The 2023 college football season is off to an incredible start, and this past Saturday did not disappoint.
Fans were treated to a wild ending in Boulder, as USC held on to beat Colorado, 48-41, in front of a celebrity-packed crowd. In other action, Michigan and Texas cruised to impressive victories, Oregon and Penn State were able to brush off slow starts and put the foot on the gas in the second half, and Georgia showed us that this is clearly not the same team we were used to seeing over past two years when the Bulldogs won back-to-back national championships.
With that said, here is a look at my top 10 rankings following Week 5 of the college football season:
1. Michigan Wolverines (Last week: 3)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Nebraska, 45-7
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Michigan is better than Georgia. They would beat Georgia next week, maybe even in Athens. They have proven it at the line of scrimmage. The Wolverines can play defense, and they can cover. This team is like a boa constrictor. They move slowly, they move methodically, they’re not explosive, they’re not flashy. They are better this year than they’ve been in the last two years. They have allowed 13 points all year outside of garbage time in the fourth quarter. Good luck with Michigan. Who is stopping the Wolverines’ run game? Nebraska had the No. 2 rush defense in the country heading into this weekend’s game, and Michigan ran it 51 times for 249 yards, while averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Man, this team looks good.
Michigan and Texas headline Joel Klatt’s Top 10 after Week 5
2. Texas Longhorns (Last week: 5)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Kansas, 40-14
This team looks great. I said I wasn’t going to talk about Texas until they’ve done something, and well, now they’ve done something. This Texas team is so different from what they’ve been over the last couple of years. My concern with the Longhorns was that they always played down to their level of competition. In large part, they did that because they weren’t great at the line of scrimmage. But now, Texas is good at the line of scrimmage. Normally, a game against Kansas, the week before Red River, this would be a classic look-ahead game, and Texas didn’t look ahead because this team is great on the line of scrimmage. They play really good defense, and they can run the rock. After Red River, Texas doesn’t have a ranked opponent on the schedule. If they win Red River, they have the cleanest path to the playoff of any team in the country, outside of maybe Georgia, because I don’t know what in the SEC is real. Texas is for real. Texas is what Georgia has been over the last couple of years: great on defense, consistent effort, great on the line of scrimmage.
3. Georgia Bulldogs (Last week: 1)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Auburn, 27-20
This Georgia team is not Georgia as we know it. The verdict is in, at least in that regard. It doesn’t mean that Georgia isn’t good, and it doesn’t mean that Georgia won’t win the SEC and be in the CFP. But this is clearly not the same Georgia of what we were used to over the last two seasons, when it won back-to-back championships. Georgia beat Auburn on the road, which is obviously a good thing, and I buy into the idea that winning road conference games is hard. But you were also bad at home against South Carolina.
Now we have data and evidence that show that this Georgia team is a shell of what it was in the past. It’s got the same coach and the same star (Brock Bowers), but the heart and soul of what Georgia was over the last two years was being dominant in the run game and on defense. That’s not the case right now. Georgia is 67th in yards per carry allowed this season after ranking in the top three in each of the last four seasons.
Georgia’s not the same and that’s why it’s no longer No. 1.
Joel Klatt explains why he’s concerned for the Georgia Bulldogs
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (Last week: 4)
Record: 4-0
Week 5 result: Idle
The Buckeyes are coming off a bye this past weekend following their dramatic victory over Notre Dame. There are several big storylines surrounding this team heading into its Week 6 matchup against Maryland, including the confidence of first-year starting QB Kyle McCord, who led that memorable game-winning drive to beat the Irish in South Bend. Ohio State has its guy at QB, but will he have his best pass-catching weapon this weekend against the Terrapins? Preseason All-American Marvin Harrison Jr.’s status for this weekend remains up in the air after he sprained his ankle against the Fighting Irish.
On the defensive side of the ball, OSU has been stout all season long, holding opponents to 8.5 points per game and ranking second in the country in scoring defense. Jim Knowles’ defense will try and slow down a Maryland team that is putting up 455 yards and 38.6 points per contest this season.
5. Penn State Nittany Lions (Last week: 6)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Northwestern, 41-13
Penn State was tied at the half with Northwestern this past weekend, and then, just like that, James Franklin’s team came alive on both sides of the ball and cruised to a 41-13 win over the Wildcats. The Nittany Lions’ defense held Northwestern to just three points on its final nine drives, looking like the same group that was coming off a dominant showing against Iowa the previous week. This is a unit that ranks first in the country in total defense, and third in scoring defense, takeaways and sacks.
