Getting off the Nus Bus – On Saturday – Week 5 Recap
Holy moly! College Football week five was wild. We had heavyweight matchups that saw the teams ranked three, four, and five all take their first loss. Plus, there were a handful of other ranked teams that squared off against legit competition, and some of them got way more than they bargained for. Let’s skip the quips, bad jokes, and rambling that usually get put at the beginning of this column and just get into it. Here’s everything big that happened in college football On Saturday, September 27th, 2025.
Upset Under Friday Night Lights
#8 Florida St. 36 - UVA 48 (2OT)
The big headlines for week 5 started Friday night when the Cavaliers upset the visiting Seminoles. This game had all the elements of a classic trap game for FSU. Short week, on the road, a big game coming up the following week, and playing a team that’s better than many think based on their logo. The ‘noles came out flat-footed and fell into a 14-point hole. Florida St. came to life after their next three drives, separated by UVA interceptions, were all touchdowns. With a run of events like that, you’d expect the underdog to lose their fight and the high-ranked opponent to take over. However, the Cavs responded and continued to hang with FSU the whole way until the clock hit triple zeros, and we headed to overtime. Still deadlocked after one extra frame, we headed to double OT, where UVA found the endzone with the opening possession. Cavaliers DB Ja’son Prevard had two picks in this game, the second of which was the game-ender when he intercepted Thomas Castellanos in the end zone on 4th down. The second Prevard secured the ball, and his body hit the ground, the UVA crowd rushed the field in what was the wildest looking field storming in recent memory. Luckily, FSU receiver Squirrell White, who was Castellanos’ target on the play, didn’t get trampled to death like Mufasa and was reported to be okay.
INTERCEPTED!!! VIRGINIA TAKES DOWN FLORIDA STATE 46-38 IN DOUBLE OVERTIME!!! pic.twitter.com/bH8rlxkNTD
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) September 27, 2025
If you’re a Seminole fan, you came out of this game frustrated with your team on both sides of the ball. While their offense put up 514 yards and 38 points, they had three costly turnovers. Their defense managed to intercept Cav QB Chandler Morris three times, yet they gave up 440 yards and allowed UVA to convert 9 of 15 third and fourth downs. Virginia just wouldn’t go away and kept making plays.
This was a massive win for Cavalier HC Tony Ellioy in year four. Elliot spent a decade in multiple coaching positions at Clemson before taking over in Charlottesville. The expectations for success at a program like UVA aren’t the highest; however, Elliott came into this season with a record of 11-23 and was understandably on the hot seat. That seat continues to cool as his team is now 4-1, beat the 8th-ranked team in the country, and is ranked for the first time since 2019 at #24. Meanwhile, Mike Norvell’s team needs to learn from what went wrong in this one and then immediately dump it as #4 Miami is coming to town this week, a game we’ll touch on more in an upcoming preview of week six.
The Three Big Bouts of Week 5
#17 Alabama 24 - #5 Georgia 21
Speaking of Florida St., Alabama lost to them week one, and everybody wanted to chase head coach Kalen Deboer out of town, and/or hit them with their pickup truck. The vitriol was understandable, and under Deboer, Bama has to stop laying eggs against teams they should beat. On the flip side, DeBoer is a proven big-game coach, and that trait’s harder to come by when compared to correcting the bone-headed losses. Games like these are why the powers that be at The University of Alabama hired Kalen Deboer, who is now 16-3 against Top 25 teams and 6-1 against Top 10.
