College Football Week 6 Wrap up
Estimated 7 minute read
Weekly round up featuring rankings, media, and analysis from this week in college football.
The fun part of this column for me is starting from scratch each week. New G5 rankings, new Heisman list. If you don’t like reading about the same team week to week, you’re seeing it because they’re relevant each week.
Games of the Week
Vanderbilt Commodores 40
No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide 35
A week after knocking off Georgia, Kalen DeBoer’s team laid an egg against the Commodores, particularly on defense. Students were quickly able to get the goalposts into the Cumberland River.
No. 8 Miami Hurricanes 39
Cal Golden Bears 38
Another week, another escape by Miami, and more grumbling about ACC refs with College Gameday in attendance. A sellout crowd in Berkeley watched Cal build a 25 point 2nd half lead only for Cam Ward to lead Miami to 4 touchdown drives in the final 18:02 of the game, including the game winning touchdown 5 yard toss to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left in the game.
Arkansas Razorbacks 19
No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers 14
While not as shocking as Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt, No. 4 Tennessee was another top ranked SEC team to go down to an unranked opponent. After failing to score in the first half, Tennessee star RB Dylan Sampson ran for 2 TDs in the first 7 minutes of the 3rd quarter, giving Tennessee a 14-3 lead of the Razorbacks. Tennessee punted on their next four possessions, giving Arkansas the chance to go up 19-14 with 1:17 left to play. Nico Iamaleava brought the Volunteers to the Arkansas 20 yard line with 6 seconds to go. The clock expired as he ran for 4 yards, allowing Razorback faithful to rush the field and complete the upset.
Syracuse Orange 44
No. 25 UNLV Rebels 41 (OT)
It wouldn’t be a college football weekend without a Friday night barnburner. The Rebels knocked off (admittedly bad) Big 12 foes Kansas and Houston on the road already, earning a ranking in the Top 25. In dramatic fashion, starting quarterback Matthew Sluka quit the team due to an alleged NIL issue. Campbell transfer Hajj-Malik Williams stepped seamlessly into the starting role against Fresno State, dispatching the Bulldogs 59-14. Against Syracuse, it was the Rebels defense that struggled for the first time this season. After allowing only 55 points through four weeks, Syracuse scored 44. Williams completed 21/25 passes for 227 yards and 3 TDs. 10 completions and 135 yards went to star WR Ricky White III. Williams also added 53 yards and a touchdown on the ground, also becoming UNLV’s leading rusher on the season in the process. Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord continued his torrid start to the season with 355 yards passing and 3 TDs, bringing his total for the 4-1 Orange to 1,814 yards and 17 TDs, good for 4th and 2nd in the nation respectively.
My Week 6 Heisman Top 5
Ashton Jeanty, RB Boise State Broncos: 85 carries, 1,031 yards, 10.3 ypc, 16 TDs: +225
Travis Hunter, WR/CB Colorado Buffaloes: 46 catches, 561 yards, 12.2 ypc, 6 TDs, 16 tackles, 3PDs, 2 INTs, 1 FF +325
Cam Ward, QB Miami Hurricanes: 69.2% completion, 2,219 yards, 20 TDs 5 INTs, 161 yards rushing, 3 TDs +550
Jalen Milroe, QB Alabama Crimson Tide: 73.4%, 1,274 yards, 11 TDs, 5 INTs, 283 yards rushing, 9 TDs +1000
Jaxson Dart QB Ole Miss Rebels: 73.4% 2100 yards 13 TDs, 2 INTs 156 yards rushing, 3 TDs +2500
Week 6 Players of the Week
Offensive: Diego Pavia, QB Vanderbilt: 16/20 252 yards 2 TDs, 56 rushing yards in 40-35 win vs No. 1 Alabama
Defensive: Cameron Whitfield, LB Louisiana: 6 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 FFs in 23-13 win vs USM
Special Teams: Rayshawn Pleasant, DB Tulane: 1 kickoff return 100 yards, 1 TD (3 tackles, 1 TFL on defense) in 71-20 win vs UAB
Week 6 Trending Up
Florida Gators
Did Billy Napier flip the script on his job status in one weekend? Probably not. But there is renewed optimism after defending home turf against UCF. The Gators have a chance to fully turn their season around in Knoxville against a Tennessee team who just dropped a game to unranked Arkansas. Florida’s social media team had fun poking at UCF.
Week 6 Trending Down
Top SEC teams - except Texas teams
No. 1 Alabama? Lost to Vanderbilt. No. 4 Tennessee? Lost to Arkansas. No. 9 Missouri? Finally exposed against Texas A&M. No. 5 Georgia got back to winning ways after dropping a game against Alabama last week. No. 12 Ole Miss dispatched South Carolina a week after losing a game against Kentucky as a 15.5 point favorite. Can these teams all still make the CFP? Maybe. But the SEC is proving to be a top to bottom gauntlet. Texas is the lone unbeaten in the conference at 5-0 (1-0 SEC), and Texas A&M is sitting at 5-1 but 3-0 in conference already.
USC Trojans
After Week 1’s win vs. LSU Lincoln Riley’s team was a gritty squad that would compete on defense this season in the Big Ten. They sit at 1-2 in conference play, dropping a 27-24 decision to Michigan and blew a lead against Minnesota to lose 24-17 (both on the road, perhaps not coincidentally). This week, USC welcomes No. 4 Penn State to Los Angeles and sits at 5.5 point home underdogs.
Big Ten Conference Travel
When the Big Ten added USC and UCLA, we were assured that repeated cross country travel was well thought out. There were years in that transition. The Big Ten then hurriedly added two more West Coast teams - Washington and Oregon. So far, there’s been a dramatic home field advantage. Some of the games so far wouldn’t be labeled as competitive matchups home or away (Vanderbilt says hi). USC is 1-0 (Wisconsin) at home and 0-2 (Minnesota and Michigan) on the road. Washington is 2-0 at home (Michigan and Northwestern) and 0-1 on the road (Rutgers). Poor UCLA has lost to Indiana at home (and Oregon, but they were conference rivals previously). Oregon is 1-0 at home (Michigan State).
Week 6 G5 Power Rankings
Navy Midshipmen 5-0: Defeated Air Force 34-7. Next: Bye. +3500
Army Black Knights 5-0: Defeated Tulsa 49-7. Next: vs UAB. +2500
Boise State Broncos 4-1: Defeated Utah State 62-30. Next @ Hawaii +170
Tulane Green Wave 4-2: Defeated UAB 71-20. Next: Bye. +1100
UNLV Rebels 4-1: Lost 44-41 to Syracuse. Next: @ Utah State +1800
