Oklahoma grabbed the biggest headlines of Week 6 with a stirring Red River Rivalry win over Texas, but there were plenty of other performances worthy of our attention.
Michigan showed it might be ready to take the next step — to the national championship. Georgia looked like the two-time defending national champ by drilling Kentucky. And Ohio State pulled away in handing Maryland its first loss.
Then there was the madness in Miami, where Georgia Tech made the Hurricanes pay for a head-scratching decision for the ages.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Week 6 by our college football reporters.
Michigan is one of the most balanced teams in the country
The Michigan Wolverines have played a weak schedule, there is no questioning that. But Michigan has dominated this season on offense and defense, and the team is setting records as it goes. Michigan’s offense has scored 30 or more points in each of its past nine games, which is the longest streak in program history. The defense, which has yet to have an opponent take a snap inside the Wolverines’ 10-yard line, has allowed just four touchdowns all season while scoring three touchdowns itself. Michigan is just the second team in the AP poll era to score 30 or more points and allow 10 or fewer points in each of its first six games; Nebraska did it in 1971.
The offense isn’t one-dimensional anymore, either. Last season it was run heavy, but this season, quarterback J.J. McCarthy has thrown for 1,290 yards, 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The passing game has complemented the run game, where Blake Corum has an FBS-leading 10 rushing touchdowns. It has been impressive, but the team’s balance will be tested in November, when it finishes the regular season with games against Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State. — Tom VanHaaren
Ohio State’s defense is making strides
After poor defensive efforts against both Michigan and Georgia to close out last season, the Buckeyes knew they had some work cut out for them. Almost halfway through Ohio State’s 2023 schedule, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Tim Walton (cornerbacks) and Perry Eliano (safeties) have spurred significant improvement.
Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa came into Saturday leading the Big Ten in both passing yards and passing touchdowns, and the Terrapins had been pacing the conference in total offense and were second in passing offense coming into the game amid a 5-0 start, but the Buckeyes’ secondary clamped down. Tagovailoa finished the game 21-of-41 passing for 196 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, with safeties Josh Proctor and Lathan Ransom doing the honors for Ohio State in a 37-17 victory. With Penn State coming to the Horseshoe in two weeks and “The Game” 49 days away, Ohio State seems ready to take care of unfinished business. — Blake Baumgartner
Oklahoma deserves the love and not Texas the hate
After such an impressive start to the season by Texas, namely beating Alabama by double digits on the road, we were starting to hear snippets of that dreaded phrase in the Lone Star State. You know, the one that goes something along the lines of “Texas is back.” So naturally after the Longhorns lost 34-30 Saturday to Red River rival Oklahoma, Texas and coach Steve Sarkisian have caught some serious grief.
But there’s another way to look at what transpired at the Cotton Bowl. Sooners coach Brent Venables deserves some serious praise for getting Oklahoma back to national relevance in his second season after the Sooners suffered through their first losing season since 1998 a year ago. In other words, the focus should be more on what Oklahoma is than what Texas isn’t. And that’s thanks to Venables’ leadership, fiendish work ethic and willingness to push the right buttons.
In this matchup a year ago, Texas embarrassed OU 49-0, causing both media and fans to wonder aloud (way too prematurely) if Venables was cut out to be a head coach. But clearly, this is not last year’s OU team. The offense under Jeff Lebby is ranked fourth nationally in scoring (45.2 points per game), and quarterback Dillon Gabriel is fourth nationally in total offense (347.7 yards per game) and has thrown 16 touchdown passes and just two interceptions. Venables’ defensive stamp was evident several times in the win over Texas, in particular the goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter when the Longhorns were kept out of the end zone despite getting four cracks from the 1-yard line.
Venables is the epitome of someone who lives (and coaches) in the moment, which explains in part why he was never in a hurry to leave Clemson as defensive coordinator. So as big as Saturday’s win was for OU, it was just one win — but a win that propels Venables and the Sooners into the middle of the playoff race. — Chris Low
Sooners’ defense ‘totally bought in’
The sense among Big 12 coaches entering Saturday’s Red River Rivalry was that while Oklahoma had improved significantly in Year 2 under Venables, Texas had the Big 12’s best and most complete team. Texas had the edge along the line of scrimmage and possibly at quarterback following Quinn Ewers‘ strong performances at Alabama and elsewhere. But Oklahoma showed it could match Texas from start to finish, flustering Ewers and the offense early and putting together a drive for the ages after the Longhorns scored 13 unanswered points to lead 30-27 with 1:17 to play.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s productive and prolific effort should put him on the Heisman Trophy radar, and Oklahoma’s clear improvement on defense was on display from Billy Bowman, Danny Stutsman, Jaren Kanak, Ethan Downs and others. “Last year was the first year in the system, and we got scarred up,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof told me. “We’ve identified what we need to work on, and our guys are totally bought in. I’m proud of the growth we have made and excited about what else is out there for us.”
