Winners and Losers from Week 6 of College Football
Seven of the nation's Top 25 teams had Week 6 of the 2016 college football season off, but the other 18 (minus one with a postponed contest) made up for it with pure madness from the hurricane game between Notre Dame and North Carolina State right up until our weekly quota of #Pac12AfterDark calamity.
As far as the various polls and bowl-game projections are concerned, the biggest loser of the week was the Houston Cougars. While Top Five teams Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and Washington took care of business on the road, No. 6 Houston got more than it bargained for in Annapolis, Maryland, in the form of a 46-40 loss to the Navy Midshipmen.
Meanwhile, playing away from home wasn't so bad for No. 23 Florida State and No. 25 Virginia Tech, who both picked up crucial wins over higher-ranked ACC foes.
Read on for the rest of this week's biggest winners and losers.
Winners: Arkansas State Red Wolves
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From 2011 to 2015, Arkansas State was as good as it got in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves won four of the last five conference championships and have competed in bowl games in five consecutive years, compiling an overall record of 44-21.
2016 hasn't been nearly as much fun. They entered Week 6 with a 0-4 record, including an embarrassing home loss to Central Arkansas two weeks ago. The Red Wolves committed three turnovers in the final 18 minutes to hand the Bears their first FBS win in school history.
Turnovers were a major issue again for Arkansas State in Wednesday night's showdown with Georgia Southern. The Red Wolves coughed up the ball on two of their first five plays from scrimmage and committed a total of five turnovers without forcing a single one.
And yet, they trailed by just six with two minutes remaining when the magic began.
On 4th-and-16 from his own 24, Red Wolves sophomore quarterback Justice Hansen scrambled 18 yards for a nearly unfathomable first down. Arkansas State matriculated the ball down to the 8-yard line with just a few ticks left on the clock when wide receiver Omar Bayless made an acrobatic grab in the corner of the end zone. The extra point gave Arkansas State a one-point lead, 27-26, and its first win of the season.
Loser: Pass Defense at Joe Aillet Stadium
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There was no good reason to expect many turnovers in Thursday night's Pass-A-Palooza between Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech. Through 10 combined games, the Hilltoppers and Bulldogs had only forced 10 turnovers. Moreover, neither team committed a single turnover during comfortable Week 5 victories.
Both quarterbacks took full advantage of the mutually beneficial situation.
Western Kentucky's Mike White went 36-of-50 for 340 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Star receivers Nicholas Norris and Taywan Taylor accounted for all of the passing touchdowns, including an incredible one-handed grab by Taylor early in the fourth quarter.
But Louisiana Tech quarterback Ryan Higgins was equally impressive, leading the Bulldogs to the 55-52 win. He completed 33 of 45 passes for 454 yards with five scores and nary a pick. Trent Taylor made 13 of those receptions, and Carlos Henderson had three of the touchdowns—all in the first 18 minutes of the game.
Assuming you enjoy points, it was one heck of a fun game to watch. Excluding the drives at the end of each half, 17 of the 22 possessions resulted in points, including touchdowns on seven of the game's first eight possessions. It was just the third game of the season (joining Texas Tech vs. Arizona State and Toledo vs. BYU) in which both teams scored at least 50 points in regulation.
Winners: Dede Westbrook and Samaje Perine, Oklahoma
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Early on, the Red River Showdown was anything but the shootout we were expecting. After eight possessions, there were three turnovers, three punts, a missed field goal and one successful Longhorns field goal to end a drive that netted minus-three yards.
With two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Oklahoma had no points, and Texas had two yards of total offense.
(No, this wasn't the early game played in a hurricane.)
Fortunately for the Sooners, Dede Westbrook and Samaje Perine came to play for the rest of the afternoon.
Westbrook set a single-game Oklahoma record with 232 receiving yards, hauling in 10 catches and accounting for each of Baker Mayfield's three passing TDs. In a span of less than 15 minutes, he had scores of 71, 42 and 47 yards.
But it was Perine who helped the Sooners salt the game. The star running back had 19 of his 35 carries in roughly the final 18 minutes, finishing the day with 214 yards and two TDs on the ground. There weren't many massive chunks—his long for the day was only 30 yards—but Perine put Oklahoma in manageable down-and-distance situations over and over again.
