2024 College Football: Week 6 Takeaways
Even with 14 teams on byes this week, we saw tons of great football and plenty of surprises. The SEC suffered some massive carnage, and these results could later impact how many playoff spots this conference earns. Everything from last week also flipped: (5) Georgia and (12) Mississippi dominated, (25) UNLV dropped a heartbreaker, and Houston excelled. Upsets ruled the day, with (1), (4), (9), (10), (11), and (22) all falling. We’re going to focus on those upsets here (listed in rank order based on the team that lost). Come check out the action in my week 6 takeaways!
(1) Alabama Falls at Vanderbilt Week After Beating Georgia
The wave Crimson Tide fans were riding lasted just one week. Newly anointed the #1 team in the country (I personally wouldn’t have dropped Texas), Alabama likely expected to cruise against Vanderbilt. Those of you who follow this site though know that the Commodores pushed Missouri to the brink two weeks ago and are much improved this year. You can decide whether this was due to Vanderbilt’s play or a let-down from Alabama, but it was unexpected to say the very least. Vandy had been 0-60 versus AP top-5 teams in program history, but there were signs of an impending breakthrough this year.
QB Diego Pavia (16/20, 252 yards, 2 TDs; 20/56 rushing) has transformed the team since transferring from New Mexico State this offseason. His dual-threat capabilities befuddled Alabama’s defense, enabling the Commodores to score 40 points. Alabama hasn’t allowed that many since a loss to Tennessee in 2022. Alabama actually played pretty well offensively themselves, but the mistakes QB Jalen Milroe (18/24, 310 yards) didn’t make against Georgia (INT/FUM lost) appeared this week. He also had just 10 net rushing yards (plus a TD). One turnover was a pick six, which you could argue made the difference.
I still blame the defense. Vanderbilt was a 2-2 unranked team. Scoring 34 points should be enough to beat them. The offense wasn’t perfect, but 4.0 yards per carry and 310 yards through the air is fine. Give the Commodores their due. They’re a team that you actually don’t look forward to facing now. This is about Alabama though. They will cede their #1 ranking back to Texas (rightfully), but now they join every other non-Texas SEC team with a loss, making their playoff path more perilous than it needs to be. Milroe is talented enough to make amends for this, and it starts next week against South Carolina.
(4) Tennessee’s Offense Disappoints in Loss to Arkansas
Any ranked teams that won should consider themselves lucky. Top-15 schools fell left and right this week, including (4) Tennessee. The Volunteers faced a dangerous opponent in Arkansas, but a team of their caliber shouldn’t have had this much trouble. Aiding the Razorbacks was the fact that this became a defensive struggle early, and Tennessee could do nothing at all offensively. Despite their winning ways, Tennessee did have one curious fact: QB Nico Iamaleava (17/29, 154 yards) hadn’t yet thrown for 250 yards in a single game. He still hasn’t.
Following a completely nondescript first half that Arkansas led 3-0, the teams came to life in the 3rd quarter. The Vols ripped off two straight TD drives, and Arkansas responded with a TD and an FG. On the FG drive, QB Taylen Green (19/27, 266 yards) took a nasty hit (it was penalized) from DT Omarr Norman-Lott and left injured. Backup Malachi Singleton (2/3, 31 yards; 4/12/1 rushing) finished the drive and led another TD march with 1:17 left. The Volunteers wisely let them score to prevent the clock from running out. Trailing 19-14, Tennessee drove down to the ARK 20 and faced 4th and 5 with 6 seconds left.
Iamaleava then showed his inexperience and made fans sick. He ran toward the sideline, but instead of firing toward the end zone, he trotted out of bounds. The clock ran out, and he never even gave his team a chance! Adding insult to injury, his run was only good for 4 yards, so even if more time remained, the result would’ve been a turnover on downs anyway. This was great for Arkansas, as HC Sam Pittman is on the hot seat despite some really good seasons in a brutal conference. Tennessee just made the road to the playoffs MUCH harder. Winning the SEC might be the only path forward, and that’s highly unlikely.
(25) Texas A&M Obliterates (9) Missouri in Statement Game
The ranked matchup mentioned in the intro was this one. In another SEC trap game, Missouri was actually a 2.5-point underdog. Analysts have noticed that the Tigers have not looked great recently (see the comment about them barely surviving Vanderbilt above). We can also observe that after a week-1 loss to Notre Dame, the Aggies have played much better. QB Conner Weigman (18/22, 276 yards; 5/33 rushing), freshly back from injury, was pristine despite not throwing a TD. The ground game, led by RBs Le’Veon Moss (12/138/3) and Amari Daniels (5/34/2) took care of the scoring in a 41-point barrage.
