Another wild weekend of college football, the first with games played in October, shows teams continuing to separate themselves in the playoff race. More were eliminated, and others proved they’re legit, while incompetence in coaching led the way. Here are our takeaways from what happened during Week 6.
1. Mario Cristobal should be fired IMMEDIATELY
Is this an overreaction? Maybe, but college football head coaches have gotten away with stupidity for years. Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal took it to another level running the ball when he could’ve taken a knee. Miami fumbled, and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets scored to win. You can blame the refs, blame the fumble and blame the defense, but Cristobal’s idiocy is indefensible here.
2. Oklahoma proves it’s legit in Red River Showdown
Maybe Brent Venables isn’t as bad of a coach as we all thought? Dillon Gabriel led an incredible last-minute drive to lead the Oklahoma Sooners to victory over the Texas Longhorns Saturday and improve them to 6-0. It was a Heisman-worthy performance, and after playing nobody all year, OU proves it belongs on this level. Texas isn’t done, though, as they’ll likely get a Big 12 Championship game rematch.
3. Georgia silences critics
Everybody overreacted to the Georgia Bulldogs struggling on the road against the Auburn Tigers. That’s a rivalry game against a well-coached team. They responded by dominating the Kentucky Wildcats 51-13. All of a sudden, Kirby Smart’s team looks invincible again. With them beating UK and the Missouri Tigers losing to the LSU Tigers, they’re the only remaining undefeated team in the SEC.
4. Alabama leads schools still alive
Multiple one-loss teams scored quality wins in college football this past weekend, many better than the Alabama Crimson Tide, but Nick Saban’s team keeps chugging along after that Texas loss. Jalen Milroe still has issues, but the defense is elite. The team they beat two weeks ago, though, the Ole Miss Rebels, also still have one loss on the year and keep winning.
5. Notre Dame, Texas A&M are done
Speaking of Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher and co. are done once again, and Fisher put on a clinic of coaching incompetence only overshadowed by Cristobal at Miami. Meanwhile, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, after beating one undefeated basketball school in the Duke Blue Devils, couldn’t beat two. They fell to the Louisville Cardinals 33-20, ending their College Football Playoff hopes.
6. Louisville leads basketball schools still looking good
Jeff Brohm looks like an amazing hire. He’s got Louisville at 6-0, and now it has a quality win in Notre Dame. With Duke, the Kansas Jayhawks, the Syracuse Orange and the Maryland Terrapins all losing at least once over the past two weeks, Louisville remains as the storyline of undefeated basketball schools. They are joined by the North Carolina Tar Heels, who beat Syracuse 40-7 to improve to 5-0.
7. Pac-12 race gets interesting as Colorado, USC survive
One-loss Pac-12 teams stayed alive. The Oregon State Beavers beat the Cal Golden Bears, and the UCLA Bruins knocked off the undefeated Washington State Cougars. Meanwhile, the Colorado Buffaloes had to hold off the Arizona State Sun Devils, and the USC Trojans needed overtime to beat the Arizona Wildcats. Only the Oregon Ducks, USC and Washington Huskies remain of undefeated Pac-12 teams.
8. Big Ten is once again a three-team race
Speaking of three undefeated teams, predictably, the Big Ten is down to the three big dogs in the East, the Penn State Nittany Lions, Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines. Ohio State knocked off Maryland, which was to be expected at home coming off a bye. Michigan beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers 52-10 and looks like the best team in college football, and Penn State had a bye.
9. Heisman race
1. Michael Penix Jr., QB – Washington
2. Dillon Gabriel, QB – Oklahoma
3. Brock Bowers, TE – Georgia
4. Shedeur Sanders, QB – Colorado
5. Jayden Daniels, QB – LSU
10. Top 10
1. Ohio State
2. Oklahoma
3. Florida State
4. Georgia
5. North Carolina
6. Oregon
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Louisville
10. Texas
