Some thoughts on Week 6 of college football...

k9cane

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Week 6 of college football is in the books and it was an eventful one. Some huge upsets, some near misses and new coaches making an immediate impact across the country. Here's what I observed at Coach JB's Football Bar and Cigar Lounge for the latest 'Footballpalooza'..

- For about 48 minutes it looked like Nebraska and Matt Rhule was headed to a groundbreaking victory over Indiana. After Anthony Colandrea's 39 yard touchdown run, they were up 17-6 and the Big Red faithful could feel it. But from that point on Huskers kept making key errors. On the next drive the Hoosiers hit a 75 yarder to Nick Marsh to immediately cut the lead back to one possession.

Meanwhile, IU just kept making all the plays down the stretch, while Nebraska ran out of answers. Josh Hoover delivered a 44 yard TD to Marsh on a 4th down to take the lead. This has to be a bitter pill to swallow for the Husker who have lost 31 straight versus ranked opponents. As for Indiana, they look forward to a high noon showdown with Ohio State next Saturday.

- Guess what, it's time to give Wake Forest credit -- they are actually good. Top 25 good. They were down 14-10 at the half in Raliegh against NC State. But they dominated the second half behind Gio Lopez's sharp and accurate passing (he went 26 for 33, 303 yards, 3 TDs) and both Jack Foley and Carlos Hernandez had over a 100 yards receiving. They score four second-half TD's to pull away 38-14.

This just might be the second best team in the ACC behind Miami (who they pushed in the second half). This is a tough, well coached team from Jake ****ert.


-- Tough season for the Elko Era, as they continue to spiral. They get beat handily by Mizzou, 27-6. Marcel Reeds nothing like the quarterback that lead the Aggies to the playoffs last year, and it doens't help tha they only had 29 yards rushing.

After the game, Mike Elko made some comments about a popular Texas A@M media member. This should be an interesting week in College Station. Meanwhile, Mizzou is showing -- at least thus far -- that this season they are a legitimate top 25 squad. Jamal Roberts continues to carry the offense, 222 yards for him this game on the ground.

- I'll admit, I thought this years edition of 'the Red River Rivalry' would be as bloody as 'the Red Wedding' on 'Game of Thrones'. But this why you play the game. Oklahoma was given no shot -- not even by their own fan-base, but they somehow found a way to score the huge, monumental upset over top ranked Texas

When your offense is as bad as there is, you have to find ways to score in other way. And that's exactly what they did with a punt-block and pick-six. Then you had Arch Manning, who once again was shaky ane erratic in-between his usual flashes. I just don't see a top 5 pick with him. The national pundits tell you one thing, your eyes tell you another.

John Mateer wasn't great but he did deliver some throws to Isaiah Sategna late to put the Sooners in position to win the game.

- UCLA scored it's biggest football victory in decades. They marched into Eugene and despite what the score might tell you (17-15) they pretty much dominated the Oregon Ducks. Really, the only thing that kept Oregon in the game was the the play of Nico Iamaleava, who was eventually knocked out of the game.

On the flip side, Dylan Raiola (6 for 19, 43 yards and 2 INT's) put on the worst display of quarterbacking I've seen this season. 'Temuhomes' was back, and after his strong effort off the bench a couple of weeks ago at USC, this effort might actually put his status as Oregon's presumed starter in jeopardy. It was that bad. He played as if he was the one concussed. Brock Thomas came in relief and nearly rallied the Ducks later.

But the Bruins were the better team on this day, and they rode back-up Ty Dieffenbach to victory. 'Bruin' Bob Chesney just led UCLA to it's first ranked victory in about a decade, and their first win in Autzen Stadium since 2004. This guy could be their best hire since **** Vermeil way back when. Look at the UCLA schedule, telll me a game they can't win moving forward.

- Speaking of Oregon, you don't think they miss their former offensive coordinator, Will 'the Thrill' Stein? And this guy has a big set of... For the second straight week, he eschewed a PAT to tie the game, to instead go for two and the win, and it was Kenny Minchey who saw the LSU defense part like the Red Sea on the quarterback draw. Just like that, they upset LSU 35-34.

