13 Storylines for College Football Week 5: This is Getting Good Now
Georgia's second visit to Alabama in 17 seasons headlines Week 5 of the 2024 college football season
Conference play kicks into high gear in Week 5 of the 2024 college football season, starting with a matchup that’s gonna take a Top 5 team down…
1. “This Balance is Not Working!” — #2 Georgia Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0) at #4 Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0, 0-0)
Both teams are coming off byes, though Georgia looked more in need of one after escaping with a 13-12 win at Kentucky its last time out. UGA finished with 262 total yards, its fewest in a game since September 2021 (256 vs Clemson) and just its second time under 300 over the last four seasons.
Georgia’s run the ball on just 45.1% of its plays through three games, down from 50.9% last year — which was their lowest rate since 2013. Their 27 rushing attempts a game tie for 124th of 134 FBS teams despite being tied for 38th averaging 5.4 yards per rush.
The increased reliance on QB Carson Beck, despite the departure of top targets Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey, has accompanied a step back in Beck’s efficiency in his second season as starter. His completion percentage, pass yards per attempt and efficiency rating are all down despite almost completely avoiding negative plays (1 sack taken, 0 interceptions so far).
Alabama could’ve been forgiven for wanting to kick this off immediately after its 42-10 win at Wisconsin in Week 3, the most-lopsided win by a visitor to Madison since 2008. The Tide have beaten the first three opponents of the Kalen DeBoer era by a combined score of 147-26 while scoring at least 42 in each game.
Bama QB Jalen Milroe has opened the season with multiple passing and rushing touchdowns in all 3 games, just the second Power conference player to do that at any point a season since Tim Tebow (along with Johnny Manziel).
You could argue Milroe isn’t the most impressive player on his own offense. That’s because he shares the field with true freshman receiver Ryan Williams, the #8 overall recruit who leads FBS freshmen in receiving yards (285) and receiving touchdowns (4, tied with Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith) while leading the FBS regardless of class averaging 28.5 yards per catch.
Kirby Smart takes his ‘Dawgs into a full-capacity Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time in his seventh meeting with Alabama as Georgia head coach (since 2016) but just the second one which doesn’t have a trophy on the line.
Smart is 1-5 against Alabama with the only win coming in their second CFP Championship Game meeting to cap the 2021 season (in Indianapolis). He’s lost four times to Bama in Atlanta (three SEC Championships and a CFP Championship) and lost the only regular season meeting 41-24 in Tuscaloosa in 2020 in front of approximately 20% of Bryant-Denny’s usual capacity.
Georgia will look to get its ground game going against a defense that completely shut it down in last December’s SEC Championship — the Tide held UGA to 78 rush yards and 2.52 yards per rush last December, both UGA’s worst since the 2020 season.
2. I Almost Forgot to Mention: A Top 10 Team Is Gonna Lose!
An underrated aspect of the Alabama-Georgia matchup is the fact that it guarantees a loss by an AP Top 10 team for the first time since both Notre Dame and Michigan lost as Top 10 teams in Week 2. There are two valid ways of looking at this:
Top teams rarely lose early in the season and it’s notable when they do, not when they don’t
It’s been a particularly boring September at the top
To the first point, four Top 10 losses are a very normal number through Week 4.
It’s the same number as last year and 2018 and more than through Week 4 in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Three Top 10 losses to unranked teams are more through Week 4 than all of the last 10 seasons except 2014 (also 3) and 2022 (4).
Northern Illinois winning at Notre Dame was incredible.
That said, we just lived through the first consecutive weeks without a loss by a Top 10 team season since 2011 (excluding a two-week span early in 2020 which plainly shouldn’t count). And the ones we’ve gotten so far are lame.
Two of the four Top 10 losses so far came before the first regular season poll by a team that started 0-3.
Another was by the extremely depleted reigning champions given a token Top 10 ranking against a team no one thought they could beat that since ascended to #1.
Northern Illinois winning at Notre Dame was incredible. I just wanted an excuse to think about that again.
3. Please Don’t Go Overtime… — #19 Illinois Fighting Illini (4-0, 1-0) at #9 Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0, 0-0)
Penn State steps into Big Ten play after blasting Kent State 56-0. The Nittany Lions set a program-record with 718 total yards while posting the largest total yardage differential (+652) by a Big Ten team this century according to a note I’m 98% sure I saw on ESPN’s ticker Saturday night and also common sense.
Penn State won its 22nd straight non-conference game and 21st straight game over a non-Power conference opponent against Kent State. The road has been tougher against ranked Big Ten teams — PSU went 1-2 against ranked Big Ten teams last season and has lost eight of nine since 2021.