Oklahoma is now positioned atop the Big 12 and firmly in the CFP mix. Venables’ influence on the defense and other areas of the program is key. Although a rematch with Texas in the league championship game seems likely, Oklahoma looks more than up to the challenge. — Adam Rittenberg
Georgia finally looks like a contender again
Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart had been waiting for his team to put together a complete performance. The Bulldogs finally delivered one in their 51-13 rout of Kentucky at home Saturday night. Quarterback Carson Beck completed 28 of 35 passes for a career-high 389 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. It was Beck’s third consecutive game with at least 300 passing yards. Tight end Brock Bowers caught seven passes for 132 yards with one score, his third straight game with 100 receiving yards or more. The Bulldogs ran for 173 yards; senior Kendall Milton finally looks healthy with eight carries for 47 yards with one score.
Despite all the questions about Georgia’s offense entering the season after it lost quarterback Stetson Bennett and offensive coordinator Todd Monken, there might have been as much concern about its defense after five games. The Bulldogs were missing too many tackles and not sealing off the edge. But Georgia completely shut down Kentucky, limiting the Wildcats to 183 yards of offense. Tailback Ray Davis, who ran for 280 yards against Florida a week earlier, could manage only 59 on 15 attempts against Georgia. The Bulldogs had three sacks and limited UK to 2-for-11 on third down.
The Bulldogs play at struggling Vanderbilt next week before getting a week off before their Oct. 28 game against Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. The Bulldogs finally look like a CFP contender again. — Mark Schlabach
Coastal Chaos lives on
The ACC scrapped its divisions, but Coastal Chaos lives on because, quite frankly, once you have lived it, there is no way to turn back, no matter how hard you try. How else to explain what happened in Miami on Saturday night? There is no logical way to explain that ending. Two former Coastal Division teams, Georgia Tech and Miami, played in a Coastal classic, a peak #goacc game, if you will.
Georgia Tech came into the game off an embarrassing blowout loss to Bowling Green, prompting coach Brent Key to change defensive coordinators in the hopes that someone (anyone!) could figure out how to stop the run. Miami came into the game undefeated, its stock rising, high off a big win over Texas A&M and the reemergence of quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.
0:26
Mario Cristobal not making any excuses after late gaffe
Miami coach Mario Cristobal addresses the decision to not take a knee late in the game, which led to the Hurricanes’ loss to Georgia Tech.
On paper, Miami should have won in a rout. But the rules of Coastal Chaos do not take into account what should happen; they dictate that the exact opposite will happen. That has generally played itself out in this series in recent history. In 2019, Miami lost as an 18-point favorite at home. In 2021, Miami barely hung on as a 10-point favorite.
Miami was a 19.5-point favorite Saturday. So predictably, Van Dyke played his worst game of the season, throwing three interceptions including one in the end zone. Georgia Tech found a way to limit the run. Yet Miami somehow led 20-17 with the clock winding down. All the Hurricanes had to do was take a knee. Instead, they handed the ball off and fumbled with 25 seconds left. Inexplicable decision No. 1.
But hey, Georgia Tech had the ball at its own 26, a long way to go. Surely, the Miami defense would hold. But there are no sure things when Coastal Chaos is involved. Inexplicable decision No. 2: allowing Haynes King to throw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with 1 second left, and the Jackets got a “Miracle in Miami” to join a “Miracle on Techwood Drive.”
As great a win as that might have been for Georgia Tech, Miami falling from the ranks of the undefeated put a damper on what was a pretty great day for the ACC as a whole. Roughly 10 minutes before the Miami game ended, Louisville ended Notre Dame‘s record 30-game regular-season winning streak against the ACC to go to 6-0 in Jeff Brohm’s first year. Florida State and North Carolina posted double-digit wins earlier in the day to stay undefeated. Had Miami held on, the ACC would have had four teams start a season 5-0 for the first time in conference history.
Instead, a hard lesson was learned Saturday night: You can get rid of the Coastal, but you can never get rid of the chaos. — Andrea Adelson
Sponsored Content
Bet the World Cup in Wager.dm
