When you looked at the schedule before the season, almost every college football fan circled Week 5 as one of the best weekends of the season. In every fashion imaginable and more, the weekend slate delivered in one of the most fun and memorable weekends in a long time. This weekend had it all from stunning upsets to Top 10 clashes that reshape the entire outlook of the season.
Massive matchups in Athens, State College, and Oxford gave us massive outcomes that reshape the outlook on the season for both the winner and the loser. Week 5 was so chaotic that it's going to be impossible for the AP to stack these teams properly yet, we'll take our best chance at predicting the outcome.
Predicting the AP Top 25: Ranked matchups reshape the Top 25
It's hard to jump into the Top 25 after a loss when you were unranked but, Mississippi State may have done so with their performance on Saturday. Jeff Lebby truly announced that he turned this program around taking a solid Tennessee team to overtime. Next weekend, Mississippi could get their big ranked win over a Texas A&M team that's flying high.
After a loss that could've defined the season last weekend, Kyle Whittingham showed why he's one of the best coaches in the sport getting a stellar showing out of his team. The Utes offense hung 48 points on West Virginia, riding a 5 touchdown performance from Devon Dampier to a win. The defense limited a one dimensional team holding West Virginia scoreless into the third quarter.
Late on Saturday Night, the BYU Cougars had to go on the road to Boulder, and they escaped with a victory. Bear Bachmeier continues to impress for a true freshman and he's only going to get better as he gains experience. The Cougars should have two more chances to get easy wins in Big 12 play before their first big test against the Utah Utes.
After getting their doors blown off by Indiana last weekend, it would've been easy for Bret Bielema's team to fold this weekend. Even when Illinois fumbled away their chance to end the game and let USC score, the offense marched right back down the field making the game winning field goal. This team still has a ton in front of them and if they can continue to stack wins, they'll work their way back into the Playoff race.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were absolutely dominant against Arkansas on Saturday blowing the doors off of the Razorbacks. The offense continues to look like one of the best units in the Country while Chris Ash's defense is starting to show some signs of improvement. While Notre Dame fans will likely be disappointed with how little they'll move in the AP Poll, with some of the upsets this weekend, they're in a much better place long term.
After beating Nebraska the Michigan Wolverines got to spend this weekend on the bye which is well timed as Sherrone Moore's suspension is over. The week to work through any flaws they have should prove pivotal as they'll face Wisconsin next weekend before getting into the thick of Big Ten play.
To win a National Championship you need to have an identity and the Missouri Tigers are going to pound their opponents into submission. On Saturday Night, the Tigers picked up 268 yards on the ground behind Ahmad Hardy's 130 yard 3 touchdown performance. This team is really rounding into shape and they're going to be a tough out in SEC play.
Early on it looked like the Vanderbilt Commodores could be on upset alert but, they remembered they were Vanderbilt in the best way possible. Diego Pavia had a 6 touchdown game leading the Commodores to a 5-0 start. Next weekend, Diego Pavia has the chance to do the unthinkable if he could upset Alabama again.
On Friday Night, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were granted a golden opportunity with Florida State falling as they had a great path to the ACC Championship. Instead, they almost blew it if not for Wake Forest falling short on a 2 point conversion in overtime going for glory. This game should serve as a great wakeup call for Brent Key's team as they could use this to go on a run in the ACC.
This weekend was a thriller in Starkville but, Josh Heupel's team got a crucial stop in overtime to hold off Mississippi State. Joey Aguilar struggled throwing a pair of interceptions but, the defense chipped in two touchdowns to help bring home the victory. This team continues to play injured and once some of their key players return from injury they could be a terrifying team to face.
While they've done it quietly, the Iowa State Cyclones are already 5-0 and they keep chugging along in league play. This weekend gave us one of the best showings by the Cyclones offense as Rocco Becht rushed for 3 of the offense's 5 rushing touchdowns. The Cyclones dodge most of the leagues best teams and could easily march to the Big 12 title game.
Texas Tech spent the weekend on the bye and they'll likely slide a few places in the AP Poll for no fault of their own. Joey McGuire's team is coming off of a massive win over Utah and will have a chance to continue their run at the Big 12 crown when they face Houston on Saturday. The question will be the health of Behren Morton who left the Utah game with injury but, Will Hammond looked like the better player in relief.
Kalen DeBoer's team may struggle against inferior opponents but, it almost feels like a forgone conclusion that they're going to show up when the lights are the brightest. On Saturday Night, Kalen DeBoer took his team into Athens and improved to 2-0 over Kirby Smart. The first half was defined by the offense who exploded for 24 points as Georgia had no answers. In the second half when the offense struggled, the defense showed up allowing just 7 points to secure a massive win for Kalen DeBoer.
