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In what could've, would've, should've been a battle between ACC unbeatens, Miami heads to North Carolina in the wake of Mario Cristobal's game-ending coaching debacle against Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, Notre Dame gets a fourth straight ranked and undefeated team to contend with as the Irish return to play.
In addition to getting to watch Heisman candidate Caleb Williams against Notre Dame, we get a special 2-fer candidate treat with Bo Nix and Oregon going to Washington to face Michael Penix, Jr ESPN's College GameDay will start the day for us from Seattle.
It's another great week to watch college football.
Oregon and Washington have met 114 times in one of the most intense rivalries west of the Mississippi. This 115th edition is one of the most anticipated and consequential of all-time.
ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Seattle for the first time in seven years to witness a matchup of undefeated, Top 10 programs. A ton will be at stake Saturday, from the Pac-12 race to the Maxwell Award chase, which prominently features senior quarterbacks Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. Plus, the winner clears one enormous hurdle to becoming the first Pac-12 program to earn a College Football Playoff berth since 2016. Nix has thrown 15 TD passes, while leading the Ducks to back-to-back 42-6 blowouts of Colorado and Stanford. Meanwhile, Penix has thrown 16 scoring strikes to headline an offense averaging 46 points a game. This will come down to who can make stops. Edge to Oregon which leads the league in pass defense and is creating more havoc this season.
Saturday’s winner in Madison gets the upper hand to win the Big Ten West and an opportunity to shock the football world in Indianapolis on Dec. 2.
The East Division, home of Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, makes most of the headlines, but the West takes center stage in Week 7. Iowa and Wisconsin meet for the 97th time, with the Heartland Trophy hanging in the balance. Each team has one loss, the Hawkeyes at Penn State and the Badgers at Washington State in a non-conference game. Since Wisconsin has yet to lose in league play, and has a manageable second-half schedule, this is a must-win for the visitors. Both schools are stout defensively, but the Badgers have a sizable edge on offense. Iowa needs another huge game from Bednarik Award contender Cooper DeJean who has a knack for supporting the offense with takeaways and big plays in the return game.
Where’s Miami’s head after losing to Georgia Tech in excruciating fashion Saturday night?
This was supposed to be a matchup of unbeatens in Chapel Hill. However, the Canes made two unforgivable gaffes in the final minute, and the Yellow Jackets capitalized with a 44-yard Haynes King TD pass with one second left. Mario Cristobal must do damage control this week, while addressing the five turnovers that allowed Tech to steal a game it had no business winning. Meanwhile, Carolina is peaking with three straight wins of at least 17 points over Power Five opponents. QB Drake Maye had his best game of the year last week versus Syracuse, and newly eligible star WR Tez Walker hasn’t even hit his stride yet. Since returning to the Tar Heels in 2019, Mack Brown is 4-0 against the Hurricanes.
For the fourth consecutive week, Notre Dame faces an undefeated opponent looking to use the Irish’s massive built-in audience to make a national statement.
ND has lost two of its last three games, all but falling out of the College Football Playoff race. This Saturday, the Irish have a chance to play spoiler against storied rival USC. The Trojans remained unblemished despite allowing 41 points in each of the last two games with Colorado and Arizona. Can the suspect Troy D be the remedy for a skidding Irish offense that turned the ball over five times in Saturday’s loss at Louisville? It’ll have to be because no one has stopped a USC offense that’s scored at least 42 points in all six games. Reigning Maxwell Award winner Caleb Williams has accounted for 28 TDs and just one pick, while generally carrying the program on his broad shoulders.
The Maxwell Football Club honors the nation’s best offensive player with the Maxwell Award. Here’s a look at last week’s standout offensive players.
Georgia looked like the No. 1 team in the country Saturday night. And Beck looks as comfortable as he’s been all year QB1 in Athens. The Bulldogs answered critics looking for style points by blasting Kentucky from the ranks of the undefeated, 51-13. Beck is really coming into his own in his first year as Stetson Bennett’s successor. Against a gritty Wildcat defense, the junior was 28-of-35 for 389 yards and four TDs, all career-highs, in leading the offense to a season-high 608 yards. All four of Beck’s scoring strikes came in the face of a Kentucky blitz.
Brown had one of the most efficient games for a back in Week 6, if not the entire season. The junior from Savannah, Ga. Needed only 13 touches in a 55-14 win at Akron to explode for 280 rushing yards and four touchdowns. At a thick and powerful 5-10 and 219 pounds, Brown shows good wiggle and elusiveness in space. His 280 yards ties Kentucky’s Ray Davis for FBS single-game high so far in 2023.
Texas A&M dared Alabama to beat its D over the top. So, that’s exactly what the Crimson Tide did in Saturday’s 26-20 pivotal win in College Station. Bama had its best passing game of the year, despite facing constant pressure from the Aggie D. Burton caught nine passes from Texas native Jalen Milroe for 197 yards and a pair of third-quarter touchdowns that helped put the Tide back in control of the SEC West. Burton earned a 90.9 receiving grade from Pro Football Focus, second among all Week 6 pass-catchers.
Corley had a career night Thursday in Ruston. And when a player of his caliber establishes personal bests, you know it’s a monster game. Corley, known as The YAC King, bounced off Louisiana Tech defenders for 207 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches. The junior is one of the nation’s most physical receivers with the ball in his hands, refusing to go down on contact and using his strength and physicality to power through arm tackles.
