College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And the sixth Saturday of the 2024 season did not disappoint, from a stunner in Nashville to a beatdown in College Station and all the other field storms from coast to coast.
Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.
Here are my top takeaways from Week 6:
1. Chaos reigned, reminding us all why we love this silly sport.
Five of the top 11 teams in the AP poll lost on Saturday. It was a wild whirlwind of a day, highlighted by Vanderbilt’s first-ever win over an AP No. 1 and redemption for a century’s worth of frustrating losses to Alabama — which was commemorated by the goalpost’s trip down Broadway and a ceremonial dump-off in the Cumberland River. But by day’s end, the Tide was far from alone. No. 4 Tennessee lost to Arkansas, No. 9 Missouri was blown out by Texas A&M, No. 10 Michigan fell to Washington, and No. 11 USC lost to Minnesota in the final minute.
Not only was Saturday a good reminder that chaos almost always accompanies a weekend slate that seems boring on paper — Saturday only had one matchup between two ranked opponents — but it also suggests that we may be in for a more interesting College Football Playoff than we originally anticipated. Considering the parity we’ve already experienced this season, it’s not a stretch to say we could see multiple first-round upsets. I will say, a day like Saturday does make it hard for any of us to figure out who is actually good this season. Texas and Ohio State both seem to be national title contenders, but I’m not sure about anyone else at this point! Give me more time and more data points.
2. All hail Diego Pavia, college football legend.
How can you not love this guy? He believes that God sent him to Vanderbilt in order to upset Alabama, and in the same breath, he’s willing to drop f-bombs. (That was an all-time great postgame interview by SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang, who fought hard to keep control of that microphone!) And if you look at Pavia’s X account, you’ll see that his pinned tweet was him listing off his New Mexico State accolades with film to try to drum up interest in the transfer market.
Vanderbilt scored 40 points against Alabama for just the second time in program history. The other time was in 1906. And so much of that is because of Pavia, who led a Vanderbilt offense that converted 12 of 18 third downs and gashed Alabama’s defense over and over again. This was the kind of performance and game that will live on forever — both in Vandy lore and in college football history. Which is pretty damn cool.
The goalposts are in the cumberland! @VandyFootball pic.twitter.com/XSRiSC5vDo
— 102.5 & 106.3 The Game (@1025TheGame) October 6, 2024
3. Alabama’s defense leaves much to be desired.
The Crimson Tide defense has given up 67 points in its past six quarters of play. It’s been really, really bad! Alabama got gashed repeatedly by both Carson Beck and Diego Pavia, and it could not get off the field on third down against Vandy. Obviously, we all know what happened with Georgia, so this wasn’t a major talking point a week ago. But now ... well, this is a problem! Especially without forcing any turnovers. With so many upsets of so many top teams on Saturday, it’s hard to know what to make of everyone. But I do know I’m deeply concerned with what we’ve seen defensively lately.
4. Missouri is not a College Football Playoff team.
And we probably should have known that sooner than Saturday. The Tigers eked out wins over Vanderbilt (in overtime) and Boston College, which should have raised some alarm bells. But it was hard to imagine that an offense with Luther Burden III wouldn’t eventually figure things out. As it turns out, it wouldn’t and maybe won’t.
The new 12-team College Football Playoff is supposed to keep teams alive longer. One loss isn’t meant to disqualify anyone. But Missouri’s 41-10 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday sure felt like a Playoff eliminator, especially when you look at the Tigers’ remaining schedule. That rather manageable schedule was one of the main reasons so many of us thought Mizzou could make the CFP, and now it becomes a negative. There’s just not much meat there, and that’s only if somehow this team started to play well and string together convincing wins. And I’m not sure I have faith in this team to do that, especially when the lasting image from that game in College Station were the shots of a dejected Burden on the sideline each time the Aggies scored.
5. Oregon may be undefeated, but Dillon Gabriel’s play is cause for concern.
The Ducks are 5-0, fresh off a 38-10 win over Michigan State that served as a tune-up for their big matchup against Ohio State next weekend. And while Oregon outplayed the Spartans in every area, there remain questions about the quality of its quarterback play (even with the improved offensive line). Sixth-year senior Dillon Gabriel is supposed to be one of the very best quarterbacks in the country. The experienced signal-caller was a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, and many people (including me) believed in the Ducks as a national championship-caliber team because of him. So far, he’s been … fine. He’s been pretty good, actually — he’s thrown for nearly 1,500 yards and 11 touchdowns (while rushing for three) through the first five games while completing nearly 78 percent of his passes. But he’s not played at the level I thought he would.
