Saturday in Review: Week 5

Laden with expectations and potential, Ohio State has hardly
impressed this season. Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

This was supposed to be a week with many close, exciting games. Although it had plenty of those, this week may be remembered most for the chaos it caused in the Top 10. Four of the Top 10 lost last Saturday, and another two just escaped with narrow victories. In weekday action, we saw Miami fall to Cincinnati. The Bearcats' good ball security limited Miami's scoring opportunities. Memphis held on against South Florida to remain undefeated. The Bulls remained competitive throughout the game, but didn't have enough offense to outscore Memphis. With a bye week upcoming, the Tigers will remain unbeaten until their big showdown against Ole Miss in a couple weeks.

We could begin to expect trouble for the highly-ranked teams as early as noon Saturday. Purdue almost beat second-ranked Michigan State, falling three points short in their second-half rally. After taking a 21-0 lead into halftime, the Spartans could hardly move the ball afterwards. A dropped punt allowed the Boilermakers to spark a rally, but couldn't reach field-goal-range in the game's final minute. Indiana took Ohio State down to the wire, but failed in their upset-bid over the top-ranked Buckeyes. Had it not been for the efforts of OSU running back Ezekiel Elliot, the Buckeyes would have met their defeat in Bloomington.

Northwestern and Michigan continue to impress with shutout victories over conference opponents. The Wildcats kept Minnesota out of the endzone while Michigan did not allow a point from Maryland. These two Big Ten up-and-comers meet in Ann Arbor this upcoming weekend. Iowa (5-0) and Illinois (4-1) are also poised for successful seasons. Before their showdown this Saturday, Iowa beat rival Wisconsin in a defensive battle and Illinois came back in the fourth to shock Nebraska (notching their first victory over the Huskers in 91 years).

The Texan private schools of the Big 12 crushed their public counterparts, with TCU dominating Texas and Baylor beating Tech. Oklahoma squashed West Virginia's undefeated record in Norman. Five turnovers were far too much for the Mountaineers to overcome on the road. Fortune favored the Cowboys as Oklahoma State topped Kansas State, 36-34 (a score I almost perfectly predicted, had OK State kicked the PAT rather than tried for two).

Few considered the Sun Devils could upset the Pac-12's top-
ranked team on the road. Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona State surprised many with their convincing defeat of UCLA in the Rose Bowl. After a disappointing start to the year, the Sun Devils proved their high potential with a road win over the talented Bruins. Cal had problems, but put away Washington State to remain perfect on the season.

The ACC may have been this week's most exciting league, as six teams won by a score of one touchdown or less (the Miami-Cincinnati game was the only one decided by a greater difference). Clemson held off Notre Dame, stopping the Irish short of the goal-line on a late two-point conversion. After looking entirely dominant for the first three quarters, the Tigers let their 21-3 lead slip away from them in their fourth. With conservative play-calls, the Tiger offense couldn't get anything done in the final quarter. Luckily for the home team, their defense made the game-winning stop with just seconds left in the game. Florida State did enough to beat Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. Strangely, Wake Forest outgained Florida State and earned 13 more first downs. Big plays by running back Dalvin Cook and turnovers made the difference in FSU's victory. An early injury to Cook hampered the explosiveness of the Seminole offense. The Noles needed a late interception in the endzone to seal the win.

UCF remains winless after a 45-31 defeat at the hands of Tulane. The Green Wave could have been the most beatable team left on UCF's schedule; the young, battered Knights will need some kind of an upset to end the season with a win. Besides Memphis, Navy, Houston, and Temple also remain perfect in the American Conference.

For the second consecutive week, good times were had in Gainesville as Florida annihilated Ole Miss. The Gators "beat [Ole Miss] in about every facet of the game that you can imagine", in the words of Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze. The 28-point margin-of-victory is the third largest in Florida history over a Top 3-ranked team and the largest ever over such a highly ranked team in the regular season; the 1997 Sugar Bowl was the last time UF beat a Top 3 team by such a wide margin. This victory marks a new high-point in Jim McElwain's career as Gator head coach.

