College football Week 6 superlatives: Florida earns respect, Jonathan Taylor’s Heisman’s push, new Top 10

The best from college football Week 6, including the Top 10 teams, playoff rankings, Heisman race and the craziest highlights from around the nation.

College football power rankings

1. Alabama – The Crimson Tide had the week off to prepare for a trip to Texas A&M next Saturday. It’s going to be a bloodbath as Nick Saban will pick up another win vs. a former assistant and Jimbo Fisher won’t be able to do anything about it.
2. Ohio State – The Buckeyes started slowly in the first quarter before turning it on in the second quarter vs. Michigan State. Justin Fields was held in check relative to his hot start. He still had three total touchdowns but threw his first interception. J.K. Dobbins dominated though with 172 yards, including 67 coming on a touchdown that tilted the game in the Buckeyes’ favor at the end of the first half.
3. LSU – Joe Burrow threw for five touchdowns and ran for a score in LSU’s 42-6 win over Utah State. Burrow topped 300 yards passing for the fourth consecutive game, setting a new program record. He’s in the Heisman conversation and on his way to shattering all the single-season passing records at LSU. The Tigers welcome Florida to town next Saturday.
4. Georgia – Jake Fromm was surgical in the Dawgs win over Tennessee, completing 24-of-29 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Georgia ran for 238 yards and outgained the Vols 526-343. The 11 penalties for 107 yards have to be tightened up or Georgia will have heartbreak later this year.
5. Oklahoma – Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another two in Oklahoma’s 45-20 win over Kansas. The Sooners take on Texas in the Red River Showdown next Saturday in what promises to be one of the best games of Week 7.
6. Clemson – The Tigers had an open week to recover from their scare vs. North Carolina. Clemson welcomes a down Florida State to Death Valley on Saturday.
7. Florida – We have to stop discounting Florida. Kyle Trask threw two touchdowns, Lamical Perine had 130 yards and a touchdown and Freddie Swain had 146 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Gators’ defense was even better in the win vs. Auburn, forcing four turnovers and limiting Auburn to 2-of-14 on third down. The Gators’ defense is suffocating.
8. Wisconsin – Jonathan Taylor had five total touchdowns in the win vs. Kent State. He became the first Big Ten player to do that since Saquon Barkley in 2016. He also moved into third place on the Wisconsin all-time rushing list, passing Melvin Gordon. Not to be overlooked is the Badgers defense who had their third shutout in five games.
9. Notre Dame – Not much of a test vs. Bowling Green for the Fighting Irish who should get a tougher test next week with USC coming to Notre Dame Stadium next Saturday.
10. Auburn – Bo Nix looked like a freshman in the loss to Florida but I’m not going to penalize Auburn too much for losing at then-No. 10 Florida. Auburn still forced four turnovers but was done in by two long touchdowns by the Gators.

Heisman rankings

1. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama – Last year’s runner-up is completing 76 percent of his passes and entered Week 6 leading the nation with 23 touchdowns. Perhaps most impressive? He’s yet to throw an interception for the No. 1 team in the nation.
2. Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma – Hurts is picking up where Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield left off. He’s got 14 passing touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns for the Sooners.
3. Joe Burrow, QB, LSU – Burrow is putting up numbers like he’s a Washington State quarterback. Burrow added 344 yards and five touchdowns through the air and added a rushing score vs. Utah State. He did throw an interception so he wasn’t perfect and will have something to work on before playing Florida next week.
4. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin – Taylor had 186 yards on the ground with four touchdowns. He also added another receiving score to give him a total of 16 touchdowns and 859 total years. He’s far outpacing the production through five games of recent running backs, Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram and Reggie Bush who won the Heisman.
5. Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State – Fields was 17-of-25 for 206 yards and two touchdowns but did throw his first interception of the year in the win vs. Michigan State. He added 61 yards on 11 runs and another touchdown. Fields could have had more yards but J.K. Dobbins had 172 to take away some potential for Fields to add to his yardage total.

College Football Playoff picture

My College Football Playoff predictions are based on how I think they’ll look when it actually gets here rather than what it would look like right now. We know the SEC won’t have three teams in the four-team field, but you can make a very convincing argument they would have three in if the rankings were revealed at this moment. But I spent a lot of money on my crystal ball and I want to get my money’s worth out of it, so here’s what the future holds.

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Oklahoma

This would keep the prospect alive of another Alabama-Clemson championship game, which is what I predicted in the preseason, along with the majority of college football fans and media. This would be an ideal scenario for ESPN/ABC because it sets up an Alabama-Oklahoma rematch from last year’s semifinal. Lincoln Riley and Kyler Murray figured out the Alabama defense in the second half but it was too late after what Tua Tagovailoa did in the first half.

Having Jalen Hurts going against Nick Saban, Tua and his former teammates would be one of the greatest storylines in the history of the sport. No hyperbole. I want that more than another Alabama-Clemson game. This scenario could give us both unless Ohio State beats Clemson, which is definitely possible. That game would give us a showdown between Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields who were the top two recruits in their class and could be the top two picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Best fan on campus: LSU superfan Colton Moore

After LSU beat Utah State, one of their die-hard fans got a special shoutout from Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron in the best video you’ll see this weekend. LSU superfan Colton Moore who was born with spina bifida got a nice ovation from the LSU media on hand for Coach O’s post-game press conference. Coach O is one of the most genuine guys you’ll ever meet in college sports, let alone the world, and it’s stuff like this that needs to be amplified at every opportunity.

