Saturday Scoreboard: Week 6

Written By Tucker Harlin

By Tucker Harlin

What a week.

Five Top 25 went down in upset losses, and one of those losses now has a place in history among the greatest of all time.

The mighty SEC has one remaining unbeaten team as we creep further into October. Most of the remaining unbeatens across the college football landscape reside in either the Big 10 or Big 12, but most of said unbeatens won’t make it through the rest of the season without a loss.

This is my leaner cut of the Week 6 madness.

SYRACUSE 44 @ #25 UNLV 41 (OT) (FRIDAY)

Fun Friday was building up to feature two less than stellar matchups and one incredible matchup playing out in Sin City.

That’s exactly what happened. Syracuse jumped out two a 14-point lead in the first quarter with a pair of touchdowns scored by running back LeQuint Allen.

But Hajj-Malik Williams and UNLV weren’t going anywhere, scoring 21 straight against the Orange.

Syracuse made a field goal to end the first half, something that proved momentous in the second half.

Kyle McCord led a 12-play scoring drive to open the half that ended in a touchdown pass to who else but LeQuint Allen, taking back a 24-21 edge.

Williams was picked off just two plays into the Rebels’ next possession. Orange backup running back Yasin Willis got in on the action with a 21-yard rush touchdown to stretch the lead to 10.

But the Rebels answered in a similar manner as Williams made McCord pay for an interception by finding receiver Ricky White III crossing in the middle of the end zone to take back the lead.

With just under three minutes to play in regulation, the Orange was in desperate need of a score. McCord responded accordingly, leading an 11-play, two-and-a-half minute drive that ended with a catch on a fade in the left side of the end zone by Jackson Meeks.

UNLV got the ball first in overtime but only gained three yards, settling for a field goal after four play.

The Orange found itself in a 1st and Goal situation at the UNLV 1. McCord handed the ball to LeQuint Allen, who ran through a driving tackle to win the game.

This result is a hard hit to one of the prime contenders for the group of five College Football Playoff auto bid. Fortunately for UNLV, Boise State also has a loss to a power four school.

The Broncos and Rebels battle October 26 in Las Vegas.

SMU 34 @ #22 LOUISVILLE 27

The ACC dark horse bowl came down to the wire as expected, but Louisville had to scratch and claw its way back in order to make it a game.

A touchdown was scored on each of the first three possessions, a trend broken by a Cardinals field goal late in the first quarter. SMU scored the final touchdown of the half on a 59-yard run by quarterback Kevin Jennings to go up 11.

The Cardinals scored a touchdown on a five-minute long drive to open the second half while holding the Mustangs to a field goal on their first possession.

On 3rd and 6 at his own 14, Tyler Shough uncorked this shot to midfield that turned into 86 yards and a score for Ja’Corey Brooks to tie the game at 27.

SMU missed a field goal on the next possession, but Louisville was unable to capitalize as it turned the ball over on downs.

Fast forward to the 10-minute mark in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs marched down the field on an 11-play, 89-yard touchdown drive that ended with an L.J. Johnson run up the middle.

Louisville got the ball back with 6:39 remaining. The Cardinals worked their way down to the SMU 12 but took a sack on first down to set them behind the chains.

On 4th and 17, Shough desperately threw the ball into the end zone in heavy traffic. It was picked off by Isaiah Nwokobia.

Despite an early loss to BYU, SMU finds itself as one of five ACC teams with an unbeaten conference record in early October.

#9 MISSOURI 10 @ #25 TEXAS A&M 41

The only ranked matchup of the weekend finished as an upset, but not as close as Vegas had in mind.

Theo Wease may or may not have been interfered with on fourth down near the beginning of the game, but the officials decided to wave off the flag. The Tigers had little momentum after this point in the game.

Conner Weigman pieced together possibly his best performance as an Aggie, spreading the wealth for 276 yards to 10 different receivers.

Texas A&M was just as proficient in the run game, gashing the Tigers for 236 yards and five touchdowns. The Aggies effectively ended the game with this knockout punch from Le’Veon Moss to start the third quarter.

Brady Cook was under pressure all game long from Nic Scourton among others on the Aggie defensive front. Cook finished with an inconsistent 13/31 for 186 pass yards and a touchdown for 59 yards to Wease.

Don’t look now but Texas A&M has inserted itself into the conversation as an SEC title contender.

#1 ALABAMA 35 @ VANDERBILT 40

This was the stunner of the day in the college football universe. Vanderbilt had never beaten a #1 team in the poll and hadn’t beaten Alabama since 1984.

Craziest of all, Vanderbilt never trailed in its 40-35 upset victory over the Tide. Alabama’s defense had no idea how to approach an offense that’s content to move the ball three to four yards a play and occasionally hit a deep pass.

This circus pick six early in the game stuck Alabama’s offense behind the 8-ball for the rest of the game.

