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The mighty are falling! What a wild-wild past two weeks on the college griddy. Week five brought some noise; week six shot that noise to another stratosphere. High ranks are falling like dominoes, with storming of the fields and goalpost river dumpin' motives coming from multiple directions. We have officially reached the period of the season that has the stove just too hot to contain. It's a full on grease fire; back on up and watch them class-K flames rise to the ceiling!
First in WK-5, we are blessed with the absolute banger of a game... well, banger of a 2nd half between Alabama and Georgia; with ranks 6, 10, 15, and 20 falling throughout the week on top of it. Then, WK-6 arrives to deliver-down pure pandemonium & utter mayhem. We saw ranks 1, 4, 9, 10, 11, 22, and 25 fall; a 3-mile hike to dump an upset-valued goalpost, and another wild finish involving the Hurricanes. The noise on the gridiron is reaching joyful decimals.
There is nothing like college football, and there is nothing like an upset. It was exciting to see Ole Miss and Utah get upset in WK-5, but the upsets of Alabama and Tennessee were far more entertaining as the upsettors sent shockwaves across its home-field stands, rather than across those on the road. Commodores takin' down the Crimson Tide created epic scenes in Nashville. Scenes in the stadium, in the streets, and all across the bloody campus. The upset created several firsts, marking it the best win in Vanderbilt program history.
The stunning win was Vanderbilt's first win over a top-ranked program. Vanderbilt entered Saturday's game with an 0-60 mark against AP top-5 squads... its 60 consecutive losses against top-5 squads had been the longest such streak in the AP poll era, dating to 1936. The dub also marked the first time the Commodores scored more than 40 points in a game against a top-five opponent, and gave the program a long-awaited victory over Alabama; who had won 23 consecutive games against Vanderbilt before Saturday's upset, a streak dating to 1984 (in '93 Bama won; the win later flipped to Vanderbilt via forfeit due to NCAA violations against the Crimson Tide from that season). Just an unreal win, that created an unforgettable night for Commodores.
You already know the Vandy faithful said to hell with a fine by storming the field. Students thought the quick and typical storming of the field wasn't enough... not for a win like that. So they collectively took down the goal-post and marched that sucker roughly 3-miles to dump it into the Cumberland River:
video via CFBONFOX//X
From tearing it down, to marching and dumping it in the river- it only took the Vandy faithful a little over an hour to get the job done. Great execution; just as great as the player’s execution on the field. That's a crazy win to pull off for Vandy a week after the type of win Bama had, over the type of opponent in Georgia. Alabama becomes the fourth No. 1 team in the AP poll era to lose a game to an unranked opponent the week after a win over a top-2 ranked opponent. Such a result hadn't occurred since 1960. That speaks volumes on the quality of win.
The streets of Broadway and 21st weren't the only streets pack full of wild college students enjoying a program's upset. Fayetteville was just as lit after the Razorbacks took down the surging Vols and stud-freshman Nico Iamaleava. A huge-huge win for Taylen Green and co. Just as you thought Tennessee and Alabama could be two of the top teams both in confidence and all-around; they go and get beat. The beauty of College Football. Expect the unexpected. Stunna Wunna.
X-Factor Jeanty:
The only thing stopping Ashton Jeanty is his coaches sitting him too soon for sportsmanship. Jeanty is unhinged runnin' the rock! The cat already has 16 rushing touchdowns through just FIVE games while leading the nation in rushing yards (1,031). He is on a crazy pace right now, despite hardly playing 4-quarters of ball per. A pace that as of now, has him in possible striking distance of one of Barry's epic records at OK-State.
With seven games left, Jeanty is on pace to tie or break Sanders' all-time single-season rushing touchdown record (37). I doubt he comes close to the yardage record (2,628), but the tuddy record is absolutely up for the taking if Jeanty can a) keep up the production, and b) get a rise in attempts. Boise State's remaining schedule looks good for it. The comp is comp he can smash, but the teams are even in strength with the Broncos. Which would keep Jeanty on the field longer (he's that good). Lets see what he can do against Hawai'i next. As of now, Jeanty looks to be enroute to the Jazz & Lincoln Center. Just look at the damage he is doing to defenses:
video via CFBONFOX//X
Fresh' Wide-Receivers Gettin' Acquainted:
Going into the season, everyone knew the names Luther Burden III, Tetairoa McMillan, Travis Hunter, and Xavier Restrepo. Stud-upperclassmen wide receivers who are building cases for the Pro Draft; while looking to aid a program to a CFB berth. All four of those cats are playing well, doing their dance, but it's the freshman wideouts who are really stealing the show early on... specifically Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith & Alabama's Ryan Williams.
