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College Football Week Five Review

This past weekend felt like the truest indicator so far of where the major teams are at this season. Five weeks in and some secured statement wins, some recovered well and some struggled in victory. Let’s take a look at some of the main talking points from yet another exciting weekend in college football.

1) Ohio State Flashes Potential on National Stage

Ohio State laid their biggest indicator of the season that this team is for real. They throttled a good Nebraska side 48-7, excelling on all phases of the ball. The offense always gets the headlines, but Justin Fields deserves praise for another stellar performance since transferring from Georgia in the summer.

15-21 for 212 yards and 3 TD’s, along with 177 rushing yards for Running Back J.K Dobbins shows how dominant they were. The defense did even better, limiting Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez to 47 yards passing and three interceptions. Now 5-0, they find themselves in the play-off places for the first time this season.

2) Clemson Battle Past North Carolina

From convincing to unconvincing wins, as top ranked Clemson came very close to a loss against a resurgent North Carolina. They didn’t look good in this game, with sophomore phenom Trevor Lawrence struggling again.

The Clemson team is an embarrassment of riches, but being a failed two-point conversion away from losing doesn’t inspire confidence. They’ve dropped to second in the AP Top 25 poll, and will need to regroup quickly as the pressure mounts.

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North Carolina gave Clemson an almighty scare, falling short 21-20 to a more talented Clemson side. Their response will show their character going forward. Photo: Chris Seward/AP.

3) Notre Dame Put Georgia Loss Behind Them

Notre Dame recovered from a tough loss to Georgia with the perfect rebuttal in this potential banana skin. Virginia came into this game full of confidence, but Notre Dame proved too strong and deserved their 35-20 victory.

Notre Dame relied on Running Back Tony Jones Jr on offense, with 131 rushing yards and 3 TD’s proving vital. On the defensive side of the ball, Defensive End Julian Okwara had a career day with three of the teams eight sacks, as well as forcing a fumble in one of their five turnovers. The defense played lights out and deserves national recognition for this performance.

4) Washington Back in Pac-12 Mix

Washington have recovered well from a tough early season loss to California, swatting aside USC 28-14 to regain ground in the Pac-12. Salvon Ahmed had a big day at Running Back, with 153 yards and touchdown in a vital win.

This win jumps them back up to second in the Pac-12 North. Whilst any faint dreams of a national title chance are long gone, they find themselves 15th in the AP Polls. If they can win out from here on out they will have earned a top ten berth and a prominent bowl game.

5) Penn State Shutout Maryland

Penn State responded perfectly to their first challenge this season, mauling a high-powered Maryland offense. The defense stood out in this game, keeping a previously top ranked scoring offense to zero points. A previously unstoppable Maryland team couldn’t get anything going at all, holding Quarterback Josh Jackson to 65 passing yards and two interceptions.

For Penn State their offense had no problem scoring points, with sophomore Quarterback Sean Clifford going off with over 450 combined yards and four touchdowns in this rout. This is a big win for Penn State and they have kept themselves in the hunt.

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Penn State Running Back Ricky Slade celebrates his touchdown in this 59-0 rout of Maryland on their own turf. Photo: Geoff Burke/USA Today Sport.

6) Other Key Results This Week

After such a disappointing loss last weekend Michigan responded in the perfect manner, dismantling a poor Rutgers team. Much criticised Quarterback Shea Patterson responded with three passing touchdowns and a rushing TD in a 52-0 rout. The only negative for the Wolverines was their running game struggling again.

Arizona State beat 15th ranked California 24-17, which is a pivotal win for them after a slow start to their Pac-12 season. They are on the outside looking in right now, but this is a massive win and will give them confidence going forward.

7) Stand Out Week Five Performers 

For the standout performer we can’t overlook Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith. The third head of their receiving core behind Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs went off against Ole Miss, with 274 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Another receiver who impressed is Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, who showed an incredible turn and burst of speed on a 71 yard touchdown against Texas Tech, ending up with 185 yards and three touchdowns. He’s a first round prospect in a loaded wide receiver class this year.

