kenneth Walker III form a deadly offense.
We’re going to see the Spartans jump into the top 10 for the first time since 2016 when they beat Notre Dame to jump up to No. 8. But the difference between that season and this one is that Michigan State already has double the amount of wins it had in 2016 through six games of 2021.
Thorne looks like the perfect quarterback to lead this offense as he passed for 339 yards, posting another career-high, and he threw three touchdown passes to Nailor. Walker III finished with over 200 rushing yards for the second time this season and continues to lead the nation in rushing.
Michigan State is in the top 10. No, that’s not a typo.
Michigan went to Nebraska hoping for a statement win and it took a late turnover for the Wolverines to secure the three-point win over the Cornhuskers.
Cade McNamara came back down to earth in this one as an interception turned into points for Nebraska but Blake Corum played hero as he scored a big touchdown late to put the Wolverines ahead and that’s where they finished.
Scott Frost continues to struggle against opponents ranked in the top 10 and the Cornhuskers are now 2-4 on the year, but you have to give credit to the Wolverines for improving to 6-0 on the year with the win.
No one expected Jim Harbaugh to turn things around this quickly but he has done a great job with his team this offseason. He went from being on the hot seat to being a top-10 team in the span of a few months and fans are back on the bandwagon.
Michigan should move up slightly in the rankings after the win and maybe we should consider the Wolverines serious playoff threats.
Ohio State is back, folks. This is bad news for the rest of college football because, well, the Buckeyes looked beatable in the first month of play.
Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have been cruising over the past two games, beating Rutgers by 37 and then dismantling Maryland 66-17 on Saturday afternoon. CJ Stroud looks like the best quarterback in the Big Ten and a top Heisman contender and that Buckeye offense is scary with TreVeyon Henderson and Chris Olave clicking right now — both had over 100 yards on the day, rushing and receiving, respectively.
It’s tough to really say Ohio State isn’t the best team in the Big Ten right now even though the only top-five teams in the conference did battle in Iowa State later in the day. The Buckeyes have the most talent on paper and they’re finally starting to figure it out.
Watch out, college football. The Buckeyes look like playoff favorites again.
Alabama is going to remain in the top 10 after losing to Texas A&M, but wow was that a shocking defeat by the Aggies over the Tide.
No one expected Texas A&M to pull off the win against Alabama, but Jimbo Fisher put the trust in his quarterback who had struggled over the previous weeks and he jumped off the hot seat by becoming the first Nick Saban assistant to beat him ever. Yes, ever.
Bryce Young made some crucial mistakes down the stretch which kept Texas A&M in the game and Saban has to get back to the drawing board to make sure a loss like this against a struggling opponent doesn’t happen again.
So how far will the Crimson Tide fall after losing on a last-second field goal at Texas A&M on Saturday night? Seeing as the Aggies began the season as a top-10 team, I’m going to assume the Crimson Tide remain in the top five this week.
Saban is not going to be happy, but his playoff hopes are still very much alive.
How good is Cincinnati? Well, the Bearcats were about 30-point favorites, according to WynnBET, and they ended up winning by 49 against a 3-2 Temple team. They looked like they were going to coast early on and did just that and more, putting a beatdown on D’Wan Mathis and Temple.
The path of destruction that Cincinnati is currently on is somewhat scary for the rest of college football because the Bearcats are playoff spot stealers.
After dominating Temple, they knew they were probably going to move up a spot with Iowa and Penn State squaring off in a No. 3 vs. No. 4 matchup but if the Sooners won behind them, they may have to hope for more votes to move into the top four.
I think this Cincinnati team is playoff good, though. They have an elite defense, top-tier quarterback, strong run game, and great coaching.
Playoff contenders beware.
Everyone was ready to jump off the Oklahoma bandwagon and after watching the first half of Saturday afternoon’s Red River Rivalry against Texas, it was pretty easy to do just that.
And then Caleb Williams came into the game for Spencer Rattler and immediately injected life into the Sooners. Oklahoma was down 38-20 at the half and then fought all the way back to tie things up at 41-41 in the fourth quarter. It was setting up nicely to be an instant classic for the gold hat.
Williams was really good all second half long and led the Sooners to a huge comeback win and he had some help from Kennedy Brooks who scored the game-winning touchdown with three seconds left.
Oklahoma will flirt with that top four as AP voters may have a tough time keeping Cincinnati ahead of the Sooners after the latter won an emotional ranked rivalry game in impressive comeback fashion.
I say Oklahoma jumps Cincinnati.
Iowa will move up to No. 2 this week after beating a really good Penn State team and Alabama losing and if Georgia wasn’t the team right in front of the Hawkeyes, there may be an argument for them to be No. 1.
Kirk Ferentz has a really good defense on his hands as the Hawkeyes made a really good Sean Clifford struggle all night long, finishing with no touchdowns and two big interceptions and his backup, Ta’Quan Roberson, also had two interceptions with no passing scores.
Spencer Petras did have 195 yards and two touchdowns with an interception as he looked like the better quarterback all night, but the Hawkeyes’ offense is still a bit of an issue as they averaged just 2.4 yards per carry.
With the win, the Hawkeyes improve to 6-0 on the season and look like the overwhelming favorites to take the Big Ten West and we may just see them run the table and head into the conference championship game with a 12-0 record for the second time in six years.
Georgia had a huge ranked road battle against Auburn on Saturday afternoon and after falling behind 3-0 in the first quarter which snapped their scoreless streak as a defense, the Bulldogs reeled off 17 straight points before halftime to really take control of the game.
We might seriously see a large amount of first-place coming Georgia’s way after the Bulldogs beat Auburn by 24 points on the road and made it look routine.
Stetson Bennett got the start again and looked solid and I’m beginning to think that it doesn’t matter who starts at quarterback for the Bulldogs because they just roll over everyone.
Zamir White had two touchdowns and the Bulldogs’ defense held up despite giving up that field goal in the first quarter and surrendering just 10 points to the No. 18 team in the country isn’t too shabby.
After watching Alabama lose on the road to Texas A&M, it’s pretty easy to say that the Bulldogs are the best team in the country.