Cats Illustrated publisher Justin Rowland offers up thoughts after Week 5 of the college football season.
Big shoutout to Kansas ... I thought it was funny when Kansas coach Lance Leipold started 2-0 and he immediately became a hot commodity in the coaching world. Now the Jayhawks are 5-0 and that's definitely not a joke anymore. I don't think we're looking at another 2007 style season for KU but it's a special year already given how the program has been since 15 years ago. Last year KU was outscored by an average of 42.2 to 20.8. This year, KU is outscoring opponents 41.6 to 24.0. What a reversal. QB Jalon Daniels is only passing for 196.6 yards per game but has 11 TD and 1 INT on the season. KU has now defeated WVU, Houston, Duke, and Iowa State. Not bad at all and nobody could have predicted it.
Matt Campbell is widely respected at the college level and he has done a good job with the Cyclones. I'm not saying I think he's overrated, but sometimes, folks have made it seem like he's more of a budding star in the profession than, say, Mark Stoops. The records don't really back that up. ISU is now 0-2 in Big XII play.
Clemson takes care of business at home ... NC State was competitive for much of the game but Clemson grinded out a 30-20 win and now has almost 40 straight home wins, one of the longest such streaks in CFB history. The longest such streak is 58 games, by Alabama, and I think CU has a real chance to break that streak. It will take a few more years, though. Clemson grinded out a 30-20 win and now has almost 40 straight home wins, one of the longest such streaks in CFB history. The longest such streak is 58 games, by Miami, and I think CU has a real chance to break that streak. It will take a few more years, though.
Clemson now has head to head wins against Wake Forest and NC State, arguably the Tigers' top two contenders on that side. Syracuse is ranked in the top 25 and Florida State was before losing to Wake Forest, so there's some depth, but it's tough to see CU losing to either of those teams.
Alabama rolls but Bryce Young's status uncertain ... Alabama assumes the top spot in the polls again after Georgia needed all four quarters to win against hapless Missouri on the road. Arkansas rushed for 187 yards and made the game 28-23 in the third quarter but Alabama responded resoundingly with a 21-3 fourth quarter and a 49-26 win on the road in Fayetteville against the No. 20 Razorbacks. Bryce Young was 7/13 for 173 yards, a touchdown and a pick. He left the game with a shoulder injury but it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that will derail the Crimson Tide's title hopes. Jahmyr Gibbs had 206 yards on 18 carries and Bama had two runs of nearly 80 yards. I think moving Bama back up to the top line makes sense.
What happened to Georgia? ... The Bulldogs survived a trip to Missouri, but nobody could have predicted this game would be in doubt well into the fourth quarter. UGA outgained Mizzou 481-294 and had twice as many first downs as the Tigers but only averaged 0.5 yards more per play (6.0 to 5.5). The Bulldogs were not very good on third down and lost two fumbles.
It's not uncommon for even national championship winning teams to have a couple of down games through the season, but given where we thought UGA was, and where Mizzou has been, it was an extreme even in that regard. It should make us start to think about more teams that could be capable of knocking off the Bulldogs.
Michigan marches on ... Michigan marches on and remains a playoff contender with a 27-14 road win at Iowa. It must be tough to watch games as an Iowa fan. Both of the Hawkeyes' touchdowns came in the fourth quarter with no scoring for the home team before that. The Wolverines only had around 300 yards of total offense so Iowa kept teams in check, as it does. Kirk Ferentz will probably coach at Iowa as long as he wants to, but it does seem like the excitement left this a long time ago and the word ceiling definitely applies. Michigan still has to go through Penn State, Illinois and Ohio State (road) but overall, it's a manageable slate.
Speaking of the Big Ten West ... Wisconsin lost at home to Illinois 34-10. I'm not surprised at all that the Illini won that game. If you've been reading, after a week of college football I mentioned that I loved how the Illini played. They're a physical, hard nosed team that has taken on the personality of its head coach, Brett Bielema, who was once at Wisconsin.
Subsequently, Wisconsin fired head coach Paul Chryst. Wisconsin is the model of stability in college football. We've seen Gary Andersen leave after a couple of seasons, but typically, this is a program that has retained its core identity and much of its success for almost three decades and through several coaches.