There is a new energy in Lexington -- it aint basketball season, yet. The Wildcats missed two short field goals late in regulation, but they found a way to overcome it. As for LSU, Sam Leavitt was Sam Leavitt, enertaining and erratic. That's what he is is a quarterback. The Tigers rushed for just 96 for jut 2.6 yards a clip.

- Did you hear that? That was Florida's playoff chances coming crashing back down to earth, as they were handled by a struggling South Carolina squad 38-19 at 'the Swamp' Lenorris Sellers played well (24 for 35, 279 yards and 4 touchdowns) and Dylan Stewart was back and was disruptive on defense.

Jadan Baugh, who was on top of Heisman lists after UF defeated Ole Miss, was shut down for the second straight week. After a strong start to his run in Gainesville, Jon Sumrall has hit a tough stretch.

- Georgia won a classic SEC slobberknocker in Tuscaloosa, as they scraped by Alabama, 20-17. The Tide hung tough, but you saw the big game experience and seasoning of UGA. Gunnar Stockton may not be a true NFL prospect but he is a highly effective college signal caller. And the Bulldog defense made life difficult on the talented Keelon Russell (16 for 30, 185 yards, 1 TD), who looked rushed for the first time in his career.

A late personal foul on Dijon Lee was pivotal, and coach Kalen Deboer nearly blew a gasket. In a big game of this nature, mistakes like this are never small. Right now, the SEC is still ruled by Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs.

- Lincoln Riley was able to fly home with his team, as USC came out of the Penn State 'White Out' alive and 5-1. Trojans simply had a bit too much offense, and did enough defensively in the second half to come out victorious, 31-23. Jaiden Maiva was steady and it was the return of super-frosh Trent Mosley (9 catches, 111 yards and a touchdown). USC now has to hit the road (again) as they visit an improved Wisconsin team and then face Ohio St and Indiana in consecutive weeks.

As for Matt Campbell and his Nittany Cyclones, it's their third straight loss.

-- On Friday night, Florida St. was on the doorstep of taking a 17-0 lead on Louisville. They got stopped, and the Isaac Brown went nuts. That one play literally changed the course of the game as the Cards dominated the rest of the way to win, 44-20. Brown (17 carries, 235 yards and 2 TDs) is as explosive as any back in the country.

There's a lot of debate over Mike Norvell's second quarter decision. Should he have taken the chip shot field goal and the 17-0 lead. But at the same time, the Noles had a 21-3 lead against the Crimson Tide, and ended up getting beat by two scores. Who knows how taking (and making) that kick would've impacted the rest of the game, but it was no guarantee of FSU (who can't win road games) winning.

- Who else was stunned to see Iowa put up 27 first half points on Washington? Seriously, this Hawkeye team is really good and still very much a playoff contender. They play their customarily tough defense, but now they have at least a competent offense to compliment them. Back-up QB, Jeremy Hecklinki, played very well but it was Kamari Moulton (26 carries, 208 yards, 2 TDs) that keyed the Hawkeyes to a definitive, 41-24 victory in Seattle. The Hawkeyes are pretty creative on offense and use more deception than before to get guys like DJ Vonhamme open.

Iowa will be favored in their next six games. I can see them going 11-1, here.

As for U-Dub, they've looked bad the whole year. And Demond Williams had a rough night again before being knocked out of the game. Back-up, Elijah Brown (28/39, 251 yards and 3 TD's) made things happen for the Huskies as they fell behind big. I get the sense that most Washington fans would like to see him start moving forward. Jedd Fisch fought to bring Williams back into the fold after his dalliance with LSU in the off-season, you wonder now if he benches him.
 
I'm going to let you all in on a little secret that I learned during his time as a Carolina Panther. He's not a good football coach.
Lmao I've been saying he's not a good coach since he was at Baylor. The fact that he got the Panthers gig was nuts.

However, y'all got yourselves a good HC now
 
I really like these columns as this has been a good year for college football and it was a GREAT day yesterday, especially for the underdogs.

@k9cane who are #97 and #10 for UCLA defense? 97 can play. I watched a good bit of that game and you're right, UCLA was by far the better team, but they were trying to give the game away with some bad Facemask penalties. However they stood tall on not 1 but 2 attempts to tie the game.

