Threepeat? Clemson and Bama appear to be headed to another rematch.
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FINAL THOUGHTS FROM WEEK 5
We appear to be heading to Clemson-Alabama Part 3. Both the Tide and the Tigers continue to dominate their schedules and appear to be head and shoulders above the rest of the nation so far. It would be hard to make a case that anyone else can compete with either of these two teams right now, but we still have plenty of season remaining.
The SEC isn't as deep as it once was. So far, it appears that Alabama and Georgia are the only two teams that are consistent and have a chance of winning the conference. Florida might be undefeated in conference play, but the Gators have looked less than impressive so far. In the West, any loss the Tide endure within the conference would be a stunner at this point. Auburn and Texas A&M are right behind them, but don't have the talent to compete. Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Ole Miss already have two losses, and LSU just lost to Troy. Things are not looking good.
Saquon Barkley is a star. The Penn State running back added a kick return touchdown to his resume and had a spectacular one-handed catch as well. Barkley has already proved he's the best back in the country, and no one else is even close.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Joel Lanning, LB, Iowa State- The Cyclones' former quarterback is now quarteracking the defense, and the transition to be seamless. Lanning finished with 20 tackles against Texas, but it wasn't enough to get the win Thursday night.
Bryce Love, RB, Stanford- When Christian McCaffrey left campus, there was some concern at his position. Those have essentially been erased thanks to their latest and greatest back. Love rushed for 301 yards and three touchdowns against a helpless Arizona State defense, breaking his predecessors single game record.
Richard McQuarley, RB, New Mexico- Anyone need a touchdown? McQuarley is your guy. After accumulating 122 yards and zero touchdowns through the first four games, the senior produced 179 yards and five scores in a big win over Air Force.
USC's quarterback Sam Darnold's struggles finally caught up with him, and it was a contributing factor to the loss Friday night. Darnold finished 15-for-29 for 164 yards and an interception, and the offense mostly struggled against Washington State. Not something you expected to see for sure, but this isn't your average Cougars team.
Not only can the Cougars play offense, but they now can play defense as well. Except for Ronald Jones' 86 yards touchdown run, the Cougars didn't allow many big plays. Freshman linebacker Jahad Woods played a big role on the defense, finishing with 9 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. It seems as if Washington State might be a complete team, and that makes them an extremely dangerous team in the Pac 12.
It looked like this game was getting out of hand before Northwestern started their comeback. Down 31-10, the Wildcats could have packed it in and moved on to next week, but they at least made Wisconsin sweat for a bit late in the game.
The bye week appeared to affect both teams, as the offense didn't look sharp, especially the quarterbacks. Wisconsin's Alex Hornibrook finished just 11-for-20 for 197 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions while Northwestern's Clayton Thorsen finished 29-for-45 for 219 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Hornibrook isn't going to gash defense with his arm, but he didn't look too comfortable Saturday. Maybe both were affected by stout defenses, but that's probably not the case.
Wisconsin just got right back on track for where they were headed, but Northwestern has some issues to concern. This was supposed to be a dark horse team in the Big Ten, but the Wildcats have looked anything but that so far. Thorsen can't seem to get on track, and running back Justin Jackson can't find too many lanes to run through.
I expected Memphis to let up a bunch of yards and points, but I didn't expect them to struggle to score. UCF's defense was the story of the night, and the Knights stomped the Tigers in their first conference game of the season.
UCF utilized four Memphis turnovers to score 40 points, and the offense looked explosive all night. Quarterback McKenzie Milton looked poised, and threw for 253 yards while running for 88 more. Adrian Killins Jr. paced the rushing attack with 115 yards and a score. The offense produced 603 yards against a struggling Tigers defense, but it was the Knights defense that stole the show.
Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson threw for 321 yards, but had three interceptions that put Memphis in a bad place. The rushing attack, for the first time this year, was nonexistent. Memphis was forced to play from behind all night, and ended up abandoning the run due to the deficit. Fans were calling for Ferguson to be benched after the game, which is just about the most ridiculous thing you could ask for. The Tigers defense was the issue here, not the offense, but injuries have provided the defense with a lot of adversity. You can only "plug-and-play" so many guys before the youth shows, and fans need to settle down before overreacting. This is still a good team that is enduring some unlucky bumps in the road.
Clemson and Alabama appear to be headed for a rematch again, similar to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. Only difference is the college football teams achievement would be more impressive.
Clemson went in to Blacksburg, and silenced a Hokies crowd that was rocking from the entrance of their team to the field. The Tigers offense didn't look great thanks to a tough Virginia Tech defense, but three turnovers by the home team allowed for short fields for the offense. The Hokies offense tried to make this a game in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late.
Clemson is clearly the top team in the conference, but Virginia Tech showed they are still a competitor in the conference. Head coach Justin Fuente should be excited about the direction of his team, and his quarterback is a big reason for that excitement. Freshman Josh Jackson didn't have the greatest game, but he competed with arguably the best defense in the country. His talent will make the Hokies a contender in the next few years, and defensive coordinator Bud Foster should create one of the better defenses in the country in the future as well.
