A month ago, things were going so well for LSU that Lane Kiffin ended an ESPN halftime interview during the opener against Clemson by asking Holly Rowe, “Imagine if we had pro players?”
The little jab came during the debate over an extra year eligibility for players that participated in NFL training camps. We’re already good enough, Kiffin was saying.
But we can answer the question, kind of.
For example, you can imagine that if LSU had pro players it wouldn’t give up 401 yards and 4.8 yards per carry and lose 35-34 in overtime to No. 25 Kentucky, which only needed extra time after missing a pair of very makeable field goals in regulation.
The Wildcats won on a walk-off two-point conversion by quarterback Kenny Minchey, who ran in untouched out of a shotgun
snap. A transfer from Notre Dame, Minchey threw for 246 yards and avoided any turnovers while his LSU counterpart, Sam Leavitt, turned the ball over twice.
Those happy days of early September are now long gone for Kiffin. The Tigers are now 4-2 and 1-2 in the SEC with No. 20 Mississippi State next and No. 7 Alabama, Texas and No. 14 Tennessee still to come.
No three-loss at-large team that did not play in a conference championship game has made the bracket in the brief history of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Even if the SEC’s depth gives a 9-3 team a chance, that would require a 5-1 finish against one of the toughest remaining schedules in the Power Four.
This is how quickly things move nowadays in college football. A month ago, Kiffin and LSU could do no wrong and were the biggest villains in the sport – a killer combination. As of Oct. 10, the Tigers could basically be an afterthought in the title conversation. And Kiffin isn’t making any headlines.
That puts Kiffin with Oklahoma, Texas and Georgia as the biggest winners and losers of the week:
Winners
Georgia
Georgia won the final 10 minutes and beat No. 7 Alabama 20-17 in one of the defining games of the regular season. That’ll send the Bulldogs to No. 1 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll. More importantly, though, this is a tone-setting win that secures Georgia’s reputation as the team to beat in and out of the SEC. With 10:28 to play, Georgia started at its own 11-yard line and went 84 yards for a 23-yard field goal and the lead. The defense then delivered a key sack of Keelon Russell to force Alabama to punt with 3:10 left. A key completion by Gunner Stockton and 15-yard Alabama penalty helped Georgia put the game away.
Oklahoma
The Sooners turned around their season by turning a pair of Arch Manning interceptions into points in the fourth quarter and beating No. 1 Texas 27-24. This is a stunner: Oklahoma has been terrible since the opener and the Longhorns climbed atop the Coaches Poll after a comeback win against No. 6 Ohio State. The difference was at quarterback, where Manning made more crucial errors and John Mateer avoid any turnovers while making two huge throws to set up Tate Sandell’s 47-yard field goal as time expired. The win establishes a blueprint for Brent Venables to maximize a shaky roster that has clear flaws, especially on offense. By avoiding mistakes and not gambling away their opportunities, the Sooners found an avenue for an upset that ranks among the biggest in Red River history.
UCLA
In the span of only a few weeks, No. 22 UCLA has gone from being seen as a nice surprise under new coach Bob Chesney to one of the best teams in the Big Ten. Facing off against No. 13 Oregon, the Bruins harassed backup quarterback Dylan Raiola into only 43 passing yards and two interceptions on just 6 completions 6 of his 19 attempts and beat the Ducks 17-15 to remain unbeaten. This might just be the start: UCLA has five more home games out of seven overall and takes on just one more ranked team in No. 17 Southern California. A former James Madison coach has a down-on-its-luck Power Four program exceeding expectations and making a playoff push. We’ve seen this before.
Shane Beamer
South Carolina’s 38-19 win against No. 15 Florida is a huge result for Beamer and his dwindling job security. Seen as a candidate for a midseason dismissal after losses to No. 20 Mississippi State, No. 7 Alabama and No. 24 Kentucky, Beamer is now on firmer footing after a road win that increases the Gamecocks’ postseason hopes. The most positive sign from Saturday was the huge leap in play from quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who had five combined touchdowns and showed why he’s seen as one of the top prospects in this year’s draft class.