Also glad you brought up Kentucky. I have watched 3 of their games this year and they're a good team. They remind me a lot of our team last year without the star power. They play really good defense and their Oline is top 5 if not the best in the country and they have some emerging playmakers (Their frosh WR Darby #12). Their remaining schedule is winnable too. They have TN, FL, Mizzou and Lullville remaning as contests. Will Stein might make the playoffs. They had a really bad stretch of 5 series against Bama and it got away from them, but other than that they look like a good football team.

Arch Manning does what Arch Manning does. He is elite when it turns into backyard football and i would say that's what his first touchdown pass was. That is the kind of play that make people drool over this kid. Then you get what you normally get....a QB who can't play within structure, can't process well, and has a hitch in his motion. He is nothing more than a very athletic game manager who will make as many plays to lose a game as he will to win the game.

Bama/UGA....i liked the thread last night about how we would stack up. I think our OL is improving and i think we will be different come 11/21 by getting heathier (hopefully) and should be gelling on that line. However, i agree with a lot of the assessments. They are physical up front on both sides, really good on D, but they lack explosion. However, Gunner has turned into a really good QB and he makes that team go like Mendoza last year. Sneaky good accuracy on all his throws too
 
Miami and ND has a path towards being #1 vs #2 come Nov 7

Not sure if this goes in transfer portal, but what about that OSU duo that is doing numbers? No, not Ohio State. Not Oklahoma State either.

Talking about that Oregon State duo. How legit are they? Should we be interested? Calling @Memnon
 
Miami better not lose a game this year. Colossal failure they lose to anyone but ND (on road + refs might ***** them)

But then get a rematch in the playoff with them
 
Miami and ND has a path towards being #1 vs #2 come Nov 7

Not sure if this goes in transfer portal, but what about that OSU duo that is doing numbers? No, not Ohio State. Not Oklahoma State either.

Talking about that Oregon State duo. How legit are they? Should we be interested? Calling @Memnon
https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/wr-options.202845/post-8456100

https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/would-yall-take-him-as-qb1-for-2026.203134/post-8011459

Jesse Legree the True Frosh from BMore, is having a Biletnikoff award winning type season. Arguably the 2nd or 3rd best WR in the country.

Should we be interested? Sure.
Will we be interested? Doubt it. He plays the same position as Toney & while you could easily move one of them outside, I doubt that would happen.

Braden Atkinson is a FCS QB I was mentioning from last year as a potential add when we were QB shopping in the Portal. He's a Carolina kid with phenomenal arm talent that was lighting it up at Mercer.

He's absolutely someone we should consider for next year's Portal QB IMO.
Will we? Idk.
 
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My biggest takeaways were:

1. @ UNC on the road is gonna be a trap game that we have to get up for.

Do not sleep on North Carolina. They have a very good schematically sound Defense & do a lot to confuse your QB with depth reads in the 2nd level. They mix up their coverage splits & Defensive fronts quite a bit, but their LB's run everything on that Defense. The LB's control the rush assignments & call the coverages on the backend, it's something you don't see often in College, Belichick definitely has them running a lot of pro looks.

2. *Sigh Bama smfh

3. UF is the most one dimensional team in the SEC. You stop Jadan Baugh & they have no other option.

I remember there was a contingency that was hot & heavy over Dallas Wilson last year. Thus far, he has ONE game with over 100yds & that was against Campbell University. So yeah...

4. Despite the slip up vs Oregon, USC IMO is the 2nd best team in the B1G.

5. Miami, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Utah, Mizzou, Noter Lame, UNC, Cal, Iowa, Indiana & Oh ST are the best Defenses in the country IMO. Not talking about strictly statistics, but eye test, personnel & scheme, those are the Defenses that have played the best consistently on a week to week basis, win, lose, or draw IMO.

6. OK ST is the hottest team in the CFB right now. A lot of people downplayed Drew Mestemaker & felt as though he wasn't that good saying he only put up numbers at North Texas, but he's showing that he's clearly among the top 5 best QB's in the country. Yeah, they had the bad game against Tulsa to start the season, but since then have been on fire & have found their footing. Eric Morris & Mestemaker are hitting their stride & have OK ST's Offense blazing.

7. The race for the Big XII is heating up to an epic finish. IMO, the most evenly matched & competitive conference in Football.
Utah, BYU, OK ST, Houston, Baylor & Cincinnati are all good. It won't happen, but IMO, they deserve at least 2 teams in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they'll only get one because the committee needs to see what would happen if a bunch of multi-loss B1G & multi-loss SEC teams played each other. Nothing besides bad Football, but I digress.