Best highlight of the week: D’Shawn Jamison’s interception

Look, all the highlights are going to be from offensive players. But let’s not overlook the incredible jobs from some of the defensive players around the nation. One play, in particular, stood out this week among the rest. Texas cornerback D’Shawn Jamison had some serious hang time on this interception vs. West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall. He looked like Odell Beckham Jr. making this insane one-handed catch. If this was a receiver making this play, it would be on SportsCenter from now until Christmas. Let’s give Jamison some credit for this play that helped spark the Longhorns in the second half. He added a second one later in the game but the degree of difficulty was not as high as this one.

Best tackling by stadium grass: Derrick Brown goes down

If there’s one thing college football Twitter loves more than punting, it’s fat guy touchdowns. We almost had one in the first half of the Auburn-Florida game when 318-pound Derrick Brown scooped up a fumble and had a lot of green in front of him. There was no one Florida who was in position to bring down the big man. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean good news for Auburn. Brown was taken down by a blade of grass that tripped him up. Even worse, Auburn turned the ball over two plays later when Bo Nix threw an interception. Then, Florida got a touchdown a couple plays after that.

Best tackle that won’t show up in the box score: Cyrus Habibi-Likio

A fan ran onto the field during the Oregon-Cal game before it was even officially #Pac12AfterDark but it delivered one of the best highlights of the week. The man probably had a little too much liquid courage and thought he could go all the way. He couldn’t. Oregon running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio brought him shy of the goal line. Running backs aren’t supposed to be making tackles but in this case, you’re supposed to tackle the guy. Job well done.

Best quote of the week: Jalen Hurts

Jalen Hurts was asked about playing in his first Red River Showdown next week. The unflappable disciple of Nick Saban and Lincoln Riley’s latest Heisman hopeful threw cold water on it. Some may be rattled by the big stage of the rivalry and the weight it holds. Not when you’ve played in the Iron Bowl, or SEC Championship Games, or at LSU at night, or in multiple national championship games. When you’re Jalen Hurts it’s just another game.

"“I played in the Iron Bowl, I played in big games… I think I’ll be alright.”"

That’s not a show of disrespect for the rivalry. I’m sure Hurts, who grew up in the Houston area has a great deal of respect for the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry. It’s just not something he will be intimidated by or awestruck over that he’ll prepare any differently or play any differently. He’s a stud and he knows it.

Best fat guy touchdown: Samuel Cosmi

Texas’ 6-foot-7, 300-pound left tackle Samuel Cosmi got to live every lineman’s dream vs. West Virginia. He got to catch a pass and run it in for a touchdown. Technically, the play will be ruled a 12-yard touchdown run because it was a lateral, but he still got to show off his hands and yards after the catch ability to get to the house.

Best special teams touchdown: Tulsa

Tulsa scored two touchdowns one second apart. Yes, you read that right. The unthinkable happened against SMU when the Mustangs didn’t field the ensuing kickoff after Keylon Stokes‘ 58-yard touchdown catch. With the ball just laying in the end zone and free to be picked up, Kendarin Ray came flying in to recover the loose ball and give Tulsa their second touchdown within one second.

Best on-field victory celebration: Navy beats Air Force

Navy scored the game-winning touchdown with 23 seconds left vs. Air Force. After the defense recovered a fumble after Air Force tried to lateral their way to a comeback, the victory celebration on the field was incredible. A sea of white cadets came storming onto the field in a moment that gave me goosebumps. Just watch.

Best locker room celebration: Florida

Florida had the biggest win of the week with their win over No. 7 Auburn in The Swamp. The Florida offense got long touchdowns from Freddie Swain and Lamical Perine and the defense forced four turnovers. The Gators look like legit contenders to Georgia in the SEC East for now. Afterward, Dan Mullen and the team broke it down in the locker room.

Best halftime show: Ohio State gives us a history lesson

The Ohio State band reminded everyone why they’re one of the best in the nation on Saturday as they took us all to school. Literally, they gave us a history lesson as the band performed a show about Apollo 11 when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

Second place goes to the always-great Stanford band who spelled out “VAPE” while Afroman’s iconic single “Because I Got High” played.

Best use of a school’s Twitter account: Cincinnati

Cincinnati ended UCF’s 19-game AAC win streak, their streak of 30 straight games with at least 30 points scored and put the final nail in their New Year’s Six bowl hopes. What did they do afterward? Well, Cincinnati’s social media team put out a Hall of Fame tweet to troll the team from Disney World.

Best week of the year (so far) on tap

The college football universe gave us Iowa-Michigan in Week 6 but Week 7 is going to be so good. Seriously, this is the weekend you spend 12 hours in your favorite seat. It would be even better if Florida State wasn’t terrible. The Clemson-FSU game used to be one of the three-five best games of the year. Clemson should get right against Willie Taggart’s Noles from Death Valley.

We have the Red River Showdown with Oklahoma-Texas and a battle of Heisman-hopeful quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts and Sam Ehlinger. Then we have the crossover rivalry between undefeated Florida and LSU with College GameDay coming to Baton Rogue. Alabama plays Texas A&M, Michigan State looks to get back on track vs. Wisconsin, Penn State looks to continue their undefeated start vs. Iowa coming off their first loss of the year. And then, we have the rivalry game between USC and Notre Dame from South Bend.

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