College Football Scores 2014: Week 6 Results and Top Stars for Top 25 Teams
Week 6 became synonymous with marquee upsets the moment No. 2 Oregon fell to Arizona on Thursday night, but it took further shape with a Saturday that will end with the College Football Playoff picture altered significantly.
With many top teams facing ranked and dangerous opposition, Week 6 proved it would separate the CFP contenders from the pretenders, and that's exactly what happened. Alabama waited until the end of November last season to bow out of the undefeated ranks, but the Crimson Tide fell early in 2014 as No. 11 Ole Miss pulled the shocking upset at home, 23-17.
Bleacher Report noted the result, which ended with the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium fans crashing the party:
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Once again, the Crimson Tide entered the fourth quarter with a lead. But just like Auburn did in last year's Iron Bowl, the Rebels stayed in it and made huge plays in the final minutes to secure the victory. That included a last-minute interception in the end zone when a Tide touchdown and PAT would have won it for Alabama.
Alabama losing is already enough to make any college football weekend wacky, but that was only the start of the SEC West chaos.
Sixth-ranked Texas A&M was put on the ropes for a second straight weekend early Saturday afternoon against No. 12 Mississippi State, and the Aggies couldn't rally back in Starkville as the Bulldogs posted a 48-31 statement victory.
SportsCenter capped up the result:
When it comes to Heisman performances, nobody had a better day than Dak Prescott. The Mississippi State quarterback threw for 259 yards and rushed for 77 more, adding five total touchdowns in the lopsided win.
The Bulldogs proved they were for real with last weekend's road win over LSU, but they left no doubt Saturday that they could be big players in the SEC title race. As if the SEC West wasn't stacked enough, Mississippi State is turning heads entering October, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Think the upsets were done with Alabama, Texas A&M and Oregon all falling? In the words of Lee Corso: Not so fast, my friend.
No. 4 Oklahoma decided to join them by falling from the ranks of the unbeaten, as the Sooners were unable to mount a late comeback and fell to No. 25 TCU 37-33. Trevor Knight completed less than half of his passes and threw two interceptions, while Paul Dawson returned a 41-yard pick for a score in the fourth quarter that was the difference.
Albeit an upset of a lower grade, No. 17 Wisconsin can be thrown in there as well after falling to Northwestern 20-14. An opening loss to LSU was the lone blemish on the Badgers' record prior to this weekend, but they'll face an uphill battle in the Big Ten after falling to one of the conference's worst teams.
As College GameDay showed, it was a weekend for upsets:
Ninth-ranked Notre Dame finally had its chance to prove itself against a Top 15 opponent, and did just that in dramatic fashion as the Fighting Irish pulled out a 17-14 win over No. 14 Stanford. NBC Sports capped up the result:
Everett Golson wasn't at his best to start out, but he turned things around when it counted. After Stanford took a 14-10 lead with 3:01 left in the game, Golson marched Notre Dame down the field to score and win with just one minute left in regulation.
After a few straight weeks on upset alert, things returned to normal for top-ranked Florida State as most of its company atop the rankings struggled. Jameis Winston overcame a poor start to lead the Seminoles to a 43-3 win over Wake Forest.
The defending champions actually started the second quarter behind 3-0, but the 'Noles got things rolling on the ground and Winston started gashing the Demon Deacons defense in the third quarter. Florida State improves to a perfect 5-0 with the result.
No. 7 Baylor faced its first tough test with a trip to face the Texas Longhorns. And while things were tight at 7-0 entering the second half, the Bears blew things open with a dominant day on the ground to overcome Bryce Petty's struggles for a 28-7 win.
Georgia joined Baylor with lopsided wins in the hopes of gaining ground in the Top 25, throttling Vanderbilt at home as Todd Gurley once again ran wild all over SEC competition.
Here's a look at the Top 25 scores from Saturday that have gone final:
| No. 12 Mississippi State: 48 | No. 6 Texas A&M: 31 |
| No. 11 Ole Miss: 23 | No. 3 Alabama: 17 |
| No. 1 Florida State: 44 | Wake Forest: 3 |
| No. 25 TCU: 37 | No. 4 Oklahoma: 33 |
| No. 7 Baylor: 28 | Texas: 7 |
| Northwestern: 20 | No. 17 Wisconsin: 14 |
| No. 9 Notre Dame: 17 | No. 14 Stanford: 14 |
| No. 22 East Carolina: 45 | SMU: 24 |
| No. 21 Oklahoma State: 37 | Iowa State: 20 |
| No. 20 Ohio State: 52 | Maryland: 24 |
| No. 13 Georgia: 44 | Vanderbilt: 17 |
Dak Prescott, Mississippi State: 19-of-25, 336 Total Yards, 5 Total TD
Prescott wasn't at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy conversation entering Saturday despite the Bulldogs' win over LSU. He needed a big game in Starkville against one of the SEC West heavyweights to prove Mississippi State has a chance to run the table in college football's toughest division.