The Tide came out swinging, jumping out to an early 14-0 lead. While Georgia eventually started to respond, they trailed at halftime 24-14. From that point on, Bama didn’t score another single point, but their defense came up big and hung on to their lead for the close three-point victory on the road in Athens. Bama’s offense also did what they needed to in the fourth quarter by chewing clock with extended drives and picking up the key first downs on their final drive that drained away the final three minutes of the game. The deciding moment of this game came early in the fourth when Georgia had 4th and 1 down at the Alabama eight-yard line. In lieu of kicking a chip-shot field goal to tie things at 24, head coach Kirby Smart decided to go for it. By my model (see: vibe math), that was the correct call. Unfortunately, the 4th down play went very wrong. RB Cash Jones’ run to the outside was immediately snuffed out, leading to a three-yard loss and a turnover on downs. You shouldn’t question Smart’s decision to go for it; however, you can question handing the ball to a cold player in Jones, who only carried the ball five times all year, instead of handing it to RB Chauncey Bowens, who was effective all night, totaling 119 yards on 12 carries. Another option for OC Jake Bobo would’ve probably been to send either Bowens or his QB Gunner Stockton inside between the center and guard to pick up the single yard they needed. Moments like these are why Georgia fans spend their free time hate-tweeting about Bobo. Seriously, Type in “Jake Bobo” on Twitter, and it’s a lot of Georgia icons who are not using their best manners.
Bama’s strong offensive showing in the first thirty was in part because they had OC Ryan Grubb in the kitchen, and my man was cooking. The Tides’ first two drives of the game were 14-play touchdown drives, one was 74 yards in length and the other 83. You could tell Grubb and DeBoer were feeling themselves when they got the ball back with two minutes left in the half, and got real weird with it. On a third down, they sent WR Germie Bernard on an end-around, only for him to pull up and throw it to Isaiah Horton for the first. Later in the drive, that sick SOB Ryan Grubb lined up his 360 lb tackle Kayden Proctor outside as a receiver and ran a screen. Proctor barreled forward for eleven yards and a first down. The drive ended with a nicely designed QB run with pocket passer Ty Simpson for the score. When you really watched the game, it was Simpson who stood out in his fourth career start. #15 went 24 of 38 for 276, two passing touchdowns, and one rushing. After a rough outing in the team’s season-opening loss to Florida St., the Tide offense did what good teams do and used the next two games against weaker competition as get-right games. They didn’t just get right, they improved, and that showed in this game. Ty Simpson now has over 1100 yards on the year, 11 passing TDs, is completing 70% of his passes, and has yet to throw an interception. He was on against Georgia, and when he’s on, he’s pretty damn good. The Senior QB was driving the ball, getting it out quickly, and every throw he made oozed with confidence. No one would’ve thought it after week one, but this man is a legit contender for the Heisman.
#4 LSU 19 - #13 Ole Miss 24
Not only was this a battle between highly ranked, undefeated SEC teams, but the stakes were turned up in the days prior when it was revealed that Lane Kiffin’s daughter, Landry, was dating LSU linebacker Whit Weeks. Kiffin replied to a post about the story on X (formerly known as Twitter), simply saying, “Take the over.” The meaning behind that message was obvious; his offense was coming to roast Weeks and the Tigers’ defense. The over-under was set at 58.5 come game time.
Only 43 points were scored.
Needless to say, I’m not taking any more betting advice from Lane.
To Kiffin’s credit, his offense did move the ball well against the Tigers, whose defense came into the game playing their best ball in years. The Rebels’ breakout QB, Trinidad Chambliss, once again had a strong outing in his third start of the season. The former D2 QB threw for over 300 yards and led the team in rushing with 79. Ole Miss took the lead late in the second and held it the rest of the way. With roughly 1:30 left in the game, the Rebels had the ball, a five-point lead, and were facing fourth and three at the LSU 35. Kiffin could’ve sent his kicker out to make it an eight-point lead, leaving it up to defense to stop the Tigers from getting a score to tie. Instead, the Rebels’ head coach showed that he’s no coward and went for it. Chambliss connected with wideout De’Quan Wright for a twenty-yard gain for the first down, and with the Tigers out of timeouts, the victory. Successful or not, it was the right call. Don’t give LSU the ball or the chance; get the first and end the game.