Wisconsin was 9-4 last year and 10-4 two years before that. Chryst has four 10+ win seasons in his tenure, but the Badgers have not been ranked at the end of a season since 2019. With this season's 2-3 start (0-2 Big Ten), Wisconsin's top brass probably figures they sense something is trending the wrong direction and they want to carefully guard something built methodically, not unlike what Mark Stoops is doing at Kentucky.
The Wisconsin job is a good one but probably more about finding the right fit there in Madison than trying to hit a grand slam. They do what they do, regardless of who the head coach is.
It will be interesting to see if this has any impact on Wisconsin 4-star RB commit Jaquez Keyes, who has been on Kentucky's radar.
FSU still playing catch up to Wake Forest ... Every year I find myself thinking about how odd it is, still, to think that Florida State is building up to catch Wake Forest. It's undoubtedly true right now. Wake is just the better program at the moment. The Deacs had no letdown after a crushing loss to Clemson, outlasting the Noles and a late push with a 31-21 win. Sam Hartman is impressive almost every time you watch him play (22/34, 234, 2 TD). FSU's Jordan Travis was very good and for the first time I do think Mike Norvell has the program moving in the right direction.
Maybe the shocker of the weekend ... How did Georgia Tech beat Pitt? The Panthers were in the ACC championship game last year and are a contender to get there again, while Georgia Tech absolutely rolled over in a 42-0 loss to Ole Miss not long ago. GT's Jeff Sims was only 11/26 for 102 yards but Hassan Hall racked up 157 yards on the ground.
It will be interesting to watch GT for the rest of the year if for no other reason than to get an idea of what the next coach will be working with. The problem with hiring someone like Paul Johnson, a triple option guy, is you probably aren't going to be that forever and it seems like it's not too easy to transition back to a more normal brand of football.
Bad loss for Minnesota ... Jeff Brohm needed that road win against Syracuse but he didn't get it. He did get a nice consolation prize with Saturday's 20-10 win at No. 21 Minnesota. Purdue scored 10 in the first and 10 in the fourth and contained the Gophers enough in the middle. Kentucky native Tanner Morgan was 18/33 for 257 yards and three interceptions for the Golden Gophers. Purdue's Aidan O'Connell tossed two picks. This one was ugly.
Lincoln Riley is rolling the Pac-12 so far ... USC is undefeated and in its best spot in many years thanks to Lincoln Riley. OU QB transfer Caleb Williams was 27/37 for 348 yards, three touchdowns and a pick, with USC beating the Herm Edwards-less Sun Devils of Arizona State 42-25. This offense is impressive, not surprisingly. I sort of feel like Riley is similar to LeBron James (wait for it). The latter, at his peak, could have gone to any team in the Eastern Conference and made them a contender on that side. Riley probably could have gone to USC or almost any other Pac-12 school and, working the portal, created a league contender in one offseason. ASU quarterback Emory Jones, formerly a Gator, had a solid game but the defense wasn't quite good enough.
Speaking of the Riley impact ... Things sure went south at Oklahoma in a hurry. There's no excuse for the Sooners to ever lose to TCU 55-24 or in any similar fashion. It's obvious that teams now smell blood in the water and have no fear of OU. When that opponent confidence sets in for a blue blood, when every game is the other team's Super Bowl, it can get really tough in a hurry. I never had a great feeling about the Venables hire for OU but time will tell. Dillon Gabriel was only 7/16 for 126 yards before leaving the game after a vicious and dirty hit that left him sprawled out on the field. That marred an otherwise excellent game by TCU, which scored at least 14 points in every quarter through the third. TCU had nearly 700 yards of total offense against OU. The Sooners are not going to be relevant this year.
Battle for LA setting up ... I'm more excited about Los Angeles college football than residents of Los Angeles are. That's not saying much, but it is indeed an interesting time for football in the city with Riley at USC and Chip Kelly helping UCLA to a 5-0 record. The Bruins beat previously unbeaten and 15th-ranked Washington 40-32 in a shootout. Along with Utah, there is some strength at the top of that division. Dorian Thompson-Robinson was 24/33 for 315 yards and three scores. Michael Penix Jr put up big numbers for UDub but UCLA ran it better.
