Ohio State's return to action after a bye was mostly a resounding success, concerns about major lapses in the secondary notwithstanding. Ohio State's 52-28 win was enough to convince voters that the Buckeyes are a legit top-25 team on the eve of its visit to Maryland.
While Ohio State fans were busy rooting on the Buckeyes, another week came and went with some implications for conference championship games and the composition of the first College Football Playoff. In this feature, I discuss this week in college football across the country, starting with the Pac-12 South.
A Two-Horse Race in the Pac-12 South?
Entering Week 5, Arizona had more wins than any other program in the conference and had as much, or more, momentum as a program like Oregon. However, Arizona was on a bye in anticipation of its Thursday visit to Eugene to play the no. 2 Ducks. Arizona's position is fleeting.
With that in mind, UCLA's manhandling of Arizona State may have turned the Pac-12 South into a two-horse race with intra-city rival USC, which also won big this week.
My viewing guide projected an Arizona State win even without Taylor Kelly. That was assuming Brett Hundley was questionable to play for UCLA. He played and UCLA hammered Arizona State despite conceding 626 yards of offense to Arizona State.
Hundley was almost flawless in an 18/23 passing performance for 355 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions. Two of those touchdown passes were 80-yard strikes to Eldridge Massington and Jordan Payton. Hundley also added 72 rushing yards on eight carries and a touchdown.
The star of that game may have been Ishmael Adams, all things considered. Adams had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 95-yard pick-six.
Javorius Allen ran for 115 yards on 20 carries against Oregon State.
Meanwhile, USC returned to form in its first game since the inexplicable loss at Boston College. USC outgained Oregon State by a margin of 461 yards to 181 yards in a 35-10 win in the Coliseum.
It would be easy to dismiss what USC's defense did in keeping Oregon State's offense from the end zone by citing the talent disparity that should favor the Trojans on the recruiting trail. However, Oregon State's quarterback, Sean Mannion, is already the program's all-time best and is around one thousand yards from challenging Matt Barkley for all of the Pac-12 passing records. The Trojans held Mannion to a 46% completion rate, 123 yards, and two interceptions.
Oregon State's lone touchdown came from a kickoff return for a touchdown. Its offense was 1/10 on third down.
The reigning Pac-12 South champion Arizona State, while not eliminated, could effectively be eliminated this Saturday when it visits the Coliseum to play the Trojans. The other two Pac-12 South programs, Utah and Colorado, are a combined 0-3 in league play.
The SEC East is a Hot Mess
Continuing a theme parroted since South Carolina was rocked in the season-opener by Texas A&M, the SEC East continues to be a total mess. If not for a national media outlet (i.e. ESPN) aimed at protecting its commodities, the ridicule would be vociferous.
Not all was terrible or questionable in the SEC East. For one, Florida spared everyone, including its fans, by not playing this week.
Todd Gurley (28 carries, 208 yards, 2 TDs) is almost a sure invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Second, Georgia appears to be the best team in the division and Tennessee, though 2-2 on the season, is already playing much better in its second year under Butch Jones. Georgia hosted Tennessee and won 35-32 at home. The win for Georgia showcased Todd Gurley's credentials as one of the best players in college football.
The loss for Tennessee demonstrated that it bows to no team. Even in defeat two weeks ago in Norman, Tennessee made Oklahoma work all four quarters to beat it by 24.
With that said, the SEC East is comically bad. Missouri rallied from a 13-point deficit with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter to defeat South Carolina, 21-20. By itself, it's a nice road win for the reigning SEC East champion and payback for Missouri's lone regular season loss last year.
However, the transitive property of college football now dictates that Indiana is a favorite to win the SEC East. As far as SEC die-hards are considered, Missouri is leprous and any SEC program losing to the Tigers becomes a leper itself.
Kentucky also got its first SEC win since 2011. However, it was against Vanderbilt and only by a score of 17-7. That game featured a Vanderbilt pick-six and a Kentucky touchdown that wasn't. It's a hollow way to get the first conference win in three years and no better than Temple. Temple, by the way, beat Vanderbilt 37-7 in Nashville in the season-opener.
The SEC East likely resolves itself by crowning Georgia as division champion, though Georgia visits Missouri and Arkansas in consecutive weeks in the middle of October and still has to play Auburn. At this rate, the SEC East will eliminate itself from the national championship picture.
It may strive for no more than to play spoiler to the SEC West in the SEC Championship Game.
Elsewhere in College Football
Arkansas choked a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter and lost to Texas A&M in overtime. That said, I'm still sold on what our old friend Bert is doing in Fayetteville. Arkansas ran for 285 yards in a losing effort. The fake punt for a touchdown was beautiful too.
Charlie Weis was fired after losing to Texas, 23-0. The intrigue is not that he was fired (he'll be fine), but why he was ever hired in the first place. This was a fait accompli from his first contract. Stop giving Charlie Weis money to not coach your football team.
Army visited Yale and lost in overtime, 49-43. It's rare (if even unheard-of) that an FBS program visits an FCS program, let alone in the Ivy League.
Kentucky wasn't the only program getting its first conference win in a few years California got its first Pac-12 win in the last 15 tries. The Bears celebrated in style.
Washington State rallied from a 21-0 first quarter deficit to win 28-27 at Utah.
J.T. Barrett isn't the only freshman phenom at quarterback. Clemson's Deshaun Watson, whom Ohio State desperately tried to flip at the expense of forgoing Kyle Allen (Texas A&M) and Drew Barker (Kentucky), set a school record with six touchdown passes in his first career start. Clemson won 50-35 over North Carolina.