With the Tigers’ first loss on their record, it begs the question: Is now an okay time to ask coach Brian Kelly about the offense? It was another rough performance as his team lost the explosive play battle 7-3, averaged 2.8 yards per carry, and QB Garrett Nussmeier had another head-scratching outing, throwing for just 197 yards at an average of 5.8 per attempt and another ugly INT. This type of outcome was inevitable. The way this team had been playing was simply not sustainable. It was just a matter of time before a team put up just enough points to outscore their struggling offense. Kelly’s record against ranked opponents at LSU is now 5-9.
Just one more loss to get to an L per million dollars he gets paid yearly.
During his entire tenure coaching the Tigers, LSU has had a poor run game outside of Heisman trophy winner Jayden Daniels, and the vast majority of his damage came from scrambling. It’s now spread to infect a passing attack that came into the season with a Heisman contender at QB and a bevy of talent at receiver. At the beginning of the year, we were all impressed by LSU defeating Clemson. Four weeks later, and we’ve realized Clemson is bad and LSU isn’t actually a serious title contender.
#6 Oregon 30 - #3 Penn St. 24 (2OT)
Speaking of win-loss records in big games, Penn State HC James Franklin is now 4-21 against Top Ten-ranked teams, and his 15-game losing streak to top six teams brings that particular record to 2-21. Coming out of this latest loss, many people have said this one was different. This isn’t the usual Penn St. no-show performance, this team’s not the same…You sure about that?
Penn State’s offense was lifeless for roughly 75% of this game. During that time, their wideouts were invisible, and their defense had to shoulder the burden of the game to keep it close. Sure, they came alive in the fourth, erasing a 14-point deficit to force OT, but in the end, Drew Allar made a poor decision that was intercepted to cost them the game. How different is that?
Oregon LB Dillon Theinamen does deserve his props on the interception. Allar never saw him creep underneath, and the six-foot Theinemen went up and snatched it.
WALK-OFF WHITE OUT WINNER. 🤯
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 28, 2025
Ducks INT seals the deal on a Happy Valley STUNNER. pic.twitter.com/503ECudPfK
The fact still remains that this is a Penn St. team with the usual Penn St. problems. A lack of explosiveness, low production from pass catchers, and an inconsistent QB prone to mistakes. Allar has all the tools you want in a QB, but in year three as a starter, he still has not been able to put it all together. Against top teams, every pass is a coin flip between “damn, that’s an NFL throw right there” or “What in the world was that?” Allar finished with 137 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. The offense put up only 64 yards in the first half and was at 104 by the end of the third before making their late-game comeback. Some will push back on this criticism by citing what they did in the fourth quarter, saying, “they made the plays when it mattered most,” and maybe I would accept that excuse had they won, but they didn’t, so everything that happened before that fourth quarter cannot be ignored.
Shifting focus to the winning team, these Ducks are really good. They grinded out a victory against a quality defense by being patient and playing the long game, wearing them down until chances to strike opened up. They battled at the line of scrimmage, getting the Nittany Lions’ front off the ball, and finished the game with 176 rushing yards. Meanwhile, QB Dante Moore really impressed in what was not only his first real road start, but in one of the toughest places to play. He completed 74.4 percent of his passes for 248 yards with three touchdowns and three big-time throws. His biggest, and arguably best, throw was his game-winning touchdown in the second overtime. Moore was forced out to his right, evading a potential sack, before ripping a sidearm bullet to Dakorien Moore, who took it into the endzone. The Ducks jumped up to #2 in the latest AP Poll, behind #1 Ohio State. Which is fitting, because they are hands down the best two teams in the Big Ten, and one of them is winning the conference this year. People overlooked that Dante Moore is a redshirt sophomore going into the season, but now the talk has begun. He’s been in college for three years and will be draft eligible this year. The prevailing thought has been that he’ll be back at Oregon next year; however, if he keeps playing like this, he’ll be cutting his college career short.
Lastly, it would be a disservice to the ball of pure emotion and fire that is Ducks head coach Dan Lanning not to include his on-field interview right after his team won. Warning: You may run through a wall after watching.
