Week 6 of the college football season is in the books and it feels like we are really into the thick of the season now, with storylines developing, draft stocks rising and falling and some huge performances being put in by players and teams around the country.
Let’s get straight into some of those big performances with the Winners section first…
Winners – Lee Wakefield (@Wakefield90)
Jalen Mayden, San Diego State
This is quite a story and the reason why this is the first name in the winners’ column today!
So Mayden transferred to San Diego State in 2021 as a backup QB from Mississippi State but after not cracking the starting lineup and the arrival of Braxton Burmeister, he switched to safety and appeared on the defensive side of the ball for the Aztecs in five games this year.
However, with Burmeister out with a concussion Mayden was required to switch back to quarterback for this weekend’s game against Hawaii… but could he make the migration back to signal caller?
How does 24/36, 322 passing yards and a touchdown sound?
It wasn’t a resounding scoreline by any means but 16-14 and a fairytale story for a young man.
Texas
As an admitted Texas hater, I am not willing to say they’re back, far from it… I mean, they’re 4-2, but I am willing to give them their dues here for a 49-0 win over their biggest rivals. Although, does it say a lot that the other guys are in the other side of this article?
Texas was great though; they were in control, their stars played well and the crowd in burnt orange at the Cotton Bowl were well and truly revelling in it.
Quinn Ewers is a potential star at QB for the Longhorns and as he goes through this season and next, perhaps Texas will get closer and closer to being back, because that’s surely the aim, not least because they will need to get better if they are planning to have any kind of success in the SEC.
On the other side of the QB battle, it was plain to see that they were in trouble when it was announced that Dillon Gabriel wasn’t going to play and my own pre-match prophecy came true… And Oklahoma had five guys throw a pass in the game, which says an awful lot about their play on the day.
A broken clock etc.
The other main star for Texas who needs a quick shout out is running back, Bijan Robinson; 22 touches for 145 yards and two scores on the day to put the Sooners to the sword. He showed his prowess as a runner and as a receiver, especially with this catch below.
Could he be a first round running back to send Draft Twitter into meltdown?
Israel Abanikanda, Pittsburgh
Israel Abanikanda. Take a bow, Son.
320 yards rushing, on 36 carries and six, yes, six touchdowns against Virginia Tech. What a performance from the Junior runner, doubling his season total for touchdowns in one afternoon and becoming the first Power 5/BCS player to rush for over 300 yards in a game since Ricky Williams in 1998. He also became only the third player in 25 years to score six rushing touchdowns in a game, alongside Williams and TCU and Chargers great, LaDainian Tomlinson. The last player to do so from the University of Pittsburgh was in 1910.
In rushing for 320 yards, he also broke Tony Dorsett’s single game rushing record for Pittsburgh, which had stood at 303 yards since 1975.
So quite the day for the young man. Can he capitalise on his once in a lifetime day and make it to the NFL?
Losers – Will Lane (@TheWillieLane)
Oklahoma
There was absolutely no way that head coach Brent Venables and his Oklahoma squad were escaping this one. It was an absolutely miserable performance from the Sooners in the 119th Red River Rivalry, one they will want to forget. The offense was non-existent, five different players threw a pass and they still did not acquire 50 passing yards. They saw some-what more success in their run game, but between the two they didn’t see the end zone once. The Sooners now fall to 3-3 on the year and are last place in the Big XII.
This was a Saturday to forget for fans and the team alike, being shut out for the first time since November 7th 1998. Ending a 311 game streak for the Sooners. This was also the first time that the Sooners were held without a touchdown for the first time in 167 straight games. A historic day for Oklahoma, but not in a good way.
Without quarterback Dillon Gabriel, this offense just looked lost. Pitt transfer Davis Beville got the start, and struggled mightily. The quarterback only completed six passes on 12 attempts and had an interception, while also finding nothing on the ground. To see an offense so lifeless is just so shocking from Oklahoma, who have had two Heisman winners in the past six years. Was there anything fans can take away from this game? Not particularly. Just look to regain next weekend Kansas who just fell 38-31 to TCU.
BYU
Losing to Notre Dame in 2022 will always get you in the losers column.
Notre Dame was able to accumulate over 500 yards of offense against BYU. The Cougars had a very lackluster first half, the pace was set when on the first play of the game Hall threw an interception. A slow start and a couple of questionable coaching decisions is what led to the loss against the Fighting Irish, who now lead the series 7-2 against BYU.
Jaren Hall was just 9 for 17 with 120 yards on the day, a performance that was all but impressive. The quarterback was definitely not feeling 100% entering Saturday’s game after being dinged up against Utah State. Yet it wasn’t that the offense wasn’t finding success, more like the defense could not get off the field. The BYU offense only attempted 46 plays while Notre Dame attempted 73.
Questionable decisions definitely played an impact in BYU’s upset loss against Notre Dame. Notably towards the very end of the game when on 4th and 1, when BYU strayed away from their power back Christopher Brooks and handed it off to scat back Lopini Katoa. The play got stuffed leaving less than four minutes on the clock and sending the Cougars home disappointed. Blowing it in prime time against fans in the Las Vegas Raiders Allegiant Stadium.
Michigan State
Michigan State is just terrible. No other way to put it.
Both sides of the ball are just abysmal. At half time, Ohio State had already accumulated 429 yards worth of offense while also scoring 35 points. In the second half, the Spartans were held to just seven points. Not something you want to see when you were already trailing big at the half.
Michigan State couldn’t stop anything yesterday, allowing over 370 passing yards and 200 rushing yards. Not something that you want to see from a defense, even if it is Ohio State. For obvious reasons the Spartans could not get their run game going, quite like last year they were down too much too early. Leaving it up to the passing game to try and keep this as a respectable loss. Which one could say they did, the passing attack looked impressive for one half, until bottoming out in the second half and letting the Buckeyes run away with this one.
I guess this is a problem then?
By Lee Wakefield & Will Lane
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