Welcome to our recap of Week Five. I would think that this column should only be growing in popularity as more and more of you decide that discussing Florida State’s team is not fun and would rather talk about other teams. For example, we can talk about NC State starting basketball season early. We can make Murray State puns. We can even talk about Jim McElwain’s crusade against memes. My sell job here is done.
Alabama (5-0) - Won 66-3 vs. Ole Miss. Yeah, that was coming. The Tide exorcised its Ole Miss demons by destroying the Rebels in Tuscaloosa. Jalen Hurts threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns and Alabama ran for 365 yards on 51 carries. Bill C writes that the last two weeks were Nick Saban’s most dominant ever. Welp.
Miami (3-0) - Won 31-6 at Duke. The Hurricanes went to North Carolina and handled their business, which is more than some other teams can say. Malik Rosier played a lights out first quarter before coming back to earth, and I think I speak for all of us in hoping that the Seminoles see the latter version of him on Saturday. Mark Walton looked explosive until he appeared to re-aggravate an ankle injury he suffered last week. His status will be something to watch this week.
NC State (4-1) - Won 33-25 vs. Syracuse. The Wolfpack notched their second ACC Atlantic win over the Orange in Raleigh. They did a good job of coming away with a win in an obvious letdown spot at noon. NC State ran for 256 yards on the day and Ryan Finley continued not to turn the ball over. This game also featured a flop for the ages by our favorite player Bradley Chubb. Folks, I thought that kind of acting was confined to Durham.
Wake Forest (4-1) - Lost 26-19 vs. FSU. I don’t want to talk about it. Blogger So Dear only kind of does.
Duke (4-1) - Lost 31-6 vs. Miami. There was a lot of build-up in Durham for this one, including new uniforms and a fancy light show to celebrate scores. Unfortunately for Duke, they didn’t get to use it very often on Friday night. As mentioned Rosier shredded the Duke defense early when they were playing a lot of man, and 14-0 was too much to surmount after 10 minutes of play. Duke had their opportunities to get back into the game later, but they were unable to capitalize. The Devils go to Virginia next week before hosting your Seminoles on October 14.
Louisville (4-1) - Won 55-10 vs. Murray State. The Cards raced past the Racers, get it. Something has apparently been going on in Louisville this past week that necessitated a distraction, but I’m unaware of what that was. It was 35-3 at halftime and Lamar is still really good. The Cardinals make the dreaded trip to Raleigh on Thursday night. I do not envy them.
Boston College (2-3) - Won 28-8 vs. Central Michigan. The Eagles rallied from trailing 2-0 to cruise past the Chippewas in Chestnut Hill. I don’t really have a lot to say about this. The Eagles have an opportunity against a bruised Virginia Tech squad, who travel to Boston for a night game in a letdown spot next weekend.
Syracuse (2-3) - Lost 33-25 at NC State. The Orange’s goal in Raleigh was to avoid mistakes. They did not do this. They committed 12 penalties and Eric Dungey threw an interception in the first quarter to put them squarely behind the eight ball for the whole day. Dungey survived though, so that’s a positive. So is Steve Ishmael, who appears to be this year’s Amba Etta-Tawo and extended his 100-yard receiving games streak. The Orange host Pitt next week before an unfriendly Miami-Clemson stretch.
Clemson (5-0) - Won 31-17 at Virginia Tech. Sandman entered and was promptly blown away. You may have heard by now that Clemson is the first team ever to have defeated 3 top-15 teams before October. Entering this game, the best defense Virginia Tech had played ranked 85th in the country by S&P+. Clemson was always going to be a rude awakening for them. The game was pretty much over once Tech lost track of Tavien Feaster and allowed him to take a short catch 60 yards for a touchdown. It might be boring from a teams involved perspective, but we may be headed for a national title round 3.
Delaware State (0-4) - Did not play football this weekend. Were wise not to, IMO.
Florida (3-1) - Won 38-24 vs. Vanderbilt. This was predictably brutal to watch early, but the Gators eventually got the run game going to take care of Vandy in Gainesville. Florida did lose Luke of the River for the year to a broken collarbone, so its the Feleipe Franks boom-or-bust show from now on, I guess. Malik Davis ran for 124 yards and Lamical Perine added 58, and the Gators scored 5 rushing TDs. I think Jim McElwain did that specifically to kill the no rushing TDs by backs since late last year meme, because we all know how he loathes memes. Florida hosts LSU next week in the “weird anger over a moved game due to a hurricane” rivalry. LSU lost to Troy yesterday, just to throw that in there.