"Our team is special man, special."
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 28, 2025
Oregon's win meant everything to Dan Lanning. 👏 pic.twitter.com/C17eZok5eY
Close Calls
Auburn 10 - #9 Texas A&M 16
The score of this game is slightly misleading, as A&M was in control from start to finish. However, things did get a little hairy for the Aggies in the fourth quarter when Auburn’s Xavier Atkins picked off QB Marcel Reed. The sophomore linebacker returned the ball all the way to the two-yard line before the offense punched it in on the next play to make it a three-point game. A&M kept it together, though, tacking on a field goal and stopping the Tigers from ever getting into the endzone again. Auburn’s chance at a comeback in this game died the same way it did for them last week against Oklahoma. Against the Sooners, QB Jackson Arnold took nine sacks, the last of which was in the endzone for a safety to end the game. This past Saturday, Auburn was out of timeouts, with only a minute left, and facing 4th and 1 when Arnold suffered his seventh sack of the game, and turned the ball over on downs to end the game. Would it surprise you to learn that Auburn has one of the lowest-graded pass blocks in the SEC per PFF, and Arnold has been under pressure on over 40% of his dropbacks? That in no one absolves him for his role in The Tigers’ struggling offense, he’s hanging on to the ball too long and is turning into a scared checkdown king in the face of pressure, finishing the game with a YPA of 3.8 and an ADOT of 5.3. Their run game didn’t fare much better as they put up a total of 52 yards with an average of 2.2 per carry. It’s a shame to see this happen when on the other side of the field, the Tigers’ defense is among the best in the SEC. They kept an Aggies offense in check that scored over 40 points in each of their first three games. It was the worst game of the season for QB Marcel Reed, who’s been scorching hot to start the year. Head coach Mike Elko and his team adjusted and leaned on RB Le’Veon Moss, who carried the ball 21 times for 139 yards, grinding out the win.
The Aggie defense played their best game of the season. Outside of holding Auburn to a paltry 177 yards of offense, they had a stop rate 85%, which is runs that either lose yards or don’t make it past the line of scrimmage. They were also extremely disruptive with a 23% Havoc rate, meaning on a quarter of their defensive snaps, they created either a sack, TFL, pass deflection, forced fumble, or interception. Roll all that together, and it makes sense how Auburn went a borderline impressive, in a bad way, 0-13 on third down. On late downs, the Tigers had an EPA of -0.91, a 2% passing success rate, and a big fat ZERO percent success rate rushing.
The quick way to sum up all that information is to say that Texas A&M is legit. They can attack you in multiple ways offensively, and if this defensive performance wasn’t an outlier, they can win the SEC.
#11 Indiana 20 - Iowa 15
The Hoosiers were hot coming off their 53-point victory at home against Illinois, and their en fuego QB Fernando Mendoza was jumping to the top of the Heisman betting boards. This game offered a different kind of test for HC Curt Cignetti and his team. Not only was it their first road game of the season, but Kinnick Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten, and the Iowa Hawkeyes are a tough team defensively. In the end, they passed the test, but it wasn’t without its share of struggles.
Iowa’s defense gave Mendoza his toughest test to date. The Cal transfer had been extremely efficient in the team’s past three games; however, his completion percentage dropped in this game to a subpar 56.5%. He also struggled when under pressure, going 2 for 7 and throwing his first interception of the season. It was an eyebrow-raising performance in the sense that he played less like the QB who threw 14 tuddies in his past three games and more like the QB from week one who had a shaky performance against ODU. With how banged up Illinois’ defense was last week, Iowa was the best defensive unit Mendoza has faced; meanwhile, Old Dominion has one of the better defenses in the group of five. In those two games, Mendoza has had his lowest passing yard performances, completion percentages, and passer grades of the season. There are caveats you can add to both games. When he struggled against the Blue Monarchs, it was his first game at Indiana in a new offensive system, and it’s common for players to come out of the gates a little rusty in week one. Meanwhile, this past Saturday against Iowa was his first real road test and come-down game, after last week’s big dub. He also had a few really nice throws mixed into his underwhelming performance. It’s still worth noting the numbers surrounding Indiana’s star QB in their first and latest game this season. That way, if it happens again, you can say you saw it coming because you’re smart and read On Saturday.