The Gators played their best game of the season on Saturday
night, upsetting the third-ranked Rebels in the Swamp.
Rob Foldy/Getty Images

The Gator offense could not be stopped while the defense could not be penetrated. Crowd noise bothered the Rebels' composure and resulted several errors. Florida quarterback Will Grier was outstanding, completing 24 of his 29 attempts and throwing four touchdown passes. His offensive line blocked very well against a vaunted defensive front and his receivers made several spectacular plays. Meanwhile, the Florida defense utterly dominated Ole Miss, preventing them from establishing a rhythm. Critically, the Florida defense created four turnovers while their offense surrendered none. The Gators took a 25-0 lead into halftime and never let up.

Alabama obliterated Georgia with similar ease and by an identical score. The Bulldog passing game was hopelessly overmatched against the aggressive Alabama defense. The Tide's running game kept the game fully in their control while their special teams scored a touchdown off a blocked punt. Alabama bottled up the one-dimensional Georgia ground attack until the game was already won.

Texas A&M stayed unbeaten with a win over Mississippi State and Missouri improved to 4-1 with another home-win over South Carolina. Tennessee lost another close game, this time to Arkansas. The Volunteers are now in jeopardy of missing a bowl game, while the Razorbacks are relieved at having ended a three-game losing streak. Vanderbilt edged Middle Tennessee on the road while Kentucky needed overtime to surpass Eastern Kentucky.

State of Florida:

• Miami (3-1) over Cincinnati (3-2), 35-21 34-23
• Memphis (5-0) over South Florida (1-3), 31-20 24-17
• Tulane (2-2) over UCF (0-5), 20-17 45-31
• FIU (2-3) over Massachusetts (1-3), 31-27 24-14
• 11 Florida State (4-0) over Wake Forest (2-3), 31-14 24-16
• 25 Florida (5-0) over 3 Mississippi (4-1), 24-20 38-10
• Florida Atlantic (1-3), BYE

Southeastern Conference:

• Missouri (4-1) over South Carolina (2-3), 17-14 24-10
• 8 Georgia (4-1) over 13 Alabama (4-1), 38-35 38-10
• Auburn (3-2) over San José State (2-3), 34-17 35-21
• Tennessee (2-3) over Arkansas (2-3), 35-28 24-20
• 9 LSU (4-0) over Eastern Michigan (1-4), 45-6 44-22
• Vanderbilt (2-3) over Middle Tennessee (2-3), 30-27 17-13
• 14 Texas A&M (5-0) over 21 Mississippi State (3-2), 28-24 30-17
• Kentucky (4-1) over Eastern Kentucky (2-2), 49-13 34-27 (OT)

Top 25:

• 1 Ohio State (5-0) over Indiana (4-1), 34-20 34-27
• 2 Michigan State (5-0) over Purdue (1-4), 37-20 24-21
• 4 TCU (5-0) over Texas (1-4), 45-35 50-7
• 5 Baylor (4-0) over Texas Tech (3-2), 52-42 63-35
• 12 Clemson (4-0) over 6 Notre Dame (4-1), 33-30 24-22
• 7 UCLA (4-1) over Arizona State (3-2), 45-16 38-23
• 15 Oklahoma (4-0) over 23 West Virginia (3-1), 45-42 44-24
• 16 Northwestern (5-0) over Minnesota (3-2), 23-16 27-0
• 18 Stanford (4-1) over Arizona (3-2), 34-13 55-17
• 19 Wisconsin (3-2) over Iowa (5-0), 35-31 10-6
• 20 Oklahoma State (5-0) over Kansas State (3-1), 37-34 36-34
• 22 Michigan (4-1) over Maryland (2-3), 38-14 28-0
• 24 California (5-0) over Washington State (2-2), 42-21 34-28
• 10 Utah (4-0), BYE
• 17 USC (3-1), BYE

Week 5 Record: 21-6 (78%)

Season Record: 116-25 (82%)