The duo gave the No. 20 Sooners just enough offense for the 45-40 rivalry win. They improved to 3-2 and maintained their hopes of playing in a New Year's Six bowl game.
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Loser: Brian Kelly
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As Hurricane Matthew bombarded the East Coast with several inches of rain per hour, Notre Dame and North Carolina State waged war in a slopfest that was simultaneously unwatchable and impossible to turn off.
Centers and long snappers had a whale of a time trying to get the ball to its desired location. Notre Dame's Sam Mustipher had at least two shotgun snaps that never came close to quarterback DeShone Kizer, including a terrible one on 4th-and-8 on the final offensive play of the game for the Fighting Irish.
The only touchdown of the game came on a blocked punt that Notre Dame's Tyler Newsome had trouble handling. Notre Dame's only field goal of the game came after N.C. State's punter took a knee on his own 25 while trying to field a bad snap.
One play after N.C. State's Jalan McClendon pitched the ball to no one in particular for a 16-yard loss, the Wolfpack failed to even attempt the 35-yard field goal that would have given them the lead, as the snap nearly sailed over the holder's head. In addition to that botched field goal, N.C. State's Kyle Bambard missed a 31-yard attempt. The two field goals that did go in just barely cleared the crossbar on line-drive knuckleballs.
There were 10 fumbles—four of which led to turnovers. All the players on the field had trouble hanging on to the ball or finding any footing when they possessed the elusive pigskin.
And yet, right up to the bitter end, Kelly continued calling pass plays.
It was as though he wasn't witness to the comedy of errors unfolding on the field. Kizer finished the game 9-of-26 for 54 yards with a red-zone interception, and that doesn't include the 15 times he either scrambled or took a sack after a dropback. While N.C. State ran the ball nearly four times for every pass, the Fighting Irish called more passes than rushes. Notre Dame's final three incompletions of the game all went straight through the intended receivers' hands.
In a game Notre Dame almost certainly had to win to become bowl-eligible—good luck finding four victories on a remaining schedule of No. 15 Stanford, No. 10 Miami (Florida), Navy, Army, No. 25 Virginia Tech and USC—Kelly was content to throw the season away.
Winner: UTSA's Rushing Attack
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If you thought Texas-San Antonio would have trouble running the ball against Southern Mississippi, there was plenty of evidence to support that theory.
Back on Sept 10, USM held Savannah State to 11 rushing yards, while UTSA ran for minus-one yard against Colorado State. UTSA's rushing offense entered the day ranked 124th in the nation at 96.3 yards per game. USM's rushing defense was 34th at 123.6 yards per game. The Roadrunners were averaging one rushing TD per game, which is precisely what the Golden Eagles were allowing.
Naturally, UTSA set the turf ablaze Saturday with 339 yards and six touchdowns while setting a school record for points scored against a FBS opponent.
Sophomore running back Jalen Rhodes entered the day with 197 yards and one touchdown, but he ran for 165 yards on 14 touches with three scores, including an 80-yard scamper to paydirt.
Similarly, senior Jarveon Williams had 131 yards and one touchdown in his first four games before exploding for 122 yards and two TDs against Southern Miss. Most of his damage came on one carry—a 92-yard run on 3rd-and-13 from his own 5-yard line on UTSA's final drive of the afternoon.
The Roadrunners had attempted at least 30 passes in each of their first four games, but they needed to throw it only 12 times to run away from Southern Miss for the 55-32 win.
Losers: People Targeting Joey Julius
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Joey Julius has become an internet sensation.
Most kickers don’t weigh 200 pounds, and if they do, they seem to carry the bulk of that weight in their calves. Penn State's sophomore kicker, listed at 5'10", 258 pounds, looks more like a linebacker. Julius recently opened up on Facebook about a binge eating disorder for which he sought treatment this offseason.
One the football field, he has put his frame to good use, as his hits on Kent State's Raekwon James and Michigan's Jourdan Lewis caused quite the stir among YouTube and Vine users.
As it turns out, opposing teams have taken notice too and are launching pre-emptive strikes against him.
Last week, Minnesota's Jaylen Waters was ejected for a cheap shot on Julius in the third quarter—after the two had gotten into a bit of a wrestling match during a kickoff in the second quarter. This week, it was Maryland's Isaiah Davis laying out Julius for no good reason on the opening kickoff of the second half. Davis was also ejected for the infraction.