The Hoosiers were still able to find the offense they needed to get the win. Halfback Roman Hemby had an efficient 5.7 yards per carry, and wideout Elijah Sarratt popped off for 132 yards and had the game-winning touchdown on a 49-yard catch and run with only a minute and a half left. Even if it was against the Iowa Hawkeye offense, you still have to give the Indiana defense credit as well for the strong game the group had. They picked off QB Mark Gronowski twice and held Iowa to only 92 yards rushing, their lowest outing so far this season. The Hoosier D also came up with the key stop in the game. The timing of Mendoza’s pick was nearly disastrous, happening with less than three minutes remaining and the game tied. However, DC Bryant Haines’ squad forced a three-and-out that was followed by a missed field goal. It wasn’t a dominant victory by Indiana in any way; however, it was still a good win. They went on the road and fought through the muck for the win in an old-school style Big Ten brawl.
#15 Tennessee 41 - Mississippi St. 34 (OT)
Once again, I must remove my foot from my mouth and eat humble pie for being wrong about Mississippi State. This team is good. They were absolutely terrible last year; there’s nothing inaccurate about that statement; however, they have made a very impressive leap from 2024 to 2025. The Bulldogs went back and forth with Tennessee for a full sixty minutes and then some. The game had eight lead changes with the Vols getting the final one to emerge victorious in overtime. When you look at the numbers, the Vols beat out Miss St. in a lot of categories, such as EPA, yards per play, explosiveness, and total yards for. However, the Bulldogs beat the Vols notably in some key areas that made this game the battle that it was. Those things were the 3rd down success rate, the red zone success rate, and time of possession. Controlling the pace of the game, picking up fresh sets of downs to extend drives, and then finishing those drives by capitalizing on scoring opportunities. All crucial aspects that give you a chance to win the game, and show that Mississippi State was making plays when they needed them.
These teams had somewhat opposite methods of attack. Outside of picking up seven first downs passing, Bulldogs QB Blake Shapen didn’t have much of an impact throwing the ball, finishing with 180 yds, one tuddy, and one pick. Instead, head coach Jeff Lebby and his team leaned on the ground game with Georgia Southern transfer running back Fluff Bothwell. The sophomore has firmly taken over as the team’s lead back. He put up 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns, which brings his total over his past three games to 328 yards and four tuddies. As for the Vols, they did get some good production from RB Desean Bishop, who carried the ball 11 times for an efficient 72 yards and broke off the 25-yard game-winning touchdown run. However, to no one’s surprise, Josh Heupel opted to have his QB, Joey Aguilar, drop back on the majority of offensive snaps. It was a mixed bag of a performance for Aguilar. He threw for 335 yds and had three big-time throws; however, he also threw two interceptions. Which is something important to note, because it brings his total number of picks this season to five, all happening over the past three games. Tennessee has two talented receivers on the outside in Mike Matthews and Chris Brazzell II, who we all need to agree to start nicknaming Brazzell Dazzle. Half of Aguilar’s completions went to the duo as they combined for 223 yds, picked up ten first downs, and each averaged over 17 yards per reception. QBs always get the most attention, and Bishop got the glory of scoring the game winner, but Matthews and Brazzell Dazzle (see, it’s already catching on) were the MVPs of the offense in this one..
It’s probably a bummer for Mississippi State fans that they came up short, but hopefully, they can pick their head up and realize what has happened so far this season. If you told any of those fans last year that their beloved Bulldogs would beat one ranked team in Arizona State and then take Tennessee to the limit in overtime, the people who believed you would’ve begun sobbing somber tears of joy while slowly shaking a cowbell.
