College Football Awards, Week 5 (2024) September 30, 2024

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Air Force, Akron, Alabama, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Boise State, Bowling Green, Brent Pry, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Clemson, college football, Crimson Tide, Florida State, football, Georgia, Greg Schiano, Jalen Milroe, James Madison, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Lance Leipold, Lane Kiffin, Louisville, LSU, Mario Cristobal, Matt Rhule, Miami (Fla.), Navy, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Ryan Williams, SEC, Sooners, Temple, Texas, Texas Tech, Tigers, UConn, Utah State, Virginia Tech, War Eagle
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Glad I’m not him: Kirby Smart, Georgia

Lucky guy: Mario Cristobal, Miami (Fla.)

Poor guy: Brent Pry, Virginia Tech

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: (inconclusive)

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Greg Schiano, Rutgers

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Desperately seeking … anything:  Lance Leipold, Kansas

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: James Madison (defeated Ball State 63-7)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oklahoma (defeated Auburn 27-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Temple (lost to Army 42-14)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Virginia Tech (lost to No. 7 Miami, Fla. 38-34)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Kansas State (defeated No. 20 Oklahoma State 42-20)

Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad:  Buffalo

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Auburn

Did the season start?  Ole Miss
Can the season end?  Florida State

Can the season never end? Alabama

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 4 Alabama 41, No. 2 Georgia 34

Play this again, too:  Texas Tech 44, Cincinnati 41

Never play this again: James Madison 63, Ball State 0

What?  N/A

Huh?  Arizona 23, No. 10 Utah 10

Are you kidding me??  No. 4 Alabama 41, No. 2 Georgia 34

Oh – my – God:  Kentucky 20, No. 6 Ole Miss 17

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 6)
Best game of the week:  No. 9 Missouri @ Texas A&M

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Syracuse @ No. 25 UNLV

Best non-Power Four matchup: Colorado State @ Oregon State

Upset alert: SMU @ No. 22 Louisville

Must win: No. 12 Ole Miss @ South Carolina

Offensive explosion: Utah State @ Boise State

Defensive struggle: Navy @ Air Force

Great game no one is talking about: Rutgers @ Nebraska

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Greg Schiano of Rutgers vs Matt Rhule of Nebraska

Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 15 Clemson @ Florida State

Why are they playing?  N/A

Plenty of good seats remaining: Bowling Green @ Akron

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Temple @ UConn

Week 5 Thoughts:

Oklahoma @ Auburn

There are two types of teams that “can’t stand prosperity”.  The typical type is one that is on a win streak but then inexplicably loses a winnable game.  The atypical type is where a team that has been having a lousy season but then, in one game, is leading as an underdog for most of the 60 minutes, only to blow the lead in the last minutes of regulation.

Clearly Auburn fell into the latter category.  Going into the game against Oklahoma at 2-2, they already lost some games that many perceived to be winnable, namely Cal and Arkansas.  That losing prompted some in the press to speculate that Auburn football had lost its way.

Yet things seemed to turn around against Oklahoma.  The Tigers led most of the game until the Sooners scored at 8:34 in the 4^th quarter, made the two point conversion, then broadened their lead to 27-21 when they kicked a field goal with 58 seconds left in the game.  Though Auburn got the ball back, that amount of time was not enough for them to go the length of the field.

So, has the War Eagle still “lost its way”?  Perhaps, but then again, this is the SEC, which is brutal top to bottom.  A potentially more plausible explanation is that Auburn is down in talent during a season when its surrounding competition is especially “up”, from LSU to Georgia, from Alabama to Tennessee.  Ole Miss was considered a top ten team prior to their upset loss at home to Kentucky, who in turn got spanked by South Carolina earlier this month.

Can they still turn things around and salvage the season?  Anything is possible.  The current problem for Auburn is, they have no time to lick their wounds, as the go on the road to Georgia next week.  Speaking of…

Georgia @ Alabama

Despite being down 28-0 early in the 2^nd quarter to Alabama, Georgia gradually roared back and even briefly led with 2:42 left in the game.  Then Jalen Milroe’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Williams, along with a two-pointer, put the Crimson Tide back on top for good at 41-34. 

Does this mean that Georgia’s playoff hopes are dashed on the rocks?  Hardly, but they also have one of the toughest schedules of any team in the FBS this year (they still have yet to play Ole Miss, Texas, and Tennessee), and losing to Bama put them in the hole from the outset.

Nevertheless, should they make the playoffs, perhaps next time they’ll know better than to spot a top-ranked team four touchdowns before they decide to start playing football.