Notre Dame football, Miami, and Texas were among the biggest losers in College Football Week 6, while Oklahoma and elite teams were the winners.
There are surprises during every week of the college football season and College Football Week 6 was no different.
In fact, there were some shocking losses. Notre Dame football was beaten by double-digits on the road against Louisville, while the Miami football team suffered one of the most unlikely defeats you will ever see in sports — ever.
Oklahoma also shocked Texas after the Longhorns took the lead with less than a minute left. Some other teams had upsets on their mind such as Maryland and Arizona against Ohio State and Texas, or even Texas A&M which was hoping to knock off Alabama.
But most of the college football playoff contenders won in College Football Week 6 and here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers.
College Football Week 6 Winner: Oklahoma and Dillon Gabriel
Oklahoma destroyed that “Texas is back” narrative that would have been circulating if the Longhorns were able to seal the deal.
Texas is good and the Longhorns could see Oklahoma again if they win out. I’d actually go as far as saying that the Horns still control their own destiny. If they win out and beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, they are probably a playoff team.
Still, Texas lost its margin for error. Quinn Ewers was 31-of-37 for 346 yards. He only threw one touchdown and had two interceptions, but he had Texas in a position to win the game.
Dillon Gabriel just put together an incredible drive. He threw for 285 yards and ran for another 112 to go along with a total of two touchdowns. The game-winning drive should catapult him into the Heisman race, while the Sooners should jump into the top 10.
College Football Week 6 loser: Notre Dame football
Sam Hartman saw his Heisman Trophy chances go up in flames on Saturday night, just like Notre Dame football’s playoff hopes.
The Irish can still work their way into the mix for a New Year’s Six Bowl game, but there is zero chance of Notre Dame football making the College Football Playoff. The 33-20 loss to Louisville made sure of that.
Sam Hartman had an epic moment in the game-winning drive last week, but this time around, Hartman threw three interceptions. He was also under pressure all night.
Notre Dame was supposed to be a national title contender, but nearly lost back-to-back games against Louisville and Duke. That won’t sit well with Notre Dame football fans and for Marcus Freeman, beating USC is a must.
College Football Week 6 loser: Miami football
It had been a dream start for Miami in the 2023 season. The Hurricanes were 4-0 going into Saturday night’s game against Georgia Tech.
It was a battle and Tyler Van Dyke didn’t have a great game, but Miami football had the game won. The Hurricanes possessed the ball and had the lead with 30 seconds left.
Instead of taking a knee and improving to 5-0, Miami football handed the ball off. Georgia Tech forced a fumble, recovered it, and then drove about 75 yards in 20 seconds with no timeouts to hand Miami its first loss of the 2023 season.
It’s hard to imagine a more brutal loss than that. Thinking back as a college football fan, I can’t think of one in recent memory outside of the Michigan game where the punter dropped the snap, allowing Michigan State to recover the fumble for a touchdown on the last play of the game.
This is far worse though. If Jim Harbaugh or just about any coach had the chance to kneel it, they would take it just like Mario Cristobal wishes he would have. The season isn’t over for Miami football, but they are facing some adversity when they should have been off to a 5-0 start.
College Football Week 6 winners: Elite teams survive
There were a few college football elites that were looking at the possibility of being upset on Saturday, starting with USC.
If you didn’t stay up well past your bedtime, you missed a classic. Caleb Williams scored a game-winning 2-point conversion in triple overtime to give the Trojans the 43-41 win over Arizona.
For the second week in a row, USC has looked vulnerable, but they are still unbeaten. So is Ohio State, which was down seven to Maryland in the third quarter before the Terps fell apart. The Trojans trailed by 17 at one point.
However, two teams that weren’t close to being upset were Georgia and Michigan. The Bulldogs and Wolverines crushed Kentucky and Minnesota respectively, looking clearly like the top two teams in college football in the process.
There is a lot of college football to play, but it’s not hard to envision Georgia and Michigan meeting in the national title game in January.
Oh, but speaking of elites, watch out for Alabama. The Crimson Tide won 26-20 at Texas A&M, following their win over Ole Miss. Everyone wanted to count out Nick Saban, but Alabama is still a College Football Playoff contender.
Other College Football Week 6 winners
- Georgia Tech: We wouldn’t be talking about Miami not taking a knee if it wasn’t for the heroics of Haynes King who drove the Yellow Jackets over 70 yards in about 20 seconds with zero timeouts for the winning score. It gets overlooked because of the decision by Miami not to take a knee, but the Yellow Jackets and their QB are another Week 6 winner.
- Louisville: Not only did the Cardinals end Notre Dame’s playoff hopes, they enhanced their own. Miami, Duke, and North Carolina have emerged as other contenders in the ACC outside of Florida State, but now Louisville is in that conversation. Miami isn’t anymore. UNC is after another impressive win, this time over Syracuse. But give Jeff Brohm a ton of credit — Deion Sanders is getting the credit, but Brohm is the only first-year coach that’s undefeated.
- Nebraska: Matt Rhule was under a lot of pressure and starting 2-4 would have reminded folks too much of Scott Frost. Instead, the Huskers won at Illinois, as an underdog. Now, a bowl game for the first time since 2016 seems quite realistic.
Other College Football Week 6 losers
- Texas: As we said, the Longhorns College Football Playoff hopes are alive and well. Win out and Texas is likely making the four-team playoff. But there is no margin for error now. Quinn Ewers also missed out on a defining moment because the Texas defense couldn’t stop Dillon Gabriel, who drove Oklahoma down the field for a touchdown in a minute with no timeouts. Also, why didn’t Steve Sarkisian call a timeout to save time? Who is teaching these coaches game management?
- Fresno State: The Bulldogs had become established as the favorite to take the top spot among Group of 5 teams before taking a trip to Wyoming. The Cowboys jumped out to a 24-7 lead. Fresno State rallied, but Fresno State was one of three top 25 teams (Washington State, Fresno State, and Miami) to get upset and it was a costly loss for a team that’s never played in a major bowl game.