No amount of heroics from Ryan Williams could save the Tide from the impending disaster in Nashville. Diego Pavia game-managed to perfection, going 16/20 for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns while rushing for another 56.

Diego hit the giant square in the head with a stone, and he fell in the Cumberland River with the goal posts.

The biggest takeaway for the rest of the SEC: Vanderbilt is not the pushover you once thought it was,

#10 MICHIGAN 17 @ WASHINGTON 27

Revenge was on the minds of the Husky faithful as they readied themselves for possibly the least publicized national championship rematch in a regular season.

Washington led 14-0 in the middle of the second quarter. Alex Orji wasn’t getting the job done through the air for Michigan, so Sherrone Moore opted to put Jack Tuttle in to right the ship.

The Wolverines scored 10 points on their last two possessions of the first half, including this 39-yard score from Donovan Edwards.

Michigan took its first and only lead of the game on the first possession of the second half. The Wolverines took 11 plays and 6:22 off the clock on a drive that finished with this touchdown pass to Colston Loveland.

Washington answered with a field goal later in the half to tie the game at 17, but turnovers were about to cost Michigan.

Tuttle fumbled at his own 32 in the middle of the fourth quarter. This gave Washington a short field to go score a touchdown and take a 24-17 lead.

Tuttle threw an interception at his 31 with a little over three minutes to go, a play the Huskies would turn into a field goal and effectively put the game out of reach for Michigan’s slow-moving offense.

On one side, this was a revenge tale as old as time. On the other, Michigan is in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs.

#11 USC 17 @ MINNESOTA 24

I was criticized by a pair of Fanrun personalities for putting this one in my Top 10, but it’s not easy to overcome “simulating brandishing a weapon.”

Both teams scored a touchdown, a field goal, and lost a fumble in a back and forth first half that finished tied at 10.

Minnesota had to punt to start the second half. In true Big 10 fashion, USC ate off seven minutes in a drive that ended in a 5-yard Woodi Marks rush touchdown to take a 17-10 lead.

Instead of padding the lead on its next drive, USC turned the ball over at the Minnesota 35 with a Miller Moss interception. Aided by chunk pass plays to Darius Taylor, the Gophers marched down the field to tie the game.

The Trojans went three and out on the next possession and punted the ball to the Minnesota 25. A methodical 12-play drive ended with quarterback Max Brosmer’s third rush touchdown of the day.

USC managed the clock well on a drive that would have sent the game to overtime, but Moss threw another pick with just under 10 seconds left to play.

The Trojans fell from #11 all the way out of the AP poll for the loss. Minnesota now sits at .500 on the season with the upset.

#4 TENNESSEE 14 @ ARKANSAS 19

Arkansas dragged what was supposedly among the best offenses in the country through the mud in its first Top 5 win since 2007.

The Razorbacks could have led by three scores as opposed to three points at half. It could have converted a pair of fourth and shorts and Taylen Green spied Isaac TeSlaa streaking toward the end zone on a third down in Tennessee territory.

The Vols had their worst offensive half in the Josh Heupel era as they were held scoreless. The offensive line looked lost in several instances in the first half and really all game.

Tennessee came out strong in the second half with a pair of touchdowns drives, but it was unable to keep its foot on the gas.

Arkansas scored its first touchdown after Tennessee went up two scores. The Hogs had their next possession due to a “running into the kicker” penalty, a possession that cut the game closer with a field goal.

The conservative efforts of the Vols offense weren’t enough having only scored 14 points.

Arkansas got the ball near midfield in its final possession. Big runs from Braylen Russell and backup quarterback Malachi Singleton gave the Razorbacks a 19-14 lead with 1:17 to go.

Tennessee found itself in fourth down situation at the Arkansas 20 in the final seconds. Nico Iamaleava needed to take a shot to the end zone on the last play.

He did this instead.

Sam Pittman and Arkansas finally did something against their narrative of failure in tight games. Tennessee was dealt a harsh reality check coming out of a bye

#8 MIAMI 39 @ CAL 38

Rece Davis barely had a voice when calling Miami’s comeback victory in Berkeley.

The Golden Bears led 38-18 early in the fourth quarter. Cam Ward had thrown a pick six some time in the third quarter and Miami’s largest deficit was at 25 for the night.

The Hurricanes scored on each of the next two possessions as Ward ran for 24 yards on one and connected with Isaiah Horton for the other.

Cal had to punt on the next possession with 1:42 to go, downing it at the Miami 8.

But Miami only needed one play to traverse the majority of the field. Ward found Xavier Restrepo for a 77-yard gain on this play.

Ward completed the drive with a touchdown pass to tight end Elijah Arroyo.

Fernando Mendoza didn’t complete a pass to a teammate on all four plays of Cal’s final possession. The one completion was an interception.

Apparently, survive and advance is the name of the game in the college football universe right now. Miami moved up two spots for its win because many near the top lost or have already lost one week into October.

Tucker Harlin
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