Week 5 of college football definitely was interesting. However, the week revealed one significant thing: this season is among the most surprising in a long time. Many, many upsets have occurred, while other teams were simply disappointed with their results.
Takeaways From Week 5 in College Football
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James Franklin Cannot Win Against the Big Opponents
James Franklin’s last big win was against the Ohio State Buckeyes 9 years ago. Ever since, the Penn State Nittany Lions have found ways to enter the top 5, only to lose to either the Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, or now the Oregon Ducks. Fans have begun to get tired of the same old story for Penn State. To actually compete, Franklin and his Nittany Lions will soon need to win big games after their loss against No. 6 Oregon. At least every game is close (yeah, no one cares, that just makes the losses hurt more)?
Is There an Actually Dominant SEC Team This Season?
For those who claim that the SEC is the best conference, it really hasn’t shown. There remain only a few undefeated teams: Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Missouri, and Vanderbilt. Other than that, teams like the Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, and Tennessee have all lost.
Even the teams that haven’t lost yet feel destined to lose. Really, the SEC feels like it will not produce one really, really, good team this season. This doesn’t make the SEC a bad conference or a worse conference by any means. However, what it does do is make it look like no teams will be undefeated or even close to that this season. It is very interesting to see so far this season.
Florida State Is NOT a True Contender, At Least Yet…
Perhaps the worst loss of the week was the No. 8 Florida State Seminoles’ loss at the Virginia Cavaliers. In double OT, FSU lost 46-38 in embarrassing fashion. After three dominant victories to begin the season, this loss stings really badly for the Noles. Florida State had dreams of competing this season, and now, if FSU loses to the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes, then they must contend with playoff elimination. This might just be one of the worst losses of the season for anyone. A victory against Miami could make them forget everything, though, and put them back in the ACC’s driver’s seat. That just doesn’t feel very possible after Friday.
USC, Auburn Not Close to Being Contenders Yet
On Saturday, USC would lose to Illinois 34-32 with a very poor defensive performance. Meanwhile, Auburn lost 16-10 with a very poor offensive performance against Texas A&M. Auburn, in the last two games, has allowed 14 sacks, showing how bad the offense has done en route to their 3-2 start. For USC, they only fall to 4-1. However, nonetheless, there hasn’t been anything defensively for the Trojans over the last few games. Overall, both teams are far from contention.
Certain Coaches With Very Hot Seats
Sam Pittman and Hugh Freeze both now have very hot seats. Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks are now 2-3 with losses against Ole Miss, Memphis, and now Notre Dame. However, against the Fighting Irish, the Razorbacks lost 56-13. Obviously, that won’t cut it. As for Hugh Freeze, hopes of contention have now fallen off a cliff with 2 straight losses. In those games, it felt like Auburn was allergic to scoring. Unfortunately for Freeze, chances are starting to run out. Either win now, or forever not be the coach of Auburn.
Week 5 revealed a lot of things that were interesting to see. For some teams, week 5 crushed their very souls; for others, it revived it. Another week of upsets has really shook things up again, though. For now, some teams just don’t like contenders, while others do. Week 6 definitely won’t be anymore less exciting.
Main Image: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images
