Moving the Chains: Takeaways from College Football 2026 – Week Six

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There’s a strong possibility that the CFP – college football playoffs – will expand from 12 to 24 teams next season.  If that happens, it will be the worst thing to happen in college football since players were allowed to make money from the use of their name, image, or likeness.  Drawing the playoffs out for five weeks or more won’t ever reach the level of excitement generated by college basketball’s three weeks of ‘March Madness.’   

Last week there were three highly anticipated games involving two teams ranked in the Top 25, and they were all disappointing blowouts:  #5 Ohio State, #7 Alabama, and #25 Missouri beat #14 Iowa (by 17 points), #16 Mississippi State (by 33), and #8 Florida (by 28), respectively.   And all three games were essentially over by halftime.  They were about as exciting as watching a T-ball game that didn’t involve a child of your own.  

However, one of the more exciting games was between two unranked SEC teams, Kentucky and South Carolina.  The game went into overtime with the Wildcats winning 35 – 34, courtesy of a TD and successful two-point conversion after the Gamecocks scored first with a TD and extra point.  

As for this week’s Top 25 matchups, there were two – and they more than made up for what happened last week.  

First, #21 UCLA pulled off the upset on the road by beating #13 Oregon in Eugene.  The Ducks converted on just 1 of 12 third down situations and the offense had control of the ball for just 20 minutes – mostly because they had a half-dozen punts and had 7 turnovers (2 interceptions and 5 (not a typo) fumbles.  It didn’t help matters that Oregon finished the game with their third-string quarterback (the starter was injured, and his backup was benched).    

Then, in the biggest game of the week, #2 Georgia took on #6 Alabama on the Crimson Tide’s home turf in Tuscaloosa.  In a close, heatedly contested, and arguably poorly officiated game, the Bulldogs came out on top 20 – 17.  Towards the end of the game the Crimson Tide were within range for a game-tying field goal until the officials missed a blatant pass interference call against Georgia, which was then followed by the Bulldogs sacking the Alabama QB to take them out of field goal range.  (While the non-call for pass interference wasn’t quite as bad as Michigan’s ‘Bail Mary’ against Western Michigan, it came pretty darn close.)  After an Alabama punt, Georgia took possession of the ball and ran out the clock – with an assist from a personal foul and automatic first down by an Alabama player slapping a Bulldog player (who performed a flop LeBron would have been proud of) after the whistle.        

In other action …

In the Big Ten, Nebraska and #7 Indiana faced off in Lincoln with identical 5 – 0 records.  The Cornhuskers had a seemingly commanding 17 – 6 lead in the fourth quarter until the Hoosiers took over and showed why they’re the defending National Champions.  Indiana scored on a 75-yard TD pass to make the score 17 – 12 with less than 12 minutes left in the game, but instead of going for a 2-point conversion to make it a 3-point game, head coach Curt Cignetti opted to kick the extra point to make score 17 – 13.  If I had to guess, his rationale was that he knew his team would score a TD to win – and that’s exactly what happened.  The Hoosiers scored on a 44-yard strike from Josh Hoover to Nick Marsh with 7 minutes left in the game.  Final score: Indiana – 20, Nebraska – 17.  Ironically, like Oregon, Indiana only had possession for 20 minutes.  However, unlike Oregon, they won.     

I realize that Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was once the defensive coordinator at Clemson, but just three first downs and 69 yards in the first half?  Had it not been for blocking a punt for a TD in the first half, it could have been a lot worse than being behind by just 10 points after the first 30 minutes to #1 Texas.  Apparently Venables made the necessary adjustments at halftime (take note, Jon Sumrall), as Oklahoma his team back in the second half and won 24 – 21, the nail in the coffin a 47-yard field goal as time expired.  The Texas loss opened the door for Georgia to take over as top dawg when the next polls are released.    

In other games involving teams in the Top 10, #3 Notre Dame beat Stanford 58 – 7; #8 BYU beat Iowa State 24 – 10; and #9 Ole Miss beat Vanderbilt 52 – 17.  

Fresh off a convincing win over then #8 Florida last week, #14 Missouri had a relatively easy time in a 27 – 6 win over Texas A&M.  In a rather lackluster performance – 10 first downs and 216 total yards – The Aggies fell flat after taking an early 3 – 0 lead in what turned out to be one of their poorest offensive showings in recent memory.  Worth noting: in his last two games, Missouri running back Jamal Roberts has put up Heisman-worthy numbers, carrying the ball 58 times for 433 yards and 5 touchdowns.  

However, the leading candidate for college football’s top award still appears to be #5 Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, who had 4 receptions for 93 yards and 2 TD’s in a 45-16 win over Maryland.  The catch that may have sealed the deal – the Heisman moment, you might say – was a one-handed behind the back grab that had to be seen to be believed.  

Since I brought up the subject of lackluster performances, here’s one more:

South Carolina – 38, #16 Florida – 19.  Other than perhaps saving Gamecock coach Shane Beamer’s job, all I have to say about my alma mater halfway through the season is (a) Gainesville continues to be the place where great offensive minds go to die, the latest victim being Buster Faulkner, and (b) the curse of allowing the opposition to convert third-and-long situations into first downs, otherwise known as ‘third-and-Grantham,’ is still very much alive.  

Under first year coach Jon Sumrall, the Gators started the season with four straight wins.  But for the past two weeks they’ve become virtually the same underperforming team they’ve been for the last 18 years.   After consecutive losses to Missouri and South Carolina, with their next two games against teams on the road who were ranked this week at #1 (Texas in Austin) and #2 (Georgia in Atlanta).  That being said, there’s a real possibility the Gators will be ‘O’ for ‘October.’ 

Finally, in the most exciting finish of the week, Kentucky won in overtime for the second week in a row.  This time the losing team was LSU, and it just so happened to be by the same score the Wildcats won by in last week’s game against South Carolina: 35 – 34.  In doing so, Kentucky became the first team in history to win two consecutive games in overtime by a single point.  

The loss to Kentucky was the second of the season for first year LSU coach Lane Kiffin.  Feel free to end this with words of your own.  I think you know mine.