College football predictions for Week 5, including who will make the biggest Heisman statement and who wins the biggest games of the week.
There are some intriguing matchups coming up this week in the world of college football, and these mid-season games are where names and reputations are solidified into contention for the ultimate prize — a national title.
Among these matchups, there are teams prime to take the leap and catch the attention of the country, blowing out opposition or pulling off surprise upsets. Though it is unlikely we will see a loss from any of the country’s best teams (congrats, Alabama fans, you’ve avoided the list), we may see some top 25 teams fall out of the rankings, with new teams taking their places.
Predicting Sunday morning’s headlines today. Here are a handful of bold predictions for Week 5.
5. Jonathon Taylor has his best game yet against Northwestern, making Heisman argument even more difficult.
Now is the time for Jonathon Taylor to make the push and make his case for the Heisman trophy even more convincing.
The tables are set, and if Taylor can find his best performance against a lowly Northwestern team (more on that later), he could improve his chances of winning the Heisman drastically. LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow and the Tigers have a bye week this week, and although Jalen Hurts looks like a sure-fire Heisman candidate so far, he’s going up against a Texas Tech defense that looks rejuvenated.
For the sake of the argument, we’re just not going to mention Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence’s opposition for the week.
In a similar boat in terms of strength of the opposition, Jonathon Taylor and the Wisconsin Badgers are set to face off against one of the worst defenses in college football in the Northwestern Wildcats.
The situation is so extreme with the Wildcats, that if the Badgers relied just a bit more on Taylor (quarterback Jack Coan has looked solid so far this season), and if they won’t surely pull him with a big lead, I may even bet on him to rise near the top of the single-game rushing leaderboard.
Jonathon Taylor will prove just how good he is against the Wildcats.
4. Washington State takes down Utah
This might be the hottest take of them all.
The state of Washington could see two big-time wins this week if these hot takes were to come to fruition. For that to happen though, the Cougars are going to have to continue to show their potential to put up many points, and in a hurry.
Last week, they narrowly lost after a huge comeback from UCLA, who scored 21 in the third quarter, and 29 in the fourth, but this week you can look for some big-time adjustments as the Cougars look to avenge the loss.
Utah’s hopes to finish among one of the best team’s in college football were probably shot after their loss to USC, but a loss to Washington State would certainly knock out those hopes. Thus, in the most Pac-12 way possible, the unranked team ends the ranked team’s, and thus the conference’s, playoff hopes.
This would definitely be a surprising upset, but if anyone is going to pull it off, it’s this Washington State program under Mike Leach. Look for Leach to rally the troops for a tough fought match against a ranked team, and to send Utah fans home disappointed.
3. Maryland and Penn State go down to the wire
I think this game will be much closer than most are expecting after the Maryland Terrapins fell to Temple last week. Temple is an underrated program as a whole, and “Temple Tough” doesn’t even begin to describe the challenge they can give to some teams.
That being said, Maryland is looking to continue their trend of statement games so far under Michael Locksley’s tenure as head coach. I’m looking for them to make a statement in this game, taking a tough No. 12 Penn State team to the wire.
A hot take? Sure, but Maryland is set for a “Black Out” Night at Maryland Stadium, in what should be one of the higher attended home games in recent Maryland history (which, admittedly, hasn’t been pretty).
Maryland has thus far destroyed Howard and Syracuse before their slip-up against Temple. I’m not expecting Maryland to win their game on Friday, but I am expecting them to come out and make a statement, and keep it close against a top-15 team in the country.
2. Washington takes down USC in the game of the week
Saturday plays host to a couple ranked teams going head to head in college football action, but in a relatively tame week in terms of matchups, we turn our attention to some of the lower, but still ranked, teams.
The Washington Huskies fell earlier in the season to No. 15 California in a heartbreaking one-point loss. They’ll then proceeded to take all of that frustration out on Hawaii and Brigham Young, blowing both out of the water. Now they come head-to-head with another ranked challenge in No. 21 USC, who most recently lost to BYU, before narrowly upsetting No. 19 Utah.
The table is set for a game of the week, with both teams back to play on Saturday with momentum behind them. I think this one is set to be the game of the week, going down to the wire in a big-time win for the No. 17 Huskies, as they take down the Trojans.
This game should be a hotly contested battle the whole way through. USC took down Utah last week, a team many predicted to land in an upper-level bowl game at the end of the season. This matchup of two top-ranked teams should be a highlight of the weekend.
1. Notre Dame blows out Virginia at home
Last week, it was time for Michigan to “put up or shut up” about their chances of being a top team in the country. Wisconsin, in all effectiveness, shut them up.
Now we have a new team that is being placed on the radar where it’s time to put up or shut up: No. 10 Notre Dame. The Irish can silence the haters this week with a blowout win over No. 17 Virginia at home, in what should be a packed Notre Dame stadium.
I’m putting my money on Notre Dame this weekend, and in a big way. The Irish need a big-time win to get them back into the hotly contested race for the College Football Playoff. They also need to rebound from a narrow defeat to No. 5 Georgia last week, and a demolition of the No. 17 Cavaliers would be a great way to do it.
A big win on Saturday would do wonders for the hopes of Brian Kelly’s Irish, and I’m banking on the home crowd to motivate this team, led by quarterback Ian Book, to a blowout win over Virginia.
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