Missouri’s defense was supposed to be the team’s strength. That was the more surprising aspect of all this, because the unit simply got shredded. Allowing 6.6 yards per carry and an 81.8 completion percentage won’t be good enough to beat most teams, let alone one on the rise. It’s not like the offense helped out. Yes, Missouri had some setbacks that weren’t their fault. The refs picked up a PI flag on 4th down during the Tigers’ first drive, and the call should have stood. Star WR Luther Burden III (7/82) saw a 75-yard TD called back by my least-favorite penalty (ineligible lineman downfield). Regardless, you need more than 10 points.
Offensively, we’ve seen a shaky Missouri team for weeks. QB Brady Cook (13/31, 186 yards, TD) continued his stretch of inaccuracy, and the running game didn’t help with 2.3 yards per carry. They lost by 31 points without committing a single turnover! Close calls against Boston College and Vanderbilt didn’t inspire confidence, but the wheels really fell off here. It may be time to admit that these aren’t the 2023 Tigers, and they’re just a top-25 team, not a premier one. The Aggies, on the other hand, are rolling and definitely aren’t dead. They have little margin for error, but their prospects are much higher than they were.
10th- and 11th-Ranked Teams also Fall in Upsets on the Road
(10) Michigan and (11) USC, two teams that played a nail-biter of a game two weeks ago, both got bitten by the upset bug this week. For Michigan, the story was the same as usual: poor QB play. Alex Orji (3/7, 15 yards; 3/11 rushing), who just recently replaced an ineffective Davis Warren, led three straight punting drives, and HC Sherrone Moore saw enough. In came Jack Tuttle (10/18, 98 yards, TD, INT), an Indiana transfer who missed the Michigan QB competition with an injury. He moved the offense better, even leading a TD drive on his first possession. However, the Wolverines still managed just 17 points.
Things actually went well until the 4th quarter, when Michigan and Washington were tied at 17. That’s when Tuttle committed two turnovers (INT, FUM), which the Huskies converted into 10 points. They went up 27-17, and that was the final score. Michigan’s defense is still very good; this was a bit of an off night, but still not terrible. The unit simply cannot compensate for this abysmal offense. When Texas outclassed them, it made sense. Losing to Washington, a team that they crushed in last season’s title game (and who also lost considerable talent and their coach this offseason), is a much harder pill to swallow.
For USC, this was also loss #2, having fallen to Michigan in the abovementioned matchup. Their loss was worse though, as they played at Minnesota, a previously 2-3 team with minimal offensive might. The Trojans actually led at multiple points, but 3 turnovers, 2 INTs from QB Miller Moss (23/38, 200 yards, TD) and a fumble, doomed them. Even still, the game came down to the wire. Minnesota went on 4th and goal at the 1 while tied 17-17 and came up empty. However, replay showed that the Golden Gophers did score with 56 seconds left. Moss’s second INT sealed a 24-17 loss for USC, and their playoff hopes are likely dashed.
SMU Continues Hot Streak, Knocks off (22) Louisville
Whereas our last few upsets have been about the failings of the losing teams, this one really had more to do with the victors. SMU seems to have found their QB in Kevin Jennings (21/27, 281 yards; 10/113/1 rushing). He replaced an injured Preston Stone a few weeks ago (ironically, Stone subbed for Jennings for one play in this game, tossing a 10-yard TD) and never relinquished the job. Coach Rhett Lashley loves the added dimension he adds with his legs, and it really came into play against Louisville, as he led the team in rushing. The Mustangs actually never trailed once in this, demonstrating strong offensive consistency.
In a 34-27 loss, you can’t say your offense played poorly, and that’s true for Louisville. As in last week’s loss to Notre Dame, the defense really bears the brunt of the blame. They couldn’t generate a single turnover, and SMU scored TDs in 3 of their first 4 drives. Even though things settled down in the second half, that was too big of a hole to overcome. It’s a shame, as QB Tyler Shough (22/35, 329 yards, 2 TDs, INT), RB Isaac Brown (10/117), and WR Ja’Corey Brooks (3/121/2) all had good games. Louisville’s ranked tenure is likely done, whereas SMU has an ACC title in their sights. In fact, they might take Louisville’s place in the top 25.