Ten Takeaways: Week Six

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For my Ohio State subscribers: Check out my full thoughts on Ohio State's 45-16 win over Maryland in Bulletpoints:

Bulletpoints: Maryland

Thoughts on Ohio State’s 45-16 win over Maryland.

Two Stripes with Colton DenningColton Denning

1. That was a hell of a week

Putting any rooting interests aside, we had:

• The top-ranked team in the nation lose on the final play of a dramatic rivalry game.
• A back-and-forth top-ten matchup that came down to the wire, with a bit of controversy on the side.
• The defending national champion saving their 22-game win streak with a multi-score, fourth-quarter comeback on the road.
• A top-ten upset that ended on a two-point conversion in overtime.
• A top-15 upset decided by an unsuccessful late two-point conversion and a final drive.
• Two other top-25 upsets.

This was the type of weekend we live for as a college football fans.

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2. The Red River Shootout at its best

I don't have any true analysis for Oklahoma-Texas, because I think the game they put on exists in a realm of drama that only the best rivalry games can produce. I had as much fun watching the fourth quarter as I think is humanly possible when you don't have a rooting interest in either team. It was everything that makes college football special:

3. UCLA and Kentucky proved that they belong

UCLA

If I told you beforehand that UCLA would only score 17 points, have three turnovers, go 2-4 in the redzone, 4-17 on third/fourth down, and lose QB Nico Iamaleava to injury before halftime, what would you think the outcome of their trip to Oregon was?

I won't disagree with you if you chalk up their 17-15 win in Autzen to turnover luck, or sloppy play from a Ducks team desperately searching for answers. I also think it's clear that this win is a product of the instant stability Bob Chesney's brought to UCLA for the first time in over a decade. In their toughest matchup yet, the Bruins proved their 4-0 start was no fluke by harassing Oregon in the trenches, and holding them to a combined 1-14 on third/fourth downs. It's not necessarily the prettiest football right now, but it's sound and well-executed - staples of past Chesney squads.

UCLA's overall ceiling is limited, especially now that Iamaleava is reportedly out for the year. Even in beating the Ducks, I didn't see much that would tell me the Bruins are near the same level as Indiana or Ohio State. Eeking out a two-point win after forcing seven turnovers and having 56% of your plays in opposition territory isn't exactly the kind of thing top-tier teams do. The fact that I'm even bringing up those teams in relation to UCLA is a credit to just how far they've come in the 10 months Chesney's been in Westwood. With a favorable remaining schedule, it's likely the Bruins are legitimate factors in the playoff race by November.

Kentucky

It'd be insulting to reduce what Will Stein's pulled off at Kentucky so far to just good vibes. At the same time, it's hard to deny what having good vibes can do for you when you see stuff like this:

19 years after he rushed the field when Kentucky knocked off No. 1 LSU in triple overtime, Stein orchestrated another Wildcats overtime upset of the Tigers. Much like UCLA against Oregon, Kentucky didn't play the cleanest game, but still managed to find a way to win. You need a lot of luck to become the first team in FBS history to win consecutive overtime games by one point. You also need a hell of a lot of resilience to overcome a 17-0 deficit in one of them, then fight through your mistakes to pull off a last-minute drive to tie it, then eventually win in OT in the other one. Stein, much like Chesney, doesn't coach scared. It's easy to see how that translates to his players when they're on the field. They were nails on the final drive and in OT:

4. Oregon and LSU have serious issues to fix

As sweet as the vibes in Westwood and Lexington are, things are just as sour in Eugene and Baton Rouge. What's up with Oregon and LSU?

Oregon

Oregon has real, glaring on-field issues. Even before Dante Moore's injury, it's not like the offense played at the level we expected going into the the season. They're sloppy, while the run game is woeful between the tackles and goes through large stretches where they're completely ineffective. The offensive line looks just as challenged versus strong fronts as they were last year. The defense gives up way too many big plays, and some of their high-profile transfers haven't hit. Dan Lanning is still way too aggressive. Why are you going for two after the first score of the game against good competition? This isn't Portland State! You can't win when your QB goes 6-19 passing with 43 yards, two ghastly interceptions, plus a lost fumble in one of the worst major QB performances in recent memory. Dylan Raiola's poor play was the defining factor in Oregon's loss to UCLA, no question. The Ducks problems right now also feel way deeper than just Raiola, or their other on-field deficiencies.

Oregon created a unique image for themselves by doing things a little differently than everyone else. It began with wild uniforms, Chip Kelly's offense, and being the originators of the state-of-the-art facilities explosion. Now, it's their super aggressive approach to the portal and NIL with Nike's backing, a powerful in-house media/branding team, and an outspoken head coach. The Ducks have been loud and brash for the last 25 years, and it's helped them become one of the nation's most successful programs. With that said, the sheer amount of noise coming out of Eugene the past couple of seasons makes me feel like they've lost their way a bit.

Oregon is a program who's become too consumed with trying to prove a point every single week, instead of just going out and playing their game. They feel like a group so desperate to win a national title that they're blind to the steps you have to take to even get there. They have no baseline temperature. When they win, it comes with puffed-out chests and an antagonizing trolling spree. When they lose? Radio silence. If you think I'm being a little ridiculous right now, here's what one of their senior leaders said after losing to UCLA:

I believe what Stewart's saying. Their season isn't a lost cause. This isn't a 2025 Penn State situation. They have legitimate problems, but the answers to them are in the building. I can absolutely see a scenario where they pull it together and make a run if Moore is healthy. The mentality needs to change, though. In other, not-so-kind words: Dan Lanning and his team need to get their shit together and start focusing on what matters.

LSU

I really could just apply the prior sentence to Lane Kiffin and call it a day. LSU's loss to Kentucky checks all the boxes for a Kiffin special. I don't think I've ever seen a game where a trailing team missed two kicks with less than five minutes to play and still eventually won. That's all on Kiffin. He's now just 13-13 on the road against SEC opponents in his three SEC stops. Shane Beamer has more top-25 road wins in his career. I don't mean to psychoanalyze the man, but you can't tell me a major part of Kiffin's thought process in deciding to punt on fourth-and-short late in the game was driven by how people would view him if they didn't convert:

LSU is a good team. Their only two losses are squeakers on the road to conference opponents both ranked in the top-15 that could've easily gone their way. The problem is that LSU isn't paying Kiffin $13 million per season to merely field a good team who loses to his former employer and a first-time head coach at Kentucky. This was a team with title expectations, despite Kiffin trying to pretend they weren't this offseason. With Mississippi State, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee (road) left, the Tigers will have to be near-perfect to just stay in the playoff hunt.

5. Player of the Week: Jamal Roberts - Missouri