Baylor drops another ... Oklahoma State is really good ... The Cowboys should be regarded as a playoff contender. OSU beat No. 16 Baylor on the road 36-25. It was a defensive struggle with the exception of the third quarter when Baylor outscored the Pokes 22-17. Baylor's Blake Shapen was 28/40 for 345 yards and two scores but two picks. I like the Bears this year and as a program, but with losses to BYU and Oklahoma State, this team still has to prove it can win a big game.
MSU explodes against A&M ... I've long said that Kentucky is in an SEC "tier" with Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Those teams are just going to beat each other up. The fans of those teams won't like the losses, but that's part of being in the SEC. Mississippi State had lost to LSU in Baton Rouge two weeks before but knocked off No. 17 Texas A&M at home, 42-24. The Bulldogs took control of the game in the second quarter and never looked back, exploding for three more touchdowns in the fourth. Will Rogers was 31/45 for 329 yards, three scores and no picks. Mississippi State is a dangerous football team and even though they play in Lexington this year, that's one fans will be on the edge of their seats for. What I'll say about Texas A&M, I've said many times before. The Aggies are just rarely as impressive as you think they should be based on the talent they bring in.
Another loss for Mel Tucker ... You'd better believe I'm going to continue to mention Mel Tucker's contract figures every time the Spartans lose. MSU is paying the kind of money that says it expects a national championship, but that's not coming this year. MSU is 2-3 (0-2 Big Ten) after a 27-13 loss to Maryland. MSU is getting pushed around and punished. Watch out for Maryland relatively early in a season. They're game but it seems like the Terps tend to run out of steam.
Drake Maye is really good ... UNC was physically whipped by Notre Dame in Chapel Hill in a wake up call last week but quarterback Drake Maye is going to break some records. The Alabama transfer was 26/36 for 363 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. He's putting up video game numbers on the season and UNC beat Virginia Tech 41-10. The Hokies have fallen a long way. I noticed that when WVU was a 2.5 point favorite in Blacksburg earlier this year. UNC could compete on that side of the coastal since it always seems to be wide open but in spite of the big win, that defense isn't as good as it should be.
LSU outlasts Auburn ... The lowlight of this game was Auburn's ill-fated trick play which resulted in an LSU interception while the Tigers had a scoring opportunity. The faces of the Auburn fans in attendance, and Bryan Harsin, were tough to forget. This seems like a program that knows how this experiment is going to play out, but they did compete against LSU, which couldn't muster much offense at all. I think very highly of Brian Kelly as a coach (even though he's not really easy to like) and think LSU has more potential to improve over this season than any other team in the SEC. After that disappointing early loss to Florida State the Tigers have ripped off four wins in a row, including against Mississippi State and Auburn.
Sumrall doing things at Troy ... The Trojans are 3-2 after a 34-27 win against Western Kentucky on the road, which was 3-1 going into that game. WKU's Austin Reed passed for 406 yards and three scores but Troy ran the ball just well enough to control the game. Troy finished strong with a 21-10 advantage in the second half.
Two more picks for Spencer Rattler ... The South Carolina quarterback tossed two first half picks in USC's 50-10 win against South Carolina State. For the season the Oklahoma transfer has four touchdowns and seven interceptions with one of the lowest QBRs in the SEC. Kentucky opens as a 10.5-point favorite against the Gamecocks so it would be a surprise and a disappointment if the Cats drop it it. That will all depend on the team's mental state.
Crushing loss for Louisville ... Boston College has a banged up offensive line and carried a 1-3 record into the weekend's game with Louisville, but the Eagles won 34-33. That's a bad loss for the Cardinals, and a reminder that it has just never really looked like Scott Satterfield is capable of building any sustained momentum there. Allowing QB Phil Jurkovec to complete 18 of 21 throws for 304 yards and three touchdowns, 14.5 yards per attempt, is wild. BC has good receivers but it may have been the best the Eagle offensive line played all year. Malik Cunningham left the game with an injury and we'll have to wait and see how severe it is, but either way, this isn't a team that should pose a big problem for UK at the end of the year.