For what it's worth, the Nittany Lions won 38-14 Saturday and are undefeated when an opponent gets thrown out of a game for teeing off on Julius. They have next week off before hosting Ohio State. Will the Buckeyes be disciplined enough to leave him untouched?
Winner: Virginia Tech's Ability to Capitalize
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Playing in the same torrential downpour that turned Notre Dame vs. N.C. State into chaos, No. 25 Virginia Tech and No. 17 North Carolina battled for first place in the ACC's Coastal Division.
It wasn't quite as sloppy as the first game of the day in the Tar Heel state, but it was close. Each team lost multiple fumbles. Both quarterbacks completed less than 42 percent of their passes and threw for a combined 133 yards. Both teams also botched a punt attempt, but at least they were able to make all their field-goal attempts.
Despite the conditions, the Hokies delivered a thorough whooping to the Tar Heels, winning on the road by a score of 34-3.
Virginia Tech simply took advantage of the opportunities it had.
All six of VT's scoring drives began in UNC territory. Three North Carolina fumbles, two interceptions and a punt from the 1-yard line turned into 34 points for Virginia Tech. There were 31 possessions in the game, and only one of them went for more than 41 yards—a 63-yard drive that ended in a Virginia Tech fumble.
The Hokies are now in the driver's seat for a spot in the ACC Championship Game. They still face Miami in less than two weeks, but that's a Thursday night home game just five days after the 'Canes face an angry North Carolina.
Loser: Houston's Playoff Hopes (and Rushing Defense)
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Since beating then-No. 3 Oklahoma to open the season, the national Houston radar had been focused on Nov. 17 for its marquee game against Louisville. The Cougars blew out Lamar, Cincinnati, Texas State and Connecticut by a combined margin of 155 points and seemed to be cruising toward a New Year's Six bowl game—if not a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Saturday's road game against Navy was supposed to be just another barely contested steppingstone on that journey.
Houston entered the week with the best rushing defense in the country, allowing just 42 yards per game. Navy averaged just over 316 rushing yards per game in its first three games, but that triple-option accounted for just 57 yards on 38 carries last week against Air Force. Against the Cougars, a repeat of that 57 was far more likely than another game in the 300s.
But Will Worth and Co. got the job done and pulled off the massive upset. Navy's QB had 32 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown, leading the Midshipmen to 306 yards on the ground. They threw the ball just five times compared to 63 rushes, but two of those passes went for TDs in a third quarter that also produced a Navy pick-six from which Houston was never able to recover.
We're not prepared to bury Houston's playoff hopes in cement just yet. If the Cougars win out while the Pac-12 and Big 12 fail to produce a viable national semifinalist, anything could happen. By failing to stifle Navy's running game, though, the Cougars now have one heck of an uphill climb ahead.
Winner: This Week's Top 10 Showdown
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Last week's battles between Top 10 teams were hit-or-miss. Louisville vs. Clemson was arguably the best game of the season to date. But Wisconsin vs. Michigan was a low-scoring snoozefest, while Washington vs. Stanford was a 44-6 rout by the Huskies.
Fortunately, the SEC's top-tiered tussle was much more ACC than Big Ten or Pac-12, as No. 8 Texas A&M needed two overtimes to finally put an end to No. 9 Tennessee's season-long voodoo magic by a score of 45-38.
If you weren't able to set aside five hours to watch this one, rest assured, it had everything.
Tennessee's Alvin Kamara had 127 rushing yards, 161 receiving yards and three total touchdowns. Texas A&M's Trevor Knight threw for 239 yards and ran for 110 more, accounting for five of the six TDs for the Aggies.
The Volunteers completed a 21-point comeback—what else is new with this team?—with help from a last-second missed field goal and an unbelievable fumble Malik Foreman forced on what should have been the game-clinching TD for A&M. There were a total of 10 turnovers, capped off by an interception of Joshua Dobbs on Tennessee's first offensive snap of the second OT.
The win should vault Texas A&M to No. 6 in the polls, and it's unlikely the loss bumps Tennessee outside the Top 15.
Moreover, because it was such an incredible game—and because Houston played itself out of the conversation with the loss to Navy—it enhanced the SEC's chances of sending two teams to the College Football Playoff.
