Week 6 of college football was chalk full of upsets, and the Border Eight was the heart of it all.
Illinois hosted a Nebraska team as a three point favorite hoping to get their itsconference win of the season. The Cornhuskers had other plans though. Nebraska came out to a very fast start jumping to a 17-0 lead including scoring two second quarter touchdowns within10 seconds. The Huskers offense sputtered the rest of the game, only scoring three more points and turning the ball over three times in the fourth quarter, but the defense stepped up strong, only allowing one touchdown. Nebraska kept Illinois’ running game to 21 yards, and the Huskers won 20-7.
Iowa once again had a very classic Iowa style game against Purdue; juggernaut defense, and an offense that couldn’t get a solid drive against a youth football team. Quarterback Deacon Hill went 6-for-20for only 110 yards with one touchdown and an interception. On the other hand, the defense hada great day and held Hudson Card to only 247 yards on40 pass attempts and picked him off twice. This performance would get the Hawkeyes to 5-1 on the year with a 20-14 win over Iowa.
Despite a very ugly game against FCS level Howard, Northwestern can officially say it’s a 3 win team with just the same amount or fewer losses since October 16,2021. The Wildcats struggled as a 23 point favorite only putting up 312 yards and allowing 352. Despite leading23-7 going into the fourthquarter, Howard would roar back and score 13 unanswered. A failed onside kick and a few Wildcat first downs would get Northwestern the win 23-20.
One of the most interesting stories of the year so far has been the Louisville Cardinals. With a new head coach and a new quarterback, the Cards had a lot of change, but an easy schedule looked like it would help them. Starting the year 5-0, they looked good, but they had three one score wins and no wins against ranked teams. All of this being considered, they came into their matchup against No. 10 Notre Dame ranked No. 25. The Cardinals were ready though, and they proved they deserved more recognition. The offense had a respectable day. Jack Plummer went 17-of-24 and a touchdown while on the ground they put up 185 and three touchdowns. It was not a horrible performance, but it was nothing special. It was the defense that absolutely showed out. Heisman hopeful Sam Hartman was picked off three times and sacked five times as well as losing two fumbles as the Fighting Irish could not even put up 300 yards. Louisville got the win 33-20 and is now one of only five teams in the country that are bowl eligible.
Across the state, the Kentucky Wildcats hoped to aid Louisville in becoming the only state with two bowl eligible teams and after a Missouri loss, were hoping to beat Georgia and become the last undefeated team in the SEC. This did not happen. Despite Georgia having slow starts to games all year, the Bulldogs barreled out to a 34-7 lead at halftime. The Georgia offense seemed like the weaker side of the ball, but put up 608 yards and six touchdowns. Georgia’s defense held Kentucky to less than 200, and quarterback Devin Leary could not complete even 50% of his passes.
Vanderbilt had their second conference foe looking for revenge against them from last year as they traveled on the road to play Florida. Florida would not let the Commodores get a win streak going against them, and the Gators won38-14. Graham Mertz had a great day going 30-of-36 with 254 yards while the run game went for 215. Ken Seals barely completed 50% of his passes, and a Vanderbilt turnover led them to their fifth straight loss on the year.
Arkansas’ struggles continued as it lost its fourth game of the season and its third one score game. Despite putting up 252 yards and two touchdowns, KJ Jefferson’s turnover struggles continued as he threw two picks. On top of that, Rocket Sanders, who was projected to be one of the best running backs in the country, only racked up 15 yards. Ole Miss did not pass 200 in the air nor on the ground, but, by winning the turnover battle 2-0, they won the game 27-20.
(Tennessee had a bye week as they prepare for Texas A&M next week.) Moving on…
Last year, Oklahoma State started the year 6-1 before they played Kansas State. The Wildcats wonin blowout fashion 48-0, derailing the Cowboys’ season; they only won one more game the whole year, and Kansas State went on to win the Big 12. The Cowboys seemed to carry that animosity with them as they hosted the Wildcats as nearly a two touchdown underdog on Friday night. Oklahoma State raced out to a 26-7 lead and picked off Will Howard twice. Despite Oklahoma State going on a 14-3 run, the Cowboys heldthem off with another interception and won their first conference game 29-21.