I thought he could elevate and carry his team against Oregon’s best opponents, and I’m not sure he can do that against the Buckeyes. The two red zone interceptions he threw against Michigan State are alarming — and exactly what you can’t do against a talented team like Ohio State. The Buckeye defense is very good, and its offense is as well. You can’t cost yourself points like that against a great team. You can’t give a team like Ohio State extra possessions. And that’s giving me great hesitation heading into next Saturday’s game.
6. Michigan needed to change quarterbacks, but it still may not be enough.
It’s actually reassuring to see the Wolverine coaching staff come to the same conclusion that we all have — that you can’t win big college football games without a serviceable passing attack. There was absolutely no way that Michigan would ever be able to come back in a game without a quarterback who could throw the ball, and that’s why the Wolverines had to bench Alex Orji in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, down 14-0. And while Jack Tuttle provided an immediate spark, he also turned the ball over twice late. It seems like Michigan can’t play a quarterback capable of throwing the football without said quarterback turning the ball over. This is not a great situation to be in, and it’s hard to feel confident in Michigan moving forward against quality opponents
7. O-T-T-T-O-G-O!
I’m a little bit obsessed with Cal — and Cal Twitter. I don’t think it’s a big secret at this point, but I’m mentioning it because I don’t think I’m the only one. This season has introduced us to the weird world of the #Calgorithm, and I genuinely think this fan base is willing its team to wins (and the ability to host ESPN’s College Gameday) on vibes alone. Which I deeply respect! This has been one of the most enjoyable storylines in an admittedly wild season so far. The signs we saw on Saturday morning were hilarious. The fans did an incredible job showing up and out early for their debut. And for so much of Saturday night’s game, it seemed like the Bears were going to cap the crazy day with an upset (and field storm) of their own. But a conservative approach to the final minutes (and a few questionable calls) led to a brutal blown lead and a frustrating loss to No. 8 Miami.
8. After all that SEC carnage, be prepared to welcome our Big Ten overlords.
Guys. Get your heads right. With so many top-10 SEC teams losing this week, you have to brace yourselves for a world in which most of the top five of the AP poll is based in Big Ten territory. We’ll likely see Ohio State at No. 2, Oregon at No. 4 and Penn State at No. 5. I’m not saying all three of those teams are actually among the best teams in the country or that they’ll stay there. But for now, this is notable, and it sets up a top-five showdown in Eugene, Ore., next weekend. And that’s something I can’t wait to see.
9. Megaconference long-distance travel is a bear.
Big Ten teams traveling two or more time zones are 1-7 on the season so far. The lone win belongs to Indiana, which traveled to UCLA and beat the Bruins soundly the week after a Friday game against an FCS opponent. And here’s an interesting tidbit: The Hoosiers flew in late for that game — on purpose. Their operations staff told me they specifically chose to fly in on Friday (aiming to get to the hotel around dinner time, local time) because that’s their time frame for all road trips. They aim to get to Purdue around 7:30pm for a road game, so they wanted to get to UCLA around the same time the night before their game. And ... maybe that’s the right approach?! Most Big Ten teams are flying in on Thursdays to adapt to the time change. Maybe that’s the wrong strategy! Or perhaps Curt Cignetti’s team is one of destiny. I choose to believe both.
10. Ashton Jeanty is chasing the Heisman Trophy — and Barry Sanders, too.
I think we all know how good Jeanty is, and we know that he’s appointment viewing. I genuinely hope that my fellow Heisman voters make sure he gets to New York City, because he’s undoubtedly one of the most outstanding players in college football. What’s cool about what we’re seeing from the Boise State running back is how historic it is. Let’s compare his stats through five games to the great Barry Sanders, who won the Heisman in 1998.
- Sanders: 1,002 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns
- Jeanty: 1,031 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns
And! It’s worth pointing out that Jeanty sat for the second half of Saturday’s game against Utah State and the second half against Portland State. So, he’s basically done all that in four games, if we’re really counting.