8) Heisman Contenders Update

Now we’re well into the season, the key contenders for the 2019 Heisman Trophy are emerging. Alabama star Tua Tagovailoa is having a monster season, currently second in the nation with over 1700 yards in only five games. He’s also protecting the football, with 23 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Of the rest Joe Burrow is the outside bet, having surprised everyone with the impressive start he’s had. Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts has played lights out this season, going for over 1200 yards passing and over 440 yards rushing in four games. Tua remains the favourite, but there’s plenty of contenders keeping him honest.

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Tua Tagovailoa is living a charmed life this year. He’s the current Heisman favourite and is many draft experts pick for the first overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images.

9) AP Top 25 Rankings

The latest rankings going into week six have been released, with the mild surprise that Alabama have overtaken Clemson for the top spot. It’s an understandable move after their performances last weekend. After their impressive win Ohio State jumped LSU for fourth and the final play-off place.

Further down, Notre Dame are the only other team to move in the top ten, vaulting Florida for ninth. Washington improve two places to 15th, with Utah, UCF and Michigan all moving up to 17th,18th and 19th respectively. California, USC and Kansas State are the big losers, all dropping out of the rankings this week.

10) First Coaching Casualty of the Year

Rutgers head coach Chris Ash was the first casualty of the 2019 season. After his teams 52-0 demolition against Michigan he was shown the door after three years in charge. His 8-32 record is poor, along with a 3-26 record in the Big Ten conference. Offensive coordinator John McNulty has also been fired after their 1-3 start.

Tight Ends coach Nunzio Campanile will take the interim head coach job for the season. Ash had previously been defensive coordinator for the 2014 national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Early favourites to replace him include Greg Schiano, Mike Elko and Jeff Monken.

That wraps up the main talking points from another week of college football, if you have any thoughts on this points feel free to comment below or find me on Twitter @JWjournalism. Finally, a big thank you to everyone who read this blog I really appreciate it!

 

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College Football Week Five Preview

After four weeks we look to have an established order at the top of the college football world, with Clemson and Alabama at the top and the rest snapping at their heels. Week five doesn’t have the prominent matchup’s from last weekend, but there is plenty of intrigue in this weeks slate of games. Let’s preview the main talking points for the weekend ahead.

1) Notre Dame – Virginia Preview

Notre Dame aim to fight back this weekend against a good Virginia team in what will be another tough game for them. They can take a lot of positives from last weekend as they matched up well with third ranked Georgia.

Virginia on the other hand roll into Notre Dame stadium 4-0 and leading the ACC Coastal conference. They did struggle last weekend to beat lowly Old Dominion, but have otherwise impressed this season. Their defense is a top 15 unit, led by star Cornerback Bryce Hall. The tenth ranked Fighting Irish barely have a top 50 offense, so this game should be closer than many expect.

2) Bryce Hall Key to Virginia Hopes

Virginia are living up to the pre-season hype as an unlikely ACC Coastal champs, and much of that is because of their defense. Their unit ranks 14th in the country through four games, keeping opposing teams to 263 yards per game.

Their key component is Cornerback Bryce Hall, a senior many NFL scouts are high on.  Many predict he will be a late first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, he’s that highly rated. For this game Hall will be focused on Notre Dame’s leading receiver Chase Claypool, in what will be a key matchup in this game.

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Bryce Hall has been a consistent high point in the Virginia defense. He’s projected as a first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Photo: Ryan Kelly/Getty Images.

3) USC – Washington Preview

Another top 25 matchup is this all Pac-12 affair between 21st ranked USC and 17th ranked Washington. Both sides have flashed potential this season, but have also been inconsistent. They both enter at 3-1, looking for a statement Pac-12 win.

Washington need to win to remain in contention for the Pac-12 North, having already lost to California. Transfer QB Jacob Eason has impressed, already throwing for over 1000 yards in four games. USC meanwhile have suffered from injury problems to key positions, none more so than at the Quarterback. They enter this game with third-string QB Matt Fink.

