What we learned Week 5
Olin Buchanan
Texas A&M doesn't have the defense to be a legitimate championship contender. The top-10 ranking and preseason hype that Texas A&M was a contender for conference and national championships was off target. Even great teams can blow a big lead once in a while. It happens. But blowing two huge leads in two weeks shows that A&M isn't a top-10 team. The Aggies gave up 510 passing yards in a 42-38 loss to
Arkansas -- a game they led 35-17 at halftime. The Aggies blew a 17-point halftime lead to
Oklahoma State a week ago. Those defensive issues raise major concerns, as explosive offensive teams
Texas Tech,
Baylor,
Missouri and
Oklahoma remain on the schedule.
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Megargee: Week 5 winners and losers]
Clemson can win with defense, too. In its first four wins, the Tigers scored at least 35 points and got explosive plays from QB
Tajh Boyd and WR
Sammy Watkins. But coordinator
Kevin Steele's defense showed it can play, too. Clemson dominated the line of scrimmage, posted four sacks, forced two turnovers, limited
Virginia Tech to 133 rushing yards and mounted a goal-line stand in a 24-3 victory over the Hokies.
Tom Dienhart
Keep an eye on Notre Dame. Notre Dame will win its next six games and will be 9-2 when it enters its regular-season finale at
Stanford on Nov. 26. Since an inexplicable 0-2 start caused by inexplicable turnovers, the Fighting have won three in a row. And a season-ending triumph over the Cardinal might launch a 10-2 ND team into a BCS bowl. The latest effort was Notre Dame's most impressive yet, a 38-10 thrashing of a woefully overmatched
Purdue team that sees its season circling the drain. The Irish totaled 550 yards and yielded just 270. Even more vital: ND didn't turn the ball over. This is a team that's slowly rounding into form and will be difficult to beat.
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IrishIllustrated: Notre Dame's season picking up steam]
Wisconsin in the title game -- the national title game? Wisconsin's 48-17 whipping of
Nebraska means the Badgers clearly are the Big Ten's best team. The Badgers actually took over that mantle last season, when they toppled No. 1
Ohio State, then went on to play in the school's first Rose Bowl since the 1999 season. No one in the Big Ten is even in Wisconsin's neighborhood. The Badgers will be favored in every remaining contest, with their toughest games figuring to come at
Michigan State on Oct. 22 and at
Illinois on Nov. 19. And if Wisconsin remains unbeaten and gets a little help, the Badgers will have a shot to play in the BCS title game.
David Fox
The South Carolina offense is in reverse with Stephen Garcia. South Carolina needs to go back to the drawing board on offense. South Carolina can't win the SEC East depending on lineman
Melvin Ingram to spark the team with defensive touchdowns or some wild special teams play. Saturday's loss to
Auburn was proof of that. Ingram finished with 11 tackles, 3.5 sacks and an interception, yet the Gamecocks lost 16-13 at home. Much will be made of
Steve Spurrier's poor clock management, which cost the Gamecocks a chance at a tying field goal. If South Carolina wasn't such a mess on offense, South Carolina wouldn't have to depend on perfect clock management.
Stephen Garcia threw his eighth and ninth interceptions of the season and his 14th in his past seven games. He was 9-of-23 and completely ineffective on South Carolina's final drive.
Alshon Jeffery finally was involved again after just four total catches against Navy and
Vanderbilt, but most of his production came on a 50-yard touchdown catch. Something needs to change to lift this offense -- whether it's backup QB
Connor Shaw or something else. After that happens, clock management won't be as glaring an issue.
[
GamecockCentral: South Carolina falls short]
Kellen Moore is human. No matter the conference, Moore easily could have been his league's player of the week after each game. That won't be the case this week. Playing on a bum knee, the Boise State quarterback showed that he is indeed human. He passed for a career-low 142 yards and completed only 19-of-33 passes against
Nevada. The most shocking development was the interceptions. He threw two of them -- on back-to-back plays, no less. It was only the third multi-interception game of his career. Boise State still won 30-10, with Nevada doing all its scoring in the fourth quarter.
Mike Huguenin
Line play matters in the SEC. That's why
Alabama took
Florida to school in Gainesville, shutting down the Gators' rushing attack and running the ball right down the Gators' throats in a 38-10 rout. The margin would've been closer had Florida QB
John Brantley not left the game with an injury late in the second quarter, but Alabama still would've won. The Tide easily handled the Gators at the line of scrimmage, and Florida coach
Will Muschamp has to be more than a bit uneasy with
LSU looming next on the schedule. As with the Tide, the Tigers have dominant fronts -- just like Auburn in 2010, Alabama in 2009, Florida in 2008, LSU in 2007 and Florida in 2006. Dominant fronts win SEC -- and national -- titles.
