College Football Awards, Week 5 (2026) October 5, 2026

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Alabama, Auburn, B1G, Ball State, Bill Belichick, Bowling Green, BYU, college football, Colorado, Cougars, David Braun, Eastern Michigan, Florida, football, Gators, Georgia, Hurricanes, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, James Franklin, Jeff Brohm, Jon Sumrall, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, Maryland, Matt Campbell, Memphis, Miami (FL), Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, NCAA football, New Mexico, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Pat Narduzzi, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Red River, Rice, SEC, Shane Beamer, South Carolina, Sports, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Tigers, UCLA, UMass, USC, UTEP, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia
trackback

COACHES
Wish I were him:  PJ Fleck, Minnesota

Glad I’m not him: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan

Lucky guy: Pat Narduzzi, Pitt

Also:  Will Stein, Kentucky

Poor guy: James Franklin, Virginia Tech

Also:  Shane Beamer, South Carolina

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Matt Campbell, Penn State

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Braun, Northwestern

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jon Sumrall, Florida

Desperately seeking … anything:  Jeff Brohm, Louisville

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Memphis (defeated Charlotte 59-8)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas Tech (defeated Colorado 29-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Stanford (lost to Wake Forest 57-3)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Rice (lost to UTSA 16-14)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Mizzou (defeated No. 8 Florida 45-17)

Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad:  UTEP

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Florida

Did the season start?  Louisville
Can the season end?  Charlotte

Can the season never end? Missouri

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 18 USC 25, Washington 21

Play this again, too: Iowa State 45, West Virginia 42

Never play this again: New Mexico 61, UTEP 7

What? Eastern Michigan 38, UMass 14

Huh?  Northwestern 34, Penn State 13

Are you kidding me??  Temple 17, South Florida 13

Oh – my – God:  No. 25 Missouri 45, No. 8 Florida 17

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 6)
Ticket to die for:  No. 2 Georgia @ No. 6 Alabama

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: none

Best non-Power Four matchup: South Florida @ UTSA

Upset alert: Oklahoma vs No. 1 Texas in the Red River Shootout

Must win: Florida State @ Louisville (Friday)

Offensive explosion: No. 21 UCLA @ No. 13 Oregon

Defensive struggle: No. 20 Iowa @ Washington (Friday)

Great game no one is talking about: No. 22 Houston @ Kansas State

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Pat Narduzzi of Pitt vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Stanford @ No. 3 Notre Dame

Why are they playing?  Ball State @ Northwestern

Plenty of good seats remaining: Sacramento State @ Bowling Green

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Maryland @ No. 5 Ohio State

Week 5 Thoughts:

Let us be honest:  this was not the greatest week for college football.  Even the so-called “ticket to die for” turned out to be something of a dud.  Mississippi State is good, but apparently, Alabama found another gear of performance and shifted into it in Starkville when folks were least expecting it.

That said, there were good games.  Auburn, which has quietly gained strength, put up a real fight against the Volunteers in Knoxville.  Minnesota demonstrated that they are not a team to be taken lightly as they retained the Little Brown Jug against Michigan.  North Carolina put up an impressive fight against Notre Dame at home, and Kentucky won in a shootout at South Carolina.

If that is not enough, Iowa gave Ohio State a good fight for a half, and on-again, off-again rain in Fort Worth made the BYU-TCU game a close, defensive struggle wherein the Cougars eventually triumphed.  Moreover, Iowa State squeaked by West Virginia in a massive shootout of a game. If that is not enough, Purdue snapped a 19-game B1G losing streak, at Illinois, no less.

So there were plenty of interesting games, just no “monster games” as in previous weeks.  Games between Texas and Ohio State, and also Texas at Tennessee, not to mention Oregon at USC, have spoiled us.

But next week Georgia faces their first true test, on that road in Tuscaloosa, and it’s also Red River time in Dallas.

Random Thoughts:

What to make of Florida?  Just when they appear to be a force to be reckoned with in the SEC, they lay an egg on the road at Mizzou.  The Tigers cannot be that good, can they?

Keep an eye on how the Gators bounce back from this embarrassing loss as they venture up to South Carolina next week.  Same could be said for the Gamecocks:  they lost a heartbreaker at home to Kentucky, and now recently-embarrassed Florida is about to come calling.

Clemson put up a decent fight against Miami at home. If I were Marcus Freeman, I would be studying film of this game very intently as I prepare my team to face the Hurricanes later this year.