College Football UK Views: Week 6 – An Unpredictable Game
Well, what a week 6 that was! The slate on paper looked a little short of ranked games but didn’t disappoint. Here are some highlights that fully showcased how unpredictable college football can be.
Penn State would have been looking for a bounce back win following their close loss to Oregon the week before. Instead, Penn State fell to UCLA 42-37 in a devastating blow to the Nittany Lions. UCLA had not held a lead in a game all season until this one. They had also been restricted to 57 points on offense all season. The loss ends Penn State’s hopes of a B1G Championship game and seriously dents their playoff hopes. A massive fall from grace for a team that were tipped to be National Title contenders. For UCLA the win is a great start for the interim coaching staff.
Another eyebrow-raising result was Texas losing 29-21 to Florida in Gainesville. I wouldn’t call this a shock at this point for two reasons. Firstly, going into the Swamp against a HC in Billy Napier with his back to the wall is never easy. But more importantly the result confirms what has been suspected for a while now, Texas are not at the level we thought yet. They, and QB Arch Manning, need some time to develop in the background. They should be mentally parked in the back of my mind until next year.
Speaking of teams licking their wounds, Iowa State will be doing just that after the Cyclone’s 38-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats. The loss was unexpected and has caused a significant drop in the AP rankings for the Cyclones who are 5-1 overall but 2-1 in the Big 12. The Bearcats move up to 4-1 overall but 2-0 in the Big 12 with lots of upward momentum.
We had an entertaining battle for the McGuffin on Saturday night and Miami came out victorious in a 28-22 win against Florida State. Miami are surprising on the upside and are carrying significant momentum into the middle part of the season. This was their first ACC game but looking ahead it is tough to see where a loss will come from at this rate. For FSU, whilst this loss was a blow, after last season they can take being 3-2 with 1 ranked-win as progress.
Another game that I enjoyed was Washington’s 24-20 win over the Maryland Terrapins. Maryland led 13-0 at halftime with the Huskies struggling to get going. They did eventually wake up to post 24 unanswered points. The game was not significant in terms of conference standings but I did wonder whether Washington suffered from the travel. A 5 hour flight across a couple of time zones is not insignificant. That being said a mid afternoon kick off should have dampened any impact and I don’t want to take away from a very good Terrapins start.
The Unpredictability Continues
I noticed when re-reading the above that the first three games I talk about, I emphasis the loss and not a win which was unintentional. It shows how volatile results have been that there has been so many shock losses to talk about. Who lost has almost been more interesting than who won.
The danger of this is that certain contenders’ struggles overshadow other teams’ successes. This is unfair but the nature of the sport is that debate centres around teams most in focus at any one time. The challenge for the teams picking up surprise wins is to keep the momentum going and people will take notice. Surprise wins will no longer be surprises. There are teams doing exactly that and quietly building the win column.
If you look down the AP poll you do see evidence of this; Georgia Tech are 5-0, Virginia 5-1, Missouri 5-0, BYU 5-0. These teams were nowhere near the pre-season poll but are building solid records.
We are at the point where teams have played either 5 or 6 games so almost halfway through the regular season. The above mentioned teams have a great opportunity to use their current momentum to continue to climb the polls and vie for playoff spaces.
Whilst AP polls are not everything it is pleasing to see the poll diversify slightly as the weeks go on. In preseason the poll was constituted of 10 SEC teams, 6 B1G, 4 B12, 3 ACC and 2 non-P4. This week there are 9 SEC teams, 5 B1G, 4 B12, 4 ACC and 3 non P-4. Whilst the split has not changed that much the teams included has evolved. This diversity gives us compelling stories and generates the debate that we love in the sport.
The form book looks well and truly out of the window so I fully expect this trend to continue. Let unpredictability run wild!
Looking Ahead to Week 7
The biggest game of note for me in week 7 is no 7 ranked Indiana at no 3 Oregon. This is an important bell-weather game for both teams. Indiana have had a great start but will be tested against an Oregon offense that has been rampant. Oregon will be looking to build on their win against Penn State in week 5 after their bye week.
The other game of note for me is the Red River Rivalry – Texas vs Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma are going strong but their QB John Mateer is questionable after an injury to his hand. Arch Manning and Texas would love to put up a statement win in this historic rivalry, which for different reasons has almost come a couple of weeks too soon for the teams.
