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Week 6 was one of the most insane weekends of college football in recent memory. From a bird’s eye view, the slate looked boring. Only one ranked matchup, College Gameday in California for an after-dark kickoff, and top teams playing what appeared to be cupcakes. That could not be more wrong. Expect the unexpected in college football.
The noon slate started with Texas A&M wiping the floor with Missouri, SMU upsetting Louisville, Penn State escaping against UCLA, and Wisconsin clobbering Purdue. It only got more chaotic from there. The midday slate had a plethora of good games, but Vanderbilt’s historic upset over Alabama stole the show.
At night, Tennessee and USC fell victim to upsets while Washington dropped tenth-ranked Michigan in a title game rematch. While the east coast slept, ACC after dark was an absolute show as Miami surged from a 35-10 deficit to topple California with 26 seconds on the clock to cap an unbelievable slate of college football. Let’s dive into risers and fallers.
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Heisman Race
Jalen Milroe was the frontrunner in this year’s Heisman race after his performance in the win over Georgia. That is no longer the case after falling to Vanderbilt in one of the most historic upsets the sport has ever seen.
Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty has already rushed for 1,031 yards and 16 touchdowns, and the season isn’t even halfway over. He is on pace for a historic season and despite playing for Boise State, there is a real argument for him to bring the trophy home.
Ashton Jeanty in 16 quarters of football:
1031 yards
16 touchdownsWe are not worthy pic.twitter.com/rJGQxnNKFo
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 6, 2024
Meanwhile, Miami’s Cam Ward just had a potential Heisman moment as he brought his team back from down 25 points to cap off a thrilling road win over California. Ward threw for 437 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another in the win and has his team undefeated through six games.
With strong performances this weekend, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel or Ohio State’s Will Howard or Jeremiah Smith could sneak into the conversation. Regardless, the race is heating up as we approach the halfway mark of the season.
Playoff Race
Even more than the Heisman race, the playoff race is trending upward into complete chaos. Five of the top eleven ranked teams fell in one weekend, opening playoff positions to practically any team.
The first-ever 12-team playoff is set to be chaotic every step of the way, but now we are almost guaranteed to see teams that suffered bad losses make the field.
Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt, Notre Dame’s loss to Northern Illinois, Ole Miss’ loss to Kentucky, and Tennessee’s loss to Arkansas is far from death sentences to these teams’ playoff hopes the way the field is shaking up. There are only nine undefeated teams ranked in the top 25, and we are only entering Week 7. That number will shrink by at the very least one this weekend, with Ohio State and Oregon facing off.
Home Underdogs
What a weekend to be an unranked team hosting a ranked team! Vanderbilt 40, #1 Alabama 35. Arkansas 19, #4 Tennessee 14. Washington 27, #10 Michigan 17. Minnesota 24, #11 USC 17.
This goes to show that no matter the opponent, location matters. Home-field advantage is more real in college football than in any other sport. The campus environment can make a legitimate difference in the outcome of a game. If your team is at home, you always have an outside chance to do the unthinkable. We witnessed it four times over one weekend.
Stock Down
Missouri Tigers
Missouri had looked vulnerable over their previous two games, narrowly defeating Boston College and squeaking away against Vanderbilt in double overtime. However, they found ways to win. The same could not be said this past weekend, as Texas A&M throttled the Tigers 41-10.
Missouri only has one loss and is far from eliminated from playoff contention with results around the rest of college football last weekend, but the Tigers certainly have an uphill battle after taking a beating.
They still have road games against Alabama and South Carolina and home games against Oklahoma and Arkansas on the schedule. If they don’t win out, their playoff hopes will be significantly dinged from this past week’s blowout loss.
Louisville Cardinals
Louisville’s postseason hopes are now on life support after suffering their second loss in two weeks. The Cardinals followed up their loss to Notre Dame with a home loss to SMU in a game that they had opportunities to win.
Them versus us.
The Louisville Mini-Movie 🎥#PonyUpDallas pic.twitter.com/Z2A7lI5gvo
— SMU Football (@SMUFB) October 7, 2024
Last year’s run to the ACC title game feels so far away now. The schedule still contains games against Miami, Boston College, Clemson, Pitt, and Kentucky. Scraping into a bowl game would feel like a success at this point.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
What a brutal turn for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have now dropped three straight games in which they have averaged 17.6 points per game while losing by an average margin of 15.6 points. A team that was once considered a Big 12 and playoff contender is now going to have to fight the rest of their season for bowl eligibility.
While falling to Utah and Kansas State were tough losses, getting blown out at home by West Virginia shows that this team appears to have given up on themselves.
Seventh-year quarterback Alan Bowman has looked awful, and it may be time for a youth movement in Stillwater as the Cowboys gear up for a road matchup with undefeated BYU next week.
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