In my game recap of Notre Dame’s win over Miami (OH) some discussions broke out about former Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. That got me thinking about Dat Boy Swinney and I noticed he has a very similar record to Lou Holtz at Notre Dame. The Clemson Tigers are so hot right now.

Top 11

1 Clemson (+1, 5-0, 31-17 W at Virginia Tech)

This is now 3 wins over current Top 20 teams in the AP Poll. Clemson *should* cruise to the playoffs.

2 Alabama (-1, 5-0, 66-3 W vs. Ole Miss)

It looks like the days of this being a fun and exciting series are over.

3 Georgia (+3, 5-0, 41-0 W at Tennessee)

The Vols look downtrodden but the Dawgs are looking quite strong, too.

4 Oklahoma (-1, 4-0, Bye)

Cheeseburgers.

5 TCU (-1, 4-0, Bye) 

Also, cheeseburgers.

6 Washington (+1, 5-0, 42-7 W at Oregon State)

This one was only 7-0 at half in favor of the Huskies. It ended quite differently.

7 Penn State (+1, 5-0, 45-14 W vs. Indiana)

Penn State had 39 yards on 37 carries but 4 turnovers doomed the Hoosiers.

8 Michigan (+1, 4-0, Bye)

Harbaugh has to get prepared for Michigan State.

9 Auburn (+2, 4-1, 49-10 W vs. Miss State)

This was supposed to be the type of Auburn offense many expected with Jarrett Stidham.

10 Ohio State (E, 4-1, 56-0 W at Rutgers)

The Buckeyes continue to beat up on poor competition since their loss to Oklahoma.

11 Washington State (NR, 5-0, 30-27 W vs. USC)

With wins over Boise State and USC the Cougars now have a solid early-season resume.

Next 2

Oklahoma State (E, 4-1, 41-34 W at Texas Tech)

Sneaky tough game in Lubbock finds the Cowboys coming away with a win, and Tech’s first loss.

USC (-8, 4-1, 30-27 L at Washington State)

Darnold has looked mediocre (9 TD/8 INT) and now freshman phenom tailback Stephen Carr is out for a few weeks.

Dropped out: Virginia Tech

G5 Top 3

San Diego State (E, 5-0, 34-28 W vs. Northern Illinois)

This NIU program isn’t what it used to be but the Aztecs holding them off is a decent win.

UCF (-1, 3-0, 40-13 W vs. Memphis)

Scott Frost is seriously Doing Good Things™ you guys.

South Florida (+1, 5-0, 61-31 W at East Carolina)

USF visiting UCF to finish the regular season, please both be undefeated!

You Were Bad

BYU

Fourth straight loss with Boise and Miss State coming up next.

Ole Miss

The Rebels have lost to Alabama by 64 points twice before so 63 points isn’t so bad, maybe?

Tennessee

Mustered 142 total yards at home to rival Georgia.

Rutgers

Suffered their 7th loss by at least 30 points since 2015.

Miss State

Out-scored 80-13 over the last 2 weeks.

LSU

Snapped their 49-game non-conference home winning streak with a loss to Troy.

North Carolina

Allowed 403 rushing yards to Georgia Tech and are off to a 1-4 start, Irish up next!

Baylor

For starting 0-5 with a 13-point loss to Kansas State.

Week 6 Preview

Enemy Watch

#17 Louisville (-4) at #24 NC State
Wake Forest (+21.5) at #2 Clemson
#5 Georgia (-17.5) at Vanderbilt
Temple (-2.5) at East Carolina
Bowling Green (+14.5) at Miami (OH)
#13 Miami (-3) at Florida State
Air Force (+7.5) at Navy
Oregon State (+34.5) at #14 USC
#16 Virginia Tech (-16.5) at Boston College
Michigan State (+11.5) at #7 Michigan
Stanford (-6.5) at #20 Utah

Lamar Jackson versus that NC State defensive line is a really fun matchup. Smart money on the home team to cover as dogs here?

Surely Clemson is due for a true stinker of a game. That might not equal a loss at home still Wake has been pretty competent this season.

I feel bad for Vanderbilt with Alabama, Florida, and now Georgia all in a row. They have to be so sore.

East Carolina has been so butt that they can’t even be favored over a really poor Temple team.

Chuck Martin should get back on track this week facing a putrid BSGU program.

Miami is largely untested and at least their offense should get a nice interview this weekend, at least.

I was thinking the Michigan spread would be a little larger, to be honest.

That’s a lot of disrespect for Utah, I wonder if they can slow down Bryce Love?

Too Close for Comfort

Penn State (-14) at Northwestern

The Nittany Lions tend to play close games. Last week may have been an aberration they only out-gained Indiana by 18 yards, Barkley was limited to 56 yards on 20 carries, and they had tremendous turnover luck. Northwestern usually has one “where did that come from” game per year and maybe this is it?

Upset Pick of the Week

SMU (+5.5) at Houston

There aren’t a ton of good picks this week. Chad Morris is doing reasonably well this year with the Mustangs. Houston is still one of the better AAC team but maybe not a clear-cut top tier program in their league anymore.

National Spotlight

#23 West Virginia (+13.5) at #8 TCU
LSU (+3.5) at #21 Florida
#1 Alabama (-26.5) at Texas A&M
#9 Wisconsin (-11.5) at Nebraska
#11 Washington State (+2.5) at Oregon

College Game Day is headed to Fort Worth for a game that doesn’t really move the needle much on a national scale.

Up next, we have a pair of SEC games that kind of don’t deserve to be here. What else is there to watch?

Washington State has to have one of the toughest run-ins to finish the season. If they can win in Eugene they might have a really good chance at a major bowl game if there’s carnage in the Pac-12 in the coming weeks.