8. Memphis vs UTSA in the American will be a **** of a conference title game.

9. Ohio ST is going to beat Indiana by 3TD's.

10. Can't wait until we play Pitt & beat the sh*t outta The Narduzzi.
 
I really like these columns as this has been a good year for college football and it was a GREAT day yesterday, especially for the underdogs.

@k9cane who are #97 and #10 for UCLA defense? 97 can play. I watched a good bit of that game and you're right, UCLA was by far the better team, but they were trying to give the game away with some bad Facemask penalties. However they stood tall on not 1 but 2 attempts to tie the game.

Also glad you brought up Kentucky. I have watched 3 of their games this year and they're a good team. They remind me a lot of our team last year without the star power. They play really good defense and their Oline is top 5 if not the best in the country and they have some emerging playmakers (Their frosh WR Darby #12). Their remaining schedule is winnable too. They have TN, FL, Mizzou and Lullville remaning as contests. Will Stein might make the playoffs. They had a really bad stretch of 5 series against Bama and it got away from them, but other than that they look like a good football team.

Arch Manning does what Arch Manning does. He is elite when it turns into backyard football and i would say that's what his first touchdown pass was. That is the kind of play that make people drool over this kid. Then you get what you normally get....a QB who can't play within structure, can't process well, and has a hitch in his motion. He is nothing more than a very athletic game manager who will make as many plays to lose a game as he will to win the game.

Bama/UGA....i liked the thread last night about how we would stack up. I think our OL is improving and i think we will be different come 11/21 by getting heathier (hopefully) and should be gelling on that line. However, i agree with a lot of the assessments. They are physical up front on both sides, really good on D, but they lack explosion. However, Gunner has turned into a really good QB and he makes that team go like Mendoza last year. Sneaky good accuracy on all his throws too

Fawk, 10 is Sammhy Omosigho and 97 is Aiden Gobaira. It's interesting to see UCLA develop every week. I went to their opener at Cal the day after our game vs Stanford. They gutted one out. They have steadily improved every week and are now playing with a lot of confidence

But I wonder how long Nico Iameleava is out, as erratic (and flat out, bad) he was, he is still by far their best QB at the moment. You just cant Widcat this offense to death with Wayne Knight. But there is absolutely a new energy with the UCLA program
 
My biggest takeaways were:

1. @ UNC on the road is gonna be a trap game that we have to get up for.

Do not sleep on North Carolina. They have a very good schematically sound Defense & do a lot to confuse your QB with depth reads in the 2nd level. They mix up their coverage splits & Defensive fronts quite a bit, but their LB's run everything on that Defense. The LB's control the rush assignments & call the coverages on the backend, it's something you don't see often in College, Belichick definitely has them running a lot of pro looks.

2. *Sigh Bama smfh

3. UF is the most one dimensional team in the SEC. You stop Jadan Baugh & they have no other option.

I remember there was a contingency that was hot & heavy over Dallas Wilson last year. Thus far, he has ONE game with over 100yds & that was against Campbell University. So yeah...

4. Despite the slip up vs Oregon, USC IMO is the 2nd best team in the B1G.

5. Miami, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Utah, Mizzou, Noter Lame, UNC, Cal, Iowa, Indiana & Oh ST are the best Defenses in the country IMO. Not talking about strictly statistics, but eye test, personnel & scheme, those are the Defenses that have played the best consistently on a week to week basis, win, lose, or draw IMO.

6. OK ST is the hottest team in the CFB right now. A lot of people downplayed Drew Mestemaker & felt as though he wasn't that good saying he only put up numbers at North Texas, but he's showing that he's clearly among the top 5 best QB's in the country. Yeah, they had the bad game against Tulsa to start the season, but since then have been on fire & have found their footing. Eric Morris & Mestemaker are hitting their stride & have OK ST's Offense blazing.

7. The race for the Big XII is heating up to an epic finish. IMO, the most evenly matched & competitive conference in Football.
Utah, BYU, OK ST, Houston, Baylor & Cincinnati are all good. It won't happen, but IMO, they deserve at least 2 teams in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they'll only get one because the committee needs to see what would happen if a bunch of multi-loss B1G & multi-loss SEC teams played each other. Nothing besides bad Football, but I digress.