#16 Georgia Tech 30 - Wake Forest 29 (OT)
With one of the easier ACC schedules, GA Tech appeared set up for a real shot to make the conference title game. The path to making that a reality almost hit a big pothole this past Saturday in Winston-Salem when they found themselves down 20-3 five minutes into the third quarter. Whether it was The Demon Deacons getting worn down or The Yellow Jackets waking up, Brent Key’s team mounted a comeback, putting together two very on-brand long touchdown drives to cut their deficit to three going into the fourth. The hero of the team’s victory over Clemson, kicker Aidan Birr, once again came up clutch as he rushed on the field with no timeouts left to quickly line up and kick a game-tying field goal that sailed through the uprights and sent the game to OT. The Yellow Jackets kept their second-half momentum going as they opened up the extra frame with a touchdown. It took only one play for Wake Forest to respond with a TD of their own on a 25-yard run by RB Demond Claiborne, his second of the day. They could’ve kicked the XP and sent this game to double OT, but instead, Demon Deacons Head Coach Jake Dickert decided to put his metaphorical balls on the table and go for the win. The two-point try was unsuccessful, and Georgia Tech would hold on to win, while Wake Forest’s upset bid came up short, but how can you not love the decision by Dickert? His team was a two-touchdown underdog against a Top 20 team; you have nothing to lose in that kind of situation. The Deacons had also gone from up 20-3 to getting outscored 20-3 for the rest of regulation. Their offense had mostly disappeared, only to rise from the dead for the explosive TD run. You could kick the XP and extend the game, but with the way The Yellow Jackets had turned things around, what are the chances you could get in the endzone and get the defensive stop? Compare to having the ball in your hands knowing definitively, “if we get the 2-point, we win.” 100% of the time, the latter is the right choice, and had Wake Forest been successful, everybody would be praising Dickert for the decision.
While Tech fought back and survived to remain undefeated, this game raises some questions. It’s completely plausible that they just took their eye off the ball and looked past Wake Forest; however, something else that’s possible is that this team simply isn’t as good as some of us thought. Last week, Wake Forest lost to NC State, a bottom-half of the ACC team, in a game where they could not run the ball to save their life. Demond Claiborne averaged 2.9 yards on his 12 carries, while QB Robby Ashford ran the ball nine times for just 21 yards. Against Tech, Claiborne put 119 at a rate of 5.2 yards per carry, and Ashford averaged 8.2 a carry on his way to 82 yards. Their defense gave up a total of 443 yards of offense. This is a Wake Forest team that, with this game included, has an EPA per play of 0.04. Against The Yellow Jackets, it was 0.12, and specifically 0.56 on late down plays, which tracks when you consider the Demon Deacons converted 50% of their third downs. Offensively, they eventually came to life, but as a whole, it feels like it’s all Haynes King, who once again put up big dual-threat numbers, 243 yds through the air, 106 on the ground, and three total tuddies. Have yourself a day, Haynes King, but it’s a fair concern that this offense comes down to either he balls or the team falls. It is only one game, so it would be an overreaction to completely throw in the towel on Georgia Tech. However, they are a team that requires a very discerning eye when evaluating. It’s important to remember that this team got ranked and a big optics boost after they beat Clemson, and quite frankly, Clemson is playing very bad football in 2025.
There was a lot to cover this week, so there’s no time for shout-outs. Except for one, Fighting Irish RB Jeremiyah Love and his three tuddies that were part of Notre Dame demolishing Arkansas and in turn getting Sam Pittman fired. Now former Razorback head coach Bobby Petrino is stepping in as the interim, which is a whole other story we don’t have time for now. However, for those who don’t know the Petrino story, I’ll leave you with this picture of him from towards the end of previous run as HC at Arkansas. Thanks for reading everybody and keep an eye out for my week seven preview later this week.