PSU has run for at least 220 yards in each game this season and has increased its rushing yards and rushing touchdowns each week. The Nittany Lions are 10th in the FBS with 255.0 rush yards per game and 21st averaging 5.93 yards per rush.
Illinois is one of only two teams in the FBS to beat two ranked teams so far this season, the first to get there after last Friday’s overtime win at Nebraska (Tennessee joined them Saturday). The Fighting Illini are looking to beat three ranked teams in a season for the first time since 2007 after already making this their first-ever September with multiple Top 25 wins.
Fighting Illini QB Luke Altmyer tied his career-high with 4 pass TD last week against Nebraska, equaling the mark he set in Week 1 against Eastern Illinois. He’s the first Illini QB since Nathan Scheelhaase in 2013 with 4 pass TD twice in a season.
Illinois will look to slow down Penn State with one of seven defenses teams yet to allow a rushing touchdown, though the Fighting Illini haven’t been elite against the run overall. They’re 46th in the FBS allowing 3.45 yards per rush and 102nd with a defensive stuff rate of 13.9% according to CollegeFootballData.com.
Illinois returns to Happy Valley for the first time since one of the most painful watches in the history of the sport of football, the Fighting Illini’s nine overtime win over #7 Penn State by a 20-18 margin in October 2021.
The 2021 win was Illinois’ only win over a Top 10 Penn State in eight attempts.
This is the 28th meeting between Penn State and Illinois and just the third one featuring a Top 25 matchup. Penn State won both previous Top 25 matchups, most recently at home in 2008 and also at a neutral site in Cleveland in 1959.
4. Every Week Feels Like a Playoff Eliminator for Notre Dame — #15 Louisville Cardinals (3-0) at #16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-1)
Power conference teams can pretty comfortably assume that as long as they’re alive for the conference title they’re still in the hunt for the CFP. That doesn’t apply to Notre Dame, which remains staunchly independent (with the exception of the last election year). With the loss to Northern Illinois already landing them outside Playoff position according to the unscientific guide that is the AP Poll, the Irish are seemingly in must-win territory already.
This is most likely Notre Dame’s last chance to add an AP Top 25 win until wrapping up at USC. Notre Dame plays its next six against Stanford, Georgia Tech (in Atlanta), Navy (in NJ), Florida State, Virginia and Army (at Yankee Stadium).
Notre Dame bounced back from its loss with wins over Purdue (66-7) and Miami (OH) (28-3) by a combined margin of 94-10 while rushing for 632 yards in those two games combined. The Irish vaulted from 69th in rushing yards per game through Week 2 to 18th through Week 4.
Louisville is 3-0 for the second time in as many seasons under former Cardinals QB Jeff Brohm, looking for consecutive 4-0 starts for the first time since 2012-13 when Teddy Bridgewater was under center.
The Cardinals have been riding the hot hand of former Oregon and Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough, completing a career-high 68.4% of his passes (63.8% career) with 8 touchdowns and no picks. According to Louisville Shough’s 76 attempts are the third-most without a pick to start a Cardinals career behind only Mike Watkins (83 attempts) and Johnny Unitas (78).
The Cards beat Notre Dame 33-20 last October at home, snapping an 11-game Notre Dame win streak against ACC teams. The Irish are 2-2 against the ACC dating to that loss to Louisville, as many losses as they had in their previous 32 games against the ACC dating to 2018.
Louisville is 2-2 against Notre Dame all-time — according to Winsipedia, UL can become just the eighth current FBS team and the 10th team overall with a winning record against Notre Dame in multiple meetings.
5. Perhaps OSU’s First Sweat Broken? — #3 Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0, 0-0) at Michigan State Spartans (3-1, 1-0)
Brutus and his Buckeye buzzsaw roll into East Lansing for their first game outside Ohio Stadium and first against a Power conference opponent. Not that you’d notice anything was different by the spread, they’re 25-point favorites as of Sunday evening.
Ohio State has bludgeoned its first three opponents by a combined 157-20 margin, the fifth-best overall scoring margin (+137) in the FBS and the best among teams yet to play their fourth game (trails 4-0 Ole Miss, Tennessee, Miami, Texas and Indiana).
Ohio State is tied for third in the FBS averaging 52.3 points per game and is fourth allowing 6.7 points per game.
The Buckeyes have allowed 166 points in 16 games since the start of last season, 48 fewer points than any other FBS team excluding Kennesaw State in its first FBS season.
True freshman OSU receiver Jeremiah Smith had the worst game of his brief career so far with three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown against Kent State. He’s already tied Ted Ginn for the fourth-most receiving touchdowns by an OSU freshman with four in his first three games.
Ohio State’s opponent this week beat FAU by six points to open the season, Maryland by three to open Big Ten play, and lost at Boston College last week. Sparty is looking to pull a genuinely stunning upset that would be its first home win over Ohio State this millennium.