The 2024 class of wideouts is starting to go from looking shiny, to forming the diamond finish. Both Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith are producing large numbers, while giving the fans highlights after highlights to watch. Smith, the number-1 ranked receiver, and overall number-1 rank in the '24 class; logged in an outstanding performance on the road in East Lansing to help slaughter the Spartans in primetime. Smith scored two touchdowns, and had two unreal one-handed grabs (on the same drive):
video via NBC_Sports//X
video via NBC_Sports//X
Stop it! Just filthy. The kid is a freak in the air gettin' the ball. A seeker of seekers. Smith is performing to expectation, and then some. The best part? He will only get better and better. Just imagine when he gets more targets (not even No.1). Smith has scored in every single game this season and his production rises each week. Thought his game against the Spartans was the peak? Smith then went and gave the same level of performance against Iowa... even dropping another ridiculous one-handed touchdown grab:
video via CBS_Sports//X
We watch those three highlights and Jeremiah Smith in general, then still have to question if he's the best freshman wide-receiver right now!? Sure do. Alabama's Ryan Williams is just as good, making just as incredible highlights, but doing so in vastly different ways. Williams is the youngest player in the nation at 17, performing like one of the most electric players in College Football for Bama. Smith has that Moss/Irvin type vibe (also like that Chris Carter comparison in the video), while Williams is game-breaking with speed; acrobatics; and shifty route-running to look like a second coming of DeVonta Smith.
Williams, the only repeat Mr. Football in Alabama history, has reached mainstream off a slew of highlights through the opening three weeks, but his game against Georgia blew his stock into another stratosphere. Williams put up 177 on 6 receptions, with two unreal highlight plays that included a spin-cycle, lead takin' nuke that sent shockwaves across the nation:
video via @ESPN_SportsCenter//X
The young cat didn't drop that nuke against a FCS slacker, but against a top-defense in the biggest regular-season game of the season with the WHOLE bloody nation watching. Seventeen years old and he's puttin' NFL-ready caliber talent in a damn blender. Williams' performance over UGA skyrocketed his NIL worth from $768K to an estimated $1.6M. Just an unreal play; made by an unreal player.
The nation is tuning in every week to see what the freshman wide-receivers are doing against the comp. Williams and Smith aren't the only two producing from the top of the '24 WR rankings, either. Auburns' Cam Coleman (No.2) is starting to get involved; Clemson's T.J. Moore has shown flashes; and Ryan Wingo (Texas) & Nick Marsh (MSU) have shown some early game-breaking ability as they get the feet in the sand. Several star-studded wideouts are emerging. Watch them blossom!
Hurricanes Stay Undefeated After Wild Wins:
Staying alive! Miami has kept its zero alive after two wild-wild games. First, it was the Hokies going into HardRock to cause the Hurricanes to sweat things out. Miami had to outscore Virginia Tech 14-7 in the 4th-quarter, and had to have the football Gods on its side after a near Hail-Mary attempt that started some controversy:
video via @ESPN//X
That wasn't a catch; glad the officials got it right, despite the dagger to Hokies Nation. Pitchforks or not. Not a catch in my eyes. A wild finish; which was just the start of things. Miami then erased a 25-point deficit in the 2nd-half to stun Cal in Berkeley, last week. Cam Ward was excellent in the clutch across the comeback, leading a game-winning drive with seconds left in regulation after converting a tough 3rd-and-20. Ward used his sure-fire weapon Xavier Restrepo in the clutch to push the 'Canes; including a massive 4th-down conversion on the drive to get the score within six.
Ward was rough in the 1st-half and threw a real bad pick-six in the 3rd that looked to be a dagger for Miami. Despite his play and the deficit, Ward flipped a switch to bounce back and was beyond great to lead the win. Didn’t miss a throw; was poised; confident; and made some huge throws in pivotal moments as well as made some big runs out of nothing.
A Heisman type of a moment if you ask me. On the double-time. Quick to use the word survival. I consider it a Heisman case moment for overcoming adversity to lead a victory. A 25-point comeback is no joke. Ward's demeanor is so good. Next level worthy type of demeanor. He never gave up despite his non-Heisman type play. That grit flipped the switch for himself, and more importantly the team to keep its' zero.
Gritty comeback. Players did all the work; not Cristobal. Running up the gut on the 7-yard line (1st and goal) with 30 ticks left was interesting. Good thing he has Ward. That has been shown in volume. Defense got hit hard the past two weeks. Hurricanes can't look at the easy schedule too lightly. Not only to risk feeding into a stunner, but to start putting things together in time for Conference Championship weekend and the CFP (potentially). Miami doesn't look nearly as good as they should. Thankfully, Cam Ward is quite the back-brace.
We can only expect more noise after what has transpired in the past two weeks. The slate is slim on paper up and down, but we do have a monumental triple-threat with Ole Miss headed to Death Valley; the Red River bout; and the main-event between Oregon and Ohio State that is set to feed our appetite. That is quite the triple-header. You already know I am ultra-pumped. Lets see what more madness we get!
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