USC
Penn State is not going very far in Matt Campbell’s first year; there was a thought that PSU might work an easy schedule into nine wins, but that’s not happening. Still, the 31-23 win is a big one for the Trojans, who don’t do well off the West Coast and are just getting started on a very tough midseason run. They played well in the fourth quarter: Ahead 24-23, USC marched 71 yards for a touchdown, forced a big turnover and then put it away with two first downs on the ground in the final minutes. Next up is Wisconsin on the road and then Ohio State at home.
Indiana
We’ll know next week whether No. 5 Indiana was caught looking ahead to No. 6 Ohio State or whether the Hoosiers are not up to the standard set by last year’s national champions. Against Nebraska, Indiana fell behind 10-3 at halftime and 17-6 in the fourth quarter before scoring two unanswered touchdowns to escape with a quality win. But there are question marks around the offensive line and TCU transfer Josh Hoover, who made the plays that mattered but was held in check until the final quarter. On the other hand, there’s a solid chance that Nebraska is a legitimate contender, making this not only the Hoosiers’ best win to date but a good barometer for what needs to be cleaned up before taking on the Buckeyes.
Bill Belichick
Billy Edwards Jr. threw for 249 yards and two scores, carrying over his strong play last week against No. 3 Notre Dame, and North Carolina earned the best win of the Bill Belichick era by knocking off No. 24 Pittsburgh 21-17. The Panthers’ first loss came behind backup quarterback Holden Grenier, who tossed a pair of interceptions in his first start as Mason Heintschel’s replacement. This snaps a two-game losing streak and sends the Tar Heels into their rivalry matchup against No. 23 Duke on a high note.
Losers
Texas, Arch Manning and Steve Sarkisian
This is a total disaster for Texas that erases all of the hard- credibility coming out of the comeback win against the Buckeyes. Already a soft No. 1 after barely beating No. 14 Tennessee, the Longhorns will plummet in this week’s Coaches Poll. It’s also another messy loss for Sarkisian, ratcheting up the pressure on him to deliver an SEC championship and a playoff run in the second half of the year. But no one will face more criticism than Manning, who simply has not played well all season long and should be under much more pressure to deliver as the starter.
Florida
After the Gators earned a mammoth win against No. 11 Mississippi, two SEC losses in a row essentially erased their playoff chances heading into games against No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Georgia to end October. Even if making the playoff was already a long shot, the focus now shifts to winning eight games in the regular season. That’s doable, but only if Florida takes care of business in November against Oklahoma, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Florida State.
Nebraska
The streak of losses to ranked teams now goes to 31 games. That’s a stunning stretch for a historic blueblood that was once the sport’s most consistently dominant program. Until that streak ends, the lack of a marquee win will define Nebraska and fourth-year coach Matt Rhule. But there is clearly something working in terms of Rhule’s rebuild, which has yielded a veteran team that went the distance with Indiana and might have enough to win eight or nine games in the regular season.
Texas A&M
A&M was ranked No. 8 in the preseason Coaches Poll. That seems like more than just five games ago. The Aggies gave up 252 rushing yards and barely spent any time past midfield in a 27-6 loss to No. 16 Missouri, dropping to 2-3 and rising to the to of the list of the Power Four’s biggest disappointments. One common thread in this mess is quarterback play: Marcel Reed was 19 of 39 with two interceptions against the Tigers, continuing a nosedive that began with the junior in the Heisman Trophy mix. Major changes are coming for A&M, but not in time to salvage this lost season.
Oregon
Oregon is another bust, though Dante Moore’s injury is a pretty significant excuse for how things fell apart against UCLA. After losses to UCLA and Oklahoma State, the Ducks have very slim odds of putting things together and getting back to the playoff. His performance on Saturday will dial back the hype around Raiola, who looked much more like the overrated five-star recruit who couldn’t lift Nebraska out of the seven-win doldrums than the latest Oregon quarterback transfer to make a run at the Heisman Trophy.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football winners, losers for Week 6 include LSU's Lane Kiffin and Oklahoma