OSU’s won eight straight meetings with Sparty, the last seven by double-digits since a 17-16 win in East Lansing in 2016. Michigan State won three of five before this streak including two wins in Columbus and a Big Ten Championship, but has lost OSU’s last nine visits since winning 23-7 in November 1999.
6. Holding Strong — Virginia Tech Hokies (2-2, 0-0) at #7 Miami Hurricanes (4-0, 0-0)
I wrote last week about Miami QB Cam Ward’s tough road from early Heisman favorite to eventual winner following a decade of September favorites falling by the wayside. Things started out rocky against USF last week, but Ward’s Heisman hopes and Miami’s record emerged unscathed.
Ward remains the favorite with 3.5-1 odds, though three other players (Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe and Nico Iamaleava) join him with odds of 10-1 or better. He threw for a season-high 404 yards last week to go with three touchdowns, a mark he’s hit in all four games.
Miami was up just 22-15 at halftime last week before a 14-0 3rd quarter blew the win at USF open. The ‘Canes have outscored their first four opponents by a combined score of 59-3 in the 3rd quarter and 107-10 after halftime.
Virginia Tech was among the teams with the best odds to win the ACC in the preseason, but the Hokies haven’t lived up the hype with losses at Vandy in Week 1 and most recently at home vs Rutgers to fall to 0-2 against Power conference opponents.
Hokies QB Kyron Drones has thrown as many interceptions already this season (3) as he did all of last season in 178 more attempts.
VT is 0-3 on the road against Top 10 opponents since stunning eventual inaugural CFP champion Ohio State in September 2014. They’re 1-6 all-time on the road against Top 10 Miami teams (win: 2004, 0-1 since).
7. Staying In Their Lane — Kentucky Wildcats (2-2, 0-2) vs #6 Ole Miss Rebels (4-0, 0-0)
Perhaps the better reference for noted Swiftie Lane Kiffin is “keeping their side of the street clean,” but I like the one that plays off his name. However you frame it, a program and coach with well-earned reputations for being chaotic have been anything but while cruising to a 4-0 start.
Ole Miss has beaten its first four opponents by a 220-22 margin, the best in the FBS through Week 4. That includes 195:47 at the start of the season before allowing their first TD to Georgia Southern last week, the program’s longest streak of game time without allowing a TD since 1959.
Ole Miss is a 17-point favorite looking for its second 5-0 start in the last three seasons and fourth in the last 62 — prior to 2014, the Rebels hadn’t started 5-0 since 1962.
Rebels QB Jaxson Dart’s 1,554 passing yards are the most by an SEC quarterback through four games in the last 20 seasons according to Ole Miss (crediting ESPN). 2019 Heisman winner Joe Burrow previously had the mark with 1,520 at this point five years ago — Dart’s numbers across the board don’t look too bad next to the start of Burrow’s Heisman season.
8. Okay, Fine… — Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1) at #1 Texas Longhorns (4-0, 0-0)
I’ll concede there’s no controversy after seeing an entire game of Arch Manning under center for Texas. As of Sunday there’s no word when Quinn Ewers will return from his abdominal injury (the Longhorns have a bye next week ahead of their trip to the State Fair to face Oklahoma), but it probably makes sense to let Arch get some more game reps given this week’s opponent.
Arch was good enough to keep Texas rolling in a 51-3 out of ULM last week, but a pair of interceptions and a 15-for-29 completion rate left no doubt he was making his first career start.
The ‘Horns make their conference debut as a member of the SEC against a Mississippi State team allowing 30.8 points per game this season, 107th in the FBS and 3.5 points per game more than any other team in the SEC.
Texas has dropped 50+ points in each of its first three home games for the first time since 2008, looking to match that team with a fourth straight 50-point outing in Austin.
The SEC is just the third conference Texas has called home. The Longhorns were independent prior to joining the Southwest Conference in 1915, stayed in the SWC until the formation of the Big 12 in 1996, and stayed there until this season.
9. They’ll Do This In the Pac-12 Soon Enough — Washington State Cougars (4-0) at #25 Boise State Broncos (2-1)
Future Pac-12 rivals clash on the blue turf which I am just now processing will be a Pac-12 stadium in two years. Boise State and runaway Group-of-5sman favorite RB Ashton Jeanty will look to spoil Wazzu’s storybook start to life after the Power 5.
Jeanty leads the FBS averaging 195.3 rush yards per game while his 10.46 yards per rush are sixth-most in the country and best among players with at least 40 carries (or averaging at least 12 carries a game). He didn’t add to the 9 rush TD he racked up over the first two games last week in a rout of FCS foe Portland State, but needed just 11 carries to rack up a season-low 127 yards on the ground.
