College football Week 6 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated parts of the weekend, and what it all means.
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College Football Week 6 Roundup
Rankings AP | Coaches | CFN 1-127 Rankings
Week 7 Early Line Predictions
College Football Playoff Chase, Who’s Alive?
Bowl Projections | Week 6 Scoreboard, Predictions
5 Thoughts: Texas A&M – Florida | Texas – OU
5. Winners & Losers From Week 6
– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 6
Winner: The Over
If it seemed like every game was a wild and wacky offensive fun-fest, you’re right. Out of the 27 main FBS vs. FBS games this weekend, 20 of them hit the over on the Vegas point total, and seven went under.
The SEC went particularly insane, with Texas A&M-Florida going 21.5 over the total, South Carolina-Vanderbilt going 6.5 over, Missouri-LSU going 35 over, Georgia-Tennessee going 20 over, Arkansas-Auburn going 12.5 over, and Alabama-Ole Miss went a whopping 40.5 points over the point total.
There was one SEC game that didn’t quite get there …
Loser: Mississippi State
The Bulldogs lost 24-2 to Kentucky – the point total was 57.5, by the way – despite outgunning the Wildcats 295 to 157 and holding on to the ball for almost 35 minutes. The problem? Six turnovers, all interceptions.
Winner: RB Najee Harris, Alabama
He’s not close to leading the nation in rushing, but is ten touchdown runs are two more than Iowa State’s Breece Hall. No one else has more than seven. In the win over Ole Miss, Harris ran 23 times for a hard 206 yards and five scores – averaging nine yards per carry – with three catches for 42 yards.
Rip up Georgia this week, and he’s in the lead for the Heisman. There’s one problem with that …
Loser: Tennessee running game
Georgia leads the nation in run defense, allowing just 38 yards per game on the ground. Pitt is No. 2 allowing 52 yards per game, and everyone else has given up 70 or more. So you’ll forgive Tennessee – who was great on the ground in its first two games – for its problems on Saturday in the 44-21 loss with -1 yard on 27 carries.
Winner: QB Phil Jurkovec, Boston College
How this for a transfer coming though better than expected? Jurkovec came to Boston College from Notre Dame to run new head coach Jeff Hafley’s offense, and so far he hit the 300-yard passing mark in three of the four games with eight touchdown passes, two picks, and three rushing scores. He threw for a season-high 358 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-30 upset overtime win over Pitt.
Loser: Syracuse offensive line
It’s been a rough start for the Orange front five, allowing a nation-high 21 sacks in the first four games. Only Duke with 19 has allowed more than 16, but it only gave up two in the 38-24 win at Syracuse. How many times did the Blue Devils get to the quarterback? Six, with nine tackles for loss.
Winner: North Carolina
Roll call on the great – or, at least, pretty decent – state of North Carolina. Appalachian State and Wake Forest were off, but …
Charlotte beat North Texas 49-21; Duke won at Syracuse 38-24; East Carolina whacked USF 44-24; North Carolina got it done against Virginia Tech 56-45; and NC State rolled Virginia 38-21.
By the way, four of those five games were on the road.
Loser: Florida
UCF didn’t play this weekend. That’s the most positive thing to happen to any FBS team in Florida.
Florida Atlantic had to postpone its game against Southern Miss due to COVID-19 issues.
Florida’s defense went bye-bye in the 41-38 loss to Texas A&M; Florida State got trucked by Notre Dame 42-26; Miami got blown away by Clemson 42-17 in a game that wasn’t even that close; East Carolina got its first win of the season at USF with a 44-24 blasting; and FIU, at home, handed Middle Tennessee its first win of the year.
At least the Dolphins were fantastic.
– The One Really Big Thing
– Most Overrated Thing
– Most Underrated Thing
– What It All Means, Week 6
NEXT: The really big thing was …