[
TideSports: Alabama answers the challenge]
Texas is hitting its stride. The Longhorns steadily have gotten better, showing Saturday in a 37-14 whipping of
Iowa State that they've grasped the concepts of new coordinators
Bryan Harsin (offense) and
Manny Diaz (defense). Texas led 34-0 at halftime and cruised from there. Granted, Iowa State isn't that good, but the Cyclones beat the Longhorns in Austin last season, when Texas finished 5-7. This is not a 5-7 team this season, Texas has a huge step up in competition next week, when it takes on archrival
Oklahoma in Dallas. Given the way the Longhorns have improved on a weekly basis, Longhorns fans can have some hope that, at the least, the game is going to be close.
Steve Megargee
Illinois could be this year's Michigan State. Last season, Michigan State seemingly came from nowhere to win 11 games and tie for the Big Ten title. This season, Illinois could emerge as that under-the-radar Big Ten team that contends for a conference championship and posts a double-digit win total. Illinois rallied from an 18-point, second-half deficit Saturday to beat
Northwestern 38-35 and improve its record to 5-0. The Illini have a dynamic quarterback in
Nathan Scheelhaase. They also have a favorable schedule. Illinois doesn't play Nebraska or
Iowa this year. Its three toughest remaining opponents -- Ohio State,
Michigan and Wisconsin -- have to visit Champaign. Illinois won't beat out Wisconsin for the Leaders Division title, but a 10-win season is possible.
[
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Auburn's defense has come a long way in a short time. After giving up a total of 110 points in its first three games, Auburn needed dramatic improvement from its defense. That's just what it got Saturday in a 16-13 upset of South Carolina. Auburn limited star TB
Marcus Lattimore to 66 yards on 17 carries. The Tigers also forced Stephen Garcia to go 9-of-23 with two interceptions. Auburn obviously doesn't have the dominant brand of defense we've seen from SEC West rivals LSU and Alabama this season, but the Tigers have improved quite a bit over the past few weeks. The Auburn defense that held Lattimore in check Saturday looked nothing like the group that allowed Utah State and Clemson to move the ball at will.
Tom Dienhart's Week 5 awards
COACHES
Wish I were him: Clemson's
Dabo Swinney
Glad I'm not him: Texas A&M's
Mike Sherman
Lucky guy: Illinois'
Ron Zook
Poor guy:
Syracuse's
Doug Marrone
Desperately seeking a clue:
Boston College's
Frank Spaziani
Desperately seeking a P.R. man:
Georgia Tech's
Paul Johnson
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard:
Connecticut's
Paul Pasqualoni
Desperately seeking … anything:
Kansas'
Turner Gill
TEAMS
Thought you'd kick butt, you did: LSU
Thought you'd kick butt, you didn't: Baylor
Thought you'd get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue
Thought you'd get your butt kicked, you didn't: Auburn
Dang, they're good: Wisconsin
Dang, they're bad:
Louisville
Did the season start?
Colorado
Can the season end?
Arizona
Can the season never end? Texas
GAMES
Play this again: Arkansas 42, Texas A&M 38
Never play this again: Michigan 58,
Minnesota 0
What? Auburn 16, South Carolina 13
Huh?
Kansas State 36, Baylor 35
Are you kidding me?
Pittsburgh 44,
USF 17
Oh … my … God:
SMU 40,
TCU 33 (OT)
Told you so: Wisconsin 48, Nebraska 17
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Air Force at Notre Dame
Best non-Big Six matchup: TCU at
San Diego State
Upset alert:
Miami over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg
Must win:
Tennessee over
Georgia in Knoxville
Offensive explosion: Auburn at Arkansas
Defensive struggle: Florida at LSU
Great game no one is talking about: Missouri at Kansas State
Intriguing coaching matchup:
Arizona State's
Dennis Erickson vs.
Utah's
Kyle Whittingham
Who's bringing the body bags? Kansas at Oklahoma State
Why are they playing? Syracuse at
Tulane
Plenty of good seats remaining: Minnesota at Purdue
They shoot horses, don't they? Colorado at Stanford
Waco Kid's College Football Week 5