Washington State held off SJSU 54-52 in double overtime in the most “Pac-12 After Dark” game you could ever hope to watch Friday night. They’ll look to reach 5-0 for the first time since 2017 and the second time in the last 23 seasons.
10. Could’ve Done This One In the Old Pac-12 — Arizona Wildcats (2-1, 0-0) at #10 Utah Utes (4-0, 1-0)
Utah needed no time adjusting to life in the Big 12, going into Stillwater and pushing Oklahoma State around in a manner that was all too familiar to fans of the Pac-12. Don’t be fooled by the 22-19 margin tightened by a very late Cowboys rally, this was vintage Utah. As an Oregon fan, I’m thrilled it isn’t my problem anymore.
Utah’s 4-0 for the second year in a row and the seventh time under Kyle Whittingham. They’ll look to get to 5-0 for the first time since a 6-0 start in 2015 this week.
True freshman Isaac Wilson made his second start last week in place of perpetual game-time decision Cam Rising, becoming the first Utah true freshman quarterback to beat an AP Top 25 opponent in four attempts. Does it even matter who plays quarterback for this team?
Arizona’s next up to make its Big 12 debut, though in a stadium it would’ve visited this season anyway in an alternate universe where the Pac-12 stayed together. UA snapped a six-game skid against the former Pac-12 South rival Utes last season in Tucson, but has lost three straight trips to SLC by 13+ points.
Zona’s had a week off since getting shellacked 31-7 at then-#14 Kansas State Friday before last. QB Noah Fifita went without a touchdown pass in the loss while throwing an interception in a fifth straight game dating to last season. His completion percentage of 63.6% and efficiency rating of 147.5 are both down sharply from last year’s 72.4% and 165.9 rating.
11. Hail Deion (But Also Definitely Don’t Do That) — Colorado Buffaloes (3-1, 1-0) at UCF Knights (3-0, 1-0)
Whatever anyone thinks of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, it’s impossible to deny that his Buffaloes are must-see every time they take the field. It’s never been more the case than when Shedeur Sanders connected with LaJohntay Wester on a Hail Mary that may have sunk Dave Aranda’s tenure at Baylor Saturday.
It’s honestly incredible Shedeur Sanders makes it to the end of these games upright — Colorado’s allowed 16 sacks through four games including 14 in two games against Power conference opponents. The Buffs are tied for 86th in team pass blocking grade at PFF, down 17 spots from where they finished last season.
UCF is a two touchdown favorite this week as it looks for its first 4-0 start since the glory days of consecutive unbeaten regular seasons in 2017-18.
The Knights have had a week off since escaping Fort Worth with a 35-34 win at TCU two weeks ago. They’ve put 137 points on the board in three games and allowed 34 in their only one against a Power conference opponent. Expect fireworks.
12. Shouts to Idle Tennessee — #5 Tennessee Volunteers (4-0, 1-0)
The Vols opened up a lead and never really looked back in Josh Heupel’s return to Norman, handing Oklahoma a 25-15 loss in its SEC debut. Tennessee’s risen in the AP Top 25 each week this season and might just do it again on its week off pending the result of Georgia’s visit to Tuscaloosa.
Tennessee snapped a 28-game road losing streak against AP Top 15 opponents in the win at Oklahoma, their first such win since 2006 at #10 Georgia. They outscored Oklahoma 10-3 in the 1st Quarter, allowing their first 1st Quarter points of the season but pushing their edge in the opening frame to 78-3.
13. Also Receiving Votes in the AP Poll, But Ranked 13th In My Heart — Indiana Hoosiers (4-0, 1-0)
Last week I promised to dream of a 9-0 start for Indiana until they lose, and they sure didn’t lose. The Hoosiers are favored by a touchdown this week against Maryland as they look to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1967.
Indiana has only made it to 5-0 twice in program history — it reached 8-0 in 1967 before finishing 9-2 with a Rose Bowl loss to #1 USC and suffered the only loss of a 6-1 season by a 3-0 margin against Illinois in game six of the 1910 season.
First-year Hoosiers HC Curt Cignetti is the first Indiana head coach to win his first four games, with IU’s 202 points so far representing their most in any four-game stretch in program history. They beat the previous mark (183 in the final four games of the 2015 season) by just shy of three touchdowns.
Second out of the AP Top 25, Cignetti is on the verge of becoming the first IU coach to make an AP Poll appearance in his first season in over 70 years. Clyde Smith is the only one to do it so far after starting his tenure 2-0 in 1948 including a win at Wisconsin. Smith’s 1948 Hoosiers made a single appearance at #17, then went 0-7 the rest of the way. None of the 13 full-time IU coaches between Smith and Cignetti, a list including Lee Corso, Sam Wyche and Cam Cameron, appeared in a single AP Poll during Year 1.