Week 5 of the college football season led to surprising upsets and wild finishes. Arizona pulled off a stunning upset over the Utah Utes. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes edged out Virginia Tech thanks to a controversial call by the officials. Plus, the SEC offered us the game of the year. Here’s a recap of how it went down and a sneak peek at this week.
Last week’s college football upset pick: Stanford vs. Clemson
Stanford’s opening series indicated their whole night with one costly turnover after another. They fumbled on the first drive, which looked promising on a fourth-down attempt. Then, they compounded the mistake on the ensuing Clemson possession by letting Clemson go in for a score after the long touchdown run by Cade Klubnik on the scramble.
Ashton Daniels is an excellent dual threat, but he tried to do too much as a passer outside the pocket, and it burned Stanford. He and Elic Ayomanor had a miscommunication in the red zone that led to an interception deep that likely took points off the board. The turnovers by Daniels resulted in squandered drives because of ill-advised throws.
What’s maddening is that Stanford did move the ball against Clemson with relative ease but imploded when they got close. Stanford racked up 235 rushing yards. Yet, the game became a runaway by the late third quarter, and Cole Turner’s deep shot was the nail in the coffin as Clemson would cruise to the easy win.
Recap of last week’s Saturday Spotlight: Georgia vs. Alabama
This was a great game that came down to the wire. Georgia dug a massive hole for themselves early that shifted all the momentum in favor of the Tide at home after they stormed to a 28-0 lead in the second quarter. From that point on, you could feel the desperation of the Bulldogs to hold on and survive the flurry of points.
Georgia picked up several fourth-down tries to stay on the field and give themselves a fighting chance in the second half. Before long, Georgia made enough stops to slow down Jalen Milroe, who was tremendous as a rusher with 117 yards on the ground and 374 yards passing.
Carson Beck had a game-high 439 passing yards, but that is somewhat overshadowed by his three interceptions, including one to seal the win for Alabama.
However, freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams was arguably the most electric college football player on the field. Williams made multiple spectacular plays, including the game-winning touchdown; which is the current play of the year in the college football season. Georgia and Alabama was a thriller and, so far, the best game this season as well.
Which college football team helped themselves the most?
Several terrific performances occurred this past week, like Milroe’s game against Georgia or Travis Hunter‘s two-way day against UCF. Yet none stand out quite like Ashton Jeanty‘s against Washington State.
At first, Jeanty was a face in the crowds for the Heisman race, taking a backseat to names like Ollie Gordon, Milroe, and Cam Ward. After his 259-yard rushing (10 yards per carry) performance last week, Jeanty has planted his flag as a contender to win college football’s most prestigious award. Jeanty leads the nation in rushing touchdowns (13) and yards (845), with Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson being the next leading rusher, 140 yards behind.
Jeanty’s size, elusiveness, and vision make him arguably the top back in the country. Not only did he improve his chances for the Heisman, but maybe even also for the NFL draft. Over the past few seasons, we’ve seen a resurgence in the value of running backs. With Jeanty’s type of season, he could be bound for the green room in next April’s NFL draft as an early first-round pick.
Saturday Spotlight: Missouri at Texas A&M
There’s some drama ahead of this game. While Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has done his best to quell the whispers of a quarterback controversy between Marcel Reed and Conner Weigman,
Reed has played relatively well in Weigman’s absence as he recovers from a shoulder injury. Elko said that Weigman will again be a game-time decision to play against Missouri. If Reed gets the start, look for A&M to craft an offensive game plan that allows him to manage the game and continue to limit risky throws. Le’Veon Moss leads the Aggies in rushing and will factor heavily into the outcome of Saturday’s game.
For Missouri, quarterback Brady Cook has been uneven with performances this season, recently posting a QBR of 46 in a close overtime win against Vanderbilt. It’ll be up to the Missouri defense to force mistakes from A&M’s freshman quarterback or put him in third and long situations. The Aggies have converted just 35 percent of their third down attempts to give Cook and the Tigers ideal scoring opportunities to escape College Station with a win.
Upset special: Michigan at Washington
Although the Wolverines occupy the 10th spot in the college football national rankings, you have to feel their standing is a bit overrated.
When they played Texas this season, the Longhorns beat them soundly at Ann Arbor. In the last two weeks, they’ve narrowly escaped with back-to-back wins at home against USC and Minnesota, both by a score of 27-24, the former aided by perhaps some questionable officiating. Granted, Michigan has done an exceptional job stopping the run in the last two games, but their offense is limited.
The quarterback change from Davis Warren to Alex Orji has bolstered their running game but made their passing attack almost nonexistent, with Orji averaging 59 passing yards over Michigan’s last two contests.
Their opponent, Washington, has disappointing losses against Rutgers and Washington State. Still, the offense has been efficient behind Will Rogers (10 TDs, 0 interceptions) and his receivers Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson.
The formula is simple for Washington; avoid Michigan cornerback Will Johnson from grounding the passing attack, play ahead of the chains, and get an early lead over Michigan. Once Washington can force the Wolverines hand and make Orji a passer, things should fall in place for the Huskies. Huskies win comfortably at home in this week’s upset special.