Oklahoma also had a revenge game after losing to Texas last year, 49-0. The rematch was highly anticipated as both teams were 5-0 and in the top 15. Texas looked unstoppable with no wins less than 10 points, three wins against teams that were otherwise undefeated andtwo ranked wins, including one at Alabama. While Oklahoma had the same record, they had not been as impressive. They had no ranked wins and the best team they beatwas Iowa State who was sitting at 3-3. The game started out wild with two Texas interceptions with an Oklahoma touchdown in between and then a blocked punt by Texas resulting in a touchdown. The game went back and forth but Texas took a 30-27 with 77 seconds left, seemingly winning the game. Dillon Gabriel had other plans. He methodically marched the Sooners down the field in just barely over a minute and found the endzone with 15 second left to beat #3 Texas 34-30.
After a blowout loss to Texas, Kansas bounced back very well with an incredible offensive performance against UCF. The Jayhawks rushed for 399 yards and five touchdowns. Three different players had at least 90 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, the shutout UCF in the first half and were up 37-8 going into the fourth quarter. The Jayhawks won 51-22 in their biggest conference win since 2008.
Iowa State had an incredible defensive performance against the reigning national runner ups. The Cyclones picked off three different TCU quarterbacks for a total of four times and just two touchdowns. Offensively, they had a stellar day with three touchdowns, but this defensive show led them to the win 27-14.
In the Group of five, NIU had a masterful day on the ground against Akron. Antario Brown ran for 280 yards on just 13 attempts and had four touchdowns. The defense also showed out for the Huskies holding Akron to just 253 yards and sacking Tahj Bullock four times as well as getting an interception en route to their 55-14 win. This is the most points NIU has scored since their 63-17 win over Ball State in 2017.
Down in the CUSA, the conference started their shift to midweek games having all four of their matchups on Wednesday and Thursday. Western Kentucky looked like they would win in blowout fashion on Thursday night as they raced out to a 35-7 lead going into halftime. However Louisiana Tech rallied, shutting out the Hilltoppers in the second half and putting up 21 unanswered points. Down 7, the Bulldogs got the ball back with about a minute left gave them a chance to win, however a late interception gave the Hilltoppers the win 35-28.
Middle Tennessee came into itsmatchup against Jacksonville State 1-4 while the Gamecocks were 4-1. Despite that, MTSU was a small favorite and at first, it seemed like the bettors knew what they were doing as the Blue Raiders were up 23-7 going into halftime. However, JSU made some serious halftime adjustments and outscored MTSU 38-7 in the remainder of the game. The offense recorded five touchdowns while the defense forced three turnovers as well as a touchdown to win 45-30. Jacksonville State is 5-1 in their first season as an FBS team.
Arkansas State was completely dismantled on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they only put up 203 yards and did not find the endzone once. Defensively, they allowed 587 yards. Kimani Vidal had the most impressive performance of the day, out gaining and outsourcing the Red Wolves by himself, putting up 245 yards and three touchdowns on the day which snapped Arkansas State’s three game win streak. Troy won37-3.
In the AAC, Tulsa and FAU both had very ugly days. FAU quarterback Daniel RIchardson only put up 144 yards, threw one interception, and did not find the endzone once. Tulsa had a worse day as both quarterbacks only went 13-of-28 and 180 yards with two interceptions on the day. The slightly less terrible led FAU to the win 20-17.
Memphis had a bye week before taking on Tulane Friday.
- Oklahoma (6-0) (2-0)
- Louisville (6-0) (0-0)
- Iowa (5-1) (1-0)
- Kansas (5-1) (1-0)
- Kentucky (5-1) (0-0)
- Memphis (4-1) (1-0)
- Tennessee (4-1) (0-0)
- Western Kentucky (4-2) (1-0)
- Oklahoma State (3-2) (1-1)
- Kansas State (3-2) (0-1)
- Nebraska (3-3) (2-0)
- Tulsa (3-3) (1-1)
- Northwestern (3-3) (0-0)
- Iowa State (3-3) (1-2)
- Arkansas State (3-3) (0-2)
- Arkansas (2-4) (0-0)
- Illinois (2-4) (0-2)
- Northern Illinois (2-4) (0-2)
- Vanderbilt (2-5) (0-1)
- Middle Tennessee State (1-5) (0-1)