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Most of the college football stuff that happened in Week 5

Posted on by Vaseline
Most of the college football stuff that happened in Week 5

Week 5 reminded us that even if an expanded College Football Playoff can change the stakes of regular-season games, it will never change the magic of a college football Saturday.

We saw Alabama beat Georgia in the most dramatic fourth quarter of the season. We watched college kickers win and lose games, and we watched teenagers break through on some of the sport’s biggest stages.

Here’s a look at the highlights and unique CFB moments that took place this weekend.

Freshman sensations

The 2024 recruiting class is quickly making a big impact in the college game – especially at wide receiver.

Let’s start with Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, who entered this season with sky-high expectations after being considered the top recruit in his class. Smith caught five passes for 83 yards and one touchdown in the Buckeyes’ 38-7 win against Michigan State. The AthleticsCameron Teague Robinson compared Smith’s dominant performance against the Spartans to that of Marvis Harrison Jr. two years ago. Smith’s two one-handed grabs against tight coverage speak for themselves.

Then there’s Alabama’s Ryan Williams, who reclassified to the class of 2024 in December and enrolled at Alabama over the summer. At 17, Williams is the youngest player in the FBS – his 18th birthday is in February – yet he leads all freshmen with 462 receiving yards through four games. He and Smith are the only freshmen in the top 100 nationally in receiving yards.

Williams recorded six receptions for 177 yards and one touchdown against Georgia, including the game-winning score of 75 yards in the fourth quarter. At this rate, Williams could break Alabama’s freshman records for receiving yards (1,045 by Calvin Ridley in 2015) and receiving TDs (11 by Amari Cooper in 2012).

And I would be remiss if I left freshman defensive back Zabien Brown out of this section. Brown iced Alabama’s 41-34 victory with a pick of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck in the end zone on the final drive.

A clear flop

Ole Miss found itself in a dog fight against Kentucky early on, so it was no surprise that the Rebels pulled out all the stops to avoid pulling off the upset (spoiler alert: it didn’t work). In the second quarter, quarterback Jaxson Dart was seen on the broadcast gesturing something to running back Matt Jones. Jones sees Dart, looks to the sideline and falls to the ground with an obvious fake injury.

ABC play-by-play commentator Sean McDonough didn’t let Jones faze.

“Luckily Matt Jones survived the field,” McDonough said. “Just a blatant fake injury.”

The broadcast further discussed Jones’ flop by bringing in rules analyst Matt Austin. Austin confirmed that there is nothing in the NCAA rulebook explicitly against faking an injury – meaning the referees could not impose a penalty.

“There’s some very strong language about it being unethical to fake an injury at any point during the match,” Austin said. “I know the rule makers have talked about it several times, but right now there’s nothing in the book that you can do about it.”

Karma came back to bite the Rebels as they lost 20-17 and fell from No. 6 to No. 12 in the AP poll.

Run of the day

Ashton Jeanty stayed on appointment in Boise State’s 45-24 win against Washington State.

The one play I’ve seen repeatedly is Jeanty’s 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. About five yards into the run-up it looks like Jeanty is getting stuffed by Wazzu defenders, but he somehow stays on his feet to turn on the jets and break this game open for the now-No. 21 Broncos.

Jeanty, who should have serious Heisman consideration at this point, finished the day with 26 carries for 259 yards and four touchdowns (the entire Washington State team totaled just 89 yards on the ground).

End zone celebration

UNLV took a closer look at its game on Saturday after QB Matthew Sluka left the program earlier this week amid a name, image and likeness dispute. But in a 59-14 thrashing of Fresno State, the Rebels quieted the noise and ranked No. 25 in the AP poll for the first time in program history.

Wide receiver Jacob De Jesus had a fairly quiet game, and his breakout touchdown catch-and-run in the third quarter was called back for holding. However, his bulldog-like celebration should not go unnoticed.

While that play didn’t count, the Rebels provided some other highlights that were worth noting. Rashod Tanner blocked a Fresno State punt in the first quarter, and Ricky White returned it for a scoop-and-score.

Highlights #CollegeKickers…

Louisville kicker Brock Travelstead hit a 56-yard field goal, breaking his school record of 53 yards. Still, the Cardinals lost 31-24 to the Fighting Irish.

Texas State’s Mason Shipley drilled a 60-yarder to extend the Bobcats’ lead over Sam Houston. It was the second field goal of more than 60 yards in the FBS this season, following Temple’s Maddux Trujillo’s attempt of more than 64 yards last week.

Unfortunately for Shipley, he missed a 36-yard attempt in the fourth quarter as the Bobcats lost 40-39.

…And lowlights

Ole Miss kicker Caden Davis botched his 48-yard field goal attempt with 48 seconds left against Kentucky.

Florida State’s season of disappointment continued with a 42-16 loss to SMU. The Seminoles are off to a 1-4 start and QB DJ Uiagalelei has thrown four TDs to six INTs.

The Noles’ upside would likely come from mistakes by their opponents. Florida State added two points before halftime thanks to a wild SMU snap on a punt that turned into a safety.

Flea warning

Oklahoma State pulled a gem from its bag of tricks in a Big 12 showdown against Kansas State. In the second quarter, the Cowboys executed a flea flicker to set up a 77-yard catch and score from Alan Bowman against De’Zhaun Stribling.

But then the Cowboys were shut out until late in the fourth quarter, losing 42-20 to the Wildcats.

Fan meme of the day

Sure, there were plenty of upset Alabama fans caught on camera as Georgia pulled off its fourth-quarter comeback, which was close, but not enough.

But no viral fan tops this one from Purdue, which summed up how many of us felt watching a first half of football in which Purdue and Nebraska combined for zero points and four bad field goal attempts.

(Photo by Ryan Williams: Will McLelland / Imagn Images)

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