LSU, which has allowed 125 points the last three games, will need to outgun opponents this fall. Daniels is up to the challenge. One week after falling to Ole Miss, 55-49, the Tigers held off Missouri in CoMo, 49-39. Daniels overcame badly bruised ribs to rally LSU back all day, including twice in the final quarter. He accounted for 389 total yards, 130 with his legs, and four touchdowns to help keep the Tigers alive in the SEC West race.
Last year, Gabriel missed the Red River Rivalry and the Sooners fell to Texas, 49-0. This year, he was at full strength and the Sooners reclaimed the Golden Hat. Not a coincidence. Gabriel provided the dual-threat playmaking and clutch veteran leadership Oklahoma needed to hand Texas its first loss. He rushed for a career-high 113 yards and a score, while completing 23-of-38 for 285 yards and the game-winning TD with 15 seconds left. Gabriel needed just 62 seconds and five plays to guide the offense 75 yards and the decisive score.
New head coach Jeff Brohm is way ahead of schedule at his alma mater. The Cards moved to 6-0 under Brohm with a statement win over No. 10 Notre Dame Saturday, 33-20. Louisville got contributions from all phases, with few bigger than Jordan who ignited the ground game on a night that the passing attack was unable to stretch the Irish defense. The speedy Jordan, who’s averaging 7.5 yards per carry on the year, went for a season-high 143 yards and two key second-half scores on 21 carries.
The Tar Heels are 5-0 for the first time in 26 years. Maye is coming off his best game of the season. Star WR Tez Walker is finally eligible. All feels right in Chapel Hill heading into Saturday’s showdown with Miami. North Carolina quickly dismissed Syracuse this past weekend, racing to an easier-than-expected 40-7 victory. Maye lit the fuse with three TD passes and 442 yards on 33-of-47 passing, while adding 55 yards and a fourth score on the ground.
The Maxwell Football Club honors the nation’s best defensive player with the Chuck Bednarik Award. Here’s a look at last week’s standout defenders.
It's been a challenging year in Ames, yet Iowa State is a no-quit program forged in the image of coach Matt Campbell. The Cyclones upset TCU Saturday night, 27-14, holding the Frogs to their lowest output of the season and evening their record at 3-3. Freyler was outstanding in every facet of a defense that’s been stout all year, save for the Oklahoma game. The Colorado Springs junior racked up a game-high 11 tackles, two interceptions and a pass breakup. His 92.0 Pro Football Focus grade ranked third nationally among all safeties in Week 6.
The Buckeyes survived a tough test from Maryland Saturday in Columbus, even trailing early in the second half. However, the Eichenberg-led defense stepped up and pitched a shutout over the final 26 minutes to allow the offense to pull away. OSU held the Terps three touchdowns below their season scoring average, with Eichenberg leading the way from the inside with 13 tackles and seven solos.
The Bulls blew out Central Michigan, 37-13, on a day that the offense was generally anemic. How? The defense, Grant in particular, darn near outscored the entire Chippewa team. The rangy sophomore from Elmont, NY had four tackles and three interceptions, two of which he returned for long touchdowns. Grant now has four picks on the year for 121 return yards.
So far, the Gamecocks are making a smooth transition to the FBS. The team moved to 5-1 Wednesday night after rallying back from a 23-7 halftime to throttle Middle Tennessee, 45-30, in Murfreesboro. Hardie helped slow down the Blue Raiders as his teammates racked up 38 unanswered points to salt the game away. He tied a school record with 4.5 tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks, and returned an interception 58 yards to set up a key fourth quarter touchdown.
With half a season left to play, ODU has already matched last year’s win total. Henderson continues to be a fixture on a defense that stuffed Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, 17-13. The quintessential tackling machine had 17 stops, 2.5 for loss and a sack, while becoming the Monarchs’ all-time leading tackler. Henderson’s final stop was on fourth and goal at the two to thwart USM and allow ODU to run out the clock. His 89.0 Pro Football Focus grade was fourth highest among all Week 6 linebackers.
No one overcomes poor offensive execution better than the Hawkeyes. So, when QB Cade McNamara was lost for the season last week, Iowa just hunkered down and leaned even harder on its D and special teams. The Hawkeyes beat Purdue Saturday, 20-14, despite completing just six passes and making 13 first downs. The defense was fantastic—again—producing six sacks and a couple of picks. Lee spearheaded a swarming front seven with 10 tackles, 2.5 stops for loss and two sacks of Boilermaker Hudson Card.
The Texas Tech staff needs to get Linton more reps moving forward. The long and explosive Syracuse transfer had his best game with his new team as the Red Raiders crushed Baylor in Waco, 39-14. Linton needed just 17 snaps to produce three sacks and two forced fumbles, while earning Pro Football Focus’ top grade for a Week 6 edge rusher. The Bear front had no remedy his speed and his suddenness, which will be on display throughout the second half of the year.
Oklahoma State emerged from its bye week with a sense of purpose, upsetting Kansas State Friday night to snap a two-game losing streak. The defense picked off three Will Howard passes, the final one from Martin late in the fourth to help seal the 29-21 win. The sophomore also posted career highs with 17 tackles and 2.5 stops for loss, including a sack of Howard. It was the most tackles in a game by a Cowboy in nearly seven years.
(NOTE: Rich Cirminiello is the VP of College Awards at Maxwell Football Club.)