There's a lot more work ahead, but he can at least cross that off his list. The junior quarterback throttled the No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies with five total touchdowns, taking 23 carries for 77 yards on top of more than 250 through the air.
Prescott came out and made the Aggies pay with his arm, then turn around on the very next drive to a ground-and-pound attack. Nearly every time, it was Prescott either waltzing into the end zone or throwing a bomb for a score.
Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer perfectly described the status of Prescott's Heisman campaign—which more and more people are jumping on board for:
Prescott might still be an unknown name for the average college football fan, but nearly anyone who has seen his recent performances should be convinced he has a chance to do the impossible for Mississippi State—stay near the top of the SEC West, and contend for a spot in Atlanta.
Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss will have something to say about that, but none will be sleeping on Prescott after a pair of big days against LSU and Texas A&M.
Trevone Boykin, TCU: 20-of-38, 393 Total Yards, 2 TD, INT
Ever since joining the Big 12 some three years ago, the TCU Horned Frogs have been itching for the marquee win to catapult them into the national conversation. So when you host the best team in the conference and the nation's No. 4 team, it's put-up or shut-up time.
Trevone Boykin definitely put-up on Saturday. He notched 393 total yards, threw two touchdowns and consistently led the Horned Frogs to scoring drives that ultimately led to a 37-33 upset win.
He gashed the Sooners with both the run and the pass. While he threw for 318 yards and an average of 15.9 yards per completion, he also took 22 carries for 75 yards. Oklahoma could never figure out how to contain both, and it ended up containing neither.
The gauntlet has just begun for TCU—it travels to Baylor next weekend before hosting Oklahoma State on Oct. 18. But if Saturday's result was any indication, they'll be right in the middle of both those battles.
Todd Gurley, Georgia: 25 Carries, 163 Yards, 2 TD
Another weekend, another Todd Gurley performance to swoon over.
The Bulldogs running back continued his Heisman campaign in full force on Saturday against the unfortunate Vanderbilt Commodores. He took 25 carries for 163 yards and two touchdowns, with a whopping 6.5 yards per carry.
His two touchdown scampers both came in the first quarter to give Georgia a 14-0 lead, and it wouldn't look back largely thanks to Gurley's ability to constantly move the chains and put the Bulldogs in a position to score. And as if his rushing dominance wasn't enough, he also threw a 50-yard pass as College GameDay noted:
Gurley is among the top Heisman contenders this season already, and Saturday's showing won't do anything to hurt that.
Bo Wallace, Ole Miss: 18-of-31, 283 Total Yards, 3 TD
Ole Miss fans have long been waiting for this day from Bo Wallace and their Rebels team, and it finally came on Saturday.
The senior quarterback went 18-of-31 passing with 251 yards and three touchdowns in Ole Miss' shocking upset victory over third-ranked Alabama on Saturday. He orchestrated a pair of touchdown drives in the final 5:29 of the game, taking the Rebels from a 17-10 deficit to perhaps the upset of the season.
Most importantly of all—other than notching the win—was that he avoided turning the ball over after starting the season with six interceptions.
Wallace has had his ups and downs this season, but proved clutch on Saturday and Sports Illustrated's Peter King is a fan:
To seriously contend in the SEC West, beating Alabama is a must. Ole Miss did just that on Saturday, and they emerge right into the forefront of the conversation—not only for a SEC title, but a CFP spot.
Justin Hardy, East Carolina: 8 Catches, 120 Yards, 3 TD
Quarterback Shane Carden has been the story of No. 22 East Carolina's shocking run to the Top 25, but he wouldn't be quite as dangerous without stellar receivers. Justin Hardy made that clear on Saturday.
The Pirates kept on rolling with a 45-24 win over SMU, and Hardy was on fire. He had eight catches for 120 yards, catching three touchdowns on the day—all of which came in the first half.
One of them was a crazy highlight-reel grab in the second quarter, which he ever-so-humbly said was just average for him, per Scout.com's Josh Graham:
Spectacularly enough, he didn't even lead the team in catches or receiving yards. Isaiah Jones notched nine grabs for 130 yards, but only caught one touchdown to Hardy's three.
Other than a close loss to South Carolina, the Pirates have stood up their competition this season with emphatic wins over Virginia Tech and North Carolina. With the meat of their conference schedule ahead of them, Carden, Hardy and Co. should continue to turn heads in the Top 25.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