After his 325-yard, three-touchdown performance in Week 1, Drew Allar has cooled off, averaging under 200 yards per game over the past four contests, including throwing for 189 yards and just one score against Northwestern. Allar and the Nittany Lions are off this upcoming weekend and then will play FCS UMass before making the trip to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes in a much-anticipated Big Ten showdown, which should have major conference championship and College Football Playoff implications.
6. Florida State Seminoles (Last week: 7)
Record: 4-0
Week 5 result: Idle
Much like Ohio State, Florida State is also coming off a bye this past weekend following a big-time victory in the previous week. Jordan Travis threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns to help the Seminoles snap a seven-game losing streak against ACC foe Clemson. Now, Travis and the Seminoles shift their focus to a Virginia Tech team that is 2-3 heading into this upcoming week.
The good news is that Mike Norvell’s team sits at 4-0 and sits here at No. 6 in my latest top-10 rankings. The not so good news is that their win over LSU is looking less impressive by the week, as the Tigers fell to 3-2 after dropping a game to Ole Miss this past weekend. Also, the Seminoles have been outgained by 100-plus yards in each of their last two games, both of which ended up resulting in narrow victories.
7. Washington Huskies (Last week: 2)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Arizona, 31-24
Michael Penix Jr. leads the country in passing, averaging 400 yards per contest. He is the real deal, guiding an offense that is posting 569 yards per game, which leads all FBS teams, and 46 points per game, which ranks fourth. However, the Huskies were in a tight battle this past weekend against Arizona, despite the fact the Wildcats were playing without their starting quarterback, Jayden de Laura. Washington was able to hold on for a 31-24 win over Arizona, but the Huskies could never quite pull away in this one.
Now sitting at 5-0, Kalen DeBoer’s team has a bye this weekend before hosting Oregon in a top-10 showdown on Oct. 14. Five of the Huskies’ remaining seven games are against teams ranked in the top 20 of the AP Top 25 Poll.
8. Oregon Ducks (Last week: 9)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Stanford, 42-6
After trailing 6-0 at Stanford after the first quarter, the Ducks put their foot down and ran off 42 straight points in a dominant win over the Cardinal. Oregon is one of only two FBS teams averaging 50-plus points per game this season, with the other being USC. Bo Nix, who now has the third-best Heisman odds behind only Penix and Caleb Williams, is averaging more than 300 yards per game through the air. The senior QB is completing 80% of his passes through five games – which leads the country – in addition to throwing 16 touchdowns and just one interception.
9. USC Trojans (Last week: 8)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Colorado, 48-41
Even in a win, Saturday was a massive disappointment for USC. This team is really good at football, and it has the best player in college football. USC is an elite team and an elite offense because of Caleb Williams. I spoke constantly about the way I feel about Lincoln Riley as a playcaller and Williams as a quarterback during our call of Saturday’s game. All of that is still true following USC’s win.
The one question we had was about the defense. Was it going to improve from what we saw last season? You’re not going to have Williams forever, and when you have a generational talent, you’re going to want to maximize that talent. I thought Matt Leinart brought up a good point in the pregame show on the pressure on Riley to win now. I totally understand it and agree, because next year, it won’t be this way at quarterback.
That’s why Saturday was a massive disappointment. That defense played basically the same way it did last year. Colorado scored 41 points in the final three quarters and 27 in the second half. Colorado was barely running the ball before Saturday, averaging just over 50 rushing yards per game through the first four weeks. The Buffaloes rolled out there and, for the majority of the game, were running for five yards per carry when you take sacks out. When you look at the statistics from last year, USC was not even close to being good enough defensively to be a legitimate title contender. I thought all it needed to be this season was just average or possibly good on that side of the ball.
USC is 63rd in scoring defense and 103rd in total yards per game – and the Trojans haven’t even faced the meat of their schedule yet. That’s alarming.
Should USC be concerned after holding off Colorado 48-41?
10. Oklahoma Sooners (Last week: Unranked)
Record: 5-0
Week 5 result: Defeated Iowa State, 50-20
Brent Venables’ team is putting up more than 47 points per game this season, while also holding opponents to under 11 points per contest. The result? … Oklahoma is 5-0, having won every game by at least 14 points. The Sooners are fresh off a 50-20 win over Iowa State, a game in which they outscored the Cyclones 29-0 over the final 2.5 quarters. Dillon Gabriel has thrown for 300-plus yards in four of the team’s five games this season, but the Sooners are averaging just 4.0 yards per carry in the run game, which ranks 93rd in the country.
Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him on Twitter at @joelklatt and subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.
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