Texas A&M and Alabama will meet in two weeks to likely determine who represents the SEC West in the conference championship game. If the Aggies lose that road game before winning their last five, they would be 11-1 with wins over UCLA, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU. That would be one heck of a tough resume to ignore.
Loser: Michigan State...Again
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Once upon a time, Michigan State was ranked No. 8 in the nation with a 2-0 record that included a marquee road win over Notre Dame.
That feels like a lifetime ago.
In addition to that win over the now 2-4 Fighting Irish losing every last bit of its value, the Spartans have lost three in a row, putting their quest for bowl eligibility in serious jeopardy.
The latest loss is the most embarrassing yet, as BYU routed them 31-14 in East Lansing. With all due respect to the Cougars, that team is no juggernaut. It entered the game with a 2-3 record and every single game decided by a margin of three points or fewer.
But Jamaal Williams ran a freight train through Michigan State's front seven, rushing 30 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns in his fourth game with at least 160 rushing yards. In total, BYU ran for 260 yards against a defense that was averaging just 105.5 yards allowed per game.
Not only was Michigan State shockingly porous on defense, but it was hapless on offense. The Spartans had just 206 yards of total offense. Seven of their nine drives lasted six plays or fewer, including a trio of three-and-outs. (Meanwhile, six of BYU's nine drives lasted at least nine plays with a three-play TD drive mixed in with the shorter ones.)
Next week's home game against Northwestern should help cure what ails the Spartans, but it's also looking like a must-win game for them if they still have any intention of reaching six wins this season.
Winners: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama
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Considering the caliber of opponent he was facing, Arkansas QB Austin Allen had a solid first half. He threw for two touchdowns without an interception, leading the Razorbacks to 17 points.
Unfortunately for Allen, Alabama scored 35 points in the first half, thanks to a pair of fumble recoveries. Because of the deficit, he was forced to take more chances in the second half.
Advantage: Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Alabama's sophomore defensive back entered the game without an interception, but he made up for lost time in a big way. With Arkansas backed up to its own 3-yard line, Fitzpatrick picked off Allen early in the third quarter to immediately put the Crimson Tide in the red zone. Alabama scored four plays later. On the following drive, Fitzpatrick got another interception, but the Tide failed to turn the subsequent drive into points.
Two drives after that, early in the fourth quarter, Fitzpatrick was at it again, intercepting a pass in the end zone. Rather than taking a knee and counting on his offense to go 80 yards, though, he turned around and ran it all the way back for a score. He turned a drive that would have brought Arkansas to within 11 into one that gave Alabama an insurmountable 25-point lead.
The Crimson Tide won 49-30.
Fitzpatrick had two interceptions as a freshman and returned both of them for touchdowns in the same game. At this point, he's the most interesting defensive back in college football. He doesn't always get picks, but when he does, he gets a bunch of them.
Loser: Rutgers
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So you thought it couldn't get any worse than last week's 58-0 loss to Ohio State, did you?
No. 4 Michigan completely dismantled Rutgers in New Jersey.
The Wolverines scored at least 14 points in every quarter in the 78-0 win, finishing with twice as many points as the Scarlet Knights had total yards (39).
Rutgers completed two passes, recorded two first downs and punted the ball 16 times.
Quarterbacks Chris Laviano (six passing yards, minus-eight rushing yards) and Zach Allen (minus-one passing yards and minus-seven rushing yards) both lost more yards than they gained.
Aside from yards from kick returns, the Wolverines obliterated Rutgers in every stat category. The most Scarlet thing about the Knights is their collective rear end after that whipping.
And it wasn't a one-game anomaly. This was just a continuation of last week and what looks like might be a decadelong building process. The Scarlet Knights have been outscored 136-0 in their last eight quarters. Heck, Jawuan Harris is the only player on the roster to record a reception in the month of October.
Rutgers should at least be able to score a point or three against 1-4 Illinois in Week 7, but it's almost impossible to imagine this team winning a Big Ten game anytime soon.
Winner: Jake Browning's Case for the Heisman
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Louisville's Lamar Jackson has broken our ability to appreciate ridiculous individual stat lines. With the Cardinals on a bye, though, No. 5 Washington's Jake Browning picked up the slack and established himself as a candidate for the Heisman Trophy.