On Friday Night, the Florida State Seminoles suffered a truly shocking loss as they dropped a winable game to the Virginia Cavaliers. The game will allow some doubt to creep in as it may be a bigger task than everyone thought to flip the program overnight after a 2-10 season. The good news for Florida State is their win over Alabama looks far more impressive after their win over Georgia.
The Texas Longhorns spent the weekend on the bye, and the only thing that will cause them to fall in the AP Poll is the fact that several teams ranked behind them picked up impressive wins. Steve Sarkisian has two weeks to get Arch Manning and the offense ready to play against a tough Florida defense in what will be a big test for this offense.
Coming into the week, Curt Cignetti said Iowa would be a tougher task for Indiana than Illinois and he wasn't kidding. The offense struggled as Fernando Mendoza had a bad day but, when this team needed it most, he found Elijah Sarratt for the game sealing score. The Hoosiers keep picking up big wins as everyone's losing and Illinois is going to end up being a massive resume piece when the Playoff committee starts ranking teams,
Kirby Smart continues to have an Alabama problem as the Bulldogs lost another game to the Crimson Tide this time in Athens. The Alabama offense was red hot in the first half as Georgia had no answers and the 24 points the Crimson Tide scored were just enough for them to hang on. Mike Bobo's play calling was terrible at times playing right into what Alabama would want them to do and it ended up costing them another big game.
The LSU Tigers didn't look great in their loss to Ole Miss but, at the end of the day it's tough to win on the road in the SEC and the AP likely won't drop the hammer on the Tigers. The offense continues to struggle running the football and Garrett Nussmeier's injury has to be affecting him more than the staff is letting on. The defense didn't look as dominant as we've seen at points this season but, it's hard to blame them when they were left out on the field for long stretches as the offense struggled.
While Penn State gave everyone every reason to be concerned in their overtime loss to Oregon, the AP Poll likely won't drop them too far after an overtime loss to the Oregon Ducks. Drew Allar hasn't looked like the potential first round pick he's built up to be at all, and his game sealing interception was another massive hiccup. James Franklin continues to fall just short in big games and you have to wonder at this point if the trend will ever end.
The Ole Miss Rebels have been solid all season but, on Saturday they got their statement win knocking off LSU who was ranked 4th in the AP Poll. The Rebels may have accidentally found their star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss who has been incredible filling in for the injured Austin Simmons. The defense finally gelled shutting down an explosive LSU offense and Lane Kiffin's team is starting to look like one of the best teams in the SEC.
The Oklahoma Sooners spent the week on the bye and considering everything, it should've been a bad week for the Sooners. Oklahoma got the news that John Mateer was going to be out 2-3 weeks needing hand surgery which could cause him to miss the Red River Rivalry game. Instead, several teams ahead of Oklahoma suffered losses and it should send the Sooners up the AP Poll.
The Texas A&M Aggies are going to take a massive leap in the AP Poll on Sunday as they picked up a crucial SEC win over Auburn while several teams in front of them lost crucial games. The offense wasn't as explosive as the unit we've seen all season but, the defense was dominant shutting down Hugh Freeze's offense. The defense clicking is a great sign for this team moving forward as they could be one of the teams to beat if they put it all together.
The Oregon Ducks picked up one of the biggest wins of the year going on the road to Happy Valley knocking off James Franklin and the Nittany Lions in a whiteout night game. Dante Moore was the best quarterback in the game and it determined the outcome as he threw for 3 touchdowns while Drew Allar managed just one while throwing an interception to seal the game. Lanning's team is yet, to lose a game in the Big Ten and now they get another week off to prepare for Indiana in what could be a Top 10 clash.
The Miami Hurricanes spent the weekend on the bye and while several teams around the Country picked up big wins, none were impressive enough to dethrone the Canes. Mario Cristobal's team still has two really impressive wins as Notre Dame is starting to roll while USF sits at 3-1. Next week's matchup against Florida State lost some luster with the Seminoles loss but, it still could give Miami another impressive win.
The crown remains with the reigning National Champions as the Buckeyes went on the road to beat a Washington team that should've been ranked coming into the weekend. The Huskies offense was averaging 61.7 points per game coming into this weekend and the Buckeyes shut them down holding the Huskies to 6 points. The offense continues to progress and on Saturday they leaned on the Huskies with the run to pick up an impressive victory.
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