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College Football Awards, Week 5 (2025) September 29, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Dan Lanning, Oregon

Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State

Lucky guy: Bret Bielema, Illinois

Poor guy: Lincoln Riley, USC

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brian Kelly, LSU

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ryan Silverfield, Memphis

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Norvell, Florida State

Desperately seeking … anything:  Sam Pittman, Arkansas

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Missouri (defeated UMass 42-6)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Indiana  (defeated Iowa 20-15)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Akron (lost to Toledo 45-3)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  South Alabama (lost to North Texas 36-22)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Notre Dame (defeated Arkansas 56-13)  

Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad:  Akron

Can’t Stand Prosperity: LSU

Did the season start?  Florida State
Can the season end?  UCLA

Can the season never end? Ole Miss

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 6 Oregon 30, No. 3 Penn State 24, 2OT

Play this again, too: No. 13 Ole Miss 24, No. 4 LSU 19

Never play this again: No. 22 Notre Dame 56, Arkansas 13

What?  No. 23 Illinois 34, No. 21 USC 32

Huh?  No. 17 Alabama 24, No. 5 Georgia 21

Double-Huh?:  No. 13 Ole Miss 24, No. 4 LSU 19

Are you kidding me??  No. 6 Oregon 30, No. 3 Penn State 24, 2OT

Oh – my – God:  Virginia 46, No. 8 Florida State 38, 2OT

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 6)
Ticket to die for:  No. 3 Miami (FL) @ No. 18 Florida State

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Boise State @ No. 21 Notre Dame

Best non-Power Four matchup: FIU @ UConn

Upset alert: No. 16 Vanderbilt @ No. 10 Alabama

Must win: Mississippi State @ No. 6 Texas A&M

Offensive explosion: No. 11 Texas Tech @ Houston

Defensive struggle: No. 7 Texas @ Florida

Great game no one is talking about: No. 24 Virginia @ Louisville

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Bret Bielema of Illinois vs Barry Odom of Purdue

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 7 Penn State @ UCLA

Why are they playing? Kent State @ No. 5 Oklahoma

Plenty of good seats remaining: Miami (OH) @ Northern Illinois

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Campbell @ NC State

Week 5 Thoughts:

What a week for the game.  We experienced a week in college football where the monster Saturday lived up to its hype.  We witnessed an epic nighttime clash in Happy Valley; an interesting test for the No. 1 team in Seattle; a stunning upset Between the Hedges; defensive struggles in College Station and Iowa City alike; a near-upset in Starkville; and a statement game near The Grove.  Did we also mention a Friday-night upset in Charlottesville, echoing one involving the same opponents almost 30 years ago to the day?

So, where to begin? 

If we were to start with perhaps the biggest of all the games this day, why not start with the purported “ticket to die for”?  What was a 3-3 tie at halftime became a 17-17 tie in regulation.  Penn State struggled to get their running game established for the majority of the 60 minutes, but managed to put together some impressive runs late in the 4th quarter, enough to come back from a deficit to Oregon.  Both teams scored in the first OT, Oregon answered with another TD in the 2OT, but botched their two-point attempt.  The window for the Nittany Lions was open…only for it to close in an instant when Drew Allar threw an inexplicable pick to the right side of the field.  What ended in huge triumph for Dan Lanning and the Ducks ended in turn as continued frustration for James Franklin & Co., who continue to search for a top-ten win.

Ohio State journeyed out to Seattle to take on undefeated, underrated Washington.  The Huskies were prepared well to take on Ohio State, but the Buckeyes managed to slowly, gradually, subdue their hosts over the course of the game, winning 24-6.

Alabama came into a raucous Sanford Stadium at night to take on Georgia, and led for the majority of the game in an incredibly physical contest, walking out from Between the Hedges with a huge win that vindicates Kalen DeBoer’s tenure – for now – in Tuscaloosa, and continues Kirby Smart’s head-scratching Alabama woes.

The purported “defensive struggle” for this week, Kentucky @ South Carolina, turned out not to be for this pathetic prognosticator, as the Gamecocks surprisingly revived their offense to drub the Wildcats 35-13.  Meanwhile, the true defensive struggle took place in College Station, where the home team Aggies beat Auburn 16-10.  The Tigers have demonstrated to have a good defense, but to describe their offense as anemic would still be an understatement.

The other defensive struggle of note took place in Iowa City.  Apparently, Indiana was still on Cloud Nine after ripping Illinois the previous week, for their offense seemed to take the week off.  Meanwhile, Iowa, who seemed to discover their offense against UMass (does that even count?) only to lose it again when it counted two weeks later.  That aside, an early 4th-quarter field goal put the Hawkeyes up 13-10 over the Hoosiers, who nevertheless answered in delayed fashion with a touchdown with 1:36 left in the game.  It proved to be the decisive score, ending at 20-15 in IU’s favor.

Tennessee came calling at Mississippi State, amid more than 60,000 fans with clanging cow bells.  The Bulldogs, undefeated prior to this game, put up an incredible fight against the Volunteers, staying close to the orange-clad team throughout regulation, where the teams ended in a tie.  But Tennessee’s talent shined through in OT, allowing them to leave with a win, 41-34.  Nevertheless, if Mississippi State’s performance is any indication, they can make life difficult for many subsequent teams on their conference schedule.

Meanwhile, a true ‘statement game’ unfolded in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.  Despite No. 4 LSU drawing first blood in this huge game, home team (and No. 13-ranked) Ole Miss quickly took the lead, and never looked back for the remainder therein.  Backup QB Trinidad Chambliss contributed 385 of total offense, including a 20-yard completion for a 4th-down conversion that sealed the game.  This decisive win was a ‘statement’ in that it proved the Rebels belong in the conversation as part of the highest tier in the brutal SEC.  Conversely, this loss to a major rival raises lots of questions for LSU.  Fans were already grumbling over what they perceived to be an unconvincing win over dubious Florida earlier this month.  Imagine the grumbling in Bayou Country right now.  Perhaps instead of complaining about whether the scrutiny over his coaching is justified, perhaps Kelly should work to develop an offense that takes advantage of QB Garrett Nussmeier.

Finally, Friday night yielded perhaps the greatest upset of the week, when No. 8 Florida State came into town to play unranked Virginia.  The Cavaliers played the undefeated Seminoles closely throughout the game, even taking the heavily-favored visitors into overtime.  Throngs of students gathered on the grassy slopes behind Scott Stadium’s northwest endzone in anticipation of their Virginia team coming through, which they did when Florida State failed to convert in the second overtime.  Instantly, the fans filled the field in wild celebration.  This 46-38 win echoes a similar upset 30 years earlier, when, on a Thursday night game on Nov. 2, 1995, then-No. 2 Florida State came to town, only to leave Charlottesville with their first loss of the season (and Virginia’s first-ever win over the vaunted Seminoles).  Time to party like it’s 1995!

Random Thoughts:

Here we thought that Syracuse was a good team, I guess, because they beat Clemson.  Then they go on to lose a home game in embarrassing fashion to Duke.  What gives?

Remember how we thought that Arkansas’ defense taking leave of the entire second half against Memphis was a fluke?  Perhaps it was not after all, given the drubbing the Razorbacks just took at home to Notre Dame.  Sam Pittman just nudged Billy Napier out of the No. 1-coach-on-the-hotseat-in-the-SEC spot after sustaining the Razorbacks’ eighth-worst loss at home.