4) Matt Fink – Michael Pittman Jr Connection Key for USC

USC will travel into Washington as slight underdogs, and the key for them will be the connection between QB Matt Fink and receiver Michael Pittman Jr. Fink made his debut last week in an upset win against Utah, impressing with 350 yards and 3 TD’s.

He immediately made a connection with senior Pittman Jr, who went off for 232 yards and a touchdown. Utah has a good defense so to shred them like this was impressive. Washington has a pretty good defense, and in a key road game they need Fink to find Pittman often.

5) Penn State – Maryland Preview

Opening the college football weekend is this intriguing Friday night matchup between Penn State and Maryland. Penn State travel to Maryland 3-0 and ranked 12th in the nation, but face a tough matchup against the Terrapins.

Maryland had broken into the top 25 before being upset by Temple, and will have used their bye week to regroup and refocus for this game. This will be intriguing as Penn State goes in as favourites with a good defense, but Maryland has a top ten offense that has 21 TD’s in only three games.

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Penn State’s Micah Parsons leads this Penn State defense, tasked with stopping a prolific Maryland offense this weekend. Photo: John Stinely.

6) First Real Test for Penn State

Penn State has opened the year strongly, however they have yet to be seriously tested. They walked over Idaho and Buffalo, and struggled against a plucky Pitt team. We will learn a lot about this Penn State team here.

Their defense, led by Linebacker Micah Parsons have limited opponents to 30 combined points from three games, but face a tough test stopping this Maryland offense.  If they can do this they have a good chance of winning . It’s hard to gauge where their offense is with the opponents they’ve played, so this will be another interesting matchup.

7) Other Games to Watch Out for

Aside from the games mentioned above, there is plenty of games for college football fans to feast on this weekend. The College Gameday crew head to Lincoln, Nebraska for an exciting matchup between Ohio State and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers have put up 152 points in four games, but face fifth ranked Ohio State and their incredible defense, led by potential number one NFL Draft pick Chase Young.

Seventh ranked Auburn face Mississippi State, hoping to avoid slipping up after a massive win last weekend against Texas A&M. If they carry over their early season form they will be contending for the SEC Championship game and a shot at the College Football Play-Off.

8) ‘Fair Pay to Play’ Act Causing Trouble

The proposed ‘Fair Pay to Play’ Act has created plenty of headlines since it was announced several weeks ago. The California bill would allow athletes to profit from the use of their name,likeness and image without facing NCAA penalty.

The bill has been supported by the likes of LeBron James and Bernie Sanders, but the NCAA and California universities are opposed to it. The NCAA have already threatened that 20 California schools would be ineligible for it’s competition if this comes to fruition. This is a seismic moment for players and is the strongest challenge to NCAA rules to date.

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NCAA Mark Emmert has spoken out against the proposed ‘Pay to Play’ Act, in what could prove the biggest challenge to the NCAA in decades. Photo: Maxx Wolfson/Getty Images.

9) Tua Tagovailoa Almost Became A USC Trojan

Star Alabama Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made headlines this week by announcing on the Dan Patrick radio show that he almost transferred to USC in 2017. Tagovailoa was a true freshman at the time behind Jalen Hurts, before becoming the hero by replacing Hurts and winning the National Championship for Alabama.

Tagovailoa said he wanted to transfer so that his parents could see him play and USC was his childhood team. Tua will likely be the first Quarterback taken in the 2020 NFL Draft, although many USC fans will now wonder what if, especially with their spate of QB injuries currently.

10) D’Eriq King to Stay at Houston After All

The most dramatic story of this week was the news on Monday that Houston QB D’Eriq King was redshirting this year and transferring, only for him to come out hours later and deny this story from his dad. King and star receiver Keith Corbin will redshirt, but aim to return to Houston next year.

This is a story that divides opinion, with some questioning if both won’t still transfer at the end of the year. Houston will struggle this year without them, but if they do return next year they will be looking to take the step up to the NFL.

That wraps up this preview of the week five college football slate, if you have any questions about these talking points feel free to comment below or find me on Twitter @JWjournalism. Finally, a massive thank you to everyone who read this article I really appreciate it!