8. Memphis vs UTSA in the American will be a **** of a conference title game.

9. Ohio ST is going to beat Indiana by 3TD's.

10. Can't wait until we play Pitt & beat the sh*t outta The Narduzzi.

UNC should be a one loss team, that weather delay in Clemson was huge. They are markedly improved this season
 
UNC should be a one loss team, that weather delay in Clemson was huge. They are markedly improved this season
Their Offense is pure garbage.

But Defensively, they do a good at job at figuring out your play calling & adjusting to force your Offense into going off script.
 
Great post and lots of excellent points in the thread.

My favorite part:

"Lincoln Riley was able to fly home with his team..."

:pgdead:
 
UNC should be a one loss team, that weather delay in Clemson was huge. They are markedly improved this season

I’ve had that UNC game circled since before the season. Obvious look-ahead spot before ND, Very possible we’ll be riding high with 2 dominant home wins….Meanwhile UNC will probably lose to Duke next week.

road conference game against a team with some good pieces on defense and an OC that can find a way to scheme just about anyone open and make Billy Edwards look competent **for a quarter or 2**.
 
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UNC should be a one loss team, that weather delay in Clemson was huge. They are markedly improved this season

My biggest takeaways were:

1. @ UNC on the road is gonna be a trap game that we have to get up for.

Do not sleep on North Carolina. They have a very good schematically sound Defense & do a lot to confuse your QB with depth reads in the 2nd level. They mix up their coverage splits & Defensive fronts quite a bit, but their LB's run everything on that Defense. The LB's control the rush assignments & call the coverages on the backend, it's something you don't see often in College, Belichick definitely has them running a lot of pro looks.

2. *Sigh Bama smfh

3. UF is the most one dimensional team in the SEC. You stop Jadan Baugh & they have no other option.

I remember there was a contingency that was hot & heavy over Dallas Wilson last year. Thus far, he has ONE game with over 100yds & that was against Campbell University. So yeah...

4. Despite the slip up vs Oregon, USC IMO is the 2nd best team in the B1G.

5. Miami, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Utah, Mizzou, Noter Lame, UNC, Cal, Iowa, Indiana & Oh ST are the best Defenses in the country IMO. Not talking about strictly statistics, but eye test, personnel & scheme, those are the Defenses that have played the best consistently on a week to week basis, win, lose, or draw IMO.

6. OK ST is the hottest team in the CFB right now. A lot of people downplayed Drew Mestemaker & felt as though he wasn't that good saying he only put up numbers at North Texas, but he's showing that he's clearly among the top 5 best QB's in the country. Yeah, they had the bad game against Tulsa to start the season, but since then have been on fire & have found their footing. Eric Morris & Mestemaker are hitting their stride & have OK ST's Offense blazing.

7. The race for the Big XII is heating up to an epic finish. IMO, the most evenly matched & competitive conference in Football.
Utah, BYU, OK ST, Houston, Baylor & Cincinnati are all good. It won't happen, but IMO, they deserve at least 2 teams in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they'll only get one because the committee needs to see what would happen if a bunch of multi-loss B1G & multi-loss SEC teams played each other. Nothing besides bad Football, but I digress.

8. Memphis vs UTSA in the American will be a **** of a conference title game.

9. Ohio ST is going to beat Indiana by 3TD's.

10. Can't wait until we play Pitt & beat the sh*t outta The Narduzzi.
Gonna be a spooky one on Halloween one. Tough look ahead after smoking naduzzi in the throw backs then look ahead. Good thing we’ve developed some depth with the injuries. Could come in very handy vs unc heading into ND
 
UNC should be a one loss team, that weather delay in Clemson was huge. They are markedly improved this season
I'm not giving them a mulligan - they allowed Edwards to throw the ball when they were running at like 7 yards a carry. They have to wear that one.
 
I like the fact we were on a bye week and there were some big upsets over the weekend. Coaches can definitely point towards those as cautionary tales with FSU coming up. I’m sure they’ll be plenty motivated, but two teams that were left for dead, Oklahoma and South Carolina, both scored huge victories over the weekend. Anything can happen if you overlook your opponent.
 
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