Winners and losers of the fifth week of college football: Notre Dame is ahead

No. 14 Notre Dame will never get over this month’s loss to Northern Illinois, especially because the Huskies have lost two of three games since the upset in South Bend.

But the College Football Playoff math still favors the Fighting Irish: Win and you’re (very likely) in the 12-team field.

Saturday’s 31-24 win over No. 17 Louisville will help restore Notre Dame’s reputation. In a game seemingly lacking major contenders this year, the Fighting Irish survived a sloppy start to beat a team ranked high in the ACC standings.

In fact, this win against the Cardinals could be the highlight of Notre Dame’s record heading into the final playoff rankings in early December.

The positives include solid play from the defense, which forced three turnovers and secured the win with a late defensive stop – with a little help from Louisville, which completely blew the final possession. Quarterback Riley Leonard played his best game with 163 yards through the air, a team-best 52 rushing yards and three combined touchdowns.

The win against a ranked opponent makes Notre Dame one of the big winners of Week 5 of the 2024 season.

winner

Kansas State

After a stunning loss to No. 22 Brigham Young last weekend, No. 25 Kansas State bounced back with a very solid 42-20 home win over No. 20 Oklahoma State. With a balanced offense that accounted for 559 total yards – 300 yards in Running and 259 yards passing – the Wildcats showed why they are one of the elite teams in the Big 12 and a real playoff threat. While he had a mystery interception and might have missed a potential big gain or two through the air, quarterback Avery Johnson finished with 319 yards of total offense and five touchdowns. This performance puts KSU back on track to compete with No. 10 Utah and No. 19 Iowa State for the league’s playoff bid.

Kentucky

Confusing, confusing, impossible to predict and a team that could make a lot of noise heading into SEC play. After a 25-point loss to South Carolina and a 13-12 loss to Georgia two weeks ago, Kentucky pulled off one of the shocking upsets of the first month of the season with a 20-17 win over No. 5 Mississippi. Trailing 17-13 with about five minutes left, the Wildcats rushed 83 yards in six plays to take the lead, then made a big defensive effort to hold the Rebels to a 48-yard lead with under a minute left. To force a yard field goal. With Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn up next, Kentucky could move into the Top 25 before hosting No. 6 Tennessee in October.

Southern California

A week after narrowly losing 27-24 at No. 12 Michigan, the No. 16 Trojans overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit to defeat Wisconsin 38-21, securing the program’s first win in the Big Ten game. The second-half surge that almost led to a win in Ann Arbor didn’t immediately take hold against the Badgers, who capitalized on three USC turnovers to take the lead at halftime. But the Trojans dominated the final two quarters against the Badgers, delivering the coup de grace with a pick-six with five minutes left. USC also dominated possession and stopped the Badgers’ running game to avoid a loss that would have ended any hopes of making the playoffs.

UNLV

No. 23 UNLV was on the front page this week due to the drama surrounding former quarterback Matt Sluka, who started the first three games but left the program amid a stunning back-and-forth over its NIL package. You wouldn’t have been able to tell from Saturday’s 59-14 loss to Fresno State. Sluka wasn’t missed in the slightest: Backup Hajj-Malik Williams took over the starting role and was great, completing 13 of 16 throws for 182 yards and three touchdowns with another 119 yards and a score on the ground. The Rebels put this week behind them and will continue to be one of the leading playoff contenders in the Group of Five.

loser

Mississippi

Stunning to express things as easily and kindly as possible. The Rebels had not lost as double-digit favorites under fifth-year coach Lane Kiffin, but never got into a rhythm due to Kentucky’s ability to control the tempo, resulting in a loss that was the difference between a general playoff Application could make up and a second level bowl game. Looking ahead to December, the Rebels need to win two of three games against No. 13 LSU, No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 1 Georgia to stay in the playoff conversation.

Alabama-Birmingham

The decision to hire Trent Dilfer – one of the least experienced head coaches in modern FBS history – has left UAB, which had posted six straight winning seasons through 2023 but now has a dismal 5-12 record under the former NFL Quarterback backfired horribly after a 41-18 home loss to Navy. Hiring Dilfer over a number of qualified candidates, including former interim coach and current Louisiana Monroe coach Bryant Vincent, created the strong impression that UAB was a deeply shady program. The Blazers, led by Dilfer, are now one of the worst teams in American Athletic and are increasingly becoming a laughing stock.

Ollie Gordon

Has anyone seen Oklahoma State’s All-America running back? Don’t put all the blame on Gordon, who showed in the first two series against Kansas State that he’s still one of the best runners in college football. Instead, let’s look at the Cowboys’ willingness to ignore one of the most talented talents in the country: Gordon had 10 carries for 69 yards on the first two possessions, but just five carries for seven yards the rest of the way. After rushing for 128 yards in the opening game against South Dakota State, Gordon totaled just 208 yards in four games against Bowl Subdivision competition. His chances of taking home postseason hardware are as slim as the Cowboys’ playoff hopes.

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