10 amazing college football stats from Week 5: Najee Harris, Travis Etienne roll
![Alabama running back Najee Harris (22) breaks through the Texas A&M line during the second half of Alabama's 47-28 victory at Kyle Field Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019 in College Station, Texas. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Alabama Vs Texas A M](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fb604c59d2382c918b12021c3652bb92a456a71dd803848c782bda25b56fa6928.jpg "Alabama running back Najee Harris (22) breaks through the Texas A&M line during the second half of Alabama's 47-28 victory at Kyle Field Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019 in College Station, Texas. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Alabama Vs Texas A M")
College football action in Week 5 featured Kyle Trask dominating, again, and Texas losing to TCU, again.
Georgia and Auburn may have the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, but they didn’t give the world of college football much of a game on Saturday.
That’s fine because there were other teams out there creating all sorts of fun talking points.
Some grabbed attention for the wrong reasons (we’re looking at you, Texas) and others for the right reasons (we see you, Florida).
These are the stats that summed up another amazingly fun day of college football:
1. Tom Herman can’t win the small one
Why can’t Tom Herman turn Texas into a juggernaut? Because he can’t beat the little guys.
TCU knocks off No. 9 Texas 33-31.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2020
The Longhorns have now lost 6 games as an AP-ranked team against unranked opponents since Tom Herman took over in 2017.
That’s the most such losses in the FBS over that span. pic.twitter.com/q5Z9KMlbnp
2. Florida is unbeatable in home openers
If you’re the team slated to play Florida for their home opener, just give up now.
THIRTY. ONE. STRAIGHT.@GatorsFB 🤯 pic.twitter.com/axF8Q9ZxAQ
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 3, 2020
That’s an incredible stretch of fortunate scheduling, or the Gators have been pretty great at home. Take your pick.
3. The two Kyles aren’t one-hit wonders
In Game 1, Kyle Trask threw six touchdowns as he ripped Ole Miss’ defense to shreds. That performance wasn’t a one-time deal.
With 4 pass TD today, Kyle Trask now has 10 pass TD through the @GatorsFB's first 2 games.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2020
Trask becomes just the 3rd player in @SEC history to throw at least 10 Pass TD through his team’s first 2 games, joining Tim Couch in 1998 for Kentucky and Terry Dean in 1994 for Florida. pic.twitter.com/6przCu7mlO
Trask completed the Gators’ 38-24 victory over South Carolina with 268 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those scores went to his favorite target this season.
Kyle Pitts has 6 receiving TD so far this season.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2020
That’s tied for the 2nd-most over a 2-game span by an SEC player over the last 25 seasons.
The only player with more, Vanderbilt's Earl Bennett (7) in 2005. pic.twitter.com/XPzOpU9fEW
4. Mac and Nick are a match made in heaven
Sure seems like Nick Saban made the right choice at quarterback with Mac Jones picking up where Tua Tagovailoa left off.
Mac Jones finished with 435 passing yards today, the 4th-most in a game in Alabama history.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2020
This is Nick Saban's 19th career win by 25+ points vs a ranked opponent. That is tied with Tom Osborne for 2nd-most in the AP Poll Era (since 1936). Only Bobby Bowden has more (20). pic.twitter.com/0zlF8bvVLR
Then again, Saban doesn’t make many wrong decisions.
5. Nick Saban doesn’t lose to his former assistants
Nor does Saban let his former assistants get the better of him, ever.
Nick Saban is now 20-0 vs. his former assistants:
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 3, 2020
4-0 vs. Jimbo Fisher
2-0 vs. Kirby Smart
2-0 vs. Jeremy Pruitt
3-0 vs. Will Muschamp
3-0 vs. Derek Dooley
3-0 vs. Jim McElwain
2-0 vs. Mark Dantonio
1-0 vs. Billy Napier pic.twitter.com/r7hRYqmi8p
He builds them up just to break them down.
6. All Steve Sarkisian’s receivers are explosive
All Alabama should do to recruit wide receivers is share this tweet from Jason Starrett of The Athletic:
Since Steve Sarkisian took over as offensive coordinator in 2018, Alabama has had an FBS-high 6 different players catch a TD pass of at least 75 yards.
— Jason Starrett (@starrettjason) October 3, 2020
Jerry Jeudy
Henry Ruggs III
Irv Smith
Jaylen Waddle
DeVonta Smith
John Metchie (Today) https://t.co/b4OxMS9vgV
It doesn’t seem to matter who is throwing the ball for offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, the receivers eat.
7. Najee Harris is in rare company
Najee Harris came back to Alabama to improve his draft stock as a senior. He’s doing just that.
With 2 rush TD in the first half, Najee Harris now has 5 rush TD on the season.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2020
The only Alabama players with more rush TD through the team's first 2 games over the last 25 seasons are Shaun Alexander (8) in 1998 and Derrick Henry (6) in 2015. pic.twitter.com/GDG9zYGjp3
All those red zone touchdowns help.
https://twitter.com/CBSSportsHQ/status/1312496601299001344?s=20
8. Someone needs to put Kansas football out to pasture
Kansas football is a mess. An absolute mess.
Kansas is currently trailing 44-0 against Oklahoma State.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2020
Over the last 10 seasons, Kansas has lost 28 conference games by at least 35 points.
The only other FBS team with more than 12 such conference losses over that span is Rutgers (20). pic.twitter.com/NK5UwkN3TH
9. Travis Etienne is coming for an FBS record
Clemson running back Travis Etienne is a historically prolific scorer.
https://twitter.com/ClemsonFB/status/1312558542818209792?s=20
Since Etienne has scored a touchdown in 14 straight games against FBS opposition, it’s a safe bet he’ll own that record by the end of this season, if not the end of next week.
10. Tennessee is on a roll
The Volunteers improved to 2-0 on Saturday with a win over Missouri. It’s understandable if you didn’t realize it, but it’s been a while since Jeremy Pruitt’s team lost.
PSA: Tennessee is tied for the LONGEST winning streak in all of FBS after its 8th straight win #PoweredByTheT
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) October 3, 2020
Time to put some respect on the Vols 🔶🔶 pic.twitter.com/RGJbfgqJ1R
That eight-game streak is tied with Notre Dame, who won their eighth game on Sept. 19 before postponing their game with Wake Forest because of COVID-19.
Who predicted Tennessee would have a longer win streak than LSU by the start of October?
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