Oregon's defense has been atrocious all season long, but Browning put on a clinic, throwing for six touchdowns and running for two more in the 70-21 blowout of the Ducks in Eugene, Oregon. For the fourth time this season, he didn't throw a single interception for the 6-0 Huskies.
If you're somehow not impressed by his stat line for the individual game, maybe you'll appreciate what he has accomplished over the course of the season thus far. Browning is 104-of-144 (72.2 completion percentage) for 1,418 passing yards (9.85 YPA) with 23 touchdowns and two interceptions—with three rushing touchdowns for good measure.
What's perhaps most astounding about his efficiency is that Washington is a run-first team. In the past two wins over Stanford and Oregon, the Huskies have run the ball 86 times and thrown it just 49. But when they go to the air, it's almost a given that Browning is going to complete the pass.
It must be nice for head coach Chris Petersen to have a secondary option who might win the most prestigious trophy in any sport.
Loser: Michael Badgley, Miami
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Despite a pair of missed field goals early in the season, Miami's Michael Badgley has been one of the better kickers in the country over the past several years. He made 25 of 30 field goals last season and entered Saturday with 72 consecutive made extra points.
Furthering his case for the 2016 Lou Groza Award—given to the nation's best kicker—Badgley drilled a 51-yarder late in the first half against Florida State that probably would have been good from close to 70.
But after Stacy Coley reeled in a 4th-and-5 reception for what appeared to be the game-tying touchdown for the Hurricanes, Badgley's streak of one-pointers came to an end when FSU's DeMarcus Walker got his big paw on the extra-point attempt and knocked it wide of the upright.
Once down 13-0, the Seminoles hung on for a 20-19 road win, ending Miami's quest for an undefeated season.
Ironically enough, the last time Badgley missed an extra point was in a home game against Florida State back in November 2014.
Miami fans probably aren't too interested in irony, though, as their team had a reasonable shot at reaching the ACC title game with a 12-0 record. Games in the next two weeks against North Carolina and Virginia Tech will be challenges, but with neither Clemson nor Louisville on the docket, title contention was plausible.
So much for that dream.
Winner: Teddy Roosevelt Era Football in Corvallis, Oregon
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California and Oregon State entered the week with rushing offenses that were anything other than elite. The Beavers ranked 100th in the nation in rushing yards per game (139.25), while the Golden Bears were even worse at 116th (119.40). They had accounted for a combined total of 10 rushing touchdowns through the first five weeks.
And yet, they played a game reminiscent of the days before the forward pass was legal.
Oh, sure, there were pass attempts in Oregon State's 47-44 overtime win. Cal went to the air 45 times. The Beavers tossed it 24 times. But the Pac-12 schools combined for just 209 passing yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.
That's nothing new for Oregon State, which hasn't thrown for a TD since Week 1 against Minnesota. California, though, had thrown at least two touchdowns in 19 consecutive games dating back to Nov. 2014. It was easily the most disappointing effort of Davis Webb's career.
Those points had to come from somewhere, though, right?
Cal and Oregon State combined for 10 scores and 791 yards on the ground Saturday night. Two players on each team eclipsed the century mark, including Oregon State's Ryan Nall, who ran for 221 yards and three TDs on 14 touches before exiting with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Loser: Christian McCaffrey's Heisman Dreams
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While Washington's Jake Browning has staked his claim to the Heisman Trophy over the past two weeks, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey has fallen out of the picture.
After accounting for 2,664 yards from scrimmage last year, McCaffrey entered the season as one of the favorites to be named the National Player of the Year. And as Stanford jumped out to a 3-0 start, he didn't disappoint, averaging 185 yards per game for what was becoming the sexy pick for the fourth spot in the College Football Playoff.
Then the wheels fell off.
The plummet began in last week's 44-6 loss to Washington, in which McCaffrey had just 79 yards from scrimmage. Since he did have 144 kick-return yards and because the Huskies were such a tough opponent, we were willing to let that be his mulligan, provided he didn't have another letdown during Stanford's final eight games.
But this week was even more of a disaster, both for McCaffrey and Stanford.
The Cardinal lost 42-16 at home against Washington State and lost McCaffrey early in the third quarter to a possible hip injury. He finished with just 35 rushing yards and five receiving yards in a loss that will almost certainly boot No. 15 Stanford out of the next batch of polls. And as the various Heisman rankings come out, Stanford won't be represented there, either.
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